Mackie's Men Read online

  First, she’d researched Darryl Reynolds. There was nothing in the small pockets of information of what he’d disclosed to her yesterday, only his business dealings and a divorce over a decade ago. After talking to him and hearing his story, it made her wonder if having a family was worth the heartbreak she knew he’d faced at the time.

  John Fielding was a wonder boy with several degrees that had been obtained during and after his hitch in the service. He had been photographed with a few stunning women, almost all tall and slender with varying shades of red hair. The pictures she’d seen had made her laugh when looking at his face. The women were hanging onto his arm as if he might escape at any time, and his face showed that he might if he could just get those long fingernails pried out of the sleeve of his suit coat. He had also developed several medical equipment improvements, and as with Darryl’s family, there had been no mention of them.

  Liam was the center hub of the men, she could see that without having read so many articles that actually said nothing of a personal nature, other than the well known stats of the second son in a family that only had to sneeze to make a million dollars. He was considered a brilliant businessman, but a pitifully poor object for the matrimonial minded females looking for a well heeled spouse.

  People who were interviewed joked the three men were joined in a bond so tight that if one were to die, the other two would eat bullets to keep him company in hell. Two women had been interviewed for an expose on the families of the rich and famous, and the women swore they had been in a very heavy sexual relationship with the three men, but they never elaborated on the break-up. Or even why they no longer enjoyed being a “Love Slave” to the kinky trio.

  Individual women who had dated the men one on one smiled and said very little when asked about each man. All in all her research had been disappointing to say the least. No one knew about the elaborate security set up, the vital research, or even Dorian. If she’d still been in the FBI, she would have been able to access more in depth information, but from what she was seeing, there would be very little to discover.

  The kitchen was empty, but the new pot of coffee was waiting for her to help herself and she wasted no time pouring a cup. There was a box of toaster waffles on the counter, and she looked to see if the box was empty. There was two left in the plastic package, and a small plastic pillow pack of syrup sat next to the box, so she popped the things down in the toaster and she grabbed a small plate and fork to eat her breakfast with.

  The men came in from outside while she was washing her plate and setting it in the drainer. They brought in the crisp scent of sunshine and fresh air, and she smiled. “I wondered what happened to you guys. Thank you for the coffee by the way. I finished off the waffles, so you might need to put them on the shopping list.” She was standing in front of the sink, and the three men stood less than five feet from her, smiling at her without saying anything to break the awkwardness that she was feeling. “What? Look, I’m not familiar with morning after rituals, the few men I’ve been with have been gone within an hour after sex, so I need some kind of direction here.”

  Liam stepped right up to her and bent his head to kiss her on the lips, but she turned her head and his lips landed next to her ear. “You can’t say good morning, or hello or,” his lips captured hers and his tongue sliding between her teeth silenced her for the length of time it took to steal her breath and his hands to roam over her hips and the cheeks of her ass.

  He drew his head back and looked at her face with that drowsy look that his kiss had put there, and he smiled. “Good morning, beautiful. We walked in and saw you standing there with the sun behind you, and you have to forgive me, but you looked so delicious that it took me a minute to decide which part of the picture to start kissing. I’m just a man, sugar, the sight of you makes me stupid with hunger for you. The blood leaves my brain and goes straight south.”

  The sound of chairs being pulled out from the table and someone pouring coffee intruded on the small moment, but she could feel the evidence of his words lying hard between his body and hers. He was hard, and she melted. “Like I said, I’m not familiar with how things work around here yet.”

  He stepped back, held one hand out, and escorted her the four steps it took for her to reclaim the chair she’d sat in earlier. Her coffee had been refreshed and each man had a cup in front of him too.

  Liam looked at each of them in turn, and began talking. “We have reason to believe the threat isn’t over with yet. Yesterday Hitchcock was spouting off at the mouth, and I saw him looking at Darryl across the room, and he was mumbling about how he was going to get his soon enough. Someone else is after Darryl, someone who apparently got the information from Hitchcock on Darryl’s whereabouts and tried to get to him at the Pub.”

