by Cara Carnes
“Bree?” Lars asked.
“It’s okay. They’re friends,” she said quickly. “Z, is there a problem? Why are they here?”
“A certain sexy commando has been wanting to come and bring you back since the day you left.” The teasing tone quickened Zoey’s pulse. “Gage has exhausted them with mission after mission and practically sat on them in between. Ram was not deterred, though. They’re done waiting. We all are. We miss you. Get your ass packed and back here.”
Relief filled her. They wanted her back. A small part of her worried they’d take her retreat personally and question whether or not she belonged at The Arsenal. “I can’t wait to see you.”
“Good.” Zoey paused. “We’ve been talking. Do you think your family should come and stay for a while? There’s been a lot of chatter on the DeepWeb about you being gone. We don’t fully know who’s got eyes on us, but whoever it is made it known that you left.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah. We don’t know how that fallout will go down. Your family would be safer here.”
Damn. Bree squeezed her eyes shut. “Grams hasn’t left this mountain other than grocery runs since she married Gramps.”
“Then you’d best get to talking,” Zoey said.
“What’s going on?” Lars asked.
“Is that your brother?” Zoey asked. “What’s he like?”
“Annoying and rude,” Bree clipped. “Get the kids packed. You’re all coming back with me.”
His jaw twitched. “You know she won’t go for that.”
“She’ll go. I’m not giving her a choice.” Bree focused on the conversation with Zoey. “I’d better get to talking Grams around. They’ll need a cottage.”
“We’ve got a four-bedroom one set aside, just in case,” Zoey said.
“Three rooms will do. We’ve had three adults and two kids in a two-bedroom cabin,” Bree said. “Luke’s six and Hillary is four. They can share a room. Too much space will probably freak them out.” Bree had a cottage of her own, one she’d shared with Addy since Rhea had moved in with Fallon. “I assume I still have my cottage.”
“Yes, but your roomie has changed. Addy and Kristof moved into one with Stacia and Olaf last week. Mia’s in what used to be Rhea’s room and then was Addy’s.” Zoey sighed heavily. “I’m sending a massive file your way. Get your tablet and download it before you leave the mountain. It’ll catch you up on everything that’s happened since you left.”
Sharing a cottage with the mysterious and lethal Mia sounded terrifying and exciting in equal measure, so she focused on Olaf and Stacia living with Addy and Kristof. The young couple had been through hell. They deserved a happily ever after. Add in Zoey thinking ahead and giving Bree what she’d need to be caught up with everything that’d happened while she was away, and wow. “That’s amazing,” Bree whispered. “You’re awesome. You know that, right?”
“I try. Later, chica.”
“Later.” Bree clicked off the call with a smile and grabbed her tablet. Two clicks later and the file was downloading. She stood and headed toward the corner where she’d kept her stuff all packed, mainly because there hadn’t been enough room to unpack anything.
Lars hovered.
“This’ll be good for the kids,” Bree said. “Kamren and Dallas have two boys. DJ’s about Luke’s age, so they’ll be best friends in minutes.”
“I’m not worried about the kids. Grams won’t take this well, even if it is only for a couple weeks.”
Hmm. If Bree had her way, it’d be a permanent move. While she loved her Grams and admired her love of the mountain she and Gramps had raised their family on, she was too isolated. Sure, Lars had moved in when he’d finally scraped off the baby momma, but this wasn’t a good place for the woman to help raise her great-grandkids.
“She’ll do this for her great-grandkids. She was the one who talked Dad into leaving the mountain so I could have a better education and be the first of us to go to college.” Bree hoisted her duffel bag and looked at her brother. “That’s our main talking point. It’s temporary, as far as she knows. Once she meets Momma Mason, she’ll be in love with Resino and everyone at the compound. Then we can discuss a permanent move.”
“You think they’ll hit it off?”
“Everyone loves Grams and everyone loves Momma Mason. Grams isn’t much older than Momma Mason since she and Mom both had kids young.” Less than a decade separated the two women and they both loved family. “Get the kids packed, only the essentials.”
