Maverick (Carter Brothers Book 5)

by Lisa Helen Gray

  “Mummy?” Faith calls, her voice scared and wary. “Are you sad?”

  I wipe my tears away, wincing at the stinging sensation. “I’m fine, sweetie.” My voice is raspy, broken, and I know there’s no hiding my red-rimmed eyes.

  “Do you want a cuddle? Cuddles make everything better.”

  A soft laugh escapes me as tears run down my cheeks.

  “I’d love nothing more than a cuddle from my favourite girl,” I whisper before slipping into bed with her.

  I wrap her in my arms, holding her close. I tense from the pain, gritting my teeth through the worst of it.

  “Is the bad man gone, Mummy?” Her soft voice sounds scared, worried, and it tears my heart in two. I hate that she’s carrying this burden, this nightmare. I wish I could erase her memories like they do in that vampire TV series Tish made me watch.

  “Yeah, sweetie, he’s gone,” I lie. I still have no idea where he is, and that’s what scares me the most. He could come back at any moment.

  “Because Maverick scared him?”

  My breath hitches when she mentions him. No one has heard anything from him since he left the hospital over six hours ago. He’s reading messages; that much we do know. I haven’t been able to check my phone. Mason said he packed it, but I’m too tired to search for it.

  “Something like that,” I murmur, absently running my fingers through her hair.

  “He really is our guardian angel,” she whispers.

  “Huh?”

  Where the hell did that come from?

  “Nanny told me in my dreams that she sent us Maverick to protect us.”

  “Oh, sweet girl,” I say, choked up as I pull her closer, ignoring the pain. Tears fall from my eyes so I close them tightly, trying to hold them back.

  “Goodnight, Mummy. I love you.”

  “I love you too. Always.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  MAVERICK

  My office is dark, dim and cold, just like my current mood. Everything in here is disorganised, making it look more like a storage room than my office.

  “It’s been two days. You need to go home and get some proper sleep,” Evan tells me, pacing the only clean spot in my office. “Max said you haven’t been home, and Teagan’s beginning to worry.”

  “I’ve slept. And I can’t go back, not yet,” I mumble, concentrating on the CCTV photos I had printed off, hoping I missed something before.

  “Why?” he snaps. He takes the seat next to me on the sofa, but I keep my eyes on the task at hand, trying to ignore him. But I know ignoring him isn’t going to cut it. He’s not going to give up, not by a long shot. Explaining to him what exactly is bothering me though is like talking to a brick wall. He just doesn’t get it. None of them do. I’ve had all my brothers trying to call me, leaving messages and voicemails, but my mind’s been occupied with trying to find the fucker who attacked Teagan. I’ve wanted to go back home every time it’s gone off, and time in between has been just as hard, if not worse, since all I’ve wanted to do is check in on Teagan.

  But she’s the reason I’m doing this. She’s the reason I’m not going back until this is done.

  “Because I can’t go back there, not until that prick has been found. I won’t be able to look Teagan in the eye and tell her he’s still walking the streets. It’ll break her. I’m not failing her. I just can’t,” I snap back.

  “We’ll find him―”

  “Yeah? Looks like it.” I throw the photos on the table and he flinches. “It’s been two fucking days, Evan. Two fucking days and every time I think I’m close, I’m not. I’m back to the fucking start where I don’t know shit. I’ve got everyone I know on this and they’re finding fuck all.”

  He sighs, shaking his head like he doesn’t know what to say.

  “They just want you with them. From what Kennedy said, Faith is having trouble sleeping. She hasn’t gone to school since the attack because she’s too afraid to leave her mum alone. Oh, and she’s wondering where the fuck you are.”

  I rub at my chest, above my heart. Hearing how hard this has been on both of them isn’t making the guilt go away; it’s just making the thirst for revenge heighten.

  I know they need me, but I failed them. I failed my brothers once, leaving them to live in fear. I won’t let that happen to those girls. I can’t.

  I open my mouth to tell him just that when my phone beeps. I look down at the screen, my pulse spiking when I see Darell’s name flashing.

