Chapter 25
Aspen
That telltalechirp from Cade’s cell came through the light of early dawn. As I lifted my head, I caught an image on the phone’s screen that had shivers creeping up my spine.
Careful not to jostle a clearly depleted and exhausted Cade, I shuffled myself away from his prone body, grabbed one of his old T-shirts, hurrying to get it on, then padded to his bedside table to grab the phone. By then, I had to hit the home button in order to activate the screen, but what I saw had my balance faltering.
Beneath Rex’s “What’s our girl doing at her cottage?” was a short video footage of me.
Except it wasn’t. The timestamp would disprove that, considering that at 5:56 a.m., I’d been in the middle of slumbering slumped over the man I’d finally professed my love to only last night. A man who felt the same way.
Not wanting to invade more of Cade’s privacy, I set his phone back where I’d grabbed it, then tiptoed out of the bedroom.
There was no way I’d be able to fall asleep again.
Reality hit with trepidation as the slight click to the bedroom’s doorknob echoed in the otherwise quiet house.
It can’t be, can it?
The moment I pulled out of the driveway, regret bubbled in my stomach, but the urge to solve the question nagging in my gut was larger. So much so that it overwhelmed rational thought outright.
When I pulled on to the gravel stretch that led to my cottage, my sense of urgency was so potent, despite the fear emanating from my every pore, I kept forward.
I just hoped Cade would forgive me this once for leaving his bed, leaving his house, and taking Renegade with me. I’d left Molly at home though. I’d also packed along the small, fully loaded 9mm Ruger, with an extra magazine, that Cade kept stashed in a locked cabinet in his front closet. The day after I’d moved in, my man had taken me to the shooting range and shown me how to use it, telling me where the keys were in the event I found myself in danger and without any manpower to help me out.
I was pretty sure this wasn’t one of those times he’d ever recommend my borrowing it though. In fact, I knew it wasn’t.
“Now, Ren,” I ruffled his ears. “You ready to work, boy?” I hit the glove compartment button and snatched the handgun and its compatible clip.
Renegade’s ears perked up. I figured there wasn’t any harm in suiting him up in his work vest either, just to get his mindset right. I’d learned a few tips and tricks thanks to researching my past novels, but in the last week under Cade’s roof, I’d seen how he and Renegade’s work relationship functioned.
“Quiet.”
I had parked the car some distance from the cottage, so that if who I’d seen in the video was still around, I wouldn’t be made from the get-go.
Opening the driver’s side door, Renegade followed suit. Tucking the clip into the back pocket of my jeans, I decided to keep the gun in my hand, but the safety would stay on for the time being.
Heading into the copses of trees lining the rest of the drive, and almost touching the right of the cottage, I crept, ever so careful not to make a noise, watching out for the copperheads, eastern diamondbacks, or any other slithery critters that were native to our area.
When I reached the edge of the woods right next to my cottage, I breathed a sigh of relief for not being found out. If Stan had done his work well, I knew there’d be no hiding. That fact alone had my current apprehension fading. I might be out here, armed with some firepower and a trained K-9, but the fact I was about to be on video would prove where I was and at what time.
I’d just made it to the porch steps when Renegade whined, and an explosion of pain burst into the back of my head. Then all went black.
Cade
Honey,
Just stepped out and took Renegade for a little bonding time.
I’ll be back for breakfast.
Love always,
Pen
To say I was shocked to wake up entirely by myself was one thing. My woman having not only left our bed, but also our home so early in the morning after we’d professed our love to each other had me a little miffed if I’m being honest.
Seconds after reading the note she’d left by the coffee pot, which had been percolated and left full, I heard my phone’s chime go off.
There was only a few reasons my phone would go off at this time of day. Seeing as I was on an extended weekend from my regular day job, it was either Nightshade calling me in, my mother or sisters with an emergency—or Aspen.
The last person on my mental list had me rushing to my phone, thankful that when I saw Devolin’s number and activated the call, I was smiling into the line.
“Hey, well, if it isn’t my favorite half of the Kippers clan. Up a little early for someone with a little guy at home on a lazy Saturday morning, aren’t you?”
“We’ve got trouble,” she said all businesslike.
My hackles rose as I heard shuffling on the other end of the line. “Huss, what’s going on?” I demanded, using her hacker monicker.
“Where’s Penny… I mean Aspen?” she asked almost accusatorily.
“Just got up and saw her note, but she’s gone out and should be back by?—”
“Wrong.”
“The fuck?”
“Lucas doesn’t sleep much at night, and since Rex has been burning the midnight oil, I opted to relieve him over the weekend and stand sentry on Pen’s cottage footage. Clocked her no less than five minutes ago, and you’re not going to like this, but there’s two of them.”
“What?”
“There’s—”
“I heard you, Dev, but why didn’t you call as soon as you saw her?”
“Because I thought I’d give her the chance to regain some of her brass since she’s said that she was terrified of going back there. I changed my mind when I thought of you, how worried you were last week when?—”
“And Ren?” I asked, as I began to slide my legs into yesterday’s jeans, not caring the state of the crumpled T-shirt I manage to slide over my head as I waited for her answer.
“Don’t know,” she said with worry in her tone.
Shoving my feet in the sneakers by the closet, I grabbed my truck keys, then made my way to the front door, slamming it shut behind me. “Dev, I need you to call in the cavalry. Make sure Shane is part of the clan and brings in the official brass while he’s at it.”
“Got it.”
Jumping into my truck, I jabbed the ignition with my key and cranked it to life. “If anything else comes up, let me know.” I didn’t bother telling her there were quite a few dead zones for cell reception in the area I was headed, because the woman was a computer genius and she’d most likely figured it out long before now anyway. Hell, I wouldn’t put it past her to find a way to boost tower signals just to be able to get a call to go through. Or a message.
Without waiting for a response, I hit the end button and dropped my phone in the middle console.