Chapter Four
Maci stepped into the office the next morning with a cup of tea wrapped firmly in her shaking hand. She’d thrown up twice before she left the house thanks to her stomach bug, but there was no way she was going to take the day off.
Not when she had a plan that could work to help with the Stella LeBlanc situation.
Chance and his brothers were already in the office, huddled around the conference room table once again. “Good morning. Is everyone feeling better?”
The guys all grunted unintelligibly and threw up random waves in her direction. To her surprise, everyone looked like they’d actually gotten some sleep—even Chance.
Someone had already started a pot of coffee in the conference room, but it was nearly empty, so she dropped her purse at her desk and started a new pot. When she looked up, she found Chance studying her.
“Our coffee not good enough for you now?”
Maci grimaced at the cup she’d set down. “Tea, actually.”
Tea was nowhere near as good as coffee, but she knew there was no way her stomach could tolerate her normal brew.
Chance stood and walked over to her. “Still not feeling well?” he asked, low enough that his brothers wouldn’t hear.
She shrugged. “It’s a bug. It’ll go away soon enough.”
“If you need to take the day off—”
“I’m good,” she interrupted, smiling to soften the blow. When he just stared at her, she sighed. “If I need to go home and rest, I will. I promise.”
“Okay. We’re meeting in ten to discuss new options on the case.” Maci nodded and looked away, trying to settle the nerves in her stomach. She didn’t normally offer many tactical suggestions. Between the four Patterson brothers, they pretty much had that market cornered.
She had no idea how they’d take her suggestion. But ten minutes gave her just enough time to do what she needed to build her case.
She stepped into the bathroom and pulled out her special occasion makeup. She’d watched a few online tutorials last night, one from Stella LeBlanc herself.
When she left the bathroom ten minutes later, she looked less like Maci and more like Stella.
Chance and Brax were in the same seats as yesterday, sleeves rolled up and eyes focused. Luke and Weston were poring over a tablet, pointing out things to each other. She walked to one of the conference room chairs and sat, firing up her laptop so she could take notes like she usually did. She wasn’t sure when she should bring up her idea.
“Is everybody ready to officially start?” Chance asked. “We’re not leaving here today until we have a plan for catching Stella’s stalker. Nicholas is demanding action.”
“Can’t blame him for that,” Weston muttered. The rest of the brothers agreed.
Brax used a remote to turn on the large-screen television near the head of the table. “Should we start by looking at the wreck again with fresh eyes?”
Once they got into that it might be difficult to drag them back out. Now was the time to tell them her plan. “Actually, before you do, I have something to run by you.”
All the eyes in the room zeroed in on her.
Luke shook his head in what looked like genuine fear. “Please don’t tell us you’re quitting. We’ll never get unburied from the paperwork.”
“No, not that.” Maci laughed. “I have an idea for the Stella LeBlanc case.”
Luke’s relief was palpable as he slumped back into his chair and heaved a breath. His aversion to paperwork was near legendary.
“What kind of idea?” Brax crossed his arms and sat back in his chair.
“Why do you look like that?” Chance asked gruffly before she could answer Brax’s question. “Your makeup. It’s...”
She ignored him, knowing she had to get to her point before things derailed. “I think you should employ a decoy. Someone to take Stella’s place publicly to draw out the danger and eliminate it.”
“You want to be the decoy,” Weston guessed. Maci nodded.
A heavy silence followed, but it only lasted for three seconds before Chance exploded. “That’s what the makeup is about, isn’t it? Showing how much you look like Stella. There is absolutely no way we’re using you.”
Brax leaned forward, eyeing Maci critically. “It’s not a bad plan, actually. And the makeup does make them look remarkably similar. Since Stella doesn’t have a sister, that would make it even more likely to work.”
“Did you hear me?” Chance glared at Brax. “I said no.”
Maci took a breath to answer, but Luke shook his head across the table. She didn’t argue because she could see the beginnings of a sibling “chat” brewing, and she was better off staying out of it.
“Last I looked, San Antonio Security was an equal partnership, Chance.” Brax’s nonchalant brush-off caused a vein in Chance’s forehead to pulse. “Not a dictatorship.”
Luke nodded. “We’re in the business of protection. We would make sure Maci is safe. If we use her as a decoy, we’d plan it right so that no one gets hurt.”
Chance scrubbed his hand down his face. “You’re all out of your mind. We’re not sending Maci out untrained so we can catch a stalker.”
Maci had had enough. “You aren’t sending me anywhere. I’m volunteering,” she snapped.
Chance glared at her from his chair. “You don’t know the first thing about being in the field.”
“So, train her, Chance.” Luke leaned forward across the table so that Chance’s attention was forced onto him. “She’s already more tactically aware than most civilians. She’s smart and self-reliant. Give her some physical defense lessons—quick and dirty basics—and let’s do this.”
