“I’d torture you.”
“What!”
“Yeah, for making me play these stupid games,” he grunted.
“He’s right, she’s obsessed with games like this.” I laughed. Every day I had been out on a job with her, she came up with a new game to play.
“I know.” He huffed. “Drives me crazy, she’ll text me in the middle of the night expecting me to play.” He rolled his eyes.
“And I’d let Kay go.”
“You would?”
“Yeah, she’s got a kid.” He shrugged. “Kids need their moms.”
Kitty nodded then but didn’t say anything else. I felt like I was intruding on a private moment.
Luke’s face looked haunted as he turned away from Kitty. I was sure he didn’t let anyone see that look on his face.
I looked away.
“I think you should turn it off,” I said to Evan.
His face looked somber as he pressed a few buttons and sat there, his eyes focused on the now blank screens.
“Well,” I said and stood. “That was fun.” I scanned the warehouse, only just now realizing that Ty could have caught us spying.
“Mmm.” He looked at me, his eyes shining bright. “Do you think every kid needs a mom?”
I was startled at the question. “Err…”
“I didn’t have a mom but I turned out okay. Right?” he asked with wide eyes.
My heart broke for him; I knew how he felt. I sat back down and reached for his hand.
“My mom died when I was seven.” I started and took a deep breath. I hadn’t talked about her in so many years. It felt strange.
“She did?”
“Yeah.” I shrugged. “Sometimes I wonder if it was a good thing to get seven years with her or whether not knowing her would have been better.”
“I never knew my mom.” He looked out into the warehouse. “I was adopted as a baby.”
I let go of his hand and leaned back.
“So you had an adoptive mom?”
“No.” He shook his head.
“I don’t understand.” I frowned.
“I had two dads.” He looked back at me. I tried to keep the shock off my face but his knowing twinkle told me I wasn’t successful.
“I don’t think you do need to have a mom, but…” I stood and patted his shoulder. “Having two parents who love you are better than one who was there but didn’t care.” He opened his mouth but I turned and went back to the office.
I didn’t need to think about my own parents. What I needed to do was make sure that I was the best mom I could be to Eli.
That’s all that mattered.
I didn’t care what happened to me.
Chapter Thirteen
“You need to wear this every time you go out on a job,” I stared at the radio Ty handed me with wide eyes. I’d seen them sat on the charging unit in the office but I hadn’t used one before.
“I have to wear it?” I hadn’t had to wear one when I went out with Ty or Kitty.
“Yeah, don’t matter who you’re with, you need to have it on.” He turned, started to walk out of the office but stopped.
“Come on.” He waved his hand in the air.
“I didn’t have to wear one before,” I said to his back as I followed him through the warehouse.
“It’s different now.” He looked over his shoulder at me “Your part of the team.”
He pressed his hand against the palm reader to the safe, a light flashing behind his hand followed by a soft click that echoed throughout the empty warehouse.
“We’ll need to get your hand scanned and put into the system,” he said as he pulled the door open.
“O-o-kay,” I stuttered.
I came in early this morning, knowing today was the first day that I was officially going out on surveillance. I’d been nervous all night and I hadn’t slept at all. I’d gone to bed early but all I did was toss and turn.
It was different when I went out on surveillance before, I was just there as an extra. Now I had to be able to do it properly, it made me sick to my stomach to think that I wouldn’t do a good enough job.
That I’d let Ty down.
I hadn’t known what to wear this morning. I’d gone back and forth so many times that I’d decided to bring normal office clothes in with me. In the end I’d pulled on my black skinny jeans, chucks and a white vest top.
I’d told Ty this when he walked into the office a couple of minutes ago and he had laughed, full on throw your head back laughter. He’d told me that I could wear pajamas to work in the office and he wouldn’t be bothered as long as the work got done.
His eyes flashed when he looked me up and down, so I’d say he liked the skinny jeans. I’d pretended not to notice and looked through my bag.
Ty pulled open the door and stepped inside. I stood and watched as he bought things out and placed them onto the meeting table. After three trips, he closed the door and scanned his hand on the palm reader again. Two beeps signaled that it was locked.
I followed him to the table and stood, eyes wide at all of the items he had set down.
“Put this on first.” He handed me a black t-shirt. I opened the plastic wrap and pulled it over my head. It was the same that they all wore, black with ‘MAC SECURITY’ written on the front. Evan was the only one who didn’t wear them, instead he wore bright colored t-shirts with slogans on the front.
But he rarely left his computer so it didn’t matter.
“You’ll put everything on this belt.” He handed over a black leather belt, several pockets hanging off it and small flaps that had press studs on them.
I pulled it open and wrapped it around my waist.
“No,” he said and moved forward. “Like this.”
I sucked in a breath as he took the belt from me and bent down, his face level with my- “You need to have it at the right height.”
His long fingers grazed along my stomach, the two layers of fabric didn’t stop the shiver that rolled through me.
“So that you can grab things easily.” He pulled it tight, fastened it together and looked up at me.
