I scrub a hand over my face, trying to digest this news. "What about Luke?"
"I also got a call from his lawyer wanting to deal. After that, everyone else folded."
Amazing.
"She's a very remarkable woman," Dee says with reverence. "So much dignity for someone I'm guessing suffered greatly. I don't know what happened, but I know it probably would have destroyed the Carringtons. As it is, they'll be formally sentenced next week, and while they might have a chance to see the outside of a prison one day, they'll be very old men before they get out."
I nod... distracted as I digest this information.
Macy called Dee Switzer two days ago. That was the day after I saw her at Matt and Mac's apartment. The day she asked for some time to think about us.
And in less than twenty-four hours, she was willing to spill her guts to the prosecutor.
She did that for me.
She was going to confess her pain and trauma to a perfect stranger so her father and Luke would plea out, and I would be safe.
She fucking put her entire soul on the line... for me.
I shoot up out of my chair, take Dee by the arm, and lead her toward the door. "Thanks for stopping by... it was great seeing you, but I have to be somewhere."
Dee pulls herself out of my grasp and levels an angry stare at me. "I need my purse."
I wait patiently... while tapping my foot and checking my watch five times, while she collects her stuff and walks back to me. She gives me a smirk. "Going after your woman?"
"Something like that," I mutter as I step back to let her walk out my door first. While I want to break out into a run toward the lobby elevator, I make myself walk with Dee in a somewhat dignified fashion, but my mind is spinning with what all this means.
Why didn't Macy tell me she was doing this? Why didn't she ask me to go with her to the meeting she set up? And why am I finding out that this nightmare is over from Dee rather than Macy?
"She confronted her parents and uncle," Dee says off-handedly.
I stop dead in my tracks... lay my hand on her arm so she stops too. The hair rises on the back of my neck. "She did what?"
"Went to see her parents and uncle the morning after she called me. That's why she didn't want to meet right away and scheduled it for later in the week. She wanted a chance to confront them and see if perhaps they'd roll. She got the plea deal pushed through without having to tell her story to anyone."
Fucking unbelievable.
I'm appalled. I'm amazed.
We start walking toward the elevator again as I try to process what Macy could have been thinking when she made the choice to bravely confront her past that day. I don't think she was bluffing her parents and uncle, since she already committed to meeting with Dee later in the week. Perhaps she wanted true closure, and the only way to do that was to have an actual hand in getting some type of justice. Or maybe, she was just ready to put it all to rest and truly move on.
I stop again... hesitate a moment, and then turn to Dee. "Listen... can you find your way out? I need to talk to my partner before I leave."
"Sure thing, kiddo," she says with a pat to my shoulder. "I'm happy this all worked out for you and Macy."
Has it though? Has it really worked out? She hasn't made a move to approach me, and I have to wonder if she ever will. I was ready to charge out of here a moment ago and hunt her down, but now I think I need some advice first.
I give Dee a heartfelt smile, because she was the catalyst to get this all to come together. "Thanks, Dee. And do yourself a favor... cut back on the tobacco."
She laughs as she heads down the hall, shaking her heading in amusement at me.
I head back toward Mac's office, hoping to catch her before she heads out to lunch. As I walk in, I see Matt standing behind her chair, leaning over it and looking at the computer screen with her. Both of them look up when I walk in.
Matt straightens up as I approach. Mac smiles at me, turning the screen to face me. I see a news article in big, bold letters titled "Quarter Mine Executives Enter Plea Deal" and then a smaller subtitle "Investors to Receive Restitution".
My eyes go to Mac, who says to me. "Macy just texted me and told me to go look at the news."
That's nice. She let her best friend know this great news, but not me. The man she claimed had moved ahead of Mac as her most favorite person in the world.
I can't believe how pissy that makes me feel.
"Did you know she was working with Dee Switzer to help push a plea through?" I ask, knowing it's going to be a bitter pill to swallow if she let Mac in on that but not me.
"Nope," Mac says with a grin. "That's why she's been so elusive the last few days. I'm dying to know what happened."
Vindication. I know something Mac doesn't.
"She apparently went and confronted her parents," I say casually as Mac's eyes go big as saucers.
"No way," she murmurs. Totally stunned.
"Way!" But then I tack on a qualifier, which effectively ends my gloat that I know something Mac doesn't. "Dee Switzer was just here and told me."
"Oh," Mac says softly as she realizes what I realized not but a few moments ago. Macy went and did something on her own, without our help, support, or encouragement, and neither of us knew a damn thing about it.
We're her confidants.
The ones she tasked with helping to carry her burden.
I'm not sure whether to be pissed or proud, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to choose proud.
We all three stand there, awkwardly silent until Matt says, "Well, what the hell are you doing here?"
I blink at him stupidly... my mind overwhelmed and numb.
What am I doing here?
Oh, right... I know... advice.
"What do you think I should do?" I ask them both... reveling for just a minute that these two fantastic people are both my friends. "She didn't tell me she was doing this. She wanted time to think. She hasn't reached out to me. It all sounds to me like she wants me to keep my distance, and I don't want to piss her off more."
"And since when have you ever done what Macy wanted?" Matt asks sarcastically.
"And since when do you care if you piss her off?" Mac adds.
"Exactly," Matt follows up with a one-two punch. "Besides...
you know that both of you being pissed off leads to some great angry sex between the two of you."
"But I'm not pissed at her," I point out.
"Sure you are," Matt says with a knowing smirk. "She's being stubborn and holding you at bay. She's wasting valuable time you two could be together. Get pissed. Get fired up. Go get your girl. That's the Cal Carson I know and admire."
I'm suffused with courage... a fire flaming hot in my belly... but I resist the urge to let out my best Braveheart battle cry. I'm going to go find Macy and get this shit settled between us once and for all. And I'm not letting her up and out of bed until she concedes that we're meant for each other.
Best fucking pep talk ever, Matt Connover.
Chapter 24
Of course, I'm smart enough to have tried to call and text Macy first before I left my law firm in search of her. Of course, she didn't respond, and that can mean either she's staying hidden from me, or she wants me to chase her.
I think it might be the latter, so I chase. Doesn't matter if it's the former because I don't accept it.
I check The Faith Mission first, because that's where she would ordinarily be during the workday. They said she was in briefly in the morning and then was going to take a few days off.
Next, I go to Matt and Mac's place. She doesn't answer the door, which I half expect, but I got Matt's key from him again before I left the office, and I let myself in. After punching in the security code to disable the alarm, I walk through their apartment looking for Macy. I even check under the beds and in the closet, because fuck... I just don't know what she's thinking.
I'm in the dark completely.
Finally, I head home to my apartment. I realize the chances of her being there aren't that great, but I don't give up hope. This is verified by the fact I stop and pick up some Thai takeout for a late lunch, and I buy some for Macy too.
Just in case...
The minute I let myself in the apartment, I know she's not here. It just feels... empty.
I put the Thai on the kitchen counter and loosen my tie. It's pulled off and over my head by the time I hit my bedroom, and I can't touch or look at a tie without thinking about the way she used them on me or the things she did to me while I was trussed up.
Fuck... I miss sex with Macy. I miss everything about her so much, but I'm not going to lie... we have an almost cosmic physical connection that seems to bolster the emotional connection every time we come together.