IN THE SHADOW OF PRIDE

Untitled Part 1

Chapter One

October 2012, Austin, Texas

Just when she thought the day couldn’t get any worse, fate stepped in and placed the jerkin her line of sight.

Special Agent-in-Charge Mac McNeil.

He stood several yards from her, his piercing, hazel eyes locked onto hers. Lexie Trevena stared at the ground, cutting off their connection.

A warm gust of air blew across the cemetery, surrounding her with a hint of freshly mowed grass and the roses from Rico’s coffin. The two scents had always brought a smile to her face, but from this day forward, they would yank her back to this place, this moment.

Taking a shaky breath, Lexie peered into the freshly dug grave inches from her. The crowd behind her began to shift, making their way back up the hill toward the line of cars. Her best friends, Cole Guzman and Marcus Aziz, stood behind her. Cole cleared his throat and eased next to her, taking her hand in his.

“You don’t have to stay. I—”

“The café can survive a little longer without us,” he interrupted.

“You can’t be closed during your busiest time of day. Go. Seriously, I’ll be fine.” Finally glancing over Cole’s shoulder at the sea of mourners, she planted a fake smile on her face. “I’m just waiting until some of the people leave.”

“We’ll take off if you promise to drop by and eat something,” Marcus chimed in.

“Maybe you can just bring me a sandwich at home. I need to be alone for a while. You understand?”

She reached up and kissed Cole on the cheek and repeated the gesture with Marcus. The men’s expressions were so easy to read, and their concern touched her heart. They wanted to make this all better. That was impossible.

“If you change your mind, or if you need one of us, just call, Lexie.” Cole tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear then reached for her hand.

“I’ll be fine. Go before you make me cry.”

They studied her for several moments. Then, with one more quick hug, they strolled up the hill.

Two groundskeepers stood off to her left waiting patiently to lower the coffin into the ground. The thought of Rico’s strong, hard body buried under six feet of Texas clay was hard to digest. As long as she stood rooted to that spot, her nightmare couldn’t turn into her reality.

Mac McNeil slowly worked his way through the crowd of mourners toward her. Instinctively, she twisted away from him. Escape. Before she could make a move, a man whose name she couldn’t recall blocked her path, placing a hand on her arm.

“Mrs. Trevena …”

“Lexie. My name is Lexie.”

“Lexie, I’m so sorry for your loss. Your husband was a good man, a fine agent. He’ll be missed.”

He seemed to want some sort of acknowledgement from her, but she had nothing to give. He finally dropped his hand to his side and left her alone.

He was a good man, a fine agent. He’ll be missed.

Meaningless babble, meant to give her a measure of comfort. How was her broken heart supposed to be consoled by a group of strangers? Most of the crowd was there out of respect and had never even met Rico.

Lexie had no idea how to behave, or what to do or say to the people around her. She couldn’t focus long enough to reason it out. Grief festered into a pool of staggering anger, sending her emotions into a tailspin. It was all so senseless.