Lars exited the bedroom. Bree took a fortifying breath as she packed the rest of her electronics, including the tablet that’d finished downloading the file. She couldn’t wait to catch up on what all had been going on at The Arsenal. Sinclair had insisted she keep her contact minimal with everyone, likely to reinforce the lesson she was teaching Bree.
A painfully lonely lesson Bree wouldn’t soon forget. The Arsenal and everyone there were her tribe. Her family. She needed to accept their help getting through her PTSD, just like Jesse and Mary had.
She carried her stuff into the small living room and looked around. Every crevice was filled with photographs or artwork Luke had done. A few of the older drawings were creations saved from when Lars had been young. Could she really ask the woman who’d given her more love and support than anyone to leave this place, even if it was for her own good?
Bree had worked hard over the years as time allowed to make the cabin safer. Grams had her own power grid. Now she had internet, even though she hadn’t owned a computer until three weeks ago.
She locked gazes with the stubborn woman who’d given Bree everything she’d ever needed. “We need to talk, Grams.”
“No. We don’t.” The woman motioned toward the bag, then to Lars, who was carrying three bags from the second bedroom he shared with the kids. “I’ve known this moment was coming. I’ve heard everything you and Lars have said. I don’t agree, and I’m not saying I’ll make this a permanent move, but I want to see this place. The Arsenal. I want to suss those folks out for myself and make sure they’re good enough for my baby girl.”
Thank goodness. Bree expended the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “Okay. You’ll all have a cottage to yourself. The kids will share a room, though they have a four-bedroom one you could use if you want them to have a place of their own.”
“They’ll be better together,” Lars said. He wrapped an arm around Grams. “I love you. I know this isn’t what you want, but we both know my sis has been hiding something from us.”
Her stomach churned. She hadn’t told them why she’d showed up at the cabin. They’d asked, but she’d dodged every attempt because it wasn’t their burden to carry.
“I read between the lines. Her light wasn’t shining as bright as it always does when she showed up. Something knocked the wind out of her and dimmed that light. She’s better now,” Grams said. Intensity resonated within her gaze. “Your gramps would be better with this than me. He always knew what to say.”
“I’d imagine he’d say it’s not how many times we get knocked out, but how many times we stand back up and dust ourselves off,” Lars said with a wink. “Wasn’t that what you told me when I finally cut Janie loose?”
Yeah. Repeatedly. Bree swallowed the emotion clogging her throat. “I love you both. So much.”
“We love you, too,” Grams said. “Now who’s coming up my mountain?”
“An Arsenal team. The Triple Threat. I’m not sure if it’s just those three, or if their team leader, Gage, will be with them,” Bree said.
“I’d best pack my shotgun then,” Grams said as she turned toward the fireplace where Gramps’ old weapon hung. “If they get out of line, they’ll get a lesson in manners.”
“It’s probably best not to go against Bree’s superheroes,” Lars teased. “This’ll be interesting.”
Holy shit. How had she forgotten about story time? Bree squeezed her eyes shut. “Please, please, please contain Luke.”
<
br /> “Afraid I can’t do that. He’ll explode when he meets them.” Lars crossed his arms. “I bet you’re regretting story time right about now.”
That was the understatement of the century. Regaling her niece and nephew with fictionalized stories using the kickass commandos she knew as the basis had been a fun way to keep those she cared about close despite the distance. Luke had gobbled up every word and the story time had become a nightly event, often taking hours to complete.
Entertaining a hyperactive six-year-old boy and a precocious four-year-old girl was a lot of work. Bree had a newfound respect for Dallas and Kamren for making it look so simple with TJ and DJ.
Yep. This was about to get embarrassing. “Where are the kids?”
“Outside playing,” Grams said.
Bree froze. “You heard the alarms and didn’t get them inside?”
“First, you’ve got enough drones in the area to down a small army if they do what you told me they did.” They did, and then some. She’d been low on the details. Lars held up a second finger. “Second, they aren’t getting past that little makeshift security gate you have a mile down the road without either knowing what they need to know to be a friendly, or suffer a hell of a lot of pain.”
