Hearths of Fire (13 page)

“When you came back for those few months all Mandy did was talk about you and the advice you gave her about college. She
still
listens to you,” Charlotte argued, not surprising Neal in the least. When she felt she was right she said or did what she could to get her way like a pit bull with an attitude. “I’m begging you…please talk to her. You can judge for yourself if you think I’m overreacting. I’m not. This boy has got her in his clutches and she’s starting to act out of character. I’ve gone to her friends and even they are worried. She’s not heeding anyone’s warning and I think it’s even pushing her closer to him.”

“Who is
he
?” Neal asked, not remembering hearing about a teenage son when he’d had discussions with Robert and Patricia Ashe, the married couple who led this so-called cult. “What’s his name and how old is he?”

“Garreth Ashe and he’s seventeen, just like Mandy.” Charlotte paused a moment before she continued to add onto her arsenal on why she was so worried. “Their birthdays fall on the same day, Neal. They both turn eighteen on Halloween.”

“A coincidence,” Neal pointed out, playing devil’s advocate. “A lot of people’s birthdays fall on Halloween. Mandy is a smart enough girl. Besides who Garreth’s parents are, has anything happened to give you cause for concern?”

“Other than the fact that Mandy’s personality is starting to change and that it’s believed Garreth is next in line to lead the cult that has been blamed on missing farm animals, supposedly for sacrificial reasons?” Charlotte asked, fear rising in her voice with each word. Neal inhaled deeply and comprehended that Char was using him as a last resort. She would never have called him if she’d already used every other resource. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe her, but he really didn’t think she was giving Mandy enough credit. Although he knew her response he still awaited her answer. “No.”

“If you’re worried enough to have called me, then I’ll touch base with Mandy later today,” Neal conceded, kicking himself in the ass for even answering the phone to begin with. It had taken him a very long time to get over the fact that Charlotte didn’t love him enough to marry him. Returning home after all those years to see that she really had moved on with her life had just driven the stake home a little deeper. “You have my word.”

“Now,” Charlotte requested, a hint of desperation in her tone. Neal cracked the knuckles of his left hand on his knee as he thought of a way to postpone this. Didn’t she understand that calling him out of the blue like this caused all of his pent up anger to return? “Please?”

“Fine.” Neal would just view this as ripping a bandage off of his skin—quick and painless. Afterward he’d be able to go on about his day as if he hadn’t heard Charlotte’s voice and had every damned memory of their time together come back in force. “Put her on.”

“Thank you,” Charlotte replied quietly. Neal didn’t want her gratitude. He was thankful when she finally pulled the phone away to call out to her sister. When the line became muffled and it was obvious that an argument had ensued, he looked at his watch to see he only had ten minutes left before Daegan was knocking at his door. “Please just talk to him.”

Neal could hear the phone being exchanged between the sisters and it wasn’t long before Mandy’s young voice came over the line. “Neal, she had no right to call you.”

“Char’s worried about you, kiddo.” Neal used the old nickname he’d given Mandy when she was younger. There was a ten-year difference between the sisters and their relationship had been more like mother and daughter than anything else. A lot of things had changed when their parents had tragically died in an auto accident. Neal forced himself to say what he needed to say so that he could get on with his day. “You already know my feelings on Ashes to Dirt. I had a couple of run-ins with this boy’s parents. The town doesn’t want a cult in their midst and honestly, I don’t blame them. I can just imagine how everyone is reacting to you dating Garreth Ashe.”

“Garreth is a nice guy,” Mandy argued in the typical way any teenage girl would when defending her boyfriend. “His parents are really nice too. They are just trying to fit in and everyone is making it so hard.”

