MAC
“Earth to Mac.”
My head is lost in Jake. I shake him free and focus on Evie. Her forehead is wrinkled with bewilderment. “You’ve been so scatter-brained this morning.”
“I’m just tired,” I reply as we put our bags in the back of her Toyota Hilux. It’s the Sunday morning after Evie’s birthday party and neither of us seemed to have slept much at all. It hasn’t stopped us from getting up and out the door early today; our plan is to take advantage of mid-season sales before they end.
Evie’s phone rings, saving me from further inquisition. She digs through her handbag. Her eyes sparkle when she pulls it out and checks the screen. “It’s my fiancé,” she says with glee.
Evie’s been throwing the word around like confetti today as she talks wedding plans. It’s exciting but I’m struggling to find enthusiasm. My body aches in too many places and my inner thighs are chafed like they’ve been attacked with sandpaper. Jake’s three-day growth has left the area tender, and every step has my panties rubbing me raw.
I steal the car keys while she talks and climb inside the car, choosing to drive us home. The outside noise mutes as I shut the door and turn the key. The engine rumbles to life beneath me. The blessed relief of sitting down has me exhaling in ecstasy as I wait. A few minutes later, Evie opens the passenger door, her brown eyes wild with panic.
“What?” I bark when she fails to open her mouth.
“It’s Quinn,” she says and my stomach knots in an instant. “She’s in the hospital.”
Oh no. “What happened?”
“I don’t even know. Jared was vague. Why is everyone so damn vague this morning?” she snaps.
“Well what did he say?”
“Something about shit going down, and that Quinn is in the hospital but okay.”
“Define okay.”
“Scrapes and bruises but mostly she’s in shock. I think he said they would release her soon?”
“Well, don’t just stand there,” I boom. “Let’s move.”
Evie climbs in the car and we take off, making our way out of the rabbit warren that Sydney Westfield shopping complex has the nerve to call a parking lot.
“Why did Jared ring you and not me?”
“I don’t know.” Her brows rise. “Maybe it’s because you’ve been looking at him lately like he single-handedly wrung the neck of every puppy on the planet?”
“I don’t look at him like that.” It’s a lie because I do. My brothers’ betrayal runs deep. I might be happy over his engagement, but he still lied to me. They all did. The apology Mitch gave helped lessen the intensity, but it still sits there between all of us, throbbing like it has its own pulse.
“You do.”
“Well … That’s because Jared is a jerk.”
Evie’s nostrils flare from the passenger seat, causing her indignant response to come out sounding like she has a goober stuck in her throat. “Yes, but he’s the jerk I love.”
I snort. “More fool you.”
Evie’s fist connects with my arm.
The offending thump sends a sick lurch to my belly. I take my hand from the steering wheel and rub the pained area. “Ow! Bitch.”
Without taking my eyes from the road, my fist shoots out. I can’t see where my punch lands, but the impact zone feels soft.
Evie sucks in a wheezy gasp of outrage. “You just punched me in the tit!”
“Hahahahah— Oomph!” Her fist connects with my boob. The pain folds me in half. My chin hits the steering wheel and the car swerves. “Evie!” I yell.
Evie grabs the wheel and corrects our course while I pull myself together. She apologises but amusement coats her words, rendering it ineffective.
“I’m driving here,” I hiss as I retake the wheel.
She folds her arms. “You punched me in the tit.”
“You started it.”
“Did not,” she retorts.
“Did too.”
“Did not.”
“Did too.”
“Did— Oh my GOD! Pull over up ahead!” Evie yells.
My eyes scan the distance ahead and land on Mary’s. We’re driving through the city fringe in Newtown, and this place has the best burgers in the southern hemisphere. Other envious burgers aspire to be like these. They ooze with a special Mary’s sauce that none of us have been able to replicate.
The universe is with us today because I find a parking spot. I reach for my purse, and Evie and I both pause to share a mutual glance of guilt. Quinn is in the hospital and we’re stopping for burgers.
I clear my throat. “Jared said she was okay, right? Her life isn’t hanging in the balance.”
“This is true.” Her smoky brown eyes turn to Mary’s with longing. “I mean, hospitals serve shitty food, don’t they? Stopping to pick up a burger for Quinn is the right thing to do. We’re basically doing this for her.”
The rest of the drive to the hospital is a non-violent affair as we stuff our faces with food. After parking, we find our way to Quinn’s room. The door is closed but privacy be damned. If that was what Quinn wanted, she would have run from us long ago. I plant my palm on the door and shove it open. It flings back with force and bangs into the doorstop behind it with a loud clunk.
“Mac, for god’s sake,” comes Evie’s exasperated voice from behind me. “Can you just try for a little less force next time?”
“Shut up, Sandwich,” I snap then throw her under a bus. “If you didn’t decide to make a food stop on the way here, then I wouldn’t have had to rush.”
We both stop and look at Quinn. She’s a mess. Her best friend Lucy messaged us on the drive here telling us Quinn looked like she’d gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson and lost. It’s the truth, and the visual evidence has my eyes narrowing to slits.
