She juggled the grocery sacks on her arm as she turned the key in the doorknob and walked into the house.
“Mom? I’m hom—”
She stopped mid-sentence, staring dumbly at the scene in front of her. Penny sat in one of the chairs in the living room…with Jobe sitting on the sofa sipping a glass of iced tea. With mint. Mackenna blinked. Twice. Still not believing her eyes. What the hel—
“Mackea, loo who ca ta see me?” her mother said proudly, smiling at having a visitor.
Mackenna, still too stunned to say anything, just stared. Her mother’s smile began to droop, so Mackenna quickly forced a smile on her face as she held her mother’s gaze, refusing to look at Jobe.
“I see, mom. Um…let me get the groceries put away while you…um…visit.” She hustled into the kitchen before her mother could see her frustration. Why is he here? What is he up too? And why in the hell did she have to let him in?
Hands shaking with anger as she tossed the frozen items into the freezer, she then shoved the vegetables into the refrigerator. So filled with her own thoughts, she never heard anyone approach.
“Mackenna?” came Jobe’s voice from behind her.
“What?” she shouted as she raised up, hitting her head on the still open freezer door. “Auggghh!” she screamed as she fell to the floor holding her head, sure that blood would start running everywhere.
Jobe rushed forward, kneeling, and quickly assessing the knot on her head. “Oh doll, I’m sorry. Here let me see.”
She wanted to push his hands away from her and tell him not to call her ‘doll’, but the splitting pain in her head had her hoping she was not going to throw up on his shirt.
He slid down taking her in his arms, with one hand wrapped around her middle and the other grabbing the frozen peas that were on the floor and holding them to her head. He said nothing but rocked her for a moment, allowing the pain to slowly subside. He felt her body begin to relax into him, but did not know if it was because she was comfortable with him holding her or because the pain had her addled. Probably the latter, he assumed. In a few minutes he knew he was right when her body went stiff as she struggled to get out of his hold and try to stand.
Refusing to let her fall, he held onto her as she stood before reluctantly letting go. He saw the trail of a few tears before she quickly brushed them away.
Before either could speak, Penny walked into the kitchen, seeing the freezer door standing open, Mackenna with a pained expression on her face, and Jobe holding on to the pack of peas.
“Ya shudn leave tha freeza doo open,” her mother chastised, much to Mackenna’s chagrin.
“I was just closing it, mom,” she said, trying to keep the exasperation out of her voice. She glared at Jobe, but his handsome face never lost its smile.
“Ya stay fa dinna?” Penny asked as she shut the freezer door.
Jobe watched Mackenna’s eyes widen at her mom’s suggestion and he wanted nothing more than to do just that. But it was too soon. One step at a time.
“Thank you, Mrs. Dunn, but I have to be getting back.” He walked over giving Penny a hug, allowing her the time to lift her right arm to hug him back.
“I’ll walk you out,” Mackenna said, a forced smile on her face. “Mom,” she yelled, “I’ll be right back and then fix dinner.”
He stepped to the side to allow Mackenna to exit the room first and tried to keep his eyes off of her ass as she walked ahead of him to the front door. Oh yeah, she’s pissed.
Mackenna managed to wait until they were off of the stoop and walking toward his truck when she whirled around, poking him in the chest with her finger.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, coming here like this? Invading my privacy, not to mention invading my mom’s privacy?”
He glanced down at her small finger and lifted his hand to gently remove it from his chest and hold it in his hand. “Your parents meant something to me and I felt like shit when you told me your dad died,” he said.
She stepped back but did not pull her hand out of his grasp. “You’d have known about it if you’d never left, so I don’t care how that made you feel,” she accused.
“You’re right, I would have. And for that, I’m so sorry, doll. But I wanted to see your mom and let her know that I was sorry about her loss. Your parents had a marriage like mine did…strong and happy. And I couldn’t take away the fact that I didn’t know, but I could pay my respects.”
