The Distance Between Us (Mac Security Series Book 3) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements

  Playlist

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Epilogue

  About Abigail

  Connect with Abigail

  Other Books by Abigail

  http://mybook.to/MACboxset

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements

  Playlist

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Epilogue

  About Abigail

  Connect with Abigail

  Other Books by Abigail

  Copyright

  The Distance Between Us

  First Edition.

  Copyright © 2017 Abigail Davies

  All rights reserved.

  No parts of this book may be reproduced in any form without written consent from the author. Except in the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a piece of fiction. Any names, characters, businesses, places or events are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to persons living or dead, events or locations is purely coincidental.

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be resold or given away to other people. If you are reading this book and have not purchased it for your use only, then you should return it to your favorite eBook retailer and purchase your own copy.

  Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  Published: Abigail Davies 2017

  Cover Model: Jacqulyn Currey

  Cover Photographer: Dave Kelley

  Cover Design: Kellie Dennis Book Cover by Design

  For anyone who has or is suffering from addiction or loss. This one is for you.

  To show you, that no matter what, you can make it out of the other side.

  I have so many people who helped me bring this story to life and I’ll be eternally grateful for all of their help!

  As always I want to thank my family for putting up with all my silly talk, late nights/early mornings and for supporting me in following my dreams to be a writer. You’re all amazing and I love you loads!

  Thank you to my beta readers, Danielle, Angela L, Liza, Elaine and Amanda! Thank you for helping me see what needed to be changed and for helping me make this story what it is! I love you all loads!

  Thank you to my American proofing Queen, Angela J! You helped me sooo much and I’m so so thankful! Love ya!

  A special thank you to Danielle, who again, helped me go through every little bit of this story and for always being there.

  To my editor Judy, thank you for correcting my commas! Those darn things! Haha!

  Thank you to Kellie Dennis for making an amazeballs cover, and thank you to Dave Kelley for the photography!

  Thank you to Jacqulyn Currey for being the model on this cover! It was just peeerfect for Kitty!

  A huge thank you to ALL the Bloggers, readers and authors that share all of my stuff! I appreciate it so much and I just love being part of the indie community!

  Last but by no means least; thank you to all my amazing readers, for all of the messages that I receive on a daily basis. It warms my heart so much to know that you enjoy my stories. I hope you love this one as much as I do!

  Thank you for allowing me to do what I love most and tell these stories! <3

  I created a spotify playlist for The Distance Between Us. If you’d like to have a listen then pop on over to this link. If you don’t have spotify, creating a FREE account is easy.

  Please be aware that the songs are in no particular order, they are songs that inspired me as I was writing and also songs that reminded me of Charlie and Kitty.

  Have fun listening!

  https://open.spotify.com/user/mrsabidavies/playlist/6fW8AEQeOm10YH7Pfocx3o

  I’m a strong woman.

  Or at least, I think I am.

  I used to be so sure about that. I trained every day, making sure that I could take down anyone that I needed to. Mixed martial arts, kickboxing, self-defense, karate. You name it, I’ve done it.

  I prided myself on being not only physically strong but mentally too. I knew mind games, I knew how to put on a front.

  I may be small in size but I like to think of myself as a pocket rocket. Quick thinking, fast reflexes.

  I could take down the biggest of men and not even break a sweat doing it. That’s not me bragging, that’s just how hard I’ve worked over the years to build myself into the person that I wanted to be.

  When I was younger, I was known as the delicate little flower, the person people needed to protect.

  I hated it with a passion.

  I didn’t want someone being paid to protect me, I wanted to be able to do that shit myself.

  That was my end goal... and I reached it.

  For a while, things were perfect. Well, not perfect but as good as they could be. I had a self-built family, people who cared and respected me.

  Now?

  Now I’m not too sure.

  My eyes turn to the window, watching as all of the guys are standing in the middle of the compound, laughing and joking. There was a time where I would have been in the middle of that.

  Instead, I sit here, staring from the outside in.

  I look down at the pills carefully placed in a line on the table and my shaky hand moves forward, picking up the bottle of water, unscrewing the cap and taking a small swallow as my eyes flick back to the window.

  I wish I was standing out there with them. I want to be normal again, but I can’t let them see this version of me.

  After I’ve taken these, everything will be right in the world again and I’ll be able to be me, the me that I’ve become.

  I pick up the tablets, one by one, swallowing each with a gulp of water.

  After taking six, I can feel my muscles loosen, my eyes sharpen and my world tilts back on the axis that I’ve been so used to.

