LUKE
I roll over and reach out my left arm, Lily lying asleep on my right. The ringtone of the burner cell I have stops and starts up again, the loud noise causing Lily to stir.
“Yeah?” I answer, my voice gruff.
“Need you here now,” Dex commands, reeling off an address before ending the call. I know what he’s gonna say before he finishes because it’s the same warehouse I followed him to and Dean went and watched. Although he said it was empty and nothing was there.
I sit up, careful not to disturb Lily.
Dex said he’d call in the next couple of days but all has been quiet since then. Although I’ve been waiting for the call, I’ve enjoyed being in the warehouse with Lily, knowing she’s loving what she’s doing here, not only that but she’s getting ready to take her GED.
As soon as she mentioned it again, I knew I had to make it happen, sooner rather than later.
Thoughts of what she’ll do—what she had planned to do—roll through my head, reminding me I need to talk to her about it. Not right now though. Right now, I need to get to the location.
Pulling on my jeans and a t-shirt before I shove my feet into my combat boots, I stare at Lily and call Ty.
“Yeah?”
“Dex called. I’m leaving now. Location is the warehouse.” I don’t say anything else before ending the call and walking around to Lily. I place a gentle kiss on her forehead and smooth her blond hair out of her face. Her features scrunch up before she rolls over, her arm reaching out for me, only I’m not there.
I wait, watching until she’s fully settled again before walking out of the room and out of the house, making sure to lock the door behind me.
The birds are just starting to chirp as the sky lightens. I run to my SUV before starting the engine and speeding out of there. It’ll take at least an hour to get to the location and I shoot Dex a text to tell him this.
There’s been talk in the bar about this showdown—Dex expecting Darrell to show his face—but I doubt it’ll happen. Afterall, we thought we were dealing with Darrell when we weren’t. This could be our only chance at seeing who he actually is.
I clear my mind of everything as I pull up to the location at the abandoned warehouse, cars and bikes everywhere, but not one person in sight.
Making sure my gun is within reach before I push out of the SUV, I leave the door open in case I need to escape quickly and walk over to the warehouse door that’s half open. I hear voices, shouting, a couple of gunshots and then silence.
“He fucked me over!” Dex screams. “I don’t get fucked over. Tell me where the hell he is!”
Silence.
I walk in, finding James tied to a chair with blood pouring out of his knees.
“Where is he?!” Dex screams again, standing over him, and when he notices me, he straightens up. “Bury him,” he demands.
What the hell have I just walked into?
My gaze flicks to James and back to Dex. “What happened?”
His nostrils flare. “You in on this, too?”
I reel back. “What did you just say?”
“You heard me.” He steps away from James and walks over to me. “You in on this? Fuckin’ me over?”
“I have no goddamn idea what you’re talking about,” I growl out.
He watches me for several seconds before heaving a breath. “He intercepted my shipment,” he grunts. “He thought he could get my weapons. Only he didn’t account for my men.” I look to my left, spotting several of the guys with blood on their clothes. “Thought he was clever but he left his crew behind.” He chuckles. “And now you’re gonna bury him.” He points at James. “Fucker won’t give him up, so he gets put in the ground… alive.”
I keep the expression on my face neutral before stepping past him and toward James. I’ll do as Dex says if it means I don’t blow my cover, but we need this shitface alive. Without him, we don’t have any leads and we’ll yet again be on the back foot.
Crouching down in front of him, I tilt my head to the side. “Give him up and this will go a hell of a lot easier.”
“Fuck. You.”
I shrug. “Your funeral.” I stand and keep my calm mask in place but inside I’m seething. “Literally.”
He keeps his gaze locked with mine. His eyes burn with rage, but behind it I see nothing but loyalty, and I know it’d take more to break him than a couple of gunshots.
“Carry him out,” I tell the two guys to my left when I turn to face them.
Stepping back, I watch as they pick up the chair he’s attached to, making it five steps before one shouts, “What the fuck?”
My eyes widen when they slam him down onto the floor, but the legs of the chair topple with his weight and it tips back. The back of his head bangs off the ground and then I look at his face. White foam leaks from between his lips and his eyes roll into the back of his head.
“Fuck!” I run over to him, but I already know it’s too late; he’s dead. “Did you not check him?” I ask, looking up at Dex.
“Of course, we fuckin’ did.”
“Always check the teeth,” I say, standing up and shaking my head, anger coursing through my veins. “First thing you fuckin’ check! He had a goddamn cyanide capsule hidden.”
The only thing that would lead us to answers is gone and all I can see now is the red blurring my vision.
“How the hell am I meant to know that?”
“Jesus.” I run my hand through my hair while trying to calm myself down. “I’m out. I’m not cleaning this shit up.”
I storm out of the warehouse but stop when I hear a gun cock behind me. “Not so fast.”
Blowing out a deep breath, I count to five before turning around. “You don’t wanna do that,” I warn Dex, seeing the barrel of the gun only a foot away from my forehead.
“I don’t?” He raises a brow. “Why’s that?”
