by Victoria Sue
“And he seems okay?”
Mav frowned. “Yeah, why?”
“Because one of the names I just gave you—Neil Patterson—became a reservist at the same time as Charlie, and he wondered if Charlie was okay after everything that went down.”
“I have no idea what you mean.”
There was a pause. “I didn’t know either,” Troy admitted, “or I would have reached out. I don’t think he ever told anyone, but some people become real closed off when they leave.”
Mav knew it was a dig at him, and it was true. “Closed off about what?”
“Did you know why he became a reservist?”
“From what I understand, he had a girlfriend who hated him being deployed.” Not that that in itself was unusual. Separation was shit on the families.
“Did you know she died?”
“Fuck, no,” Mav said. But Charlie had mentioned going for a beer and catching up. Something else Mav hadn’t done. “But thanks for the heads-up. I’ll reach out—”
“As soon as you aren’t trying to put down a crazy,” Troy finished. Mav could hear the smile in his voice, and he thanked him for the names and the info about his friend. Troy told him to stay safe, and he hung up.
Mav glanced over to where the receptionist was still on the phone and thought about Charlie and what a crap friend he’d been. He’d had three months he could have reached out during, but he’d just buried his head in a bottle of Jack and felt sorry for himself. He was pathetic. It was shit Charlie had given up doing what he loved for his girlfriend and lost her anyway. It was a shame he hadn’t met her on one of those dating things Phan had mentioned. Maybe if she had wanted to date a soldier in the first place, she would have been more accepting of him having to do his job. Cass used to talk about Date a Hero, or whatever it was called, all the time.
Although, actually, now he thought about it, Cass only talked about it when he was teasing Charlie.
For a heartbeat, every drop of blood in his veins turned to ice.
Charlie.
No. He shook his head. That was impossible.
Charlie was a friend. They’d hung out. Gotten drunk. Charlie had been tight with him and Cass.
Or had he? It had been him and Cass against the world. Charlie had always joined in, but they hadn’t been as close. If Cass and Charlie had switched places and Cass had gone home, he would have been the first person Mav would have reached out to in the hospital. Cass wouldn’t have left his side. Charlie had never even been to visit. All this time Mav had been berating himself for not reaching out, but Charlie had never done so once. They’d exchanged one fucking email. Cass would have beaten down the door to his hospital room.
With a shaky hand, he checked his phone and called Deacon. After a few rings, it went to voicemail. He breathed his panic out and dialed Jamie. When that also went to voicemail, he dialed Phan. The detective answered on the second ring, although Mav’s heartbeats were so loud in his ears it was a wonder it didn’t drown everything else out.
“Phan?”
“Delgardo?” Phan’s tone was sharp. He had heard the panic in Maverick’s voice.
“Do you know what cops are guarding Jamie and Deacon?”
“I’m not sure, but it will be one of the regulars…. Hang on. I’m actually with Sergeant Docherty.” There was a minute’s silence. “He sent Officer Chaplin—”
Maverick didn’t know how his shaky legs held him. Ignoring the questions of the receptionist as he tried to move as fast as he could out of the building and toward his truck, he clutched the phone tight while he stumbled over the words. “Charlie used Date a Hero all the time. He left the Air Force because his girlfriend didn’t like him being deployed. When I saw him for the first time, he said they had a bad breakup, but his lieutenant just told me she died, and he said his cousin had offered him a place to crash. He doesn’t like fucking coffee,” Maverick yelled and nearly wrenched the truck door open.
He heard Phan issuing rapid-fire instructions to his team.
Maverick ignored the seat belt and started the truck, then peeled out of the parking lot.
“What type of car does he drive?” Maverick gripped the phone and wondered how his heart was still beating. There was another silence while he knew Phan was searching.
“We checked the registration of black Chargers in Georgia, but not… shit. It’s registered in Ohio.”
“What is?” Mav ground out.
“A black Dodge Charger,” Phan said, and the phone went dead.
