The Distance Between Us (Mac Security Series Book 3)

by Abigail Davies

  “You got a name for this social worker?”

  “Yes.” She nods her head emphatically. “I have all of the details in my office.”

  She points to the doors behind her and steps toward them. “Go with her, Sanchez.”

  I wait for them to step through the doors before I turn to Leroy. “There a reason you’re out here talking to her and not in her office?”

  “Yeah, she said she thinks her office is bugged.”

  “What—”

  “There’s more going on here, Sarge.”

  “Get her down to the precinct to make a statement. I’ll have Jane and Derrick check out the social worker.”

  I walk away after he’s acknowledged me with a nod of his head, jumping into my car and starting the engine before driving away. My head is full to capacity and I need to unload. There’s so much going on between this case and the one I’m trying to put together against Jonny that I can’t think straight.

  Having Kitty at my place is also weighing on me. I know that I told her to stay with me, but it’s still taking a lot of time to adjust to her being there. I haven’t had to share a space with anyone since Emmy.

  I drive on automatic as my mind swirls with thoughts, not realizing where I’m going until I pull up to the cemetery, and when I look up at the sign, my eyes flitting over the metal fence, a lump forms in my throat and my muscles lock. I haven’t been here since that day. No matter how much I try, how many times I tell myself that I need to get out of the car and go to the grave, I never can.

  It’s been years and I still can’t face it. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to.

  My head feels fuzzy as I roll over, almost as if I have a hangover, but I know it’s not that because I haven’t drank alcohol since way before I was shot. When I stretch my arms, I find that I’m alone and my eyes pop open. I’ve never been alone in Charlie’s place before and it feels weird, almost like I’m intruding.

  I sit up slowly, placing my feet on the cold wooden floor and resting my head in my hands. My skin feels like I have ants crawling all over it and is slick with sweat so I stand up slowly, heading straight for the bathroom and into the shower.

  I let the water run over me, watching as it circles down the drain as I wash my body with Charlie’s body wash. The smell relaxes me, it always has, there’s something about it that puts my nerves at ease.

  Once I’m done, I step out of the tub and wrap a towel around me, padding into the bedroom and opening up some drawers as I look for a t-shirt and some boxers to wear.

  I really should have thought this through and packed a bag.

  I get out a white t-shirt and pull it over my head then grab a pair of boxer shorts and pull them up my legs.

  Walking back to the bathroom, I hang the towel over the heater to dry and walk back through to the bedroom. I go to close the drawer I pulled the boxer shorts from but something catches my attention.

  Reaching under all of the clothes, I pull it out and grip the silver frame, staring at the photograph of Charlie with his arms wrapped around the beautiful woman that I know haunts his every move. The woman who now hangs over the both of our heads.

  My finger runs along the outline of her blond hair that frames her face. Her eyes connected with Charlie’s and telling a thousand words. They were in love. I know that now and I knew it then, only it hurts so much more now than when I accidently first found out about her.

  Evan had mentioned her in passing and I’d tried to get as much information out of him as I could. Becoming close to Charlie and still not feeling like I knew him made me all the more eager to find out more. Only I didn’t find out everything, Evan skimmed over most of it, telling me that it wasn’t his story to tell.

  So that day that I mentioned about meeting his mom, I knew that was my chance to let Charlie know that I knew by pulling out the photograph he keeps in his bedside table and slamming it onto the counter before I stormed out of there. Telling him that she’s gone.

  And now it’s been two weeks and I haven’t heard a word from him since.

  I can’t live up to her. I’ll never live up to her. I know that now.

  “What’s with the face, Kit?” Luke asks as he jumps back into the van we’re using for surveillance.

  “Nothing,” I say, way too quickly to remotely come across as true.

  “Yeah,” he scoffs. “And I’m a woman.”

  “You are?” I gasp. “Well, you learn something new every day, eh.”

  I smirk at him and pick up the camera, taking photos of nothing in particular, it keeps me busy and that’s what I need right now.

  “Ah, come on, Kit. Tell me what’s up.”

  “Fuck,” I whisper. “I can’t.”

  The atmosphere in the van becomes thick and I look over at Luke, his ice blue eyes watching me in that way that he always does, assessing me. Apart from Evan, he’s the one that I’m closest to. Being welcomed into this team is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I’m trusted and valued, something that’s never happened before.

  “You know, a problem shared is a problem halved.”

  I place my fingers on my temples, rubbing against the headache that I can feel coming on.

  “I’m sleeping with Charlie,” I mumble quietly, but I know he heard me because of the small confined space that we’re in. There’s barely enough room to fit me and Luke in the back of this van with all the equipment that we have in here to do our job, computer screens that Evan installed line the side, showing us live footage from outside.

  “Fuck me,” Luke spits. “You couldn’t have picked someone simple?”

  I spin around to face him, my eyes wide and my mouth open.

  “We met before I came to the compound,” I explain. “I didn’t know who he was at first but…”

  “But now you do, and you’re still sleeping with him?” I nod silently, not knowing what else to say. “So what happened?”

