by D. Camille
Mac looked down into his young face. “Tremaine, you’re nineteen. You have your whole life ahead of you. Don’t lose it for no reason, especially for those who don’t give a damn about you at the end of the day.”
He nodded and Mac looked at him again before exiting the room.
******
Mac’s next destination was the Prosecutor’s Office. She was so angry that she was actually shaking as she drove. When she arrived, Mac sat in her car for a few minutes to compose herself. Inside, she was told that Brandon was in a meeting that was scheduled to last for another twenty minutes.
If she hadn’t been so angry, she probably would have thought to call first, but the extra time gave her the opportunity to further get herself together and refrain from killing Patrice Dansby on the spot. When Brandon appeared, he saw the look on her face and turned to his assistant.
“No interruptions, please.”
She nodded as Brandon led Mac inside and over to a seat.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look this way, so I know something is very wrong,” he told her. “So give me a moment before you tell me why you’re here, because if both of us lose it at the same time, it’s a wrap.”
Mac waited quietly as he went around his desk to take his seat. “I take it this is an official visit?” he asked.
“Yes and no…”
Brandon lifted a brow. “I don’t like that.” He sighed. “You have my full attention Chief Green.”
“I went to see Patrice Dansby. I found out that she’s been meeting with my officers and she’s the one who told Tremaine not to talk,” Mac finished and waited.
His eyes changed to a frozen green. “What did you just say to me?”
“Patrice is linked to the park shooting,” she added.
Brandon frowned. “What the fuck is this?”
“I know, that’s what I said too.” Mac told him. “She was so damn smug. I know she’s guilty as hell.”
“I mean, I know that Patrice is capable of just about anything, but this?” Brandon said shaking his head. “This doesn’t make any damn sense.”
“I think she’s profiting from drug sales. You’ll need to subpoena her bank records and her campaign funds,” Mac suggested.
Brandon wiped a hand down his face. “Wow!”
“I’m sorry Brandon,” Mac said softly.
Quickly, he turned to her. “Sorry for what?”
“I know that you two used to be involved.”
He stood and walked around his desk to her. “If this is what Patrice is involved in, then I have no compassion or sympathy for her.” Brandon took her hand. “And if she tried to hurt you, I have no restraint.”
Mac got to her feet. “This is going to be so messy.”
Brandon took her gently into his arms. “I’m sorry Mackenzie.
“I put Tremaine in protective custody. He wants to get away from here and try to change his life.” She looked up at him. “I told him I’d ask the Negus to help with that.”
“Of course.”
“Thank you,” she whispered and lifted to kiss him.
Brandon looked down at her. “How are you feeling?”
Mac lowered her head thinking of the massive headache she was now experiencing. “I’ll be okay.”
He lifted her face back to his and stared into her eyes. “I’m taking you home.”
“Brandon, I have work to do,” she protested.
“Mackenzie, if one of your officers spent the night in the hospital, would you allow them to be on duty today?” Brandon asked.
She shook her head slowly. “No, I wouldn’t. That would be against protocol.”
“Exactly.”
Brandon touched her face. “I can see you’re in pain. You’ve done all you can today baby, let me take you home so you can get some rest.”
“Don’t you have things to do?” she asked.
“I’m meeting with the Negus later, so I can get you settled in first,” he explained.
Mac stroked his shaven cheek. “I’m not used to all of this care and attention.”
“Do you like it?” he asked.
She smiled. “I can’t say that I don’t.”
Brandon held her with his eyes. “Let’s get some food, get you some medication and put you to bed then you can kick ass again tomorrow.”
He kissed her softly until she relented. “Okay.”
“Let me clear up a few things and I’ll walk you to your car.”
Mac took a seat and waited for a few minutes as Brandon finalized his schedule. He walked Mackenzie to her car, promising to meet her after picking up food. Mac agreed and drove home to wait for him. Inside she laid on the sofa where her throbbing head threatened to consume her. She knew she’d done too much today, but some things could not wait. She closed her eyes and absorbed the darkness.