MOLLY HAD dropped to sleep, and Deacon turned down the TV. Jamie’s neighbor had come through for them again and brought some Infants’ Tylenol. Her fever was better, and Jamie didn’t seem worried, so he wasn’t. He missed Maverick. He was surprised to admit how much he actually missed him.
“Can I get you a coffee, tea, sandwich?” he asked Jamie after checking Molly was okay.
“A bottle of water?” Jamie followed him into the kitchen and sank back down. “And a couple of ibuprofen from the top cupboard?”
Deacon got them both and sat down opposite Jamie. “How old’s your daughter?”
“Seventeen,” Jamie said fondly, following Deacon’s gaze to one of the million photos of Melanie that Jamie had around the house. “She’s such a good kid.”
Deacon nodded and sipped his own water. “She has a good mom.”
Jamie smiled. “Actually, I wouldn’t mind an unbiased opinion.”
“Of course,” Deacon assured her, wondering what Jamie was going to say.
Jamie sighed. “I heard from her dad last week. He called me a few times, and I ignored it, so he emailed me.”
Deacon waited. Mav had mentioned he’d had a midlife crisis but no details. Not that he would have expected any.
“We had—I thought—a happy marriage for twenty years. I left the force five years ago when the law firm he worked at closed. Simon was fed up of dealing in boring corporate law as he put it, and he had a colleague who had successfully become a process server. Nothing exciting. He pulled me in with my experience and contacts, and we did okay for a few years. Then he got the idea of expanding. Mav was home on leave, and he was ready for a change, so one night over too many beers, they planned the whole thing. He investigated licenses, got business cards printed, and met Terry Samuels—a twenty-four-year-old gold digger—whose aunt needed some help with a divorce.”
Deacon winced, imagining what was coming.
“A month later, he was gone. He emptied our savings, Melanie’s college money account, and the money he’d been left by his father, and last week, I got an email saying he knew he had been the biggest old fool on the planet, and he’s sorry. He says the college money is back in the account, and most of our savings.”
“But it’s not about the money, is it?” Deacon said gently. “It’s the trust.”
Jamie pressed her lips together for a second and nodded. “He didn’t just take eighty thousand dollars; he took my dignity. And he didn’t only betray me; he betrayed our daughter. And I’m not sure that’s forgivable.” Deacon reached out across the table, and Jamie clasped his hand. “What do you think I should do?”
“I’m not sure I’m the right person to ask.”
Jamie fixed her steady brown-eyed gaze on him, and in that second, she looked so much like her brother, Deacon’s heart hurt. “You were betrayed by someone close to you, and even though you only mentioned her once, I think if you had the chance of a relationship with your mom, you would take it.”
Would I? “I don’t know. You’re right, I’ve been thinking about her, but what if I miss the idea of what I think our relationship should be, not what it actually always was?”
Jamie’s eyes widened. “That’s pretty insightful.”
He shrugged. “I think it was losing Molly that made me question everything. It takes a lot to put someone else first all the time even if what is best for the other person isn’t what’s best for you. Parents all over the world do it every day.”
; “And quite a few never do.”
Deacon gave a wry smile. “None of which answers your question, though. What do you think Melanie would want?”
Jamie chuckled. “I think she took it worse than me at first. She misses her dad because they were always close, but she’ll be off to college soon, and I would be making a very big mistake to take him back for anyone else but myself.”
Sensible lady, Deacon thought. “Why don’t you date?” he asked, remembering what Maverick had said.
“You mean movie nights and necking in the back row?”
Deacon joined in with her laughter. “Make him work for it. See how serious he is. That way you can take your time and—”
“Decide if I love the man or just the idea of not being on my own?”
“Now who’s being all perceptive?”
They both looked up at the knock on the door. “That’ll be Keith,” Jamie said, and Deacon stood up.
“I’ll let him in.”
“And I’ll put the coffee on.”
It wasn’t Keith. It was Charlie, and Deacon smiled as he let the cop in. “You on bodyguard duty?”
