Exposed (MAC Security 2)

Hanging my head in my hands, I stayed at the table as Evan and Luke went about their work day. I had so many things to do but all I wanted was to go to the house and talk to Kay. Time. I had to keep remembering that.

Pulling my hat off my head, I stood and walked over to the office. I had to get out of here, I needed some space too. Shoving my arms into my jacket and putting my hat back on, I picked my keys up and walked through the warehouse.

“I’ll be on my cell today,” I said to Evan as I walked past him.

Keeping my eyes on the house as I went to my car, I looked for Kay. I thought she might be on the porch. That’s where she usually went when she needed time to think, but she wasn’t there, which meant she was still inside. Kitty still hadn’t come back to the warehouse so at least I knew she had someone to talk to.

Hesitating, my feet took a step in the direction of the house. Shaking my head, I stepped back and jumped into my truck. I started the engine and span out of there, heading straight for the precinct to see Charlie.

It only took about ten minutes to get there, the compound was out of the way from any other houses and completely out of town, just how I preferred it. It wasn’t too far from the town center, close enough to still be a part of the community, but far enough away not to be disturbed.

Parking outside, I pushed my keys into my pocket and pulled my coat around me tighter to ward off the chill in the air.

“Good morning, Mr Mackenzie,” Geena said when I came through the main doors.

“Mornin’, Geena.” I leaned against the front desk and smiled wide, making her blush.

Geena was a kind woman, curvy and full of life. She looked like the motherly type but there was a wicked gleam in her eyes; the fun kind. I always loved to hear her jokes, she really did make the whole place brighter. She wasn’t much younger than me. I’d never asked because you just don’t ask a woman that shit. But, if I was to guess, I’d say she was in her early twenties.

“Here to see your brother?”

“Yeah.” I crossed my arms and waited as she dialled upstairs to get Charlie. Waiting and watching the cars go past, I scanned the main area to check out how many people were waiting to be picked up. You could always tell how busy they were by how many people were sat waiting. Looked like today was a slow day. There was always the same guy, obviously homeless, that sat in the corner to get in from the cold.

A couple of minutes later, the side door beeped and he appeared. “Geena.” He nodded in greeting and winked at her.

He swung his face to me. “I’ve heard.” Stepping back, he waved me inside.

Charlie was the eldest of all of us, and as the eldest, he always knew everything that was going on. He had eyes and ears everywhere but still not as many as me. But together, we had the widest network around. Most of the time I hated that he always knew what was going on, but this time, I was glad that I didn’t have to explain the whole situation to him.

“I don’t know what to do,” I grunted as I walked into his office and sat down.

“Do you know why she’s back?” he pushed the door shut and sat behind his desk. I turned to face the wall of windows that looked out onto the main room, able to see all of the other officers and detectives sat at their desks. They were all milling about, looking at the main board that had pictures of all the missing girls on. This wasn’t just a case for us, it was a case for the P.D. as well.

“Haven’t got a fuckin’ clue,” I said. “If I knew why she was back, then I wouldn’t feel so out of control.

“And Kaylee?” He raised a brow. “What does she think of all of this?”

I’d denied to Charlie that me and Kay were together at first. From the moment that we took that step further, he was the first person that I told. He wasn’t just my big brother; he was also my best friend.

He’d told me that I was in for a world of pain when Corey found out, but I didn’t give a damn. She needed to be shown what a real man could do for her, how she should be treated and I would try my best to be that man. But after this weekend, I was doubting myself.

“Shit, man.” I leaned back in the chair, blowing out a breath. “I didn’t even tell her about Serena.”

“Thought as much.” I flicked my eyes to his, knowing that he didn’t like this one bit. “What you gonna do?”

“Watch her? Keep tabs on her?” That was all I could do. I needed to treat it like any other case. Treat her like any other suspect and not as my wife. Ex-wife. Was she even that? She still hadn’t signed the papers so technically we were still married. I needed to get that shit sorted, and soon.

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“You think she’s involved in all of this?” He asked, waving his hand to the board in the main room.

“I don’t know, after what happened with her dad?” I shook my head. “I’d like to think not.”

Nodding, he leaned forward. “Forget who they are, forget about how Kay might feel about it. You need to work this case like you would any other.”

He raised his brow as I said, “I know.”

“Those girls are still out there,” he reminded me.