Catching Teardrops (MAC Security 5)

n. “Lily, honey. What—”

“I think something is wrong,” I croak out, looking down at my legs and the blood still trailing down them. “He… he…” I hiccup a sob. “He raped me.”

LUKE

I sit at the meeting table, listening to Evan as he talks on his cell with his pop. “I’m on my way.” He stands still after ending the call, his eyes flashing before he tells us all, “She’s awake.”

We all seem to breathe a sigh of relief at the same time now that Lexi is out of the woods, and Evan’s lips quirking show us this is a good thing. She’s part of the family now, and we take care of ours.

“You heading there now?” I ask.

“Yeah.” He nods, taking a step away from the table.

“I’ll come with.” When he raises a brow in question. I tell him, “I left my car there last night.” There was no way I was going to let him drive home from the hospital with the way he was inside his own head.

We’re both silent as we get into Evan’s car, neither of us saying a word as he starts the drive to the hospital. I’m sure his mind is on nothing but Lexi, whereas mine is clear, plans of action for my jobs slipping into place.

I need to get Evan to help check Dean’s devices, but I know I can’t do that until Lexi is better. So in the meantime, I’m going undercover at the bar for Charlie, trying to get more intel from the inside, and hopefully find out who the mole is.

The bar is the connection, and for some reason, they don’t want us in there. Little do they know, they played their hand and I’m determined to find out why.

I shuffle in my seat, looking out the window, making a mental list of things I need to do before going undercover. Ty said he wasn’t gonna let any of the guys know, so I’m going in alone. I won’t lie, a break from everyone and the compound will do me good, I can get my head on straight and my focus on my work and the people who have become my family over the last few years.

Closing my eyes, the gritty feeling from lack of sleep gets more intense the longer I keep them closed. I’ve never told anyone about the insomnia I suffer with, the way my brain will flash images inside my head as soon as my eyes are closed and I’m in a dark room. It clicks over and over like a movie reel, memories from when I was a kid mixing in with the battles I used to be part of while in the Marines. There’s nothing quite like being back in the sandy desert, the smell and feel on my skin mixing in with the pained cries from my mom. It’s torture.

My cell vibrates on my leg, and as soon as I see Mom’s name, I tense. When I told her what I did with Lily last night, to say she wasn’t pleased was an understatement. I think I’ve only ever heard her curse a handful of times in my whole life, and last night was most of those times.

Swinging my gaze over to Evan, I look back down at it and shake my head before answering.

“Yeah?”

“Luke!” Mom gasps. “I need you to help Lily.”

My jaw locks, my breaths coming out of me at the same speed as a raging bull. “I told you it’s not your place, Mom.”

She’s silent a beat before whispering, “He hurt her, Luke…. Bad.” The terrified tone of her voice has my body locking to epic proportions. “I’m going over there, I won’t let him do this—"

“No… Mom… Fuck! Don’t do that.” I slap my hand off the dash, clenching my fist. “No, you’ll make it worse.”

“You don’t get it.” She sniffles, lowering her voice. “She’s here, Son, and she’s in a real bad way. I… I don’t know what to do.”

Evan pulls into the hospital lot and I rush out, “I’m at my car, I’ll be there in twenty.”

“We should have done something sooner,” she hiccups out and I can only imagine the memories this is bringing back. The same ones that haunt me each and every night.

“I know, Mom.” My body deflates, all the anger leaving me in a rush. “I tried to help… I did.”

“We should have tried harder… she’s—”

I bob my head, agreeing with her but not knowing what’s happening right now, all I know is I need to get there and help. Fuck. What the hell am I going to find when I get there? The images rushing through my mind are ones I want to scrub out but I tell myself I’m probably thinking it’s worse than it actually is.

“She said she didn’t need help… what am I meant—”

“I’m getting blood on your carpet,” I hear Lily whisper, her voice broken, and it has my body jerking forward as I push out of the car.

“No! No. Don’t move, I’ll sort it out, honey.”

“I can go,” she croaks out.