Mackenzie Anderson’s hand suspended her fork of lasagna halfway to her mouth. “What do you mean the mob wants you to work for them?” She stared at her brother Alex.
“Not the mob. A gang. Vincent Romano to be exact.” He sat back against the booth. “He’s told me things, Mack. Things I don’t want to know. His dealings, who he’s working with…” He shook his head. “By telling me those things, he believes I’ll be forced to work with him. I won’t.”
“What will you do?” Her hand trembled, the lasagna falling back to her plate.
He reached across the table and took her free hand. “I need you to promise me something.”
“Of course.” Her mouth dried at the look of fear in his eyes.
“If something happens to me, I want you to go to Misty Hollow. Levi Owens works on the Rocking W Ranch. He’ll help you.”
Her fork clattered to the table. “You think something is going to happen?”
“With Romano, who knows?” He straightened. “He wants to become a big-time crime boss and will do whatever it takes.”
“Go to the police, Alex. You can’t fight him off alone.” Her eyes stung with tears.
“I’m probably being overcautious, but I thought you should know what I’m up against.”
“You’re scaring me.” Appetite gone, she pushed her half-eaten meal to the side. “Nothing can happen to you. With Mom and Dad gone…” her voice broke. “You’re all I have, Alex.”
“I know, Sis.” He grinned. “We’re a team, you and I. Without your paralegal skills, I could have never become the lawyer I am. It’ll be okay. Just keep your eyes open, will you?”
“Of course.” Her hand shook as she reached for her glass of iced tea. “When did he contact you?”
“We’ve been talking for a few weeks.”
“A few weeks! Alex, you should’ve said no right away.” She glanced around the restaurant to see whether anyone paid them too much attention.
A man hid behind the menu. His dark eyes met hers for a moment before returning to the menu. His hair had been combed back, making it appear as if he had more hair than he did. A mother wiped the face of a small child who whimpered that he wanted to go home. Another man exited the restroom and sat at a table for one.
Alex shrugged. “I wanted to give the man the benefit of the doubt.”
“What does he want your help with?”
“Anything that comes up. Romano wants me on his payroll. You, too, actually. That’s when I backed off. There’s no way I want you involved with a man like him.”
“You shouldn’t be either.” Anger replaced fear. “You’re smarter than that.”
“The money would’ve been amazing.”
“It’s not always about the money.” She wanted to shake some sense into him. When had money become more important to her brother than doing what was right? “I doubt Levi even remembers me.”
“He’s my best friend, Mack. I trust him more than anyone besides you. He’ll watch out for you if it comes to that.” Alex grew serious. “He and I talk at least once a week. Levi’s happy being a cowboy, and I’m happy being a lawyer. It works for us.”
“You haven’t seen him in how long? What makes you think he’s capable of protecting me?”
Alex’s grin returned. “Since college. Levi spent some time as a private investigator after his time in the Marines. I trust him completely.”
“Ten years ago.” If the worst happened and she had to go to Levi, how would he react after so long? A PI Marine turned cowboy? “Let’s change the subject. You’re closing the office next week for vacation. Where are you going?”
“That’s the funny thing.” He laughed. “I’m going to Misty Hollow to do some hunting and fishing.”
“It’ll be cold.”
“Yep. What about you?”
“I’m not going to do anything but enjoy the time off.” Catch up on her reading, maybe do some home improvements, whatever she wanted to do when the mood struck.
“Let’s get you home.” Alex stood. “Sorry to ruin the mood during our weekly supper together.” He tossed money on the table.
“You do know how to show a girl a good time.” She tried to lighten the mood despite the cloud of doom hanging over the evening.
“Must be why I’m still single despite being devastatingly handsome.”
Mack forced a laugh. “That would be because you’re a workaholic and in love with yourself.” She shrugged into her coat before looping arms with him. Their weekly Friday night supper should’ve been the kickoff to their vacation. Instead, Alex had ruined the joy of a week off work with his bad news. Sometimes her brother seemed so dense.
They exited the Italian restaurant into a slight drizzle. The November chill sent a shiver down Mack’s spine, and she tugged the collar of her coat higher. Winter promised to be a bitter one that year.
Levi glanced at the sky. “The weather’s turning bad. We’ll have to hurry.” He veered right behind some tall office buildings.
“Not the alley.” Mack tugged him back. “The streetlight is out.”
“We’re going to be soaked if we take the long way.” He grabbed her hand. “You don’t want to spend your vacation sick, do you?”
