He shook his head, dismissing the girls...but...
Although he tried not to, his mind shot to Stefanie and her last visit, the one where he’d played the prank that had backfired.
Or had it?
Mac leaned back against the wall in the vault and fought to get air in his lungs. “Stefanie. She was in my office. Unsupervised,” he said through clenched teeth because he was trying to keep his shit together.
Christ. Not again. He didn’t fucking fall for a women who used his position for her own gain...and jeopardized his team.
“Nah.” Carter shook his head.
Dex scratched his temple. “I agree. She wouldn’t, man. She cares about you.”
He inhaled, wanting desperately to believe them, but given his dangerous miscalculation with Fiona, Mac couldn’t be sure.
“So? What do we do with the bug?” Dex asked.
“While we’re trying to figure this out, let’s leave it where it is,” he said. “But we should each head home to sweep our places, in case there are bugs there, too.”
Christ. The gravity of it all crushed his chest. As of today, Stefanie’d had plenty of access there. And unsupervised, because he’d left her in bed and came to work.
“Let’s regroup here in an hour,” he said, then headed out the door. He needed air.
And an hour later, he breathed a little easier, having found no devices anywhere at his ranch. He was starting to feel better. The one in his office had to belong to someone other than Stefanie. That thought started to sink in, until he neared his office and found the sheriff parked out front.
He parked beside the cruiser and got out, pulse pounding in his head as he walked in the front doors of his office to find his cousin’s wife—in her sheriff uniform—standing with Dex and Carter.
“Jordan.” He nodded. “Thought you were on desk duty until your retire next month? What’s wrong?”
“Hey, Mac.” She nodded back. “I am, but I’m just here asking questions. Your guys filled me in on the bug situation, and I have a feeling it coincides with why I’m here.”
“Okay...” She already had a lead? Hope flickered through his chest for a brief moment.
She stepped forward to show him a photo on her phone. “You ever see these two? They’re wanted in connection with that art theft.”
Mac couldn’t believe what he was seeing. It was the couple Stefanie had argued with at the hospital a few weeks back. His heart literally stopped for a full two beats and his chest tightened again. He closed his eyes and nodded.
How the fuck could she do this? Betrayal pierced his heart, gripped it tight and yanked it into his gut.
God, had she been playing him and helping them the whole time? What had he seen? Had he caught her arguing with them about money?
He fought back the bile rising up in his throat. He’d trusted her. Shared everything with her. Took a damn chance...
He opened his eyes, pulled out his phone and showed Jordan the photo he’d snapped. “This is them, right?”
She looked at the photo then back to him, concern darkening her eyes. “Yes, but it doesn’t mean—”
“It doesn’t not mean it, either,” he said, cutting her off. “Stefanie is in this photo with the suspects. I saw her arguing with them at the hospital when Katie was born. And she was in my office unsupervised. The office with the bug that was there when I talked to Mr. Pearson about the painting.”
His mind reeled. Stefanie had sucked him in, plain and simple. She drew him in with her smile and sweet curves, fogging his damn, unreliable judgment. Christ. She even got him to leave her alone in his office...
“I saw Stefanie next door,” Jordan said. “Let’s call her over. I’m sure she has a reasonable explanation.”
His mind was too numb to think clearly, but the seed of doubt weighed heavy, and he pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to relieve the pressure. “Yes. I’d love to hear what she has to say.”
But he already knew he wouldn’t trust a word. Never again.
Chapter Thirteen
Stefanie was still riding her euphoric bliss from her all-nighter with Mac...at his house. Her stomach fluttered and chest warmed. She could hardly believe he’d invited her into his home and asked her to stay the whole night.
That was a huge step for any man, but especially a man like Mac, whom she suspected was betrayed by his ex, which left him with trust issues.
But he trusted her. Implicitly. The rush of joy that discovery brought Stefanie was as unexpected as it was fierce. Warmth radiated throughout her body.
