Mackie's Men by Lynn Ray Lewis Page A

live like normal human beings. They had a grandbaby on the way, and it was time to dangle and spoil a new generation.
    Laura came up to the side of the hospital bed to check on her clone. She’d always called the woman who took bullets for her that and had never complained about it. They’d become friendly over the years and she hated seeing Mackie back in a hospital because she defended yet another person. “I see you couldn’t just stay retired from the rescue business, could you?” She leaned down and brushed the younger woman’s hair from her eyes where it had fallen when she tried to sit up.
    Thom had to leave and make sure everything was dealt with in the matter of Edwards, but promised to see them later. He kissed his wife in a way that made Mackie envious of the closeness the two shared. Why she hadn’t found such love and devotion still escaped her, but her life was all right. Lonely, but it wasn’t a bad life.
    Laura grinned at her once the door shut behind her still handsome loving husband. “So tell me, what did you think of Liam Klinger? He is such a dish and those two men with him, oh hell, Mackie, I think I would have locked the door and kept them as sex slaves.” She waved her hand as if the thought of the men made her hot.
    Mackie had to laugh, “You are going to hate me for this, my friend, but at the time, I barely remember thinking of sex at all around them. I was working off an adrenalin high while they were in the vicinity. Lucky you, though, I will have to look them up online to see who they are. Not that it matters, from what Thom says, they have the patriarch of Klinger International asking questions and being stonewalled by our good friend Mr. Proper-By-The-Book Ishmeal. I don’t move in the same social circles as the Klingers do either.”
    She was definitely going to do research on the Klinger family though. The reason for someone deliberately trying to kill a young family like that was lame. Eric Klinger was hiding more than just his video games if she was any judge. She knew several things already. One, he had to carry a gun in his vehicle for protection; two, his wife was a new addition to his life and the baby was most likely the reason for the marriage. She also learned that Liam Klinger had the bluest eyes she’d ever remembered seeing.
    Laura smiled and patted her shoulder, “I can see you are tired, honey, I’ll sneak back in here with an IPad and we can drool over their pictures together, how’s that?” Mackie was asleep, and she leaned over to give the girl a kiss on the head before leaving the room. Her mind continued to dwell on the younger woman as she walked through the hospital corridors with her security detail close by.
    Later, at home with Thom, while they ate take-out burgers and fries, she told him what she was thinking. “I want to give Mackie a chance to find a man of her own. I know I was lucky to find you, and men with your tolerance and understanding are few and far between, but she deserves better than life has given her so far.”
    Thom Hurrell knew what she was up to, just not who the sacrificial goat was that she had in mind to feed their young friend. “Look, I want her to find happiness too. You should have seen the way Klinger and his men looked at her, even while she was laid out on the furniture. Men find her sexy, but they also become intimidated as soon as she shows her competence and strength. Remember how you used to drive normally sane men to drink? Now think of you with big guns and toys that blow stuff up. Two things guaranteed to give a man a stiffy. But, sweetheart, the men want to be the ones using the toys while the little lady stands behind him and cheers him on.” He got a French fry thrown at him for being such a downer.
    “I think that I’ll need a female bodyguard for the next few months, you know how busy it gets just before Halloween. So many parties and events I should attend, but you always hated. Mackie can accompany me,