2 Chapter 2
“I still don’t think he’ll try anything,” Max said. “He’d end up back in prison in a heartbeat if he did.”
“Max…” Jack shook his head. “He hated you for leaving him. You’d better believe he’s spent the last few years nurturing that hatred while not being able to do anything about it.”
“What do you want me to do?” Max replied angrily. “Hide away here, never leaving the house? That would destroy my business, for starters. I have to visit my clients. You know that. What about you? You live here, too. Are you going to quit school just in case he decides to come after you to get back at me?”
“No fucking way,” Jack spat out, pushing off the desk to begin pacing. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe he won’t try anything. But are you willing to bet your life on it?”
“No,” Max replied, realizing that could be a possibility, if he didn’t do as Jack had asked. “All right. As I said, I’ll call the company that put in what security we have now and ask them to upgrade it. Other than that, there’s not much we can do.”
Jack snickered. “You could hire a bodyguard. A tall, dark, and handsome one who’s gay, to boot.”
“As if. I don’t want that kind of complication in my life. I haven’t since…Well, since the attack.”
“I know,” Jack said, stopping his pacing long enough to give Max a quick hug. “Even if you haven’t been totally celibate, I presume, you’ve avoided any sort of commitment since then.”
Max smiled. “Unlike you. How many young women do you have on the string at the moment?”
“Only three.” Jack grinned. “I’ve learned the fine art of juggling.”
“It’ll come back to bite you, if you’re not careful,” Max replied sardonically.
“I was kidding. There’s only one lady in my life.”
Max arched an eyebrow. “Why haven’t I met her?”
“You have. Remember Karen?”
“Umm…” Max thought about it, then nodded. “The cute little girl who played Juliet to your Romeo in the last high school production before you graduated, right? I didn’t realize there was anything between you two but a casual friendship.”
“There wasn’t, until recently. I ran into her in the student union about a month ago. I didn’t even know she was a student at the college until then.” Jack smiled softly. “She’s grown up since high school. Anyway, we got to talking, I asked if she wanted to go out to dinner, and things have sort of progressed from there. We have a lot in common.” He chuckled. “Well, other than the fact I’m in theater and she’s a business major.”
“Interesting combination. When the two of you graduate, if you’re still together, you can open a theater and she can run the business end of it.”
Jack laughed. “We’ve already talked about that. Joking, of course, but still.” He glanced at the clock over Max’s desk. “Speaking of Karen, I have to run. We’re going to catch something to eat then go to the new movie at the Royale.”
“Okay. Enjoy. And bring her by sometime. I’d like to get to know her, since she’s important to you.”
“I will, I promise.” Jack headed to the door, stopped, and said, “Call the security company first thing in the morning.”
“I plan on it.”
* * * *
Max did call, Saturday morning. When he explained what he wanted, and why, they sent a team out upgrade the security on the house.
At the technician’s suggestion, they installed better protection than the company had originally set up on all the windows. They also added motion detectors and cameras in every room, with two separate keypads for the motion detectors. One was for the main part of the house, since Max and Jack wouldn’t want the detectors activated while they were at home and moving around. The other was for Max’s office.
“All of these are something you should have had already, Mr. Harman, since you run your business out of your home,” the technician admonished Max.
“I know,” Max admitted ruefully. “That was on my to-do list. I just never figured I’d really need it. I mean, who’d break into a graphic design company?”
The man pointed to the computers, since he and Max were in Max’s office at that point. “Any self-respecting burglar would think he’d hit the mother lode when he walked in here.” He tapped the keypad, which was on the wall by the door from the living room to the office. It was the one that armed the motion detectors for the office. “When you quit working for the day, turn this on.”
“I will. And hopefully I’ll remember to turn it off first thing in the morning or all hell will break loose,” Max replied with an amused smile.
