Widow Mayker (Niceville Shores Chronicles #1)

Prologue

MAJA STORM

I woke up groggy and fighting a pounding headache.

The beeps sounding off reminded me that I was in the hospital…

or somewhere that resembled one. Brows furrowed, I glanced around the clean room, looking for anything that would tell me where the hell I actually was.

A television was directly in front of me.

It was on cartoons and down low. Teddy bears sat on top of a dresser drawer, along with balloons and vases of flowers.

Sunlight poured through the floor-to-ceiling window. However, it wasn’t overbearing. Glancing down at my hand, I winced at the IV still placed there. My hand was becoming sore.

This was day two of me being here. Although the unusual staff were inviting and friendly enough, I had no idea who the hell these people were.

Plus, the doctor… Adir Bell, he said his name was, wore a gun the size of my arm in his waist band—that scared the shit out of me.

If I never saw another gun again, I was fine with that.

What I wasn’t fine with was losing the only person I had in this ugly world. Tears welled up in my eyes. Watching my mama be tortured by the man, who was supposed to always protect her, would never leave my mind. The sound of her cries, and the sound of his yelling would forever haunt me.

The door to my room opened; in walked the doctor. He studied me the same way I studied him. Absent was his weapon. I breathed a sigh of relief as tears streaked down my face.

“Are you hurting?” he asked.

Slowly, I nodded. Within seconds, the male nurse, his name was Sean, entered my room. He pushed something into my IV, then was out of the room again, leaving me with Dr. Bell. He pulled up a chair and sat next to my bed.

“Where am I?” I questioned.

“Dr. Bell & Associates. It’s like a hospital without all the red tape.”

“Does anyone know I’m here?”

“Are you talkin’ about ya father?” he questioned.

Reluctantly, I nodded.

“He’s no longer with us,” he informed me, stoically.

“What’s going to happen to me?” I was only sixteen and wasn’t ready to know life without my mama.

“You’re gon’ be just fine, May. I can promise you that.”

Something in his tone was so sure that I believed him. Whatever Sean put in my IV caused me to doze off minutes later. Even in slumber, I registered the trickles of tears sliding down my face.

Two years later…

“Please don’t stand here and cry.” I chuckled at Maddie wiping her tears. She was so dramatic.

“You know how she gets,” Heir stated with a shake of her head. “Consider this a sign that she loves you.”

My face relaxed into a solemn smile. “I’ve never doubted it,” I said, causing Maddie’s eyes to tear up even more.

I hugged her tightly. “Thank you for everything.” If it wasn’t for Dr. Bell, Maddie, Cooley, Heir, and the rest of the Bell family, I would’ve likely never survived the last couple of years.

Instead, I was a thriving eighteen-year-old, starting my collegiate journey.

Cooley and Maddie took me in and spent countless hours making sure my past didn’t destroy my future. They spent time with me, listened to me, nurtured me…and loved me, unconditionally.

I kissed the top of Genesis and CJ’s heads. My baby brothers cheesed so hard, I pinched both their cheeks. “I’m going to miss you knuckleheads.”

“Are you sure you want to be this far away from home?” Maddie questioned.

I understood she had separation anxiety, especially after I learned a little of her and Heir’s past. If my husband and son were killed because of their disloyalty to the family, I would’ve been cautious of building new relationships.

However, Maddie and Heir took me in as if it was nothing. It meant a lot to me.

“I’m not sure,” I answered, truthfully. “I want to try, though.” This was a test run for me. If I could make it without falling apart, it would be a feat. Plus, my mama would have been so proud of me for standing up to my fears and facing the world just as she had before my dad took her life.

“At least let security—”

“No, no… Mama Maddie. You know I don’t like having them around.

” Unlike the rest of the Bell family, I hated security, even though I understood why they were needed.

Although adopted by Poppa Cooley and Mama Maddie, I was still a Storm by name and blood.

Poppa and Adir couldn’t lovingly boss me around like their own blood.

The stuffiness of it all was too much. “Poppa and Adir made sure that I can protect myself.” Poppa and Adir made sure that I could always protect myself.

From the time I was sixteen, they’d trained me on how to do shit that a girl my age shouldn’t even be thinking about.

Between the two of them, I knew a thing or two.