  Darell is a friend of a friend who finds people, and not long lost relatives. When I was given his number, I called him, not hesitating or caring what it would cost me.

  DARELL: Got a lead. That guy you’re trying to find is hiding out at 45 Westcline Avenue.

  “Fuck,” I growl, ignoring Evan’s curious stare. I get up, grabbing my jacket and car keys, not saying a word.

  “Um, where the fuck are you going?”

  “I’ve got something to do so I can get back to my girls,” I answer, leaving him sitting there. By the time I exit the office, I hear him following, cursing about something under his breath.

  *** *** ***

  “For fuck’s sake, Mav. Are you going to tell me where we’re going or what?” Evan asks, sounding more exasperated than he did the first time he asked.

  I ignore him, skidding to a stop outside number forty-five. I turn off the car before getting out, slamming the door behind me.

  “We’re going to a party? You should have brought Max.”

  “Yeah, we’re going to a party,” I say, and instead of knocking, I kick the door in.

  “What the fuck,” Evan shouts as startled screams echo from the front room.

  The place stinks and I grab the first bloke who tries to get in my face, pulling his jumper down to see if he has the tattoo. He doesn’t, so I fling him across the room just as more people start to scream, startled.

  I move through people, not caring if they’re innocent or not. There are lines of coke on the table, along with other shit and the room is filled with smoke. It’s fucking disgusting.

  What has me pausing is the little girl in the corner, a blanket tucked up to her chest with her thumb in her mouth. Her tattered, unbrushed hair covers most of her face, but it’s clear she’s malnourished. She looks frightened, her large, brown eyes wide with fear. She can’t be more than three. I glare at the motherfucker sitting next to her, presuming it’s the kid’s mum.

  I walk over, grab the beer bottle out of her hand and throw it behind me. The woman looks stoned, high off whatever other drugs she’s taken and I grunt, disgusted.

  “Get your fucking kid out of here.”

  “M-my kid?” she asks, looking around in a daze.

  “Yeah, her,” I say, pointing to the kid still in the corner. She hasn’t even blinked or run off, as if she’s used to this scene playing out, and that breaks my fucking heart.

  “That thing ain’t mine. She’s―”

  “She’s nothing to do with you. Who the fuck are you?”

  I turn to the voice, my eyebrows rising in a challenge. His eye is bloodshot, a light bruising around the eyelid. My look down to his hand―Teagan mentioned biting him―and find teeth marks with angry bruising around the edge. He smirks, tilting his head and that’s when I see it, confirming my suspicions. Evan must see the tattoo seconds after me because he curses, shouting my name.

  “You’re dead,” I tell the bloke in front of me, my voice calm and deadly.

  I push a drunken idiot who couldn’t move quickly enough out of the way and fly at him, bending down low at the last second, surprising him. He grunts, falling onto the coffee table, causing it to collapse beneath us. Bringing my arm up, I slam my fist down, breaking his nose. Blood spurts out, splashing in my face, and I grin maliciously.

  I’m gonna kill him.

  “What the fuck?” he says, punching my side. I don’t feel it, rage taking over and clouding my vision.

  “Who sent you to hurt Teagan?” I ask, slamming his head aga
inst the splintered wood.

  “You’re him.” He grins, blood staining his teeth.

  I rear back, confused. It gives him the leverage he needs to push me off. He knocks me to the side, my hip banging against the shaggy carpet.

  “Fuck,” I roar when he lands a punch to the side of my face as he rolls above me. I spit out blood before landing a punch of my own to his jaw. The feeling of my fist connecting with his flesh brings some form of satisfaction, but not enough to pay for what he did to Teagan.

  “This is going to be so much fun.”

  His response pisses me off. I kick him off me, my anger rising to the surface as strength I didn’t know I had takes over. I pounce, landing on him, straddling his hips as I throw punch after punch until his head rolls to the side.

  “Who the fuck sent you to hurt her?” I roar in his face.

  “You’ll find out soon enough,” he sneers before coughing.

  “Tell me or God help me, I will fucking kill you.”

