Mac turns down the quiet, side road that leads to the warehouse.
I’m not sure I like the idea of just hiding out in a warehouse while he’s out there doing… whatever it is he has to do…
Is it better than Mama Dae’s house?
I guess I’m going to find out.
Mac parks next to one of the giant garage doors.
I get out of the car and follow him to the door.
Inside, I’m overwhelmed once again by the sight of all his vehicles.
“Come here, sweetie,” he says.
He takes my hand and walks me to another door.
He opens it and there’s a table in the middle of the floor.
“You can hang out here if you want,” he says. “The most important thing is you have to keep the main doors shut, okay? But the rest of the place is yours.”
“To do what?” I ask.
“Whatever you want,” Mac says. “Write a story. Or a book. Draw something. Take a nap. Climb into the backseat of one of the cars and enjoy your own company.”
I slap his arm. “That’s something Taz would say.”
He hugs me. “I just need you here right now. It won’t be long. I just have-”
“Some business,” I say. “I know the drill.”
Mac steps back and touches my face. “If you really want to do something, think about what we have to do. What you have to do. We’re going to get the truth about everything together, sweetie.”
I nod.
Mac kisses me. “I’ll be right back.”
He slips out of the room.
I slowly turn and look around.
The floor is perfectly smooth concrete.
The walls are made of stone.
There’s no windows.
There’s nothing on the walls either.
It’s like some secret room.
The fluorescent light above me has the faintest buzz and when my ears pick it up it becomes the most annoying sound in the world to me.
The table is solid.
I assume this is where Mac and his crew sit and make decisions.
It’s almost too much to believe.
But I have to believe it.
It’s Mac.
And I’m literally seeing it.
I step back from the table, shaking my head.
I bump into something and let out a scream.
That something… is a someone…
Hands touch my arms as I turn.
“What the hell are you doing in here?”
I want to scream but when I realize it’s just Taz, I catch myself.
He jumps back, laughing at me.
Les walks into the room next.
“What the fuck, Taz?” he asks.
“I’m just messing around,” Taz says.
“I don’t think it’s funny at all,” I say.
“You’re not supposed to be in here, darling,” Taz says.
“Mac let me in,” I say.
“Oh… well… then that makes it okay…”
“How are you doing, Jolie?” Les asks.
“I’m wonderful, Les,” I say. “I have no idea who tried to attack me in my apartment. I almost got caught by the cops. And apparently my father has been fucking someone on the side and is planning on running away with that person. Oh, and I’m still kind of pretending to be kidnapped…”
“Sounds like an adventure to me,” Taz says.
“Want to trade spots?” I ask.
“Yes,” Taz says. “Because if I become you then I’m best friends with Violet. And I can just cuddle up to her and pretend to be sad. Looking for a little kiss. Just one kiss on the cheek. Then another. Then another. Then one to her lips. Then I can-”
“I’m sorry I said anything,” I say.
Mac walks back into the room and looks around. “What’s going on?”
“Taz scared the hell out of Jolie,” Les says.
“Way to throw me under the bus,” Taz says.
Les shrugs his shoulders.
“We have to go,” Mac says. “We’re taking the truck.”
“You got it,” Taz says. He looks at me and smiles. “Good to see you again, Jolie. Of course I have to pretend I didn’t see you.”
I roll my eyes at him.
Him and Les leave the room.
Mac grabs my hand and walks me out of the room.
He shuts the door behind him.
He points to an SUV. “That one has an entertainment system in it.” He dangles a key in front of my face. “Obviously don’t start it in here.”
“Obviously,” I say.
“Just run it off the battery. You can watch anything you want. I’ll be in touch in a little while.”
He kisses me and walks to one of the big pickup trucks.
He gets behind the wheel and drives through the open garage door.
The door then automatically shuts.
That final boom of the door hitting the ground makes me feel lonely.
I look around the warehouse.
I walk to the SUV and climb into the backseat.
It’s actually not a bad setup at all.
The seats are leather and really comfortable.
The entertainment system works just like Mac said.
I’m able to watch anything I want.
Instead, I just put on some music.
I curl up on the seat in the giant hoodie I’m in and I try not to think about anything.
Which is impossible to do.
I can’t stop thinking about the truths Mac wants to find.
And I can’t stop thinking about Mama Dae.
I honestly don’t know if she’s a good person or not, but either way, she’s sick, suffering, and it’s only going to get worse.
My heart aches for her.
I shut my eyes and try to just listen to the music.
I start to feel really comfortable.
And tired.
So I keep my eyes shut.
When I open them again, I reach for my phone.
The time on the screen can’t be right.
I fell asleep for an hour?
I pop up on the backseat of the SUV.
I’m not one to take naps.
But I was just so comfortable…
Then again, what does it matter?
It’s not like I need to be anywhere.
I haven’t heard from Mac yet either.