“Because I’ll have five shots in your chest before you can pull the trigger.” I step toward him, the barrel pressing against my forehead now. “You think I came here alone?” I chuckle at the blank look on his face, the only thing giving him away is the slight widening of his eyes. “You think I have a death wish?” I tilt my head to the weapons lining the walls. “You should never bring strangers to your main warehouse.” I smirk. “You wanted to know if I’m in on this?” I make a circle with my finger in the air. “The answer is no…” I click a button on my belt, counting to three and grinning wide when Charlie and his team barge into the warehouse with their guns drawn. “That though?” I grab the barrel of his gun with lightning speed while gripping his wrist at the same time and disarming him. I flip it around and train it on his head. “I’m in on that, you stupid fucker.”
Shouts echo around us but I don’t move from the position I’m in. I stand toe to toe with Dex, not backing down.
“You never did ask my last name, did you?” I step even closer to him. “King… Luke King.” His face pales, his head shaking, and I know what he’s thinking—what stories he’s remembering.
Luke King, cold-blooded killer of his own father. Luke King, Marine who lost all his team… twice. Luke King, man you don’t fuckin’ mess with.
I grin wider when Charlie cuffs him, looking over at me as he says, “We got him this time. Evidence too.”
Looking down at James, I groan. “Looks like my lead has disappeared.”
“You need to come to the precinct,” Charlie tells me.
Scrubbing my hands down my face, I nod before pulling my cell out to call Ty.
LILY
Ty told me Luke would be out most of the day at the precinct as soon as I got to the warehouse this morning. I knew not to ask too much about it, so instead I got on with my work, all the guys coming in to talk to me at different stages of the day.
Right now, they’re all at the meeting table in the main warehouse—apart from Dean and Luke—and I’m typing up the last file in the pile Ty had for me. It’s taken me a few days, but in that time, I’ve c
ome to terms with several things. They always say being alone in your own head can be both a good and bad thing, and for me it’s both of those on the daily.
At night when the sun goes down and darkness surrounds me, I’m taken right back to the basement, or my dad’s office, but when the sun shines bright, I’m only in the here and now, able to look at things differently.
Each day gets a little better—a little brighter—and maybe that’s because I’m somewhere new with a fresh start. But I’m not stupid enough to think I’m okay. I’m far from it. I know it’s going to be a long haul to get where I need to be, to be able to walk along the street on my own again without fear of being taken back to my hell. But it’s okay because I’ll get there.
I scribble down the number of the therapist I found online, determined to call her first thing in the morning before I stand up and switch my computer off.
I’m about to walk out of the office when the phone rings. But when I turn around I realize it’s not the phone, it’s the buzzer to the gate. Ty told me how it works and what I have to press to ask who it is, so with shaky hands, I reach forward and click the button.
“Hello?”
“Lily?” My breath catches in my throat, my whole body stilling, not able to move. “Lily? Please. Let me in! I need to talk to you.” When I don’t reply, he continues, “Come on, Lil. I have no idea what’s happening. Why are you here?”
I shake my head, not able to answer my brother as his distressed voice vibrates over the line.
“Lily!”
I step back and release the button as I stare at the box as if he’s right there in front of me.
“Lilypad?” I jump in the air, my hand flying to my chest as I whip around to face Evan. He frowns at me and moves forward. “You okay?”
“I…” I point to the box as Evan moves closer and clicks the button.
“Hello?”
“Lily!” My brother shouts again. “I want to see Lily. Let me in!”
Evan tilts his head to face me, his brow raised in question.
“It’s my brother.”
He nods, his eyes flashing. “She’s not here.”
“Bullshit!” he spits. “I want to see my little sister, and if you don’t let me in I’ll call the police.”
Evan chuckles. “You do that, see how far you get.”
I can’t stop looking at the box, afraid he’ll come through it any second. Why is he here? Did my dad send him? Luke said he knows where I am, but would he really be this brazen?
Hands grip my shoulders and pull me toward the sofa before I hear Evan shout, “Guys! Come here!” I can’t do anything but stare, images of my childhood flashing through my mind. The happy times with my mom and brother; the day we found my mom not breathing; the day Aiden left; the first time my dad hurt me.
I feel every whip of his cane on my back and legs, feel every fist he threw at me, every bruise, every drop of blood floating over my skin.
It’s all too much. Too much for me to do anything with. I’m in overload and I know I’m going to break any second.
My vision blurs as I pull away from the hands that reach for me. And before I know what I’m doing, I’m running out of the warehouse and into the open compound. It’s a mistake. One I shouldn’t have made, because as soon as they can see me darting toward the back of the compound, his voice grates through me.
“Liliana.”
No. Please, God, no.
I twirl around, my chest feeling like it’s caving in as I look at the gate, my dad standing next to Aiden, his evil eyes zoning in on me.
“Come here, now.”
My body sways, my head light before my feet take me backward; away from the danger.
“Lily?” Aiden shouts, his head whipping from me to my dad, understanding flashing across his face. “What did you do to her?” he screams, so loud I have to cover my ears.
I can’t do this. I can’t stand here with only a gate separating me from my dad. I have to move. Move, dammit!