  He laughs maniacally before headbutting me, catching me off guard. Stars explode behind my eyes, knocking me back on my ass. The prick goes to come at me, but before he can reach me, Evan steps in, pulling the bastard away.

  That’s when chaos erupts in the rundown house. Police swarm in and Evan announces who he is. Everyone―well, everyone who hasn’t already run―starts to rush out of the house, avoiding the police officers who try to stop them.

  “Pigs are here,” one fool shouts, and footsteps upstairs are heard.

  I sit back, wiping blood away from my split lip. Evan walks into my line of sight and I look up.

  “Come on, bro. It’s done.”

  “It’s not done. It’s not done until we find out who sent that tosser,” I snarl.

  An officer walks up behind Evan, clearing his throat. “Sir, do we have a problem here?”

  “No, we don’t,” I snap.

  “No. He’s just… upset,” Evan says, wincing when he sees the look on my face. I grunt, not looking amused. I’m more than fucking upset―I’m livid. I want to tear that fucker limb from limb until I get my answers.

  “We’ll need you to come down to the station.”

  “Um, no you don’t. I’m going home, somewhere I should have gone two days ago,” I say, standing up. This was a waste of fucking time. This Lynn bitch could just send someone else.

  “If you don’t come with us, we’ll have to arrest you.”

  I open my mouth to argue, to tell him to go ahead, but Evan steps in, calming the situation. “How about I follow you to the station and give you my statement. You can come and get Maverick’s tomorrow. He’s been trying to find this man for days. He attacked Maverick’s fiancée at her home while their child was there. All he wants to do is go back to her and let her know everything is safe,” Evan partially lies.

  “Okay, but we’ll need to come and get a statement off you in the morning.”

  I nod, not trusting myself to talk. When he walks away, Evan turns to me, a scowl on his face. “You could have fucking killed him. What in the hell were you thinking?”

  “He fucking deserved it. Hell, he deserves to fucking rot in hell for what he’s done. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t do the same if it was Kennedy,” I snarl, pushing past him and making my way outside.

  “You’re right. I would eliminate anyone who touched her. But he could press charges against you. There are too many witnesses.”

  “Let him. I don’t give a fuck. Now if you’ve finished going all mum on me, I’ll be going home.”

  “I’ll see you in the morning. Oh, and Mav? Clean your face up before you see your girls,” he calls back before walking over to the officers.

  Fuck!

  I never really thought about my face or what it might look like to Faith. Let’s just pray I don’t scare the shit out of her. I don’t want her to be scared of me.

  I thought I’d feel more… I don’t know, relieved? But there’s a tightness in my chest that won’t go away. I feel like I’ve just opened Pandora’s box and there’s no telling what’s going to come out of it.

  Getting in my car, I sit back, running my fingers through my hair. This doesn’t feel like the end. Nowhere near.

  Starting the car, I drive the ten-minute journey before pulling up outside mine. Most of the lights are off except the kitchen, which means, one of my brothers is up.

  Great!

  Getting out, I head up the small path and let myself in as quietly as possible.

  “You’re back,” Myles breathes, looking relieved. Then he sees my face and takes a step forward. “What happened to your face?”

  “Got into it with someone who deserved it,” I tell him, scrubbing a hand over my face.

  “You found him?”

  Looking at him, I see the exhaustion from worrying about me. I guess I’ve given him every reason to. Myles has always been the gentle one, the one who constantly worries about everyone else.

  “Yeah, the police have him.” He sighs in relief, dropping down onto the kitchen stool. “After I kicked his ass.”

  He looks up sharply. “Mav….”

  “It’s fine. They’ll be here in the morning to take my statement.”

  “Will they arrest you?” he asks, panicked.

  I shrug. “No. It’s all good.” I tell him, when I’m not actually sure what will happen. I just don’t want him to worry. “Everyone else asleep?”

  “If you’re asking if Teagan and Faith are asleep, then they should be. Although, I did hear Faith crying over an hour ago.”

  I wince, feeling like shit for disappearing for two days. Now that my head is clear and I’m thinking straight, I’m worried about how she’ll react when she does wake up. I just pray she’ll understand my reasons.

