Shadow (Military Intelligence Section 6 Book 4)

by Heather Slade

  That wasn’t an analogy she’d ever heard in regard to being anxious; however, she knew what Orina meant.

  SHE WAITED until she couldn’t stand it anymore and ran from the sitting room to the vestibule.

  “Is that Wren?” she shouted.

  Sutton cleared his throat.

  “What?” She looked at him with hands on her hips.

  “I’ve not seen you since summer.”

  “Oh, sorry.” She hastily kissed both of his cheeks before grabbing Wren’s hand and pulling her back to the sitting room.

  “Tell me what’s happened between you and Sutton,” Darrow said.

  “I wouldn’t know where to begin,” said Wren, leaning over to kiss Orina’s cheek. “It’s good to see you, Losha.”

  Orina stood, and she and Wren hugged. “You look happy.”

  “Very much so, in fact.”

  Wren sat down between them and gave them a brief rundown of what had happened between her and Sutton over the course of the last few days.

  “It took a while, but we both finally admitted our real feelings. Well, it took me longer than it took your brother.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means…” Wren’s mobile vibrated, and she looked at the screen. Darrow couldn’t help herself; she looked too, and was disappointed to see the name Vera rather than Quint. “I’m sorry. I need to take this.”

  Wren left the room, and Darrow felt her face fall. She hadn’t had the chance to even ask her about Quint.

  “Come with me,” said Orina. “Your niece and nephew have missed you.”

  “I’m a terrible aunt. I haven’t even asked about them today. Is Kazmir feeling better?”

  “Yes, I think so,” said Orina. “Too much of that ghastly pie. What was it? Pumpkin?” She shuddered and Darrow laughed.

  Orina was right, what she needed more than anything was a strong dose of unconditional love, and she knew just where to get it.

  19

  Q uint rested his head in his hands. Based on the counts they’d received, King-Alexander Ranch lost over ten thousand head of cattle in the storm. Numbers were coming in from all over; the devastation was felt state-wide and throughout the Midwest. The cattle industry would be impacted by the losses for decades.

  He needed to talk to both his father and sister, but he couldn’t bring himself to place the call. When he did, he’d be forced to tell them how badly he’d failed.

  It didn’t matter how many pep talks Tee-Tee tried to give him, the bottom line was, Quint was a steward of the land and the livestock. It was his job to protect both, and he hadn’t.

  “It could’ve been a lot worse,” said Deck. “We saved three-quarters of the herd. You have to look at it that way, Quint.”

  He stared at his phone and all the missed calls from Darrow. He needed to call her too, but every time he thought about it, it was either too late in England, or Deck came to him with yet another emergency to be handled.

  He missed her so much, he ached. It was a different kind of ache than the ones that had settled in his body and mind. This was an ache in his heart.

  He needed to hear her voice, but was that fair of him? She was there because someone important to her was dying. Could he really dump his problems on her in the face of that?

  He set the phone back down that he’d just picked up.

  “You need to call her,” said Deck, standing to leave the room.

  “I can’t.”

  His friend left, shaking his head as he walked away.

  20

  Darrow had no idea what had transpired between the time when she went to the nursery with Orina and when her mother came in and woke her.

  “Hello, sweetheart,” she whispered.

  Darrow sat up and looked around her. Both Kazmir and Lilliya were sound asleep as she’d been. “What time is it?”

  “Just after six. I’ve been sent to fetch you for dinner.”

  “Dinner? At this hour?” The Whittakers never had dinner before eight o’clock.

  “Yes, well, there seems to be a guest from the States, although I don’t know why that should matter, but anyway, it is what is it, Darrow. Come and join us.”

  She stood, stretched her stiff muscles, and hugged her. “Are you happy, Mother?”

  “Yes, sweetheart. I’m happy. Are you?”

  Darrow linked their arms. “Not so much.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. What can I do to help?”

  “Nothing, I fear,” she sighed.