I shut the music off and open the SUV door and climb out.
I have to find something else…
My eyes see the door is open.
The door to the room with the table.
I check my phone again.
Is Mac here?
I don’t see the truck he took.
He left his car parked out front though so maybe the truck is there too.
I walk toward the open door and peek inside.
“Hello?” I whisper.
There’s nobody in the room.
I walk to the table and look around.
The other door is cracked just a little.
There’s a room off this room.
Like the warehouse is some kind of maze or something.
I walk to that door and put my hand to it and open it.
There’s a safe on the floor.
And it’s open.
Someone is on one knee in front of the safe.
Someone in a hoodie with the hood up.
Someone with a stack of money in their right hand, slowly tucking it into the front pouch of a black bag.
“Mac?” I ask.
Someone jumps up and pulls out a gun and points it at me.
“Jolie?”
Ado lowers the gun and his eyes are wide with surprise.
“Jolie… what the hell are you doing here?”
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
Ado looks at the bag.
He moves fast.
He drops to one knee again and hurries to shut the safe. He tosses his gun into the bag and zips it all up a
nd stands up.
“Just dropping stuff off,” he says.
But you took money…
“I thought you were kidnapped,” he says. “Am I see things? Did I hit my head?”
“Uh… no… I mean… you didn’t hit your head. I don’t think. I’m just waiting here…”
“How did you get here?” Ado asks. “Who took you? This is crazy?”
Ado moves toward me.
I move back.
“What’s wrong, Jolie?” he asks. “What’s going on here?”
“You… you tell me, Ado,” I say. “Are you supposed to be here?”
“Are you?”
“I’m supposed to be here. Mac brought me here.”
“Mac did?” Ado asks. “Wait a second… was this all…” Ado freezes and laughs. “No fucking way. He did this on purpose?”
I swallow hard.
I don’t know what to do or say.
How do I save this?
My eyes look at the bag over Ado’s shoulder.
I point to the bag. “What’s in the bag?”
“None of your business, Jolie,” Ado says. “I think we both just stumbled across something we shouldn’t have.”
I nod. “Yeah. I think so too.”
“So what do we do here?” Ado asks.
I keep stepping back.
I’m inching my way out of the room and into the open garage area.
In case I have to run.
My hand is locked on my phone though.
I take a deep breath. “You didn’t know about me?”
“No,” Ado says. “Nobody did.”
But I just talked to Taz and Les…
“Where have you been at?” Ado asks.
“I can’t say,” I say.
“Right. Of course.” Ado rubs his forehead. “We have to keep this a secret, Jolie. Okay? For both of our sakes.”
Ado slips past me.
He starts to jog.
I bite my lip.
Then I call out, “You took money out of the safe, Ado.”
He freezes.
“You didn’t put money into the safe.”
Ado slowly turns. “You need money to make money, Jolie.”
“No, you don’t,” I say.
Ado nods. “What would you do? Would you let your mother die in pain? Would you let her die at all?”
“That’s what you’re using it for?” I ask.
“Jolie, I have a gun in my bag,” Ado reminds me. “I put the gun away, remember? I respect Mac and the crew. That means I respect you too. But don’t think for a second…”
My phone vibrates in my hand.
I look down at it.
It’s a text from Mac.
I show Ado the phone. “That was Mac. They’re on their way back here.”
“Fuck,” Ado says.
He makes a run for the door.
I stand there and watch him leave.
Mac then calls me.
I don’t answer.
I don’t know what to say.
13
MAC
When the large garage door opens and I see Jolie standing in the spot where I need to park the truck, I smile at her.
She looks bold and badass.
But she looks pissed too.
Her arms are folded and her eyes are staring daggers and hatred at me.
“This can’t be good,” Les says to me.
I open my door. “You park it, Les. I’ll see what’s up.”
“Maybe she needs a kiss,” Taz says. “I’m willing to take the chance.”
I ignore Taz’s comment and jump down to the ground.
I walk into the open garage and open my arms.
“Miss me, sweetie?” I ask.
Jolie swings her right hand and slaps me across the face.
It kind of catches me off guard.
“Who knows or doesn’t know about me?” Jolie yells.
“What are you talking about?” I ask.
“Why did you bring me here if you never told Ado?” Jolie asks. “What about Aric and Raf? Do they know?”
I stare at her. “How do you know about Ado?”
“Answer my question first,” I say.
“This isn’t a fucking joke, sweetie,” I yell.
“I know that!” Jolie yells back. “Ado was here!”
“What? When?”
“Mac…” Jolie’s eyes move to the truck.
I look back and see Taz and Les watching.
“I need to know who knows,” she says.
“Everyone but Ado,” I say. “I didn’t want him involved in this. He’s not focused. I’m keeping him in the crew just to keep him busy at the moment. Okay?”