Still glaring, she sifted through his words searching…and finding truth. “You still shouldn’t have just dropped in. Mom’s…better, but…”
“I know, but she seemed fine with the visit. I know what you’re thinking. That I also didn’t know about her stroke,” he said, still gently rubbing her hand with his fingers.
“Were you able to…um…understand her speech?”
“Yeah, actually very well. I realized right away that she had had a stroke and she seemed self-conscious at first, but we began to talk.”
Mackenna’s eyes darted away, clouding with sadness.
“I kinda got the feeling that she was lonely,” he added. Her gaze jerked back to his, the sadness replaced with anger again. Fuck, it’s like walking on a verbal landmine!
“I’m doing the best I can, Jobe. We moved to Richland so she’d be closer to the rehab center and I managed to rent this house that has everything on one floor. She really didn’t want to live in an apartment with no view of trees or flowers. I know the neighborhood is kind of crappy, but it was the only thing I could afford. She had a day nurse that was with her full time and has made so much progress that the day nurse only has to be here three mornings a week.”
“Doll, I wasn’t criticizing. It just seemed like she was happy for the company,” he assured, but noticed that she was still upset.
“I know she needs to get out more, but I can’t do that and work full time. And if I’m not working full time, then she might not get the health care that she needs. Don’t you see,” she pleaded angrily, “I’m doing the best I can?”
“I can tell you are. She’s happy an—”
Suddenly Mackenna jerked her hand out of his, seeming to realize for the first time that he was still holding it. “Don’t call me doll. And don’t patronize me. And…and…just go away,” she said, trying to hold back the tears that were prickling behind her eyes.
Jobe looked down at his feet for a moment, before sighing. “I really fucked things up, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did.” Both stood, nervously looking at each other. Mackenna stared at the large man in front of her, opening himself to doubt and recrimination. The ex-girlfriend in her wanted to rail at him some more for breaking her heart. The counselor in her wanted to know what had changed the man so much that he would turn his emotions off to the point that breaking up with her was all he could do. And the woman in her wanted to take him in her arms. Still. After everything, she wanted to hold him once again.
Forcing her arms to stay at her sides, she lifted her chin and said, “I do thank you for visiting my mom and for expressing condolences about my dad. I need to go in and make sure she’s all right and fix dinner.”
He saw the proud stance, recognizing it as one he had adopted many times. The corner of his mouth turned up in a small smile. “You’re welcome. I hope to visit again sometime.”
She neither accepted nor denied, for which he was glad. At least she’s not throwing me off of the property.
With her body still stiff as a board, he walked by, touching her hand once more as he passed her on his way to his truck. The feel of her soft skin stayed with him as he drove away.
Mackenna stood on the walk for a moment after he had left, her hand still warm from his touch.
*
After dinner, Mackenna was washing the dishes when her mom moved behind her, wrapping her right arm around in a hug.
Smiling, she said, “I love you, mom.”
“Lu ya too, baby ga.”
“Oh, I haven’t been a baby g
irl in a long time,” Mackenna protested.
“Ya alwa be to me,” her mother said, with one last squeeze.
Sitting at the table, Penny peered at her daughter. “Tak ta me?”
Sighing deeply, Mackenna faced the window looking out into the small backyard at the setting sun. “Something happened over there, mom. He never told me and wouldn’t tell me. He just sent me a Dear John email and no matter how many letters or emails I sent back begging him to not break up with me, he stayed firm.”
She turned, leaning her hip against the counter and stared at her mom’s sympathetic expression. “I was going to wait for him…fight for him. But that next month dad got cancer and it just seemed like the next year was a blur. I was finishing college, sitting with dad when he had chemo and trying to help you help dad. And then a year later, daddy was gone. By then, I didn’t care what Jobe Delaro had gone through. I was worth more. We were worth more than just him tossing us away.”
She gave a little shrug and finished wiping down the counters. Her mother was quiet and she wondered what was going through her head.
“Ya da wa in Vie-nam,” she said, struggling with the words. “He came bac not good.”
