ROMANCE: Mason (Bad Boy Alpha Male Stepbrother Romance Boxset) (New Adult Contemporary Stepbrother Romance Collection) (99 page)

There it was.  Relief?  Doubt?  What was crawling across her face? 

“Oh sure.  There is a lot happening on the base.  I feel sorry for Captain Tillman’s wife.”

“Yeah, it’s tragic.”  Vince hoped he put enough empathy in his voice. 

Bridgette smiled at Sydney, and hugged her briefly, speaking low in her ear, while keeping her eyes on Vince over Sydney’s shoulder.  “I’ll see you soon.”  She straightened and nodded her head to Vince.  “See you.”

Vince nodded back. 

Sydney whirled on him as soon as the door was closed.  “What was that?”

“I have to keep you safe, Sydney!”  He began marching back down the hallway.  He could hear Dakota playing in her room, and peeked through the opening where the door wasn’t shut all the way.  Dakota was sitting at her little table having a tea party with the set he brought her from Kandahar.  Satisfied, he moved on. 

Sydney wasn’t finished, no, not by a long shot.  “You didn’t have to be rude!” 

“Something was off, Sydney.”  It was painfully obvious to him, why wasn’t it for her?

Sydney threw her hands in the air allowing them to slap her thighs on the way down.  “Of course something’s off!  She has unwillingly been turned into a werewolf and lost her husband, all in the span of a year!”

Vince pushed past her into the bathroom, re-emerging with hairspray and toothpaste which he tossed in a carryon bag.  He spoke as he went back to get more.  “I agree it’s a terrible thing, but something was still off!  You have to just trust me on this!” 

Sydney watched as her toothbrush, hairdryer, and some makeup made a haphazard pile in the half full bag.  Vince had always sucked at packing.  She began re-arranging what he had randomly tossed inside. 

“How long?  When will Annette and I leave?” 

“After dark.  Well after dark.  It will make watching for a tail easier.”  He paused and drew her to his chest.  “I need to get some things taken care of.  I’ll be back in about an hour.  Annette should be here before I get back.”  He lowered his head and kissed her gently.  “I love you.” 

Sydney only nodded. 

Vince came out the front door and met with the heartbreaking sight of Stanley kissing his wife goodbye in the short driveway.  The look of desperation on Stanley’s face was the transparent embodiment of what Vince was struggling with himself.  Annette made her way to the front door, her suitcase gripped tightly in both hands. 

“Have suitcase, will travel.”  She said nervously. 

“Go on in.  Sydney’s just finishing up.”

“After dark?”  Her eyes pleaded silently for him to say they had changed their minds, and someone forgot to tell her. 

“After dark.”  Vince replied firmly. 

With Annette safely inside, Vince went to Stanley.  The sun had begun its descent, and it left patches of long shadow around all objects its light touched. 

“I need to check on something.” 

“What now?”  Stanley’s voice carried a nasal quality that Vince hadn’t heard since the night of the Prince of Hearts demise. 

“I need to check out an old friend of ours who has just popped back into Sydney’s life.”

“Think it’s related to all the other stuff?”

“Maybe.  I don’t know yet.” 

Vince and Stanley entered the office of housing in just enough time to give the Corporal on duty a disappointed twitch to his thin mouth.  He obviously thought he was home free to close up without any problems.  All the other desks were already empty.

“May I help you?”

Vince flashed his best and most sincere smile.  “Yes!  My wife recently met up with an old friend from our days in Rhode Island and she wants to take a welcome basket to her, but we have no idea which housing unit she’s in!”  He chuckled as if it was just the cutest thing. 

The man blinked.  His face held solid lines that told Vince it wasn’t his problem.  “I can’t give information like that out.”

“Could you at least confirm whether she’s on base in housing or off?  That would help.”

“Why can’t she just call her?”

Vince didn’t miss a beat.  “If you knew my wife you would know how forgetful she is!  She can’t find the number!”  Vince elbowed Stanley, who nodded his agreement weakly. 

