Deadly Spurs (7 page)

Arden stared down the handguns barrel and aimed. She knew the basics, follow her line of site with the weapon, then she looked straight down her arm for an accurate shot. Taking a deep breath, she pulled the trigger and once again hit the cans that were on the railing.

Sassy clapped and cheered as she pulled her shotgun out and took out the last cans. Damn, these guys were serious about their weapons. Vince and Sassy explained their weapons and what they were capable of to her. Even Dagwood had never
gone into that much detail, he had been more worried about safety. These people wanted to make sure she hit everything she shot at. It was crazy to think like that. But she knew in the situation she was in, this was the best information she could have gotten.

Vince said she needed to think about a person who was trying to hurt her as a monster not a person. They were the things that went bump in the night, the things people were terrified that they were real. Because they were, she had smiled and wh
en she began shooting, she had done just that. He probably didn’t mean she should imagine them as the sock monster she always imagined lived in her dryer. Her thoughts made him hideous over the years and it was the first thing that popped into her head. Of course, she kept that quiet, and didn’t broadcast what she was thinking. Hell, Sassy the vicious, bloodthirsty, pregnant woman was picturing shooting her husband in the nuts because he had gotten her pregnant and she was bloated.

“
Okay, ladies,” Vince clapped. “Jabo texted, he is about fifteen minutes away, time to get back.”

“
That sorry ass is texting and driving again. I am gonna kill him. I told him it was dangerous. Bastard thinks if he gets into an accident I will take care of him. Right, dumb shit will be packed off to his momma’s for her to take care of him. I don’t have the time nor the fuckin' patience to deal with a hurt man,” Sassy snarled and gripped her gun.

Arden smiled and nodded in agreement. There was no way she was disagreeing
with this woman when she had a gun. Maybe she should warn Jabo about her fury, then she shrugged. Every person for themselves at this point. She had too many things to think about already, she couldn’t worry about him too.

They walked slowly back to th
e hotel, talking about the weather, and swollen ankles, it was entertaining and took her mind off the thoughts running through it. When they hit the parking lot and she saw Mason standing there pounding on her door, she felt relief. Finally he was here, she could see him. It seemed like forever since she had been close to him. Then she heard what he was yelling.

“
God damn, Arden, open the fucking door and quit being so stubborn. I screwed up, but now is not the time to deal with that. We need to get you to safety!” Mason yelled.

She paused, then thought about the last twenty-four hours.
Did he really think she was sitting in there scared, crying her eyes out over him? What the fuck, his ego was huge!

Finally, she had listened enough to him ranting.
Arden could have remained silent and waited for the dipshit to turn around. How dare he pound on her door like that. She finally noticed the other people with Mason, and older woman, who she could only assume was his mother, was standing there shaking her head. While LC was leaning against the truck they were driving, trying to keep his laughter in. Finally having enough of this shit, she stormed over to where he was still yelling at the door.

“
Damn it, I know I hurt you, but this is getting ridiculous, open the fucking door, Arden!” Mason roared, and she hit him in the back of the head and stepped back. Mason paused and looked over his shoulder, apparently thinking it was his mother.

“
Ma…” Mason yelled.

“
Do I look like your mama? What the fuck are you doing pounding on my door like a fucking idiot? Really? Like I would be in there still crying over your sorry ass. No. I was out shooting cans, making sure my aim was right on in case I had to shoot someone. Which by the way, at this point, it is surely you,” Arden snapped and pushed by him to try to walk into the room.

“
Arden,” Mason said with a stunned voice.

“
Yeah, it's me, and no I am not pining for you like you think. You weren’t that good in bed that I would be still crying after all these months.” Arden laughed.

Mason frowned. Where was the soft, sweet girl he knew? The one who professed her love the last night he saw her. “
Hey, listen here.”

“
No you listen. I waited for a few months thinking you were going to call or write. Hell, I even thought about learning Morse code so I could figure out if the taps I was hearing on my window in the middle of the night was you, staring longingly at my window and just afraid to come in because of your mangled body. Because there was no way you would have just dissed me like that unless you were fuckin' crippled. I guess that is just the optimist in me. But don’t worry, those days are gone. I am not gonna cramp your style or anything. Now why don’t you run along. West is coming back to our room and we will be leaving. He can help me—I don’t need you coming to my rescue anymore,” Arden said and slammed into the room and closed the door, locking it before she could think about it. When she had seen him, her first instinct was to run to him and kiss his lights out.
Ha, well no more of that shit
.