All true. New drones she’d decided to field test on the mountain secured the narrow road leading to the cabin a mile down. They’d temporarily incapacitate a vehicle with her own version of an electromagnetic field and could also shoot sleeper darts if needed. Since HERA ran them via its background test environment, Bree assumed they’d make it through.
You should probably give Zoey a heads up, though. Oops. She clicked the contact button on her phone.
“Something you forgot to tell me?” Zoey asked. Amusement filled her tone. “My man is not happy right now. What brilliance did they become the lab rats for?”
“EMF drones,” Bree said. “You can turn them off in HERA’s test environment. Sorry, I forgot to send you and the others an email about them. I may have thrown a few sleeper and zapper drones in for, you know, testing purposes.”
Zoey chuckled. “This is brilliant. I’ve missed your zaniness, woman. Okay, I’m on it.”
2
“Little Bit, I’m at the end of my patience. Turn this shit off,” Gage growled into the com.
“Afraid I can’t do that because it’s a field test. A brilliant one. Figure it out.” Zoey practically sing-songed the order as she chuckled. “I’ll give you a hint, though. Think EMF Bree style. Good luck.”
EMF? “How are our phones and coms working if it’s an EMF field?” Ramon Zapatero asked, already knowing the answer. The brilliant and beautiful Bree never did anything in half measure, which meant she’d designed a new form of electromagnetic field to incapacitate vehicles and likely any computerized weaponry.
“Phones and coms are still working because they’re run off HERA, and the new EMF drones or whatever we’re up against does, too,” Doug said as he grabbed the team’s laptop. “They’re likely being run by HERA.”
“Yes!” Pierce thumped Doug on the back. “This is why we keep you around.”
Ram couldn’t help but smile as his two best friends bantered back and forth. Gage closed the distance and loomed within his personal space. He faced his team leader and asked, “You have something to say?”
“You’re on edge,” Gage said. “We’re practically in her backyard. Square it away.”
“We should’ve been here three weeks ago. Better yet, she never should’ve been here.”
“Jesse and Mary both blessed Sinclair’s choice to give Bree what she wanted. They all had their reasons.” Gage looked at the dead vehicle. “They aren’t sharing to respect her privacy.”
Of course they did. They stayed ten steps ahead of everyone else. But Bree wasn’t a mission. Letting her leave The Arsenal was not a good call. To hell with their reasons. Mary, aka Edge, lived and breathed strategy. She was one half of the Quillery Edge, the most successful and sought after back-office operatives in existence. While Ram hadn’t worked with her as much as he had Zoey, he admired the woman’s brilliance and trusted her judgment.
Or, he had. His gut soured whenever he thought about the past twenty-one days without Bree at The Arsenal. They never should’ve let her leave. She’d waded into their troubles and taken on the aftermath along with them. Hell, she’d shaved her freaking head so Zoey wasn’t the only female cue ball walking around the compound.
“Square it away or I’ll leave you here,” Gage ordered.
“I’m solid.” He’d be solid once he saw Bree, breathed in her citrusy scent, and saw for himself that she was okay.
“They’re down,” Doug said. “I had to get Spade’s password for the beta testing environment. They’re in there. We owe him some beers.”
Ram grunted and got back into the vehicle. Gage got into the driver’s seat and impatiently tried starting it several times before it finally turned over. The man’s relief escaped in the form of a low chuckle. “That’ll be handy in the field.”
“I want to test it with non-Arsenal equipment,” Pierce commented. “But, yeah. It’s solid. All her tech is.”
“More than half her tech is downright dangerous,” Gage muttered.
“And whose fault is that? From what we’ve seen, everyone crawls down her throat whenever she mentions anything new she designed. Maybe if you’d keep your mouths shut and ask questions instead of bitching her out, she’d be more forthcoming with what she’s come up with,” Ram said.
Gage glared at him through the rearview mirror. “Point made.”
