When Marcus entered the hotel room, Andrew was standing in front of the display board, looking at images of some type of small office building. He turned at his partner’s approach and said, “Did Maggie find you?”
Marcus slapped his leather jacket down onto the room’s couch and shot Andrew a contemptuous look. “Oh, she found me. By the way, thanks for the heads-up. Nice to know you’ve got my back.”
“Why? What happened?” Andrew looked him up and down. “Are you wet?”
Marcus dropped onto the couch as though his legs could no longer support his weight. He rubbed his temples and growled in the back of his throat. “To be honest, I have no idea what just happened. Maggie, who I had ordered to stay behind, shows up, causes a scene, dumps coffee on me, slaps me. The way she was acting, I suppose I’m lucky she didn’t shoot me.”
“Really? Did she have any reason to be upset?”
“Don’t you start too. Number one, we were just having dinner. Number two, Maggie and I called things off a while back. We should never have got involved. It was a mistake.”
Andrew sat down on the small mahogany coffee table in front of the couch. “You don’t really believe that. Besides, to hear her tell it, the two of you are just on a break while you get your head together.”
“Is that what she told you?”
“What did you tell her?”
“When?”
“When you called it off.”
Marcus thought about the incident in Harrisburg. They had been investigating a string of shootings where the killer was targeting young mothers. Maggie had gone to check out a lead that paid off with a name and address. He ordered her to wait, but she decided to question the guy on her own. The killer shot her in the shoulder with a little Davis .32 ACP pistol right there on his own front porch. It was a cheap gun that had a reputation for jamming up, and true to form, a shell casing stovepiped just as he was about to shoot her in the head. It had given her just enough time to get out her backup weapon and take the killer down. But she had almost died that day. It had only been pure dumb luck that had kept her alive.
Marcus realized then that he could never have any semblance of a normal life. Anyone that he loved was in danger because of his line of work. He had always wanted a family of his own. Emily Morgan would probably have said that it stemmed from a subconscious desire to replace the family he had lost, and maybe she would have been right. Either way, fate had other plans for him.
It was only a few days after Harrisburg when he had ended their relationship. He had told Maggie that the stress of the job was too hard and he needed some time to …
“Oh crap. I can see how she might have gotten that impression.”
“Why would you want to break up with her, anyway? Maggie’s incredible. I don’t know what she sees in you.”
“Thanks, wingman. I’m glad that I can always count on you.”
“I’m just saying.”
“You say too much.”
Andrew added, “You don’t say enough. You keep it all bottled up inside. So are you going to tell me?”
Marcus sighed and reached for a cup of day-old cold coffee sitting on an end table. He choked back the contents with a cough and a wince. “After what happened in Harrisburg, I just couldn’t imagine doing what we do and trying to have a real relationship or a family. It’s just not worth the risk. You know what they call a brave man with a family?”
Andrew shook his head. “No.”
“They call him a coward.”
Andrew laughed. “So what’s your plan? Are you going to be a warrior monk devoted to a higher cause?” He groaned and tapped his fist on the coffee table. “You just …”
“Spit it out,” Marcus said.
“You’re so smart and yet sometimes you are so dumb. You can’t refuse to enjoy life out of fear that something bad may happen. If you do that, something bad already has happened.”
“You don’t understand. Everyone that I’ve ever cared about has been taken from me. I don’t want to worry about anyone anymore.”
Andrew bit down on his lower lip as his eyes took on a watery sheen. Then he leaned in close and whispered, “You don’t think I understand? I’d give anything, anything, to have my little girl back. But even as bad as it hurts, if I had to choose, I would much rather have known her and lost her than never to have had her at all.”
Marcus swallowed hard and clenched his eyes shut. Andrew was right. He was an asshole. “Andrew, listen, I’m sorry to have—”
Andrew stood up and walked back to the display board. “Forget it. Just get over here and take a look at this. Stan’s found a lead on the Anarchist.”