Page 1 of Seizing Mack
Chapter One
~ Nick ~
Nick Benning was finallyhome. A sense of familiarity settled around him, warm and comforting. Things really hadn’t changed that much. Lots of mountains. Lots of farms. Lots of family owned businesses that had been around since long before he was born. Covendale was the same sleepy small town it had always been.
He was different, though.
When he’d left he’d been young, not just in body but in mind and spirit. Barely out of college, he’d believed the best part of his life was already over. The jury was still out on that, but after ten long years, he was finally ready to move forward. To do that, he had to face his past.
He cruised the main street, his memories tangling with his skills of trained observation, creating a weave of past and present. A few faces looked familiar, but not many would recognize him now. His shoulders were broader; his face, no longer smooth and unlined. The glossy black Charger he had now was nothing like the classic 1966 Shelby Mustang GT350 that had been his baby back then.
He drove past Kelner’s Drugstore and made a right onto Tanner Avenue. A new shopping center had sprung up around Lou’s, his favorite burger joint, but they’d managed to maintain the small-town feel. Kudos to the town planning commission for that.
He kept going, past the town proper, into the surrounding outskirts, where communities of single family homes provided a couple-mile wide buffer between the bustling downtown area and the patchwork expanse of farms and forest.
The house he’d grown up in was still there, a brown and white Tudor-style split level nestled between a brick rancher and a two-story colonial. The tree where he and his sister Liz had once swung on a tire swing was gone, the front yard too perfect and meticulously landscaped to believe any children lived there now.
His parents no longer lived there, choosing to forego the brutal northeast winters and spend their golden years in the Sunshine State instead. Liz was still in the area, though. Last he’d heard, she’d moved into a townhouse after their folks had moved to Florida. That didn’t surprise him at all. Outdoor chores like mowing the lawn and raking the leaves had never appealed to her.
Liz was one of the primary reasons he’d chosen to return to his roots. He hadn’t seen or spoken to her in years. She’d written him often at first, her correspondence filled with a combination of sympathy, hope, and general information he hadn’t been able to process then, when the pain had been too fresh. He hadn’t done a very good job of keeping in touch beyond a birthday card once a year or a change of address note when he thought about it.
He felt bad about that. Liz deserved better, but he also knew she understood. Losing his fiancée had gutted him. Going away was the only way he’d been able to go on at the time. If he’d stayed in Covendale, he might never have dug himself out of the pit of guilt, anger and grief that possessed him after Annie’s tragic death.
He was older and wiser now; it was time to face his demons and put them to rest. Bad things happened. Not just to him, but to everyone at some point or another. The world kept turning, regardless. He’d grieved long enough and it was time to start living again. To startfeelingagain.
Reconnecting with Liz was an integral part of his plan, though he’d been unsuccessful at reaching her. He’d called several times over the past few weeks, leaving messages with his mobile number and a request to call him back.
So far, she hadn’t.
That was disappointing, but not entirely unexpected. He hadn’t exactly been the poster boy for callbacks and keeping in touch. To be fair, he hadn’t told herwhyhe was reaching out after being incommunicado for so long, either. He’d been hoping to lay some groundwork with a bit of catching up first before dropping the big stuff, like the fact that he was back not just for a visit, but staying for good.
Once he’d made the decision to return, however, things had fallen into place much quicker than he’d anticipated. The Covendale PD had recently created a new position for a dedicated drug enforcement operator that was right up his alley. His six-month transition suddenly became six weeks, and now here he was, pulling into her driveway unannounced and unexpected.
Would she envelop him in one of her strangling hugs or slam the door in his face? With Liz, he could see things going either way. She had the biggest heart of anyone he knew, but even she had her limits. His leaving she would understand. His lack of communication since, not so much.
Well, that was all about to change. He pressed the softly glowing doorbell, hearing a faint echo of chimes within. What he didn’t hear was anyone approaching to answer the door. He waited a good minute before ringing again with the same result.
Liz didn’t appear to be home.
Feeling a mixture of relief and disappointment, Nick got back into his car. His plan had been to give his sister a heads-up before she heard of his return from someone else; thinking that, with luck, their long overdue reunion would go well and they’d spend his first Sunday afternoon back in town catching up. But, he thought as he drove away, maybe having a few more days to reacclimate first was a good thing.
~ * ~
BRIGHT AND EARLY MONDAYmorning, Nick headed down to the police station to officially start his new job. The current Chief of Police, Sam Brown, seemed like a good guy, tough but fair. Sam hadn’t been the CoP ten years ago when everything had gone down, but he had been on the force and was familiar with Nick’s history. They’d spoken over the phone several times after Nick had expressed an interest in returning to his roots and Sam had been instrumental in making that happen.
He parked the Charger in the public lot behind the station, one of several that served local businesses and kept the on-street parking to a minimum. It was a good car, strong and powerful, but it wasn’t his Shelby. After years in storage, it would probably take some tuning up to get it running smoothly again, but tinkering with his baby again was one of the things he was looking forward to most.
As he walked past the large sculpture commemorating local service men and women, he took a moment to appreciate the architecture of his new workplace. The Covendale Police Station had been built from blocks of local granite more than a hundred years earlier. It looked like it, too, with its stately columns and stone arches over tall, narrow windows.
The inside was far more modern. Unlike the big city stations he was used to, the ground floor lobby resembled a cozy waiting room. Behind a polished wooden counter, a pleasant-looking woman in her late forties offered a friendly smile.
“You must be Nick Benning,” she said, rising from her seat.
“I am. What gave me away?”
“The suit.” She laughed, her eyes twinkling. He liked her instantly. “Sam told me you were coming. It’s all he’s been talking about for weeks. He’s already planning a welcome barbecue for you this weekend. I’m Gail Brown, by the way. Sam’s wife.”
Nick kept his smile light and friendly, though he wasn’t sure how he felt about a ‘welcome barbecue’. Being the center of attention had never been his thing. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Brown.”