Evie gives her the burger. Quinn turns green and nudges it furtively away as she fills us in on what happened. It all started with a scuffle, which is how the best kinds of stories start, but it involves David, which makes it shitty. Quinn wraps it up by telling us Travis has been arrested for manslaughter.
My mouth falls open. “What?”
“David’s dead,” Quinn states. “He was shot, and they think Travis did it.”
What. The. Hell.
Last night we were having a party, Quinn’s situation put on hold so we could celebrate Evie’s birthday. Less than a day later, David is dead, Quinn is in the hospital, and Travis is behind bars. Who’s running this damn show? The Thunderbirds? My brothers have clearly fucked up somewhere along the line for this to happen.
“Well, did he do it?” I ask, because I can’t blame Travis if he did. The only way to stop a man like David is to put him in the ground. It’s a harsh way of thinking, but that’s the cold reality.
“No!”
Quinn explains that she’s yet to give her statement. Travis is stuck behind bars until they’re given the full background of the situation. It leads us to the question of the hour—who shot David?
First we need to arrange for my brother’s release. That means springing Quinn from the hospital and taking her to where he’s being held. After handling the paperwork, we’re outside within the hour. Quinn and I wait by the entrance while Evie gets the car and brings it around.
“Mac,” Quinn croaks and clears her throat. “I’ve just realised I left my phone on the counter where we signed the release papers. Would you mind ducking in to get it for me?”
I roll my eyes at her forgetfulness. After commanding her to stay put, I go inside to look for it, but it’s nowhere to be found.
When I walk back outside, Quinn is nowhere to be found either. Evie is standing alone by the car waiting for us. “Where’s Quinn?”
“I don’t know,” she replies. “I thought she was with you?”
“Did you see her at all?”
Evie shakes her head. “No?”
My gut twists. Something isn’t right. I jog away from the entrance and scan the parking lot that stretches out in front of us. “Quinn?” I yell, looking left and right. Oh my god, she’s vanished right beneath our noses. My brothers will have my head on a platter. My lips pinch tight as I pull out my phone and scroll through my contacts. I start with Travis. It’s possible Quinn’s information about his incarceration is faulty, and if she’s gone, he should be the first to know.
Travis answers. “Yeah?”
Relief hits me. “Trav, thank god. Quinn said you’d been arrested.”
His chuckle is low and amused. “Christ, she isn’t worried is she? It’s all been sorted out. I’m on my way to the hospital now. Are you there?”
My brother’s response has fear snaking up my spine. If Quinn isn’t with him, and David is bound for the morgue, then something very, very bad is at play. “I am, but there’s a problem. A really big, horrible problem.”
“What?” he barks.
My eyes do another scan of the hospital entrance and front parking lot. It gives me nothing. “Quinn’s gone.”
There’s a pause then, “What the fuck, Mac?”
“Don’t shout at me!” I shout as I jog back to Evie. I left her alone for one minute, but apparently that minute was enough for all holy hell to break loose. “I already know I fucked up. Oh god.”
Travis orders us home to the duplex and hangs up on me. Frustration rattles my bones as we park in the driveway. They expect me to keep them in the loop when shit goes down yet I’m always kept out of it. Are we supposed to just sit on our hands and wait now? Balls to that.
It grates me to ring Jared, but I do. He doesn’t answer. I try Mitch. He doesn’t answer either. Evie sinks to the edge of the couch, biting her nails as I pace back and forth along the living room rug. “You’ll wear a hole in it,” she says.
I couldn’t care less. I’m too busy working out our next plan of attack. I pause and look at her. “Those guys who want the money have to be the ones who have Quinn, but who the fuck are they?”
She gives me a blank look.
“Did Quinn mention anything to you?”
Evie shakes her head.
“Okay.” I put my hands on my hips, my brain working overtime. “Well, David owed shitloads and considering the way they’re trying to collect their money, they can’t be good guys, right?”
“I guess.”
I begin to pace again. “So the loaned money can only come from some kind of criminal activity, like a crime group. Probably one that traffics drugs. I mean, that’s where the big money is, isn’t it?”
Evie shrugs like she doesn’t have a clue.
“Great sounding board you are,” I snap, pausing to face her.
“Don’t get pissy, Macface,” she snaps back. “I’m just as upset as you about this situation, but what are we supposed to do?”
“I don’t know!” I throw my hands up in the air. “But I do know that sitting around doing nothing isn’t going to help anyone.”
Evie huffs.
I crack my knuckles in annoyance. “If I had access to resources, I’d have this situation dealt with before you could blink.”
“What kind of resources? You mean like Google?”
An idea hits. “Yes!” I point a finger at her. “Now you’re starting to think like a badass consultant.”
“I am?”
“Yes. Now go get me a packet of salt and vinegar chips from the pantry. I can’t think on an empty stomach.”
Her mouth falls open. “How can you be hungry at a time like this? Especially considering we just had burgers not long ago.”
“Don’t give me smack talk, Sandwich,” I bark as I head for the study at the back of the house. After taking a seat at my desk, I roll my chair toward my laptop and flip open the lid. It would be handy if Google gave me a detailed list of organised crime groups in Sydney that run drug trafficking rings, along with their address and contact information, but that’s not going to happen.