The vehicle halted outside a waist-high chain-link fence. A young boy and girl froze and stared at them as they exited the first of two SUVs. Lexi slid out of the latter and leaned against it. Arms crossed, she chuckled her amusement as the boy made his way to the gate of the fence and exited. He walked right up to Ram and peered up.
“Who are you?” The boy breathed the words as though he’d witnessed an apparition.
“I’m Ram. This is Doug, and that’s Pierce.” He motioned to his two friends. “That’s our boss, Gage, and that’s Lexi. We’re Bree’s friends. Is she around?”
“Whoa! You’re her superheroes? Cool! What powers do you have?” The boy’s gaze flicked between he, Doug, and Pierce.
The latter chuckled as he squatted down to the boy’s eye level. “Superheroes, huh? We can’t talk about our powers.”
“Right. Aunt Bree said the bad guys can’t ever know,” the boy whispered. “You’re the Triple Threat. Aunt Bree said you could hit a grape from a mile away.”
“He can, huh?” Gage chuckled. “It sounds like your aunt has been busy.”
“She’s in her secret lab a lot.”
“Secret lab?” Ram asked.
“It’s really the shed out back,” the boy said. “I’m Luke.” He took the girl’s hand. “This is Hillary, my sister. Aunt Bree is inside with Dad and Grams.”
A commotion on the porch drew Ram’s attention. His pulse quickened when the beautiful, short blonde who’d haunted his dreams shoved past a tall man and vaulted down the stairs. She launched herself at Gage, who took a solid two steps back from the impact.
“You’re here.” She wrapped the man into a hug and held on. “I missed you.”
The quiet admission wrapped around Ram even though the words hadn’t been directed at him. I missed you, too. He waited his turn as she went from Gage to Doug, then Pierce. She separated from the latter and locked gazes with Ram.
His pulse quickened when she licked her lips and ran a hand down her short blonde hair. She took a tentative step forward. That was enough of an effort. He closed the distance and drew her into his arms.
Fuck. He’d missed her hugs. He caressed her hair and kissed the top of her head. “I missed you, too, sweetheart.”
“You came,” she whispered against his throat.
“Yeah. Three weeks later than I wanted to,” he admitted. He cupped her chin and studied her watery gaze. “You okay
?”
“I’m getting better.” She smiled. “Sorry about the whole superhero thing. Story time got boring.”
“It’s all good. Just don’t make us wear tights,” Pierce said as he mussed her hair.
“Yeah, ball sweat is a real problem with those,” Doug added.
“Language,” Gage warned. He glanced over at the tall man who’d made his approach. “Sorry about that. They have no filter.”
“Luke’s heard worse. I’m Lars, Bree’s brother.” He motioned toward the woman at his side. “This is our grandma, or Grams as she prefers to be called. You got through that block faster than I expected, so we aren’t quite packed yet.”
“It’s okay, we can help,” Doug said as he made his way into the yard. He paused and looked around at the toys. “Which of these does our superhero-in-training want to take?”
“Really? I can train with you?” Luke darted to Doug. “Dad said I could start learning to shoot his rifle. He’s a good shot.”
“Good. I could use some backup,” Pierce commented. He motioned toward the toys. “Why don’t you help me round these up and get them in the vehicle while your dad and aunt get finished packing up inside?”
“Yeah! Come on, Hillary. You’ll want your bike.” The little girl’s eyes widened as she looked up at her dad.
“It’s okay, sweetie,” Bree said with a smile as she drew away from Ram. “We’re going to go visit my friends in Texas.”
“Horsies?”
“Yeah, you can meet Peanut.” Bree touched the girl’s shoulder. “Sorry, she’s shy.”
Ram wasn’t sure how okay Riley Mason would be with the little girl meeting her horse, Peanut, but he didn’t comment. The youngest of the Mason brood was an unpredictable force. He made a mental note to give The Arsenal’s new K9 trainer a heads up that two young children were inbound. Kayla had arrived last week with a starting squadron of five-dozen adult dogs and puppies to be trained as service animals for The Arsenal’s Warrior’s Path Program. He bet Luke and Hillary would enjoy playing with the puppies.
