by Anna Blakely
Mac chuckled. “I bet.”
“Come on.” Lexi wrapped her hand around Mac’s forearm. “I’ll take you to see her. Liv’s been asking about you. She wasn’t sure you’d be able to be here, with everything else that’s been going on.”
“I wasn’t, either.”
The other woman gave Mac a sad smile. “We’ve all been so worried about you.” Lexi glanced up at him. “Both of you.”
Coop forced a small smile in return before Lexi pulled Mac away.
From over her shoulder, Mac said, “Aren’t you coming with?”
He shook his head. “You go. I’ll see them when the baby’s here.”
Heartache filled her beautiful eyes, but he didn’t have it in him to say anything more.
Shoving his hands into his jeans, his fingertips hit the ring he’d forgotten was still there. A painful ache spread throughout his chest as he stepped back out of the room, watching Mac walk down the hallway with Lexi.
Feeling like the biggest fool in the world, Coop suddenly wished he could go back in time. If he could, he’d take back everything he’d said to her in that damn barn.
Every. Single. Word.
“I’m guessin’ from the look on your face, the proposal didn’t go as well as you’d hoped?”
Coop turned to see Derek walking over to him. Thankfully, the man was by himself.
“Nope.”
“Maybe you should talk to her.”
He glared at his friend. “Talking is what got me in this position in the first damn place. I never should’ve let you guys talk me into this.”
“Guys?”
“You and my dad. Between his ‘when you know, you know’ speech and your ‘no time like the present’ bullshit, I stupidly thought I was making the right choice. Instead all I made was a complete ass of myself.”
The pity Derek felt for him was right there, staring back at him from the other man’s blue-gray eyes. “I’m sorry, Coop. I gotta admit, I never thought that would happen. I’ve seen the way she looks at you. We all have.”
“Thought I had, too.” Coop grabbed the back of his neck, squeezing the hell out of the tense muscles there. “Apparently we’ve all been seeing shit that isn’t there, because she shot me down faster than a Hellfire missile. Which makes no damn sense to me. Not after the week we just spent together.”
“That good, huh?” Derek gave him a sideways smile.
“The best.” Coop sighed. “At least I thought it was. Guess it was all one-sided.”
“Did Mac actually say she doesn’t love you?”
“She didn’t have to.”
Derek thought about that. “It’s probably the situation y’all are in. You had an hour’s drive here from your parents’, right? Did you two talk at all during that time?”
“Mac slept the entire way.” Although Coop suspected she’d been faking it in order to avoid having that very conversation.
“Oh. Well, talk to her tonight, then.”
“There’s nothing to talk about, D. I asked. She said no. End of story.”
A story he’d recently promised her was only beginning because that’s what he’d truly believed.
Fucking dumbass.
“Don’t give up on her, Coop.” Derek rested a hand on his shoulder. “She’ll come around.”
He shrugged his friend’s hand away. “I don’t want her to fucking come around, Derek. That’s not how getting engaged is supposed to work.”
“You know as well as I do things don’t always play out like we think they will. Look at me and Charlie. One misunderstanding cost us ten fuckin’ years. She went off and married that abusive prick while I spent a decade wishing like hell she was with me. All because we didn’t talk about shit when we should have.”
“This is different, D.”
“No, Sean. It’s not.” Genuine concern flittered behind the other man’s eyes. “Think about it, man. This team, our relationships…they aren’t your normal, storybook romances.”
Isn’t that the fucking truth?
Derek continued on with his thoughts. “Jake and Olivia went through hell and back to be together. Now, look at them. They’re in a room down the hallway gettin’ ready to have their first child. Trevor and Lexi were the same way. Trev damn near lost Lex before those two even had a chance to get to know each other. You already know the hell I went through with Charlie nearly bein’ killed, and Brynnon”—Derek looked around at where they stood—“it wasn’t that long ago Grant was in this very hospital, losin’ his shit because Brynn been shot and left out in the cold for dead.”
“Maybe that’s the problem,” Coop muttered.
“What?”
“Maybe guys like us aren’t supposed to get the whole happily ever after.”
“Nah, man.” Derek grinned. “The rest of us have already gotten ours. You will, too. You just have to do the same thing we did, in order to get yours.”
“What’s that?” Coop turned to his friend.
With a serious as shit expression, Derek looked him square in the eye and said, “Fight for it.”
Several minutes later, after Coop finally convinced Derek to change the damn subject, the other man was rambling on about something computer-related when Grant walked up.
Between his six-five frame, muscles, and the intricate tattoo running down the length of his arm from beneath his t-shirt’s short sleeves, the guy looked more like a bouncer at a night club than the decorated former SEAL he was.
“What’s up Hill?” Derek gave the other man a nod. “Finally get tired of hangin’ with the ladies?”
“Something like that,” the big guy’s voice rumbled. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for the boss and Olivia, but damn. It’s like total estrogen overload in there.”
“Why do you think I left my wife with yours to come out here?” Derek grinned.
With an oddly nervous expression, Grant said, “Guess I’d better get used to it.”
Not understanding, Coop asked, “Used to what?”
“All this baby stuff.”
