A Perfect Chance

by Becca Lee

  A PERFECT CHANCE

  Copyright © 2016 by BECCA LEE

  All rights reserved

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of Becca Lee, except for the use of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Editing & Interior Design by Hot Tree Editing

  Cover Design: ZH Designs

  ISBN: (eBook)

  Dedication

  Donna, the Jo to my Ella.

  Contents

  Dedication

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  Also by Becca Lee

  Coming Soon

  Prologue

  MACE

  Four Years Earlier

  "Mace, get your head outta your arse and get over here, now." It took all the willpower I had not to throw my phone against the brick wall of the piece-of-shit house in front of me.

  I was itching to get inside. I would have hauled my arse in there too, but going in blind was a mistake I would not be repeating. Never a-fucking-gain. At the thought of the last raid that got completely fucked, almost a year earlier, I bit back my string of curses. I'd lost her because of one move that should never have happened in the first place.

  Everything had gone wrong that day resulting in a loss from which I never expected to recover. I still wasn't sure if it was bad intel, a mole in the force, or just a heap of bad luck. But my instinct debated the first two. So instead of forcing myself in, guns blazing and with no backup, I learned from my past mistake and pulled away, heading down the street, the pipes of my Harley rumbling loudly and echoing in the still evening.

  Fifteen minutes later, I rode into the underground parking area and headed in the direction of the waiting car. A large figure leaned against the hood, smoking a cigarette. Switching off the engine, I removed my helmet and stood, taking the couple of strides needed to be in front of Enfield.

  "Where the hell were you?"

  I folded my arms across my chest and shrugged non-committally.

  "Shit, Mace." He took a final drag and threw the stub to the ground, stamping it out. A flippant remark about littering and fines danced on my tongue, but I didn't need to piss Enfield off any more than he already was. "You were there again, weren't you?"

  I held his gaze, unflinching against his piercing stare. After working with his team for the last four years, I knew his tells, knew when to shove and when to keep my mouth shut. The latter was the best course of action right then. I wouldn't lie to him. He knew exactly where I'd been.

  He sighed, a deep sound that was loud in the enclosed space. It sounded defeated, as well as completely pissed off. "You need to stop. It's not healthy. Not right. Damn, Mace, I can't even begin to"—he lowered his head and looked at the ground before he continued—"you know, but it has to stop. You're chasing a ghost."

  Clenching my fists and my jaw at his words, I tilted my neck, feeling the satisfying crack as I released some of the tension.

  "I can't." It really was that simple. I couldn't rest, couldn't stop, not until I caught all the bastards responsible and put them to ground. The thought alone filled me with exhaustion. I couldn't remember the last time over the past year when I'd slept for longer than two hours straight.

  "You can and you will." Enfield took a step towards me, his tone turning hard. "You're putting your team in an impossible position. You know that, right? O'Leary keeps covering for you, but you're going to drag him down with you."

  I knew he was watching out for me, but on this, I couldn't listen. When I'd finished my training and probation period for the police force, I'd been recruited into a special strike force team, targeting outlaw motorcycle gangs, or OMCGs, on the Sunshine Coast. OMCGs had been running riot in the state for the last few years, dealing in drugs, firearms, and women. We'd been battling with them ever since. Every time we were that much closer to winning, it appeared another gang was ready to merge in and take over the reins.

  And these were gangs, criminals we needed to get off the street. When I was first recruited, I’d naïvely thought it was motorcycle clubs we were targeting. It didn't take long for me to have my eyes ripped wide open and to see the obvious differences.

  There was one club, Deadwood, that I'd become particularly friendly with, despite me being a cop and all. They'd welcomed me with open arms, not only because of my sweet ride, but I'd opened up to their pres, telling him who I worked for and what I did. At the time, I half expected him to pull out a Glock and shoot my arse right then. He didn't. Much to my relief, he joined forces with me and my team, wanting to get the outlaws off the street. They were screwing things up for all the clubs, making life hard, and making the ability to ride with colours impossible.

  Enfield clamped his hand on my shoulder. "You need to know I was told to report another incident if you were caught straying." He squeezed me lightly before dropping his hand, pity evident in his voice.

  I shrugged. "You do what you need to do." I meant it. I didn't want O'Leary or any of my squad being affected any more by me than they already were.

  Groaning, he shook his head. "Don't be this guy, Mace. You're a good cop. You know that. You also know that Nox went down." I moved to talk, but Enfield stopped me. "Yeah, I know there were others involved, but you know how this works. You're going to get yourself fired or killed if you carry on."

  He was right. We both knew it, but with what happened, even after all this time, I couldn't rest. I was exhausted, but I was on the verge of risking it all. That was something else we both knew. I was getting no closer to the truth, though. I should have shared what little intel I had, but I'd bypassed that road too many moons ago. No longer was I the good cop, the one who went by the book. While I still had a kick-arse arrest rate, my reputation was beginning to precede me, and I knew better than any that I was becoming a liability. Scrap that. I was a liability, because I no longer gave a shit.

