Shattered Valor (11 page)

Ty frowned, wondering what Max found that had him so wound up. “Okay.”

“There were a few police reports involving Phillip. One when your mother died. Seems the coroner was on the fence about whether hers was a natural death or if it had been murder. Eventually, he ruled it natural causes. She choked to death, you know.”

“Yeah. I looked into that.”

Max made a face a looked away from Ty. His nostrils flared. “There was a report about you running away when you were seventeen. You’re father filed a missing persons, though the report said he thought you were a runaway.” Max looked at him. “The sheriff mentioned the cage in the basement.” Ty went very still. He didn’t fucking want to hear this. “It’s not there now. The cage. There’s only a bathroom down there.”

Ty gritted his teeth. “Okay.”

“Fuck this, Blade. Fuck it all to hell. Go back to Mandy’s. We’re monitoring it. You don’t have to be here. I don’t care what Kit or Owen say.”

Ty shook his head. “Maybe, had I never come back, I could have simply stayed away. But not now. Now I have to face it.”

Max’s nostrils flared. “I can finish the walk with you.”

“Thanks, man.” Ty shook his head. “They’re my ghosts. I’ve lived with them a long time. I can deal with it.”

Max gave him a long look. “Right,” he sighed. “If you change your mind, get me.” He started back toward the hidden elevator entrance.

“Hey, Max? What info did you give Owen?”

“Nothing. I’m leaving it to you to share whatever’s pertinent.”

Ty nodded. “Thanks.” He continued with his tour of the main floor. The media room, like all the others in the house, had been updated with the newest technology and designer touches. It had leather recliners on a stepped platform and state-of-the-art equipment in a little alcove behind the screen. A small kitchenette stood off to one side. Every creature comfort had been addressed.

The game room had obviously been his dad’s man-cave, with its heavily paneled walls and collection of mounted deer, elk, bear, and buffalo heads. A pool table took up the front area. The back end of the room contained an antique, ornately carved bar with tall seats. A leather sofa and two club chairs sat in the middle of the room. In a nook beside the bar were four burgundy leather wing chairs around a small table.

He stepped through the French doors next to the bar and crossed the patio to the gym building. The basketball court was regulation size, complete with two sets of folding bleachers. The exercise and weight room had all the resistance stations that a typical public gym had, plus several ellipticals, various stationary bikes and treadmills, and an extensive collection of free weights.

The his and hers locker rooms were mirror images of each other. Everything was done in white tiles with black accents. In the poolroom, the twenty-five-meter lap pool was five feet deep across its four lanes—not a pool for children or families. More evidence that his father had been entertaining men without their wives or children. Maybe that was a good sign. Maybe his dad had changed his ways prior to his death.

Sure. And maybe the tooth fairy really did exist.

Ty went back to the house and walked through the living room to the dining room. The table was different from the one that had been there when he was a kid. This one sat sixteen comfortably and looked as if it could be extended well beyond that. Some of the chairs had been broken, leaving an uneven number intact.

The kitchen had been extensively renovated. It now had the latest suite of appliances in a space outfitted for a chef and his assistants. A fireplace jutted into the dining area of the room, forming a cozy nook for the large round table and its six ladder-back chairs. The kitchen opened onto a wide patio that overlooked the terraced garden in the backyard.

Ty went down the hall to the den. As with the other rooms, the mess had been cleared away, but the room had not yet returned to being functional. The armchairs were absent from the seating arrangement near the sofa and fireplace. The walls were empty where paintings had been destroyed. Books were back on the shelves flanking the fireplace, but not in any logical order. Three boxes of papers were stacked next to the desk.

Ty walked around the room, keeping his mind closed to the past. It was hard to believe that, as torn apart as this room had been, the vandals hadn’t found the information they were searching for.