It took him and Derek both a few seconds to catch what the other man was trying to tell them. Coop’s brows shot up. “Brynnon’s pregnant?”
In rare form, the former SEAL grinned from ear to ear. “Due in about seven months.”
Holy shit. Grant Fucking Hill was going to be a father. Even the guy they’d all called an emotionless robot had managed to figure his shit out.
Why the hell can’t I?
“Congratulations, man.” Coop held out his hand. “That’s great news.”
“Thanks. Appreciate it.”
While Derek wrapped the big guy in a giant bear hug purposely meant to make Grant squirm, Coop’s thoughts turned back to Mac.
They’d spent nearly every waking hour together this past week. Talking, laughing, making love in all sorts of creative ways while sneaking around behind his parents’ backs.
It had been damn near perfect.
Even so, the longer he stood there, the more he started to wonder if any of it had been real. Not that he thought Mac was faking her laughter—or anything else, for that matter. But maybe they’d both simply gotten caught up in the easy-going life on the farm.
Away from the stresses that came with their job. The dangers that had been following them for the past few weeks. Maybe they’d allowed themselves to forget what their reality really was.
Maybe Mac was right.
This wasn’t going to work. Not with each other, anyway. Question was what did that mean for their future?
He sure as shit couldn’t go back to being just friends, which meant their partnership would suffer a fatal blow, as well. The thought tore him to shreds, but Coop knew the only way he was ever going to get over her would be if one of them left the team.
Losing both Mac and the team would be crushing. But he also couldn’t work beside her every fucking day knowing, eventually, she’d be falling asleep in someone else’s arms.
“It’s almost time to start
pushing!”
Lexi’s excited voice made its way to them as she half-walked, half-jogged back to them. Mac followed behind the other woman, her movements much slower. Her eyes looking everywhere but at his.
Things between them were so awkward, now. And it was all his fucking fault.
Lexi took a moment to catch her breath when she reached them. “The doctor said it’s going much faster than normal for a first child, but that everything looks good. Olivia’s a total champ and Jake’s coaching her like she’s one of the team. They think the baby will be here within the hour!”
“That’s great.” Coop smiled down at the beaming woman before asking about her husband. “Hey, is Trev here? I haven’t seen him.”
“He had to stop for something work related. I’m not sure what, but I called him. He said he was on his way.”
Coop wondered if it had anything to do with Mac’s case.
While continuing to await the news, the room they were in looked like a junior-high dance. Guys on one side of the room talking shop and general male bullshit. Women gathered on the other in a group of chairs, smiling and laughing about who knows what.
Every once in a while, he’d catch Mac glancing up at him, but the second their eyes would meet, she’d look away. The more time that passed, the more confused he got.
Was he wrong to want it all? To want to work with the best partner he’d ever had and make a life with her? Put down roots of their own and start a family, like Jake and Olivia, and all the others?
It was an impossible decision to make in a room full of people. Especially with Mac sitting less than ten feet away.
He needed some space. To go away and figure out where the hell they went from here.
The thought had barely passed through Coop’s mind when Trevor entered the waiting room. After getting a quick kiss and a hug from his wife, he got an update on the whole baby situation and walked straight over to him.
“You got a second?”
“Sure.”
“Mac.” Trevor turned to where she was still sitting. “You’re gonna want to hear this, too.”
Her eyes slid to his, and Coop’s chest instantly became tight. Another sign that, once this case was over and he knew she was safe, they needed to spend some time apart.
Following Trevor’s lead, the three operatives stepped outside the hospital’s entrance for some privacy.
“You got something?” she asked anxiously.
“I do.” Trevor’s eyes were full of trepidation. Whatever he’d found, it wasn’t good. “I was on my way home from the office when Lexi called to tell me about Liv going into labor. I turned around to head here when Ryker called, asking me to come by Homeland to discuss some things regarding your case.”
Coop’s heart began beating a little harder. “What did he find?”
“His people have been running with the theory our shooter who took out Luca Marino had prior military experience.”
Coop frowned. “I thought that was a dead end.”
“So did I.”
“But…” Mac’s voice trailed off.
“But Ryker’s men were still working the military angle. Good thing, too, because they pulled records on everyone who’s ever been documented as having a known association with your uncle and Marino. Including his most recent legitimate business associates.” Trevor paused. “Ryker just found out the Jersey City Police Department arrested a man for the murder of Luca Marino this morning.”
“Who?” Mac crossed her arms nervously.
“Henry Doyle.”
“What?” Mac shook her head. “That’s impossible.”
Sympathy shone in Trevor’s eyes. “Did you know Doyle served as a Marine sniper for seven years before he resigned his commission and attended law school?”
“That doesn’t mean anything. My uncle worked with hundreds of people over the years. Any one of them could’ve been hired to take out Luca.”
“But how many of them worked as closely with your uncle as Doyle? And how many of them worked years keeping your uncle out of jail?”
“Meaning?”
“He means Doyle has motive, Mac,” Coop explained what she refused to see.
“How is that motive?” She turned her denying eyes on him. “My uncle probably paid Henry hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years. It’s not like the guy’s hurting for money.”