  Ten minutes
and I’ll be back to who I was. That strong, spunky woman.

  I lean back in my wingback chair and close my eyes, sighing and enjoying the high.

  I push the folder across to Kay as we finish up the meeting. “Just needs typing up,” I tell her.

  Her dark brown eyes meet mine and she nods then smiles, adding it onto her growing pile. Ever since she came here two years ago the whole place has changed. At first I was skeptical about another woman coming to work here, but as I got to know her, I realized that it was the best thing that could have happened. Not just for Ty, but for the team as a whole.

  She brought a softer side to the team and looked at things differently than the rest of us did. At first she was just working in the office, then she started to go out on jobs with us after completing her training.

  We went out on quite a few together because sometimes things just needed to be looked at from women’s perspectives. Now she mainly goes out on jobs, either with me or Ty, and because of that the office work is piling up. Ty wants someone to take over in the office, but we can’t have just anybody in here so he keeps putting it off.

  What we do here at MAC Security is important and at times dangerous, it takes a special kind of person to be able to work here and get along with all of us.

  Not only that, but we’ve had enough drama over the last couple of years to last a lifetime.

  I turn my eyes back to Boss as he gives us a rundown on what is happening and the latest jobs that need to be worked.

  “Kitty? Luke? You’re on a new job. It came in just last night.” He passes us each a folder and leans back in his chair, steepling his fingers under his chin.

  I open it up and skim over all of the information that I need to take in. That’s one of my skills. I can read things faster than the majority of people can and take in all the information at the same time, recalling it at anytime I need to. Some people like to call it a photographic memory but I just like to think that I’m good at recalling information. I imagine my mind as a vault with lots of filing cabinets, each sorted into alphabetical order and organized to a T.

  That way I can go into any file that I need to at any given time and recall all of the information down to the very last small detail.

  Locking all of the information in a file in my mind, I close the folder in front of me and wait for the daily meeting to be over. I’m itching to be back on a case, a case where I can get my teeth stuck into it. Metaphorically, of course.

  “Me and Kay will be out all day,” Ty tells us, lifting up out of his chair at the head of the table.

  “Ooooo, I wonder what you two will be doing, huh? Huh?” Evan says, his brows waggling up and down as he smirks at them.

  I snort as I push up out of my own chair and ruffle his hair.

  “Something that you’re probably not getting with Geena, eh?” I smirk as he blushes and shakes his head profusely.

  “I… I get plenty, thank you very much,” he huffs, crossing his arms over his chest as his face goes bright red.

  “Uh huh,” I tease him as I adjust the belt around my waist, making sure all of my weapons are on there. Gun, Taser, baton, cuffs, radio.

  “What?” Evan asks, his face full-on tomato red now.

  “Last I heard, you were in the doghouse.” I raise my brows and take a step backwards. “Pumpkin,” I mimic Geena.

  He dips his head and focuses back on his laptop, but I know he’s not really looking at anything because his hands are as still as a statue.

  “Stop teasing him,” Luke grunts but I can see the smirk on his face.

  “Fine.” I roll my eyes and push my black, wide-rimmed glasses up my nose. “Let’s roll.”

  I don’t wait for an answer as I make my way out of the warehouse door and to the SUV that me and Luke always use.

  It’s teched out to the nines and has so many gadgets that it would make your mind spin just trying to learn how to use them all. I’m still finding new things that Evan installed years ago. Including the secret sections in the doors that I found last week.

  I jump up into the passenger seat. Yep, that’s right, I jump. Being five foot two has its perks but also its woes. I can hide in small spaces and can get into places on jobs that no one else can, but I can’t reach the top shelf in the kitchen cupboards to save my life.

  Sometimes I wonder if it would just be best for me to attach a stepstool to my belt. You know, for getting into cupboards and shit.

  Luke pulls out of the compound and we go about our usual system.

  “Name?” Luke asks.

  “Jonny May, thirty-three years old, suspected cartel member. Five-oh can’t get any legit info on him and anything they do get they can’t get to stick. He owns two businesses. A strip club and a restaurant. Strip club is called ‘Divas,’ restaurant is called ‘Joey’s’ named after his late father.”

  “Where do you want to head first?” Luke asks, waiting at the stoplight for it to turn green.

  “Let’s check out the restaurant.”

  He nods in agreement and we commence the hour-long journey. I sit back and look straight at the dash, knowing that Evan installed a surveillance there. He doesn’t know that I know which is fun because it means I can mess about with him.

