“You want the truth?” Ace roared at me.
“No. I want you to keep lying to me so you can sleep at night,” I said, turning my back on him. I didn’t care what he had to say. I didn’t even want to look at him anymore.
Ace’s laugh was deep. It rumbled against my back, punching at the air like his fist had at my face. Before I could take another step, he spun me around, fisting his hands in the front of my shirt, and shook me like a rag doll.
“Let go, Ace. You made your choices and they didn’t include the rest of us, so don’t expect me to give a shit one way or the other for your reasons why.”
He released me with a shove and took a step back. “You make it sound like I’ve tried everything to wrong you, when the truth is, I gave everything up to keep you safe.”
“Whatever, Ace.” He waited until I’d made it halfway up the stairs before he spoke.
“I’m leaving, Jared. I haven’t been given any details, except that I’ll be gone for a while.”
My foot scraped across the next step as I turned to look back over my shoulder at him. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I need to know you don’t hate me. And I need to know that you’ll keep your promise of looking out for Riley before I go.” It wasn’t so much the words that he’d said, but how he said it that gave me pause. It rang of finality. Like he knew something would go wrong.
“You’re a real dick for lying to me, Ace. But I don’t hate you.”
“And Riley?” He searched my face, waiting for me to answer.
“I’ll always be there for Riley.” I lifted my hand, touching my first finger and thumb together. Ace’s head dipped, and he made a strangled noise before his lips pulled tight into a grimaced smile that only reached one side of his mouth. He said nothing else as he turned his back on me and walked away.
I WASN’T SURE HOW LONG I sat on the stairs unmoving as I looked out over the water, reflecting back to the conversation with Ace. There was so much he’d hinted at, but he never came right out and said why he’d given everything up for me. It made no sense.
A hand settled over my shoulder and clamped down, followed by the rest of Aiden as he sat on the step next to me. He stretched his arms out, settling them on his knees.
“It’s pretty here, nothing like home, that’s for damn sure.” He bumped his shoulder into mine and sighed deeply. When I remained silent, he changed tactics. “Did you get to talk to Ace before he left?”
Aiden didn’t seem as guarded as Ace had been. I could only hope he’d slip up and tell me something useful, something to connect all the half-spoken sentences together to complete a full picture of what they’d been up to. “He said he was leaving. Where’s he going?”
“I don’t know,” he said with a shake of his head.
“Figures. Never mind, Aiden, forget I asked,” I said, pushing myself up to stand.
Aiden jerked me back down beside him. My ass hit the wood with a solid thud. “Hold on. I didn’t say that because I’m keeping something from you, Jared. Believe me when I tell you that I’ve been fighting a losing battle with Oliver about you knowing the truth.”
“And what is the truth, Aiden?” I asked, yanking my arm from his hold.
He blew out a deep breath. “There are certain things I can’t tell you. I need you to understand that before I tell you anything. Do you think you can accept that and not push for answers I can’t give you?”
It was better than nothing, but still. “You know me better than that.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, that’s what I’m worried about.”
“Ask yourself this, Aiden. How would you feel if the roles were reversed and everyone was keeping things from you?”
“Trust me, Jared, I know how you feel. I’d be pissed too.”
My brow quirked at his admission. “Yet, I don’t hear any explanations coming out of your mouth.”
He shifted beside me as he told me about how he’d gone from the Air Force base in Texas, to being hand selected by my parents once he’d completed his initial training. From there, Cole Enterprise had spared no expense to continue advancing him along for their own purposes. It wasn’t long after he’d been taken to the world headquarters building in Chicago that Ace showed up. “Neither one of us knew the other would be there, so it was crazy when it happened, ya know?”
I rubbed my fingers against my temples as he continued, giving me more information in fifteen minutes than my parents had given me my entire life. Cole Enterprises wasn’t just a research facility making prototypes for the government. It was also a private sector facility that was used, more often than not, to take care of targeted people of interest. People the government couldn’t, or wouldn’t, touch due to the fallout it would create if exposed for their actions.
Handpicked soldiers were selected and given the option to work for Cole Enterprise. Most were selected after serving several years in the military. Gaining field experience made those who were selected well-seasoned veterans in Cole Enterprise’s arsenal.
In Aiden and Ace’s case, they were handpicked by my parents, although the reason wasn’t completely clear until Aiden dropped a bombshell on me. “Your parents aren’t just employees, Jared. They’re field operatives. And they uncovered something last year that threatens not only them, but you as well. They tried everything to keep this from happening, even hiding you in plain sight with the band, but it’s become too risky. It’s why you’re here, and why you’ll remain here until all of it gets handled. That’s why they wouldn’t let you go to the cabin. It would have put Riley and Paige in danger too. And it’s why none of us can go home right now.”
His eyes searched mine, as if trying to see if I truly understood the severity of the situation. “As shitty as it sounds, you don’t know how relieved I was when I got that message from Paige that Riley decided not to have a funeral for her dad.”
