The Daddy P.I. Casefiles: The First Collection by Frost, J (great novels .txt) 📕

at one of those things and the guy will be exiting the building through a window. I still don’t believe you do that shit to Emily. You must outweigh her by a hundred pounds. She’d break the first time you hit her. You’re bullshitting me.”

“First of all, I’d never bullshit you. Second, Emily’s stronger than fucking Kevlar. If you’d ever let me show you what it means to top someone, you’d understand.”

“Ain’t. Gonna. Happen.” I hear tapping in the background. “This is some ugly shit, bro.”

He must be looking up Rick’s online accounts, or maybe EvonneBringsTheTruth’s webpage.

“Agreed.”

“Any of it true?”

“I asked the same thing.” I shift the phone to my other ear so I can rub my hand over my face. “In the interests of not bullshitting you, I’ll admit I’m not sure. I’ve heard Rick’s version and it’s very different from what you’re seeing. But I’ve learned over the years that almost nothing is black and white. When it comes to he-said-she-said, there are a lotta shades of gray, mate.”

“Fifty fucking shades on this one. What’s the deal with the belt?”

“He says he didn’t use it to drag her into the room, but he admits he hit her with it. He says she asked him to. There was another guy with them that she doesn’t mention at all. He used the belt to choke her. Rick says he told the guy to stop when it was too much for her.”

“He’s a lying sack of shit. No girl wants to be hit and choked with a belt.”

“Hold on just a tick.” I stand up from my desk, walk to my office door, open it, and call Emily. She appears a moment later, looking quizzical. Cutie. I hold my phone out to her. “This is Max.”

She grins and takes the phone. “Hi, Max. How are you?”

I can’t hear his response, but she smiles as he speaks, then giggles. “No way. If they resurrect Jean Grey one more time I’m going to puke.”

Before I lose them, because both Max and Emily are huge X-Men fans and when they get together, they descend quickly into incomprehensible discussions of alternative timelines, Earth-295, and the shortcomings of the recent movies, I say, “Little love, can you please explain to Max why you like being belted?”

She gives me very big eyes but says into the phone, “It’s kind of hard to explain.” She chews on her lip, and I hear Max make encouraging noises. “I’ve always thought of it as a crossed wire in my brain. I still feel the pain, but somehow when Logan hits me it becomes a good hurt. It’s cleansing, and affirming, and exciting, um, I don’t know how to say it. It connects us. I’m not saying it right.”

I stroke her cheek encouragingly.

She listens to Max for a moment, then says, “Yes, it hurts. But it’s not a random hurt. Like bumping into a sharp corner or catching my fingers in the door. It’s nothing like that. There’s a purpose to it. It binds us together. It makes me feel safe. It’s really hard to explain, Max.” She pulls the phone away from her ear and holds it out to me. “Couldn’t we show him, Daddy? I’m not explaining it right.”

“You’re doing great. Invite Max over to watch the game on Sunday and maybe we can convince him to stay to watch a scene.”

She smiles and nods before she pulls the phone back and invites Max to what’s rapidly becoming a play party. Good thing I have a big basement.

When it sounds like they’re done discussing the details, I take the phone back and tell Emily I’ll be another five minutes. She goes up on her toes to kiss my cheek before she pads back towards the kitchen.

“I’m not watching you hit her, you fucker,” Max growls as soon as I put the phone to my ear.

“No, you’re not,” I agree. “I’ve told you topping doesn’t have to involve impact. There are plenty of other things that will drive her right out of her head without me ever laying a hand on her. I’ll show you.”

“That makes no fucking sense, but I’ll reserve judgment until I see it. I gotta admit, her calling you ‘Daddy’ is hot. Shocked the hell out of me when I first heard her do it, but I can see why you’re into it.”

And it clicks. Max is a daddy. That’s why he can’t cope with the idea of me hitting Emily. He wants to protect my little girl.

“We’ll talk about it after the scene, mate, but I’ve got a hunch this is going to open up a whole new world for you.”

“Whatever. I’ve got the info on the server that’s hosting EvonneBringsTheTruth’s site. Want me to send them a take-down notice now or you want to wait until the fucker approves my hourly?”

“Do it now. Rick’ll go along with what I recommend. He just likes to whine.”

“All right.”

We spend another minute shooting the shit about England’s chances in the upcoming test match, since Max is a fellow cricket fan. As we’re wrapping up, he says, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m kind of looking forward to Sunday.”

“Just come to it with an open mind.”

“I’ll try. Let me know when you’ve got the green-light from the Porn King and I’ll launch a DDoS attack on this site to bring it down while we’re waiting for the host to pull it.”

“No idea what you just said but will do.”

Max chuckles. “Emily has got to bring you into the twenty-first century, buddy. How can you wire CCTV systems for a living and not understand the first thing about the internet?”

“Three words: United States Navy.” My time in the service taught me everything I needed to know about electrical wiring and closed networks and fuck all about the internet. “See you Sunday, mate.”

He hangs up without saying goodbye. That’s Max. He’s not being an asshole. He’s just moved on to the next thing. Max is one of the