“Actually”—Trevor stepped back in—“he doesn’t have as much as he’d like people to think.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Ryker ran Doyle’s financials, Mac. The guy’s in debt up to his eyeballs.”
“So is half the freaking country, Trevor.”
“There are records of several unusual cash deposits in Henry’s bank account. Their dates coincide with the days Doyle met with one particular client.”
“Let me guess,” Coop spoke up. “Marino was the client.”
When Trevor nodded, Coop watched Mac closely. Her wheels started to spin, but she quickly shook the possibility away. His broken heart ached for her and the perceived loss she was fighting so hard to accept.
She doesn’t want to believe Doyle would hurt her.
Mac lifted her stubborn chin. “Even if he borrowed money from Luca, and that’s only speculation at this point, that still doesn’t mean Henry killed him.”
“But he could have,” Coop pointed out.
She begged him to explain what, in her eyes, was unexplainable. “Why would Henry kill Luca if the guy was loaning him money?”
“Maybe he had no way of paying him back,” Coop tried to make her see reason. “His only way out was if Luca were to die. Or maybe Doyle was looking to benefit from Luca’s death in some other way.”
“Like what?” Mac swung her gaze back to Trevor. “Was he listed on the guy’s will or something?”
“Ryker didn’t mention it.”
“Okay then.” Mac shrugged as if that settled the whole thing.
“This could be about something else entirely.” Coop looked at the other two. “Maybe Marino was trying to screw Doyle on some sort of deal and Doyle got pissed.”
Trevor mulled it over. “It’s possible. It’s also possible Ryker’s on the right track. Henry borrowed money from Marino and couldn’t pay it back, so he killed Marino before the guy could take him out.” Trevor gave Mac an apologetic look when she glared at him. “I’m not saying he did, or that Ryker or the cops found irrefutable proof. All I’m saying is the pieces fit.”
“Trevor’s right, Mac.” Coop looked at her. “I know you don’t want to believe Henry would blackmail you, and I understand why. But think about it. Doyle’s been in business with your uncle for decades.”
“So?”
“He was around back when you were living in that house. He could’ve known about the hidden money and somehow figured out you took it.”
“Fine.” Mac began playing Devil’s advocate. “Let’s say Henry did know I took the two million. Why wait this long to try to get it back from me?”
“Maybe he didn’t need it before now. Like you said, your uncle paid him really fucking well. Maybe his financial struggles are recent.”
“I still don’t think—”
“The timing fits, Mac,” Coop interrupted her latest denial. “The guy’s desperate. From what Trevor just said, he’s most likely in debt to Luca and God only knows who else. Then, after all his years of service to your uncle, all his hard work keeping his ass out of jail, the guy got nothing. Not one, single cent. Instead your uncle left it all to you, the one person who betrayed him and walked away from the family legacy.”
“If I were Doyle, I’d be pissed,” Trevor agreed with Coop’s theory. “Plus, Tony’s death gave him the perfect opportunity. Your uncle’s gone, he takes out Luca…the only one left is you.”
Keeping his eyes on Mac, Coop continued with his and Trevor’s line of thinking. “You said Luca Marino was listed as the secondary beneficiary. With you both gone, someone with the kind of bac
kdoor legal knowledge Henry would be able use the system to work in his favor. To justify taking over the estate as the attorney who’s handled it for the past thirty-plus years.”
“I was with Henry. Twice.” Her saddened eyes met his. “Outside the church and again when the three of us had lunch. He never said a word about the money or acted out of sorts in any way.”
“Of course he didn’t. There were a lot of people at that church, Mac,” Coop pointed out. “At lunch, too. Hell, I was sitting right next to you. The guy’s not going to come out and admit to blackmailing you in front of me or any other witnesses.”
Mac shook her head but stayed quiet. Coop wanted to reach for her, give her a hug and tell her it was okay, but he kept his hands in loose fists at his sides.
Even though things between them were fucked—quite possibly beyond repair—the pain crossing over her face the second she realized everything he’d said made sense gutted him.
“He got agitated.” She looked back up at him. “At lunch, when I told Henry I was leaving town that next day, he seemed upset. Remember?”
Coop nodded. “He kept trying to talk you into staying in town longer.”
Her shoulders fell, and he knew Mac had finally accepted what he’d been saying as truth.
Henry had been the one person from that time in her life she thought she could count on. The only one who’d given her any semblance of comfort when she had no one else to turn to. And most likely, he was also the person who’d deliberately put both their lives in danger.
“Are they going to keep him in custody or will bail be set?” Mac asked quietly.
“Depends on what they find out once they talk with him.”
Right on cue, Trevor’s phone started to ring. After pulling it from his pocket to see who it was, his gaze rose to Coop’s before landing on Mac’s. “It’s Ryker.”
“Put it on speaker,” Mac demanded.
“Hey, Jason. I’m here with Mac and Coop. We have you on speaker.”
“Good. They’re both going to want to hear this, too.”
Holding the phone between them, the three R.I.S.C. operatives listened closely to what the Homeland agent had to say.
“The feds are now involved in the case against Henry Doyle.”