In a silence fraught with apprehension, they watched as four uniformed officers rushed into the room. It took a moment, a moment in which Jack was very aware of the breath he held, but they finally subdued Gina, got restraints on her wrists. The whole time the woman hurled abuse.
He'd never wanted to punch a woman before but when Gina screamed, "I should have had that abortion you paid for," at Lys his hands clenched, and he would gladly drive a fist into that woman's face.
On the screen Lys froze, her gaze zipping to Penny. God. He hoped this didn't drive a bigger wedge between the sisters, they'd been struggling since moving into the new house and he knew Lys had been meaning to tell Penny about the money Gina had stolen and what she'd supposedly used it for all those years ago.
"C'mon, Pen, you know that's bullshit," he muttered.
To his surprise Penny laughed. He shouldn't have doubted her. She was way too smart not to see through her mother's lies. Her focus on Gina, she said, "As if I'd believe a word you say."
"She paid me—"
"Bullshit! More like you stole her money then lied about what you did with it." Penny shook off Roark's hold then ran across the room and threw herself into Lys's arms.
Jack hadn't noticed Roark remove the knives from Penny, but he obviously had because they were nowhere in sight. He'd probably handed them off to one of his men once he'd gotten them out of Penny's hands.
"Jack."
He'd been so absorbed in the sight of Lys and Penny wrapped around each other—safe—that Grant Malone's authoritative voice coming from the phone made him jump, his elbow knocking the device across the desk. Dash snagged it before it skidded off the edge and passed it over. After a two-second internal debate, Jack left it on speaker.
"Malone."
"Jack. Your man here tells me you're watching through the house's security feed."
"Yes."
"Any chance it's recording?"
"Of course." Why would anyone bother with such a system and not record what it picked up?
"Great. You'd be surprised at the number of people who put up cameras but don't record. When you're able to organize it, I'll need that footage."
"You'll have it within ten minutes. Roark will already have someone on it."
"Excellent. I'll need until the officers arrived and detained the assailant."
"Gina Drummond."
"Sorry?"
"The woman who attacked Alyssa and Penny is Gina Drummond. She's their mother."
"Ah, I thought there was something familiar about her."
"Roark has a file on her you'll want to look at too." He'd give Malone every piece of information they had on Gina and hope the man could find so many things to charge her with, the only way she would get out of jail was in a box. "I'll have it sent along with the security footage."
"I'd appreciate that. I've also received a report someone has broken into a property you own?"
"Ah, yes." Shit. Roark had reported that? His eyes tracked Lys. She was a good twenty feet away from Malone, huddled on the sofa with Penny, and wouldn't hear anything he told the detective. "I'm not scheduled to be back in Sunnyville until tomorrow, but I can get you access to the property today. You already have the person responsible in custody."
"I do?"
"Yes. Your men just marched her out the door."
"Gina Drummond broke into your house?"
Jack sighed. He didn't want to get into this now or on the phone, but he knew Malone needed all the information they could give him. "Gina Drummond broke into the property. I'm assuming it's because she thought Alyssa still owned it. I purchased the house last month and it's remained empty since Lys and Penny moved out. At some point in the weeks since then, Gina broke in and stayed. Roark will have more information on that than me, he's head of my security and has my permission to tell you anything you need to know."
"Head of security… Why the hell do you have security, Jack?"