It was only then that he realized where his hands were. He glanced at his hands then back up. My heart hammered when I heard his sharp intake of breath.
His brows furrowed as he stood up and moved back a couple of steps. I couldn’t move as I watched him pull his beanie hat off his head and rake his hand through his hair.
I’d noticed that he’d only do that when he was stressed.
“What was I-” He pulled his hat back on and picked up another item off the table.
“You need a flashlight…baton…spray.” He picked them up and turned to me.
“Where do I put this?” I held up the radio that he’d given me in the office.
“On the left of your belt there’s a holster for it.” I looked to the left but couldn’t see one big enough for it.
“Toward the back.” I twisted to the side and found it, pulled the flap open and pushed it inside.
I felt Ty move to the other side of me and looked up to see what he was doing.
“Just gonna put these-” I nodded at him and pulled the wire from the radio up to my neck.
“Baton on your right, spray next to it and cuffs in the back.”
“Will I need the cuffs?”
“Better safe than sorry,” he said. I agreed, but I had no idea how to use any of this stuff.
“Is that pepper spray?”
“Yeah.” He nodded and moved back to the table.
“I’ve got you a bullet proof vest.” My eyes widened as he held it up.
“Could I get shot?” I gasped.
He looked down and shifted on his feet. I’d never seen him so uncomfortable.
So… nervous.
“Well, it can be dangerous sometimes.”
“Corey,” I said out loud. The look on Ty’s face said it all. “He talked to you didn’t he?”
He shrugged and picked up the last thing
on the table, a small notepad with a pen pushed into the spirals at the top. I took it from him and pushed it into the last pocket next to the radio.
“I can’t believe he would-”
“He’s just looking out for you,” he said in a firm voice. I wanted to tell him how ridiculous it all was, but it was best to keep my mouth shut.
“I don’t even know how to use these.” I waved at the belt, its heaviness surprising me.
“You’ll learn,” he said and sat down.
“But what’s the point if I can’t use any of it yet?” I sat down in my usual seat next to him.
The belt stopped me from leaning back so I perched on the edge of the chair. It already felt uncomfortable, I didn’t know how they wore them all day.
“You need to get used to how it feels.” I guessed that made sense.
We had our usual meeting. All the guys commented on how I looked. Now that I knew what was on my belt, I noticed the different things that they had on theirs. They each carried a stun gun on their belts and a gun concealed somewhere else. Ty was the only one who had one on his belt, although I suspected that he had another one somewhere else.
I’d have to remember to ask Ty about that later. Then I thought better of it, I didn’t know if I’d have the guts to fire an actual weapon.
Everyone moved when the meeting ended, Ty said he needed to get the case file we would be working on today and headed for the office.
Evan walked to me and held out two devices, I took them and raised a brow at him.
“That’s a camera.” He pointed to the bigger one “It’s got loads of memory and is covert enough that it can be mistaken for a phone.”
I smiled at him. “Thanks, Evan.” He shrugged, his cheeks turning pink.
“It will come in handy when you’re on surveillance.”
“What’s this one?”
“That’s a works phone.”
“But I’ve already got a phone.” I held it out to him but he stepped away.
“No, you need one just for work, you know for meetings and stuff.” I opened my mouth to say something just as Ty walked back out the office.
“It’s got a tracker on as well, you know, just in case.”
“Let’s go.” Ty walked passed me, held the door open and waited.
“Thanks again for these.” I held them up in the air at Evan and pushed the phone into my front pocket of my jeans.
“Welcome,” he said as he shuffled off to his computers.
I slid past Ty. Knowing that we’d be going in his monster SUV, I waited at the passenger door for him to unlock the doors.
“Here,” he said from behind me.
I jumped when his fingers grazed my neck, the rough callouses making me shiver. His breath hot on my neck. It confused me how he could get this kind of reaction out of me, I’d never felt this kind of connection with anybody.
Even when me and Max first got together I didn’t feel anything close to this.
I felt the ear piece go into my ear. Then he was gone and the lights flashed on the monster.
I shook my head and pulled the door open. What did I think he was going to do?
*~*~*
We sat and watched the same house for an hour. It’s exterior exactly the same as the rest of the houses that lined the street. Each garden was immaculate, the grass a green that could only be achieved with some kind of chemicals. Not one thing was out of place, not even a lone wrapper floating down the street.
It was the epitome of suburbia.
We followed David Rangle all over town, he’d stopped at several different places until he pulled into one of the driveways and went inside.
His file was open on my lap. We were watching for any suspicious activity. But so far, I couldn’t see anything that would be suspicious. Unless you counted his obnoxious sports car, that screamed midlife crisis.
“What do you think he’s doing in there?” I asked.
“Really?” I looked up at Ty, he smirked at me and raised a brow.
I looked from the house to Ty and back again. When it registered I gasped.
“You think…”
“Yeah.” He pulled out his phone and tapped away at the screen before his body turned toward me.
I huffed and closed the file, I hadn’t learned anything that I didn’t already know from the five other times I’d read it.
