A Heart's War (The Broken Men Chronicles Book 5) (12 page)

Opening the front door, I was met with a grin I could never forget.

“Well if it isn’t Sergeant Theodore Lowell!” I moved to the side to let Detective Shane Peters in, shaking his offered hand.

“Peters, how the hell are you, man?”

“Better than you, it seems,” he said, his eyes snagging on Morgan who stood behind me.  “And I take it this is your girl?”

Morgan moved forward and introduced herself, albeit a little withdrawn.

“Sweetheart,” I turned Morgan around and guided her toward the sofa, “why don’t you tell Shane here your side of everything and then maybe you can go lie down for a bit.”

Dejected, she nodded and in a very robotic fashion, she proceeded to explain what’s been going on.  When she finished, I excused us and guided her upstairs, made sure she was comfortable, and assured her that I’d be back soon.

As my feet hit the landing, Shane grinned.  “I like her.”

I chuckled.  “It’s impossible not to. Believe me, I tried.”

My friend’s demeanor changed to one so serious.  “Now that your girl is out of earshot, why don’t you tell me why these disturbances seem to be targeting you?”

I pondered his words for a few seconds and came back with, “Your guess is as good as mine.”

“You just got back into town after being away for the last ten years.”

“How does that have anything to do with what’s going on?”  My frustration was growing, and by what Peters said next, it was evident that the detective could sense it.

“Listen, T, someone’s got a beef with you and your woman.  It’s my job to stop them, but until you start answering my questions-”

“With all due respect, Shane, I grew up here.  Hell, you were there back in the day. I’m sure some people aren’t happy to see me back in town.  It’s not like I was known to keep my nose clean.  People around here have long memories.” I sighed, running a hand down my face.  “You want to know who I think it is, I’m telling you that I don’t know.  I haven’t talked to anyone other than the crew of guys I brought in to fix Morgan’s house, my brother’s lawyer friend, and my own family, unless you’re thinking old man Saunders at the hardware store on Picket is behind this.”

The man’s lips quirked on one side, clearly remembering the shenanigans we used to get up to.  “Fine,” Shane said.  “I get it.  You’ve been quiet.”

“Yeah.  I’m not proud of the shit I pulled when I was a kid, but that’s just it, I was a kid.  Hell, I was bad enough for my parents to ship off to military school.  Why would anyone look down at me when you were just as bad, and look at you now.”

Shane grinned.  “Hard to believe, huh?”

“Nah, I always knew you’d end up just like your old man.”

“You were gone for a hell of a long time,” he said.  “What was it that you did, exactly?”

“I know you’re asking about everything I’ve been up to in the last three years, but aside from telling you that I’ve seen the worse of what the world has to offer,” I crossed my arms and sported a wry smile, “the rest is confidential.”

“They told us you were dead.”  The sad look on my old friend’s face struck a nerve.

“What’s this got to do with-?”

“Do you think that maybe someone that you might have worked with-?”

It was my turn to cut the man off.  “Anyone I worked with is dead.  I lost my team in my last mission, Shane.”

The man didn’t look at all surprised at what I divulged, more sympathetic really.  “I know.”  He leafed through his notepad.  “But that was three years ago.  Surely this confidential bullshit of yours has something to do with other missions, no?”

“Yeah, there were other missions.”

“Is it possible that-?  I mean, you yourself said you’ve seen the worst of what the world has to offer.  Clearly you’ve dealt with-”

A dry laugh escaped my lips.  “I’ve worked alone over the last three years, Shane. I’ve met my fair share of shady people in that time.  Some I’ve had to side with at one point or another in order to get what I needed from them.  I’m not saying more, but the likelihood of them knowing anything about me and my personal life, not to mention to come after me when I’m no longer active, is ridiculous.”

“I know, but I have to cover all my bases, and let’s face it, if you double-crossed someone, depending on their state of mind, I wouldn’t completely dismiss them.”  The man paused to look at me and shook his head with what looked like disbelief.  “Damn, but it’s really good to see you, T.”

“Yeah, I wish it were under better circumstances.”