Charlie nodded. Deacon looked behind him, but he was on his own. “No partner?”
“The department can’t afford two-person rides mostly,” Jamie said from the kitchen doorway. “They’re more likely to send two cars if they needed it.”
“Oh,” Deacon said in surprise. “I thought that was your partner you came into Target with?”
Charlie shook his head. “Where’s the girl?”
The girl? He said that like he was asking where the suspect was. “If you mean Molly, she’s asleep on the couch,” Deacon said, probably more sharply than he intended.
Charlie had the grace to flush. “Sorry, I was in cop mode there a little. Can you tell me what firearms are in the house?”
“A Sig P328,” Jamie replied tiredly and rubbed her head.
Deacon noticed. “Are you okay?” She’d asked for the ibuprofen earlier.
“To be honest, my ankle’s bothering me.” She smiled. “I’d go lie down, but the couch is occupied.”
“Why don’t you go up to your room?” Deacon suggested. “It’s not like we won’t be safe.” He gestured at Charlie.
“And Officer Jenkins will be here soon. They got called out,” Charlie confirmed.
“See?” Deacon teased. “I’ll be perfectly safe.”
Jamie nodded gratefully and turned for the stairs.
“Do you mind if I check the rooms upstairs? Then I won’t need to disturb you.”
Jamie’s eyes widened. “Of course, Officer.”
Charlie smiled good-naturedly and followed her out. “I know this is overkill, but Mav would have my guts if I didn’t make sure you were all okay.”
Deacon grinned, understanding the fervor with which Charlie spoke. He wasn’t sure, but it wouldn’t surprise him if Maverick wasn’t Charlie’s boss when they were in the military together. He peeked in at Molly, but she was asleep, so he went back into the kitchen to think about what to make for dinner later.
Charlie must have been very thorough up there, because it was quite a few minutes before he came back down. “Jamie’s going to try for an hour’s rest,” he said, quietly coming into the kitchen.
“Would you like a coffee?”
He shook his head. “I hate the stuff, actually. I just drink it with the guys to be sociable. Mav and Cass used to give me grief about it, but the crap they drank was enough to strip your insides.”
Deacon nodded and thought he ought to be sociable. This was essentially Maverick’s best friend. “What do you think of Atlanta?”
Charlie shrugged. “It’s as good a place as any.”
“I’ve lived here most of my life. I guess you got to see lots of places while you served.”
“I wish,” Charlie replied, and Deacon could hear the bitterness in his voice. “I did basic, and then I only got to see some shitty deserts before I had to leave.”
“I’m sorry,” Deacon said.
“Why are you sorry?”
Deacon hesitated. “You’re right. It’s a bit of a trite phrase.” This was harder than he expected. “I think Maverick mentioned you had family here?”
Charlie smiled, but there was no affection in it. “I don’t have family anywhere, not anymore.”
Deacon shuffled a little. Maybe he would go and check on Molly.
“I used to have a son,” Charlie said completely out of the blue. “But my girlfriend was no good at taking care of him, so I left doing what I was trained for and came home.”
He used to have a son? Crap, what had happened? Did Mav know this? Deacon knew he should ask a question, but he didn’t know where to start. “How old?”
“One. He was murdered.”
“Murdered? Oh my God, I am so sorry.” It was unimaginable. “Did they…?”
“Catch the guy?”
Deacon nodded. Not sure he wanted to know, and not sure how to deal with the way the conversation was going.
“He will be punished soon.”
Deacon shivered. That wasn’t what he had asked. He stood up, needing to say something but not sure what. “I have tea if you want some.”
Charlie laughed. “Tea? The great Deacon Daniels is offering me tea?”
Deacon frowned and took a determined step toward the kitchen door, but just as quickly, Charlie rose and blocked him. “I have to check on Molly.”
“She’s fine,” Charlie said. “I checked before I came in here. Sleeping like a baby. They both are.”
Deacon swallowed. He suddenly didn’t like this at all. “Then I think I may go join her. It’s been a difficult few days.”