“Oh look,” I whispered as he came out the house. His hair all over the place and shirt sticking out. I’d say that he had been up to no good for sure. I had a sneaking suspicion that she wasn’t his wife.
Would that warrant as suspicious activity?
Ty sat up straighter and waited for him to pull out of the drive, then followed at a distance.
“Make sure you write down how long he was in there” I pulled my pad out and wrote the time. I’d had to put down every place that he had stopped, the time he arrived and the time he departed.
I was just pushing it back in when I felt a vibration from my pocket. I lifted my butt up off the seat and pulled my phone out, not looking at the screen before I’d answered it.
“Hello?”
“Hi, is that Miss Anderson?”
“Speaking?” I asked, my eyes wandered to Ty who tilted his head a little with his eyes still on the road.
“Oh hi, this is Miss Cooper, from Eli’s preschool.” My heart hammered in my chest.
“Yes, hi,” I croaked.
“Eli seems to have become unwell, would it be possible for you to come and pick him up?” I swallowed past the lump in my throat. I hated it when he was sick, all I wanted to do was wave a magic wand and make it all go away.
“Yes, I’ll come and get him.” I pressed the end call button and pushed it back into my pocket.
The look on my face must have alerted Ty that something was wrong because he pulled off to the side of the road.
“Can you take me back to the compound?” I asked, my hands clutched together.
I didn’t know what to do, there was nothing worse than not being able to get there right away.
“Why?”
“Eli’s sick I need to go and get him.” Ty pulled back out onto the road.
“Did she say what was wrong?”
“No.” I shook my head, why hadn’t I thought to ask that?
I stayed silent as I stared out the passenger window not really seeing anything as we drove past houses and shops.
“Kay?” I turned to Ty, only now realizing that we were parked outside of the preschool.
I pulled off my vest and belt, not wanting to draw any unwanted attention. I jumped out of the car and ran inside, my eyes scanning the reception area for Eli.
He sat with a bowl next to him, his face ashen. How had he got so sick in the space of a couple of hours?
“Sweetie?” I bent down next to him and held my hand to his forehead. He was burning up.
I picked him up and stood, his head flopped into the space between my neck and shoulder as I held him tight.
He mumbled something that sounded like ‘I don’t feel well’ and pressed his face into my neck.
“He was fine one minute, then the next…” Miss Cooper grimaced as she stood from the seat.
“I’m sorry. He was fine this morning.” I readjusted Eli.
“I know,” she said then placed her hand on Eli’s back. “Get better soon.”
I turned and walked to the door. Ty was on the other side, he opened it as I approached.
“You okay? You need me to take him?” he said as we walked to the car.
“No, I got it” I said and waited next to the back door. Ty opened it and I placed Eli on the seat then went around to the other side.
“Fuck, he’s burning up”
“I know.” I slid along the seat and pulled Eli’s head onto my lap.
“You need to get medicine?”
“No, I’ve got some at home.” Ty nodded and closed the door.
I directed Ty to the apartment, but I had a suspicion that he
already knew where we were going.
Now that I thought about it, I was the only one who didn’t live on the compound. They all had their own places, though I hadn’t been inside any of them I had no idea who lived where.
I imagined Kitty living in the cottage, not too sure about Luke and Evan. But I did know that the big house with the wrap around porch was Ty’s.
Ty jumped out as soon as we pulled up to the apartment block and picked Eli up from the back seat. He was fast asleep and didn’t make a sound as we all went up.
I started to panic then, I couldn’t remember if I’d tidied the living room before we’d left that morning.
It was a stupid thing to think of but I couldn’t stop it.
“It might be a little messy” I said to Ty.
He shrugged and walked behind me to the apartment door.
“That way.” I pointed down the hallway when we were inside. Eli still fast asleep.
I walked behind and pointed to Eli’s room, Ty put him on the bed and I got to work on stripping him down to cool him off.
“Medicine?”
“Cupboard in the bathroom.”
Ty wandered off, I heard him rummage in the bathroom then he came back with several medicines.
“You’ve got a whole pharmacy in there.” I forced a laugh and took the bottles from him.
I didn’t tell him that I needed all those things, that my first aid kit was constantly being replenished. I’d rather he thinks I was one of those people who was prepared for anything but, in reality, it was far from the truth.
“Eli?” He rolled over as I poured some medicine on the spoon.
“Sweetie, you need some medicine.” He grunted and opened his mouth. I chuckled at him and held the spoon out.
I made sure he was comfortable and fast asleep before I moved. His small body looked so fragile paired with his pale skin.
“Probably just needs to sleep.” Ty said as he followed me to the kitchen.
“Yeah.” I blew out a breath.
“Oh damn, my car.” I spun to face him.
“I’ll get Evan to bring it over.” He pulled out his phone and tapped the screen. “Where are your keys?”
“In my bag.” I pulled open the fridge and grabbed two bottles of water.
“Here.” I handed him a bottle.
“Thanks.” He tapped away at his cell so I sat down at the table.
Fractured Lies: Book 1 MAC Security Series Page 11