Chance turned to Weston, who, in normal form, hadn’t yet said anything. “Will you please help me get them to see reason?”
Weston studied Maci for a long moment, then looked back at Chance. The two of them were super close. “I get why you’re worried. Maci is part of the family, and we don’t like the thought of any family member in potential harm’s way.”
Hearing Weston say she was part of the family warmed something inside Maci. Chance turned to her, and for a moment she was afraid he was going to blow the whistle on her. To explain that, since she’d snuck out of his bed in the middle of the night two months ago, maybe family didn’t apply to her.
But if anything, Chance’s gaze was more protective. More possessive. More... everything .
The warmth she’d felt ratcheted up to a full heat.
“It’s the best plan we’ve come up with yet,” Brax said. “Let’s at least keep it on the table while we continue looking at other options.”
Chance finally looked away from her and nodded. “Okay. But if we send her out, we’re going to damn well make sure she’s safe.”
All three brothers offered their agreement.
“Stella always has some sort of bodyguards around, right?” Luke asked.
Chance let out a small sigh, as if he knew he’d already lost this battle. “Yes. She has at least three nearby at all times.”
“Great,” Luke said. “So, we ship the original Stella off on an international vacation, so she’s out of any danger.”
Weston nodded. “And also so we can control the situation more. We can send our new Stella only to events that we can have a greater measure of control over.”
Brax grinned. “Plus, Maci isn’t spoiled like Stella. She’s an asset, not a liability. Especially will be after some defense training and running potential scenarios so she knows what to look out for.”
“Fine,” Chance said finally. That one word was low and gritty, like it was painful for him to speak at all. Maci’s stomach swooped deliciously at the sound, and she inwardly cursed her body for responding to it. “I’ll agree to this plan if you take at least three days of self-defense training with me. I’ll also be with you every step of the way when you’re undercover.”
Maci’s eyes widened. Staying in close confines with Chance day after day? That wasn’t going to be easy. “I’m sure I could learn the basics from anyone. You don’t have to do it all yourself.”
“They’ve all got people waiting for them at home. You and I are the single ones of the bunch. That makes us the best people for an undercover job like this. It’s me, or we scrap the plan altogether.”
Chance’s smile was tight. He knew she was stuck. She would always agree to anything that let the others go home to their families, but she was also desperate for a reason for her and Chance not to be alone. She had to preserve the distance between them.
She knew how easily that distance could disappear.
“What do you say, Maci?” Chance finally said. “Are you ready to work together?”
Anyone could see that he was waiting for her to say no, but she wasn’t going to do it. “I’m sure it’ll be a blast.”
“Oh, there will be a blast somewhere,” Luke muttered. Brax and Weston laughed under their breaths while Chance watched and waited. He wanted a real answer, and she could tell he wasn’t going to leave without it.
Maci was simultaneously ecstatic and panicked, but she shoved it all down. Nothing else mattered but finishing the job. She had to help Stella get her life back before something—or someone—wrecked it forever.
She stared into Chance’s brown eyes. “I’m in.”
Maci felt like she’d just signed her soul to the devil but had no idea why.
A S M ACI CLOSED up the office later that afternoon, she still couldn’t believe the guys had agreed to her plan. She hadn’t seen any of them for most of the day. They’d been too busy going over the plan with LeBlanc’s security team, working on the details of getting Stella out of the country and narrowing down the social events where Maci would take Stella’s place.
Maci was really going to do it. She was going to take an active part in capturing a stalker and making a young woman safe again. Maybe it could even count as penance for some of her own past sins.
If only that was the way it worked.
Pushing those thoughts aside, she locked the door to the office and drove to the popular Thai restaurant down the street from her place to grab the order she’d put in. A big bowl of noodle soup and too many appetizers sounded like the perfect dinner to celebrate becoming an undercover super-agent.
At least her stomach could handle it. Thankfully it had settled since this morning. Hopefully the bug was gone for good.
The last thing she needed was the flu plus three days of one-on-one with Chance. It was going to be hard enough to keep her wits about her at full strength.
Thai food would help.
She’d just put the bags on the floor of the passenger seat when her phone rang. It was Claire, Luke’s fiancée.
“What’s going on, woman?” Maci and Claire had become good friends when Claire had needed Luke’s help a couple years ago. He and the other Patterson brothers had helped clear her name of murder.
“You have no idea how much money I would give to have seen you talk Chance Patterson into using you as bait for this stalker.”
Maci winced as she put the phone on speaker so she could drive. “I’m not using myself as bait. Chance would’ve freaked out. I’m a decoy.”
Claire chuckled. “You and Stella do look a lot alike. I still would’ve liked to have seen you talk him into it.”
“Actually, I just suggested it and played up my makeup to look a little more similar to her. The other brothers were the ones being reasonable and listening.”
