Deadly Spurs (16 page)

Arden, West, and Mason finally made it down to the dining room. She was a bit overwhelmed by all of the people. However, she felt like she was going to love being here. The girls were friendly and she loved West’s and Mason's moms. The women had screamed and jumped up and down talking about the wedding they were going to plan.

Maso
n had to calm his mom down when she starting talking about inviting the people she had just met. All she could think of was Jabo and Sassy standing with their guns protecting the guests. It would be fun, if nothing else. She felt a breeze and looked around the room waiting to see if anyone else noticed.

West and the guys were laughing and getting reacquainted. It felt like a home, one she had longed for since she was young. Later she would never be able to put her finger on it, but at that moment she
felt at peace.

Everyone was there and finally they settled at the huge table that held the lunch Lou had made for all them. Apparently, Bea and Tulu tried to help, but Lou had been suspicious of their herbs and told them she could handle it. As they fin
ished their meal, the knocks on the door indicated that Alex’s family had arrived to see Jazz who was playing up the wounded thing. Rex and Drew jumped whenever she asked someone to pass her something. Hell, they practically fed her when she dropped her fork. Everyone was amused.

As people began to file in, Arden watched as they interacted. This was a huge family and apparently, everyone knew each other well. She wondered if she would feel this with Mason's and West
’s mothers. She wanted this.

Then
they introduced her, she smiled and nodded. People leaned against the wall as Gage held up a hand.

“
We need to brief real quick,” he announced and Arden snapped to attention.

Thane stepped up and took control. “
Here is where we are at. Things are getting very difficult, I'm not sure how long we can risk being out in the open before someone really gets hurt. These guys are determined and we are running out of time to find out who they are before they do attack again. And we know they will. For the meantime, we have construction workers coming to build a few more houses so we will be able to settle when all this is done. But this is a ranch, and to be honest, look what happened before, the town supports and loves you, and will help in anyway. The bad part is, I think we are all in agreement here that we don’t want anyone else to get hurt. We need a plan. The Commander is running the names so we can figure all this shit out, but we have women to take care of and babies that do not need to be here.”

T
he men nodded and Arden looked like she was going to argue, but West put a hand on her thigh and shook his head slightly. She knew they were going to talk about this later. She listened as they talked about her parents. She nodded and accepted the looks of sympathy and the hugs from Bea and Tulu as they whispered in her ear that she was their family now. Arden could feel the tears gather, she would end up a mess before the meeting was over.

Alex
’s father cleared his throat and stood. He looked at Bailey and Noah before speaking. Dallas smiled and said, “We were going to talk to you about this later, but it seems like this is coming to a head.”

Alex nodded sadly. “
Sorry, Dad, we have brought this to your door as well.”

Dallas smiled and laughed. “
We were bored anyway. Listen, we have all been talking, I know you love this place and I know this is going to be a hard decision. But you need to hear me out. Alex, do you remember the islands?”

Alex slapped himself on the head and he nodded. “
Duh!”

“
What island?” Sable asked confused.

“
When Bailey, Calli, and Ginny finally agreed to marry us sorry men, their wedding present was a small group of islands in the Gulf. They are owned by us and we have made a lot of improvements over the years. There are a total of six houses and a central meeting building on the middle island. They are all close, maybe a half a mile apart, there are jet skis and speedboats ready. Security had been established years ago. We get the occasional ship that passes but because of the coordinates, we are out of the shipping lane for the most part. Half could go, the other half stays, the houses are huge. Five to six bedrooms each, if we all need to go we can. But I think it would be best to send the women and children with a security team. We can all visit as often as we need to. One of the islands has a landing strip, it takes an hour from the coast to get there. Hell, we could live there and commute here. Whatever you want. It has state of the art everything, wouldn’t be too hard to move the war room to the central building. I will give them to you as wedding presents with the stipulation we get to visit. Or we use them for now until this place is done, you will be safe, and when you come back it will be for good,” Dallas explained.

The room was silent and Alex lifted his head and looked at the men and they all made slight movements. She couldn
’t tell what they were thinking. Finally, Alex looked up at his father and smiled.

