Opal by Helen Hardt
LEIF
The door to the conference room crashes open.
“Ma’am, please!”
A young woman with reddish-brown hair pulled back in a high ponytail crashes into the room. She’s wearing baggy jeans cinched at the waist with a leather belt and a tight T-shirt that shows a sliver of her belly.
Rock rises to his feet. “Danielle, what the hell is going on?”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Wolfe. I tried to stop her. I’ve alerted security.”
Reid rises, shakes his head. “It’s all right. Buck, Leif, Aspen, this is Kelly Taylor.”
A look of recognition crosses Aspen’s fine features. “Hi, Kelly.”
Kelly clears her throat. “Garnet. Sorry, I mean Aspen. I hear congratulations are in order.”
“Thank you.”
The two women are speaking in a weird robotic tone. I get the feeling they don’t like each other. Not at all.
That doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, given they were in the same boat on the island.
“Ms. Taylor,” Rock says. “What can we do for you?”
Kelly pulls the phone out of her purse and shoves it in Rock’s face. “I got another one. From Brindley.”
“Brindley?” Aspen asks.
“Smoky from the island. Smoky Quartz.” Kelly’s voice is tinny.
“Right.” Aspen nods. “She wasn’t there for very long, was she?”
“About six months before we were rescued,” Kelly says.
Rock takes the phone from Kelly and studies it. “And you’re sure these texts are coming from her?”
“She all but admitted as much.”
“This isn’t the phone number we have registered for her.”
Kelly grabs the phone out of Rock’s hand and glares at the screen. “So? She bought her own phone.”
“This is a new number,” Rock says. “We’ll trace it, but I’m pretty sure we’ll find the same thing. That it’s untraceable. From a burner.”
“Where would she be getting burners?” Aspen asks.
“Anywhere,” I say. “The question is, where is she getting the money for the burners?”
“We give the ladies a pretty nice allowance,” Reid says. “It’s the least we can do.”
“Who are these guys?” Kelly glares at Buck and me.
But man, even with the glare? She’s got to be one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever laid eyes on. I’ve always been a sucker for a redhead, and her hair is a nice auburn, just red enough to make my dick react.
Plus, she’s got a tight-ass body. Just that little sliver of belly shows me how tight and muscled she is.
I love women who are in shape. I met a lot of them in the Armed Forces, and that’s what I go for. Same for Buck, which is clearly why he went for Aspen.
I can’t help but think about why Kelly and Aspen are in shape, though. They were… Ugh. I still can’t go there.
And damn, they are beautiful.
Especially Kelly Taylor.
A spitfire too. A personality that goes with that red hair.
I’m not Buck, though. I’m not going to fall for a woman with so much baggage. I don’t even like to think about what they went through on that island because then I have to think about what Buck and I have been through. How he and I were the only ones who came home from that last tour. He and I voluntarily joined the Navy, though.
Kelly? Aspen? They were forced to do the unthinkable.
“Buck Moreno and Leif Ramsey,” Reid replies to Kelly. “Sorry, I should have made that clear when I introduced them to you. They’re part of our security team, and they’re here to help us investigate these threats that are being made against you.”
“You brought in the brawn to investigate?” Kelly scoffs. “Just bring Brindley in here, force her to tell you she’s doing this and then ask her why.”
“We don’t have any proof that it’s Brindley,” Rock says.
“You have me! I’ve told you it’s her. She admitted it!”
I rise then, reach my hand out to Kelly. “It’s good to meet you.”
She takes my hand and shakes it hard. “Yeah. So what are you going to do about this?”
Damn.
This one’s got a mean streak for sure. I bet she’s a fucking tigress in the sack.
Why am I even thinking about that? I don’t want a woman with all this baggage. Plus, she’s rude. Mean. Nasty.
“We’re here to get to the bottom of it. Buck and I—along with Aspen—will figure it out.”
“Do you feel like your life is in danger?” Buck asks.
“I don’t know. The building we’re in has security up the yin-yang. But sometimes…”
“Sometimes what?” I prompt.
“She’s in the same building I am, as you know. Brindley. Sometimes in the middle of the night, I hear noises. When I get up, I can distinctly hear someone fidgeting with my doorknob. Who else could it be? No one else has access to the building except the people who live here and security.”
“We have top-notch security,” Reid says. “All the guys are vetted and then vetted again.”
“So it’s got to be one of the women,” Kelly says. “It’s not Lily. She’s afraid of her own shadow. And Francine and Marianne keep to themselves. It has to be Brindley.”
“How did she admit to you that she was sending the text?” I ask.
“I got in her face. I accused her. And she didn’t deny it.”
Buck suppresses a chuckle. “That’s hardly an admission, Ms. Taylor.”
“You don’t know the bitch.”
Aspen rises then. “I know her. I remember her just like I remember you. What I recall is—”
“Did I ask you what you recall?” Kelly advances toward Aspen. “I know you hated me on that island. I know you all hated me.”
“I didn’t hate you, Kelly.” Aspen smiles with her lips, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. It’s a look of pity. “I didn’t hate anyone. I was trying to survive just like you were.”
“You were all jealous of me.”
“That’s not how I remember it.”
“Just how do you remember it then?” Kelly demands, her arms across her chest.
Aspen pauses a moment, and I can almost feel her counting to ten. She clearly doesn’t want to engage with Kelly but she’s getting pissed. Who can blame here?
“I’ve already told Buck and Leif,” Aspen finally says. “How you were the jealous one. You didn’t like it when someone got chosen over you.”
Kelly scoffs. “In what universe does that make any sense?”
“Believe me,” Aspen says. “That’s what we all thought.”
Kelly narrows her eyes, and her facial muscles tense further. “Go to hell, Garnet.”
Aspen’s eyes widen, but she doesn’t respond. It’s clear she considers reference to their island names a hit below the belt. I admire her ability to ignore Kelly’s obvious desire to pick a fight.
“Wait just a minute,” Rock says. “My brother and I are very sorry for what you went through on that island, Ms. Taylor. We would erase it from all of you if we could. And we’re doing our damnedest to make sure you all get the treatment you need and deserve. But speaking that way to another survivor—to anyone, really—isn’t the way to go about that. If you want to be a part of this meeting, then sit down. You’re the victim here, so your input is necessary. But leave the attitude outside.”
Kelly draws in a breath, and for a moment, I think she’s going to shout Rock down.
But Rock Wolfe is nothing if not an imposing presence. He still has the air of a rebel about him.
Kelly draws in a breath. “All right.” She heads to an empty seat and sits her ass down.
Her very nice ass.
“All right,” Reid says. “Let’s continue with the meeting.”