She sat next to Reggie on the couch in her office and scratched him under his chin. A deep rumble immediately permeated his throat. She smiled and continued to scratch. He was happy and content. She could relate, and if she could purr, she would.
Her phone vibrated with a text. A ripple of excitement fluttered through her chest. Maybe it was Mac, telling her he was done for the day. Still smiling, she got up and headed to her desk, and her smile widened when she saw it was indeed from him, asking her to come next door.
She threw her phone in her purse, kissed her cat, and left through the front of her building, her steps halting—along with her heart—when she spotted the sheriff’s car parked out front of Mac’s place.
Then her mind cleared. His cousin’s wife was the sheriff. Jordan was probably just visiting, or stopping by to invite them to another McCall party. They had a lot of get-togethers. And had invited her to every single one since she’d moved to Harland County.
Her heart felt full, yet unusually light, as she opened the door to Eagle Security and Investigations and was surprised to find Mac, Carter, and Dex there, along with Jordan leaning against the desk that was in need of a receptionist.
“Hey,” she said, her smile wavering at the somber expressions on all four faces. Oh my God. Chloe... Did Naomi do something to Chloe, or Katie, or both? Her heart dropped to her knees, and she reached out to grab the nearest object to steady herself, which happened to be Mac.
He tugged free and stepped back.
Her mind was still trying to form the question about her sister, but now it snagged on his unexpected reaction. Why would he do that?
She forced the words from her lips. “Chloe...is she okay?”
“Yes.” Jordan stepped close to set a hand on her shoulder and give her a reassuring smile. “She’s fine. Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”
Stefanie closed her eyes for a second and concentrated on breathing in and out a few times. Her sister was fine. It was a false alarm. She centered herself before reopening her eyes. “So, then...what’s going on?”
Dex and Carter were unusually quiet, but it was Mac who alarmed her. His jaw was tight, arms were crossed over his chest, his posture closed off and rigid, but the worst was his gaze...cold and hard.
A shiver raced down her spine.
“Mac?” She twisted from Jordan to step toward him, and once again, he moved away. “What’s wrong?” She couldn’t equate the cold, unfeeling man standing before her with the warm, giving man who’d been reluctant to leave her that morning.
“I have questions for you,” he said. “But I’m not sure why I’m bothering, since you’ve lied before, and will no doubt lie to my face now.”
She flinched, and her stomach bunched, and she couldn’t figure out what could’ve happened to change his opinion of her in such a few short hours. “What are you talking about?”
“This.” He shoved his phone at her, with that damn picture he’d taken of Naomi and her latest dude at the hospital on the screen.
She fought to remain as expressionless as possible because she was so done being tainted by that woman. “What about it?”
“Cut the bull, Stefanie.” He sneered. “Quit pretending you don’t know who the hell they are.”
Dammit.
She dropped his gaze and counted backward from five.
“Son-on-a-bitch...” Disbelief and anger roughened his tone. “You do know them.�
��
Unfortunately. She dragged air into her lungs and met his gaze again. “Look, I’m sorry, I—”
“Christ. How long have you been playing me, Stefanie?” he cut her off, looking down his nose at her. “Huh? Since Houston? Last December? Amity, when you were in my cabin?”
God...she sucked in a breath. He thought she was playing him?
She wrapped her arms around herself to ward off the pain, but it didn’t work. Her chest was squeezed so tight she could barely get air into her lungs.
“Mac.” Jordan’s tone held an underlining warning even Stefanie’s rapidly numbing mind clued in on. “Be careful what you say. You may regret it.”
He laughed, the harsh sound stripping away the layers of joy that once surrounded Stefanie’s heart. “The only thing I regret was thinking Stefanie was different. Thinking I could trust her.” His gaze bore into her, cold, hard, spiteful.
Jordan stepped close and touched her arm. “How do you know them?”
