Hawk

by Zoe Hart

  I sent a quick text, since I didn’t have time to waste on a full conversation. I promised we’d catch up later, but for now I needed to know how to find our hacker friend. Sure enough, Sebastian told me he was eager to speak to me when I had a chance, and provided me with Finn’s current contact information.

  For a split second, I considered placing the phone call rather than text, but my generation wasn’t a fan of unexpected calls. My text was quick and concise: Hey, it’s Hawk. I need your help with a little something. I’d rather explain on the phone. Do you have time for a quick call?

  I thought that I would pass out from the way my heart was racing before he responded, but to my surprise he called immediately. “Thank you so much,” I murmured.

  “I haven’t done anything yet. And I’m not sure if I will. I have a lot of irons in the fire and I’m not taking as many risks as I used to, if you catch my drift.” He sounded anxious. I couldn’t blame him. After all, we had been casual acquaintances, and now I was asking him to put himself on the line for me. I really should just appreciate that he even responded.

  “So, here’s the thing. I think you know that I was in the Marines.”

  He chuckled. “Of course. Everyone was shocked that you went that route after high school, even if it is expected of your family. Get to the point. What do you want, Hawk?”

  “I want my dog back. I was a handler in the Marines. Bishop saved me more times than I can count. It’s my turn to save him.” I rubbed my face with both hands, frustrated. I was about to ask him to take what might be the most dangerous risk of his life. “They flew us back on separate planes. I was supposed to be able to claim him at Lejeune and bring him home with me. Yet he has gone missing, with all the rest of the dogs.”

  “So, what can I do? What are you asking of me?” I could hear his chair creak as he leaned back. He was starting to sound disgruntled. I’d made the emotional appeal, and now I had to get straight to the point.

  “I have the numbers for his microchip. I have all of his information. I just want you to change the owner online to me. If you do that, then I should be able to find him. I’ll be contacted directly, instead of waiting on the Marines to locate my dog.” I sank down on my bed and rubbed my temple. “I don’t know that he would be safe with anyone else. He’s bonded with me. He’s only known me. And I don’t want him getting put down if I can save him.”

  Finn groaned. “Basically, you’re asking me to hack into military records and alter them.”

  I smirked. “Come on, it can’t be harder than anything you did at St. Thomas Academy.”

  He sucked in a breath. “I guess I wasn’t as smooth as I thought I was. Okay. I do this, then we never speak of it again.”

  “You got it. Although, I have to tell you that in my life, having a friend who is great with computers could come in pretty handy. Any chance you would consider possibly performing other services as a consultant in the future?”

  “For a fee? I can see that. As long as from now on it’s on the up and up.” He sighed. “Send me what you got, I’ll do what I can.” Then he ended our call.

  Knowing that something was being done while I suffered through a meal with the family helped. I was able to carry on pleasant conversation. Even though nobody wanted to hear about the dark side of the family business. I remained calm and before dessert, I received a text. There were just two words: It’s done.

  6

  Taryn

  “Lark!” I shouted down the hall. “Time to get up. You have preschool today. And it’s Friday!”

  We had the routine down. Of course, it had only taken us four years to get here. I opened the YouTube app on my phone to play the “Friday Song” by Rebecca Black. Was it too old for her? Definitely. Did it have a great beat and get her out of bed? Usually.

  Since Braxton had already sent a text to let me know he was leaving his house in ten minutes, I didn’t have a lot of time to negotiate terms for Lark’s surrender to the school day. Thankfully, the preschool provided breakfast and lunch. If she was there late enough, she also would get an afternoon snack. For the price I paid every week, she should be eating on solid gold trays. Photos texted to me throughout the day, however, showed nothing more than melamine.

  I listened for a minute after I cranked up the volume on my phone. Still, I had yet to hear her feet hit the floor. I groaned and marched down the hall to her room. Pushing open the door, I leaned in and announced, “Uncle Braxton will be here in fifteen minutes, cranky pants. Time to get up.”

  This earned me some signs of life. She pulled the comforter over her head and wiggled toward the end of her bed. “I’m not going.”

  I stuck the phone in my pocket, clapped my hands together, tucked them under my chin and exclaimed, “Oh, that’s so cute! You think you have a choice. Spoiler alert: you don’t. I have to go to work. And you have to go to school.”

  Lark threw the comforter back enough to expose her face. “It’s not really school, Mother.” She only called me this when she was really annoyed. Before Lark, I had no idea four-year-olds came with so much attitude. I was about to respond, but she sat up and raised a finger, indicating she wasn’t done yet. “This is preschool. It doesn’t even count. Why should I even bother to go?”

  “Well, because you can’t stay here alone. I have to work all day. Uncle Braxton has to work all day. And by going to preschool, you get to play with your friends.” I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against the door frame, hoping these reasons were enough to placate my child and convince her to go get ready.

  Lark narrowed her eyes. “What about this weekend? You said it’s Friday. Can we go to the beach? Not today. I mean tomorrow.”

  Walking the beach and picking up debris was one of her favorite ways to pass the time. Lark had been collecting all manner of sea trash for as long as I can remember. When she was first walking, it was so cute to see her bending over and picking up bits of shells. Now, I had jars full of them because she couldn’t stand leaving any of her treasures behind.