  Mackie looked toward the big man and waited for him to put a name to the suspected people that would wish him harm. He said nothing. In fact he appeared to be skeptical when Liam disclosed the possible threat.

  John was watching Darryl too, and he was frowning. “Okay, man, spill. We can see that you suspect someone, or you’d be hitting the computer to look at the list you keep of possible threats and disgruntled ex-employees.”

  GreyC decided to join the people. Apparently it was time they became used to being her slaves, since she traveled from lap to lap under the table top, and popped her head up from Liam’s arm, put both paws onto the table, and hopped the rest of the way onto the shiny wooden surface. She went to Darryl and sat in front of him curling her tail around her haunches.

  It was too much of a coincidence for John and he burst out laughing. “See? Even the cat knows you’re holding out on us.”

  Darryl patted his chest, and GreyC rose on her back legs to place her front paws on the place he’d used to signal her. She licked his nose and batted at his mouth, and he let her head butt him before he gathered her into his arms and began rubbing her belly. He looked up and began talking.

  “The siblings are fighting with the old man over money as usual, and he tried to pull at my heart strings by reminding me that they are his kids too, and I should treat them better. They want new cars and he says he doesn’t have the money, but thinks that since I work for you, I should pony up and buy them cars. I said something like I’ll buy those two snot faced brats cars when I’m dead in the ground, because that’s the only way they’d get a penny from me.” He scratched the furball’s ears, and continued, “I guess he wasn’t joking when he said that could be arranged. I knew that he didn’t give a shit about me and my mom, but when he said that, I told him to bring it. Maybe he accepted the challenge.”

  He looked at Liam and asked, “What am I worth dead? Maybe a few million? If they succeed in killing me off, they’ll think it’s Christmas, at least until the will is read. My mother’s estate is supposed to go to any children that I may have, if not, it goes to the family on her side. I made it that way so blood family would get it before him and his little leeches did. Letting them have what was my mother’s would be like slapping her in the face, and he caused her enough grief when she lived. So I guess dear old Dad is going the more direct route to the money, and he doesn’t know about the patents. He thinks he’ll get Mom’s money if I die.” GreyC bit his thumb when he quit petting her for a second and he frowned at the demanding feline.

  She sniffed at him, walked out of his arms, and over to John for him to pay her, her dues. Everyone smiled at the cat’s actions, and Mackie felt like they’d passed some sort of test in her mind. GreyC knew better than to plop her butt on the table, but these new people were allowing her to get away with it, and she was taking advantage of the fact. “You know that she’s going to be hard to break from hopping on the table from now on, right? I almost had her broken of the habit back at my house, and at the Senator’s place, she wasn’t allowed in the kitchen or dining rooms. Now she’s testing her limits, and you’re falling for a furry face and naughty girl attitude.”

  John looked at the cat and the cat looked at him, r
eached up a paw and patted him on the cheek. He gathered her into his arms and buried his face in her fur. Liam shook his head and grinned at Mackie.

  “Your cat spent most of the night sleeping on my chest. This morning, she got pissed off because I didn’t get up early enough for her satisfaction, so she sank her claws into my chest to wake me up. When I sat up, she went flying to the foot of the bed, so she has been nice to me this morning, once she did her thing, and ate a slice of ham. She doesn’t seem to like that crunchy dry stuff you have in the dish.”

  Mackie couldn’t believe what she was hearing and seeing from these men. “Have any of you ever had a pet before?” Three heads shook back and forth, and Darryl shrugged his shoulder.

  “We had horses, but they were mostly show animals and my mother loved them.” He looked at his folded hands and seemed to be lost in memories.

  Mackie grinned, no wonder they didn’t realize GreyC was playing them, GreyC was the first pet they’d ever had around. She should put a stop to spoiling the cat, but she decided to let them find out for themselves, just like she had to do when dealing with them.