“
We accept this gift but we don’t want the islands, we have started a life here, and we want to get this ranch up and off the ground. We will all go and get the women settled but we will commute back and forth, we have a ranch to run, even if everyone isn’t here. Let’s work out the logistics,” Alex said.

“
Uh…is anyone going who's in the room without dangly parts?” Sable said dryly. Arden wanted to clap and cheer her on but she remained silent.

“
Sorry, sweetheart, would you all be in agreement?” Alex said, kissing Sable on the cheek.

Sh
e looked at the women who smiled. “Of course we will, but we want to be involved the whole way, no secrets, no keeping shit from us. Also we want a cabana boy to serve us drinks by the pool.”

The women nodded and smiled, while the men rolled their eyes.
Tulu came up behind her, West, and Mason. “We need to talk first.”

Mason raised an eyebrow at his mother but nodded his head. They excused themselves explaining they had a few things to discuss. She wasn
’t sure what this was about, but she had an idea. The whole time in the room, she felt a breeze. John was with her.

When they walked into the large backyard, Arden smiled. She loved the horses and cows, she was ready to be a rancher'
s wife. Well, she hoped she would be a rancher’s wife. This was an amazing place, the green pastures, and the cowboys walking around with a purpose, saddling the horses, and moving the cows.

Tulu and Bea were with them and they paused at the gazebo that
was in the center of the yard. It held seats all the way around and they all made themselves comfortable before Tulu looked at the guys.

“
Stop looking at me like that, we are going. We aren’t stupid. Mason, when we were in the room didn’t you see John? He was very agitated. You ignored him,” his mother said.

“
No, I was trying to focus, with that many people around it was hard. I know he was there, as were the others, they were real faint, as if the energy in the room was preventing them from coming in clear,” Mason admitted.

“
Partially right, the energy in the room was huge. But they were agitated because John needed to say something to you.” Tulu frowned. “He wants you all to see it, like before.”

Arden sat up and nodded, she wanted to see her brot
her again, to seek his approval for this whole thing. The guys nodded and Arden held out her hands this time, she knew what to expect, no surprises.

With a slight breeze, she felt the men appear around them. Arden smiled when her brother stepped forward
and knelt in front of her.

“
A,” he whispered.

“
J,” she laughed. “I have so much to tell you. West and Mason…”

“
Honey, I know they will take care of you. And if I could pick two men in the world I trusted the most—it would be them. You will be happy and safe. But that’s not what I wanted to say,”
John said.

“
Okay,” she said with a shaky smile, so much for no surprises.

“
I have to fade back for a while. I'm not leaving, just fading. You can call me when you want, day or night. Well, not night, I really don’t want to see these two naked. But you know what I mean. When you need me all you have to do is think about me, I will be there in the blink of an eye,”
John started and Arden frowned, she felt tears rising.

“
Listen we have rules here. The guys are staying until the end of this, they have things to get done as well. However, none of us are leaving until you are safe. Then… honey, we are moving on, but I will not be far. That is the cool thing about this. I will be here,”
John said and he put a hand to her heart.

“
I promise for every major thing in your life, I will be with you. I want to see my niece or nephew grow up. There is more going on here than you know. We are trying to work together to make sure these people are stopped. Call it our last mission. You know how we are, we believe in the mission, we left one undone,”
John explained and then ran a hand down the side of her face, wiping away her tears at the thought of not seeing him again.

How could he do this, fade, leave, whatever
—she wasn't ready. Arden had no clue how to express herself. She didn’t want to seem selfish but damn it, she needed him still.

She finally thought of the words she wanted to say. “
You know I love you, but this whole thing just became real to me. I mean you will be gone soon. I can’t let you go yet, do you understand? I just can’t make it final yet. I feel like the time is not right. You always told me if something happened I would know when the time was right, but it is not right now. I need some time,” she whispered.

“
Oh, honey, I know. I don’t expect you to bury me and move on without thinking, you'll know when the time comes, until then keep me as close as you need to. But ‘Emo’ over here has a bit of a situation. The reason I wanted to talk to you was because we have some things to discuss. Something has happened. I need you to hear this from me. Your parents, they do not define you, I want you to hear that before we go on. You have grown into an amazing woman without them. Whatever they did, this is not on you. It is on them. Do you hear me?”
John said, gripping her hands.