Mac was awakened by knocking on the door and groggily went to the door. Opening it she found Brandon and Khayla on her porch.
“Brandon…”
“I brought Khayla to check you out,” he announced.
Mac eyes narrowed. “I just saw Khayla this morning.”
Khayla smiled, holding on to her medical bag. “Come on Mac, Brandon just wants to make sure you’re okay. It was either me or the hospital.”
“I wasn’t going back to the hospital,” Mac said firmly.
“I know and that’s why I had Plan B,” Brandon told her. “Just let her check you out baby, then I’ll let you relax.”
Mac sighed and opened the door wider, allowing them inside. She turned to walk away and Brandon caught her from behind. “It’s imperative that you’re well, Mackenzie.” He bent to say in her ear. “I’m not trying to just do what I want.”
Mac leaned back against him. “We have to work on you giving me a heads up on things.”
“You’d just say no and then I’d have to do it anyway.” He kissed her cheek. “This way saves us time.”
Khayla looked at the couple. “She looks fine to me Brandon.”
Brandon smirked at Khayla as he released Mac. “She’s in pain, although she won’t admit it.”
“Mac?” Khayla asked lifting a brow.
Mac decided to come clean, because Brandon wouldn’t stop until she did. “I have a splitting headache and some pain in my side.”
Khayla nodded. “Okay then, let me look at you. Let’s go to your bedroom.”
Mac looked at Brandon. “I’ll have some food ready when you’re done,” he told her.
“Thank you,” Mac said quietly and led Khayla up to her bedroom. Inside, Khayla had Mac undress to her underwear and lie on the bed.
“Where is the pain on your side?”
Mac pointed to a spot on near her back and Khayla took a look. When she began shaking her head, Mac looked at her.
“What?” Mac asked.
“You’ve torn one of the stitches, Mac.” Khayla admonished. “What have you been doing?”
Mac laid back against the pillows. “My job.”
“Let me clean this up before it gets infected.” Khayla went about her task with Mac wincing every now and then.
“I think you’re purposely trying to hurt me,” Mac accused.
Khayla smiled. “Never, this is the result of your own hardheadedness.”
“Is that even a word?” Mac asked with a small smile.
“Is it for you,” Khayla returned her smile. “And be nice to our Brandon. We like him in love and all warm and fuzzy.”
Mac looked at her. “Warm and fuzzy?”
“Yep, he showed up at my office and was like, ‘Khayla, please come and check on Mackenzie. If anything happened to her, I’d die.’ I was like, who are you?”
“Brandon said that?”
“Yes, so be nice to him.” Khayla told her. “For as long as I’ve known him, he’s never shown that type of emotion and it’s good for him to finally be able to love someone.”
As Khayla finished, Mac contemplated her words.
“Did the do
ctor prescribe you some pain killers?” Khayla asked bringing Mac out of her thoughts.
“Yes,”
Khayla lifted a brow. “Did you take them?”
“Not until later in the day. I wanted to be fully cognizant while on duty,” Mac explained.
“Mac you’re supposed to take them every four hours, you can’t skip doses or the pain will get worse.”
Mac closed her eyes. “Okay Khayla, I’ll stay on the schedule.”
“Where are they?” Khayla asked.
“Downstairs in the kitchen.”
Khayla closed up her bag. “You’ll be fine but you need to follow directions, Chief Green, and sit your ass down for a minute.”
Mac nodded. “Yes, Dr. Lewis-Johnson.”
Khayla smiled. “Since you’ve given the Tin Man a heart, I won’t charge you for this visit.”
“I owe you one,” Mac told her.
Touching her arm, Khayla looked down at her. “Seriously Mac, we need you to take care of yourself. The citizens need you, and we do too.”
“I promise I will.”
Khayla gave her a soft smile before leaving the room. A few minutes later, Brandon appeared at the door with her medication and a glass of water. Slowly he walked over to the bed and looked down at her.
