Worth the Fall (The McKinney Brothers, #1)(11)

Matt had no idea what to say. He did like flipping houses and he had made a lot of money. Then Teddy had died and everything changed.

He hadn’t told his parents what or why, hadn’t even told Tony, the one person he used to share everything with.

“I’ve seen your truck a couple of times.”

Damn. So, his brother knew he’d been in town and hadn’t bothered to call or come by.

“I didn’t tell anyone,” Tony said. “Not even Beth.”

Beth considered him the little brother she’d never had. She’d be hurt, and the kids would wonder why their favorite uncle chose to ignore them. “To be honest, I haven’t been the best company lately.” Not even for himself.

“I know you lost a friend. I know it’s rough.”

The silence hung between them like the sheet they’d used to divide their room as boys. “Hey,” Matt finally said, remembering the reason for his call. “Did I miss a birthday?”

“Not yet. Anthony’s is next Tuesday. He’ll be seven.”

“That’s good.” Some of his tension eased. He hadn’t forgotten his godson’s birthday.

“Yep. Oh shit. I’m getting the signal. Time’s up.”

“Good luck.” Matt clicked off his phone, grabbed a drink, and walked through the open sliding glass door. Baby number four. His brother was one lucky bastard. But Tony had known what and who he wanted since he was fourteen years old. He wanted to fly planes and he wanted Beth. He’d gotten both.

Matt remembered watching Beth and Tony dance at Elizabeth’s wedding four years ago. At the time, he’d been a SEAL for eight years. Coming home was like transporting between two worlds, and he had a foot in both.

He was part of a great family—the best—but as he’d watched them all pair up, he’d had the feeling he didn’t belong to anyone. Thirty years old, a dance floor lined with beautiful, willing women, and not one he’d been interested in. His dad always told him he’d find the right one when the time was right. It had hit him that night. As long as he was a SEAL, the time would never be right.

Days later, at the outdoor firing range, the scene at the wedding had still niggled at him. Matt adjusted himself on the bench rest, MK11 steady in his hands. “You ever think about doing something different?”

Teddy refilled the ammo clip of his own weapon. “I thought this was different.”

“I mean with your life,” Matt said, lining up his target, his rifle a natural extension of his arm.

“Look around.” Teddy raised his hand to the open, sunny range, the men sitting in groups, checking weapons and talking women. He grinned. “This is our life, dude. Best damn one there is.”

Matt smiled. It was pretty sweet, and they’d worked damn hard to get here, but unlike his friend, who’d come from nothing and no one, Matt knew there was more.

T laughed. “What are you gonna do? Hang up your rifle for a hammer?”

The guys stood off to the side either cheering or taunting, depending on which way they’d bet. With his eye to the scope, Matt sighted the target eight hundred yards out. He took a breath, blew it out, and pulled the trigger.

His third shot hit dead center. Decker, Chappers, and Rocky stood and exchanged money.

“Damn, bro. Can’t do that with a hammer. And thank you, Mount McKinney. You just won me fifty bucks.”

Matt laughed and shook his head. “Idiot. I told you to bet a hundred.”

Three weeks later he’d been signed, sealed, delivered, and halfway to the other side of the world.

Matt rested his arms on the railing and looked down at the people milling about like ants on the beach. A bright blue umbrella stood in the same place he’d seen Jack yesterday. He sipped his soda. The sun beat down, the walls of his balcony blocking any breeze.

As always, it came suddenly. The air around him became stagnant. Oppressive. Suffocating. And he was back in the South American jungle. The diabolical f*ck they hunted dealt in anything that made money, notorious for taking hostages and using extreme torture during negotiations just for the pleasure of it. It was his team’s job to get the hostages out while they still had all their body parts.

Extraction affirmative. He looked over at T, face smeared with black paint, same as his. Hot, soaked with sweat, edgy. They’d waited days for just the right moment. And it was now.

Time and memories jerked in his mind. Thick smoke squeezed his lungs. Shots. Screams. Blood. Don’t quit.

Matt jumped at the sound of the aluminum can strangled in his hand. Fuck. He stared as the cool liquid ran down his arm and dripped from his skin to the tiled balcony floor. For the past three days he’d craved silence; now he couldn’t stand it. Not the quiet or the static in his head.

Building a sand castle with a five-year-old sounded like a damn good idea.





Chapter 4


“Mom, do you think Matt’s already there?” Jack asked.

Abby led her crew down the long weathered boardwalk past waving sea oats and blowing sand dunes. “I don’t know, honey.” And that made one hundred and one times Jack had mentioned Matt since they’d left the pool.

“Do you think he’ll be able to find us?”

“I’m sure he will if he wants to.”

Jack frowned. “Why wouldn’t he want to?”