“I was protecting him!” she yelled after Brandt.
“Bullshit,” Maverik said, stomping past his daughter. “You were protecting you and keeping people from meddling in what you consider your own private business.”
“Dad…”
“No. You take a mate, you don’t have anymore private business. And you certainly don’t go off to fight something like this without at least telling them, face-to-face, like a damn adult, instead of running off after leaving some kind of bullshit note.”
“He’s right, Hell. This is the stupidest thing any of us has ever done,” Havoc said.
“I don’t think so!” Hellen snapped, glaring at Havoc.
“I do,” Maverik called over his shoulder. “If Lucien hadn’t grabbed you, we’d be burying your ass!”
“Does nobody have any faith in me? What do you people think I do when I’m on duty. Do you think I drive up and down the highway waving at people? I was trained for this!” Hellen shouted. “And it was just poachers and recon as far as I knew! I didn’t know it would be like this!”
“Recon means you observe safely from a distance, not that you march your uppity ass right into the middle of every-damn-thing and piss them all off! And it wasn’t just poachers or recon,you knew it was the same ones that left Lucien for dead and you took it on alone intentionally. Not smart, Hell. Not smart at all,” Havoc said, pausing only to glare at her angrily before he walked off to help the others check the surrounding area.
Hellen gave up arguing and just rested her hands on her hips as she looked down at the ground. They were right. She knew they were, but that didn’t mean she deserved all this attitude either. Maybe it wasn’t the smartest idea coming to the area alone, but it was her job. True, she saw what was happening and got angry, reacted emotionally, rather than thinking her way through it and backing away, but it turned out okay — they all showed up.
Chapter 18
Bailey had already knocked twice with no response at all, not that she actually expected one. Remi’s car wasn’t even here. After begging her to come so he could explain everything, he couldn’t even be bothered to be here.
“Hey, you looking for Remi?” Kiernan asked from his front door.
Bailey turned toward him and smiled. “Yes. He asked me to come by so he could explain a few things, and now he isn’t even here.”
“He’ll be back before long. Why don’t you come in and wait with us?”
“Where is he?”
“Brandt needed him. When Brandt needs us, we don’t keep him waiting. Remi asked me to keep an eye out for you, though.”
“You know what? I think I’ll just go on over to Tempest and Brandt’s house. If Brandt is with Remi, Tempest is alone and I could really use a little girl time.”
“Sounds good. If you change your mind, the door’s open here.”
“Thanks, Kiernan. Appreciate it.”
“You want me to take you over there?”
Bailey kind of thought it was a weird offer, since she was in her own car, but didn’t point it out. “No thanks, I got my car,” she said, gesturing toward it.
“See you later, then,” Kiernan said.
Bailey smiled and nodded, then watched as Kiernan opened his door and went back inside his house. She watched for only a moment before she did exactly what she said she was going to do. She got in her car and drove over to Tempest’s house. Whenshe got there, Tempest was standing at the foot of the steps waiting for her.
Bailey turned off her car and gathered her purse before getting out and walking toward Tempest. “Hey. I know you’re not waiting on me,” she said jokingly.
“Actually, I am.”
“How? I didn’t call to let you know I was coming.”
“Kiernan let me know.”
“Oh, I should have guessed that Kiernan would call you.”
“Yeah, something like that. Come on in, let’s talk,” Tempest said, looping her arm across Bailey’s shoulder.