“Some of the guys and me get together for a few drinks and a round of pool every couple of weekends,” he said.  “You might want to show up at
McAskill
’s on Friday.  It sure would be good to catch up.”

I nodded.  “You buying?”

“The least I can do to reintroduce you to the fold, seeing as you made it back from the sandbox after a decade,” he said.  “Fucking pretty boy.  It disgusts me how that scar across your eyebrow hasn’t done you a disservice in the looks department.”

Chuckling, I gave him a punch to the shoulder.  “I’ll be there.”

“Good.”  Shane’s eyes went to the stairwell leading to the upstairs bedrooms.  “Not sure what’s going on here, but do me a favor and call me if anything else pops up, all right?”  He pulled out a business card from his lapel pocket and started for the door.  “And by the way, didn’t you know you weren’t supposed to dip your wick in the client pool?”

“Fuck off.”  The man harrumphed as I flipped him off.  “She’s more than a client and you know it.”

The man’s face took a sorrowful look that had me wondering what it was that I’d said that had caused it.  “I know,” he said, his voice soft.  “Keep an eye on her, the way she looked before she went up there tells me that she may be close to her breaking point. I’ll see you around, T. 
McAskill
’s. Friday.  At seven.”

Without waiting for a reply from me, he exited the house.

Having missed lunch, I headed into Morgan’s kitchen to see what kind of food I could put together for us.  I made us a few sandwiches, grabbed a bag of chips, a couple bottles of water, and washed up some berries.

Morgan was still sound asleep when I let myself into her bedroom.

Setting the tray of food down on her bedside table, I couldn’t help but take in the sleeping beauty before me.

So innocent, yet so naughty.

Peaceful, yet a riot at the best of times.

Precious and frail, yet the strongest person I had ever known, because her strengths were all from within.

Before I could wake her, Morgan’s eyes opened and met mine.

“Hey…” I tucked a few stray strands of her hair behind her ear.  “How are you feeling?”

She groaned.  “Like I’m living a nightmare.”  I gave her a sympathetic look.  “What did Shane say?”

“He thinks it’s got something to do with me.”

“What?”  She bolted, seated upright in bed.  “But that’s ridiculous!”

“No, it’s not, really,” I told her.

“What else did he say?”

Lifting the tray of food, I set it down between us and smirked.  “How about we eat and I tell you what Shane thinks, and then what he said about you.”  I leaned over and kissed the confused look on her face.

Friday came around and I found myself walking into
McAskill’s
shortly after seven, despite my reluctance to leave Morgan alone.  Tonight was the first evening she and I would spend apart since we’d gotten together, even though we’d never put a label on what we were.  Being in our thirties, it seemed odd to call her my girlfriend, but I suppose that’s what she was.

There hadn’t been any new developments with the investigation on the happenings at her house, nor had anything new occurred throughout the rest of the week.

“Well, look who’s back from the dead!”

“Kippers!”  My jaw dropped at the sight of the man.  “Since when have you been back State side?”

The man got up and that’s when reality hit.  The limp said more than enough when he took the few steps to meet up with me, grasping my fist and pulling me in for a rough pat on the back.  “It’s good to have you back, brother,” he said.  “I knew they couldn’t break you.”

If anyone could remotely understand the nature of what I’d been through during my deployments, it was Dalton Kippers.  Despite suffering his own version of hell, to see the man standing before me made me feel more at home, less of an outcast, if you will.  Then again, so did the sight of the other three men who stood behind him.

“If I didn’t know that Peters was telling the truth, I’d say the poster boy for our armed forces has just walked through the door.”  That baby face might have been able to fool all the ladies back in the day, but his mouth would always get him in trouble.  There was no mistaking that the idiot who’d just spoken was none other than Brycen Mathews.

“Well if it isn’t Baby-Face.”  Dalton moved aside to let me shake hands with Brycen.  “Cade Harwick,” I said as I set my eyes on the next man in line.  Where Brycen was slighter than the rest of us, Cade was the largest – not only in height, but muscle too.

Cade grabbed me by the back of the neck and pulled me in for a man-hug of his own.  “It’s damn good to see you, man,” he said.  “I should have known they were full of shit when I got the news.”

