Free Crystal Mac: A prologue novella to Captive Series Book 3 HELL'S HILLTOP by J. A. Dennam Page B

thought he wouldn’t answer, but when he did it was a confirmation of something she already knew.
    “Going on eighteen years now.”
    Damn. That was a long time. “When you were in the military, right?”
    “82nd Airborne Division.”
    Her fingers stroked the coarse hair of his forearm as she held it close to her breast. “What happened? Who do you see when you close your eyes?”
    The gaping silences that preceded each answer were a blaring indication that this had always been a taboo subject in the past.
    “A young boy. He was killed by Haitian police because I didn’t have the orders to fire. I watched the whole beating through my sites. They mutilated his body in front of his father, then killed him, too.”
    The skip in her heartbeat told her to breathe. “That’s… terrible.”
    “We were there to stop that shit; military and police brutality against their own people. But the rules of engagement changed once we got there.”
    “Why?”
    He shrugged. “The whole operation was a bunch of political posturing. Flowery words and no action.”
    “But you didn’t kill that boy and his father. You were following orders.”
    “Like I said, your head doesn’t know th at. A lot of guys came out of that operation with a guilt complex.”
    “Is that why it was so easy for you to kill Angelo?”
    He rolled a little, faced the ceiling. “I’d have gutted a thousand ghosts with my bare hands in order to save DJ.”
    The powerful statement rocked her to her very core. Swallowing back the emotion, she said, “So, it really was your first time killing a man.”
    “As long as my kids’ parents don’t find out what I did, I’m okay with it.”
    Crystal thought about how she’d nearly been his victim, coldcocked at his feet after he’d managed to catch her off guard. “You nearly killed me, too,” she pointed out. “And here we are the next night, freshly fucked and spooning beneath the sheets.”
    His head lifted behind her. “As long as we keep things in perspective, right?”
    Right. It was just sex, after all. “I was only pointing out the irony, Mac. Don’t worry, I fully expect the cold shoulder in the morning.” His answering silence made her uncomfortable, so she changed the subject. “As far as Angelo is concerned, he’ll probably go down as a John Doe killed by falling debris. No one will know you were even there.”
    “Unless someone blabs.” His fingers nudged her ribs.
    Crystal smiled slightly. “Is that why you love the daycare so much? Because it rights some kind of wrong in your head?”
    With a heavy sigh, Mac lifted his arm to rub at tired eyes. Crystal took the opportunity to flip over, revel in the comfort of his hard, furry chest beneath her cheek.
    “I’ve seen a lot of ugliness in my lifetime,” he said thoughtfully, resettling his arm around her. “Men can be cruel, ruthless, and immoral. They’re dirty, smelly, hard on the eyes. Women are soft and kind and beautiful. The gentler sex that keeps us grounded.  And kids… they’re our innocents. A mixture of both. I want to shield them from the ugliness, but the truth is… they shield it from me.”
    Crystal swallowed hard, fought to keep her voice steady. “You can’t lose that, Mac.”
    “No. I can’t.”
    His tone made her want to cry. For the first time, she realized how he must have felt when he opened the van doors and found her gone. The betrayal. The uncertainty that would keep him from his kids. Knowing he’d been exposed to a formidable group of people that would use those kids as a means to an end.
    Mac’s end.
     

 
     

     
    His eyes flew open. A real noise had penetrated his dreams, he was sure of it. Dawning light shone through the curtains giving him an estimate of time.
    Wait a minute. Hadn’t he fallen asleep with a woman in his arms?
    Another knock on the front door answered the question as to what woke him. But where the hell was Crystal?
    Her absence was foremost on Mac’s mind when he left the