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Fresh from the revelation that Rita had been masquerading as Liv's roommate, spying on both Liv and Major, all this time, Major was feeling something less than properly respectful when he was called into Vaughn du Clark's office the next day.

du Clark was typing rapidly with one hand and downing a can of Super Max with the other. Major supposed it was too much to hope that Super Max in massive doses was toxic.

"So," he said, when it appeared du Clark was in a fugue state and not entirely aware of Major's presence, "you wanted to see me?"

"One second …" He kept typing, then poised one finger above the keyboard and stabbed a button triumphantly. "And … boom! Just finished my keynote for RagerCon '16 and it's not even 10. Super Max, man! Super Max! My mental energy is like—it's—" He was out of his chair, waving his hands around like moose antlers. If this was your brain on Super Max, Major would pass. "It's off the charts. And physically? Forget it. Ask the Aer Gaul flight attendant how many petit morte she morted last night. Go ahead."

God, Major wanted to be elsewhere. He would have contemplated catapulting himself through a window, but he was pretty sure they were shatter-proof. "Sounds like a personal question for a total stranger."

"Six! You're welcome! Saved you the embarrassment. This is what boundless energy looks like, Major—this!" Motioning to himself, he picked up the can and downed some more.

"Yep. But it can make you a little …"

"What?"

"Aggressive."

du Clark grinned. "Aggressive is good. Now, we've got some new zombie names for you to deal with."

"More names?"

"Well, we're constantly monitoring hot sauce, hair dye, and fake tan spending in the Pacific Northwest. We would not want any zombie-come-latelys crashing our party, would we? Rita's coming in with the list."

Major had been wondering how and when to work around to this in the conversation and whether he would think better of broaching the topic when he was actually in the room. In the moment, though, he didn't think twice. "Rita. About that. I just found out that she's been Liv's roommate?"

du Clark made a face to indicate that yes, she had, and what was the big deal, and Major should just let it go. But that wasn't going to happen.

"Have I not been doing a good job?"

"Well, you know what, let's find out." du Clark picked up a freaking Magic 8 Ball, of all things, and shook it. "'Ask again later.'" He made a sad foghorn sound.

"I've been takin' out zombies, I've passed all your nutty little tests …"

"Everything we've had you do, and it's a privacy issue that gets your panties in a twist?"

"I assumed the deal was if I cooperated, you kept Liv out of this."

"When you assume, you …" du Clark made sounds to replace the rest of the cliché. "There's always a method to the madness, my boy."

"Was having Rita seduce me part of the madness?"

That got du Clark's attention. "Gaylord says 'what?'"

Major caught on immediately. "You didn't know."

"That you were doing the featherbed jig with … my daughter? Mm … no."

His what? This was news. At no point in all the time he had spent with either one of them had he gotten the faintest father-daughter vibe. Major was at a loss for words. "Your …?"

And at that opportune moment, Rita came in.

"Daughter!" du Clark shouted. "With the list."

She handed it to Major. It was hard to see her expression because she had big sunglasses on, but she looked pretty pissed. "Twenty new names."

"So, sweet child of mine," du Clark began, "who's always telling Daddy not to sleep with the help …"

Rita looked disgusted. "Really, Major? I didn't figure you for the kiss-and-tell type."

"Came up by accident," he muttered, glancing quickly over the list to see if there were any familiar names.

"Accident, huh?" she demanded. "Kind of like last night was an accident?"

So, Liv had heard him call her Rita. Well, good.

du Clark's thoughts went in a different direction. He slowly got up from his chair. "Rita, sweetheart, c'mere." He took the glasses off her face while Major craned his neck to see. Had Liv hit her? Go, Liv. His mouth twitched with amusement, picturing the way that must have gone.

But Vaughn du Clark hadn't factored Liv into this situation, and he had jumped to an entirely wrong conclusion. "You think this is funny?" He threw the sunglasses at Major's face. As Major dodged, he reached for the Magic 8 Ball. "You think you can hurt my daughter? Huh?"

Major dodged the Magic 8 Ball, which embedded itself in the wall with a thud.

"Stop it!" Rita got in front of her father to hold him back. "It was Liv, not him!" She turned to Major. "You've got the list, you should go."

As he was making a hasty exit from the room, he heard du Clark shouting after him, "You don't mess with my daughter!"

He felt for the guy. He did. Hard to see your little girl get hurt … but if he hadn't raised his little girl to be such a cold, manipulative shark, he might not have had to see her hurt.