Staring at her mom, Mackenna realized that she had never heard this story. “Do you know what happened to him, mom?”
Shaking her head, Penny replied, “Na. He sad. Na sleep. Som-ti mad.” Lost in her thoughts for a moment, she then said, “It hur ta see him like tha.”
“What did you do? How did you survive?” Mackenna whispered.
Her mother gave a lopsided smile. “I jus lov him. Tha wa all I knew ta do.”
As her mother stood, Mackenna embraced her, holding tight. “I love you, mom.”
Later that night after her mother had gone to bed, Mackenna pulled her laptop onto the bed with her and began looking up sites on PTSD and soldiers. So much of the information she had seen before, both on the news and in articles, but none of it seemed to fit Jobe. So many talked about disengaging from work or friends. That’s certainly not him. Depression. Lack of energy. Nope, not him either.
Then she dug a little deeper and found that the symptoms could vary considerably from patient to patient. Detaching from loved ones. Difficulty imagining a future. Fear of losing control. Becoming workaholics. Now that describes him.
Reading a little more, she was vaguely aware of the sounds of a car backfiring on the street, piercing the quiet of the night. Then the shattering of glass. Shit, it’s gunfire!
Dropping to the floor, she threw open her door and crawled toward her mother’s bedroom. “Mom, Mom, don’t move,” she screamed. Her mother’s room was at the front of the house and she could see the window was shattered. Crawling through the glass on the floor, she glanced at the bed finding it empty.
“Mom?” she screamed again.
“I hea,” came her mom’s voice from behind. “I wa in ba-room.”
“Stay down,” Mackenna yelled as she crawled back to the hall, hugging her mom. Once out of the sight of windows, she grabbed her cell phone dialing 911. Quickly explaining the process, she pulled her mom back down the hall.
Instinct kicked in; assuming this was a gang drive-by she wanted to warn the center. Little John did not answer the phone, so she scrolled through her contacts to see who she could call. Jennifer. She can tell Gabe, who can have someone check the cameras.
She dialed Jennifer and told her what had happened, but before she could get out what she needed, Gabe came on the line.
She told him that the police were on their way to her house, but she was scared for the center. He assured her that Alvarez Security would take care of the center but wanted her to stay put until the police arrived. “Are you away from the windows?” he barked.
“Yes, we’re in the hall. I hear the sirens now.”
Chapter 7
Jobe pulled himself out of the pool as he finished his late night swim, working his body to exhaustion in an attempt to ease his mind. Just as he reached for his towel, his cell phone buzzed. It seemed an odd time for Gabe to be calling.
“Yeah?” he answered.
“Get over to Mackenna’s. There’s been a drive-by shooting. She and her mom are okay. Tony’s sending Terrance and Vinny to check on the center and the rest of us are meeting at her house. He’s coordinating with Matt and Shane.”
“Goddamnit,” he growled. Grabbing his gym bag, he jerked off his trunks and pulled on his boxers and jeans after quickly toweling off. Throwing on his t-shirt, he then slid his feet into his boots. Snagging his keys and wallet off of the bench, he headed out to his vehicle.
*
Within a few minutes of getting off of the phone with Gabe, the police had entered the house immediately finding Mackenna and her mom. Penny was unharmed but shaken, while Mackenna’s knees and hands were bleeding from the broken glass she had crawled through.
An ambulance arrived about the same time that the house began to fill with others. Mackenna was taken to the kitchen so that the EMTs could work on her cuts. One of the policemen walked in to inform her that the detectives from the Drug Task Force would be in to see her as soon as she was patched up. Nodding, she had just looked down at her legs when two men came into the kitchen accompanying her mother. Assisting her mother into a chair, they introduced themselves.
“Ms. Dunn, I’m Detective Matt Dixon and this is my partner Detective Shane Douglass. We’re with the Richland Police Department’s Gang Task Force. Your mother has already answered some ques—”
“Please don’t tire her out. I can answer your questions for you, Detective,” Mackenna quickly interrupted. She noticed his warm eyes and could tell that he understood this was difficult on her mom.
