Deadly Spurs (12 page)

The men talked some more, making educated guesses on who could be involved. So far, she agreed with everything they said. Including on talking about her parents
and how they could be involved. Jazz gripped her leg harder, letting her know she was being supportive. The last thing she wanted was for her to be linked to her parents' behavior. She was nothing like them, and would never allow herself to be sucked back in.

They pulled up to a nice, plain apartment building. She knew it was John
’s because she had been here a time or two for vacation. Taking a deep breath, she followed Jazz out of the back seat. West and Mason instantly surrounded her and put their hands on her waist. She wanted to tell them how much their support meant to her, but she couldn’t. They were standing in front of her brother’s old apartment. Would she be able to make it through this without breaking down?

The group of them walked up th
e path, she saw the yellow crime scene tape and grimaced. It was proof this was really happening and not just in her head. Rex and Drew pulled the tape up and allowed them to pass. Jazz walked ahead, the woman was a rock star. She wore thigh-high heeled black boots that went over a pair of nice tight pants, and a black turtleneck. She was what Arden wanted to be when she grew up. Someone who looked like they could kick ass and take names. Someone who was worthy of being the girlfriend of two SEALs.

Shaking off her thoughts, she paused at the open door. Jazz had already stepped in the room. When she walked in, she felt horror and relief. The new tenants had changed everything. The look and dé
cor of the entire place, there was no reminders of her brother. But the level of destruction made bile rise in the back of her throat,
animals
, she thought and stepped over the table that had stood in the doorway.

Arden ignored the debris and focused on moving to the place the picture of the two of them had
been drilled in the wall. The new tenant had assumed the top was where they were supposed to slide in a picture, which is the way her brother designed it. She knew because he had installed a similar on in her apartment, telling her that no one would ever know what was behind it unless they knew where the little latch was.

She moved her hand on the top of t
he strange looking frame, and smiled when she felt the latch. Snapping it the frame fell forward and revealed the safe. Her brother may have been paranoid, but he was also a genius when it came to hiding things, he had to be since he was a foster kid.

Sh
e pulled the combination out of her bra and she heard Jazz snort.

“
Really, in the bra? Like we couldn’t have found that,” Mason stormed mad at himself for not checking her when she dressed, vixen had really pulled one over on him.

“
Ha, like I would have given you permission to get in my bra after you were being an asshole,” she shot back and glared at him.

West shook his head and put a hand on Mason's arm trying to keep the peace, at least until they could get her back to the hotel and show her who was the
boss.

Arden looked at the paper and smiled. His code was her birthday. She didn
’t even have to look at it again and she put it back in her bra, it would go into her little box.

With a twist of her wrist, she had it open. Her mouth dropped open when s
he saw what was sitting right in the front. She raised a hand to her mouth and turned to seek her men. Damn John all to hell, she should have realized right when she read that fucking letter what he had been trying to say.

Mason and West were with her in
stantly. Trying to pull her back so they could see what caused her obvious distress. But she held firm, reached a hand up, and plucked the small envelope that rested against a silver urn with her brother’s name engraved on it.

It was from the Chaplin of
the base. Inside was a short and sweet note.

***

Per John’s instructions, this was placed in this safe by me in secret. I have thrown away the code and hope this is in Arden Plane’s hands. Know he set this up years ago. This was what he wanted, he knew you would know what to do, however attached is the note he left with me for safeguarding.

Chaplin Reynolds

Arden sucked in a breath and then opened the small pages her brother had written on,
figures it was her note pad from her new apartment
. He had written this the last time she had seen him.

***

Sis,

***

Sorry for all the drama, but you know me. I can’t be put in a box and forgotten about. You know what I want, and I know you will do what my wishes were. I hate to put this on your shoulders, but I also know if you are here, so is Mason. Tell him the drive is taped to the back of the safe. I love you, remember you don’t have to do anything yet. Let me go when you think it is right. I know how you feel about saying goodbye to people and I refused to force you until you were ready.

J

Arden sucked in a sob that threatened to escape. Mason and West read the note over her shoulder, but instead of looking for the drive, Mason turned her in his arms and hugged her. West rubbed her back and whispered in her ear that everything was going to be okay. They would work this out together.

She relaxed and allowed herself a brief pity party. John had wanted someone to be with her when she faced this. Mason pulled her outside the room with West still touching her w
hile Drew and Rex emptied the safe and put the stuff in the box Jazz held.

Her men knew she had had more than enough. She was spent for the day, they needed to take her back to the hotel and show her the loving she deserved.

When they finally arrived to the hotel, the men were worried. Arden had shut down, not saying a word as Jazz and the guys had carried the box out of the apartment and placed it in the back of the car.

They switched seats, and West and Mason went into the back with her laying across their laps while Jazz sat in the middle continuing to glance worriedly over her shoulder ever few minutes. They were beginning to panic.

