Chapter Twenty
I come to slowly and frown.
Something is wrong.
I just don’t know what. Scanning my room, I see nothing out of place. I can hear Tanner’s little snores from down the hall and know that he’s still asleep. Emily, God bless her, is the type that once she’s out, she’s out cold until the sun comes up.
Weird.
My eyes start to drift shut when I hear it. The sound of scratching.
What the hell?
Throwing off the covers, I get out of bed. I peek into the kids’ rooms as I pass by and see that they are still asleep, and head to the living room. When I hear it again, my heart begins to race. I hear the sound of someone cursing quietly on the other side, and I swear my soul leaves my body.
Someone is on the other side trying to break in.
Without a second thought, I quietly rush to Tanner’s room.
“Tanner, wake up,” I whisper as I shake him.
“Mom?” he rasps, blinking slowly.
“I need you to get up. Someone’s trying to break in.”
For a split second, my son freezes before he jumps out of bed. We head into Emily’s room, and I pick her up.
“Mommy? Is it time to go to school?” she groans.
“Not yet,” I tell her as I rub her back.
We move through the house as quietly as mice and head to the back door.
“Where are we going?” Tanner asks quietly.
“Mac’s. I want you to run across the yard and to his back door. I’ll be right behind you, okay?” I tell him as I set Emily down. I look at my daughter and brush her hair out of her face. “Can you run, or do I need to carry you?”
“I’m scared,” she cries quietly.
“It’s all going to be okay. Now go,” I tell them, pushing them toward the door.
Tanner takes Emily’s hand, and they run across the yard silently as I shut the sliding glass door. Dashing across the yard, I join them.
One step closer to being safe.
I reach for the handle of his back door, and shock fills me when it opens. I never would have guessed that Mac was the type to leave a door unsecured, but tonight I’m thankful for it.
“Inside. Be quiet,” I tell the kids.
They step in, in front of me, and I quickly lock the door behind me. For a second, I lean against the door and take a deep breath.
Safe. We’re safe.
I look down at my kids, and my heart shatters when I see that Tanner is clutching Emily to his side, and her face is buried in his stomach.
“Stay here,” I tell them. As I move through his house, I whisper-yell his name, “Mac!”
As I round the corner to head down the hall, I jerk to a stop when I see him. He’s got a gun pointed right at me.
“Jane?” he rasps, and he drops the gun to his side.
“Someone’s trying to break into my house,” I tell him.
He walks toward me and cups my face. “Are you okay? Where are the kids?”
“In the kitchen. Something woke me up, and when I realized what was happening, I just grabbed the kids and came over here. I’m sorry for barging in,” I mumble.
“Hey, it’s okay. Take a deep breath,” he tells me as he wipes away a tear I didn’t realize had fallen.
My head tips forward and meets his bare chest.
Bare chest.
Shit, he doesn’t have a shirt on.
I look down and realize that he’s only wearing a pair of briefs.
I force myself to step back as I feel my cheeks heat.
Thank God the lights are off.
“Tanner, Emily, come here,” Mac says.
Silently, my kids come to us.
“Mac, I’m scared,” Emily tells him as she grabs onto his leg when she reaches us.
“It’s okay, Em. You have nothing to be scared of, okay? I got you,” he tells her as he runs a hand over her head.
He looks over at my son. “You okay?”
Tanner gives him a jerky nod but doesn’t speak. Even in the dark, I know his face is haunted by the past.
There’s no question in either of our minds about who was breaking in. He found us. The life we’ve built starts to fall down around us. We have to run. We have to get out of here.
“I need you guys to go into my room and wait for me while I check it out,” Mac says, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“No, you can’t,” I tell him, shaking my head.
“Come on.”
He takes me by the hand and drags me toward his room, with the kids following behind me.
“Get in bed,” he says as he grabs his phone off his nightstand.
Wordlessly, Emily does as he asks and, reluctantly, Tanner follows his sister. As he walks toward the door, I chase after him.
“Mac, please just stay inside. We can call the cops,” I tell him weakly.
Mac offers me a soft smile and kisses my lips. “I’ll only be gone for a couple of minutes. I expect you to be in my bed when I get back, okay?”
Before I can say anything, he slips outside, into the dark of night.
