fire every time he moved it the wrong way.
Eric frowned. “I’m sorry I can’t tell you how long this will take. I have to go on as if nothing is wrong until we find the leak, but if we hit the point when you have to go back on base, we’ll have to deal with that when it comes.”
“I called my C.O. this morning, so he knows that for the time being I’m involved in something.” And hadn’t that been a fun conversation? His commanding officer was known for his brevity, but at least Aaron now knew that Franklin wasn’t doing any better than he’d been before Aaron went on leave.
“My lunch break is almost over.” Eric turned to Mackenzie. “Be safe, okay? Listen to Aaron. He knows what he’s talking about.”
* * *
The door shut. Silence stretched out into a minute as Mackenzie and Aaron stared at each other. He looked as though he was expecting something, but she didn’t know what. Or she just didn’t want to admit she might know what he wanted her to say.
There was a light knock at the door.
“Kenzie?” Eva stuck her head in and glanced between Mackenzie and Aaron. Her full lips tipped up on one side in a half smile. Mackenzie’s friend was probably more than confused about the second of two strange men she’d seen with Mackenzie today. “You okay, girl?”
Blood raced through Mackenzie’s veins, and her cheeks warmed. “Sure.”
Eva’s eyes gleamed. She’d be digging later to find out who Mackenzie’s male visitors were. Why couldn’t her life be boring? Instead Mackenzie had been dragged into this strange play where she didn’t know her lines.
“What’s up?”
“We’re a teacher short. Chris had to rush out. The day care called, and his son, Tim, is puking everywhere. The kids in the blue room are waiting for their voice lesson. I need you to cover.”
“No. I can’t do it.” Paperwork, yes. Answering phones, yes. Fund-raising, no problem. Sing in front of people again? No way. That could get her killed.
Eva’s lips thinned. “There’s no one else.”
Mackenzie glanced at Aaron, but he was pressing buttons on his phone and hadn’t seen Eva’s face. She looked back at her friend. Eva was the opposite of everything Mackenzie tried to be—sparkly and loud. But right then Mackenzie’s closest friend—which wasn’t saying much, since they usually only saw each other at work—wasn’t happy, to say the least.
“I can’t do it.”
“Kenzie, do you think I don’t know what you’re hiding? Do you think I haven’t figured it out?”
“I—” It wasn’t possible. Mackenzie had worked too hard for too long for her secret to get out now. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Girl...I heard you sing.”
“What?” Mackenzie sucked in a breath. “When?”
“Do you think I’m stupid?”
“Of course not.” How could Eva think that?
The other woman’s eyes softened. “About a month ago I left my phone here. It was late when I came back to get it. I heard you, playing piano and singing to yourself.”
Mackenzie didn’t know what to say. It didn’t spell total disaster, but her voice was distinctive. She had assumed she’d be safe just working in the office. After all, she’d set the center up. Wasn’t that enough to balance the scales? She’d come to terms with the fact that music couldn’t be part of her life anymore, except in secret. Now she wouldn’t be able to sing at all, not even when she thought everyone was gone.
Why did that hurt?
Eva’s head tipped to the side. “You know, you kind of sound like—”
Please don’t say it. “I know.”
“They’re already in the blue room waiting. Please. There’s no one else.”
Mackenzie sighed. “There’s a ton of work to do in here.”
It was an excuse, but she had no interest in being the person she used to be. Not again. And she would do everything she could not to fall back into that trap of selfish, wild living. The only thing those days of youth had done was set her on a collision course with this life of hiding and secrets.
“Kenzie—”
She bit her lip. “Okay. I’ll go and oversee things. They can practice, and I’ll just make sure it doesn’t get out of control.”
But there was no way she was going to sing in front of the kids. No way on earth.
Eva beamed as if it was Christmas morning. “Great.”
Mackenzie rolled her eyes, but Eva didn’t see because she’d already breezed out the door. It was only one class. Surely disaster couldn’t happen that fast.
“Hold up a second.”
Aaron stopped her with a hand on her arm. Mackenzie looked down at his fingers on the sleeve of her sweater. She could feel his heat through the material and it struck her that she’d never felt anything so warm. His hands were strong, his nails trimmed short, and his little finger was bent as though it’d been broken and not quite set straight.
She looked up at his face. “The kids are waiting.”
“We still need to have a conversation. I know what Eric said, but if I’m going to have the best shot at protecting you, then I need to know what happened.”
“Fine.” Even though Mackenzie had no intention of telling him anything about who she used to be.
He apparently didn’t buy it, because he said, “If you don’t, I will absolutely walk. I have to know what I’m up against.” The hint of a smile gleamed in his eyes. “Who knows, I might surprise you.”
“I don’t like surprises.”
Aaron leaned back against the wall, listening to a teen girl singing. There really was no other way to keep an eye on Mackenzie without it looking as if he was doing exactly that. Diligence was the only thing that paid off. Faith in a higher being to solve all his problems was nothing but a childish dream. Not when in one split second everything could go wrong and no matter how hard he tried to fix it, someone still got hurt.
He rubbed a hand down his face, dismissing the memories of heat and sand...and blood.
He loved the spontaneity of being Delta Force, though there was a shelf life to the career. Retreating just didn’t sit well with him, but when it was that or put his teammates in danger because he couldn’t admit he was slowing down...there wasn’t anything to it. When the time came, Aaron would just finish up his days and move on with the confidence he’d done his duty to Uncle Sam.
Aaron was almost to his mid-thirties, so it was past time to start thinking about fallback options. Especially considering the fact his team hated him at this point. When he got back, there wasn’t going to be much of a working relationship between them all if they didn’t trust Aaron anymore.
They’d banded together around Franklin, which was the right thing. Aaron didn’t fault them for giving their support to their blind teammate. Franklin would need it. But did they have to reject Aaron in the process? Hadn’t it just been a mistake? A horrific one, sure, but he was only human. Didn’t they know that?
“What do ya say?”
Aaron glanced down the hall where a teen boy in a white T-shirt and saggy jeans crowded a younger girl against the wall.
“I’m not sure.” The girl’s voice was a nervous murmur. “I don’t