  "We done here?" I asked dismissively. There was nothing he could say that would make me stray from my mission to take down every fucker who had a part to play in the set-up, the one that destroyed my world by taking Abigail from me. I clenched my jaw, waiting for his answer.

  Enfield sighed, a trait that was becoming his normal response to me. "Just keep the fuck away from Riots. Got it?"

  I didn't commit to a answer. I looked at him hard, put on my helmet, nodded my goodbye, and accelerated away.

  I headed out to see the Deadwoods. I needed to blow off some steam in a place where I could safely get obliterated without having to watch my back. It was no secret that the Riots had a hard-on for me and were looking for any excuse to get me out of the picture. I kept bringing the heat to their door, and even though Nox was serving time, he still had a heap of power over them. One of his plays was to make my life as difficult as possible, and the new prez, Rebel, seemed happy en
ough to take on that task.

  Did I give a fuck? Screw that. I would take every last one of the gang members on.

  Diesel, Deadwood's pres, greeted me with a chin lift when I entered the club bar and pulled a stool next to his. I still thought it comical that I'd become an honorary member of his club, but we'd earned each other's respect several times over, and I knew he was someone I could trust.

  "You good?"

  I reached out and took hold of the bottle of beer that was placed in front to me. "Thanks." I nodded at Julie, one of their bar staff. She winked at me before heading away. I looked at Diesel, who had angled his head in my direction. "Yeah." I lifted the bottle to my lips and took a hard pull. "Same old shit."

  He didn't respond, nor did his gaze waver as he waited for me to continue.

  "I think it's about time I left this shit behind." It was the first time I'd voiced the words I'd been debating over the last six months or so, even though vocalising it hit me with the sense of betrayal. While I'd been on my search for justice by taking down as many of the Riots gang as I could, I'd reached that point where there were too many eyes on me, just waiting for me to step all the way over the line. Enfield had turned a blind eye too many times to count; hell, most of my team had, but I knew the powers-that-be were waiting for me to screw up so badly the cuffs would end up on my wrists.

  My words out, a heavy weight lifted off my chest, despite the internal battle going on. Maybe it was time to stop. I was far from over losing Abigail, but I'd hit so many dead ends about what went wrong that day, that I had no idea if I had the strength to continue for much longer. I was drifting into the darkness, and if I wasn't careful, I didn't know if I'd come back from it.

  I rubbed a hand over my face, weary of everything. My thoughts just a short while earlier with Enfield were so different to the exhausting ones rushing through me as I sat nursing my beer.

  With my relief came the onslaught of guilt. Letting go would mean letting go of her, something I’d promised myself I'd never do. Fuck. Everything was so screwed.

  "To do what?" Diesel interrupted my thoughts. There was no judgement in his voice, no sympathy, just an honest question.

  "Damned if I know." A half-hearted laugh escaped me.

  Diesel squinted at me. "You wanna know what I think?"

  "Sure." At that point, I was more than ready for someone to make decisions for me.

  "I think you're right. You need to get out. Your concentration is worth shit; you’re too focused on those bastard Riots."

  I clenched my jaw, knowing he was right.

  "How about going it on your own?"

  I tilted my head, listening. He had my attention. "What? Like PI stuff?"

  He shrugged. "I was thinking more like security. You've haven't pissed off every friend in the force, right? So you'll still have contacts should you need them. Plus, you can still do your hero shit, or whatever else your reasoning was for joining up in the first place." He snorted and took a drink. "Just work out what you gotta do, move the fuck on, and live."

  I clenched my fists and made to speak, but Diesel stopped me, raising one of his hands, placating me.

  "I'm not saying forget Abigail, stop loving her or any shit like that, but hell, Mace, grieve properly and start living." He stood when he'd finished speaking, placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. "Think about it." I nodded. "Right, I'm out of this joint. I have to go and see Lena." A shadow crossed over his face.

  "How's she doing?" I asked before he left.

  Diesel shook his head, anger and sadness duelling in his eyes and the clench of his jaw. "Not good, Mace, but with time, she'll get there.”

  I nodded my understanding. Pain and death were things I was familiar with, unfortunately. But it was a tragedy that someone as young as Lena had experienced what she had.

  I watched him walk away, chatting to a few of his brothers on the way to the exit. Maybe he had it right. Security? Perhaps I could make it work.

  Chapter One

  MACE

  Present Day

  I looked down at the puke on my tee before raising my head to the sky and closing my eyes. I wasn't praying as such; rather I was regretting once more stopping by to see Liam and Jo before heading out for the evening. At the very least, I should have brought a change of clothing.

  Happy gurgling caught my attention, switching my displeased frown into a smile. Opening my eyes, I looked down at the girl in my arms and grinned. She was beautiful. I'd forgive her for every puke stain as long as she kept giving me laughter and smiles. I lifted her small form into the air and blew a raspberry on her exposed stomach.

  Her giggles were immediate and infectious. Damn, I loved that sound.