  When they arrived in the dining room, there were two seats empty. One was next to Sir Caird and the other next to Axel.

  Darrow took her seat, folded her hands, and settled into irrelevance.

  “DARROW?” said Wren from across the table. “A walk between courses?”

  “Yes. I’d love it,” she answered. She’d been sitting in relative silence for over a half-hour and was just about to get up and leave as it was.

  “Thank you,” she whispered, following Wren into the entryway where they grabbed their overcoats.

  They’d just gotten outside when Darrow saw the woman who had been seated on the other side of Axel come out the front door as well.

  “I owe you an apology,” said the woman who Darrow thought had been introduced as Vera. “I was monopolizing the conversation.”

  “It’s all right,” she responded without adding how used to it she was.

  “It isn’t. It was rude.”

  Darrow knew it was rude, but she didn’t say anything more. She really didn’t care at this point. All she wanted to do was go and visit Wellie before retreating to her own bedchamber in Covington House for the rest of the night.

  “What’s wrong?” Wren asked once the woman had gone back inside. “How are things with you and Pinch?”

  “It isn’t the same as it used to be between us. We’re barely friends.”

  “Could it get better?”

  “It could, but it hasn’t.”

  “Darrow, I hope my brother doesn’t play into this in any way. Quint isn’t exactly…”

  “What? Finish what you were going to say about him.”

  “He isn’t the relationship type.”

  Darrow raised a brow. “I’ve never met someone who treats a woman the way your brother does. He’s a gentleman. Your brother would never leave me sitting there while he spent the entire dinner talking to the woman seated on the other side of him.”

  “I don’t know what to say about that.”

  “The thing between Axel and me has run its course.”

  “You don’t know; it might still work out.”

  Darrow stopped walking. “I’m not interested in it working out, and I don’t believe he is either. Wren, are you opposed to my relationship with your brother?”

  Wren stopped too. “I’m not. However, I was there when we got off the plane, and you were quite happy to see Axel. I have to admit I was glad Quint wasn’t there to see it.”

  Wren had it wrong. While she may have run to him, it was only out of concern for Wellie. “We’ve known each other since we were children. Sometimes it’s more like he’s my brother.”

  “And sometimes it’s not.”

  That wasn’t true anymore, but Darrow wasn’t interested in arguing with Wren. She’d believed her to be an ally, but she was quickly coming to realize she wasn’t anything of the sort.

  “I was the only person at the table who had no clue what everyone else was talking about. Even my mother understood what was going on.”

  “It’s difficult when everyone else is talking shop. I’ll be mindful we don’t do so much of that when we go back in.”

  “I’ve a headache anyway. I’ll visit with Wellie before I go back to Covington House.”

  “I wish you would come back inside with me instead.”

  “Remember when I told you I never wanted to come back to England?”

  Wren nodded.

  “I had my reasons.”

  DARROW LET herself into
Wellie’s cottage as quietly as she could. If she found him sleeping, she’d leave and come back tomorrow.

  Instead, when the door creaked open, she saw him sitting in his chair by the fire, talking to Mrs. Mollybock.

  “Look who’s here,” the woman said, jumping up. “’Tis the bairn, Darrow. Come here, my sweet.”

  Miss Molly, as she’d called her when she was a little girl, seemed in a far better mood than she was at Thanksgiving. Darrow supposed that had much to do with Sutton’s return earlier today.

  “We’ve had our visit. I’ll be heading back to the abbey, then.”

  “You don’t have to leave on my account,” Darrow told her, walking over and kissing Wellie’s cheek.

  “Mr. Fulton was just commenting that he hadn’t had a chance to speak to you on his own, isn’t that right?”

  Darrow looked between the two people who had played such a significant role in her childhood, and smiled when Wellie winked at her.

  “Good evening, Mrs. Mollybock,” he said when she left through the kitchen door. “Come and sit with me, Darrow.”

  “Are you sure you’re up for a visit? I can come back in the morning.”

  “Sit, lass. I’ve missed you so.”