“
Shit,” Arden whispered and she put her head down and said, “They are dead aren’t they?”

“
Yeah, honey, they are, the same man who is after you, killed them. But you are a separate person, a lot of bad shit is going to come out about them. Investigations and so much more. I need you to believe that you are not responsible. They are—not you,”
John said.

Arden sobbed softly, mostly for the young woman wh
o at one time loved her parents and thought they loved her in return. West and Mason moved closer to her, comforting her. This went on for a few minutes before she raised her tear-streaked face. “You are my family. They are my family. The others, they were strangers.”

“
You are so right,
” John said and cupped her face.
“I love you, A, you were there for me when no one else was. I was a broken lost child and you saved me with your acceptance and your love. You were my best friend, my sister, there is nothing you could ever do that would make me stop loving you. Our lives define who we are, you have done so much good. Believe what I have always seen, a heart as pure as the driven snow. I want you remember those words because it is true.”

Arden sobbed
more and nodded. “Okay.”

John smiled and looked at the guys.
“Mess with her and I will make your life a living hell.”

“
Now, sis, remember before you leave here have a quick party, sub sandwiches and beer. Celebrate my life and then be done with it,” John said firmly, then stood, and faced Tulu. “Thank you,” he said to the older women, who then nodded.

Arden did just as he asked. The day they were slated to leave, she threw a party. Subs, beer, and weird music she hated but her brother loved. The whole family was there, no one cried, they only celebrated John, and the others’ lives. They told stories about them, and laughed. Even with the looming situation they had, it still was a lighthearted affair.

Arden had
made sure when they told her about her parents she remained calm and clearly stated to the investigators that she knew nothing of their activities and she had not seen them in more than seven years. It was all true. She just left out the part about the drive. Mason and the others agreed they needed to get as much information from it before they gave it up.

Mason and West never left her side, they brought her food, taking turns getting what she wanted. Kissing her and making her feel happy even on a day
she was kinda saying goodbye. She felt the breeze and the light touches, and knew her brother approved of her party.

Drake came out from the house frowning. “
We have a 911 call from the town you guys were in, Mason.”

Arden jumped to her feet and grabbed
the paper.
Please don’t let it be Sassy or any of the others she met
. She saw the name but didn’t recognize it so she handed the paper to Mason.

“
Brin Plater?” Mason said aloud.

“
Emo’s older sister?” Thane asked and grabbed the paper.

Jessie "Iceman"
James stepped up frowning. “Older sister, what are you talking about, you mean his younger sister who is still in high school, her name is Cynthia.”

Ice jumped when he heard his friend
’s voice,
“Really, dumbass, my older sister, Brin, the one you never met because she was in Med School, remember her?”

Ice closed his eyes, he dreaded this day. “
How could I remember her if I never met her?” No one could see him but Ice. They looked at him with dawning recognition.

“
Because, you fucker, you did meet her. The party we went to before the last mission. The one where you got so drunk? It was Brin’s graduation party, asshole. I didn’t know until just now that you had sex with my sister that night—you ass!”
Emo yelled.

“
Brin? Wait, I remember a Brin, that was your sister, man, I didn’t know,” Ice argued. “It doesn’t count.” The guys waited trying to piece together what was going on.

Drake laughed and held out the paper to Ice, “
I would guess it does now. She was driving through the town trying to find Tulu. She went into labor on the side of the road. Someone from town picked her up. She explained to them who she needed called. They put two and two together but didn’t know how to get a hold of us. Thank goodness we tagged 911 calls.”

“
Well that sucks, where's the father?” Ice asked and looked at the guys who were laughing at him. They apparently got the joke but Jessie didn’t.

“
Right in front of me, asshole. Count back, you dipshit!”
Emo yelled.

Ice focused and then began to cuss. “
I need some fucking keys.”

The SEAL ran off with Emo trailing him yelling in his ear.

Thane rolled his eyes and said, “I will take him.”