Everything about the house screamed of his father’s success, but Ty couldn’t reconcile that with the information he’d seen in his father’s finances. His portfolio was filled with poorly performing stocks and other investments. Ty couldn’t explain where he’d gotten the money to invest in the house. And while he might have benefited from the network he was building with the powerful men who spent time with him here, it didn’t show in his finances. His activities here hadn’t yet paid off or they had benefits that Ty hadn’t discovered.

Ty looked around the room. Whatever his father had been involved with affected the WKB, else they wouldn’t have cared to find the secret ledger he kept.

Ty picked up the insurance report from the desk. It listed nearly a half-million dollars in damages and property loss. Good old Phillip Bladen, the wealthiest citizen in Wolf Creek Bend, had become quite the art collector. Some fine pieces had been destroyed in WKB’s rampage through the house. Thankfully, Dennis kept a thorough inventory so the loss could be documented. Ty signed his acceptance and left the papers for Dennis to deal with in the morning.

A sound over by the sofa caught his attention. He looked up to see something small and black stretching on the thick arm of the couch. Sebastian? Ty smiled and went over to pick up the old cat. “Well, look at you. The world’s gone to hell, but you’re still kicking.”

The cat had to be twenty. His dad had gotten him when Ty was eleven or twelve. Did cats live that long? Maybe the Jacksons replaced Sebastian with another cat, but the collar looked familiar. He stroked the feline, his occasional companion in his dark basement world. Sometimes he’d gotten locked in down there with Ty. More than once, out of desperation and fear, he’d curled up on Ty and purred them both to sleep.

Ty carried him to the kitchen where he made sure the cat had food and water. Who knows what he’d been living on the past few days while the Jacksons had been in the hospital. He left the cat hungrily devouring a bowl of cat food.

On his way out of the house, Ty paused at the front entrance. The feeling of being watched that had been with him most of his childhood remained despite the fact that they had twice swept it. He looked at the living room, then down both hallways, wondering if some houses, like some people, were born evil. Or perhaps they just became evil through the things that happened in them. He should have burned the place down when he’d thought of it a few days ago, before Owen had ever seen it. Before the team could be sucked into its malevolent embrace.

He drove back to Mandy’s a few minutes later. It was late. The TV was on in the living room. Rocco was sitting in one of the old Americana wooden armchairs with Mandy on his lap. They watched him with worried eyes as he crossed over to the kitchen.

Ty made a sandwich, then wandered into the living room. Fiona, the girl whose father had acted on Amir’s behalf in blowing up Mandy’s equestrian center, was sitting on the couch next to Kelan. She and K appeared to be interested in the TV show, but the energy between them was palpable. Ty watched them, wondering how long Kelan could hold out before making a move on her.

“Hey, Rocco,” Ty asked around a mouthful of his sandwich, “can I borrow your truck? I’m going to down to Cheyenne to keep an eye on Eden.”

“Sure. Keys are on the counter.”

“Who’s Eden?” Mandy asked with a curious and teasing smile.

“She’s a girl who was at Winchester’s last week,” Ty said in a neutral voice. “She works for a dog trainer in Cheyenne.”

“Oh. And that explains why you need to protect her,” Mandy commented, digging for more info.

“She did a search of my house last night with her working dog. I doubt I’ll see her again. I just want to make sure that the WKB leaves her alone.”

Mandy frowned. “Why wouldn’t they?”

Ty looked at Rocco, then at Fee and Kelan, who were now watching at him. He didn’t want to worry the girls, but hell—they already knew the danger surrounding them was real.

“She was with two friends who were visiting from out of town that night we had the fight at Winchester’s. The WKB worked her friends over pretty good, then sent them back to her. They spent the night at the clinic. Owen flew them home today.”

Mandy moved off Rocco’s lap and came over to Ty. “If you think she’s in trouble, bring her here. I’ve no idea where we’ll put her, but we’ll make room. She could have the sofa. Or we could move Zavi into our room.”

Ty smiled. Kit’s sister had grown into a pretty young woman, with her straight copper-colored hair and big green eyes. She’d always been nice to Kit when so many others weren’t. He was glad she and Rocco were together.