  Darrow’s eyes filled with tears when she sat on the floor beside him. “I’m so sorry.”

  He reached out and stroked her hair, making her cry all the more.

  “Tell me, how was your American adventure?”

  “I wish I’d come back sooner, but only to see you. The rest I could do without. I’m back to being invisible.”

  “You are the only one who sees yourself that way, Darrow. To everyone else, you light up the room.”

  “You’re always so sweet to me, Wellie, but I am far less illuminating than you’ve always believed.”

  “Tell me what’s happened.”

  “To begin, you know that Axel and I are finished, right?”

  “I am more aware of that fact than he is, I fear.”

  “Yes. Well, that’s my fault. Although we talked earlier. I reminded him that he ended things between us before I left. Not the other way around.”

  “Better that you talked it out.”

  “I know,” she said, resting her head against Wellie’s knee. “What would I do without you? I was terrified when I thought I was about to find out.”

  “There’s still lots of life left in this old bugger.”

  “I’m so glad, Wellie. Truly. You do know how much you mean to me?”

  “Yes, lass,” he said, stroking her hair. “You’re like my own.”

  “Are you terribly disappointed about Axel and me?”

  “Not at all. You will both find the lives you are supposed to live, even if it’s without each other.”

  Darrow sighed. “You never thought it was a good idea.”

  Wellie laughed. “Don’t put words in my mouth, lass. Now be a dear and fetch us both a brandy.”

  “Are you allowed?”

  “If I’m not, I’d sooner die.”

  Darrow stood and shook her finger at him. “Don’t say that.”

  She pulled the unmarked bottle from the shelf in the kitchen and poured two glasses. Knowing he’d likely want more, she brought the bottle with her and set it on the table next to him. Instead of sitting on the floor, Darrow sat in the chair.

  Wellie leveled his gaze on her. “There’s more you haven’t told me.”

  “I don’t know there’s much more to tell. I mean there was when I left America, but since I arrived in England, I’m uncertain.”

  “Start at the beginning, lass.”

  Darrow told Wellie everything from the time she went to Z and begged him to tell her where Wren was, all the way through getting on the plane in Texas, of course leaving out the part about her and Quint’s intimacy.

  “Have you not seen the news, Darrow?” he asked, sitting forward in his chair. “Turn the telly on.”

  “What are you about, Wellie?”

  “Do as I ask, lass.”

  Darrow picked up the remote that sat near his chair and turned the power on. She handed it to him to find the station he wanted to watch.

  “It’s been on, near nonstop. The news out of the States is devastating, Darrow.”

  “In what way? What’s happened?”

  “Thanksgiving night, a terrible storm went through. Tornadoes, snowstorms. Cor blimey, it was a mess. It still is.”

  She pulled her mobile out of her pocket and rang Wren, praying she’d answer even though they were likely still gathered in the dining room. As she expected, her friend did not pick up.

  Next she tried the abbey’s main line.

  “Whittaker Abbey,” answered Mrs. Mollybock.

  “Thank God. Miss Molly, I need you to fetch Wren. It’s urgent that I speak with her.”

  Darrow heard the phone drop on the counter.

  “You can up the volume,” she told Wellie, who had turned it down when she made her first call.

  While she waited for Wren to come to the phone, Darrow watched the news report. Hundreds of thousands of cattle were reported dead already, although the numbers were expected to increase.

  The winter storm, which reached epic proportions, didn’t hit Texas alone, it ravaged most of the country. The East Coast was currently undergoing blizzard conditions. Power was out, people were stranded, deaths were being reported.

  “What is it, Darrow?” asked Wren, sounding breathless.

  “A freak storm hit Texas the day we left. It’s bad, Wren. We need to try to reach Quint. If not him, someone who can tell us the state of things at the ranch.” And someone who could tell them if Quint was okay, but Darrow didn’t say that part.

  “I haven’t heard a thing about this,” she mumbled.

