But it was really no surprise. It carried through with the theme of her life. The things she longed for—even though she’d tried to keep from doing so—were always out of her reach. And even when some of those things had appeared to be within her reach—like having a family with the McKinleys—she’d always known that they were never truly hers to claim. The only reason they welcomed her as they had was that they assumed that her mother—the woman Doug McKinley had had an affair with—was dead. The secret would always keep her from becoming close to them, and no doubt, if they ever found out that her mother was still alive, they would never become closer. And, in fact, might distance themselves from her.
Trying to push down the slightly sick feeling that had replaced the butterflies, Alicia slid off her stool to help Meredith finishing setting the table. She didn’t know what exactly her place was in the new reality of her life, but she was going to try and just enjoy it for as long as it lasted.
13
Marcus pulled his car to a stop in the driveway and let out a sigh of relief that he was home. Thankfully, the meeting hadn’t dragged on too long. Now that Alex was married and his wife, Rebecca, was pregnant, the meetings they were both involved in—especially at the end of the day—didn’t take as long as they used to. Alex was more eager than ever before to get home to his growing family. And for the first time in a long time, Marcus also felt an urgency to get home.
He greeted Derek as he walked in the door, watching as the man armed the system now that all of them were inside the house. “All clear?”
The other man nodded. “Nothing out of the ordinary. And I checked in with Emmitt at BlackThorpe who’s been monitoring the network here. All is secure there too.”
Marcus nodded his understanding and then headed for the kitchen with Derek by his side. In the year since he’d hired the man to protect Meredith, he’d quickly become one of the few people that Marcus trusted completely. He knew that Derek would lay down his life for both he and Meredith, but, of course, Marcus hoped it never came to that because he genuinely cared for the guy. Like Alex, he was someone Marcus considered a brother.
As they walked into the kitchen, Marcus immediately felt the remaining stresses of the day melt away when he spotted Meredith and Alicia. He was at a loss to explain why seeing Alicia brought about such feelings. Part of him wanted to try to analyze it, but then there was a part of him that just wanted to embrace it without understanding it all. And what was even more surprising was that he was actually considering doing just that.
“Hey, Marcus,” Meredith said with a smile. “Hungry?”
“Very.” Marcus took in the amount of food that Meredith and Alicia were transferring to the small table that they used in the kitchen in lieu of the bigger one in the formal dining room. “Looks like you’ve cooked enough for us and the rest of BlackThorpe.” He turned toward Derek. “Did our guest get some of this?”
Before Derek could answer, Meredith said, “Yes. Derek took food up to him. Is he a prisoner or something?”
Marcus glanced between his sister and Derek. “Why would you think he’s a prisoner?”
“Well, Derek won’t let me talk to him, and he’s not allowed to leave his room.” Meredith lifted a brow. “That kind of says prisoner to me.”
“That actually says injured person,” Marcus said as he took off his suitcoat and draped it over the back of a barstool. He loosened his tie and began to roll up his sleeves. “He was hurt and needs some time to recover.”
“So at some point, I’m going to get to meet him?” Meredith motioned for the other two to sit down before taking her own seat.
“Yes, at some point,” Marcus said. “But for now…let’s eat.”
As had become their habit, Derek said a prayer for the food before they ate. The first time they’d all shared a meal together, Derek had silently bowed his head and prayed before eating. It wasn’t long before Meredith had asked him to pray before each meal. Ever since, he’d just gone ahead and prayed whenever they sat down to eat together.
Once Derek finished praying, they began to load up their plates. Marcus noticed that Alicia took a little bit of everything. Fried chicken. Mashed potatoes. Macaroni and cheese—homemade. Caesar salad. Fresh rolls. Pork chops in a mushroom sauce. It was way more than Meredith usually cooked, but it seemed that she was eager to impress Alicia. And Marcus was the happy recipient of her efforts. Especially when she brought out cream puffs with whipped cream filling and a rich chocolate frosting on top.
“I think you need to teach me how to cook,” Alicia said. “This is all amazing, Meredith.”
Meredith straightened and smiled, her pleasure clear on her face. “I’d love to teach you. It’s a lot of fun.”
“Don’t let Meredith fool you, though,” Marcus said as he pushed his empty dessert plate away. “She has fed me plenty of underdone or burnt meals. Hasn’t done that recently, but when she first started cooking…wow, those were some interesting attempts.”
The conversation during the meal had been light with Meredith and Derek doing most of the talking. That wasn’t too unusual. Marcus was well aware of the fascination that Meredith had for Derek. If it were any other man, he might have had a problem with it, but he knew that Derek was a good man. He didn’t encourage Meredith by flirting with her, which Marcus appreciated. He wasn’t as sure about how Derek felt about Meredith, but there were moments when he thought he caught the man watching her with affection. As far as he was concerned, the man’s feelings for Meredith was a good thing. Should he have to, Marcus didn’t doubt that Derek would do everything in his power to keep Meredith safe. And that was what he wanted above all else.