“
Arden!” Mason yelled, pounding on the door.

“
I am showering now, so stop pounding on the door and making yourself look like an idiot. I will be out when I am done, hopefully West will be back, and we can move!” she yelled cheerfully, when all she wanted was to crawl into the bed and hug her pillow, which smelled like West.
What the fuck was wrong with her? She didn’t know what was going on—her emotions were a jumble.

Taking her own advice
, she gathered her least dirty clothes and grimaced—no underwear. Well, she would have to make a stop right when they got on the road. There was no way she could go commando all day long. She shivered thinking of the chaffing.

Arden turned on the shower, even as she hea
rd LC and Mason arguing over the noise and pulled back the curtain. Well, at least she would be fresh and clean when she saw him next. She sighed when the hot water hit her sore muscles. Damn, who knew firing a gun would use so many of those hard to reach muscles. Tomorrow she would be paying for this. But that was then and this was now, she needed to figure out how she was going to deal with the overgrown ape who was still outside yelling. She could hear the muffled voices over the water still.

She g
rabbed the small bottle of shampoo and lathered her hair, when she heard the door open. Thank goodness, West was back. “I will be out in a minute,” she called.

“
No, you will get that sweet little ass out here right now. What the fuck is up with the attitude, Arden,” Mason growled as he whipped the curtain back. The suds began dripping in her eyes when her head snapped up and she saw a pissed-off man standing in the bathroom with her.

“
Eeep,” she said and grabbed for the curtain. “Get the fuck out of here, Mason!” she screamed.

“
Hey, you picked the time and the place, all you had to do was talk to me out there calmly,” he said in his dead calm voice, she hated that. John and all of his friends had the same tone. It was when they were in their serious GI Joe voice and no one was supposed to mess with them. Well, he didn’t scare her.

Deciding she was just too pissed to talk, she turned to rinse off her hair, ignoring the fact that she could feel his eyes taking in every inch of her bo
dy, she felt her nipples tighten at the thought of him watching her. Damn her treacherous body for giving him the satisfaction of knowing she still wanted him.

When she was done she held out a hand for a towel, and silently dared him with her eyes to make
her wait. With a smirk, he turned and grabbed a towel, then held it with a firm grip so he could wrap her in it.

Arden rolled her eyes, and then stepped out into the large fluffy towel and wrapped it around herself then turned and looked at Mason.

“Now, what do you need?” she said sweetly.

Mason growled and pulled her flush with his body and kissed her. Not the slow seductive kisses she had received the night before and this morning from West, no these were commanding. She felt like he was staking a c
laim on her body, and damned if it didn’t accept it. But she felt something missing, damn she had turned into a perv, she missed West.

When she heard someone clearing their throat behind them, Mason took his time and pulled back. With a stunned expressio
n she looked over her shoulder and suddenly wished they lived in California, at least there she had a chance the earth would open up and swallow her whole. An earthquake had never been here that she knew about—damn Mother Nature.

West was grinning, a poin
t she was missing because she was mortified to be caught kissing one man, hours after being in bed with the other.

“
Voodoo,” West said and held out his hand.

“
North,” Mason said, reached and pulled the other man into a one-armed man hug.

Arden just looked
back and forth between the two, threw up her arms, and walked out of the room mumbling something along the lines of ‘men are fucking assholes'.

Tulu Patrick stood outside the room with a delighted smile on her face. She had never seen her son so flustered. It was amusing. Thane stood next to her shaking his head because his friend had made an ass out of himself. She wished she could be a fly on the wall when West walked in. But since no screaming came from the room, she figured they were safe.

Now she was engaged in a conversation with the most delightful people. Vince, the handsome widower who ran the hotel was smiling at her.
Yep, she still had it
. Her late husband called it the voodoo magic, which drew the attention of males, she called it a set of double Ds. Either way it was helpful, although when you have to be her age, the sagging didn’t help the cause, a real good bra did however, those infomercials come in handy—the Wonder Bra was amazing. Her dyed black hair didn’t hurt either.

Dagwood walked up next to her and said,
“I need your help.”

She paused and looked up at the tall handsome ghost and frowned. “
What?”

Vince cocked his head, and she wondered if he was gonna ask who she was talking to. It
was like second nature to her to see the apparitions that she sometimes forgot other would think she was a bit crazy when it looked like she talked to herself.

“
Nice to meet you,” Vince smiled and waited.

Dagwood turned to the other man and said,
“You can see me?”

