by Susan Stoker
For the first time in a long time, she was furious. At the situation, at Ford saying something she knew. But as soon as the feeling swept through her, she pushed it away. Anger was what had pushed her brother away all those years ago.
“She can stay with me,” Colt said, successfully diverting Macie’s attention.
“What?” she asked.
“That’s a good idea,” the detective said.
Macie looked from one man to the other, not sure what to say.
“Macie, look at me,” Colt said quietly.
She turned to him.
“What do you want to do? What are you thinking?”
“I don’t want to stay here,” she blurted. “One of the guys was determined to get his hands on me, and not in a good way, if you know what I mean. But I don’t want to stay with my brother because he and Mary just got back together again, and I don’t want to mess that up. But I also don’t want to make him mad by staying with you.” Her voice dropped to barely a whisper. “The last time I got in a fight with him, I didn’t see him again for almost twenty years.”
And with that, Truck was at her side again. “Mace…what are you talking about?”
Macie bit her lip and couldn’t look at him. She stared at his shoulder instead. “We fought before you left for the Army, and you were so mad at me you never came home. You didn’t write or talk to me for years. I don’t want to do anything to make you that mad at me ever again.”
“Mercedes Laughlin,” Truck said gently but sternly. “Look at me.”
She didn’t want to. She really didn’t want to. She could already feel his condemnation. Her breaths sped up and she pinched her thigh again, trying to stave off another anxiety attack.
“Easy, Truck,” Colt said.
“Macie,” her brother said in a gentler tone, leaning closer but not touching her. “We fought the night before I left, but I was already over it by the next morning. Brothers and sisters fight. It happens. I was worried about you. You know I didn’t like that guy you were seeing. But we were teenagers. And I wrote you. For years. But when I didn’t hear anything back, I thought you were still mad at me.”
Macie’s head came up and she stared at her brother. “You did?”
“Yeah, Mace. I love you. I always have, and I always will. I even called. Several times. On Christmas. Your birthday. But Mom always told me you didn’t want to talk to me,” Truck said.
“I didn’t know you called,” she said in shock. “And I didn’t get any letters.”
Truck’s face got hard then. “Damn our parents,” he said under his breath.
“They said you never came home because of me. Because I was a terrible sister. Because of the—”
She caught herself and snapped her mouth shut at the last second.
“The what?” Truck asked.
Macie shook her head.
Truck sighed. “I was worried about you then, and I’m worried about you now. But I’m not mad at you. I just found you again; nothing is going to keep me from talking to you. From getting to know you better. I love you, sis.”
“But you don’t want me to stay with Colt. Why not?”
She watched as Ford took a deep breath. He looked over at Colt, then back to her. “You’re my sister. No one is good enough for you. I don’t like that I didn’t know you guys had gotten…close, at my wedding.”
Refusing to look at Colt, she somehow got up the nerve to ask, “Is he not a good person?”
She felt Colt squeeze her hand, but he didn’t interrupt or otherwise put in his two cents.
“He’s an amazing person,” Truck said immediately. “I trust him with my life. I have no doubt that he’ll take good care of you and make sure you’re safe. But you’re my sister. And I don’t like the thought of you being with any man. I didn’t like it when I was eighteen and you were dating that douchebag, and I don’t like it now.”
“I’ve dated,” Macie told him. “In fact, I just broke up with a guy before your wedding.”
“That’s not the point—” Truck began.
“Actually,” the detective interrupted. “I think that’s a great point, and one I was going to get to. Who is he? What’s his name? Could he have had anything to do with what happened tonight?”
Macie turned to look at the police officer. Amazingly, she’d forgotten he was sitting there listening. Her mind was still reeling with everything her brother had told her.
“Yeah, Mace. Who is he?” Truck asked, standing once more.
“We broke up a while ago.” The last thing she wanted to do was talk about Teddy.
“What’d he do to you?” Truck growled.
Macie shook her head. She really really didn’t want to discuss Teddy, especially not with Colt and her brother there. “Nothing.”
“Hon,” Colt said, “It’s okay. We aren’t going to judge you. We need to know if he had anything to do with this.”
She looked down at her leg and almost laughed out loud. Not judge her? She felt as if every single person she met, every single day of her life, was judging her…and finding her wanting. Intellectually, she knew it was probably the anxiety messing with her head, but what if it wasn’t? What if she really was an awful person?
She felt somewhat out of it after taking the Vistaril tablet, but not so out of it that she wanted to talk about what a colossal mistake she’d made in dating Teddy.
When no one said anything after a long pause, she sighed. They weren’t going to give it up. It was better just to get it over with. “I met Teddy online. He seemed nice. We started dating. He came over and watched movies with me a few times, but I never really felt comfortable with him. We went out for lunch one day, and I had an anxiety attack. He got embarrassed and left.”
“He left you there? When you needed him? What an asshole,” Colt said.
Macie looked up at him in surprise. His hand had tightened on hers and it was obvious that he was upset on her behalf.
“He came over later that night but I wouldn’t let him in. I broke up with him. He was upset, but he left without protest. I haven’t heard from him since.”
