Page 34 of Eight Years (The Trident Trilogy 1)

Chapter Eighteen

Outer Banks, North Carolina

2007

“Dad, c’mon, I don’t want to practice anymore,” Millie said as she collapsed down on the cool grass in Camille’s backyard.

Mack was becoming increasingly frustrated with Millie’s lack of discipline. She had been such a willing student when she was younger. She was already a better shot than most guys he knew, and she was decent at self-defense for her size. He just wanted her to be great at it.

“Millie, you have to keep up with these skills. You never know when you’re going to need them,” Mack said reaching under her arms to pull her up.

“Dad, I live in the Outer Banks. No one is going to attack me here. You act like I’m going on a mission with you,” she said with her hands on her hips, rolling her eyes.

Mack absolutely hated this new pre-teen, sassy side of Millie. Chase, who had two daughters of his own, told him to expect it, and it had arrived like a freight train barreling down the tracks.

“Millie, I’ve told you there is danger everywhere. You have to be prepared,” Mack said with frustration in his voice.

Mack saw the way guys had started looking at her. She was only twelve, and high school-aged boys turned their heads when she walked by. When he was around, they stopped looking real fast, but he worried about when he wasn’t there with her.

“Let’s try the attack from behind again. You’re too slow,” Mack said.

“Fine. Can we go surfing after this? Maybe do something I would actually enjoy,” she said, flipping her ponytail dramatically.

“Just start walking,” Mack said as he disappeared behind the hedgerow.

Millie started walking, knowing he would jump out from behind at some point and try to pull her in. They had already done this drill five times, and she thought she nailed it every time. She walked the full length of the bushes, and he still hadn’t attacked her. She sighed and turned around to find him inches from her face. Before she could react with an uppercut to his nose, he had her arms pinned to her side and his hand over her mouth. She tried to pound her foot into his instep, but he had lifted her off the ground, so her body was dangling helplessly in the air. She flailed wildly, trying to break his hold without any success. Mack flipped her body up in the air, and then pinned her to the ground. When he saw her wide eyes starting to fill with tears, he let go of her quickly, and sat down next to her.

“Millie, I didn’t mean to scare you, but that’s why you can’t get arrogant about this training,” he said. “You’re really strong for your size, but most guys are always going to be a little stronger. You have to be ready for them.”

Despite trying desperately to stop the tears, Millie started sobbing. Mack sat her up and hugged her to his chest tightly.

“It’s okay, Millie. We can stop for today,” he said quietly. “Don’t worry about it, sweetie. I’m always going to be here to protect you. Okay?

She tried to take a deep breath between her sobs. “I know you’re just doing this to help me. I’ll try harder next time. I promise.”

“What’s the most important thing to remember if someone attacks you, Mills?”

“Strike hard once, put them down, and then run to get help,” she said, repeating the mantra she had heard from him so many times.

“That’s perfect, Millie.” Mack hugged her and rubbed her back for a few minutes until her breathing returned to normal. She laid back down in the grass.

“Will you tell me something about Mom? The only thing I know is that her name was Marie,” Millie said.

Mack tensed up as he always did when she brought her mom up. “C’mon, Mills. You know it makes me sad to talk about her.”

Mack felt badly for lying to Millie. It didn’t exactly make him sad. He just felt the less Millie knew about her mom, the safer she was going to be. She’d surprised him by asking what her mom’s name was when she was only two. He’d said the first name that he thought of, Marie, which had been the name of the bank teller he had just talked to a few hours earlier.

“Just tell me one thing. Like what did she look like?” Millie pleaded.

Mack sighed as he laid down by Millie in the grass. He closed his eyes to try to remember Nejra’s face, but he didn’t really need to think that hard. Millie was looking more like her every day.

“Her eyes were green, like yours, but a little darker. And her hair was long, like to her shoulders, and brown. She was about the height you are now. Not much taller. She was little,” Mack said, hoping that would be enough.

“Do I look like her?” Millie asked.

“You do look like her, and you definitely act like her. She was sweet, smart, funny, and she spoke a bunch of languages. That’s probably why you’re so good at Spanish.”

“Did she speak Spanish?” Millie asked.

“No. Some other languages,” Mack said, wishing he hadn’t brought that up.

“What languages?” Millie asked.

Mack knew he couldn’t answer that. It would get her too close to the truth. He wished Millie was still three, so he could distract her with strawberry ice cream.

“Mills, I don’t want to talk about her anymore, okay?” Mack said. “Why don’t we go surfing now? I just waxed your board. It should be faster than last time.”

Millie grabbed Mack’s hand, and squeezed it tight. “Okay, Daddy. I’m sorry if I made you sad.”

“Millie, sweetie,” Mack said, squeezing her hand back. “You make me nothing, but happy, every minute of every day. I love you so much.”

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