Deliverance (The Maverick Defense #1) (4 page)

“You drive.” Lex tossed the keys to me and we climbed into the Jeep. Neither of us uttered a word as I drove us through the once familiar streets of Chancing. Lex and I stared out the windows at the depressing scenery of vacant stores, abandoned buildings, and the odd car minus its wheels.

“Remind you of anywhere?” I asked Lex in a wry voice.

“Yeah, every hellhole we’ve visited in the past couple of years,” he muttered.

As we got closer to our old neighborhood, it was a little better but not by much. The run-down apartment blocks gave way to modest houses in a suburban area. I parked the Jeep in the drive behind Mikey’s truck; he stood at the side waiting for us.

“Home sweet home, little brother,” Mikey announced as I parked the Jeep and leaped out before he made straight for the back door. Lex followed suit, and with some effort, I forced myself to do the same. It felt weird being back here, I hadn’t expected to come back. Not yet.

Mikey unlocked the back door, and we all filtered in. It led straight into the kitchen; only visitors who weren’t family or friends ever used the front door. As kids, Mom insisted that we go in and out the back door, probably something to do with tracking in mud. My brother headed straight for the living room and flopped down on the sofa, stretching his body out and taking up the whole length of the sofa. I stood in the doorway and watched my big brother. He hadn’t changed much. Leaner with hair shorter than he wore it before but still Mikey.

“You got a girlfriend?” I asked out of nowhere. I couldn’t see the smile on his face, but I heard his hearty laugh.

“Fuck no, why would I do that?” He continued to laugh. Yeah, I would have been really worried if that had changed.

“Your room’s still the same.” He pointed the remote control at the TV and it changed from motorsport to some documentary about gold mining. “The spare room is made up for Lex.”

I shared a look of surprise with Lex, who smirked and lowered his head. “You made it up for him?”

“No, okay. When you called to say you were coming, Aunt Marie insisted on making it up. Just in case. I guess she was hoping you were bringing someone. Came over yesterday and told me to clean up too.” He waved his hand in the air and I cast a look around the small living room. My brows knitted together, unsure as to whether he’d bothered to carry out that part of her instruction.

“I’ll show you your room, Lex.” I beckoned Lex to follow me and left Mikey to watch his mind-numbing trash on the TV. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d watched anything like that.

After giving Lex the grand tour, we ordered Chinese takeout for dinner. No one was in the mood to cook, and I doubted Mikey had bothered getting anything for us. I left them to clear up while I wandered outside, swiping the garage key as I went. The garage stood to the side of the house. It was big in comparison to some of the other garages around here where you couldn’t even store a car because of all the crap that had accumulated.

As I slid open the door, I felt a small tingle of excitement; this had been my favorite place to hang out when we were kids. The two of us worked on cars with the radio blaring and talking shit with our friends. It was no surprise when Mikey decided to become a grease monkey. It was a running joke that he’d had his head stuck under a hood more than between a girl’s legs, and that was saying something.

There was one empty spot for Mikey’s truck, and next to it was my pride and joy. My ‘67 Camaro SS. I leaned against the doorframe and let old memories assault me; a small smile grew on my lips, and I pushed off the frame and made my way over to remove the cover that someone, probably Mikey, had thoughtfully draped over her. It made me wonder if he’d been looking after her for me.

Where the truck held memories for Mikey, my Camaro held memories of Joy and me. My hand ran over the paintwork on the roof and down over the hood. Someone cleared their throat and I looked up to see Mikey standing in the doorway holding out a beer for me. I nodded my thanks as I took it and tipped it back, relishing the cool liquid sliding down my throat. This was what I’d really wanted when Lex and I first arrived in town.

“Aunt Marie’s made all the arrangements,” he said, a gruffness to his voice. This was the first time we had approached the subject of why I was back.

“That’s good.” I nodded, scuffing the sole of my boot against the concrete floor.

“I wasn’t sure if you would turn up.”

My head jerked up to look at him. One hand shoved in his pocket, the other holding the bottle raised to his lips.

“For fuck’s sake, Mikey, of course, I’d be here.” Anger sparked inside me. How dare he think I wouldn’t come for Mom’s funeral?

“You weren’t for Dad.”

My mouth dropped open as I heard the resentment in his voice, and I wondered how long he’d been holding onto that.

“Dad …” I scrubbed a hand over my eyes. “Dad thought it would be better if I stayed away,” I admitted with bitterness. “The one fucking time he came to visit me inside and that’s what he had to say.” I waved my bottle in the air and sank onto the hood of my Camaro. “He knew I was getting out and thought it would be better for everyone if I stayed away.” The same sinking feeling hit me as I remembered him saying those words like it was yesterday.

Mikey glared at me. “He never said he’d visited you.”

I shook my head with sadness. “No, I don’t suppose he did.” I took another pull on my bottle and leveled my gaze. “So for once in my fucking life, I did what I was told. By the time I got news about his heart attack, it was too late.”

“You left me to pick up the pieces while you fucked off God knows where with your buddy,” he barked.

I reared back. “My buddy, as you put it, was my cellie. He saved me when I got out and has saved my life on more than one occasion. I was hardly living it up.”