“Chance is not known for his reasonableness when it comes to you.”
Maci knew Claire suspected the truth. Her friend had never asked Maci outright if she and Chance had slept together, but she’d been closer than anyone else to putting the pieces together.
“Probably the most dangerous part of this entire operation will be the next few days with Chance attempting to train me. After that, a swarm of ninjas would probably be a breeze.”
More laughter from Claire. “You be careful. And if it all starts to feel like too much, let someone know. Heck, you can let me know and I’ll make sure Luke understands. You don’t have to do anything you’re uncomfortable with.”
“I know. None of them would want that, even if using me is the best option. But I’m actually excited about it.” She pulled up to her apartment and grabbed the bags from the passenger side.
“Good.”
Maci heard some purring over the phone. “Is that my buddy Khan I hear?”
Claire’s giant Maine coon acted more like a dog than a cat, and Claire loved him to pieces.
“Yeah, he’s hanging here on the couch with me. I’ve got awful cramps and he’s my emotional support animal for the day.”
“He’s a good one to have. Okay, I’m home. I’ll talk to you later.” She disconnected the call and headed inside, hoping her own period wasn’t going to make the next few days even more difficult.
She froze in the process of setting her food on the counter.
Maci couldn’t remember the last time she’d had cramps.
Dread bubbled up in her stomach. Her period had been regular since she was thirteen, and for the first time ever, it was off.
“No, no, no,” she whispered, swiping to her period tracking app only to groan again. She’d missed not one but two periods. One month she could chalk up to the stress of everything that had been going on, but two?
Two was unprecedented, and something in her gut said she was out of her depth.
Don’t freak out when you aren’t sure what’s happening. The first step is to pee on a stick.
The next thing Maci knew, she was standing in the drugstore with no idea how she’d gotten there. She threw test after test into her basket. One test wasn’t enough. It could be a false positive. That happened sometimes.
Checking out and the drive home were also blurs in her timeline. She shoved the Thai into the fridge—there was no way she was going to eat now—and dumped every test she’d bought onto the bathroom counter. She picked up a random one and opened it, shoving the rest into a very un-Maci-like pile to the side.
A quick pee and two minutes later, she was curled up with her back against the tub and the test clenched between her shaking hands.
Two lines.
“No. This cannot be happening,” she told herself. “Take another one. You have to be...” Positive. The mental pun was just terrible enough to send Maci into near-crying laughter.
The next test was one of the smart tests, so when the timer went off, there were no lines, just a single word...
Pregnant .
Pregnancy had never been in her plans. She wasn’t fit to be anyone’s mother.
And Chance... Just the thought of him had her stomach lurching. She barely made it to her knees in time to throw up in the toilet.
He was going to think she’d trapped him. How could he not?
Now he was stuck in her life forever. After all the effort to keep him away from her, their lives were intertwined all because she was keeping this baby.
Amazing how no other option even boded consideration. Even if he didn’t want anything to do with her and the baby, she still wasn’t making any other choice.
You’re going to be a terrible mother. You’ll ruin your kid like you ruined your life.
She tried to fight back against the malicious thoughts, but she couldn’t. She didn’t know anything about motherhood. Her own mother used her as an ATM.
Maybe Chance might fight her for custody. Maci thought about what had happened to Brax’s wife, Tessa, and how she’d briefly lost custody of her own child.
No, Chance wouldn’t do what Tessa’s ex had done. That had been lies and manipulation.
But maybe he would decide she wasn’t worthy of his child.
There’s nothing to do about it yet. Focus on the pregnancy and work —
Work. Of course, what should have been a great day had ended in such chaos. The plan for Stella’s protection hinged on her and now she was pregnant. She didn’t know whether to quit the plan already or...
“No. I’m doing this,” she told herself, hunching over the sink to wash her face. “I’m going to decoy for Stella because she needs it, and I’m not going to worry about it. Chance will keep me safe just like he always has, and when everything’s over, I’ll tell him about the baby. It’s going to be fine.”
Maci stared at herself in the mirror and wished for the first time in ages that she had someone she could call. A real mother who could give her advice.
But she didn’t have that.
She straightened, taking a deep breath. She may not have any parental figures in her life, but she didn’t drink or do drugs. She was organized and clean and would do her damnedest to take care of this baby.
Feeling marginally better, she pulled out her phone and made an emergency appointment through her doctor’s scheduling app for in the morning. She needed to get an official test done and check how far along she was. Then she needed to see if self-defense training was going to be a problem.
She walked into the kitchen and pulled out her food. She wasn’t hungry, but not eating now wasn’t an option. Then she grabbed a notebook from the junk drawer. Between bites she listed everything she needed to ask the doctor before she went to work in the morning.
She’d just follow the list, stick to her plan, and everything would be okay.
She hoped.