“Right.”  The man obviously just wanted out of the office.  He sighed, thinking the best way to do that was to try and help.  “I can at least tell you if she’s in base housing.  What’s her name and rank?”

“Don’t know the current rank, but her name is Bridgette Clarkson.” 

The man’s face broke into a small smile.  “Peter Clarkson’s wife?”

“That’s the one!” 

“I was sorry to hear what happened to him.  I was still stationed in Rhode Island when he died.” 

Vince’s face fell slightly.  “Yeah, it was bad.  IED you know.”

The Corporal’s face went blank.  “IED?”  He shook his head.  “No Peter was killed in a car accident.” 

Vince felt like his head was spinning.  “Why would she lie about that?”

The young man shrugged.  “Don’t know, but she was driving, and I doubt you’ll find her here.  Is your wife sure it’s the same woman?  It would be kind of impossible if it was.”

“Why?” 

“Well, rumor was that she went a little…”  He glanced around even though no one else was in the office.  “Crazy.”  He finished.  “Yeah, she was dishonorably discharged about the time I was being transferred here.” 

“How long have you been here?” 

“Let’s see.  I went to visit my parents while on TDY, then I came here.  I’ve been here about six weeks.” 

“Six weeks.”  Vince said flatly. 

The man nodded slowly. 

“Bridgette Clarkson was at my house very recently in fatigues.  She’s accessing the base.”

“Well, that’s not hard to do if she’s on a visitor list.”

“She was dishonorably discharged.”  Stanley broke in. 

“Yes, but you guys know how it is.” 

Yes, Vince was surely learning ‘how it is’.  He was getting a crash course.

Dakota was excited to be going on a secret trip.  She talked almost nonstop, which was a good distraction for her mother and nerve frazzled Annette. 

“What could be taking so long?” 

“I don’t know.”  Sydney responded.  A knock sounded at the door, and she flashed Annette a smile.  “Maybe that’s Stanley.” 

Sydney opened the front door and Bridgette shot inside.  She went to the front window and peeked through the drapes.  Night was coming fast. 

“Bridgette?”  Sydney asked cautiously.  “What are you doing?” 

Annette stood and motioned for a wide eyed Dakota to come to her side.  Dakota’s river of ramblings had suddenly dried up.

“I saw Vince.”  Her green eyes were large.  “Something else is happening on base, and he wants me to make sure you get off the base safely.  He asked me to drive you guys to a specific safe location.”

Sydney looked at Annette before turning back to Bridgette with a mild narrowing of her eyes.  “Was Annette’s husband with him?” 

“No.  But Vince said to make sure you guys got out safely.” 

Dakota’s voice momentarily returned, carrying fear.  “Mommy?”

Sydney turned her body slightly, but kept her eyes on Bridgette.  “It’s ok, baby.”  She licked her lips.  “I better wait for Vince.” 

Bridgette shrugged, an odd smile dancing on her lips.  “Let me give you this, just in case.”  She tugged at the Velcro on a side pocket of her blue fatigue pants.  What she pulled out was a .38 caliber hand gun.  She pointed it at Sydney with a shrug of her shoulders. 

Dakota began to cry.  Sydney raised her hands slowly.  “Bridgette…I don’t know what’s happening here, but Vince will be back any minute.  Think about what you’re doing.” 

“Oh I have.  I finally have a purpose, Syd.  Go to your back kitchen door and let the man in that’s waiting there.  Your friend here,” She waved the gun casually in Annette’s direction.  “She’s going to grab your bags.”  Bridgette pointed the gun at Dakota. 

“Stop it!”  Sydney hissed.  “Bitch, I’ll kill you…”

“Really?  How?”  Bridgette pursed her lips.  “Poor Sydney, still struggling with being a brat.  Go let him in, or your traveling companion number will be down by one.”  She smiled grotesquely at Dakota, now too terrified to audibly cry.  “A tiny one down.”

Sydney walked to the back door, hoping and praying that Bridgette was a hallucinating lunatic and there wouldn’t be a man.  Luck just wasn’t on her side.  A swarthy skinned man also in fatigues, but his were tan, stood on the other side of the door grinning at her.