It’s entirely possible that my brother’s firm has a list though. All I need to do is hack into their system.
Evie wanders in with my packet of chips. The bag is open and she’s stuffing them in her mouth.
“I thought you weren’t hungry after burgers.”
She shrugs. “I could still eat.”
I snatch the packet. Reaching in, I pull out a chip and crunch, chewing slowly, as I stare at the blank screen of my laptop.
“What are you doing?”
“Trying to work out how to hack Jamieson and Valentine Consulting’s computer system.”
She snatches the chip packet back. “Why don’t you just ring Tim?”
Tim is their receptionist slash assistant. He’s short with a slim stature, dark hair, and rich brown eyes fringed by thick, sooty lashes. He’s also the office gossip. He knows everything that happens in that office before it even happens. I’ve made it my business to become his friend accordingly, but it’s an antagonistically mutual relationship.
I pick up the phone and dial. Tim answers on the third ring and rattles off his long greeting.
“It’s me,” I reply.
“Who’s me?”
“Fuck off, Tim. Shit’s going down and I need information.”
“I’m sorry,” he sing-songs. “I think you have the wrong number.”
“Tim,” I growl, knowing he’s swinging around in his fancy office chair at this very moment, playing with the styling of his hair to make sure each strand sits just so. It’s how Tim conducts all his phone chats.
He sighs a long lilting sigh that still manages to sound peeved. “Mac, if I give you any information, I’ll get fired.”
“Come on, Tim. Don’t be a little bitch.”
“Screw you, Mac,” he hisses into the phone.
The line goes dead.
I re-dial.
Tim answers, once again rattling off his long greeting.
“Quinn’s life is hanging in the balance,” I bark into the phone. “What if something horrible happens because you didn’t pass on the information we needed? What then, Tim? Huh?”
His tone is incredulous. “You think you’re the one that’s going to save the day?”
“Well, I can’t sit around twiddling my goddamn fingers.”
Tim huffs. “Let me see what I can find out.”
He hangs up before I can ask for the list of Sydney crime syndicates.
“Mac?”
Our heads swivel to the door. Jake is standing there shirtless, wearing worn, faded jeans. “Did you just say something about Quinn’s life hanging in the balance? What’s going on?”
Evie’s expression is grim when she answers for me. “Quinn’s been kidnapped.”
“What the hell?” he bursts out angrily. “When?”
She fills him in, starting from the beginning and ending with the now. Her loose lips give him every detail of my involvement.
Jake turns an accusatory glare my way, and I lift my chin, defiant in the face of his anger. “Evie, sweetheart,” he utters softly, never taking his eyes from mine, “I think I hear your phone ringing out in the kitchen.”
She cocks an ear. “No. I don’t think it’s—”
“It must have just stopped.”
“I’ll go check. It might be Jared,” Evie says, hope colouring her words despite the release of a tired sigh. She pushes up off the chair from the other desk in our study. Quinn’s desk. My heart thuds with fear, each beat more powerful with every minute that ticks by without word. I’ve been able to lock it down until now, focused solely on what I can do to help, which keeps me determined and calm, but Jake is here now and that’s all it takes for my control to flounder.
He speaks, his voice gritty like sandpaper. “Every time.”
“Every time?”
He walks over to my desk and leans his backside against the edge. “Every time something like this happens, you just shut me out. I know we’re trying to find our way back to the way we used to be, but it’s not working. We’re not the same people we used to be. You used to be tough, Mac, but you were also sweet. But I don’t know where the sweetness went. You’re harder now. More driven, maybe, and more reckless. Your constant need to get caught up in any dangerous situation that comes your way is relentless. I know your brothers are out there doing what they can for Quinn, but so are the authorities. Let them do their job, Princess,” he pleads softly. “Please?”
I stare hard into Jake’s eyes, my chest burning with anger. Does he not know me at all? “I can’t sit here and do nothing,” I snap. “I’m a Valentine. It’s not in my nature.”
My phone rings. A quick glance shows Tim’s name on the screen.
Jake gives me a look when I go to answer.
“I have to get this.”
He pushes away from the desk. His fists curl and the veins in his arms bulge as he steps away. A few deep breaths later, he turns. “Forget it,” he says over the sound of my ringing phone. “This is not the time for that particular conversation anyway.”
My heart feels heavy. For the first time I begin to question myself and the future I’ve mapped out in my head. Is it going to cost me in the long run? Are marriage and kids really so bad? Sometimes I let myself picture our tiny baby lying naked in Jake’s big, tattooed arms, just to see how it makes me feel. If I’m honest with myself, the image makes me melt faster than butter on toast. So why do I deny myself? Why do I have this need to prove myself all the damn time?
The questions flit through my mind in the span of seconds, and in half that time I push them away without answers. We’re all feeling vulnerable right now, worried sick for Quinn’s safety. Now is not the time to question my life choices.
So instead of going after Jake, I choose the easier option. I pick up my phone and answer Tim’s call.