women, the firearms supply, and Nancy.” Mason was now fully dressed in a long-sleeve shirt, jeans, and his usual cowboy boots. I hadn’t noticed he’d worn different ones earlier today. Crossing his arms over his chest, he leaned against the wall. “My gut says the Order.”
“What did Top’s message say the other night? Fuck, with all that’s happened, I don’t remember.”
“Nothing to remember. He said to contact him and that he has information for us. He specified that he wanted you, Lieutenant Colonel Murray’s son, to attend.”
“Why the fuck haven’t we contacted him?”
“I did. He wants to meet in person. So far, he hasn’t responded with a date, time, or location.”
In my mind, I went through the information Zella finally shared. Her dad had been given ten thousand in cash for Nancy Pierce. It wasn’t a fucking large sum of money even to someone like Maples. “Why would Maples give up Nancy?”
“Money.”
“It wasn’t much.”
“Or it was more than Zella knew. It doesn’t matter, he did it. Zella sounded like she was happy to be rid of her. I’m sure it was the fucking Brady Bunch with the three of them.”
“Zella said it was before little Gordy was born. Do you think they’d kept Nancy in that bunker for the last year and a half?”
Mason shook his head. “The only thing I give a fuck about when it comes to Nancy Pierce is learning her damn connection.”
Once I stepped into the canvas loafers I had on hand, and we began to walk out of the bathroom together, I said, “The blonde woman sure as fuck sounds like Stephanie Moore or Morehead.”
“It can’t be. Top said she was found in the office of the ranch. The heat alone from the fire should have killed her. That office was constructed like a fucking safe. She should have cooked in there like a turkey on Thanksgiving.”
“What if she didn’t?”
“Then who did they find in that office?”
We both stopped at the sight of Sparrow and Patrick near our computers in the command center. “Look at the footage from Dino’s Liquor,” Patrick said.
Lorna
I sat forward as the door to our apartment opened inward. The soft blanket covering me fell to my waist. As Reid entered, I sleepily checked the clock on the mantel. Its hands, visible from the warm glow of flames coming from the fireplace below, told me it was after midnight. It wasn’t unusual during times of high stress for the Sparrows that Reid would work into the night; however, since I’d come home from Montana, it hadn’t happened.
Not until now.
“Lorna,” my husband said as he came toward me, sitting on the edge of the sofa at my side. “Why aren’t you in bed?”
“I tried to wait up for you.”
Reid brushed a few stray strands of hair away from my face as his warm hand cupped my cheek. In the seconds that followed, a silence fell over us, one that I sensed held captive information he wasn’t certain he could share. His touch lingered, his stare intensified. Beyond his silhouette, the orange and red flames crackled in their artificial resemblance of a real blaze.
The flames were real. The logs weren’t. The combustion started with the touch of a button, one that would begin and maintain with a puff of gas and a spark. Even without the actual burning of logs, heat radiated from the contained fire. It wasn’t the only source. The faux blaze paled in comparison to what I was witnessing in my husband’s eyes.
Inclining my head to his palm, I asked, “What happened?”
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed his answer. Finally, he responded, “I fucking love you.”
My hand came to his, sandwiching it between my palm and my cheek. “I know that, Reid. I never doubted it. Even when I was in that bunker, I knew I was loved beyond measure. My fear was that I’d failed to let you know that the feeling was mutual.”
Our hands dropped as our fingers intertwined and his expression changed. Whatever had been on his mind was superseded by his concern for me. “You remember being in the bunker?”
Swallowing, I nodded. “Not all of it but parts—more than I had.”
“That’s good?” he asked apprehensively. “Or isn’t it?”
“I think it’s good. I want to know what happened.”
“How did you remember? What made you recall?”
“I agreed to an experiment with Patrick and Laurel.”
Reid took a deep breath. “I should have been there with you.”
My head shook. “I know you think I’m made of glass, but I’m not.”