Red was shown into the back room of the bar where he and Lizzie were to meet later that day. He had been told very little over the phone when he was called to come in earlier than expected, but he hadn't failed to notice the slight hesitation in the voice of Lizzie's guard as he had relayed the request.
Lizzie looked up as he swept into the room in his usual manner, and she clambered to her feet at his approach. He couldn't help but notice that her hands were shaking, and that there was a puffiness to her right eye that heralded a glorious bruise appearing in the next few hours.
"Lizzie, what -" he began as he came to a standstill in front of her.
Before he could finish, she pointed behind the counter at the back of the room. The change in her stance cast light on the front of her shirt, and only then did he notice what could only be blood spatters on the front of her green silk shell.
Somehow he knew what he would find behind the counter before he even looked. It wasn't like he hadn't set this encounter in motion, so really, he shouldn't be surprised in the least.
What he was surprised at, however, was that Lizzie had emptied her entire clip into Tom's chest before he had even hit the ground. Well, that amount of anger and brutality was unexpected.
Turning to face her again, he smoothed his features into a gentle mask of caring for the woman he would do anything for. "What happened?" He asked calmly.
"He called me... said he had information that I would need to protect myself, to protect you. But then he just went crazy partway through the meeting. I had to protect myself. He wanted to hurt me." Her voice shook as she explained what had happened.
Liz took a step forward and wrapped her arms around Red, distracting him from asking anything further.
She didn't know how to tell him that she had initiated the altercation first, and only shot her unarmed ex-husband when he had threatened to kill Red. She didn't know if she could ever tell him.
Tom Connolly... Tom Keen... no one would threaten the man that she loved without consequence. The reminder of his threat caused her to start shaking again, but a steely glint flashed through her eyes even as she was somewhat disturbed by the callousness of her actions.
Red knew that she was hiding something, but he simply couldn't care less. His rival was dead. Now he could move on with the rest of his plans to claim Lizzie as his own, totally and completely.