The Lies That Shatter by A.V. Asher

Chapter Forty-Five

Adam stepped out of the shower, his muscles relaxed after getting off. Mara was still in the filthy single stall, washing her hair and humming. She didn’t seem to mind, but he needed to get her out of this shithole apartment. He’d never liked bringing her here all those years ago, and he liked it even less now.

Throwing on a pair of briefs, he went to the kitchen for a glass of water. He picked up his phone, realizing he had missed a call from Shannon.

Adam frowned and pulled up the voice mail message. Shannon only called him on holidays, his birthday, or if something had happened to the kids.

Her sunny voice filled the room, and he immediately relaxed. There was no anxiety in her tone at all.

“Hi Timmy, just wanted to let you know an old friend of yours is here. He said you saved his life once in Afghanistan and he wanted to meet up for a beer.” Adam frowned, he’d saved a few people in his time in the military. But most would never look for him. Her next words were like a shot in the gut. “His name is Alec. I didn’t get his last name but he’s Scottish. He said he’s from Edinburgh. Anyway, they’ll be here for another few minutes, so call me.”

“Fuck!” he shouted, panic lacing through his chest.

It was what he’d dreaded. Alec McKinley figuring out who he was and coming for him.

Only Alec hadn’t come for him, he’d gone for his fucking family.

Mara came out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her body. “What’s going on?”

“Alec fucking McKinley is at my fucking house. He’s with my kids.” He played Shannon’s message again, desperately hoping he was wrong.

Color drained from Mara’s face. “She didn’t say it was Alec McKinley, maybe it’s a different Alec?”

Adam shook his head. “How many men from Edinburgh named Alec do you think are wandering around the Russian River Valley?”

“I don’t know. What do we do?”

“I have to call her back and make sure they’re okay.” He was already dialing, not sure what the hell to say. Clearly Alec had lied to Shannon, making up some bullshit story to gain her trust. The fucker would pay for that one.

The phone only rang twice before Shannon answered. “Hey you! Thanks for calling me back.”

“Shannon, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“The man that’s there, what did you say his name was?”

“His name is Alec.” There was a pause while she asked for his last name. “Alec McKinley. You were at Bagram together.”

The confirmation turned Adam’s stomach. Shannon and his children were completely vulnerable, exposed to whatever this man wanted to do to them. And given how much suffering Adam had brought to Alec’s life, he had to believe the Scot was there to exact revenge.

He cleared his throat. “Yeah, I remember him. Can I talk to him?”

“Sure.” There was a rustling while she handed over the phone.

Then that unmistakable accent came over the line. “Bloody hell, Barlow. How many years has it been?”

Adam gripped the phone. “Motherfucker, you’re playing with fire.”

Alec ignored him. “At least seven, I think.” Then he said to Shannon. “Do you mind if I take your phone outside? I’ll just be a few minutes.”

Adam heard the squeak of the screen door and the gravel of the driveway crunching under his feet. Anxiety swirled in his gut as he waited for what was to come.

“Hello Mr. Barlow,” Alec said smoothly, a threat of violence concealed below his calm tone. “It’s high time you and I had a chat, don’t you think?”

“You’ve got a lot of balls going near my family.”

“Oh, aye. My balls are quite adequate, thank you very much.” Alec had the fucking nerve to sound amused.

“If you touch Shannon or my kids, I swear I will hunt down everyone you love, starting with that pretty little sister of yours.”

Alec scoffed. “Let’s get one thing straight here, Timmy boy. I don’t execute lovely, sun tea–drinking women or harm little children. I have a conscience, unlike the man you work for.”

“Oh, so I’m supposed to believe you’re there for the tea? Fuck you, McKinley. I know your file.”

“Aye, and now I know yours. A former Navy SEAL who was awarded the Navy Cross for valor. Well done. An all-American hero, as they say. So, I couldn’t figure out why a hero would do the bidding of a piece of shit like Marcus Cooper.”

Holy fuck, he knows too damn much.

But Alec wasn’t done. “But now that I’ve met your lovely wife, I get it. That experimental cancer treatment she’s receiving is an absolute miracle. Does she know the bargain you struck?”

Anger and panic curled in his gut.

“I didn’t think so,” Alec said at his silence. “All you have to do is keep the murdering you’ve done a secret, and the rest will all work out. Right?”

So that was it. Alec had access and the ability to destroy everything, just by telling Shannon the truth. She would stop the treatments if she knew what it cost.

“What the fuck do you want?”

“What I ultimately want is for you fucking people to leave Mercedes alone. But for now, I’ll settle for a meeting. Face to face, you and me in a public place. I’d tell you to come alone but you and I both know you’re tapped out of resources, so you have no choice but to be alone.”

“What do you mean? Cooper has unlimited resources.”

“Cooper does, aye. You don’t.”

Adam’s gut dropped. “What do you know?”

“Oh, I know a lot. Like I know you weren’t responsible for the speakeasy hit on Mercedes. Cooper left you out in the cold on that one, didn’t he?”

A cold tendril of fear worked its way up his chest. “That wasn’t us. That was Jason.” Adam said this with more confidence than he felt. He had no fucking clue who had worked that hit.

Alec gave a low chuckle. “The fact that you say it’s Jason, tells me either you’re lying or you’re well on the outside of Cooper’s circle of trust. I think it’s the latter.”

Fuck.

“And I’m sure you weren’t the blonde who fucked one of Mercedes’s agents and filmed it to blackmail him.”

Shit. Cooper had pulled in Mariah without a word.

“There are so many lies, Tim. So many secrets have destroyed lives. And I know a few secrets Cooper doesn’t know. And if he did, he would certainly kill you for it.”

Adam’s heart leaped, and his eyes shot to Mara. She trusted him to protect her, but they were far from safe.

There was no way. No way they could figure it all out like that. He could call Alec’s bluff. But what if he was wrong?

Goddamn it.

Adam had tried to warn that fucker Hollis that McKinley needed to stay in the dark. He was too fucking dangerous to trifle with. But Hollis had been an arrogant shithead, with one thing on his mind.

Now here he fucking was. Hollis was in the wind and Adam was outmanned, having to face Alec McKinley on his own.

Perhaps it was better to try a fresh approach. He had needs of his own he was tired of ignoring.

“Alright. I’ll meet with you, but I want Mercedes to be there too. I have a few things I need to say to her.”

“Not fucking happening,” Alec spit out.

“But it has to. I know you won’t gun me down right in front of her, at least not unprovoked. And I don’t plan on provoking you. She’ll be safe from me. Besides, I know you don’t want to leave her vulnerable without you. The size of the boner Hollis has for that woman is fucking ridiculous. So, that’s my deal.”

McKinley was quiet for a moment, and Adam was sure he was going to tell him to go fuck himself.

“Fine, but if anything happens to her, I’ll kill you slowly. Do you get me, mate?”

“I don’t doubt you’ll try, Scottie.”

“Cute,” Alec said curtly. “There’s a winery called Divinity Vineyards just outside of Santa Rosa. Do you know it?”

“I can find it.”

“We’ll meet you there at two o’clock tomorrow for a sit-down tasting in the gardens. The reservation will be under the name Ryan. You try anything, and the FBI will pay your lovely wife a visit within thirty minutes. Now I better go. Shannon has banana nut bread I’m dying to try out.”

The line went dead, and Adam nearly threw his phone against the wall. Alec was putting him in an impossible position. He couldn’t go against Cooper. Not out in the open.

Not ever.

If there was even a whisper to him of what Adam had been doing, he would pay.