She blinked and focused on the sheriff then forced her mind to participate. “That’s Naomi and Earl Hopkins.” She’d discovered that during her errand running right after Katie was born. “Naomi’s last name used to be Davis.”
Carter frowned. “Davis, like you?”
She nodded. “Unfortunately. She was married to my dad.”
Jordan’s brow rose. “This woman was your stepmother?”
The contempt in Mac’s eyes wavered a second and for a brief moment, his frosty gaze showed signs of thawing. “That’s your stepmother?”
She nodded again. “Yes.”
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me that at the hospital?” he asked, the anger returning to harden his features. “Or were you fighting over your share of whatever you were hoping to score through me?”
She snapped her head back and scowled. “What are you talking about?”
“Like you don’t know.” He sneered.
“Why don’t you tell me?”
His lips thinned. “The painting?”
She blinked, trying to follow his logic.
“The job I was supposed to have today but lost because someone stole the painting before we could guard it.”
She raised her brows. “You think I had something to do with that?”
The vein in his neck twitched. “You took advantage of me and my friends, Stefanie. I’m just praying Pearson doesn’t hold ESI guilty by association.”
Her chest squeezed at the thought. She hoped to God the man didn’t either. Naomi was always ruining people’s lives.
Blinking, Stefanie turned to face the others. “I didn’t do any of this. And I’m really sorry if you think that.”
God, did they?
She glanced at all their faces, finding only one person whose gaze was riddled with mistrust, anger, and pain.
Mac.
“We found a bug under the couch in my office—the one I left you alone on to fetch a cold pack,” he said.
Damn Naomi. Stefanie’s heart hit her ribs.
His top lip curled. “A ploy I fell for hook, line, and sucker.”
Moving toward him, she swallowed past the pain lodged in her throat, wanting desperately to reach him, to give him one last chance to redeem himself. “You really believe that?”
After all they’d been through. All they’d shared.
“I believe a bug was planted in my office. I believe your stepmother is wanted in connection with the painting stolen from a client of mine. I believe you didn’t tell me who she was when you could have. What I don’t believe in, are coincidences.”
What he really meant, was he didn’t believe in her.
All the fight left her, and pain started to take over the empty spaces. It was Craig all over again, only this was worse. God...so much worse. Now that pain squeezed her insides without mercy. She hugged herself and fought the emotion back. She still had things to tell the sheriff. “I did some snooping when I was in Comfort.”
Jordan pulled out a pad and pen and gave her an encouraging smile. “What can you tell me about your stepmother now?”
Stefanie inhaled, and it cleared a little of the numbness from her brain, allowing her enough mental capacity to fill the woman in on everything she’d discovered, including the address two towns over from Comfort. “I was worried she was after Chloe or the baby. I am sorry, guys,” she said, glancing at the men. “She must’ve shoved the bug in my purse while we were arguing at the hospital.”
“How do you think it got under Mac’s couch?” Jordan asked, gaze neutral, not loaded with contempt or accusation. Just curiosity.
“If it was from her—and I wouldn’t put it past her—then I’m guessing it fell out and rolled under there when I dropped my purse.” She kept her gaze averted from Mac’s because whether his eyes held anger or remorse, they both hurt. “Naomi said she was at the hospital visiting a sick friend.” She gave Jordan the name and the address she’d found associated with it. “Perhaps he’ll know how to find her.”
“Do you have any proof you did all this?” Mac asked, head cocked like he already didn’t believe the answer she had yet to give.
Her throat closed up so tight she couldn’t talk. Proof? Why couldn’t he just believe her? She stared up at him, searching for a softening in him, but found only contempt and anger. He’d seen her with Naomi, and immediately jumped to the conclusion she’d played him and had been stringing him along all this time so she could spy on his clients to steal assets.
Deep down, some part of her understood how bad it all looked, but the other parts wondered how he could think that?
