Page 71 of Dangerous Command
Missing, not dead. “Don’t touch anything. And send out a team,” I said. “Everyone who’s free. Search for the boy. His name is Mack.”
“Done,” Wil said. We hung up.
Maddie exited from the bathroom, her skin pale. It would have been easier to keep her from the truth, but we needed to prepare the right way.
There was no easy way to say this.
“Lucy is dead,” I said. “And Mack is—”
“He’s not dead,” Maddie said. Her voice was strong, as if she was trying to make herself believe it. “He’s not gone. He’s hiding. He’s there,” she nodded, her chin frantic. “It’s a game. He’s there—”
“He’s missing,” I said, keeping my eye contact even with her. “But my brothers are looking for him as we speak.”
She kept repeating those words whenever anything was brought up. Mack wasn’t gone. He was there. He was hiding. It was a game. And when we finally got to the apartment, the sky was beginning to darken. Wil and Axe stood outside of the entrance, a collection of our men spread throughout the two-bedroom apartment, some posted around the buildings outside. Ellie and Demi waited at the kitchen table. As ordered, no one had touched Lucy. As shocking as it was, Maddie needed to see the scene for herself.
Maddie fell down to her hands and knees before Lucy’s lifeless corpse, sobs wailing through her. My men subtly turned away, giving her the half-hearted privacy to grieve. Suddenly, Maddie snapped toward me.
“This is your fault,” Maddie cried. “If you hadn’t asked me to help you, I could have stayed here. Kept my jobs in Pebble Garden. I wouldn’t have ruined them hoping that you could save us.” She stood up, her hands clenched into fists. “It’s your fault.”
Anger filled my veins, but I knew better. Those were empty words. Frustration. Fear. Guilt. She didn’t mean it.
Still, it was hard not to react.
“Go ahead and blame me,” I said, raising my voice. “But you know you chose this all on your own. Ineverforced you to help me.”
She had made her own decisions. And when the time came, I would have to put an end to this, like I had done with Ray.
And I knew that that’s what I should have done all along.
But whoever she was, I loved Maddie. And nothing, not even her angry words, could change that.
“You know what? You’re right,” she yelled. “You’re right. It’s my fault. I should never have done anything when it came to you or your family.” She crossed her arms, glaring at me. “I should have left and never come back.”
Those words banged in my chest, hitting me harder than I had anticipated. She was right. Leaving would have been best for all of us, but I didn’t want to admit it. Didn’t want to think about the time I had pined for her, protected her, worshipped her in my own way—that everything that we had built meant nothing to her.
Her phone rang, but before she could answer it, I grabbed it out of her hands.
“I see you’ve found the old hag,” a raspy voice said. “A warning, you know. You’re next.”
“Muro,” I said.
“Ah, Derek!” he chuckled. “I didn’t know you were answering her phone too. Personally, I would have taken away the device. That’s what I did with Margot, you know. But the dumb whore got around it anyway.”
“What do you want, Muro?” I asked, fuming. “Tell me!”
“If she wants her son alive, she’ll have to come and get him. Without youdead,of course,” he snickered. “Tell her I’ll see her soon.”
The line went silent. Maddie shoved past me, almost tripping over Lucy’s legs in the process.
“I’m coming with you,” I said, following closely behind her.
“Like hell, you are,” she said, whipping around to face me. “This is my fault, Derek. I have to fix it.”
“No,” I said. “It’s Muro. You know what he’s capable of.”
“The only way you’re coming with me is if you’re dead,” she cried, her eyes pleading. “Please, Derek. He will kill my son if you come with me alive.” Her body shook. “Please. Try to understand.”
I stared at her. Muro was capable of a lot of things, but could he kill a six-year-old child?Hischild?