  “Absolutely. If you go to school today and don’t give me a hard time getting ready, I will be more than happy to take you to the beach.” I nodded a few times in an effort to convince both of us. Apparently, it worked. Seconds later, Lark hopped from the bed and rushed to the bathroom.

  Finally, my day was beginning to look up. I puttered around getting things ready for both of us to leave. Her bag was packed, complete with a change of clothes in case she was little overzealous with the water table at school. Confident I had everything together, I wandered back down the hall to check on her. That’s when I heard Braxton knock on the door, and then let himself in.

  “Hey,” I grumbled. “Don’t make me sorry I gave you a key.”

  Braxton snorted. “Please. What am I going to walk in on? The last time you got busy was when you made that baby.”

  At that, Lark came galloping down the hall with her favorite stuffed doll in her arms and threw herself into my brother’s arms. “How many times do I have to tell you? I’m not a baby,” she complained.

  “I guess at least one more.” Braxton bent his head to give her a zerbert on her belly. She giggled and squirmed out of his grasp. “You ready to go, bird?”

  “My name is Lark. I’m not a bird.” She looked at me and rolled her eyes. This was their usual shtick. I was just happy she had a positive male role model in her life. She had recently reached the difficult age where she started asking about her father. And I still didn’t have any answers for her.

  “I need a kiss!” I called out as they started out the door without saying their goodbyes. Braxton paused so I could plant a kiss on my daughter’s cheek. I passed him her bag and thanked him for taking her.

  “Oh, I almost forgot.” He passed me a pink paper that he’d been holding in his hand. “Did you know about this?”

  I quickly scanned the note as he passed me. Then I took a deep breath and tried to avert a potential panic attack. The landlord had warned me he was trying
to sell the place and move from Michigan to Florida before winter. Before the sign was placed in the yard, he’d already had me pack up all the photos and personal touches, per the realtor’s request, which meant I now had a box of framed photos of Lark. So, while I knew he put the cottage on the market, I never imagined a sale would happen so quickly. The buyer was offering all cash for a quick close. And the landlord needed me out by the end of the following week so he could have the place cleaned before the papers were signed.

  “You could stay with me for a little while if you need to,” Braxton suggested.

  “You live in a one-bedroom. Thank you for the offer, but I’m gonna start exploring other options. There’s no way we’d fit, even for a little while.”

  They left going one direction, while I departed and went the opposite way. I was still working at the same veterinary office that I’d been at since high school. The money was good enough to support my little family on a tight budget. As long as I never had an emergency, everything seemed to go smoothly. Now, I’d apparently be put to the test. This was an emergency on a grand scale. I’d really hoped to at least stay here until fall when my daughter started kindergarten and I no longer had to pay for all-day childcare. We were months from that. And I had no idea what I was going to do.

  I drove to the clinic while considering my options. Nothing came to mind. My parents had downsized. My brother had a one-bedroom apartment. Peyton had just moved in with her boyfriend, Cash, over the garage he owned, and I knew she didn’t have room for us. So my only option was really to find another apartment in my price range.

  The minute I walked through the door, I knew something was different. There was a lot of noise coming from the back. Doctor Kate greeted me with a frown. “I hate to dump this on you, but today is going to be intense. We have another shipment of dogs for an adoption event happening tomorrow.”

  I groaned. “MK9?”

  She nodded. “You’re so good with them. Must come from wrangling Lark,” she joked. Dr. Kate passed me a clipboard. “You know what to do.”

  Leslie offered a weak smile. She ran the front desk and hated these adoption events. The dogs were coming back from the Middle East and usually completely traumatized. They missed their handlers, the only people they truly trusted. And because of all this, and despite their expensive training, they were often loud and difficult to control.

  “Happy Friday,” I mumbled as I took the coffee she’d made me, tucked the clipboard under my arm, and disappeared into the bowels of the clinic.

  My job would be to check out all the animals and give them a clean bill of health. None of these dogs were going to be pets. Instead, they’d be sold off to security companies and law enforcement agencies for a hefty sum, as long as they were healthy.

  “Don’t forget to check the chips,” Dr. Kate commented as she passed me on the way to her office.

  “You got it.” I frowned and made my way to the first kennel. Most of the dogs were German Shepherds, but one stood out, a black one I’d never seen before. “What’s this guy?” I asked Dr. Kate.

  “Belgian Malinois. Another popular military breed. Pretty rare around these parts though.” Our discussion was interrupted by a bell chiming, which alerted us to our first patient of the day.

  In between checking in our patients, I checked the vitals and scanned the chips of each dog so our vet could sign off. I almost didn’t make time for lunch. I was determined to get off of work on time. Braxton would be dropping off Lark at six in the evening and he hated having to come all the way to the office on a Friday because of traffic.

  I needed to squeeze in one more dog before I ate if I had any hope of leaving on time. Naturally, I chose the black one. I checked his temperature. He didn’t even seem bothered. “You’re perfect,” I assured the dog as I pet him.

