Page 145 of Moonlighter

The pistol falls right to the floor before Alex even has time to scream.

I lunge forward, grabbing Rolf and shoving him chest-first into the wall. His hands are behind his back a microsecond later. “You stupid fuck. You point a gun at my girl, and I’ll break you in half.”

He lets out an angry cry. “It’s not loaded!”

“You are still a stupid—” I bounce his face off the wall. “—Fuck.”

He lets out a sob. “He gave me money. I put my grandma in a nicer nursing home.”

“Who did?” I demand, tightening my grip on his arms.

“Xian Smith!”

“Did you know he was going tokillpeople?”

“No! I swear. He just said he wanted to get closer to Alex. For business. He wanted to curry favor.”

“What did you give him?” Max asks from the doorway. “How much does he have?”

“The visitor’s pass. And the schedule,” Rolf stammers. “Her home address. He said he wanted to send flowers.”

“Flowers!” Alex shrieks. “He broke into my apartment to hack my phone.”

“I didn’t know! And when I told him I was done, he threatened me.”

“Of course he did,” Max says with a sigh. “You reallyarea stupid fuck. Eric, don’t break his arms.”

“Here’s a zip tie!” my father says, pulling one out of his pocket. Some families carry tissues and gum. We carry restraints.

“Are we handing him to the police?” I ask.

“I haven’t decided,” Max says, fitting the tie around Rolf’s wrists. “Got him.”

As soon as I can step back, I duck out of the room to find Alex in the hallway. She’s leaning back against the wall, breathing deeply. Like a person trying to get a grip. “Eric,” she says breathily.

“Yeah, baby?”

“I’m sorry I opened the door when you were going to tell me not to.”

“It’s okay now, baby.” I fold her into my arms.

“I can’t believe Rolf is a traitor. Good assistants are hard to find. This is a disaster.”

I laugh against her cheek. “One thing at a time, honey.”

“There was a gun.” She swallows hard.

“I’ll bet he doesn’t even own the bullets. That thing looked like a stage prop.”

“Still. Is it awful that I could be hungry right after someone points a gun at me?”

“That’s just biology, honey. Could you maybe knock off early? Let me take you home and feed you.”

“I was going to take you out to lunch.”

“Another time. We have time, right? I’m not going anywhere.”

“True.” She shifts, looking me dead in the eye. “I love you, Eric Bayer.”