God damn him.
Taking a deep breath, I wipe away my tears as I look around his kitchen. I can do this. I need to protect my kids.
I move to the counter next to the stove and grab the biggest knife out of his knife block and head back down the hall.
I hope I won’t have to use this, but I will. No one will hurt my babies. Not ever again.
“Mommy, where’s Mac?” Emily asks with fear in her voice.
“He just went to check things out. He will be right back,” I tell her as I shut and lock his bedroom door.
“I’m scared,” Tanner confesses.
I set the knife on the nightstand and crawl into bed next to my kids. Instantly, they lean into me, all of us needing what little comfort we can get.
“Me too, baby. Me too.”
All too soon, I pull away from my babies.
“I need you to do me a favor,” I tell them.
“What?” Tanner asks.
“I need you guys to hide in the closet.”
Understanding fills Tanner’s eyes, and he nods.
“Come on, Em.” He takes her hand and drags her out of bed.
I watch as they quietly slip into Mac’s closet and shut the door.
Now, if I have to use this knife, the kids won’t see me do it. They’re safe.
Hopefully, Mac is too.
For the first time in years, I close my eyes and pray.
Please, God, let Mac be okay. Please don’t take one of the only good things in my life from me. Not now.
As I slip outside, I unlock my phone and send out a quick text.
Me: 9-1-1. Jane’s place.
I darken the screen and go to put my phone in my pocket.
“Fuck,” I hiss quietly when I realize I’m in nothing but my boxers.
My phone and gun. That’s all I have.
Taking a deep breath, I move. I creep around the corner of her house and see that the front porch is empty.
Maybe whoever it was took off.
Never, not even for a second, do I doubt Jane. She’s not the type to make shit up, especially something like this.
Through the window above me, I hear quiet murmuring.
Son of a bitch, they are in there.
Moving, I head toward the backyard. As quietly as possible, I slip through her back door.
“Where the fuck are they? This was supposed to be easy, man,” one guy says.
“I don’t know. This isn’t going according to plan.” The second guy groans.
These dumbasses aren’t even being stealthy, let alone aware of their surroundings. They don’t even realize that someone else is in the house with them. Quietly, I set my phone on the counter, freeing up one of my hands.
Raising my gun, I step around the corner and flip on the light.
“Freeze!” I demand.
The one guy stands frozen in his spot while his buddy takes off. The second one realizes he needs to take flight and tries to run, only I catch him by the back of his shirt. Spinning him, I slam him against the wall and press the muzzle of my pistol to his forehead.
Son of a bitch. It’s Dirk, the neighbor who tried to hit on Jane.
“Move. I dare you,” I tell him.
“Get off me, man,” he hisses as he tries to push me away.
Only I don’t move.
When I hear the sound of bikes in the distance quickly approaching, I smile.
The cavalry has arrived, and they are about to be pissed off that they missed the fun.
“You know, you could have put up more of a fight. I’ve been itching to fuck someone up lately,” I tell him.
His eyes widen. “You’re fucked up, man.”
“Yeah, that’s what happens when you fuck with my girl and kids.”
His eyes grow wider. “Y-your kids?”
“My kids.”
“Mac!” someone yells.
“In here.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I watch as several of my brothers enter Jane’s house.
“Jane? The kids?” Gunner demands.
“Safe. Although if it wasn’t for my girl’s quick thinking, they wouldn’t be, would they?” I say as I press the barrel of my gun harder into the dumbass’s forehead.
“I didn’t know, man. I didn’t know,” he whines.
“Let us handle this, Mac,” Smoke says as he comes up and claps me on the shoulder.
Only when someone grabs onto the rat do I take a step back and lower my gun. I watch as Tank and Bear pat Dirk down for weapons. My stomach rolls as I watch them pull out a taser and several sets of zip tie handcuffs.
They were going to take my family.
“We will deal with this,” Tank tells me.
I nod and watch as the two of them manhandle Dirk out of the house.
“You okay?” Smoke asks.
“Not even a little.”
“What happened?” he asks as he crosses his arms.
“Jane woke up because she heard a noise. She realized what was happening and got the kids out of the house. They went over to mine. I woke up because I heard something. I had my gun pointed at her, man,” I tell him as the situation hits me.
