Page 114 of Mother Parker
Maddox told me to forget it, and I turned to leave when the kitchen doors swung open, and I stood back.
What the fuck was he doing here?
“Fowler? What the fuck?” I turned to Maddox before I looked at Joey Fowler again.
The man I once thought of as a brother, who we all thought of as a little brother. The person we’d all welcomed into the Silver Legends with open arms and initiated into life in SEAL Team 13. The little blond shit had the nerve to turn up here after everything he’d done.
“Hawkins!” He saluted me with an evil smirk that made me forget how upset I’d been about the whole Hwan situation, and I jumped him.
I punched his chest with both hands, pushing him back, and he stumbled, but a moment later, he pushed back.
“Stop it. Both of you,” Wyatt said, getting between us.
“What the fuck, old man? What is that mu—”
The evil glare my old commander gave me made me shut up real quick. Everyone was looking at us, of course. But I was too angry to care.
“Go back inside,” he told Fowler, and the little shit had the nerve to glare at me before he did as Wyatt asked.
“I thought you hated his guts,” I whispered as soon as he was out of my sight. “We all do.”
Wyatt grabbed me by the back of the neck and took me to the stairs that led upstairs to his and Autumn’s apartments.
“I know, Parker. I know. But he came begging for a job,” he said. “Turns out the little shit can cook.”
I couldn’t believe my ears. The old man had lost it, letting trash like Joey Fowler into this place like it was a free-for-all.
“But, Wyatt, he’s a murderer!” I said.
“I know. I…it’s not that simple. We’ve had a chat—”
“And he told you he’s not a murderer. Oh wow. How great. And what if I tell you I’m not an asshole. Will you just believe me because I said it?”
Wyatt’s nostrils flared, and he wiped his face with a tight hand.
“You think I’m stupid? I’ve looked into it. The case is still open. They’ve got no evidence, and he’s explained—”
“Oh yeah, what a surprise, a SEAL who can cover his tracks. For fuck’s sake, Wyatt.”
Wyatt punched my arm and pushed me against the wall.
“Keep it down. And stay out of it. I’m on it. I don’t need you causing scenes in here,” he said.
My chest rose and fell as I tried to process his words, to calm down, to not say yet another thing I’d regret.
“I’ve got to go. But make no mistake. This conversation isn’t over,” I said.
“It most certainly is,” he replied, and I walked away before I went off on him again.
I waved goodbye to Maddox with half a nod and marched out.
The cold chilled me to the bone straight away. I needed to get a car if I was going to stay here.
I stepped down the deck and started the walk that would take me back to Hwan. And all I could was hope I hadn’t ruined everything for the hundredth time.
There was a boom, and the temperature seemed to drop instantly, stabbing me in the shoulder.
I stumbled to the ground, suddenly aware of an unfamiliar buzz in my ears. Breathing had become hard all of a sudden.
