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No one threatened her family. No one.
Mac sat beside his grandfather’s bed, watching the older man’s labored breathing. The afternoon sun slanted through half-drawn blinds, casting the room in amber light. Truman had been sleeping fitfully since lunch. After his bad night, Mac assumed he needed the rest. Kelsey’s changes to his medications seemed to be working, keeping the pain at bay.
Mac’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out, expecting a message from the nurse. Instead, Kelsey’s name appeared on the screen. As he read her message, his blood went cold.
“Jesus Christ,” Mac muttered, rereading the words in disbelief.
“That bad, huh?” Truman’s raspy voice startled him. The old man’s eyes were open, clearer than they’d been all day.
Mac looked up, jaw tight. “They tried to abduct Noah. Jennifer Prescott showed up at his field trip and tried to walk off with him.”
Truman’s weathered face hardened. “Bastards.”
“I’m going to destroy them,” Mac said, his voice deadly quiet. “All of them.”
Truman shifted in the bed, wincing as he reached for the water glass on his nightstand. Mac handed it to him, waiting as his grandfather took a careful sip.
“The takeover play?” Truman asked, handing back the glass.
Mac nodded. “Jason Prescott is going to have a bad day.”
“Why were we waiting, exactly?”
Mac ran a hand through his hair. “Kelsey had reservations.”
Truman made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a cough. “And now?”
“Now she’s ready to burn it all down.” Mac stood, pacing to the window. “Earlier today, she wasn’t sure that was the right call. But…” He shook his head. “They tried to take Noah, Grandad.”
“So what are you doing still standing here?” Truman’s voice was weak but firm. “Go home to your family.” Truman waved a dismissive hand. “I’m fine son, they’ll give me something to eat and I’ll fall asleep to the news.”
“You sure?”
“I survived three years in Korea and sixty years married to your grandmother. I think I can manage an hour in this bed.” Truman’s eyes, though sunken, held a familiar spark. “Give ’em hell, boy. Nobody comes after a MacCormack and walks away unscathed.”
Mac leaned down and squeezed his grandfather’s shoulder. “I’ll be back if you need me any time, even in the middle of the night.”
“Don’t bother. Be with your wife and boy.” Truman fixed him with a stern look. “You protect what’s yours, Mac. Nothing else matters.”
“Yes, sir.” Mac straightened, a cold resolve settling in his chest. “I’ll send the nurse in now anyway.”
Twenty minutes later, Mac pulled into the driveway of their cottage, his truck tires crunching on the gravel. The windows glowed with warm light against the gathering dusk. In any other circumstance, the scene would have filled him with peace. Tonight, it only intensified his determination to eliminate the threat to the people inside.
Mac entered through the kitchen door, the scent of garlic and tomatoes enveloping him. Noah sat at the table, math workbook open in front of him, while Kelsey stood at the stove stirring a pot of sauce. For a moment, Mac paused in the doorway, struck by how right the scene felt and how close they’d come to having it shattered.
Kelsey looked up and met his eyes. Without a word passing between them, he could see that her emotions matched his own.
“Mackie!” Noah spotted him and jumped up from his chair. “You’re home early!”
“Hey, buddy,” Mac said, forcing a smile as he ruffled Noah’s hair.
He strode to Kelsey and placed a hand on the small of her back, pressed a kiss to her temple. “Hey,” he murmured. He hoped the single word carried the weight of everything unsaid.
“Hey yourself,” she replied softly, leaning into him briefly before turning back to the stove. “Dinner’s almost ready.”
Mac hung his jacket on the hook by the door. “So, Noah, how was the field trip today? See any sharks?”
Noah’s face lit up. “Yeah! They had a huge tank with sand tiger sharks and these really weird flat rays that looked like they were smiling.” His excitement faltered slightly. “But then some other stuff happened.”