“What was his last name?” the detective asked.
“Dorentes.” Macie said.
“Theodore Dorentes?”
“Yeah.”
The detective whistled long and low.
“What?” Truck asked. “Do you know him?”
“Yeah, you can say that,” the detective said dryly. “Possession, possession with intent to distribute, assault, larceny, and disorderly conduct…to start with.”
Macie sucked in a breath. “Seriously?”
“Seriously,” the detective confirmed.
Macie turned to Colt. “I didn’t know. I swear I didn’t know.” Then she turned to her brother. “I didn’t!”
“Shhhh, we know you didn’t,” Colt soothed.
“Okay, so I think we know who ordered her house broken into,” the detective said dryly. “The question is why. What was he looking for?”
All three men looked at Macie.
She gulped and shrugged. “He was only here a few times.”
“He obviously stashed something somewhere,” Truck said.
Macie felt her chest getting tight and her fingers began to tingle once more. She looked around and didn’t see anything that looked out of place. “What? Where? I haven’t seen anything.”
“He probably hid it so you wouldn’t find it. Thought he could get it next time he came over, but then you broke up with him,” the detective mused.
“There are drugs in my apartment?” she practically screeched. So much for her anti-anxiety meds working.
“Why take so long to come back?” Truck asked.
The detective shrugged. “No clue. Maybe it wasn’t important until now. It makes sense that he knew about her safe room. I’m assuming you told him about it?” he asked Macie.
“No! I hadn’t been dating him that long,” she said vehemently. “But…” Her voice trailed off.
&
nbsp; “But what?” Colt asked.
Macie sighed. “One time when he was over I got up to get us something to drink and Teddy said that he needed to use the restroom. He was gone a really long time and I just figured he was having…you know…stomach issues. I didn’t want to embarrass him so I didn’t say anything about it.”
“He was probably snooping around looking for somewhere to stash whatever he wanted to hide. I’m guessing he was under pressure from another dealer and was desperate,” the detective said. “Then when Macie broke up with him he didn’t have an opportunity to get back into her room to collect his stuff.”
Macie shivered thinking about Teddy snooping around her place and finding her safe room. She wasn’t sure she’d ever feel safe again.
“I think we’re done here,” Colt said. “Macie’s about at the end of her rope. Truck, can you drive her car to Killeen? I can take her with me.”
Truck eyed his commanding officer for a heartbeat, and Macie thought they might start arguing right there, but eventually he gave a quick nod.
“You have nothing to worry about,” Colt told him. “Nothing is going to happen to your sister.”
“It better not,” Truck said under his breath. Then he kneeled next to Macie once more. He put his hand on her thigh, and the weight and heat of it felt good on her chilly skin. “Thank you for calling me tonight, Mace. I’m so glad you’re all right.”
“Thank you for coming,” she said.
“Anytime you need me, I’m here,” he responded. “And I know this will be impossible, but I’m asking anyway—forget everything our parents told you about me and about what happened back then. Not one fucking word was true. They are awful human beings, and I hate like hell that I didn’t try harder to stay connected with you. My only excuse is that I was young and dumb and didn’t want anything more to do with them. I’m ashamed that I thought for even one second that you might’ve had a good reason for not wanting to talk to me. I shouldn’t have let my feelings about them interfere with my relationship with you. And for that, I’ll forever be ashamed of myself.”
Macie’s eyes filled with tears. He was right, it was impossible to block out the years of hurtful words her parents had hurled at her. But she hated that he felt responsible for what happened.
“I should’ve come and seen you when you were injured.” Her eyes went to the gnarly scar on her brother’s face. “I didn’t think you’d want to see me. But you should know I cut off all ties with Mom and Dad when they got home from visiting you. They said some truly horrible stuff, and even though it was one of the hardest things I’d ever done, I told them that they were dead to me. I haven’t spoken to them since.”
Truck’s eyes closed for a second before he nodded. He stood and kissed the top of Macie’s head. “I’ll bring Mary over to see you tomorrow.”
“I’m not sure—” Colt started, but Truck interrupted him.
“Tomorrow,” he repeated firmly.
Macie looked from Colt to her brother, then back to Colt. He finally nodded.
“I’ll call Ghost and have him pick me up at your house after I drop off Macie’s car,” Truck said, then he turned and headed for the front door of the apartment.
“After we check out this safe room of yours, my guys will be about done looking around,” the detective said, standing as well. “I think it goes without saying that if you find anything that doesn’t belong, don’t touch it and call me.”
Macie was nodding when Colt said, “We will. Thank you.”
Colt looked down at her. “You ready to go pack? I want to look at those scrapes too. Get them cleaned up before we get out of here.”
Macie swallowed hard and took a deep breath. Her head hurt and her fingers were still tingling, but the thought of going home with Colt comforted her. She stood up and swayed on her feet. She clutched the blanket around her shoulders when she’d sat down to talk to the detective and closed her eyes.
“Easy, Mace.” Picking her up as if she weighed no more than a child, Colt headed for the hallway which led to her bedroom.