“I’m not saying that Garreth isn’t nice, but I’ve met his parents, kiddo. They aren’t there to just
fit in
. They want to recruit and build a following for some end of the world crazy ass shit. Just promise me and then reassure your sister that you’re not getting sucked in by these people.” Neal heard pounding on his door and he muttered some words after he’d pulled the phone away from his mouth. He got up and then headed back through his condo to the door. “Going out every now and then with Garreth is fine. I’m sure your senior year is full of friends and football games. Just promise your sister that it isn’t anything serious and she’ll ease off of you.”

“Garreth is really special, Neal,” Mandy said, her voice softening and also bringing with it a warning that didn’t sit right with him. “It’s more than dating. There are so many signs pointing to why we’re meant to be together.”

Neal had just turned the handle, letting Daegan enter the apartment when her words penetrated. Signs? Meant to be together? Charlotte was right in the fact that Mandy had always listened to him when she was young. He hadn’t asked for that idolization and he certainly had never abused it. Things hadn’t changed when he’d returned home for three months before moving to San Diego to work for Red Starr HRT. Would she heed his advice this time?

“Mandy, like I said, I’m sure he’s a nice kid.” Neal ignored Daegan’s raised eyebrow as his friend looked him over, taking in the running clothes he’d yet to change out of. He motioned toward the kitchen, knowing that Daegan would make use of the coffee pot. Neal couldn’t cut off this conversation just yet, not until he was certain that Mandy wasn’t getting drawn into that cult like Charlotte was afraid of. “But you’re still too young to get serious over a boy. We talked about college and your dream of being a registered nurse. You need to stick to that course, kiddo.”

“I can still go to college if I’m in a serious relationship, Neal. You and Charlotte were going to get married when you were nineteen years old.” Neal could hear Charlotte start to argue in the background, but he couldn’t tell what was being said. A lot of emotions had been stirred up with that one sentence and he wasn’t at all sure how to handle it. He had too much pent up frustration to sit right now, so he walked over to the window facing the beach. “I still have the rest of my senior year and I want to have fun. I want to spend it with Garreth, so you need to tell Charlotte to get off of my back.”

The phone had obviously been passed back to Charlotte, and while Neal had originally thought he’d be able to disconnect after he’d spoken with Mandy that clearly wasn’t the case. He crossed one arm over his chest and lowered his head, knowing the upcoming discussion wasn’t going to be good.

“Now tell me that you don’t hear the distance in her voice,” Charlotte demanded, anger and fear mingled in her words. “There’s been rumors buzzing around town that they have close to a hundred members out on old Ryder Road outside of town. They’re building barns and long wooden housing structures to house them all. Neal, I know you’ve started a new life in San Diego…but I really need your help. I’m so afraid I’m losing her to this cult.”

Charlotte’s voice had dropped off to a whisper and the last time Neal had ever heard such anguish within her was when her parents had died. He remembered that time as if it were yesterday, when in reality it had been six months before they were to be married. It didn’t matter that years had passed and they’d gone their separate ways. There was a fundamental part of him that wouldn’t allow Charlotte to go through another loss. He said the only thing he could, regardless that it might put his new position at Red Starr HRT in jeopardy.

“I’ll be in Hearth by Friday.”

‡

“I
’m just trying
to get you to see clearly, man,” Daegan said as Neal drove his black 1500 Silverado into the Sweetwater Harley Davidson parking lot. He was getting tired of hearing that he was making a mistake by going back home, although he knew his friend meant well. “This woman left you at the altar and then didn’t give you a second look when you returned to your hometown. Now you’re dropping everything to go and do what? Talk her sister out of dating some guy who’s got some fucked up parents? Really?”

“You don’t know her,” Neal warned, shaking his head as he pulled up to the curb but didn’t bother to put the truck in park. “Just because we didn’t get hitched doesn’t mean that I don’t still care for her. We grew up together. Charlotte’s sister was like my baby sister. If Mandy is in trouble, I need to help the family.”

“Why?” Daegan asked, not getting out of the truck. Neal tightened his fingers on the steering wheel, regretting having told Daegan any of this to begin with. The man blew through women like he went through ammo for his Sig. “What are you going to do that no one else in that town can?”