  I shake my head, not wanting to tell him what happened, how I’ll never be anything but a piece of ass to Charlie. I’m embarrassed by the fact that even though I know this, I still go back to him time and time again.

  After a few minutes, I decide I need to get it off my chest so I turn to Luke and mumble, “I asked if he thought his mom would like me.”

  Luke chuckles and shakes his head, his eyes connecting with mine. “You know about Emmy, right?”

  “Yeah,” I huff, the breath leaving my body in a whoosh and my shoulders slumping.

  “Listen,” Luke says, placing his hand over mine. “I don’t wanna be harsh, Kit, but Charlie will never look at you the same way that he did Emmy. She was his high school sweetheart, things happened between them that can only happen once in a lifetime.”

  My jaw clenches as I see the pity on his face, his words ringing in my ears over and over again.

  “How do you know that?” I growl, moving my hand from underneath his and straightening my back. “Who said that kind of love only ever happens once?”

  Luke shakes his head at me, just like my dad used to all the time and I can’t stop the anger that bubbles up inside of me and releases like a volcano.

  “Fuck you, Luke! Fuck you and your opinions. I didn’t ask what you think!” My hands clench into fists as I turn to face the front of the van, refusing to meet his eyes when he sighs my name.

  “I didn’t mean it like that, I just… ah fuck… I don’t know.” His hand covers my clenched fist where it sits on my thigh and I look down at it, hating that I know deep down that there’s some truth to his words. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”

  I soften at his confession and the fight starts to wane. It’s not him that’s the problem, it’s me and Charlie, I shouldn’t be taking it out on him.

  “It’s fine,” I tell him, looking up to his eyes. “Forget about it.”

  That was the first time I realized that I’ll never be more than someone to keep his bed warm at night. It didn’t matter how many times Charlie said it to me, it never su
nk in, but when someone from the outside told me, it stuck and it’s never left me.

  I place the frame down on top of the dresser and walk to my bag, pulling out my bottle of pills and pouring four out into the palm of my hand.

  Grabbing a bottle of water out of the kitchen, I twist the top and stare at them. I hesitate for a second before throwing the pills into my mouth and swallowing them down with a mouthful of water, not giving a damn that I shouldn’t be taking this many.

  Kitty has been staying with me for almost a week now and I wish I could say that I’ve been spending as much time as I could with her, but I can’t. The Jacobs’ joint murder case has been taking up all of my time and I’ve been at the precinct every waking moment. I can’t even remember the last time I had more than a power nap.

  Looking over at her sleeping form in my bed brings a smile to my face. I haven’t said more than two words to her in the last forty-eight hours and now I sit here on the edge of the bed, waiting for her to wake up.

  Her eyelids flutter as she stretches her arms and then they finally open, connecting straight with mine. For a moment my breath catches and I can’t say or do anything.

  The longer she spends at my place the more I realize that I need her here as much as she needs to be here. Having someone to come home to means that I actually look forward to walking back through that door and not dreading being on my own.

  She smiles sleepily and places her hand against my face, her fingers scratching through the scruff that lines my jaw.

  “Hey,” her soft voice says.

  “Hey,” I reply.

  I lean down, softly kissing her and wandering my hand down to her hip, pulling her closer to me. My hand trails up the curve of her spine and I can feel the goose bumps prickling on her skin from my touch. I roll her onto her back, fitting my hips between her legs and clutching her thighs in my hands.

  “I’ve missed you,” I whisper.

  Her eyes spring open at my confession. I can see the wheels turning in her head but I just smirk at her and press my lips against hers again. Now isn’t the time to talk about feelings, I need to do what I do best and show her how I feel. She’s never been good with words, she never listens to what I have to say, so instead, I have to show her.

  My hand drifts up her thigh and between her legs as I press kisses down the side of her neck, pulling her panties aside just as my cell blares out angrily.

  “Don’t answer it,” she pleads, pushing her hips closer to me.

  I hang my head, my forehead resting between her breasts. “I have to,” I mumble.

  I take a couple of seconds, relishing in the feel of her and then push up, reaching over to the bedside table and picking my cell up.

  “Mackenzie,” I answer gruffly.

  “We found something, Sarge.”

  “I’ll be right there.” I place my cell down and turn to face Kitty, giving her a sad smile. “I have to go.”

  She nods knowingly but with a sad look on her face.

  I jump up, heading straight for the shower to wash the grime of the last couple of days off.

  When I get out of the shower Kitty is nowhere to be seen so I get dressed and attach my gun to my belt along with my badge and grab my jacket, heading out of the bedroom to find her.

  “Coffee to go,” Kitty announces as I walk through the kitchen and she passes me a flask.

  I chuckle and place it down on the counter, wrapping my arms around her and breathing her in.

  “I’ll be back at… well, I don’t know when I’ll be back.”

  “No worries.” She smiles, lifting up on her toes and planting a kiss on my lips. “I think I’ll pop to the compound and see how things are going there. It’s time I get back to work.”

  “You ready to go back?” I ask, pulling away from her.

  She worries her lip and looks away before turning back to me. “Yeah, my arm isn’t as bad now, time to get back to normal, eh?”