  “Let’s play a game,” I say, my voice rising an octave. I just love playing games.

  “Not again,” Luke groans, swiping his big hand through his blond hair and making the tattoos on his arm ripple with the movement.

  There was a time when I thought he was hot, but now I think back to that time and scrunch my nose up at myself. Now he’s more like a protective older brother to me.

  “Yes.” I clap my hands together and sit up straighter in my seat, trying to think of something… hmm… what could I do, what could I do?

  “I got it!”

  “Oh God.”

  “Okay. The world is taken over by zombies and there’s hundreds banging at the door. Who do you send out there to be eaten?”

  “Fuck me, zombies? Really, Kit?”

  “Yeah, just go with me here. You also have two antidotes. So, you have to choose one to get eaten and two to have the antidote. There’s me, you, and Evan. Go!”

  “Jesus fucking Christ. Do I really have to play this stupid game?”

  “Erm… is that an actual question?” I ask with raised brows. He knows the score, I like to pass the time, and games like this are how I like to do it.

  “Well, I’d give myself and Evan the antidote and send you out there to be eaten.” He smirks.

  “What? You’d send me to be eaten?” I ask, my hands flying to my chest as my mouth hangs open in mock horror.

  “Hell yeah, I would. You’d make me play stupid games like this and if you were keeping the zombies occupied then I’d have a little peace and quiet.”

  “Hmph, fine! Send me to be eaten then.”

  “Don’t worry,” Luke says, turning his face to mine. “I intend to.” He chuckles as he pulls the car to a stop at the side of the road opposite “Joey’s.”

  He switches the engine off and leans back against the seat, his head lolling back and his eyes closing.

  “Dude,” I say, pushing his arm when he starts to snore. “Wake the hell up!”

  “I’m not asleep, I’m just resting my eyes.”

  I’m about to give him a smartass reply when I spot movement coming from outside the restaurant.

  Pulling my small camera out, I start snapping pictures. Jonny May is a tall man, probably about as tall as Luke with dark brown hair that almost verges on black. I can’t see his eyes from here but the file says they’re gray.

  He walks across the lot and gets into his sports car. All the while I continue to snap pictures as Luke keeps his head leaned back against the headrest, but I can see his eyes open so I know he’s aware of what’s happening.

  Jonny drives out of the lot and thirty seconds later another man follows, walking toward the only other car in the lot. I continue to snap pictures as he opens the passenger doo
r, allowing me to see inside. His hands wave about as he talks to a young girl and I grit my teeth.

  I know exactly who he is. One of the top men in the cartel.

  Fernando Reigns.

  Luke sits up straighter as Fernando pulls the girl closer to him and grabs her face. I narrow my eyes at him, my teeth clenching and my muscles locking, ready to pounce. If it’s one thing I hate, it’s men thinking they can push a woman around.

  He lets her go and walks around to the driver’s side, shouting as he slips into the driver’s seat before he speeds out of there.

  Luke starts the car when Fernando has pulled out of the lot and is out of sight, then makes a U-turn and heads back toward the warehouse without another word said.

  I don’t say anything either, it’s our thing. We’ve worked enough jobs together to know how each of us process the information when we’re on a job.

  My mind wanders the whole way back and I determine that dear old Jonny is in deep. You don’t have someone like that as a friend unless you’re in serious business with them.

  Looks like I’ve got that teeth-sinking job that I was looking for after all.

  “You’re going in tonight?” Ty asks once we have filled him in on what we found, or rather, what we didn’t find.

  “Yeah,” I say, plugging the lead into the camera and then into my laptop. “No time like the present, eh?”

  I download the photos off the camera and then wipe them from it. Always cover your back. That’s one of the first things that I was taught. If I get found with a camera, it’s not the actual device that could blow any cover I have, it’s what is on the device that will. If I didn’t delete the photographs off it I’d end up with thousands of them on here and that wouldn’t bode well for anybody, least of all me.

  “What’s the plan?” Kay asks, sitting on the sofa opposite the desk that I’m sitting at. “It’s a strip club, right?”

  “Yep.” I nod and pull the lead out of the camera then lean back on the chair. “They have job openings.”

  I let that sink in.

  That’s my plan anyway. I need to get close to him, I need to know what he does, how he behaves and not from a parked car. I need an in and this, this is my in.

  “You’re going undercover?” Luke asks. Ah yeah, I forgot to tell him my plan. Oops.