  I peeked in his ears, checked his eyes, and then tested for worms. He was a nice dog. Serious, alert. He studied me, which made me smile. “Giving me the once over, too, huh? How am I doing?”

  Then I scanned his chip. I’d been doing these events for the last three years. Every single dog had come back as property of the military. Not this one. He came back as property of Hawk McKenzie. I took a deep breath. I didn’t want to believe it was him, Lark’s dad, but since he was in boot camp when I tried to tell him about the pregnancy, I realized the timing was right for him to come back home.

  I wandered out to the front desk where Leslie was powdering her nose. She glanced up at me and blushed. “So, is Braxton coming later to drop off Lark?” she asked.

  I nodded numbly. “Listen, I know I’m usually the one to call the owners when we find their dogs, but right now I haven’t even had a chance to eat and we have more dogs to check before I can leave tonight…” I let my voice trail off and hoped my desperation was obvious.

  Leslie smiled. “Of course. I’ll call.”

  “Thank you. You’re a lifesaver.” I dropped the paperwork on her desk.

  She immediately opened it and glanced inside. “Wait. Hawk McKenzie? As in…Hawkins McKenzie?” She fanned herself a little and I completely understood why. His family was well known in the area. He attended St. Thomas Academy, but we still saw plenty of him at football games, since we were fierce rivals. Even if he hadn’t been the last guy I’d been with for more than five years, I would’ve felt the same way.

  I shrugged. “Maybe. I’m not sure.”

  She called right away, and I ate my sandwich nearby, pretending not to eavesdrop. Thankfully, she had it on speaker phone, since there were no customers waiting in the reception area. She hated holding the phone near her face when she had freshly applied her makeup.

  The phone rang five times before she hung up. He hadn’t answered. She left a message. And I was left wondering. Was I going to have to face my baby daddy today?

  7

  Hawk

  I saw the call come in, but since the number wasn’t saved to my phone, it was automatically sent to voicemail.

  Fallon saw me glancing at it. “Do you need to get that?”

  I shook my head. “Nah. I’ll listen when we’re through. This is pretty important right now.” My heart was racing. This was the first time I was seeing my new place in person. I’d bought it sight unseen, and this was the final walk through before we signed the papers next week and the contractor would begin to make the improvements I’d requested.

  “Must be cool having your father buy your first house,” Fallon commented as he unlocked the front door of the house.

  I laughed. “My father would never buy this place. Not for me. Not for anyone. This is all me. I saved all my birthday and graduation money for years, and invested all my pay while in the military. I dreamed of a nice little cottage with a fenced yard for my dog.” I swallowed hard. I didn’t have my dog…yet. And this wasn’t all I’d envisioned. Somehow, I wanted to find Taryn, woo her, and share this with her too. Baby steps. I was at least moving in the right direction.

  “Listen, after everything that happened before you left, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your trust in me while buying your home.” Fallon shook my hand. “And when you’re ready to upgrade in a few years, I hope that you’ll reach out again.”

  I frowned. “What happened?” I asked absently as I toured the place.

  “Oh, you know…with the condoms.” He shrugged. And when I looked at him, the pink in his cheeks showed his embarrassment. “Sorry I mentioned it.”

  I was going to let it drop, but then I realized what he must’ve meant. “Oh, right. You gave me one at the dunes on graduation night.”

  “I gave out a lot over the next few weeks.” He cleared his throat. “That proved to be a big mistake.”

  “Right. Well, let’s just focus on this. The contractor is meeting us here in a minute. I want to be able to tell him what changes I want implemented.”

  Minutes later, there was a knock on the front door and I had a small thrill when I opened it for the first time. This was about to be my house. I’d
never answered a door before. My father always hired help for such tasks.

  I opened the door for the contractor, shook his hand, and invited him inside. Fallon had disappeared onto the back porch to answer a call, leaving me alone to go over my concerns with the contractor. “You must be Roman.”

  “I am.” He held a clipboard in one hand and didn’t mince words. “So, I took a look around outside. The siding and windows should be replaced for energy efficiency and curb appeal. Was that on your list?”

  I nodded. “Yes, but I’ll need to see estimates broken down by project.”

  “Makes perfect sense.” He made his way into the kitchen. I knew the whole room needed to be gutted. Roman, apparently, agreed.

  “This place is great. A perfect starter house. It looks like a cute cottage from the outside, but it’s missing all the charm. I don’t suppose you’d let me add some?” He rubbed his chin.

  For a moment, I looked around, absolutely in agreement. As always, my concern would be the bottom line. Still, if I wanted to make this place a home, I’d need to put some money into it. “What do you have in mind?”

  Roman smiled. “Board and batten on the walls. Let me take a peek in the attic and see if we can vault the ceiling, or maybe make an additional bedroom up there.” I could see how excited he was about the project. We were going to get along just fine.

  “Those bathrooms, both of them need updating,” he added.

  “So far, we’re completely redoing the three most expensive rooms in the house.” I sighed.

  “I know. And it can be intimidating, but these are also the rooms that really make a home comfortable. So, that’s where the money should be spent. We can worry about curb appeal later.” Roman scribbled some notes on the papers secured on the clipboard.