Charlie nodded, but he still didn’t move. “My girlfriend died as well.”
Deacon froze.
“She was run off the road. Never stood a chance. It was a complete joke. Only a jo—”
Deacon lunged, but he wasn’t fast enough, and he definitely wasn’t strong enough. He struggled even when Charlie’s large hand covered his mouth, and when he felt the needle pierce his skin, he fought like a madman. But his arms were so heavy, and his legs didn’t seem able to hold him up.
“Now the joke’s on you.” The last thing he heard was Charlie’s laugh.
Chapter Eighteen
LIGHTS AND sirens.
It had taken Mav over an hour to get back, and he still wasn’t sure how he’d done it without wrecking his truck or getting pulled over. His heart nearly fucking stopped when he saw the ambulance, and he braked, uncaring who or what he blocked and scrambled out of the truck. Someone tried to put a hand out to stop him thundering forward, but luckily, Phan saw him before he took anyone out.
“Jamie’s okay,” Phan started as he just about stopped breathing when a stretcher was pushed out of the front door. A paramedic followed with Molly bundled up. Mav glanced behind them wildly, willing to see a third.
“Deacon?” he yelled, but Phan reached him before he got inside.
“Jamie and Molly were both drugged. I’m sorry. Deacon is missing.”
Mav’s heart thudded painfully. “Fuck.” He wobbled and put out a hand to the doorframe.
“Come with me to the hospital,” Phan urged, “and we’ll tell you what we know.” Maverick started to follow the EMTs to check on Jamie and Molly, but they were too quick for him. “We got here ten minutes after you called me,” Phan continued, “at the same time as Officer Samson, who had been called out for a house fire—arson—literally around the corner. The house was empty, but the caller said three people were trapped. Chaplin told Samson he would be okay, and he should leave him.”
Mav tried to clear his throat. “A diversion.”
“Did he know you had an appointment already?”
“No.”
“So he decided as soon as he found out about my request for extra back up.”
“And it’s definitely him?”
Phan nodded. “On the way, I spoke to the next of kin that’
s supposed to live here. The cousin?”
Mav ignored the pain in his leg and kept up with Phan toward his car. The ambulance drove off with sirens and lights blazing. Then he realized Phan was waiting for an answer. “Yes.”
“It was actually a school friend, but he told us that Charlie confided in him once over one beer too many that he was here because his girlfriend and baby were killed in a car accident. He and Shelley didn’t exactly have a stable relationship. Finding out about the child was what probably pushed him over the edge. I know this is small comfort at the moment, but it was only lack of opportunity that stopped him going back for Molly. The neighbor saw him helping Deacon into the car. She said he seemed unwell, and Charlie had his arm around him. When she came out to ask if everything was okay, he said Deacon had just had some bad news and he was taking him downtown.
“He told the neighbor Molly and Jamie had already left. He said his colleague would be by to check on the house and would she tell him they were safe.” Phan shook his head. “She lapped it up. Never occurred to her to ask why he didn’t radio it in.”
“Cops tend to be believed,” Maverick whispered. He’d believed him. Trusted him. Fuck, he should never have left them. “Can’t you track the patrol car, though?”
“Ditched within five minutes, but we’ve got people checking CCTV for the Charger.”
Maverick moved restlessly. He needed to do something.
“There is nothing anyone can do until we have somewhere to look. We’re hoping Jamie or Molly might have heard or seen something.”
Mav was never going to let Deacon out of his sight again when he got him back. And it would be when. He was going to tear up Atlanta until he found him.
It was amazing what a blue flashing light could do. They made it to the emergency room in half the time it would normally take, and they were both immediately shown into where Jamie was. Molly had been taken down to pediatric ICU to be on the safe side because she hadn’t come around as fast as Jamie.
Jamie was sitting up in her own cubicle with a nurse checking her vitals and a doctor writing a report. She blinked back tears when Maverick came in. “How’re Molly and Deacon?”
