Justice for Mackenzie (13 page)

Mackenzie was just as cute now as Dax had thought she was on their first date, perhaps more so. She was who she was and didn’t have a devious bone in her body…something that was refreshing to Dax.

The day Mackenzie met TJ again was one of Dax’s favorite memories. He’d taken Mack out to dinner, knowing TJ was going to meet them there. TJ slid into the booth across from them and Dax laughed until his stomach hurt at the look on Mack’s face. She’d blushed a fiery red and stammered a bit before getting her wits about her.

“Daxton Chambers, I can’t believe you didn’t tell me Officer Rockwell would be here tonight!”

“TJ, babe. Call me TJ.”

“TJ then. Am I allowed to thank you for not giving me a ticket? Or is that bad cop karma and I’ll end up getting six tickets in the next month as a result?”

TJ and Dax laughed. “You’re welcome, and as long as you don’t decide to be a speed demon or start stealing from the neighborhood grocery store, I think you’re good.”

“So does that mean I can drop your name—yours too, Daxton—and I can get out of any tickets in the future?”

“Mack, how many times had you been stopped before we pulled you over? Or since? I don’t think you have anything to worry about. You usually drive like an old granny,” Dax said, picking on Mackenzie.

“Shut up. Maybe I’ll take up street racing now that my boyfriend is a Texas Ranger and I know not only an SAPD Officer, but a Highway Patrolman too!”

“I don’t think so, sweetheart. If you get stopped you’ll have to take your chances just like everyone else.”

“Don’t you guys have like some secret sticker I can put on my car that’s like a ‘get-out-of-a-ticket-free’ card?”

“Sorry, Mackenzie, there’s no such thing.” TJ was smiling broadly, resting his elbows on the table.

“Well, poo. There should be one. I should get
something
out of dating a police officer!”

That night, Dax had reminded Mack what she was getting out of dating a police officer…him. He’d brought her to the edge of orgasm several times, pulling back right before she’d been about to explode. He’d gotten his test results back from the doctor the day before, and Dax couldn’t tease her for long before he had to be inside her. Having pity on her, he’d finally pushed her over the edge, loving how she shuddered and shook in his arms.

After she’d come apart, Dax had hauled her out of the bed and pushed her face down, leaning over the mattress. He’d taken her from behind as she moaned and thrashed on the covers. While she’d technically done it doggy style before, that had been completely different. They’d snuggled together afterwards and Dax didn’t think either one of them had moved a muscle all night.

Dax looked over at Mack standing in his kitchen. It was Friday morning and they were about ready to head to work. Mackenzie was leaning on the counter in front of his toaster, gazing at the bagel within as if it would cook faster if she glared it into submission while it cooked.

Dax walked up behind her and pulled her into the front of his body.

“I’m on call this weekend again.”

Mackenzie turned and put her arms around him as far as they’d go. “Okay. You want me to stay here, or are you coming to my place?”

Dax shook his head, loving how Mack didn’t give him any grief for having to work on the weekend. Kelly had hated if he had an overnight shift when he’d worked at the El Paso Police Department, and had made his life miserable every time he came home from those shifts.

“Whatever you want, Mack.”

She thought about it for a second, then finally said, “Okay, my place. I’ll make dinner and put it in the fridge and if you’re hungry when you get home, you can eat. You have clothes over there?”

“Yeah, I’m good.”

“Okay then.”

“Okay then.”

“Just so you know, in case you were wondering. Sleeping alone, waiting for you to get home, sucks. I’m not complaining, just saying…I’ve gotten used to your warm body next to mine and I actually feel cold in my bed until you get home. I’ve never felt that way before. I even contemplated putting on a T-shirt the last time you worked late.”

“You better not put anything on. I like you naked and waiting when I get to you.”

“What if someone breaks in?”

“No one is breaking in. Make sure the doors are locked and you’ll be fine.”

Mackenzie smiled at Daxton. The first thing he’d done after the first time he’d spent the night was go to the hardware store and buy new locks to upgrade what she already had. She hadn’t minded; she’d always rather be safe than sorry.