“What do you mean the road is closed?  I just need to get home!” 

“Sorry.”  The dark man said, looking at Vince and Stanley without pity.

“Then let me go around, and come in a different way!”

“Emergency.  I can’t let you do that.” 

Stanley dialed Annette’s cell number.  It rang straight to voice mail.  “Something's very wrong.”  He whispered from the side of his mouth, while keeping his eyes straight ahead. 

Vince felt a shake start in his hands.  What if he just drove past this man?  He eyed the holstered hand gun with unease.  He could be shot.  If this man was a legitimate soldier he could be arrested and put in the brig.  Either way, it didn’t bode well for Sydney and Dakota. 

The crackle of walkie talkie sizzled in the evening air.  The man pulled it from his front shirt pocket and pressed the button in the side.  MP’s had them mounted on their shoulder like any other law enforcement officer. 

Vince heard a male voice, an accented male voice speak. 

“Clear.” 

Vince looked uneasily as two other cars pulled up behind him, also waiting to get through.  The man beside his car window smiled. 

“You can go now.” 

Vince stared into his light brown eyes for a moment.  His voice was guarded, like he was pretending to be something he wasn’t; like he was straining against natural nuances.  He put the car in gear and drove away.  Stanley twisted in his seat and watched the man wave the other two vehicles on, then walk away.  He didn’t speak in the walkie talkie again. 

“It’s wrong.  All wrong.” 

Vince swung his car into the little driveway and got out without shutting the door.  The house looked quiet.  Full dark hadn’t quite fallen, but the house was dark.  He tried the front door, his stomach knotting as the door swung inward.  It wasn’t locked. 

Vince and Stanley checked every room.  The bags were gone.  The women and little Dakota were nowhere to be found. 

Stanley’s voice came out in a strangled way, and he cleared his throat.  “Maybe they went on.” 

“Does that sound reasonable to you?”  Vince asked with a deadly calm. 

“No.”

“That’s what they want us to think.”

The two men stared at each other in the darkened house.  Hope fading from them as quickly as the daylight was giving up its glory. 

“I need to make some phone calls.” 

“Yeah!  Call as much brass as you can!”

“I’m not calling anyone here.” 

Vince looked at Stanley knowing he had to tell him a truth about himself that no one in the Navy knew, and Bridgette didn’t count because she was no longer even in service. 

“Who then?”  Stanley’s arms were limp at his sides, a drop of sweat rolled down his temple. 

Vince took him by the shoulders and led him to the couch.  He told him what he was and that he would call others like himself to help. 

Stanley stared at him slack jawed before laughing manically.  “You pick now to joke?”  The laughter ceased as quickly as it had begun.  Vince could see Stanley was experiencing mental unhinge.  He hoped it was temporary.  He jumped to his feet.  “What kind of crap is this?”

Vince’s voice became firm.  “It’s the truth, Stanley, and we don’t have time for me to prove it to you right now!  You’ll see soon enough I’m sure.” 

Stanley sat back on the couch, his face stunned, and his lips forming words that didn’t make it all the way out.  He looked at Vince with something like awe. 

“A werewolf?  A real comic book come to like werewolf?” 

Vince sighed.  “Not so much like the comics.” 

Stanley nodded, his eyes catching what light was left.  “Alright, man.  That’s fine.” 

Vince had no idea if it really was or not, but he couldn’t worry about that now. 

As they drove off base, Sydney had the distinct impression that they might never see their men again.  The thought of Dakota not seeing her father again was the hardest part.  Little girls need their Dad’s.  She thought sadly.  Sydney wouldn’t cry.  She wouldn’t give them that benefit.  She and Dakota sat in the backseat with Annette, while Bridgette drove with the man from the backdoor riding shotgun.  He had tried to offer Dakota a peppermint over the backseat, but Sydney had smacked it out of his hand.  He had shrugged indifferently, then turned back around. 

They drove for at least an hour before Dakota pulled at Sydney’s shirt and whispered that she needed to go potty.