I could have shot her.
I could have hurt her or one of the kids.
“Hey, none of that. We all know you would never hurt any of them. I bet you dropped your gun as soon as you realized it was her, right?”
“I did, but what if it reminded her of before? What if she thinks I’m like him?”
“Brother, that woman knows you are the exact opposite of what she left. You don’t need to worry,” Gunner tells me, reminding me that Smoke and I aren’t alone.
He’s not wrong, though. I’ve worked my ass off to prove to them that I’m not like who they left. They know I would never hurt them, or I hope they do. I hope tonight didn’t demolish everything I’ve been working toward.
“What else?” Tank asks.
I fill them in on the rest. How, when I got here, I realized that there were two guys inside, and how one got away.
“Go home and hold your family close. We will deal with the trash, okay?” Smoke tells me.
“Yeah, okay. Let me grab my phone.”
They wait for me to grab it, and we walk out of the house together. While they walk to their bikes, I head to my back door and let myself in before locking it again. With heavy steps, I approach my bedroom door and pray that everything is okay on the other side.
Here we go.
I reach for the handle and find that it’s locked.
“Mac?” she says from the other side.
“It’s me, a mhuirnín.”
I hear her get up and walk to the door. When it swings open, she sighs with relief.
As she steps back, something silver flashes, and my eyes drop.
My girl has got a knife. I’m so fucking proud of her, but she needs a damn gun.
That knife requires her to get close. I know she can’t have a gun out with the kids there, but a bedside safe would work.
“Mind setting that down?” I ask her.
She looks down at her hand, almost as if she forgot she was holding it. I have to stop myself from laughing when she drops it like it’s a hot potato, the knife clattering against the floor.
“Come here,” I tell her as I set my gun and phone down on the dresser and open my arms.
Jane rushes into my arms, and I stumble back as I wrap mine around her.
“Thank God you’re okay,” she murmurs against my neck.
“Everything’s okay.”
She pulls back slightly and cups my jaw. “Did you find anything? You were gone so long.”
“There were two guys in your place. I grabbed one of them, and the other took off. I called my brothers, and they came to handle it,” I tell her quietly as I scan my room. “Jane, where are the kids?” I ask when I realize they aren’t here.
“Oh, shit.” She scurries away from me and rushes to my closet.
“You can come out now,” she says softly.
At the same time, my heart breaks, and anger rushes through me as I watch the kids walk out of my closet.
How many times have they had to hide in a closet when shit got rough?
How traumatizing was tonight for them?
“Mac, you’re okay!” Emily cries out as she rushes toward me.
As soon as her little body hits mine, everything fades away.
“I’m okay. Are you?”
She nods. “Yeah, Tanner and I hid in your closet. Did you know you have a pair of dirty boots in there? The dirt got all over my hands,” she says, making me laugh.
Leave it to Emily to try to lighten the mood.
“I didn’t know that. I’ll make sure to clean it up.” I look over her shoulder at her brother.
Tanner is standing next to Jane, and she’s rubbing circles on his back.
“You okay?”
Tanner’s jaw clenches, but he nods.
“You did good taking care of your sister. Protecting her,” I tell him.
His little chest puffs up with pride.
“We should probably head home and go back to sleep,” Jane says half-heartedly.
Before she can even finish her sentence, I shake my head.
“You’re staying here. I want the three of you to get in my bed.” I tell her.
“Where will you sleep?” she asks as she chews on the corner of her lip.
“With you guys. I just have to lock up first,” I tell her before looking down at Emily. “Go get in bed.”
Before she can put up a fight, I leave the room. I check every window and door, making sure they are locked up tight before I return.
When I step back into my room, my breath catches.
The three of them are curled up under the covers with a spot on the edge, waiting for me.
“Sleep next to me?” Emily asks shyly as she pats the bed next to her.
“I’d love to.”
I shut off the lights and get into bed with them. Emily’s little body curls up against mine, and rightness fills my chest.
I came so close to losing the three of them tonight. We could have been over before we really got started, and that thought alone terrifies me.
They are okay.
They got out.
You kept them safe.
This needs to end.
I’ll do whatever it takes to keep my family safe. Come hell or high water, this ends now.