Jolie looks me in the eyes and shake her head. “No… it’s not okay at all…”
“What does that mean?” I ask. “Why the fuck was Ado here? What happened while I was gone?”
Jolie reaches up and touches my face. “Mac, you have a really big problem here…”
“Are you sure we should have her in here?” Les asks. “No offense, Jolie.”
“I was already in here,” I say. “Because of Ado.”
“Jolie is allowed in here,” I say as I crouch before the safe. “Don’t say another word about it, Les.”
“Don’t be a dick, Les,” Taz says.
“Fuck you, bro,” Les says. “Less is more with this shit.”
“I’m beyond being less at this point,” Jolie says to Les.
Les shakes his head.
I open the safe. “Tell me again what happened, sweetie.”
“I dozed off in the SUV,” Jolie say. “When I woke up I noticed the door was open. I came into the room and saw this room was open too. Ado didn’t see me at first. He was in a hoodie with the hood pulled up. I watched as he grabbed money and stuck into a black bag.”
“Fucking hell,” Taz says. “I’ll kill him with my bare hands.”
“Hold on a second,” Les says. “You saw him take cash, Jolie?”
“Les, if you insult Jolie one more time I’m going to break your jaw,” I say.
“I’m not fucking insulting anyone,” Les says. “I’m asking questions.”
“No more questions,” Taz says. “Let me find him.”
Taz moves and I snap my fingers at Les.
Les grabs Taz to stop him.
When Les touches Taz, Taz gets mad. He turns and pushes Les up against the wall.
Jolie lets out a scream.
I have to jump and get between them before they start throwing punches.
I have a hand around each of their shirts.
“Fucking stop it,” I growl. “This isn’t between you two. It’s all of us.”
“That piece of shit accused me of being short on cash,” Taz says.
“I know he did,” I say. “But I never thought for a second you were fucking around.”
“He should have never been allowed back here,” Les says. “Not after what happened with BFH. That was the line, Mac. He tried to-”
“I don’t care about that,” I say. “I care about right now.”
I release my hold on their shirts and go back to the safe.
“What happened next, sweetie?” I ask Jolie as I stick my hand into the safe.
“I thought it was maybe you,” Jolie says. “Ado jumped up and took out a gun.”
I look back at her. “He pulled a gun on you?”
“Yeah.”
“Can I go kill him now?” Taz asks.
“No,” Les says.
I ignore Taz and keep my eyes on Jolie. “A gun…”
“He just thought… whatever. He put the gun away quick. He was surprised to see me though.”
“He didn’t know about you,” Taz says. “We all decided on that.”
“So Aric and Raf know?”
“Yes, sweetie,” I said. “Fuck. Now he knows we lied to him.”
“No,” Jolie says. “He thinks it was just you, Mac.”
“We can play it off,” Les
says. “We can use that to lure him in.”
I nod. “That’s good. You can call him and tell him you found out about Jolie.”
“Or tell him we have to talk,” Taz says. “Tell him we’re pissed at you, Mac.”
“Play into that angle,” Les says.
I look through the safe.
Sure enough, there’s cash missing.
This isn’t just skimming the top of the pile either. This is fucking serious stuff.
A cut on cash is like stabbing Mama in the back.
And for all she’s going through…
I slam the safe shut and stand up.
“I wonder how much he’s taken so far,” I say.
“We have to stop this,” Taz says.
I look at Jolie. “What else happened, sweetie?”
“He was just shocked to see me. I fucked up though, Mac. I said you knew I was here…”
“That’s okay,” Les says.
“It’s fine,” I say.
“Okay,” Jolie says. “He told me he was putting money in the safe. Then he tried to leave. And I sort of called him out.”
“Called him out?” I ask.
“I didn’t want to just stand there and be fake, Mac. I’m tired of fake. I’m tired of hiding.”
Jolie looks ready to cry.
I slide my arm around her and hug her. “It’s okay, sweetie. Just tell me what you did.”
“I called him out,” she says. “I told him I saw him take money.”
I’m not sure if that was good or bad.
But it doesn’t matter.
Jolie’s right.
She deserves the chance to stick up for herself.
“Then what happened?” I ask.
“He reminded me had a gun.”
“Motherfucker,” Taz says.
“But then you texted me,” Jolie says. “As soon as I said that, he ran off.”
I kiss the top of Jolie’s head. “You were supposed to be safe here. You’re supposed to be safe with me.”
“I am, Mac,” she says.
“You’re not,” I say. “All these things fucking hitting at once…”
“We can handle Ado,” Les says.
“Call a meeting, bro,” Taz says. “Let us all figure this out together.”
I look at the safe.
I shake my head.
“We can’t hurt him too much,” I whisper.
“Why not?” Taz asks.
“I have a plan…”
I stand at the table and wait.
Jolie is safe back in my bedroom at the house.
Mess Us Up (Brooks Crest Book 3) Page 12