Gravel crunches closer to me but I step back, my gaze not leaving my dad’s as Aiden screams and shouts at him, but I can’t hear any of it, all I see is his eyes as he pinned me down and took all my choices away, the look in them as he hurt me, the pleasure he took in it.
I won’t let him do it again. I’ll take myself out of the equation before he causes any more heartbreak.
It occurs to me that this is how my mom must have felt that day, like she had no choice but to remove herself from the pain. And I get it more than I ever did right now. She only had one way to escape him.
Spinning around, I ignore all the shouts as I run to Luke’s house and slam the door behind me. I shoot up the stairs and into the bathroom before locking the door and darting toward the tub.
I climb inside and bring my knees to my chest, trying to breathe.
Just breathe.
That’s all I need to do, in and out.
LUKE
As soon as I pull up to the private road to the compound I know today’s shit fest is only gonna get worse. Charlie’s police cruiser is blocking the gate, so I slam on my brakes.
His gaze meets mine through the windshield before he gives me a small shake of his head in warning, and that’s when I see Lily’s dad being led into the back of the car, her brother standing to the side, his face pale.
Pushing my door open with more force than I thought possible, I let the rage consume me as I storm over to Charlie, but he’s got her dad inside before I can blink and then it’s only Aiden in my view.
“You’ve got some fuckin’ nerve!” I shout, running over to him and grabbing him by his shirt. “The fuck do you think you’re doing bringing him here?”
“I didn’t know,” he whispers, his eyes misting over as he looks at me and then at the gate. “I didn’t know he hurt her.”
I throw him down on the ground. “How the fuck could you not know?” His body hits the concrete with a thump and I hear the clink of the gate opening. “You were right there! How could you not know?”
“What… what did he do to her?” His eyes close, a pained expression drifting over his face. “How bad?” he chokes out before holding his hand up. “In fact, don’t tell me that, I already know what he did to my mom.”
My hands ball so tightly at my sides I can feel my knuckles popping from the force. I want to take it out on him, shout that he should have done more, but when he opens his eyes and stares at me, I see the truth there.
He really didn’t know.
“Get up,” I command, walking away from him and past Ty before saying, “Take him to the warehouse.”
“Luke?” Kitty says, running up next to me. “She’s in your house, I can’t get her to open up.”
Whipping my head to her, my nostrils flare. “What?”
“She answered the buzzer and came out and saw them. We couldn’t stop her, it was like… it was like she wasn’t really there.”
My heart sinks as my feet pick up their pace, sprinting to my house and barging through the door, not giving a damn that I just broke the lock.
“Lily!” Looking in the living room and kitchen, I see no sign of her so run up the stairs, my boots echoing around me. “Lily!” I shout again, pushing into the bedroom and trying to open the bathroom door. I hear her sniffles and my heart breaks. “Darlin’?”
The silence surrounds us, louder than it’s ever been before.
“Let me in, darlin’.” I hear her hiccupped sob as I rest my forehead against the door. “I need to see your face, angel. I need to know you’re okay.”
“I—he—I…”
“I saw, angel. I saw him.” I take a breath. “Aiden didn’t know.”
“How—how do… how do you know?”
“I saw it. I saw it in his eyes.”
The silence stretches between us before she whispers just loud enough for me to hear, “All I can see is him—his eyes. They’re so evil.”
“I know, darlin’.”
“No!” There’s a b
ang and then footsteps before the door is flinging open. “You lived with evil too; I get that, but you don’t know what it feels like to have your choices taken away from you.” I open my mouth, wanting to go to her—to comfort her—but I know it’s not what she needs right now. I’ve been waiting for her pent-up rage to finally unleash itself, I just hope it doesn’t make her feel worse than she already does.
She barges past me, pacing the room. “I should have known it was coming.” She grips the sides of her head.
“You couldn’t have known,” I try to tell her, keeping my voice low.
She ignores me, her chest heaving as she tries to catch her breath. “Maybe I should have done more to stop him.”
“You couldn’t have—”
“You don’t get it!” she shouts, her hands scrubbing at the skin on her arms. “You don’t understand what it’s like to be held down and have everything taken from you. To not have the strength to protect yourself.” Her gaze clashes with mine and the sadness and vulnerability there rips me apart.
She’s exposing herself to me and I know I should do the same, but will revealing that side of me change things? Will she look at me differently?
“I killed my dad.” It’s out of my mouth before I realize, and when her eyes widen and her face pales, I feel like I’ve lost her, but I don’t stop. It’s finally out and there’s nothing I can do to take it back. “What you went through? My mom went through that—every single day for years. The first time I watched him hurt her I was three… the last time I was sixteen, only this time he took it a step further.” I lean back against the wall before dropping down and bringing my knees up. My arms hang off them, but I don’t take my gaze off Lily. “I walked in and there he was, beating and raping my mom. I have no idea how many times it happened, I lost count somewhere along the way.” I take a breath, willing myself not to go back to it. “But this time something snapped, and I couldn’t stop… I saw red.” I take a stuttering breath, my gaze following Lily as she sits on the side of the bed. “The next thing I know I was covered in blood and so was he, only his chest wasn’t moving anymore.”
Catching Teardrops (MAC Security Series Book 5) Page 27