Justice by Piper Davenport Read Free Book Online

exited the building. “Go away, Brock.”
    He pushed away from the cruiser and shook his head. “Not gonna happen, babe.”
    “I hate you so much right now.”
    “Yep, I know.” Brock looked down at his phone. “Wanna walk a bit?”
    “No.” She pulled the hood of her sweatshirt further around her face. “It’s daylight.”
    “So?”
    “Look at me.” She waved a hand toward her face, but dropped her head again. “Actually, don’t. I’m a monster, Brock. Right now, I just want to throw myself in front of the MAX.”
    He cornered her without touching her and forced her to look at him. “Mase. I know that my words mean nothing to you right now, but what’s on the outside is still beautiful, it’s what you’re doing to the inside that’s making you a monster.”
    “Screw you, Brock.”
    Brock smiled. “I love you, Macey. We all do. At some point, you’ll get that through your thick head, but until then, you’ve got us and we’re not going anywhere.”
    “There’s nothing left to love.”
    He still didn’t touch her. Knew she couldn’t stand it, but he also didn’t let her out of his reach. He smiled again. “Not true.”
    Macey forced back tears and dropped her head. “Well, I hate me. Why don’t you just do the same and go away?”
    Brock knelt down a bit, so he could catch her eye, again without touching her. “I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart. None of us are. You can either fight it until you’re too tired to fight it anymore, or you can embrace it and avoid a lot of frustration in the end. You’re going to have to face Dallas at some point, too. Whether you want to acknowledge it, he loves you and he’ll give you space, but he’s not going anywhere either.”
    “What if I kill your dog? Will that make you hate me enough to go away?”
    “I don’t have a dog.” He smiled. “And you wouldn’t let me kill that stupid ass spider when you were twelve years old, remember? I highly doubt you’d kill a dog.”
    “Well, I had just finished Charlotte’s Web,” she explained. “How horrible would it be if one of the spiders was Nellie?”
    “Babe, I can guarantee you that that spider was most assuredly not one of Charlotte’s offspring.”
    Despite the desire to smile, just a bit, she ground out, “I hate you.”
    “No you don’t.”
    “Yes. I. Do.”
    Brock chuckled. “No you don’t.”
    She bit her lip. “Payton hates me.”
    “No she doesn’t.”
    “I told her that she was sentimental and pathetic, and that I’m not going to your parents’ party because I’m not family.”
    “Yeah, that would have hurt her, Mase. But she still doesn’t hate you.”
    Macey threw her hands up in the air. “Then that really does make her an idiot.”
    Brock shook his head. “No, that makes her your family.”
    “Stop it, Brockaby.” Macey burst into tears. “I’m the worst person on earth. She’s always so nice to me and all I ever do is push her away. Everything is just so messed up and I feel so... ”
    “Babe, we can’t even imagine what you’re going through. We just wanna be here for you.”
    She wiped her tears. “I can’t. I can’t cope.”
    “Well, now we’re getting somewhere. You gonna call Mom’s friend?”
    “Do I have a choice?”
    “Nope.”
    “Fine. I’ll call her.”
    Brock smiled. “Good. Can I hug you?”
    She bit her lip. “I can’t hug you before I hug Dal. It just doesn’t feel right.”
    “Even better,” Brock said. “I agree that it should be him first.”
    She nodded.
    “You know we got accepted. Me, Dallas, and Jax.”
    Macey nodded again. The FBI had scouted the three young detectives to be trained for a special op team.
    Brock frowned. “He doesn’t want to go.”
    “He has to go,” Macey said. “It’s the career opportunity of a lifetime.”
    “He’s worried about leaving you for six months.”
    “I’ll be fine. Tell him I’ll get counseling. Tell him I’ll get better, but I need space. He needs to live his life and