  This is where I should open my mouth and tell her I don’t want to go back to what our normal used to be, I want a new normal. One where she’s here when I get home from work. One where she’s in my bed every night, where I can see her face as soon as I open my eyes.

  But I don’t, instead, I simply nod then place a kiss on her lips and pull away, grabbing my coffee and heading out to the precinct.

  The traffic is bad on the way there and I get frustrated because it takes me twice as long as it normally does. Geena is waiting for me as I come through the doors and I know by the look on her face that she has something to tell me, so I raise my brows at her.

  “Geena?” I huff, waiting to punch the code in so that I can go through the doors.

  “Have you…” She blows out a breath causing her auburn hair to flow off her face. “Have you seen Evan?”

  “Evan?” I frown. “Should I have?”

  “No… no… forget it.” She sits back down at her desk and presses the keys on the keyboard, the clacking echoing throughout the room.

  I press the numbers into the keypad and head up to the pit where they all wait for me.

  “Well?”

  “So... the social worker,” Leroy says, pointing at her photo on the board. “The principal called her, telling her the concerns she had, but the social worker said that she never had that call from her.”

  “But,” Jane interrupts. “I ran her phone records and she did get that call, so I ran some other searches.” She walks to the whiteboard, writing something next to the social worker’s name. “Social worker Janice Pedro, also known as Jennifer May.”

  “May?” I widen my stance and cross my arms over my chest.

  “Yep.” Jane nods. “As in Joel May, she’s his wife.”

  “Joel has a wife?” I frown.

  The wheels start turning in my head, trying to connect the dots. If Joel’s wife is their social worker that means they somehow have a connection with Jonny, which means I could get him put away for good.

  “I want the social worker brought in, I want to know what she had to do with their murders. You have an hour to get her in the cage.”

  I storm into my office, pacing the small area while I continue to try and make the connection. Why were the Jacobs murdered? What were they doing for Jennifer, or should I say Joel or Jonny?

  They had to have had something to do with it. There’s no way that this could be one big coincidence. They’re involved in it, I know it.

  “Tell me, Jennifer, what were they doing for you?” I raise my brows at her as she sits across the table from me, her ink black hair hanging straight down her back and her dark brown eyes glazed over.

  “What were who doing for me?” she slurs.

  “Felicity and Brandon Jacob.” I push their photos closer to her on the metal interview table, both their murder photos and their latest school photos. “Were they working for you?” No reaction. “Your husband?”

  Her eyes widen and she fidgets in her seat. Finally, something I can go on.

  “What were they doing for him, running drugs? Only it went bad didn’t it? What did they do, huh? Did they refuse to do his dirty work? Is that why he shot them?” I stand up and place my hands on the table, leaning closer to her. “But that’s not all he did, was it? No, he burned Brandon after shooting him and then went after Felicity, shooting her in the middle of the street in broad daylight.”

  “No.” She shakes her head, gripping her hair with her hands. “I did it.”

  “You don’t need to cover for him, Jennifer.”

  “I’m not,” she says, bringing her eyes back to me. “They should have done as I asked, but no, they wanted to tell the police. All they had to do was take the package to the drop off site and then I’d rehome them.”

  “Rehome them?” I ask, sitting back down and gritting my teeth to keep myself from saying anything that I shouldn’t.

  “That was the deal.” She slams her fists down on the table, her eyes flitting around the room in anger. “They drop the package off and I’d get
them into a new foster home. That’s all they had to do. One simple thing and then I’d do as they asked. Stupid fucking kids.”

  “So what happened?”

  She leans back in the chair, her face bored as she looks down at her hands. “Felicity wanted out, but Brandon, he said he’d do it.” She shakes her head and looks me in the eye. “He was working with the cops, the stupid fucker thought he could get one over on me!” She pulls at her hair, a crazed look in her eyes. “So I shot him in the chest three times and once in the head to be sure he was dead.”

  My hands grip onto the table, my knuckles turning white as I see the look in her eyes. The passive, blank look that only someone who has done evil things like this before has, the kind that shows no remorse for the loss of two young lives. I can tell that this isn’t the first time she’s done something like this and that only makes me want to lock her up for what she did to Brandon and Felicity even more.

  “Then I went after the little slut, the one who thought she could do no wrong. I soon showed her.”

  I turn my head to Leroy slowly then turn back to face her. My patience is wearing thin and sitting across from someone who shot two young kids in cold blood because they didn’t want to do something illegal has my anger boiling over.

  “Here’s the thing,” I say, standing up and reaching over to her, gripping her chin in my hand with extra force. “They weren’t working with the fucking cops.” Her eyes widen as she tries to pull away but I grip her tighter. “You sick bitch, I’ll make sure that you’ll regret this. My advice? Sleep with one eye open when you’re locked up.”

  I let go of her face and kick my chair back before storming out of the room.

  I stand in the kitchen when Charlie leaves the house, determined to get back to normal. Which means moving back to the compound, training, and getting back out on jobs again. I desperately wanted Charlie to tell me to stay at his place, I waited with bated breath before he left, but yet again I had my hopes up and I shouldn’t have.