“Yeah, well, with you gone, I was left to look after Mom and Joy.” He jerked back, as though he hadn’t intended to say that. His eyes focused on something behind me.

“What about Joy?”

“Nothing,” he muttered unable to meet my glare.

“No, tell me. I saw her at the diner earlier. Why the fuck is she still here? She was meant to be long gone. She promised me.”

“You broke her heart, Dawson,” he spat out in distaste. “Ripped her in two. I witnessed the whole thing and picked up the pieces.”

“I … I thought she had left. She was supposed to leave.”

“Yeah, well, shit happens and plans change,” he said evasively.

“Why’s she still working at the diner?”

Mikey pushed a hand through his hair again, and I knew he was hiding something. “You’ve been gone. A lot’s happened.”

“Like what?” I demanded and crossed my arms over my chest.

He shrugged, which pissed me off. “Not my story to tell.”

Both of us stood and glared at each other, but he didn’t elaborate. He was always a stubborn ass, and I knew I wouldn’t get any more out of him.

After a minute longer, he asked, “Where have you been anyway?”

“Working with Lex. Middle East, Africa, all the usual glamorous hotspots.”

“You’ve changed.”

No shit.
“It would seem everything has,” I drawled, my voice filled with sarcasm.

“Your size for a start. You’re like a brick shithouse now.” His eyes widened taking me in.

“There’s not a lot to do for fun inside and, besides, it comes in handy for the line of work we’re in.”

“Who do you work for?” He looked genuinely interested, and I realized that neither of us knew much about the other anymore. We used to be so close and knew everything about each other. I missed that.

“Maverick Defense. Lex’s dad owns it, and Lex, his brother, Aidan, and I work for him, along with the rest of the team.”

“Dangerous?”

I shrugged because it was all I’d known for a long time. “Dangerous enough.”

I was immune to it now. We had seen many things I wished we hadn’t, but you soon became blind to it all. The silence stretched on, and we watched each other. Guys didn’t go in for all the bullshit that girls did, talking about their feelings and shit. Mikey got it off his chest and let me know how pissed off he was, and now, it was out in the open, done and dusted. I couldn’t blame him. To him, it would seem as though I had taken off and left him to pick up the pieces. But at the time, I didn’t see any other way. Dad had made it clear that nothing was left for me in Chancing. Including Joy.

If I’d known what it had done to Joy, would I have stayed away? No fucking way. I would have been back for her as soon as I had been released just like I’d promised. At some point, I needed to see her and find out what the hell happened.

“Come on, Lex has got the chairs out and I’ve got plenty of beers.” Mikey’s voice broke through my thoughts.

“Sure.” I pushed off the Camaro with a silent promise I would drive her soon.

I started to follow Mikey out of the garage when he stopped and turned to me. “Dawson?”

“Yeah?” I flicked off the lights and started to close the door. His hand rested on my shoulder, and I gave him a quizzical look.

“I’m glad you came home. I missed you,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.

My arm wrapped around his shoulder. “Me too,” I admitted and then both of us dropped our arms and pretended nothing had happened, that we hadn’t shared out first brotherly moment in years. And I had missed him. There were too many times when I just wanted to talk to him—about Mom and Dad, about the old days to find out what was going on with him. I didn’t know why whenever I called we never talked about those things. We always stuck to safe topics; it made it easier to pretend I had done the right thing. Maybe I felt guilty because I’d left him behind, or maybe, I really thought he was better off without me in his life.

Out in the yard, Lex sat in a lawn chair, his long legs stretched out in front of him and a fresh beer resting on his thigh. “About time.” He rolled his eyes with a hint of playfulness. “You’re both playing catch up.”

Lex leaned forward and took a beer from the cooler, tossing it to Mikey before grabbing another one for me, and we all settled down in the chairs for the night. But my thoughts were still with my ‘67 Camaro SS and the memories it held.

“W
hat the fuck do you think you’re doing, Joy?”

My whole body flinched at Donnie’s harsh words, and I turned slowly, my heart weighing heavy in my chest.

“I didn’t expect to see you this morning.” It came out barely a whisper.

Angry eyes pinned me to the spot as Donnie raked in my appearance. The fitted black dress hung close to my curves, but it wasn’t sexy. Today wasn’t about keeping up appearances—about appeasing Donnie—it was about Mikey and his family’s loss. About Dawson’s loss.

Dawson.

He was back.

The person I’d forced myself to forget. The guy I’d given my heart to only to have it handed back in an irreparable state. Back in town.

He’s not supposed to be back.

Panic rushed up into my throat, and I gulped hard trying my best to sound calm. “It’s Beth Spencer’s funeral today. Mikey’s been a good friend, Don, and the town loved that woman. I want to pay my respects.”

Donnie tensed, the thick vein throbbing underneath his jaw. He didn’t like my relationship with Mikey, but it was the one thing I’d asked … no, begged him to let me keep. Mikey was my one last tether to reality. To a past my heart refused to wholly forget. Besides, Donnie knew he wasn’t a threat. I think the power-hungry side of him got some sick kick out of me running to a Spencer brother; just not the one I used to dream would come back and save me.