Page 81 of Alec’s Dream

“No one blames you.”

“He’s—”

“You are not Doug,” Nix cut in. “You’ve been living under this weight since high school. Told you then, tell you again. Not a damn person in this county thinks any less of you or your family for the shit Doug pulls. Doug is Doug. He’s always been who he is, and there was nothing any of you could’ve done differently to make him change.”

Jonny looked contemplative. But now was not the time to heal old wounds. They had shit to talk about.

“I filled Jonny in, but you three need to hear this, too.”

Alec reiterated the conversation Caleb had with Macy to Nix, Jameson, and Weston. When he was done, it was Jameson who was vibrating with anger.

Therefore, it was not surprising when Jameson announced, “I’m heading to Florida.”

Jonny added what he knew about Keith Worthmore and Nixon interjected what he remembered of the man from high school. Which didn’t give them a whole lot of new intel—just confirmation this Keith guy was a total shitheel.

“He shouldn’t be hard to find,” Jameson declared.

And he wouldn’t be, not with Jameson going down to suss him out.

“You sure you have time?” Alec inquired, knowing how his friend felt about being away from his wife.

“I got plenty of time, but it won’t take much. I’ll head down, get a lock on the douchebag, we’ll have a chat, then it’ll be done.”

That was a decision Jonny had made. One that Alec saw the wisdom in, but knew it had to burn Jonny’s gut to give the green light to Jameson to make it so Doug understood he wasn’t to step foot back into Maryland. Alec also understood this was Jonny’s best play.

If Doug came back, Jonny’d be forced to have his brethren drag his brother in and question him about his involvement with Josh Malone. It would also put Macy and the kids in the position to have to deal with him. Lastly, it would put Doug within Alec’s reach, something that would be very bad for Doug’s health.

Doug disappearing and staying clear of Maryland was the best option.

“Weston and I are gonna hit a few places tonight,” Nixon informed the group. “We’re working on the assumption Malone is the shooter. I’d like confirmation. Seems extreme for twenty K. Not that we don’t know Malone is seriously fucked in the head, but I just want to make sure we’re not missing something. Josh Malone might not be the only person Doug’s pissed off or owes money to.”

Goddamn!

Alec hated to admit it but that was the truth, with Doug being a supreme dick, there could be a variety of assholes gunning for Macy to get to the dickless prick.

“’Preciate it. I need to have a talk with Macy about taking some time off work. And we’re gonna have to work out what’s gonna happen with the kids going to school. I don’t want any of them unprotected.”

“I’ll talk to the resource officer at the middle school,” Jonny told Alec. “Give him a heads up and he’ll keep an eye. Wayne’s a good guy. I’ll text you his information and give him a heads up you’ll be in touch. The elementary school doesn’t have an officer posted, but Macy knows just about everyone in that building, and with the security in place, Rory will be safe.”

That made Alec feel marginally better, but he wished there was a way to pull the kids out and keep them home. And on top of that, he knew he was going to have a battle on his hands getting Macy to agree to take time off of work. Just thinking about it pissed him off, the reasons why, the financial hit she was going to take. Which was going to put a serious dent in her already tight bank account. And it annoyed him to no end knowing there was no way in hell Macy would take money from him even though he could more than afford to cover her.

So once again, his woman was going to struggle on a variety of fronts, making him feel totally useless.

Unless he could get her to agree to an extended stay—one that would lead to a permanent stay. Rory had already expressed her desire never to go back to their old house, so maybe it was doable.

With the wheels in his mind spinning double-time, he glanced around the room finding Macy smiling at Silver holding her son, Dylan. Rory standing between her mom and Aunt Becky. Kennedy close to Becky saying something he couldn’t hear.

McKenna had disengaged herself from the girl posse and was now sitting with Caleb, Alec’s tablet in her hands, showing the boy something. Likely talking tech shit that kids these days understood more than the adults around them. Given enough time, McKenna could teach him to hack Homeland Security servers.

The men still huddled close, quietly making plans to take down Malone.

His house was full.

The reason his friends were there was fucked, even if it proved they were the best kinds of friends to have.

His daughter was upstairs tucked safely in bed.

And all of a sudden, his big house that was way too much for him, felt like a home.