WHO: Lima Langton and Boyd Langton WHAT: Lima screams in the night. Daddy comes to take care of her.
The storm was still raging outside and the house was quiet. Crowded, but quiet, like a hive of sleeping bees all waiting to sting. Most people were in a fretful sleep by now, lest they were panicked or doing something naughty in their rooms.
All was still, all was quiet, until there was an ear-piercing wail from the parlor. Most people were too far away to hear it at this point, but there were some who were close enough.
Lima Langton was an unfortunate soul. The daughter of Boyd Langton, head of this branch of the mafia, she'd always been troubled. She was easy on the eyes, a dark looker with a body men would kill for. She was also insane. Something about her mother dying a tragic death and Lima almost being taken with her, messing up her mind. She wandered listlessly, barely making a sound----but now she was screaming.
Mike Masters worked on the grounds at the Boddy estate. Not a bad guy, but maybe he got a little flirty. Maybe he saw how sweet she looked and got a little handsy. And it wasn't that he wanted to hurt her now, but he wanted her quiet. His arms were wrapped around her and he had a hand clamped over her mouth. "Shh. Shh!" They'd already had a murder! He didn't want any more panic over a screaming girl.
Lima was insane, and her father was irrationally, fiercely protective. Understandably, at the sound of Lima's shriek, Boyd Langton recognized the sound immediately. She had problems, his girl, and though she could be sweet, to anyone else, she was a bit of a handful.
There was no warning, no sound, no nothing. Boyd was surprisingly quiet for such a large man, but the next thing Mike knew, there was a hand yanking him back by his hair and a deep, intimidating voice commanding, "What do you think you're doing?"
Mike yelped, immediately releasing Lima to the floor. She scrambled back under the stairs, shaking and wrapping her arms around her knees. She was shaking, making lost whining sounds like she didn't know how to speak.
"Just keeping her quiet! I went up to her, she started yelling, I swear that was all it was!"
"Why were you bothering her?" Boyd had a way of asking questions that made all of your answers wrong. He shoved Mike down to sit on the floor. "Sit. Don't move." Mike wouldn't refuse him, and Boyd walked away without checking to make sure, going to Lima and crouching. "Come here. Come here."
Mike sat immediately, running hands over his mouth. He didn't know who she was! Some pretty girl, some pretty girl who freaked out. He didn't know she was mad as a hatter with a father who was more powerful than he could ever imagine.
"No!" Lima shrieked, jerking away and curling up tighter, one trembling and twitching hand guarding her face.
"Lima." He didn't have to make himself clear. He had that sort of voice that so clearly said 'You can trust me. I'm your father.' "What did he do to you?"
Lima looked over her hand at him, her eyes wide and glassy. It always took her a while to recognize her father when she was having an episode, when she was lost so far in thoughts that she couldn't recognize reality. "Touched... touched me," she murmured. "Put his hands on me. Put his hands all over... all over me..." Her hands started crawling along her arms and shoulders, down her body. "He was so close. Put his hand... oh my mouth... be quiet, told me to be quiet, don't make any noise."
"He won't do that again," Boyd promised. Calm. Soft.
Most people would at least hesitate. Maybe have some form of conscience about it. On the upside, he was also a damn good shot, and Mike only had a moment to panic before there was a bullet lodged in his brain.