  Darryl got up and rinsed his cup, and addressed the room in general. “I think I’ll see if telling the old man that he gets nothing, and his snot nosed brats get nothing when I die, changes his plans. In fact, maybe I’ll tell him I’m leaving everything to the overseas relatives that hate his guts almost as much as I do. He can argue familial status then, but those people could buy and sell all of us and it wouldn’t put a dent in the checkbook.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  John left shortly after the coffee klatch broke up, and since Darryl had left the room to deal with his father, that left her and Liam sitting at the table. Liam put the furball on the floor and looked at her with a smile.

  “I have the day off, so what would you like to do? I can imagine how strange this setup is, so maybe you just want to veg for the day and hang out. Or we can take the four-wheelers down to the trails and commune with nature. It’s too cold to skinny dip in the lake, but it’s a beautiful spot, very peaceful and private.” He stood to put his cup in the sink, and added, “I’m dying to know all about you, because you are a woman with secrets, and I like secrets, as long as I’m in on them. I have to make a call, but why don’t we meet back here in half an hour and you can tell me what we’re doing today?”

  He gave her a smile, but it was the determined look in his eyes when he’d mentioned her secrets that bothered her. The man was no dummy. He’d probably ordered a full report on her the minute he’d remembered her name. She knew exactly what the records showed, and it was entirely statistics. High school and up into the past few years hiring out as security. She had a good reputation for doing her job, but personal matters were noticeably absent. Not that she had a private life to worry about, still, if she had one, she would do her damndest to keep it private. Screw it, you don’t have to tell him a damn thing. It’s not like you had a choice back then, and now you have the choice to tell or not tell about Texas.

  She washed the coffee carafe and put the cups in the dishwasher before deciding to explore the house a bit more. Maybe she would decide what she wanted to do for the day while she was snooping. She was used to men, but not in a situation like this was. Why did life have to be so complicated anyway?

  Darryl was ready to pinch the old man’s head off at the neck, and he didn’t bother to involve the other men in this, it was time to demonstrate that he would back up his words. The man actually called him a few names and threatened his “fuck buddies” if he didn’t pony up some cash. By “some cash” he’d rattled off his needed amount of, “Two hundred thousand dollars, and you and your fuck buddies can carry on with whatever it is you do.”

  Enough was enough, he would stop this today, and the old man could go straight to hell. He thought about texting Liam, but decided the man deserved to have Mackie to himself for a few hours, and his mission with the old fucker wouldn’t take much time. The Harley started and he felt the satisfaction of knowing the powerful bike was intimidating to his father. The man had always been deathly afraid of motorcycles after his best friend had been killed by a woman who’d been drinking and driving while he was driving past the side street that she pulled out from without seeing the biker. Darryl had been forbidden to purchase a bike until he was old enough to go on his own to buy one. This bike was purchased the summer his mother had died, and he kept it in perfect shape.

  He pulled the bike into the circular driveway and was disappointed to see four vehicles in the parking area, but he wasn’t going to leave, no, this would be finished today. The front door was ajar and opened when he put his knuckles to the wood. He stepped inside of the door and waited for some sign that people were there.

  A muffled sound from directly across the entrance hall gave him a direction to go and he slowly walked along the dirty area rug lining the wide passage. The voices from the other side of the door sounded angry, and he didn’t resist snooping by turning the door handle slowly and pushing it open just enough to see what was going on. He had expected the old guy to be fucking one of his pickups, but what he saw pissed him off.

  Two men stood over his father, who was sitting in a chair tied to the legs and arms of the thing with silver Duct tape. He could see his father’s face, and even with the swollen face and bloody nose, he felt no pity for the man who should have been his best friend. He pushed the door just a little wider and saw Chrissy and another man, who must be her newest patsy, sitting on the couch, scowling at a barely awake DE, telling him to think of a way to get the money, or die.

