Page 56 of Bossy Baby

“Not a word,” he threatened. He didn’t sound half as intimidating as Mac.

“It’ll cost you,” Mitch replied with a smile.

Dang it!“Cost me what?”

Mitch and Caleb exchanged a look again.

“We want to see this playroom,” they said at the same time.

Groaning, Hayley dropped his head onto the counter. How was he going to explain this to Mac?

Although, if they were all friends, then Mac should expect Hayley to want to invite his friends over to play.

Except he technically didn’t live with Mac.

It was Mac’s home. Not Hayley’s. Mac had bought the house for him, though. Made sure it had a pool and everything.

“Only if Caleb cooks,” Hayley responded. It would give his Daddy the night off from learning new recipes. Everything Mac had cooked for Hayley had been great, but his Daddy need time to relax, too.

“Deal!” Caleb said in excitement.

Mac

Mac was still running through the phone conversation he’d had with Skinner as he locked up Hayley’s shop for the night.

It had been a call that he’d been dreading since he’d moved to town. One that had the power to ruin the new life he was building.

Lance hadn’t checked in at the appointed time.

That was not normal.

Once every three days, Mac logged into a chat room on the dark web and typed a coded message to let the other men know he was still alive and safe. He’d left his message the night before, sneaking downstairs and into his office after he’d put Hayley to bed.

Everyone else had apparently checked in. Everyone except Lance.

Working back, Skinner had been able to find the last time that Lance had contacted any of them. Five days ago. Lance had spoken to Creed after running some background checks for the assassin turned police officer.

Then it had been quiet. Too quiet.

Mac didn’t stay in contact with the other four guys as often as they did with one another. Mac’s fear that the government would find one of them and then all of them hadn’t been something that he could shake. The others hadn’t agreed, certain they’d done enough to hide themselves.

Of course, Mac was also confident that the others hadn’t left the game completely. Creed might be a law enforcement officer, but he also reached out to Lance often.

Lance had once confessed to Mac that he kept an eye on some old targets that hadn’t been taken care of, just to make sure they wouldn’t be causing any trouble for any of them. Skinner and Jackson had been called when Lance had wanted one of their old targets investigated or finally taken out.

They hadn’t just been hired killers. Sometimes they’d needed to retrieve valuable information, either by stealing or beating the target.

Stopping at the counter, Mac looked down at his hands.

They were clean, the blood he’d spilt no longer visible. Mac knew that the blood was still there, though.

He could never forget.

“I don’t really think I need anything else, but I grabbed some more stuff like you said.”

Mac shook his head to return to the present. He’d sent Hayley upstairs to pack another bag. He’d gotten a weird look, but Hayley hadn’t actually argued with him. No, Hayley didn’t need anything, but Mac was still going with the plan to have Hayley moved in before the boy even knew it.

“You never know what you might want,” Mac told his boy.

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