She didn’t know what hurt worse, the fact he harbored such a low opinion of her, or the fact he’d never really bothered to look into her heart, the one she’d opened up and bared for him, because if he had, they wouldn’t be having this conversation.
A tremor escaped from the tight hold she had on her emotions. “I’m sorry my word isn’t enough, Mac. Whoever she was, really did a number on you.”
He stared at her as if she were a stranger. “Don’t try to put this on me. You’re the one keeping secrets.”
“I did,” she admitted quietly. “You’re right. I kept Naomi’s identity a secret because that woman contaminated my whole life until I got away. So excuse me for wanting a fresh start. Something good and pure without her tainting it. I just didn’t want her contaminating the McCalls. But that isn’t even what this is about, Mac. Still...if that makes you feel better, justifies you walking away from our relationship—which you would’ve at some point, anyway—then go ahead. Believe what you want.”
“The hell with that, Stefanie.” He scowled, tossing his hands in the air. “I don’t abandon. I have everyone’s six. But I won’t stick around if I’m being played for a fool.”
She nodded slowly, numbness kicking back in. “And I won’t stick around and be accused of playing you for one.”
She turned to Jordan, her heart thudding dully in her chest. “Do you need anything else from me, Sheriff? Do you need to search my house or office?”
“No, and it’s Jordan,” the kind woman said. “We’re family.”
But Stefanie knew better than to fool herself into thinking that fantasy of belonging to a family was real. She didn’t have any family in Harland County. Her sister would have her six, if she were here, but Chloe lived in another county. Stefanie was on her own.
As always.
Stefanie met Mac’s gaze one last time. “If you want proof, talk to Lincoln,” she told him, then turned and walked out the door, her chest feeling like it was caving in.
***
Two days had passed since Mac had taken his jackassness to a new level. God, how could he have seriously thought Stefanie capable of seducing him so she could spy on his company for profit? And working with her bitch of a stepmother, no less?
Naomi and her husband had been apprehended two hours after Stefanie had given Jordan the name of the patient her stepmother had visited. Turned out, he was the woman’s fence
, and Stefanie running into Naomi had been pure chance. Mac also found out the bug had been slipped into Stefanie’s purse by her stepmother, so the woman could spy on her to see if she had anything worth stealing. It was just by off chance that Stef had spilled her purse and the bug had landed under his couch, giving Naomi bigger fish.
Thank Christ she’d been caught after the first try.
Anger burned through his veins, making his skin itch. The woman was a no good mooch, and it made him sick to think of a young Stefanie stuck with that woman right after their father had died.
She hadn’t gotten the love and support needed after such a loss. It had been missing in her life ever since. And he hadn’t been much better to her.
Damn, if he could kick his own ass, he would. But since that was a little tough, he’d settled for a sparring match with Dex. With his mind on Stefanie and not on the fists flying in front of him, Mac ducked when he should’ve blocked and got clocked a good one.
He hit the mat and decided to just stay there, the pain in his face strong enough to rival the one in his heart.
His own damn fault. Both of them.
“You okay, man?” Dex asked, concern evident between panting.
He nodded. “Yeah, deserved that and more.” Dragging in air, he stared at the ceiling, wondering if he should try calling Stefanie.
A whole twenty-four hours had gone by since his last attempt. He’d also knocked on her door, both at home and at work. She didn’t answer those, either. He couldn’t blame her.
Which was what he should’ve done two days ago...not blame her. You’d think he would’ve learned his lesson in Houston.
“Sure you’re okay, Mac?” Dex stared down at him, frown creasing his brow. “You’re mumbling.” His friend held his hand out to him.
Mac took it and let his buddy help him up. “Thanks.” He was a little woozy, but no way would he tell Dex. It’d go to his buddy’s head. Besides, it was probably from lack of sleep...and eating. He hadn’t done much of either since he hurt the best damn thing to ever happen to him.
He swallowed a groan.
Mac (HC Heroes Series, #1) Page 15
