His Witness To Love by Summer Rose
CHAPTER FIVE
The next day started early for everyone except the couple who Mack decided didn’t deserve to be roused so soon.
The faces were solemn at the table. The ladies could tell the spell from the last few days was about to be broken, and they’d made their peace with it.
Mack spoke first, “I’ll fill you in first, Rachel. In the last few days before coming here, Brie and I have both received texts from an unidentifiable number. One is telling me to meet, and the other welcoming her to the city. It’s safe to say someone has their eyes on us. For a lot of reasons, I do not believe this to be Kamal. Someone else has their eyes on us, and I can’t be sure who it is or where they are.”
Rachel sat in silence, clutching her side. Her hands shook slightly, but no one had noticed yet, and Mack continued.
“Now they’ve shown no interest in you, Rach, and that’s a good thing. I’d like to keep you out of as much of this as I possibly can.”
“What exactly do you want me to do here? I’ll help any way I can,” Rachel replied, finally leaning onto the counter.
“That’s the thing, Rach; I don’t want you to do anything. Brie trusts you, I trust you, and I respect you enough to at least keep you in the loop.”
Mack leaned in to look intently at both of them.
“I’ve been told to meet them on the 27th; that’s two days from now. I already have plans in place for this. I’ve made contact with the boys at the office, and we plan to move in from all corners, box him in as we talk. With any luck, we’ll leave him with no chance of escape. Perhaps then we can finally get some answers. Whatever this is, it’s a step in the right direction.”
“What if he’s not alone? You’ll be stuck in there with God knows how many of them. With your back up so far behind, what if they don’t make it in time?” Brie spurted all this out, speaking for the first time.
“They’ve taken so much already, so much,” she said shrilly.
“Precisely why I need to do this; someone has to draw the curtain on these bastards,” Mack replied.
Mack knew it would be a feat to reassure her, which is why he had included Rachel in the conversation. He trusted Brie’s best friend to hold her together while he was gone, fill in the cracks where he simply couldn’t.
“When do you leave?” Brie asked.
“Hopefully not too long after this chat is over.”
“This is goodbye, isn’t it?”
Rachel got up to leave; somehow, she knew she didn’t need to be around for what came next.
“No, not goodbye. Brie, look at me.” He cupped her face to look at his.
“Not goodbye, I promised, remember? I’ll be back; you’ll have me.” He kissed her forehead and pulled her into himself.
“At this point, even death would need your permission to take me,” he whispered.
“You’re a terrible smooth talker,” she said into his shirt.
“I am, aren’t I?” He smiled, convinced she was going to be alright she could be with everything about to happen.
“I’ll be back to you sooner than you know, Brianna, I promise,” he whispered fiercely.
Her only response was to grip him tighter.
The moment was now behind them, and Mack made his way out of the house. A duffel was all he needed before going to the office. The ride was quick and uneventful, his mind taken up by the last conversation he had.
He had been stuffing things in the bag only to have Rachel walk up to him. For a moment, nothing was said. Then she came down to his level.
“You love her, don’t you?”
The question came as a shock, but he straightened his spine and answered, “Yes, yes, I do.”
“You’ve told her?”
“Yes, I have.”
“Good,” she said firmly. “Then remember to hurry back. Don’t make her doubt, don’t make her hurt.”
“I promise you, Rachel, I only want what’s best for her,” he said, reaching out to lift her up.
“I know this, but just make sure she knows it, too. Every step of the way.”
The last light turned green, and Mack rounded the bend to his office.
The building was filled with men trying to better the world around them. He hasn’t been around in a while and had to entertain a few drawn-out hellos.
Then Lauren walked into the office.
“I need to see the deputy chief,” was all the big man said to the secretary.
“He’s in his office; just walk in he’s free right now.”
Lauren caught sight of Mack as they got closer, and pleasantries were exchanged.
“What’ve you got for me, Lauren?” Mack asked
“Same thing I’ve got for the chief, you might as well follow me in Mack.”
The swivel doors ushered Mack and Lauren into the view of a very stern Rodgers.
The deputy chief cleared his desk and waited for them to sit down.
“Well, well, well, what do you have for me, Lauren?” Rodgers asked as he sifted through files.
Lauren cleared his throat and spoke, “The cloned devices of agent Mack and the civilian Miss Brianna show no signs of locational crumbing.”
“Meaning what, Lauren?” the chief asked impatiently.
“Technically, it wasn’t sent from anyone’s phone. It bounced across several signals before getting to their phones. Essentially, it's impossible to track anything from these texts; the backlogs would lead us nowhere."
“So, a dead-end is what you're telling me, yes?” The chief’s voice was strained.
“Not necessarily,” Mack chipped in.
Rodgers raised his eyebrows. “Elaborate.”
Mack paused and then spoke, “The suspects already made their demands. They want to see me. So, we give them what they want.”
The other man objected, “Absolutely not, agent. We don’t play into the hands of criminals.”
“Oh, forgive me, but I wasn't asking for permission. I was letting you know I was going either way. I’m just here to lean on the hope that your conscience wouldn’t let me do something that stupid with you in charge.”
Deputy Chief Rodgers and Mack stared each other down for a minute.
“You'll have a full pull with three squads and two cars. Do not mess this up. Pick your people and prepare yourself.”
Mack fought to keep from smiling, “Thank you, sir.”
“Just pull the curtain on this, agent. On all of it.”
Mack nodded. “I’ll try my best, sir.”