Expecting to Die

CHAPTER 29
“R
egan!” Luke banged like crazy on the front door, and the dogs set to barking
wildly.
“Hey! Hey! Slow down,” Pescoli ordered as she swung the door open and her
ex-husband stormed in. In jeans, a gray T-shirt, and boots, he whirled on his ex-
wife. His face was flushed, his usually combed hair mussed, as if he’d been
running his fingers through it in frustration.
“You have to do something.” He pointed an accusatory finger at Pescoli.
“Me?”
“You’re the law around here, aren’t you?” He punched a fist into the air in
frustration. “Son of a bitch!” he said, showing teeth, then strode rapidly toward
the family room.
“Wait a damn minute. Why are you acting like a lunatic?” She was on his
heels, the dogs barking a cacophony she could do without and trailing behind
her. “Quiet,” she warned Cisco. “No!”
Luke threw open the refrigerator door, found a beer, and popped the top.
“That’s got to stop,” she warned him as the door swung closed, and he had the
nerve to peer into one of the sacks from Wild Wills. “This is my house. That’s
my beer, and you can’t come striding in here and making demands.”
“It’s for our kid!” he said, stepping away from the counter and taking a long
swig.
“We have rules, you and I. Boundaries.” She pulled the can from his hand,
took it, and poured the beer down the sink. “You need to respect them, Luke.
We’ve been over this before. You can’t come over here, ranting and raving,
practically bullying your way inside and then make yourself at home, drinking
my damned beer and helping yourself to whatever. No. Get it? We’re over, you
and I. Been over a long time now!” She crushed the can in her fist, fury coursing
through her blood.
“Mom!” Bianca cried from the couch.
“What the hell’s wrong with you?” he demanded.
She threw the empty can into the sink, then spun on him. “Something’s wrong
with me? Are you kidding?” He’d been pissing her off for a long time, and she
was sick to the back teeth of dealing with him. “You’re acting like a maniac.”
“I’m just really, really pissed off.”

---

“I get that.”
For the first time since roaring in, he actually looked at her . . . and let out a
long, low whistle. “What the . . . what happened to you?” he asked, eyeing her
cheek while actually taking a step back.
“Hazards of the job.”
“Wrestling bobcats? No wonder you’re in such a bad mood.”
“Leave it alone, and I’m not in any kind of mood whatsoever.”
His expression said she was kidding herself, but, slightly calmer, he got to the
point. Finally. “You have to call Sphinx and make him honor his damned
contract with our daughter.”
She made a choking sound.
Spying Bianca, who was starting to get up from the sectional, he waved her
back into her seat. “Don’t get up. Your mom and I’ll handle this.”
“Handle what?” Bianca asked.
“I can’t believe this, honey, but it’s Sphinx! What kind of idiot is he, buying
into that Lara’s scam? I mean it’s so damned obvious. I would think a big
Hollywood hotshot like him would see through her little act.”
“What act?” Bianca asked warily from her corner of the sectional. She was
staring at her parents as if they’d become lunatics, and Pescoli kicked herself for
fighting with Luke in front of their daughter. Much as her ex drove her up the
wall, he was, after all, Bianca’s father, and Regan, fool that she’d been at the
time, had made the choice to wed him.
“Come on, honey. You see it, too. Right? I’m talking about Lara Haas’s
supposed sighting of Big Foot. It’s all a big lie. A massive story she cooked up
with that O’Hara kid, just so they could get bigger parts in the show.”
“Hold on, Luke.” Pescoli couldn’t let him drag Bianca into this, not until they
knew the truth. “How do you know it’s a scam?”
“Because it’s fu—freaking obvious, that’s how. And there has to be a law
against this sort of thing. You can’t go faking this stuff—making it up. It has to
be real. I mean, duh, it’s called a reality show for God’s sake! For the love of
Christ, we can’t let this happen!”
Pescoli felt another deep pain roll through her, stronger than before. She
actually caught her breath.