Well, except that now Alicia’s safety had risen in priority as well. As he observed her interacting with Meredith, Marcus found himself focusing on her dainty features and the way they rarely changed. He noticed once again how little Alicia showed of her emotions. There was the odd slight brow lift or quirk of a lip, but other than that…nothing. As he relaxed back in his chair and took a sip of his coffee, he wondered what it would take to get her to the point where she trusted them…him…with her emotions and feelings.
Then his thoughts went to the request he’d made of Trent, and he knew that if she ever found out about it, she’d never trust him. Which put him in a difficult position. Was there a threat that Alicia was trying to manage on her own? One that had inflicted the damage that now showed on her face? If he chose to accept her version of what had happened and told Trent to not go through with his investigation, was she going to be at risk?
He had to decide what was more important: her safety or gaining her trust.
“You should come with us,” Meredith said, interrupting his thoughts.
“I don’t know.” Alicia was actually showing emotion now as her brows drew together and she briefly caught her lower lip between her teeth. “I’ve never really done anything like that before.”
“It’s perfect,” Meredith exclaimed with a big smile. “Since there are four of us, we have two pairs. I can teach Derek, and Marcus can teach you.”
“I can teach her what?” Marcus asked, obviously having missed the beginning of this conversation while his thoughts had been on Alicia’s situation.
“Dancing. I think Derek and Alicia should come with us tomorrow night. They’d have fun. We always do.”
Meredith was right. Tuesday nights were the one night where he just let go. For a couple of hours, he wasn’t a co-founder of BlackThorpe. He wasn’t a boss, responsible for the safety of many. He wasn’t anything but the big brother of a sister who loved to ballroom dance. He hadn’t anticipated being her partner when he’d first started taking her to classes. But it wasn’t long before she’d talked him into dancing with her. It had become surprisingly therapeutic for him.
Alicia glanced over at Derek. “Have you gone dancing before?”
Derek shook his head. “I’m pretty sure I’d have two left feet.”
“Come on, Derek,” Meredith s
aid. “I think you’d actually have fun. You just have to give it a try.”
Again, Derek shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Marcus considered what Meredith had suggested and decided that he liked the idea. Maybe Alicia would find the same relaxation in it that he did. And he couldn’t deny that the idea of holding her in his arms and moving with her to music was appealing.
“Just come once, and if you don’t like it, I promise that Meredith will never bug you about it again,” Marcus said.
Meredith made a noise of protest but didn’t say anything.
“Okay. If Alicia goes, I’ll go.”
Alicia sighed and looked at Meredith. Clearly, she knew of the other woman’s crush on Derek, and it looked like she was going to take one for the team. “Fine. But whoever I’m dancing with better wear steel toe shoes.”
“Right.” Derek chuckled as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “Steel toe boots all around.”
“I will have you know,” Marcus began, “that I haven’t stepped on Meri’s toes in several years.”
“I would imagine that’s because she knows where to put her feet correctly,” Alicia remarked as she picked up her mug and cupped it in both hands. “My toes, however, will most likely be in the wrong place more often than not.”
Meredith took the time to tell Alicia about the place where they went to dance. They had moved on from classes for the most part. Since they’d been going for years, they usually only went for lessons when Meredith decided that she wanted to learn a new dance. She tended to have favorite dances but occasionally ventured to the classes to try out one of the dances they hadn’t mastered yet.
As they worked together to clear the table and put the many leftovers away, Marcus realized that he had a sense of contentment that he couldn’t recall ever having before. There was a lot of uncertainty hanging over their heads with the threats, but right then, Marcus refused to let it affect what he was feeling.
“Our guest was asking to speak with you,” Derek said in a low voice once the table was cleared.
But just like that, reality was back.
Marcus nodded. “Let’s go to the office.”
He gave Bond a pat on the head as he walked out of the kitchen, leaving Meredith and Alicia chatting with newly refilled mugs of coffee. A glance at Derek showed that perhaps the man was as reluctant to leave the kitchen as he was.
“I got him a game console and some games that he requested.”
“Video games?” Marcus asked as he sat down in the chair behind his desk.
“Yep. When I said he wasn’t allowed anything with a network connection, he asked for video games.”
“But don’t you need a network connection for that?” Marcus didn’t play video games himself, but he’d heard others at the office talk about playing together online on their consoles.
“I told him he had to pick stuff he could play without a connection. Trent helped me with all of that.”
Marcus nodded. He would definitely be the one who would know best. “Did he say anything else about the Mastermind?”
Derek sighed and shook his head. “The man either really doesn’t have more knowledge than what he’s given us or he’s better at hiding things than most people.”
Frustration replaced the contentment from earlier. He had really hoped that with time, Jeff would see that blood was thicker than water and do what was necessary to protect them. Marcus pushed back from the desk and got to his feet.
“I’m going to go have a chat with him.”
“Do you need me to come along?” Derek asked.
“No. I’ll be fine.” Marcus headed for the door. Derek followed him but then veered off toward the kitchen where he could still hear murmurs of conversation.
He didn’t bother knocking on the door to Jeff’s room. The man looked up as Marcus walked in. A scowl took over his face as he pressed a button on the controller in his hand and set it aside.