Instead of worrying about whether or not he would drop her or where she should put her hands, Macie lay her head on his shoulder and kept her eyes shut.
It had been a long time, maybe forever, since she’d felt as calm as she did right now. Some of it had to do with the meds she’d taken earlier, but most of it was Colt. There was something about him that made her feel more grounded.
Chapter Three
Colt did his best to control his anger. He was pissed way the hell off. When he got his hands on this Teddy person, he was going to wish that he’d simply walked away from Macie. Seeing her hunched over in the chair and worried that Truck was going to leave and not talk to her again made him want to punch something.
He didn’t know her parents, but he hated them all the same.
He knew he had to get a handle on his emotions or he was going to worry Macie even more than she already was. He’d talked to his aunt about his cousin’s anxiety issues. There was a lot he didn’t understand, but he did know that this wasn’t something Macie could control. She’d constantly worry about any and everything.
But he had no problem reassuring her when she needed it. Being anxious wasn’t a deal breaker for him. From what little he knew about her, she was an amazing person. He’d looked at some of the websites she’d designed and was highly impressed. She was creative and generous, and he would do what he could to protect her from anything that might cause her distress in the future.
When he’d started thinking long term, Colt didn’t know, but he also wasn’t stressed out about it either. He’d connected with Macie when she’d been at his house after Truck and Mary’s wedding. He’d thought he’d have time to feed her breakfast and get her number so they could continue to get to know each other. At some point, he was going to have to ask why she’d left the way she had…but right now wasn’t the time.
He sat Macie gently on the counter in her bathroom. He leaned close and placed his hands on the cool tiles next to her hips and waited for her to open her eyes. It took several moments, but when she finally brought her beautiful brown eyes up to his, he wasn’t prepared for the jolt of electricity he felt.
Bringing one hand to her cheek, he was encouraged when she tilted her head and rested it on his palm. “You okay?” he asked softly.
She nodded and said, “No.”
He smiled at the contradiction. But he had a feeling she was being completely honest. “Where is your first-aid stuff?”
She lifted her head and gestured to a cabinet behind him.
Colt got to work getting the Band-Aids and hydrogen peroxide ready. When he turned around again, he had to take a deep breath. He’d purposely kept his mind off the fact that she was wearing only a tank top and a pair of short-shorts. But she’d dropped the blanket, and he couldn’t stop his eyes from tracking from her feet up her long legs to her curvy thighs. Her belly wasn’t flat, but she wasn’t overweight either. And her tits were lush and full. Even as he stared at her, he saw her nipples tighten under the cotton.
He finally looked up and saw she was examining him just as openly. Waiting until her gaze had traveled the length of his body, he finally said, “Let’s get you cleaned up so we can get out of here.”
She blushed when she looked up at him, but nodded.
Turning his thoughts away from how sexy he found her—but loving that she seemed to be just as interested in checking him out as he was her—Colt concentrated on cleaning the scrapes on her body. He put the bottle down on the counter and picked up one of her hands. The palm was scraped and red, and he hated knowing it was because she’d leapt out her fucking window into a tree. He hated every single bruise and mark on her smooth skin. Throughout his ministrations, she didn’t cry and didn’t make a sound. He knew he had to be hurting her, but she was stoic and calm as he tended to her wounds.
When he was finally satisfied that he’d cleaned the worst of her scratches, he helped her stand and wr
apped the blanket back around her shoulders. “You need help packing?”
She considered his offer for a second, then shook her head. “How long will I be staying with you?”
Forever was on the tip of his tongue, but he held back the word, knowing it would stress her out…and that it was crazy. “At least a couple days. We need to give the detective time to find Teddy and find out what this is all about. The police department will increase patrols of the area, but they can’t be here every minute. Those assholes who were here tonight will probably come back, and I don’t want you anywhere near here when they do.”
“Okay,” she said a bit hollowly.
Colt wasn’t too concerned about her tone; he had a feeling the pill she’d taken earlier was finally kicking in. She walked to the doorway of the bathroom, then turned back.
“Um…while I’m changing and packing some clothes, will you do me a favor?”
“Anything,” Colt said immediately.
That got a smile out of her. “What if I asked for something crazy?” she retorted, with a tilt of her head.
“I’d do what I could to do whatever you needed,” Colt told her.
She shook her head and a small smile curved her lips. He loved that he could make her smile after everything she’d been through.
“What do you need, hon?”
“In my safe room is a box. Will you get it for me? I’d like to take it with me…if that’s okay.”
“Of course it is. Can I ask what’s in it?” He was planning on checking out this safe room of hers anyway. He knew the cops had checked it for anything Teddy might’ve left, but he wanted to look at it himself as well.
“It’s nothing expensive or illegal,” she said. “It’s just a shoebox of keepsakes. Stuff from when I was younger and from college and stuff.” She shrugged. “It’s not a big deal, but I’d rather it not get destroyed if those guys come back.”
Colt was curious as to what keepsakes she had that meant so much to her, but he didn’t want to push. “Anything else?”
“Can I bring my computer? And my work files? Oh, and there’s a box of CDs and my headphones in the other room that I’d love to bring with me, if possible.”