“Khayla says that you need to take these.” He handed her both and waited while she downed the capsules.
Mac sat the glass and the pill bottle on the nearby nightstand before reaching her hand out to his. Brandon sat on the edge of the bed and gently stroked her hand.
“I promise to rest this evening, so I don’t want you to worry about me.” She told him softly.
“Thank you.”
She watched his green eyes soften. “I love you Brandon Williams. You are everything that’s been missing in my life.”
“So are you Mackenzie and I love you more than life. I never thought that I’d ever love someone this way and I’ll do whatever is necessary to take care of you,” Brandon told her quietly.
“You know I will do the same baby.”
Brandon leaned down and kissed her lips.
“Patrice gave you a compliment on your mouth today,” she said against his mouth.
Brandon closed his eyes. “Do I want to know what she said?”
“She tried to bait me, but it didn’t work.” Mac pulled him closer and he lifted his lids.
“I’m sorry that happened,” he apologized.
Mac shook her head. “Baby, we’re adults who’ve both been with other people. It didn’t shock me when Patrice complimented you,” she kissed him softly. “Because I know it’s all true and she probably misses it like hell.”
Brandon smiled. “And it’s all yours Mackenzie.”
“And I’m holding on to it…” she whispered. “Come lie down with me until you have to go.”
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
“No, I just want to close my eyes and feel you close to me until this pain goes away,” she told him.
Brandon climbed onto the bed next to her. Lying on top of the covers that covered her body, he placed an arm around her waist.
“Feel better baby,” he whispered in her ear.
Closing her eyes and snuggling against his firm warmth, she said sleepily. “I do already.”
******
Brandon went home that evening to meet with the Negus. Along with the Negus, George Shaw was in attendance.
“So let me start by saying, I no longer give you the green light on the officers who set Mac up,” Brandon announced to Lance, Corvus and Khalil.
“We figured that you’d change your mind,” Corvus told him. “So we put another plan in place.”
Brandon and Rion looked at them. “What kind of plan?”
Corvus smiled. “You’ll see.”
George Shaw looked at his youngest son. “Boy, you’d better not have done anything stupid.”
“It’s cool Daddy Shaw, I helped him.” Lance added.
George, Rion and Brandon turned to Khalil. “What did you let them do?”
Khalil shook his head. “Not what I wanted, but what I agreed to.”
Corvus looked at Khalil. “You really don’t want to know what Khalil wanted to do.”
“I have to hear what you all have come up with,” George said intrigued looking at the trio.
Lance began, “I put out some of my little dudes to see what was going on. They came back saying there are some shady cops, running guns and drugs in the neighborhood. They also said that Patrice Dansby has some connection to all of this and that she’s not the only Councilperson involved.”
Brandon’s eyes narrowed. “Mackenzie confirmed that today about Patrice.”
Rion looked surprised. “What? Why hadn’t we heard anything about this before?”
“In the hood you have to ask specific questions to get specific answers,” Lance told him. “Especially when it involves the PoPo’s.”
“So what’s the plan?” Rion asked.
“Mr. Shaw told me to stand down while he handles things,” Brandon informed the group.
They all looked at George. “This is too personal for Brandon right now so I’ll be giving instructions.”
Lance and Corvus looked at each other with frowns. They thought Brandon stayed on their asses, George Shaw made Brandon look like a walk in the park.
“Is there a problem?” George asked the two men.
“Nah, no problem Daddy,” Corvus answered and Lance agreed.
George nodded then turned his attention back to the group. “I’ve spoken with Deputy Barnes and we’ve identified a few of the officers. He’s going to work on that internally with the chief while we get evidence on the corrupt Council members.”
“We also got a few leads on where the young dude that Mac is looking for might be hiding out. We haven’t checked them all out yet,” Lance told them.
“Let us know as soon as you find anything and Mackenzie is still looking for that gun used at the shooting,” Brandon told them.