“Am I prisoner here?”
For a moment, Marcus saw flashes of Meredith in his expression. The scowl was a familiar one since, even though Meredith could be docile, there had been plenty of opportunities for his younger sister to sport the same expression over the years. In spite of the attitude being thrown his way, Marcus was glad that the young man seemed to have suffered no ill effects from the drugs that had been pumped into his system.
“No, you’re not a prisoner.” Marcus walked further into the room. “I brought you here first because you needed medical care, and I wasn’t sure we wanted to deal with the questions that would arise if we brought you to a hospital. The theft of the laptop alone would have landed you in some pretty hot water.”
Jeff picked the controller back up and turned it over in his hand, his gaze down. “I suppose I should thank you for that.”
“I didn’t do it for thanks.” Marcus put his hands on his hips. “You’re my brother.”
Jeff didn’t respond to that.
“What did the Mastermind promise you if you helped him?”
He continued to turn the controller over in his hands. Finally, he looked up. “He said that once we got into the BlackThorpe system, we would be able to gain access to the bank accounts and he was going to give me money.”
“How much?” Marcus asked.
Jeff’s gaze slid away from his. “Enough to pay off my family’s debt.”
“And how much is that?”
Jeff’s shoulders slumped, and he let out a long breath before he gave Marcus a number.
“Did the man threaten your family?”
“Not directly.”
Marcus heard the hesitation and the fear in Jeff’s voice. “Do you want them to come here? Or should I arrange for them to be taken somewhere safe?”
“My mom would lose her job if she moved or had to go away.”
“What does she do?”
Jeff glanced up at him. “She’s a librarian.”
Marcus had hoped that she worked at a job that he could help replace either in BlackThorpe or through his connections. Unfortunately, a job at a library wasn’t something he could find so easily. “I will put guards on your family to make sure that they are safe even as they go about their lives.”
He saw the man swallow hard before nodding. “Thank you.”
“I’m not your enemy, Jeff. I lost almost all my family when our father died. For whatever reason, he felt the need to kill the people he should have protected. What happened was not your fault, and it was not my fault. It was our father’s fault. You and your sisters are family now, regardless of how we came together. I will do what I can to take care of you all, just like I do my sister Meredith.”
Jeff continued to sit in silence for a few moments. He set his controller down and got to his feet. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he straightened and looked Marcus in the eye. “Thank you. My mom doesn’t know what I was doing. She thought I moved here for a job.”
“If you need to call her, I can give you a phone. You were dumped without yours. Did you have things at an apartment?”
Jeff nodded. “But it was provided to me. It was part of the deal I had with the guy.”
“Where is it? I’ll have some of my guys head over there and pack up your stuff and take a look around. Is that okay with you?”
“It’s okay for me to keep staying here?” Jeff asked.
“Of course.” Marcus hesitated. “I haven’t told my sister about you. She is…” He sighed. “She suffers from some PTSD. She has a support dog named Bond. I’m not sure how she’ll take the news of who you are and what our father did. I hope you’ll understand if it takes some time for her to warm up to you.”
Jeff’s brows drew together. “I just assumed that you both were away from the property when it happened. Was she there?”
Marcus debated telling the man the truth. They had managed to keep some details of the murder/suicide from the public. The press release had just said that all the people at the cabin had been killed. The med
ia wasn’t told that there were two survivors—that Meredith and Beth had witnessed the final act of the horrific event—although some details had been leaked over the intervening years
“Yes. She and our cousin, Beth, were both there, up in attic of the cabin. They came downstairs just at the end, and Meredith saw our father shoot himself. Of course, they both saw the carnage left behind. Beth has somehow managed to move forward in her life, but Meredith has been much more…fragile. If you’re going to be a part of her life, you need to be a positive one.”
Jeff nodded. “I understand. I would feel the same way about my sisters.”
“I’ll talk to her tonight and see how she takes it.” Marcus turned to go. “I’ll bring you a phone if you’d like.”
“Yes, my mom is probably very worried.”
“I’m sure that’s true. I’ll send Derek back with the phone. Do you need anything else?”
When Jeff shook his head, Marcus left the room and headed for the stairs. He was trying to figure out how to present the situation to Meredith. It probably would have been best to do this with her counselor present. He contemplated calling her but decided not to. There was really no easy way to present this to Meredith, but she had seemed stronger lately. Unfortunately, there was a chance that even if she had grown stronger, this could set her back.
Marcus let out a sigh as he stepped off the last step and turned toward the kitchen. He found the space cleaned and empty so headed for the next likely place his sister would be.
As he walked toward the sunroom, he called Derek and had him take one of the burner phones he kept on hand to Jeff. When he walked into the sunroom, he found both Alicia and Meredith there. Alicia had obviously taken a trip up to her room. She had changed out of her work clothes into a pair of leggings and a T-shirt. They once again had a puzzle between them.
Meredith smiled at him as she sat back, a puzzle piece still in her hand. “Where did you go?”
A Sense of Security: A Christian Romance (BlackThorpe Security Book 6) Page 18