Page 73 of Alec’s Dream

Fuck, his chest burned with possibilities—they’d gotten lucky. So fucking lucky he was holding back the fire that wanted to explode. If Rory had been standing, she would’ve been hit. If his girl had been motoring around, she would’ve been hit. If Caleb had been sitting at the kitchen table, he would’ve been hit.

It was only by the grace of God that Rory and Joss were both on their bellies playing with stuffed animals—if not—fuck, he couldn’t even think about the if not without his gut churning.

Macy hadn’t said a word when Alec had ushered them into the house. And Caleb was fucking killing him—the boy had clung to him as he guided the trembling kid up the stairs and into his bedroom. Once Macy got settled on Alec’s big king-sized bed, Rory folded into her side and Alec helped Caleb snuggle into the other. He’d tried to take Joss with him to leave the three of them, but Jocelyn threw a tantrum and Macy happily had told Alec to leave her. So he did and the four of them had been in a heap in the middle of the bed when he walked out.

Jonny’s visit was imminent and he’d yet to leash his anger.

Alec’s phone rang. He pulled it out, checked the caller ID, and answered, “Nixon.”

“Christ, brother, I’m at Macy’s.” Nixon paused and Alec could visualize his friend’s frown as he took in the state of Macy’s home. “Already called Rob Keene. He and his crew are on their way here now. He’s bringing supplies to board up the front window.”

That was good.

“Also got crime scene investigators here. Don’t think I need to tell you this, but there’s about two hundred nine mil shell casings littering the street—looks like he didn’t even get out of the car.”

No, Nix didn’t need to inform Alec about the number of casings, he’d lived it. Alec had covered two little girls amidst the burst of gunfire, praying to God Almighty that Caleb was safe hiding somewhere. Then his heart had stopped when he saw Macy fucking standing in the hall, not listening to him telling her to get down. And when she ran through the volley, bullets zipping past her, he wasn’t sure if he was impressed by her bravery and need to protect her child, or if he was pissed beyond reason she’d been so stupid. Even now, just thinking about it infuriated him. She could’ve been killed.

“Malone wasn’t alone,” he told Nixon. “Unless he got his hands on a belt-fed machine gun, which you know is gonna cost some cake, buying it off the street even more. There was no pause to reload. So my guess is Malone had someone with him. A couple of Mac-10s would make more sense—they’re readily available to any douchebag with money and buying two would still be less expensive than a belt-fed.”

“Fuck.”

Fuck was right. Not only were they now looking for Malone and an accomplice, they knew the fuckwads had heavy firepower.

Alec’s gaze went to the long dirt lane leading to his house and he saw the black SUV, dust and debris kicking up into a cloud behind the vehicle.

“Gotta go. Jonny just arrived.”

“I’ll be over shortly. The women are mobilizing and asking what Macy needs.”

“’Preciate that, but right now—”

“No, brother, they’ve mobilized. McKenna, Kennedy, and Silver are right now at the store filling carts with enough food to last the five of you until the apocalypse and probably beyond. They’ll be hittin’ up the drug store after that. They need to know if Macy needs something in particular.”

Christ. There it was, that warmth hit his chest again. He’d been friends with the guys a long time, their friendship tested in ways most couldn’t imagine. Blood, sweat, and death had bound them together. McKenna, Kennedy, and Silver had seamlessly woven themselves into his brothers’ lives. They were now an integral part of their group.

“I’ll ask her. But off the top of my head, she’ll need some basic woman shit. Rory, too. I suspect Caleb will be good using my shower shit but I got nothing that smells good and Macy always smells flowery.”

Nix chuckled and returned. “I’ll pass that along and see you in a few.”

Alec disconnected the call and moved to the door to let Jonny in.

“Alec—”

Alec held a hand up, halting whatever Jonny was going to say.

“Macy and the kids are upstairs in my bed.” The other man’s posture changed, going from pissed to guarded. “I get you care about her and you love your niece and nephew. What you need to get is they’re in my house, in my bed, and under my protection.”

“Hall—”

“Not done, Jonny.” Alec cut him off again. “I also know that as pissed as you are at your brother, he’s still your brother. I don’t have the time nor the patience to tread lightly so I’m telling you straight—today Doug Spencer ceased to exist for them. And not just Macy, those kids, too. They are done. This goes beyond him being a shitty father, way fucking past him being a dick to Macy and jacking her around. That motherfucker’s shit has leaked into their lives in a way that will never happen again. That is done for them. I’m gonna dig up so much shit on him it will bury him. Not only will he never see those kids again, he’ll be in it so fucking deep he’s never gonna breathe clean air again.”

“Brother, I get that, but—”

“Someone could’ve died today,” Alec roared. “Aurora or Caleb could’ve fucking died because of that twat. Do not stand here in my home, with three people you claim to love upstairs in my bed counting their lucky stars they’re all breathing, and give me a motherfucking but. Do not give me some bullshit when Macy is up there holding her babies thanking God one of them didn’t bleed out on the goddamn floor of their home. A place she has provided for them, not the dick.”

“Fuck, Alec, if you’d give me a minute you’d know I absolutely agree with you. What I was going to say is, you’re gonna have to have a care with Rory. She’s six and what she knows about her dad is sometimes he disappears but when he comes back, he’s all about sugar with her. It’s bullshit, we all know it. Doug’s way of trying to fuck Macy over, turning her daughter against her. But all the same, he plays the loving daddy to her. And Macy’s gonna have to deal with it. She’ll be the one who you’re gonna need to convince, not me.”

“Not after today, I won’t. If you don’t think Macy will do anything she has to, to shield those kids from any more damage, you are wrong.”