“No.” Her heart lodged in her throat. “Let’s hurry then.” She increased her pace, almost jogging to get out of the shadows.
A figure loomed in front of them, then another, and another.
Alex stepped in front of Mack. “Romano’s thugs. Run.” He whipped around and gave her a shove.
“Are you sure?” She couldn’t tell anything about them without light.
“Positive.” He dragged her into a sprint.
Two more men stepped in front of them, blocking their escape.
“What do we do?” Mack shrank against her brother.
“I’ll try and talk them into leaving us alone. You get out of here right away. I’ll tell them I’ve decided to work for Romano.”
“If they don’t believe you?”
“Go to Levi.” He pushed her behind a dumpster. “Hello, boys.”
The gang immediately surrounded him.
Mack slipped from behind the dumpster and slunk along the brick wall toward the end of the alley. Once she had a bit of light, she pulled her cell phone from her coat pocket and dialed 911.
“A bunch of gang members are surrounding my brother.” She kept her gaze locked on Alex who seemed to be in a heated debate with one of the men. “The alley behind the old bank on third street.”
“Find a safe place and stay there,” the operator said. “Police are on their way.”
Mack gasped as one of the gang members pulled a knife and stabbed her brother. Again and again. “The guys have knives. They’re killing him. Oh, God. Alex!”
The men turned in her direction.
Mack dropped her phone and darted from the alley as the men gave chase.
Sirens wailed in the distance.
Could it be soon enough to save her brother? Could he survive that many stab wounds? Tears blurred her vision. She’d fled like a frightened rabbit.
She glanced over her shoulder to see two of the men still giving chase. She screamed and raced into the street. Horns honked as cars swerved to avoid hitting her. She continued her mad dash until she burst into her condo.
Go to Levi kept repeating in her mind. She grabbed a suitcase from the top shelf of her closet and tossed in clothes, then her laptop and purse. She’d need a new phone. Misty Hollow would have phones for sale. She turned in a circle. What was she forgetting? God, help me. God, help Alex.
She covered her face with her hands. Was he still alive? She’d left him lying bleeding in the alley.
No. She had to go. There would be time to punish herself later. She’d made a promise to Alex. A promise to seek help from Levi.
Snatching her car keys from a hook near the back door, she raced to her car, dragging her suitcase behind her. She tossed it into the back seat. Seconds later, she backed from the drive and careened away from her condo, then she took the exit to Interstate 40 toward Misty Hollow.
All she knew about the town was it was somewhere in the Ozark mountains of Northern Arkansas. When she stopped for gas, she’d put in the Rocking W Ranch into her car’s GPS…no, she’d dropped her phone in the alley. She’d have to stop for the night somewhere and buy a new phone first thing in the morning.
When her eyes fought to stay open, she rented a room in a rundown motel outside of Langley then parked her car behind some overgrowth near the parking lot to keep it out of sight of the highway.
Sleep didn’t come easy. Instead, Mack lay on her back, eyes staring through the dim room at a water stain on the ceiling as she focused on her last sight of Alex. Her brother was stabbed at least three times, then fell to the cracked asphalt of the alley. The gang members gave chase when she’d stopped to glance back.
Had she lost them? After her parents died in a boating accident, Alex and Mack had made a promise always to look out for each other. Mack had failed him by running. She held onto a thread of hope that the police had arrived in time to save her brother, but that thread was as fine as frog hair. A call to local hospitals hadn’t resulted in anyone matching Alex’s description being brought in.
Her tears streamed through her hair onto the pillow. She rolled onto her side, hugging the lumpy pillow to her stomach. Grief sent pain through her as if she’d experienced the same knifing as Alex.
He couldn’t be dead. Her brother was all she had left in the world. Instead of staying with him, she was running like a coward to seek safety with her brother’s best friend. A man Mack hadn’t seen in ten years. Not since she was fifteen.
Every sound outside her room had her tensing in anticipation of someone breaking through the motel door. She doubted the chair she’d propped under the doorknob would hold anyone out for long. Plus, the glass window could easily be shattered.
If she didn’t feel the need for a phone, she’d have driven through the night and waited until daylight to reach the Rocking W Ranch. Too late now.
She’d abandoned Alex and fled to save her own life. How could she ever live with herself?
Answer—By seeking vengeance and making sure justice was served against the man responsible.
- Publisher : Winged Publications
- Publication date : September 23, 2024
- Language : English
- Print length : 229 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1965352197
- ISBN-13 : 978-1965352199