“
Course I can, you are standing right there ain’t ya. My wife, God rest her, was a priestess, she was strong enough that when her guides came to her, I could see them too. Scared the shit out of me the first time. After she passed, I got used to tourists who had no clue their power wandered in and they would have spirits tailing after them. I met some real nice people, once they knew I could see them they would stay and chat for a while until the lingering power dissipated. Now Tula must be a strong one as well, 'cause I see you and a bunch of others, including the amused looking female over there who is peaking in the door trying to spy on what is going on.” At Vince's comment, Tulu and Dagwood turned and laughed.

“
Oh…well…okay then. John, what do you need?” Tulu asked, though she still stared at Vince, looking him over and thinking he may have a bit of a chance. This little town was only a hop, skip, and a jump for where she lived.

“
I gotta talk to her. The letter is back at the ranch and she needs to hear what I had to say to her now. I need her to open up to Mason and West,”
John said frustrated.

“
Awww…aren’t you the cute little ghost matchmaker,” Tulu said and then nodded. “Let’s go, the sooner we get this done with, the sooner I can join this lovely man for a cup of coffee.”

Vince grinned and nodded then looked at Thane. “
You need a few rooms for the night.”

Thane pushed himself away from the bumper and nodded. “
Yeah, we aren’t going anywhere today, maybe even a few days. Seems we are a bit protected here.”

Vince nodded and motioned with his head where some of the boys were sitting in their trucks watching out for any nonsense. “
Yep.”

“
Okay then, two more rooms, and you probably should make them singles. I figure we may not see them until morning.” Thane laughed.

“
No, honey,” Tulu said and pulled the SEAL behind her. “John needs to have a group therapy session, then you are free to go and lay down. He wants you there as well.”

Thane stopped making her almost trip, “
Damn it, we don’t have the letter.”

“
Don’t need it, I can hear him,” Tulu said forcefully and pulled him harder until he moved.

“
Not sure I am ready for this,” Thane said.

“
Not sure I care. This is about John, not you, so move it,” Tulu said and then pounded on the door for them to open.

Arden went about her business and got her clothes before going back into the now deserted bathroom to change. Mason and West were talking about the sit
uation, and didn’t seem to care they had a partially naked woman wandering around.
Figures, men
.

She heard the knock at the door when she was brushing her teeth.
Looks like the gang is all here,
she thought when she heard the noise in the other room. Mason was arguing with a woman,
must be his mother,
she thought and opened the door.

Mason and West both turned and looked at her, the fire in their eyes let her know they were not as immune as she previously thought. Arden felt the burn of heat flood into
her cheeks.

“
Isn’t she just a sight,” the older woman said, snapping her out of her thoughts. “My name is Tulu, you can call me, momma. However, now we need to talk, and I need you to have an open mind.”

Arden frowned in confusion and Mason made a noise,
threw up his hands, stalked to the other side of the room, and leaned against the wall. Something weird was going on here.

“
Okay, and by the way my name is Arden,” she said and held out her hand.

“
Oh, please,” the older woman said and held out her arms and waited for Arden to walk into them.
When was the last time an older woman gave her a hug?
she thought and hesitated but for the life of her, she didn’t know why, when she stepped forward and Tulu embraced her, she felt a sense of calm come over her. Like everything would be all right.

“
Now let’s get you settled. This is going to be a shock,” Tulu said.

Arden shrugged, as if she hadn
’t had enough shocks over the last few months. It was like a roller coaster ride without the barf bag.

Once she was sett
led in the chair, she noticed that Mason and Thane had distanced themselves from the others, they looked like they were ready for a beer. Shit, this couldn’t be good. But why was Tulu breaking it to her? Shit, they wanted a female to give her the bad news so when she fell apart someone would be there for her. Damn it, she felt the tears already gathering in her eyes.

“
Now, I need to tell you a bit about me so you can understand what I am trying to say here,” Tulu said gently as if she were talking to a fragile woman, which made her frown even more.

“
Since I was a spark in my daddy’s eye my family is what you call special. My mother, my grandmother, and all the way up the tree of life have always been for lack of a better word, mediums. Do you know what that is?” she said gently.

OooooKaaayy, so this was the big secret? Duh, half of the people in this state are involved in the woo woo magic. “
Of course, I have lived here most of my life,” Arden said with a smile.

Tulu took a deep breath, “
So since I can see spirits, there have been a few visitors over the last few days.”

Arden frowned, and this had what to do with her? She only knew of one…
oh fuck
.

