Page 9 of Dangerous Command
I had finally fought back. Shown my stepdad that I wasn’t like my mother. But he had won too.
I changed my name after that. A small part of me wished my mother would leave him and find me. Be my mother again. But she never did.
That was almost seven years ago now, and for almost that entire time, I hadn’t seen or heard from my mother, or from him. I stayed in Sage City for work, traveling back to Pebble Garden, a quiet college town, while I kept Mack out of sight. Working for the Adlers provided protection, or at least, that’s what I told myself. Until suddenly, my stepdad showed up unannounced again, ready to give me a scar, like the one I had given him.
A knock sounded on the bathroom door.
“Mom?” Mack said. “Are you alright in there?”
The icy spikes of liquid splashed my skin. The hot water ran out fast in the apartment. How had I not noticed?
“Yeah!” I shouted. “Give me a few minutes.”
After stopping to get a double shot of espresso for myself and a powdered donut for Mack, we headed through Pebble Garden to the only rich neighborhood in town.
It was a three-story-home with seven bedrooms, a veranda, and too many full and half baths. I smiled up at my client, lifting my pink flamingo bag, my rolling crate by my side. Mack stood behind it.
“You’re here!” my client shouted.
“You’ve got your baby shower at two?” I asked.
“I only need the main floor. You can finish the rest later.”
“Of course,” I said. Once inside, Mack pulled out a comic book. It was the latest in the series, the spine still intact, unlike his other volumes.
“Where’d you get that one?” I asked.
“Lucy bought it for me.”
Lucy was always spoiling Mack like a grandchild. We were lucky she was our neighbor.
Two hours later, after cleaning the tables, countertops, dusting the frames and bookshelves, and finishing the bathrooms, my phone rang again.Unknown Number.I looked around; Mack was reading another comic book, and my client had left to pick up a cake from the bakery. I bit my lip, then answered.
“There you are,” a cool, deep voice filled the line. I could almost smell the eucalyptus on his skin from his voice alone. My stomach clenched and relaxed at the same time. Derek. Not my stepdad.Derek.“You’ve been avoiding me.”
“I don’t usually pick up unknown numbers,” I said. The phone cracked, and I swear I could hear the grin in his voice.
“You made an exception for me, then.”
“Maybe.”
“What happened to your other number?”
How do you explain that your stepdad broke into your motel back in Sage City and stole from you? And that once you knew thatheknew you were in Sage City, you fled to Pebble Garden, hoping he wouldn’t find you there?
Now, how do you tell that to a future overprotective mob boss with a knack for makingyourproblemshisproblems too?
The answer is that you don’t. You don’t tell him anything. It was better that way.
“You found this one,” I said. He gave a small huff, signaling that he knew that I was avoiding the question. Luckily, we moved on.
“We need your help,” he said.
“Help with what?”
“I’ve got a job for you here. It’s delicate.”
Did he finally find a bride for himself and he needed me to go clothes shopping for her, like his brothers did?
