ChapterFive
“Were you going to tell us?” Lochlan asked, a hint of accusation in his tone.
I swallowed hard, tamped down the urge to lash out at him, and nodded before setting the frame back on the desk. Their eyes tracked it like magnets, but they didn’t try to come forward to pick it up. “I’d like to finish what we were doing, then you can explain where you’ve been and why you let me think you were dead.” My voice was calm, something I was mighty proud of at that moment, as I pointedly glanced at the doorway with raised brows.
They got the hint, and at Coot’s urging, three of them filed out. Preppy, not Ares, because I wasn’t fucking changing his name, must have realized he’d massively misjudged me as his eyes were full of apology. He gave me a short nod before he left my office to follow the others.
After locking up, turning all but the security lights out, and solidifying my composure, I returned to the chapel with the handcart in tow. I didn’t bother to ask for help, I didn’t need it, but Preppy stepped up, moving the footlocker to stand on its end and securing it with the strap.
“If you don’t mind leading the way, I’ll get it where it’s going,” he offered, earning a double-take from me and glares from the other three.
Not caring who the hell moved it, I headed down the hall to the back entrance of the kitchen and on into the walk-in refrigerator. At the back wall, there was a second door to the freezer, but next to it, another was hidden, disguised as just another silver, insulated panel. Popping open the lid to the thermostat, I entered my code to the safe room, causing the panel to unlatch.
“Are you sure you want to be showing us this?” Coot asked, staring wide-eyed at the set-up.
With a roll of my own, I pointed out the obvious. “You already know what’s in here. Besides, you’re not narcs, remember?” That, and they wouldn’t know the code were they to try to get in without me. I’d be changing it tomorrow after the sheriff made his visit… I always did.
“Suit yourself,” he said with a shrug, craning his neck to see around me and Preppy as I helped him guide the footlocker through the door.
Gus and Lochlan stayed outside, but I could vaguely hear them talking in low voices. I assumed they were discussing Opal and getting their story straight. I hoped it was a good one after everything.
Knowing it was time to have that discussion, I locked up and set off to give them a short tour and get one of the extra keys so I could leave as soon as we’d all had our say. I just wasn’t sure if the other two were gonna stick around to witness it all or if we’d have some privacy. Didn’t particularly care either way.
* * *
“You really expect me to believe that shit?” I asked incredulously, struggling to keep from raising my voice. Some of the rooms were occupied by the group from earlier, and while they were decently insulated, they weren’t soundproof.
Frustration fairly oozed from Gus as he ran a hand through his short hair for at least the third time since we’d shut ourselves up in one of the double rooms, but it was Lochlan that barked back at me. “It’s the fucking truth, so yes, I expect you to believe it. It took us three weeks to make contact with our superiors and get a ride back to civilization after we completed our job. And no, we can’t verify where we were or what we were doing because it’s classified. Even if we told you, there’s not any documentation to prove it!”
“Fine, I can accept that part of it, but when you got back stateside, why didn’t you answer my messages? It was pretty damn clear that I needed you to get in touch and that I was pregnant. For fuck’s sake, I went into premature labor after your buddy told me you were gone.” I couldn’t keep the hurt and betrayal out of my voice.
“We’re so sorry, Sevey. Whether we worked out or not, we never would have skipped out on you being pregnant,” Gus interjected, but I wasn’t quite ready to get on to that portion of the explanation. I just stared at them both until Lochlan looked to Preppy.