Catching Teardrops (MAC Security 5)

“You will learn to adhere to my rules.” He brings the cane down again, this time on the opposite cheek. “You will not be seen with men.” Hit. “You will have respect for my reputation.” Hit. “You will…”

I block him out, my mind going to the place it needs to escape to as I stare out of the window and into the darkened field. If I concentrate hard enough, I can see me running between the poppies, laughing, having fun, and being a child. Memories of good times.

But the thing with memories is they’re never a true form of what happened. Each and every time your brain remembers, it adds something, takes something away. You’re not your own reliable source. The only thing you can rely on is the emotion that surrounds the memory, and in each and every one I know I radiate happiness.

A happiness that is long gone… but I hope one day to recapture and keep it close.

LUKE

The sound of Dean’s chomping as he eats a bag of chips again grates on me so much I want to reach out and punch him in the face.

Why the fuck is he always eating in my goddamn car?

We’ve been sitting here for ten hours, neither of us moving out of the SUV. Dean wanted to leave when it hit 4 a.m., but I ignored the dick. He hasn’t got a clue what it takes to do something as simple as watching a bar. What he doesn’t understand is we could sit here for twenty-four hours and still find nothing, but that last hour you could have a breakthrough you never saw coming.

It’s now 8.a.m., and even though no one has been inside the bar for the last three hours, I’m still reluctant to move. If it wasn’t for the fact Ty wants us back at the warehouse for the morning meeting, I wouldn’t even consider leaving.

“Fuck me! Can you stop?”

I whip my head around, facing Dean as he’s about to put another handful of chips into his mouth. Jesus fucking Christ.

“What?” he mumbles, food spraying everywhere.

“I swear to fuckin’ God.” Shaking my head, I turn the engine on. “I didn’t think you could get any more annoying.”

He laughs, shoveling the food into his mouth. “You love me really.”

“I fuckin’ don’t,” I growl, speeding out of the parking lot and heading back toward the compound.

Any other time, I’d stop in at Mom’s being close by, but there’s no way in hell I’ll do that with Dean in the car. He’s hiding something, I know he is, and I won’t let him know any more about me than he already does. The problem is that I still don’t know what.

My nostrils flare when I think about the camera I planted in Kitty’s house where he’s staying yesterday and the footage I’ll be able to look at when we get back to the compound.

The thought of him living where my family is, being able to get to them within minutes and nothing to stop him has my anger growing even more.

I protect those who I love... I’d kill for them—I have killed for them.

Shaking the thoughts from my head before I go somewhere I really can’t afford to right now, I pull into a gas station and jump out before starting to fill the tank.

Dean gets out, stretching his arms over his head before announcing he needs to piss.

Rolling my eyes, I ignore him, finishing up and heading inside to pay.

Pushing my card into my wallet as I walk back outside, I’m not prepared to see her when I look up. My heart hammers in my chest as my head swings toward where the restrooms are and back to her. She hasn't noticed me yet, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not.

“You know her?” Where the hell did he come from?

I make a noise in the back of my throat and walk away from Dean.

“Hey!” he shouts, and I spin around, shooting lasers out of my eyes in warning, but he ignores it and jogs over to me.

“Luke?”

My pulse quickens at the sound of her voice. I close my eyes, count to three, then turn around to look directly at her.

She watches me for a beat before stepping onto the forecourt slowly, her gaze swinging to Dean and back to me.

“I… erm… hey.”