“Thanks, Em. Truthfully, I’d rather keep her out of what’s happening. I just want to make sure the WKB doesn’t have her in their sights.”

Ty backed into a space in the parking lot of Eden’s building a short while later. The streetlights were coming on as night approached. He could see a light on in her apartment. As he watched, she came outside with Tank for his evening walk. She didn’t look around at the cars in the parking lot, didn’t do a visual sweep of the area. She just casually strolled outside with Tank. Did she think she was safe now?

After a few minutes, she went back into her apartment. He watched the lights switch off or on as she moved from the front of her apartment to the back.

Slouching back against the seat, he settled in for the night. He shut his eyes and saw Eden’s face. He and the guys had long ago learned to hide their emotions, but she had not. Everything she felt or thought declared itself on her expressive face. Smiling to himself, he remembered their conversations. She was prickly and defensive and so courageous.

He thought of her unusual, smoky topaz eyes, her pointy little chin. Her mouth, so warm and soft beneath his.

How the hell was he going to deal with never seeing her again when he couldn’t have a single thought without her in it?

* * *

Mandy stood by the window of her room several nights later. Zavi was in bed in his room. The house was quiet. Too quiet. The guys had been working over at Ty’s house for the past few days. Half of them had moved over there already. It was rotten that the WKB had trashed Ty’s house while he was in the snake pit. The man couldn’t catch a break.

And now that it was cleaned up, Owen had announced at dinner that they would all move over to Ty’s house in the morning. Rocco had warned her that was coming. It wasn’t a decision that sat well with her. Tactically, it made sense. Emotionally, it terrified her.

“Em, are you ready for the move?” Rocco asked as he joined her at the window, slipping his arms around her waist.

She shook her head as she leaned against his chest. “I’m packed, but not ready.”

“We can’t stay here. We’re climbing over each other. With Fee and Zavi. Owen’s whole team. And now the Jacksons. We don’t have enough room here.”

“I know, but I don’t want to leave. This is my home, Rocco.”

“We won’t be gone forever, just until this thing we’re facing is wrangled down. You can bring the dogs and Kitano. Blade has paddocks and an arena. You could take on those horses you wanted to train for the new center. Maybe you could get Fee to help you work with them.”

Mandy turned in his arms and rested her hands against his chest. “I don’t want my grandparents’ home destroyed. I want this house with its old furniture and my grandmother’s linens to be here still when everything’s over, just as it is.”

“Max and Greer have this place wired. If anyone steps foot in here, we’ll know. If you want, we can load your furniture and everything in the house and bring it over to Blade’s. He won’t mind a big, old storage container parked on his property somewhere.”

He pulled back and looked at Mandy, his dark brown eyes filled with the absolute conviction that what happening was right. “When it’s safe, I promise I’ll rebuild your center. We’re not walking away from your dream. Only putting it on hold.” He wiped the moisture from her cheeks with his thumbs. “I’m looking forward to being your side-walker.”

“You’ll do that? You’ll be my side-walker?”

“For the rest of my life. In everything we do.”

Mandy straightened, resolving to get through this next challenge. “It’s going to be difficult moving Kitano.” Her horse, a brown and white Paint, had been with her only a few months. He was slowly recovering from the neglect he’d received from his previous owner. She’d been working to rehabilitate him so that she could find a new home for him, but she’d fallen in love with him and doubted now that she’d be able to hand him over to a new owner. “He doesn’t like enclosed spaces. I won’t be able to get him into a trailer and I can’t ride him yet.”

“We’ll walk him through the back trails to Blade’s.”

Rocco bent toward her, matching his mouth to hers, pausing, waiting for her response before deepening the kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling the warmth of his body against hers.

She worried about what impact would the move to Ty’s house have on Rocco, too, still recovering as he was from PTSD. “I know there are good reasons for the move, but Ty’s house is a dark place. And you’re still working through so many things yourself.”