  Jo stepped towards me with a wet wipe. "Need this?" She handed it to me.

  I repositioned Abi to hold her with one arm and took the wipe gratefully. "Thanks." I wiped at the sick. Long gone were the easy-to-clean milk upchucks from a couple of months ago. Instead, I cursed the day that my sister-in-law had decided Abi was ready for solids. I had no idea what the bright orange was now staining my tee, but surely it couldn't be a good thing for my niece's system.

  "She gets you every time, without fail."

  I grunted in acknowledgement. "What the hell have you been feeding her?"

  Jo laughed and busied herself in the kitchen, something I was still not used to. Jo was far from domesticated, but this motherhood shit suited her. Liam was a lucky bastard. "Ask your brother. He was experimenting with different veggies." She shrugged and looked at me. "Abi likes it, though. Other than when you come around and she throws up on you."

  I headed to the bin, wriggling baby in my arms, and disposed of the soiled wipe. "I'm going to start making surprise visits instead. That way you can't feed her crap before I come. I'm sure you do it deliberately." I sat down at the table and placed Abi in front of me, her butt on the table while I supported her. Her big brown eyes smiled at me, right alongside her cute grin. I was sure the kid was in on it. "You in league with your evil parents, kiddo?" I pulled a face at her, earning myself another sweet giggle.

  "It's your own fault." Liam stepped into the kitchen and kissed Jo before heading over to his daughter and me. "You throw her around all the damn time. What did you expect? You're a human fairground attraction." He kissed Abi on her head and planted his hand on my shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

  I huffed. "She begs me to do it."

  Liam sat and raised his brows at me in amusement. "She can't speak yet."

  I looked at Abi, my heart full of love for this child, and I grinned. "She doesn't need words with her Uncle Mace. Her eyes tell me everything." And they did. She was a complete mix of her parents, yet her eyes were soulful, reminding me so much of her namesake, my Abigail, whom I'd lost years earlier.

  "What are you up to tonight?" Jo asked, coming to the table to join us.

  "Heading out to Diesel's." After all these years, we were still good friends. I had a lot of time for the guy. He'd helped me so much over the last few years, especially when it came to starting up my own agency after I’d broken free from the force.

  Pulling my gaze from Abi, I looked at Jo and caught the end of her eye-roll.

  "What's that for?"

  "Seriously?" she jibed.

  I nodded for her to continue just as Liam spoke, "Just leave it, Jo."

  My interest was piqued for sure. Jo's opinion was something I’d equally respected and dreaded over the years of her being in my family.

  "I've heard about those parties, you know. Don't they have pussy on tap or something?"

  If I'd been drinking, I would have spat it everywhere. Instead, I snorted and coughed out my laugh. Abi reached out while I laughed, attempting to put her fingers in my mouth. I pretended to nibble at the tips while I grinned. I glanced at Liam when he sighed. He offered me a shrug, meaning he was leaving this one to me. "Well, they have beer on tap, and a few women around the joint."

  "Do they have gang bangs in the bar?"


  Holy shit. The woman was hilarious. I'd have to invite her and Liam over one time. I paused that thought and immediately changed my mind. There was no chance she'd be there and not get kicked out by letting her questions run wild. "Not that I've seen. It's a good place, good people."

  "So no gang bangs?" She almost sounded disappointed.

  "Jo, woman, what the hell are you talking about?" Liam asked, sounding exasperated.

  She bit her bottom lip and scrunched up her nose. "Well, El gave me a book to read. It was all about these bikers."

  My grin stretched wide when a hint of pink crept over her cheeks. An embarrassed Jo was a rare sight. I'd savour every damn moment.

  "And?" Liam prodded.

  She flicked her gaze nervously between Liam and me. "Well, it was hot and full of sexy alphas, and damn, so much mind-blowing sweaty sex." It seemed she'd found her footing as she didn't pause for breath as she continued, "Well, there was a scene with a couple of bikers and a woman, and they were in the bar. And hell, everyone could see them." I threw a look at Liam, desperate to see his expression. There was never a dull moment in their house.

  I held back my laugh at Liam's wide eyes, and he gulped. He cleared his throat, his voice lower than a moment earlier. "And what? That turned you on?"

  Shit, while I found this whole damn thing funny as fuck, it was my cue to leave.

  "Well, yeah, not that I—"

  "Okay," I interrupted. "Take Abi and I'm outta here." I stood, kissed Abi's soft cheek, and placed her in front of Liam. As soon as he reached out to secure her, I let go. His eyes were still focused on his wife. "Yep, see ya." I hightailed it out of the room as quick as I could. I loved the pair of them, but the last thing I wanted was to be around them and their dodgy sex-talk foreplay crap. I shuddered.

  I mounted my bike. I'd have to head home before I went to the bar. Orange sick was not a good look.

  Chapter Two

  LENA

  I placed a beer in front of my brother and Cole and released a dramatic sigh. Their conversation froze, and Diesel looked at me expectantly.