“
I can see by your expression you put two and two together.” Tulu laughed. “Now, my son and his friends for some reason, I think it was from the blast, have been able to see their friends when it is their time. I don’t think this is a lasting thing for them, I am assuming since the men were so close their pure will is bringing them to their friends. Be that as it may, we need to have a conversation because John here, needs to tell you a few things. To be honest with you, it is like ripping off a band-aid, just brace yourself.”

Arden was stunned, her brother, John, wanted to speak to her. Sure she had seen the chick who has her own show that does this, as well as the many times she had gone to mediums to see if they could talk to John, but none of them ever worked. Now here sh
e was, sitting in a motel room in the middle of
Deliverance
, and John wanted to talk to her now?

“
Gimme a minute,” Arden said and rose from her chair and walked into the bathroom and closed the door. When she was alone, she finally let out a nervous laugh, which quickly turned into a sob, and she tried to calm her emotions.

Arden felt a breeze against her skin, turned, and looked but no one was there. It was something she had felt a lot over the last few months, she thought she was having hot flashes.
“You shit,” Arden hissed quietly. She knew John was with her.

“
Have you been here all along?” she asked and when she didn’t hear anything in return, she sighed.
Damn it.
“You had better not been here last night, or when I was showering, that is creepy. Also when I go to the bathroom, or when I am in the female doctor's office. Shit, we need to have rules here, now I am thinking about all the times I was doing something embarrassing and you could have been there. So fucked up.”

When there was no answer, she turned on the water and washed her face before continuing. Hoping the running water would take care of it. She fell back into her normal talk with her brother, he was her confidant even if he was dead. “
What the fuck have I gotten myself into? Mason, West, I have no idea what to do. I mean I like them both, hell, who am I kidding, with Mason it is more than that. And with West it feels right, like he has always been there, you know? But two of them. I can barely keep the cactus alive in my apartment, how the fuck am I supposed to deal with two overbearing men? Shit, my calendar will be full, I can’t juggle two of them—impossible.”

She sighed when there was no bright light or epiphany. “
Okay, let’s get this over with,” she said and stood. “But now that I know you are here, I am getting a bell for you to hit so I can talk to you.”

When she stepped into the room, Mason and West where whispering, standing next to the door waiting for her. Both of them reached for her, and
she dodged their grasp, she couldn’t deal with that right now, too confusing. “Tulu, I apologize if I was rude, I just needed to gather myself a bit.”

“
Honey, if you had just sat there I would have worried, your response is normal. Now come back here and we can let John get off his chest whatever he needs to,” the older woman said and Arden nodded and resumed her seat. This time though Mason and West sat across from her on the bed, staring intently at her. She stuck out her tongue and focused on Tulu.

“
Now, I need to try something, I hope you are willing and I hope this will work, then I won't have to try to channel him. I find it is creepy allowing someone in my body to talk to their loved ones. I did it with an older gentlemen a few years ago, and when I woke up, I was gripping my own boobs. Damn, demented ghosts. Now hold out your hands,” the older woman demanded and when Arden did, she grasped a hold of them, and Arden closed her eyes.

Arden felt an electric current run through her, shit this one
hurt a little, not like the sexual one she felt with both of the men, this was rawer, like she had stuck her finger in a light socket. She would not be surprised if her hair was standing straight out there was so much power.

First, she felt a whisper of
awareness. She could see herself sitting in the chair with Tulu holding her hands. Then she could see West, Mason, and Thane all touching Tulu on the shoulder. It was as if they were all connected.

John appeared next to her chair, sitting on the armre
st and staring at her grinning. She could feel the others in the room as well but couldn't see them. The only one she could see what John.

“
Hey, A,”
her brother said to her affectionately.

“
J,” Arden whispered in awe. They had begun calling each other by only their first letter when they watched John’s favorite movie.

“
Sorry, A. I am so sorry I didn’t come home,”
her brother said and put his hand on her shoulder. She felt his touch for the first time since she got the call her brother was dead—she felt whole again. He had been such a big part of her life, that when he was suddenly gone, she felt a little empty.

“
Like I can hold that against you. J, you were doing what you loved, serving your country. You know I never understood the whole live the life thing, but I understood you. I know you would have never left the guys, they were important to you. Both of us know what finding a family means, my only regret was having this fucking job I couldn’t move to where you were stationed. Wait, I could have, but I refused to. I guess in all honesty, I didn’t want to share you. When you were home, it was always just us, but if I had moved, I would have gotten just as sucked in as you had. I wasn’t ready for that.”