  “How are they?”

  “They’re getting there. I don’t think it’s really sunk in for them yet. Faith has been having trouble sleeping, but I think that’s to be expected considering the circumstances.”

  “Yeah,” I murmur, absently. “I’m gonna go up, clean up a bit.”

  “Yeah.” He sighs tiredly. “I’m gonna lock up and do the same.”

  “Why are you up?”

  “Harlow saw the lights on when Faith woke up and thought we were awake so she snuck over. I heard her and she made me go with her to McDonald’s.” He rolls his eyes, chuckling.

  I shake my head, my lips twitching before telling him goodnight. I make my way upstairs, my body aching and calling for the shower.

  Once I’m showered, finally washing all the blood and grime off me, I pull on a pair of joggers and head into the bedroom.

  As soon as I enter, my eyes drift straight to Teagan and Faith who are asleep. The sight is beautiful and it takes my breath away. Faith, bless her heart, is cuddled up to her mum, her legs spread wide―one over her mum’s stomach and the other taking up most of the bed. Teagan looks peaceful, her cherry-red lips shaped in a pout. The only signs that the incident took place are the bruises covering her face. I have to admit they look worse than they did two days ago, but at least the swelling has gone down. It still doesn’t calm the raging inferno going on inside me over what happened to her.

  Faith stirs in her sleep, shaking me from my thoughts. I watch, smiling as she untangles her legs from her mum and moves so she’s cuddled up to her instead, her head on the same pillow.

  Lack of sleep catches up to me, and with a yawn I contemplate where I should sleep since Faith is in my bed.

  One more look at my girls and I know I need to be with them. Moving around the bed, I flick the light off and get into bed, keeping Faith between me and Teagan. Looking at them both, knowing they’re mine, it feels like I have the whole world in the palm of my hand.

  Gently, I kiss the top of Faith’s head before leaning up on my elbow and sliding the hair out of Teagan’s face.

  “Maverick, is that you?” she whispers. In the moonlit room, I notice her eyes are still closed.

  “Yeah, darlin’.”

  “Are
we safe now?” she asks, still in the midst of sleep.

  “Yeah, baby, you’re safe now.”

  She sighs contently, hugging Faith tighter. “Thank you.”

  “I’d do anything for you,” I whisper, not knowing if she can hear me or not.

  “I love you,” she mumbles before falling into a deep sleep.

  My heart stops as I stare down at her, wondering if I really heard her whisper those words.

  When I finally snap out of it, she’s snoring lightly, while my heart is beating rapidly. I can say with utmost certainty that I’m fucked.

  Severely fucked.

  I think I may love her too.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  MAVERICK

  “Maverick? Maverick, are you awake?” I groan when I hear the whispered words against my ear and roll onto my stomach, trying to block her out. Not that it works, of course. She’s persistent. “Maverick?”

  This time when she calls me, my shoulder is being nudged lightly by tiny hands. Opening one eye, I find Faith a little too close for comfort and grimace. Biting the inside of my cheek does nothing to hide my amusement over her adorable face scrunched into a frown.

  “Good, you’re awake. I’m hungry.”

  Blinking away sleep and the bright morning sun shimmering through the windows, I roll onto my side, grabbing Faith around the waist. She squeals loudly as I pull her back against my front, holding her close.

  “Shush, squirt. Let’s get more sleep. Maverick’s tired,” I grumble hoarsely.

  Faith giggles, wriggling her body to try and get out of my grasp. “Stop being silly, Maverick.”

  I sigh, coming to terms with the fact that she’s never going let me go back to sleep. How Teagan always manages to sleep through her is beyond me. She really does sleep like the dead.

  “Okay, squirt, you win this time. Give me five minutes to wake up and I’ll make you some breakfast.”

  Turning in my arms, Faith looks up at me with her bright brown eyes, looking innocent like she always does, melting my heart. The wide, excited smile she had seconds ago slips, turning into a pout. Her chin wobbles, her eyes glistening with tears.