Without Fear - Reese Knightley Page 0,6
keys. “Tinley wanted me to grab his jacket on my way back from making the Café’s bank deposit. He forgot it when he left this morning.”
“Oh.” He swallowed. Damn it. He’d deliberately stayed away last night and instead, returned this morning. After Tinley had gone to work.
“Talk to me, Macy. What the hell is going on?”
“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
“No, I’m not.” The small blond frowned.
“It’s a long story,” he warned.
Justin dialed a number and lifted his phone to his ear. “Ashley? Macy and I won’t be in today. Can you handle things? Thank you.” Justin hung up the phone. “There, we’re free. Now talk.”
He could have saved Justin the trouble of a phone call since he had already sent an “I’ll be late” text to Ashley earlier, but he kept quiet. Maybe he should take the day off.
He sighed. “I’ll make some coffee.” Whirling around, he headed into the kitchen to get his thoughts together, wondering how much he could really say about his situation.
Tugging back out the burner phone, he sent a quick text to Stanton.
“We’re having steak for dinner.” It was code that the mission had been a success.
“Thanks!” came the quick reply.
Taking down two mugs from the cupboard, he selected two French roast coffee pods. Popping one pod in the maker, he turned and leaned against the counter. Justin took a seat at the small table. Fresh brewed coffee lingered in the air, and when the two mugs were done, he poured creamer in both and carried them over to the table before taking a seat.
“I have to go back a ways.” He lightly touched the side of the mug, the slight sting to his fingertips had him blowing on the liquid before taking a sip.
“How far back?”
“After high school.”
“You graduated a couple of years ahead of me.”
“Yeah.” They’d only shared one school year together. He’d been a senior to Justin’s freshman, but that hadn’t stopped them from becoming friends. Being new to the school, Macy had inadvertently picked a lunch table with the freshmen kids. They’d thought it cool as shit, so he’d made it a habit.
“Things didn’t go as planned for me after I graduated.” He cleared his throat and took another sip of the hot brew.
“We’ve got all the time we need,” Justin said, lifting his own mug.
“So, it started just after high school. My mom went back to Las Vegas.”
“Did she get back with your stepfather?”
“What?” He blinked, stalling for time.
“That guy, Tony Siegel?”
“How do you know that?” His heart started pounding.
“I remember your mom said Tony wasn’t a very nice man,” Justin said quietly. “That’s why she used your last name, Finch, when you moved to Washington.”
Crap. It seemed Justin had remembered more than he’d like.
“Yeah, except my last name isn’t Finch.” His mouth grew dry and he took a sip of coffee.
“Okay…so,” Justin responded slowly. “What is your last name?”
“I can’t tell you that.” At Justin’s hurt expression, Macy hurried on. “I want to and I will, but I can’t right now.”
“So, what can you tell me?”
“I can tell you that I’m helping some people put away a really bad guy.”
“The FBI?”
He slowly nodded, and since Justin had overheard him on the phone, Macy kept it as close to the truth as possible.
“Why you?”
Macy wrapped his hands tightly around the mug and brought it to his lips to swallow down the last of his coffee. Understanding that he wasn’t going to answer, Justin sighed.
His friend tried another tactic. “How did you get into this?”
“Honestly? I was hanging out with the wrong crowd. Petty theft, vandalism, things like that.” He darted a look at Justin, but didn’t find any judgment in the younger man’s gaze, only concern.
“One night, they decided to vandalize a corner kiosk near the mall and I was the lookout. It was raining like hell and I didn’t see the unmarked law enforcement car until too late. I was caught by Frank Spelling. He gripped me by the back of my shirt and shook me. He said I resembled a wet rat.” He snorted and hid his stinging eyes.
Justin reached out and closed a hand over his.
Macy turned his hand over and clutched Justin’s fingers. After a moment, he continued. “Frank didn’t turn me in to the cops. Instead, he took me to an all-night diner and bought me food. He introduced himself as an FBI agent. He talked all night, and for once in my life, I listened.”
“What happened?”
“Frank scared me straight,” he