I pulled back and looked at the four men that stood in front of me.  Right there was a piece of history that made me feel connected to the world again.  Alive.  It was a piece of me that I hadn’t realized had gone missing over the years, until now.

And as if a decade had never gone by, the camaraderie resumed.

It was eleven when Shane’s cell rang.

“Don’t do it, man,” Cade told him, shaking his head.  “It’s your first night off in two weeks.”

Shane’s eyes looked confused then met mine before he said, “I have to get this,” and walked toward the exit.

Call it a sixth sense, but something told me that I was involved in whatever conversation he was about to have.

Within five minutes, as I was bent to take a shot at the pool table, Peters was back asking me where my phone was.

“Why?” I asked as I pulled it out of my pocket only to realize that I’d forgotten to charge the thing and it was dead.

“She tried to call you but couldn’t get through.  Something’s going on at Morgan’s.”

“Fuck!”  I threw the cue onto the table’s felt, knocking around the few balls that were still in play.  “We’ve got to go.”

“Who’s Morgan?” Cade asked from behind me.

“His woman,” Shane answered before I could.

“It’s just like you,” Brycen jumped in.  “You’re back for like, what, five minutes, and you’re already getting some ass.”

“Bryce,” Dalton shook his head in warning, having already read the tick in my jaw for the sign that it was.

“He’s right, Brycen,” Shane said.  “You don’t want to go there with this one.”

My blood was boiling. Morgan needed me and I hadn’t been available when she tried to reach me.

I should have been there to protect her. 
Deciding against chastising myself about it, or explaining myself to the men, I started toward the door, saying, “I’ll catch you guys later.  I’m heading out.”

Twenty-five minutes later, I pulled up the drive to find complete chaos. The visual I took in was haunting.  Beyond the white and blue flashing over the property, I noticed an open front door, broken windows and slander – what I could only assume was spray-painted – across the front walls to the house.

What made it worse was the sight of Morgan, wrapped in a blanket, sitting on her front porch steps all alone.  Police and CSI wandered about, walking in and out of the house, paying her no mind.

I rushed to the woman who sported such a look of defeat and pale demeanour that I couldn’t help myself.  I pulled her up to her feet and crushed her to my chest.  “Baby, I’m so sorry,” I whispered against her hair.

Clutching me like a lifeline, her body shook like a leaf. As I rubbed up and down her back, I could feel the tension in her shoulders easing.

Pulling back, I cupped the sides of her face in both of my hands.  “Morg, what happened?”

“I fell asleep on the couch and woke up to the windows being smashed,” she explained.  “I-I didn’t think.”  She bit her lip.  “I was caught off guard, and I rushed out of the house without thinking.”

“What?”  My hands grabbed onto her upper arms, squeezing a bit harder than I should have, if the subtle wince-like look on her face was anything to go by.  I released my grip immediately, rubbing away the discomfort I’d caused.  “Baby, you could have been hurt.”

“I know that.  But when I opened the door, I saw this older red Ford pickup truck driving off from the end of the driveway.  By then, it was too late.  When I ran to the living room to get my phone and call you, that’s when I saw this mess.”  Her arm waved toward the graffiti that graced the house behind her.

“Thank God you’re okay.” I pulled her into me once more.  Just as I was about to tell her that I didn’t know what I would do without her, tires on gravel skidding to a halt nearby had me turning us so I could see who it was that had arrived.

“T!”  Paxton came running at us, Alissa following close on his heels.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“I called them,” Morgan mumbled into my chest.

My head snapped downward to look at the top of her head.  “You did?”

She nodded before meeting my gaze.  “I couldn’t get a hold of you after I called the cops, so I called Allie, and then Shane from the business card you left on the fridge.”

“You can’t sleep here tonight,” Alissa said as she took in the state of the house.  “It’s not safe.”

“You’re right,” I said and studied the woman who had managed to worm her way into my heart, and steal it.  “You’re coming home with me.”

“Theo,” she started, but I cut her off.

“It’s not up for debate.”  I kissed her mouth hard as it opened in protest once more.  “No arguments, Morgan.  You damn well nearly gave me a heart attack tonight.”