The doorbell rang and Brandon frowned as he glanced in that direction.
“That’s our plan at the door,” Corvus boasted proudly while nodding at Lance.
Khalil shook his head. “Get the door.”
Brandon and Rion shared a look as the group waited until Corvus returned with another man in tow.
“Negus, this is my friend who’s going to help us bust that no good ass Patrice Dansby.” Corvus announced.
“Everybody meet HUD Field Office Director, Ethan Hall…”
Chapter 17
Brandon watched as the man took a seat. Looking him over, he sized him up quickly and waited to hear how Corvus had involved the stranger in this mess.
“Ethan and I have worked together on some land and housing projects,” Corvus began then looked at Brandon. “He’s also dated Patrice.”
Brandon lifted a brow over serious green eyes.
Ethan leaned forward. “Yeah, I met Patrice a few months ago at a community function. We talked it up then one thing led to another,” he paused. “After a couple of weeks of seeing her, I felt something was off with her so I exited the picture.”
“Off like what?” Brandon asked.
Ethan shrugged. “She was real secretive and shady acting. Always getting phone calls where she had to leave the room.” He looked at the men. “The last straw was when we went out one night and she ran into some dudes which I knew had to be drug dealers. When I saw how cool she was with them, I was ghost. I wasn’t trying to get caught up in no shit over no woman.”
“I asked her about it, and she said they were ‘business acquaintances’,” he finished.
Rion looked at Brandon then at Ethan. “So why are you getting involved now?” he asked.
“Corvus said that he needed some help,” He smiled. “And I want to work with him on some land deals.”
Brandon nodded still watching Ethan. “So what’s your plan Corvus?”
“Ethan has contacted Patrice and reconnect
ed. He’s going to see what she has around her place and…” Corvus smiled. “Listen to her pillow talk.”
Brandon frowned. “What?”
Corvus turned to him. “What’s the problem?”
“I’m not trying to have her used to get information,” Brandon said firmly.
Ethan smiled. “Don’t worry about that Brandon. Patrice knows the deal in that area.”
“She doesn’t know you’re sleeping with her to spy on her.”
Corvus tilted his head back. “Brandon, you do realize that she’s trying to hurt Mac.” He focused on green eyes. “This isn’t the time for your sense of fairness and justice.”
“She’d do it to you in a heartbeat,” Lance added.
George looked over at Brandon. “She’s not going to offer anything willingly to us.”
“Look, Patrice isn’t looking for a white horse and carriage from me. She wants to have a good time and I’ll give it to her, but if she’s doing some dirty shit, she needs to be held accountable. I’m not with that,” Ethan told him.
Brandon shook his head. “I need real information that I can use in court, not what she moans in your ear.”
“I’ve got it,” Ethan agreed. “Just tell me what you need and what I should look for.”
Brandon still didn’t like this setup and it showed on his face. Rion saw his friend’s expression and leaned over to him. “It may be the only way Brandon. Sometimes we have to do things out of our norm to get the outcome we need.”
Brandon contemplated his words and thought of Mackenzie. If anything, he knew Patrice would not stop until she’d gotten Mackenzie fired or worst, possibly seriously hurt. For that reason alone, he had to do whatever was necessary to protect her.
“This is what I need,” Brandon said pinning Ethan with a focused green stare. Brandon went on to inform Ethan of the types of information he required while the group listened intently.
When he was done, George gave instructions to the Negus on how to proceed in locating Terrance Myers.
Ethan looked at his watch. “I need to pick up some drinks before I hit Patrice’s place, so I will check in with you tomorrow Brandon, if I have anything.”
Brandon nodded slowly and stood to his full height. “I’ll look to hear from you.”
“For the record, I neither initiated nor sanctioned what you are doing. You are receiving nothing in the form of payment from me nor the Prosecutor’s office and if you try to double-cross us, you will not be dealing with the Head Prosecutor any longer.”