“Okay, Daxton. Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

Mackenzie ignored the ding of the toaster indicating her bagel was ready and soldiered on. “I know you can’t talk about your cases, but I worry about you. I know the crap you have to do sucks, and I don’t want you to think I’m some wilting wallflower who can’t take hearing some tough stuff from you every now and then. If you need to talk about a case or something that happened, I’m here for you. I think we’re past the get-to-know-you stage where all we talk about is hearts and flowers.”

“Hearts and flowers?” Dax smiled at Mack, she was so fucking adorable. He thought that about her about a thousand times a day.

“Yeah, hearts and fucking flowers. You know how I feel about my boss. She’s a bitch. She doesn’t care about anyone in the office and makes us do work over, just because she can. The other day she actually complained that I’d found a mistake in one of the spreadsheets she’d already checked over. She’d prefer the work she did be wrong, just so she didn’t ‘look bad’ in front of her bosses. It’s ridiculous. And you know about Mark and Matthew and how they drive me crazy. You know a million other things about me that aren’t things people who are trying to impress each other know. I just want you to know you can share right back.”

Dax turned with Mack in his arms and pulled her up until she was sitting on the island in the middle of the kitchen and they were face-to-face. He stepped into her and she spread her legs so he was right up in her space. He hauled her hips to the edge of the counter and held her against him. “I know I can share with you, Mack. I haven’t done it, not because I don’t trust you, or because I’m trying to hide anything…okay, that might be a lie. I don’t
want
to tell you some of the shit I see and hear in my job because I like you just the way you are. You have a unique take on life and I don’t want to see your light dim because of the shit that happens in my world. I like that you’re naïve about the seedier side of life and my job.”

“But you need to talk about it.”

“And I do. I talk with Quint, and Cruz, and TJ, and other very good men and women who are in law enforcement. We have lunch together. We go to conferences together. We see each other in the field and in task-force meetings. I promise you, sweetheart, I’m not holding shit in that will make me lose it. I’m forty-six years old and have been in this job for a hell of a long time. If I hadn’t learned to deal before now, I’d have had a heart attack. Okay?”

Dax watched as Mackenzie processed what he’d just told her. He loved that she never agreed with him just to shut him up. She’d been known to argue with him about something for hours on end, if she truly believed what she said or thought was the right way.

Mackenzie brought her hands up to the back of Daxton’s neck and laced her fingers together. “Okay, I believe you. I don’t know what’s normal for a cop’s girlfriend to know and not know. I’d never want you to think I wasn’t interested in what you did for a living.”

“I know it, sweetheart. Swear.”

“Good. I have something else to tell you, since we’re having this deep chat and all.”

Dax smiled. “What’s that?”

“Sunday we’re going over to my mom’s for lunch. I hope that’s okay. She understands that you had to cancel both times we tried to arrange it before, after I told her you were a big bad Texas Ranger and you had to save the world. But mom’s decided it’s time. Hell, they decided it was time about a month ago, but they’re not going to let us out of it for much longer. And to be honest, I’m glad we haven’t been able to make it over there yet, I’ve been trying to make you so infatuated with me that no matter what they throw at you, you’ll ignore it and not break up with me.”

“Do they have any bodies buried in their backyards?”

“Daxton!”

Ignoring Mack’s tone of outrage and smiling as he continued, Dax said, “No? Then relax, Mack. I know how families are. It’ll be fine. You certainly don’t have to try any harder to make me infatuated with you. I’m already there.”

Ignoring his words that made her insides flutter, Mackenzie retorted, “Well, I appreciate that, however you haven’t actually met my family yet and I don’t want you to decide after tonight that I’m a loon and rather than deal with my crazy family after breaking up with me, you change your name and move out of the state.

Daxton laughed, and she told him she was only half-way kidding, “Daxton, you have no clue. I’m the only girl in our family. Now that dad’s gone, Mark and Matthew won’t care that you’re forty-six and I’m in my upper thirties. They’ll probably take you out back for a birds-and-the-bees chat. And mom will probably have the pastor there and he’ll be ready to perform a wedding ceremony over tea and crackers. You have no idea how insane they are. I just wanted to warn you ahead of time.”

Dax leaned in and moved one of his hands from Mackenzie’s hip to her back and up to her neck. He held her still in his arms by tightening his hold. In a low, serious voice, without a trace of humor, he told her, “I wouldn’t be opposed to a wedding.”