  He pulled the door back, almost shut, and turned to leave. Fuck it, the bastard was getting what he’d deserved, it was a shame he wasn’t the one to draw blood on the arrogant bastard, but he would be out of everyone’s misery by the time those men were finished.

  He was seated on the bike when he felt a sense of, hell, it was a creepy feeling running on his spine. He would deny hearing his mother telling him to do the right thing, but he heard her soft voice asking him to do the right thing, “For me.” He looked around hoping to see another source the voice could be coming from, but no one was there, and he hung his head. He whispered in answer, “For you,” and stood away from the bike.

  Luckily the seat slid back to show a small compartment that held a 1911, and a sheathed knife. He held the blade considering what his best options for saving the man he hated more than anything or anyone on the face of the earth.

  His booted foot kicking the solid wood back on its hinges and the way he rolled into the room shooting his father’s assailants in the leg and gut respectively caused surprised screams from Chrissy, and the man next to her never knew what happened. Darryl ended up behind Chrissy and her man, holding his gun to the fucker’s neck. She was screaming bloody murder, and he laughed at her when the boyfriend grabbed her arm when she started to get up to run.

  “Well, well, what do we have here? You boys should have had better taste than to hook up with her, but I saw her naked once, so I can see where you’d let a easy piece of ass lead you around by the dick, problem is, you’ll find out she isn’t worth the trouble you’re in now.” He tapped the muzzle on the guy’s temple. “You need to tell your boys to take a breath and not do anything stupid, you’re not a friend of mine, and your death won’t mean a thing to Chrissy here. A cunt like her deserves to be behind bars, don’t you think? While you boys are serving time, you can take comfort knowing that she’s learning to watch her ass in the women’s lock-up.”

  They could hear sirens outside, and one of the men on the floor picked up the gun he’d dropped when he grabbed his thigh from Darryl’s shot. “I ain’t going back.” The dumbass held the gun to his own head and pulled the trigger, but the angle he held it and the recoil sent the barrel up away from the killing zone and barely grazed his skull.

  Darryl shook his head, “Real competent men you have there, slick, tell me, did you pick them out, or are they men Chrissy found to help? Did you ask t
hem if she was a good fuck before you tossed your fate in with them?”

  The man that he’d shot in the gut was moaning, and Darryl knew he was in pain, but that little devil inside of him was dancing with happiness to know he was the cause of that painful gasp and cry.

  The police came rushing through the door with guns drawn and ordered Darryl to put the gun down and lie flat on the floor. He assumed the position, and waited for the cop to check his license and concealed carry permits. After that, he helped them piece things together, and saw his father loaded into the ambulance, before locking the place up for the night after the police had finished doing their thing, and the place emptied out.

  He had another stop before he could go home, and hoped that his involvement in the whole thing was over with, but Karma is a bitch, and once he saw his half siblings, he knew he was sunk.

  The boy answered the door and tried to slam it shut before Darryl could introduce himself. The size fourteen boot kept the door from shutting, and the kid still tried to hold the door closed. Darryl was out of sorts, and he put his voice of doom, as John called it, into telling the kid to knockoff the bullshit.

  “You obviously know who I am, and I don’t have the interest or tolerance for this shit. Open the fucking door or I’ll do it for you.”

  The kid denied knowing him, so Darryl pulled his cell phone out of its case and pretended to call his new friends at the cop shop.

  “Hey, Officer Samson, I’m here at the house where the kids are, yeah, they won’t open the door to me or even talk, so I guess you’ll need to send social services out here as soon as possible.” He decided to goad the skinny kid and when Samson asked the kids’ ages, he turned his head and said, “I’m not exactly sure, the boy might be twelve, maybe thirteen, he’s acting pretty scared, and the girl is nowhere to be seen. She’s probably hiding in a closet or something. I’ll wait outside for you to get here, yeah, okay see you.”