“I wish I’d never hired you! After everything I’ve done for you, this is how—”
Jarrod snatched the phone out of Mary’s hand and hung up, despite her squawk of protest.
“That was my sister!”
“And the way she spoke to you was unacceptable. If she were a werewolf, I’d have challenged her,” Jarrod said.
“It’s just how she deals with things when she’s stressed.” Mary rubbed her face with her hands. “Regina’s missing. I hope she hasn’t done anything crazy.”
The phone started ringing again. Mary reached for it, but Jarrod held it high out of her reach.
“Even if you were in the wrong, she’d have no right to address you like that. But you’re not in the wrong. Did you cause this problem for her? Did you encourage me?”
“Hell, no,” Mary said fervently.
“Exactly. It was me. I carried out the bridenapping. So why should you have to listen to her screaming insults at you?”
“She’s done a lot for me over the years,” Mary protested faintly.
“While constantly making you feel like you were a terrible burden for needing help after your mother died when you were in high school.”
“True, but…” Mary trailed off. “You’re right.”
Jarrod answered the phone.
Hilda’s shrill, outraged voice rang through the air. “Mary, if you ever hang up on me again—”
“You’ll do what, exactly?” Jarrod demanded.
There was dead silence on the other end of the phone.
“Don’t ever talk to my bride-to-be like that again,” Jarrod said firmly. “You will treat her with respect, or you will not talk to her at all.”
“Your bride-to-be? That’s a joke!” Hilda shrieked. “You’re not going to marry her! You just carried out that bridenapping out of spite! And you did it at my expense, and you ruined my business! There’s no way someone like you would want to marry—”
“I’m going to stop you right there.” Jarrod’s voice had turned deadly. “Or you’ll find out exactly what kind of enemy I am.”
He hung up the phone. Mary let out a squeak of dismay.
“You don’t deserve that kind of treatment,” he said to her. “If she’s not screaming at you, she’s doing that passive-aggressive thing where she compliments and insults you at the same time. I won’t tolerate it.”
And then Jarrod’s phone rang.
“One damn thing after another today,” he grumbled. He walked away, and answered it, scowling. “What is it?” he demanded.
Then Mary saw him shaking his head. “You’re kidding. How? That’s… All right, fine. Fine. I’ll be down in a minute.”
He hung up.
“What is it?” Mary asked.
“Well, we found out where Regina went. And yes, she did something crazy.”
“What?” Mary asked, worried despite herself. Regina was horrible, but she didn’t want her dead. Had she jumped off a bridge? Hurled herself in front of a train? Drowned herself?
“She broke into the compound. My security’s brought her here; she’s waiting downstairs.”