Page 50 of Dangerous Command
I nodded, not sure what else to do. Mack. How could I let this happen?
“Where is the boy anyway?” he turned to the side. “Don’t worry, pet. I’ll find him.”
I collapsed, holding my face in my hands, trying to stop myself from crying. I couldn’t cry. Not in front of him, when he had done this so many times before. He faced the doorway.
“Stop sniveling,” he muttered. “You’re worse than your mother.”
Suddenly I leaped up, reaching for the gun in my purse, but he instantly aimed his gun at my forehead.
“Careful,” he said. “I may not know where he is now, but I’ll find him, Maddie. He ismine, after all.”
“He’ll never be your son,” I hissed.
“We’ll see about that,” he chuckled. “Remember: give me the Adlers, and our son is safe.”
Then he left me there.
He had the ability to make me a child again, like the useless teenager who couldn’t fight back. But I was in my thirties now. I had changed. And yet none of that mattered as soon as he was back in the room again.
How could I freeze up like that?
I glared at myself in the mirror, makeup running down my cheeks. Who was I, if I couldn’t stand up to him?
Was I just like my mother?
I stayed there for a long time, not moving. I needed to protect Mack, and my stepdad didn’t know where Mack was yet, but that wouldn’t last. Derek could protect him, but for how long? How long until I needed to give him to my stepdad? Would it ever stop?
A knock sounded on the door. I almost thought I had imagined it, but then the person knocked again, louder this time.
I picked myself up, wiping the tears and sweat on my wrists. Then I answered the door.
Derek looked past me at the apartment in disarray.
“What the fuck happened?” he asked. He stormed inside. “Why didn’t you call me?” Because I couldn’t make myself move. I didn’t deserve to do anything. “Tina must have set this up. Distracted us so Muro could come here.”
As he searched around looking for clues, I realized that my stepdad hadn’t stolen anything this time. Everything was pulled apart, but the only photograph that was destroyed was of Mack and me, ripped right down the middle.
“Why would Muro attack you?” Derek asked.
I picked up the two pieces of the photograph. “Do you think it’s because I’m working with you?” I asked.
If I had never agreed to help, maybe I wouldn’t be in this position right now. Mack and I could have gone far away, and never looked back. Instead, I kept listening to my stupid heart. Thinking that one day, my mother would change her mind and want to be the grandmother Mack never had. That in the future, I could be with Derek.
My stupid, stupid heart.
My stepdad had touched my things. Destroyed my living room. Thrown my son’s books on the floor like they were trash. It was an invasion that seemed surreal, like it wasn’t really happening to me.
“You think this was Muro?” Derek asked.
It was hard to say anything at that point.
“Did you need another reason?” he asked. I stared at him, my mind blank. I needed more of an explanation. “Let me protect you both. Full time. I can have a team come out right now.”
I turned back toward the destroyed living room, then kneeled, picking up a picture of Mack in a scarecrow costume. What was the best decision, to make sure he was safe?
“I’m giving you the courtesy of thinking you have a choice in this,” Derek said, his voice low and calm.
My head pounded, but I relented. “Alright,” I said. Because I didn’t know how to keep Mack safeandkeep Derek alive. If we killed my stepdad, it wouldn’t matter. But how could I expect anyone to stand up to him, if I couldn’t even do it myself?