  “Me either. I rarely watch the telly as it is…Wellie is the one who saw the reports.”

  “I need to try to reach Quint.”

  “Yes. Please let me know as soon as you’ve heard.”

  “Of course.” Wren ended the call.

  21

  His sister beat him to the punch; his cell was ringing, and Wren’s name appeared on the screen. It was only two in the afternoon, but he didn’t care, he poured himself a fourth shot of whiskey and downed it before he accepted the call.

  “Hello, Wren,” he answered.

  “Quint, I’ve just been talking to Darrow. None of us had seen the news. Wellie did, probably because he was in hospital. What in God’s name is happening?”

  He’d anticipated that this conversation would be one of the hardest of his life, but faced with it, it was even more difficult than he’d expected.

  “We lost a lot…of cattle, Wren.” His voice cracked mid-sentence.

  “What about you? What about the rest of the ranch hands? Tee-Tee? Decker? Are they all okay?”

  “We’re all fine. The tornadoes went all around us. It was the blizzard that did us in.”

  “Tornadoes? God, Darrow wasn’t specific, her main concern was that I reach you as soon as possible. She’s been calling you relentlessly, Quint.”

  “This is the first I’ve been in the house to do more than fall down, dead tired. Every time I thought about calling…” He stopped talking. He didn’t need to explain himself. He hadn’t answered or called her back, because he couldn’t. He was too busy trying to save his cattle and his ranch. “Look, I don’t want to get into that right now. My next call was to be to you and Z. Do you know where he is?”

  “He’s here at Whittaker Abbey. We all are.”

  “Can you get him? It’ll be easier if I can tell you both at once.”

  “Of course, I’m walking to the dining room now.”

  Quint waited, scrubbing his face with his hand. He needed to talk to Darrow. He wanted to, but this conversation had to come first.

  He could hear his sister telling their father that he was on the phone and that they needed to go somewhere quiet.

  “Okay, Quint, we’re both here. I’m going to put you on speaker no
w.”

  “Hey, Z. I’m afraid the news isn’t good.”

  “Go ahead, Son. Tell us.”

  “We lost twenty-five percent of the herd, at least. Close to one-hundred percent of the fall calves. We don’t have our final counts yet.”

  “God, Quint, I’m so sorry.”

  He had tears in his eyes and was too choked up to speak. If he did, they’d know that he hadn’t just failed to protect his herd, he wasn’t man enough to control his emotions.

  “I’ll be on the next flight,” Z told him. “Whatever we need to do, we’ll do together.”

  “There’s no point. Every day we’re burying more and more of our herd. You don’t want to come here and see this.”

  “That isn’t why I’d come. I’d come for you, Son. I’m not taking no for an answer.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t come straight back, Quint,” said Wren.

  “I appreciate that, but there wasn’t anything you could’ve done. You only would’ve been putting yourself in danger.”

  “Quint, what should I tell Darrow?”

  “She isn’t there?”

  “No. She was with Wellie. He’s the one who saw the news reports. I think I may have already told you. Of course she wants me to call her back as soon as we’re finished talking.”

  “Don’t. Let me call her myself.”

  “Will you? She’s beyond frantic.”

  “The minute we hang up. I promise.”

  “Z, is there anything else?” he heard Wren ask.

  “Call Darrow. If I think of anything, I’ll call you when I get to the airport.”

  “I think Vera is leaving shortly. You could ride back with her,” Wren said to their father. “Sorry, Quint. I’ll let you go.”

  “I’ll be in touch, Wren.”

  She disconnected the call on her end, and he stared at his phone. He needed to get this over with. Once he told Darrow about the loss of so many of the herd, he hoped he didn’t have to tell anyone else.

  “QUINT?”

  “Hello, darlin’,” he said when she answered his call. He hadn’t even heard her phone ring on his end.

  “I’ve been so worried.”

  “I know and I’m sorry. Things have been pretty rough around here.”

  “I saw the news reports. I’m so sorry, Quint.”