Mason felt like he was helpless. Who should he call? His mom would know what to do, but she was probably just arriving to Wyoming since they had driven. Sable? Jolie? No, they were taking care of ma and Bea. Shit, he wished Marie was still here, she would know what to do as well.

Wes
t gripped her thighs, holding her on their lap as Rex raced through San Diego, knowing they needed to get Arden to the hotel. Everyone was quiet, focusing on Arden.

“
Hang on, darlin', we will have you in the hotel in a few minutes, then you can yell at us all you want for being assholes,” Mason murmured.

Arden just stared at the window, not feeling like she was even in her own body. It was too much, all of it…
her brother's death…the letter…the urn…everything. She was finally getting bitch slapped by reality. She would no longer be able to pick up the phone and call John when she was watching her favorite shows.

What if the drive held the name of the man responsible for all of this? Was part of it her fault? The panic she was feeling was normal right
?

They carried her up to the suite, which was across from Rex and the others. They all went into the room, waiting while Mason laid Arden down on the fluffy couch in the living room area. When he stood he looked at everyone with desperation, as if to say
fix this, I can't.

West walked to Arden, bent over, and whispered in her ear, “
Honey, you are scaring us, please say something. Mason is about to freak.”

Still nothing, but he noticed she began to shiver as if she was cold. “
Blanket,” he snapped and looked around the room. Mason was glad to do something, so he went into the bedroom, ripped the comforter off the bed, and brought it back. He folded it in half, and then tucked it around her.

“
Shock,” Jazz whispered. “We should call the doctor.”

“
Fuck,” Mason swore, he should have thought about this. He knew this was going to be hard, he knew Arden was going to be upset, but he had taken her anyway. Hoping she would see they really cared about her enough to go against their better judgment. How wrong had he been. Jazz stepped up and slapped the back of his head, making him snap out of his thoughts.

“
I know that look, knock it off. It was Arden’s decision, she chose to go there. Now, let's call the doc and see what we are supposed to do,” Jazz said and snapped her fingers at her husbands. Rex raised an eyebrow, but he pulled out his phone.

“
Jazz,” Drew said in a warning voice.

“
Spank me later, now just do what I ask,” she smarted off, Drew held up two fingers, and she nodded.

Rex was talking on the pho
ne and the men were hovering when Arden finally blinked and sat up, pushing the covers off her and yelling loudly.

“
How the fuck could he do that?! No warning, like 'hey, A, when you open the safe my ashes will be staring you in the face'. He knows I hate surprises like that. I don’t do surprises, like ever. I hate them, he should have known. Maybe put up a fuckin' neon sign that said 'Duh, open with care,'” she said, walking around the room.

None of them knew how to handle this. First, she was practi
cally comatose, then she was ranting and raving. Jazz just kept agreeing with her and threw a few colorful words in with it until Arden finally realized someone else was involved in the conversation. She stopped and looked at Jazz who had just said.

“
Bastard, he was heartless.”

Arden held a hand to her mouth and looked around the room in shock. “
Uh…sorry, I possibly forgot to tell you when I get shocked with stuff, I have to process. It is kinda like shock, with a bit of bi-polar thrown in.”

Rex snapped
the phone shut. “Doc says it is good you are awake, if you need something call back. He will remain on call in case he needs to prescribe something.”

“
Like what? Valium. Okay let's see. This is Arden, this is Arden on drugs. Not a pretty sight, I can tell you first hand, I am not able to take anything like that, it has the opposite effect. So unless you want to see a raving lunatic on crack, you wouldn't call the doctor again. My therapist says everyone deals with an onslaught of information differently—this is just my way,” Arden said and shrugged.

“
Huh?” Rex said and looked at Jazz. “Does this sound familiar?”

“
Shut up,” Jazz drawled.

“
I shut down until I feel safe, that is good information to know,” Arden said slowly, waiting for West and Mason to say something.

“
When did you see a therapist?” Mason said quietly, he obviously thought it was when John had died and he left her.

“
Turn down the ego, boy. Therapist was from when I was in the foster home. I had some issues about my family, when we would talk about what happened I would shut down until John arrived. Then I let loose again,” Arden said.

“
Oh, nice,” West said and clapped his hands. “I thought we were going to have to send you to the locked ward. Apparently, all we have to do is build a padded room in the new house. Seems like it could come in handy.”

Arden rolled his eyes and Jazz and her men announced that now the crisis was over they were leaving. Mason remained silent and stared at her intently.

“I promise, just needed to sort through and then lose it of a minute. I am fine,” she said. “But I could us a little massage that I missed out on last night, and this morning.”

Both men jumped and went for the bags, pulling out the necessary stuff while she walked into the bedroom and lay down. She swiped at the last tear that fell. She was going to be okay, another little bump, and she made it through. Her guys had to think
she was a bit crazy right now, she wouldn’t be surprised if she lay here all night and waited for them to come in here. They were probably going to run.

“
Are there any other little quirks we need to be aware of. I mean the whole comatose thing freaked us the fuck out. If you see broccoli will you do something else,” West drawled as both men walked into the room.