Mackenna explained her work with the New Beginnings Center and admitted that she had called the police several times when she felt that there was a possible threat. Before they could continue their interview, she heard a commotion at the front door.
“It’s okay, Officer. Alvarez Security is allowed in,” she heard someone say.
“Where the hell is she?” came a familiar voice, now raised in anger. Before she could respond, Detective Douglass yelled, “Back here.”
Within a moment, her small kitchen was made smaller. Jobe came sprinting into the room, followed by Tony, Gabe, and Jennifer. While she looked on incredulously, the two detectives greeted the Alvarez men as old friends.
Jobe’s eyes landed on hers immediately and he did a quick body scan. The EMTs were still working on her cut hands and legs, but they appeared to be mostly bandaged. His gaze took in her baby-blue sleeping shorts and matching camisole underneath the blanket she clutched. Her face was pale and eyes were wide with shock.
He slid his gaze over to Penny, noting a similar expression on her face. Walking over to her, he squatted down so that he could be at face level.
“Mrs. Dunn? We’re going to take care of everything now,” he said softly, noticing that her face relaxed slightly. He introduced the others and then, giving her shoulder a squeeze, he stood and nodded at Jennifer, who moved to sit next to Penny.
Jobe stalked over to the table where Mackenna was perched. His gaze dropped to her legs and hands as the EMT finished her bandaging.
“I picked out the glass and got them clean. I’d advise seeing your doctor to get an antibiotic just in case of infection. You up on your tetanus inoculation?” the EMT asked.
Mackenna’s eyes never left Jobe’s as she nodded her answer. As the EMT moved away, Jobe stepped into his place, moving closer than he would have allowed anyone else to stand.
“Ms. Dunn?” Detective Dixon interrupted. “I’ve just talked to Tony and Gabe here and have an idea of what’s going on at the center.”
She gasped, looking over at him. “Is there a problem? Did something happen there?” she asked, trying to hop down from the table. Finding her way blocked by Jobe, she glared at him. “Let me up,” she ordered.
“Not fucking likely, doll,” came his response. “No way are you going c
harging over there after what just happened.”
“No, no. It’s fine,” Matt said. “I just mean that you’ve had some suspicious cars drive-by over there, although without any violence.”
“That is if you discount Ms. Dunn’s penchant for chasing gang members with a baseball bat,” Tony added.
That statement brought another round of questions from Matt and Shane, and much to Mackenna’s embarrassment, a great deal of chastising.
“I get it! I know it was stupid, but I was just so angry that I reacted. Which is really crazy because I never let myself get that angry.” She glanced over at her mother and the realization of what could have happened swept over her. Pushing against Jobe again he stepped back so that she could move, gathering her mom in her arms. In a moment, she felt her mom’s right hand soothing her back. As the adrenaline wore off, her cuts began to hurt, and she tried valiantly to not cry in front of the group of men.
“Who di thi?” her mom asked, looking up at the men in her kitchen.
Mackenna noticed the glances between the others before Shane answered. “Ma’am, there was a painted sign on your front walk. Sixers.”
Penny appeared confused as she heard Mackenna’s sharp intake of breath.
“Gabby’s gang,” Mackenna said. Turning to look at her mom, she said, “I’m sorry. My work has brought this to our door.”
“Ms. Dunn, we’re going to need the information you have on all of the girls that you serve at your center. We need to know which gangs they’re from and anything else you can provide. But we can get that tomorrow,” Matt explained.
Shane spoke up, “You can’t stay here tonight. The police will be processing the crime scene for a while and it’s not safe.”
“We’ve got them,” Tony said. “They’re under Alvarez Security protection as well as yours.”
Shane and Matt nodded appreciatively. Looking back down at Penny, Shane said, “Then ma’am, you couldn’t be in better hands.”
Jobe: Alvarez Security Series Page 7