Page 19 of Dangerous Command
But I was back now and I couldn’t change that. I liked Derek. Maybe I even adored him, in a way. That he cared about his mother. That he would live and die by his family, something my own family had never done for me. But that didn’t change the fact that he wasn’t a good person. He sold illegal products. He killed people. He felt no mercy, just like my stepdad. To men like them, humans were property, not living, breathing creatures.
In some ways, my stepdad and Derek were different. And in other ways, they were exactly the same.
The door to the garage swung open, and Demi, Axe’s wife, popped into view. She was shorter than me by a significant amount, and over ten years younger too, with hair like the tail of a unicorn.
“Hey,” Demi said. “You disappeared there.”
I stood up, wiping my hands on my pants. “I was trying to find the tequila. Don’t tell me you drank it all,” I winked. Demi had a hankering for being rebellious when I had first met her and thought she could do it by drinking alcohol. She wrinkled her nose.
“Nah. Not my thing.” She came toward me. “Anyway, I came to find you, actually. Something about funerals makes me want to find you and escape to that front room again. What are you doing in here all by yourself, anyway?”
She was sweet. I didn’t need to dump my drama onto her right now.
“I didn’t feel like socializing,” I said.
“I know what you mean,” she said, “But that doesn’t seem like you. You’re always around people.”
It was bad when an acquaintance could tell that you were in a crappy mood.
“You’re right,” I said. “Let’s get inside. Oh!” I picked up brown and clear bottles from one of the shelves. “Found the booze. Thanks, Luck Charms.” She laughed. I handed her the bottles and grabbed the other thirty racks of beer from the floor.
As soon as we got into the kitchen, a hand pressed into my lower back. “Maddie,” Derek’s cool voice said, giving me chills. “Where have you been?”
My phone vibrated in the hidden pockets of my dress. I checked it, shielding the screen from Derek.Lucyblinked back at me.
“I gotta take this,” I said. I slipped through the door to the backyard before he could answer, his gaze hot on my back. I headed as close as I could to the woods before I answered the call.
“Hi Mom,” Mack said.
Warmth filled me. “Hi sweetheart,” I said.
“We made cookies. And bacon. And we got bacon donuts! And later, Lucy says she’s going to take me—”
“Oh, hush. Don’t tell your mother all of our secrets,” Lucy said in the background.
“Hi Lucy,” I said.
“Hi Mama,” Lucy said.
“Mom,” Mack said. “Do you think when you get home, we can bake cookies too? Same recipe as Lucy? They’re like… lemony. Poppyseed. Something like that. You’ll like them.”
A tree branch snapped underneath me. I flinched. Men in camouflage were spread throughout the trees. It should have comforted me that if my stepdad showed up, these men would protect us. But it didn’t give me relief. I knew better. If my stepdad wanted to get into the funeral reception, he would find a way, even if it was hiding in a casket.
I could never stop watching my back. Not until he was gone.
“Mom?” Mack asked.
“Yeah,” I said quietly. “Yes. Yes, of course, honey.”
Derek stepped out of the house, his eyes narrowed as he scanned the backyard. When his eyes landed on mine, he locked in on me. His gaze told me that our conversation wasn’t over, and it was happeningnow.
“I gotta go, honey,” I said. “Be good to Lucy. And don’t forget to do your homework before you do all of the fun stuff.”
“Yes, Mom,” Mack sighed.
“Don’t worry, Mama,” Lucy said. “He already did today’s work.”
“Thank you. You’re the best,” I said. I hung up, shoving the phone in my pocket. A few seconds later, Derek caught up with me.