“Holy shit, you did not just say that.” Mackenzie could feel her heart beating a million miles an hour, she curled her hands and unconsciously dug her blunt nails into Daxton’s neck.

“I said it. I’m not proposing, Mack. Not right now. But I sure as hell can see you in my future. I like you in my life, in my bed, in my space. I like it a lot. You’re cute as all get out, we’re more than matched in bed, and we’re practically living together already. I’ll meet your family this weekend, they’ll like me, and I’ll like them. I’m not sure either of us is ready for ‘I love yous’ yet, but it’s coming, sweetheart.”

“Daxton.”

Dax waited for Mack to say something. When she didn’t, he smiled at her. “Mackenzie.”

“I…dammit. I don’t want to go to my job and deal with the bitchface I work for. I don’t want you to go and talk to scumsuckers. I want to barricade us in your room, get naked, and not leave for the rest of our lives.”

“I think we’d get hungry eventually.”

Mack smiled, glad the extreme-emotion sharing seemed to be over. “And stinky.”

“And we’d eventually get kicked out because we couldn’t pay the rent.”

“And my family would come over wondering where we were.”

“I’ll miss you tonight, sweetheart. Stay safe for me. I’ll come to you as soon as I can.”

It looked as though the emotional part of the morning wasn’t quite over yet. “I always miss you too, Daxton.”

“Okay, I’m going then. I’ll see you tonight. I have a new position I want us to try. I think you’ll like it. I read about it in a book once and I think you’re flexible enough. Sunday we’ll go to your mom’s house. Text me today and let me know how your day is going.”

Shivering at the lustful look in his eyes, Mackenzie said simply, “I will. Bye, Daxton.”

“Bye, Mack.”

Dax kissed Mackenzie swiftly, knowing if he lingered, he might just get carried away and lock them in his bedroom as she suggested. He backed away, headed away from the temptation she offered, and out the front door.

Mackenzie hopped down off the counter, not smiling, and headed for the toaster. If she wasn’t mistaken, Daxton had just told her he loved her…not in so many words, but he might as well have.

Finally, she smiled to herself as she dug the cream cheese out of the fridge. Daxton loved her. Holy shit. It was gonna be a good day.

* * *

Dax rolled his head and tried to work the kinks out of his neck. His morning chat with Mack notwithstanding, his day had not started out well. He’d arrived at work to find three letters addressed to him sitting on his desk with a note from the administrative assistant. She’d apologized and said the letters had been delayed in getting to him. She’d been on vacation for a week and a half and no one had bothered to hand the mail out to the appropriate Rangers in her absence.

He’d opened the first, and dropped it immediately seeing who had sent it. Dax had leaned over his desk, being careful not to touch the paper any more than he already had, read the extremely alarming words, and called the Major. It was from the Lone Star Reaper. This time the letter was addressed specifically to Dax. The thought didn’t give him warm-fuzzies. While Dax didn’t know if the other two letters were from the Reaper, he wasn’t taking any chances.

Three hours later, he’d received a call from Quint and had been asked to come to a joint task-force meeting. Knowing he wouldn’t like what he was about to find out, Dax braced himself.

The meeting included the Chief of Police at the SAPD, Quint, Cruz, the Major from his Ranger Company and a few other high-ranking officers.

“Dax, thanks for coming, and thanks for the quick response with those letters. They’re being worked over now and preliminary thoughts are that we might have a partial print on one of them this time,” the Major said.

“So all three were from the Reaper?” Dax asked.

“Yeah.”

Silence fell over the room and Dax knew they weren’t telling him something important. “What did the other letters say? Did he give the locations of more victims?”

“Yeah, we have three separate teams checking out the cemeteries he mentioned in the notes.”

“Why did he change his M.O. now?” Dax wondered out loud. “He used to call in the body locations, but now he’s writing me a letter like he’s my fucking pen pal?”

“The Reaper is escalating his game and changed the rules in the middle,” The Chief of Police said unnecessarily.

“Yeah,” Dax agreed in a tight voice. “He’s made it way more personal now. He sent these notes specifically to me,” Dax said, stating the obvious.