That was a damn good question and one that Neal couldn’t answer. Shit, he really didn’t even want to think about why he was going back. Did he want to return to Hearth just to see Charlotte one more time? Did he want to believe that only he could help them? Did his decision actually have to mean anything?

“It comes down to this, Einstein.” Neal was done having this conversation, especially since he knew he would be having it again within fifteen minutes. He had to get permission to take personal leave out of the state from Catori Starr. The proprietor of Red Starr HRT wouldn’t grant him any time away from training without a valid reason and he had to be damned convincing. The vigorous training schedule they were doing was in preparation for a mission abroad that would occur in four months’ time. “I’m going back for one weekend to help out a friend. Two days. It doesn’t have to mean anything more than that.”

“I think I’ve gotten to know you fairly well over the last two months, Doc,” Daegan declared, finally pulling on the handle to open the truck door. There was a serious look to his usually light blue eyes that told Neal this conversation wasn’t so much about him returning home as it was about something in Daegan’s past. The man talked about his immediate family quite a bit, but now that Neal thought about it he didn’t know much about his friend’s previous relationships. “The difference between the two of us is that I learned from my past mistakes. You can’t go back and recapture what was never there to begin with.”

Neal wasn’t sure what to say to that so he remained quiet as Daegan got out of the truck. He didn’t shut the door right away, but when he did turn to face Neal it was obvious the charming façade was back in place. He gave a half smile as if he didn’t know what had come over him as he slipped on a pair of dark tinted Oakley SI Ballistic M Frame 3.0 sunglasses they had all been issued.

“I’ll see you at headquarters.”

“I’m sure we’ll hear you coming,” Neal said, referencing the fact that Daegan was finally picking up the 1978 Harley Davidson Custom FLH Police 1200 that he’d had the dealership extensively trick out for him. “Just wear a helmet, will ya? My medic skills don’t extend to pasting your skull back together.”

Daegan flipped him the bird before slamming the door shut and walking around the Harley Davidson shop to where the service entrance was located. Neal pulled out and maneuvered his truck through the streets and numerous stoplights. He used the time to think of how he could present his dilemma to Starr in order to get her to approve his leave. Normally weekends were their own time and he wouldn’t have had to worry about it. Unfortunately, since they were training for a specific mission that required their presence seven days a week, it wasn’t so easy. Combine that with the fact that their upcoming mission was connected to the death of their lead operator’s sister and it became even stickier.

Speaking of their lead operator, Kane “Gunny” Taylor was just getting out of his white F150 as Neal pulled into the parking lot. Figuring this was the perfect opportunity to lay some groundwork, he swung his truck into the slot next to Gunny’s and then shut off the engine. Catching the handle and using his shoulder to push against the door, he unfolded his frame and stepped down onto the hot pavement with his military issue boots.

“Gunny, I need to speak with you.”

“What’s up, Doc?” Gunny gave a half-cocked smile as he said those words. The joke had mislaid its humor on Neal a while ago, but apparently hadn’t lost its appeal to the guys comprising the newly formed team. Neal was the only team member that had used his medic training in the field and he could put in sutures better than any surgeon, especially when it needed to be done in the dark of the night in a foot of mud during a monsoon. “Still driving that piece of shit?”

Neal’s preference of Chevy over Ford was another fodder for one-liners, especially since Gunny preferred Ford pickups. Normally each of them gave as good as they got. Not in the mood for the banter, Neal leaned back against the tailgate of Gunny’s truck and got right to the point.

“I need to take a few days and return home. I’m hoping it could be this upcoming weekend when the team is finishing up their block training for next week’s exercises.” Neal lifted his issued Oakley shades and made eye contact with Gunny, wanting to convey the importance of his request. “I’ll return Sunday and come into headquarters to get caught up on what I’ve missed. I give you my word I’ll be ready for the drills come next Monday.”