“Oh, okay. I guess I have to be okay with that.” Mama hugged me again. She took a look around my apartment and cataloged everything. I was sure she was looking for any reason to stay a little longer or spend more money on me.

“Mama… I will be fine. Promise.”

She mustered up enough faith to say, “Okay. I trust you.”

We embraced again. I gave Heir a hug, too.

She’d been the big sister I never had. Watching them leave broke a piece of me that I disguised behind a smile.

No matter how hard it was to be apart from them, I had to learn to navigate this life on my own.

I never wanted to feel as alone and hopeless as I did when I lost my mama.

Ten months later…

“Cassidy, make sure you call me when you make it home.”

My best friend glanced at me and shook her head. Cassidy was three years older than me and had started her collegiate journey at the same time as me.

“That’s your third time repeating that, sis.” She giggled and hugged my neck. “Will you stop worrying? I’ll be fine.”

Pulling back, I peered into Cassidy’s eyes.

Something there reflected a girl I once knew.

While Cassidy would never tell me the depths of her life back in her hometown, I knew it was something that weighed on her.

Going home for the summer had her restless these last few weeks.

She didn’t know that I’d picked up on it, but I did.

Over the months, I’d learned some things about Cassidy.

Like how she came from a family of cops.

Not only that, but her boyfriend was a cop.

When we first met, that was the one thing that nearly cost me a great friendship.

My aversion to anything related to the badge fueled me to never speak a word to her.

She sat next to me in one of our classes and finally got me to crack a smile at something funny she’d said. From that day forward, we became close.

“I’ll call you as soon as I land.”

“Okay.” I waved to Cassidy as she walked toward security check. Like a mother bear watching over her cub, I didn’t leave my perch until Cassidy was no longer in sight. I walked away with a heaviness in my chest that I couldn’t explain.

Later that evening, I paced the floor as I called Cassidy’s number for what seemed like the hundredth time.

Her flight was only supposed to last two hours.

It was well past that time, and I hadn’t heard a single word from her.

I’d already checked and made sure that the flight landed safely.

Now, I was worried sick that she hadn’t reached out.

“Hello?”

Jarred from my thoughts by a woman’s voice I didn’t recognize, I asked, “Where’s Cassidy?” This felt like a bad rendition of a long-ago nightmare.

“This is Cassidy’s cousin, Lili.”

I knew Lili because Cassidy talked about her often. It was the shakiness in Lili’s voice that caused my stomach to rise into my throat.

“You’re her best friend, Maja, right?” Lili asked.

“Yes,” I confirmed.

“Maja, I’m so sorry—”

“No!” A flood of tears roared forth.

“Her boyfriend—”

“No!” I screamed louder. Anything else Lili said was drowned out by the fury of screams I let out. I was living another nightmare. Everything from my past rushed forward, choking the life out of me.

Two months later…

“Maja, where are you? If you don’t answer another call, I’m gon’ send Poppa and Adir after you.”

Mentally, I replayed Heir’s voicemail. She’d left that for me this morning. I was sure Poppa and Adir were already on my trail, which meant I had to act quickly.

Inside the house Raphael Chalmers lived in, I dismantled his weak-ass security cameras, then calmly walked through the house to check for anyone else.

Then again, I knew no one was there. I’d been watching this house since the court released Raphael on bail a month ago.

Once I was certain everything was secured, I walked just as calmly into the darkened living room.

Raphael was stretched out on the couch. Surrounding him were liquor bottles and empty food containers.

He was passed out, and the television was so loud, he wouldn’t have heard a train if it came through.

Silencer in place, I tapped him on the forehead with my weapon of choice. I stepped back to give him a second to come to. Startled, his beet red eyes popped open. His face fell at the sight of the heat trained on him.

“The hell?” he fearfully hissed.

“Hi,” I murmured, “I’m May.”

“Who—”

The bullet between his eyes silenced whatever he was about to say. Fuck his thoughts.

Pleased with the outcome, I sighed, sat down in the middle of the floor, and peered at the deceased, disgraced officer. Nothing inside of me felt pity for him. I felt nothing other than loathing and a deep hatred that would never cease.

Solemnly, I thought that I would never trust a nigga. Especially if he came wrapped in a fucking uniform.