Aiden’s explanation was more than I thought I’d get from him. It also made me wonder if they’d been suckered into signing on with Cole Enterprise because my parents used that as a way to lure them in. “Did they tell you? Was this the reason both of you made the choice to work for Cole Enterprise?”
“I can’t speak for Ace, but yes, they told me.”
My head fell onto my arms, and I willed myself to stay calm even though I wanted to lash out at something—anything.
It hit me then, and I felt my stomach lurch. What about the others? “Is it only you two?”
“Yeah, Ace and I were the only ones. Well, to my knowledge anyway. Mark, Josh, and Eli all chose different paths that have no crossroads with this, so I don’t think they’d cross your parents’ minds.”
My head pounded with a headache that blurred my vision. “So what happens now?”
Aiden pushed his hands against his knees and stood. “Now, you go back inside, write your music, and reassure your band mates that everything will be fine.”
He held his hand out to help me up. When I stood, he pulled me into a back-pounding hug, and then turned me loose. His eyes sought out something over my shoulder, and he smirked. “Tell me about Murphy.”
“There’s nothing to tell you about because she’s mine.”
He laughed and shoved me up the stairs. “Man, you, Ace, and Mark are some lucky sonsabitches.”
I gut checked him at the top of the stairs, darting away from his fist when he swung for my shoulder. “Idiot.”
“Dickhead,” he grumbled as he passed by me and opened the door.
I caught him winking at Murphy when he walked past. He knew I did too, because he turned a megawatt smile in my direction.
Murphy shot a confused look at both of us, giving Aiden more of a reason to beam from ear to ear. “Are you sure about him? ’Cause I have stories that might change your mind.”
Her mouth fell open, and she turned bright red. Aiden, amused with himself, left without saying another word.
“What was that about?” Murphy asked when I walked over and pulled her into
my arms.
“Aiden, being a shit.”
“Oh, well, that just explains everything,” she said, making sure to dole out a heavy dollop of sarcasm.
“Do me a favor… don’t believe anything he tells you. Unless it’s good, of course.” I tucked her hair behind her ear. Leaning my forehead to hers, I breathed deeply, taking in the lightly scented perfume on her skin.
She pulled back, putting room between us, but not forcing herself from my arms. “I saw you talking with Ace. It looked like you two were arguing. Is everything okay?”
My head throbbed, and I winced just thinking about it. “I don’t know. I want it to be, but how can it after all of this?”
Her hand felt cool against my face as she swept her fingertips along my brow. “You look pale. Are you feeling all right?”
“Headache,” I replied, capturing her hand and holding it against my cheek.
“Maybe you should take something for it, and then go lay down for a while.”
“Come with me?” I asked. Headache medicine, Murphy, and a comfortable bed sounded good.
KICKING OFF MY SHOES, I lay down and fluffed the pillow under my head as Murphy pulled the bedroom door shut and locked it. When she pulled the curtains closed, the darkness eased my headache considerably.
The bed dipped when she sat down, toed off her shoes, and then slid her hand along the bedspread. When her fingers bumped into my shoulder, she eased herself down beside me. I rolled over and pulled her against my chest, closing my eyes as her softness molded to me.
Without her realizing it, Murphy had become my anchor, holding me fast in a storm that threatened to pull me under. She kept me from drifting into a sea filled with anger and resentment for all the deceptions and secrets held from me for so long. The worst part was that I didn’t even know who I was anymore. Or who I was supposed to be. It felt as if my life had been nothing but a hidden agenda, one that I was never supposed to find out about, yet everyone else knew. Well, almost everyone else. Everything I’d learned from Aiden tore the roots of the Six apart, leaving them bared to the elements. What would the others think if they knew? How would they feel, knowing that everything we’d promised one another all those years ago had been manipulated by the very people who’d pledged their friendships as wholeheartedly as the rest of us?
“Jared?” Murphy whispered, stilling my thoughts.
“Mmm?”
“You’re supposed to be resting,” Murphy said, turning over onto her back.
With my eyes adjusted to the minimal light of the room, I could make out her silhouette. “I am.”
She rolled onto her side to face me. “I can feel the tension pouring off you. Do you want to talk about it?”
“Trust me, Murphy, even if I did want to talk about it, it wouldn’t make any sense.”
She found my fingers, lacing hers into mine. “It doesn’t have to make any sense.”
“I wouldn’t even know where to begin. There are so many thoughts, and they’re all going in different directions.”
“You’re really upset that Aiden and Ace are here and not where they’re supposed to be, where they told you they’d be, right?”
I rolled over onto my back and draped my arm over my eyes. “That’s an understatement.”
“They seem like really nice guys.”
I snorted and immediately regretted it when pain raced through my head.
Murphy propped herself up on her elbow, tugging on my hand so that I’d turn on my side again to face her. Her cool fingertips settled on my temples, rubbing in small circles. “You’re mad at what they did, not at who they are.”
I thought about that for a minute, realizing she was right. “Yeah, I mean, they’re my best friends. But friends shouldn’t lie to each other.”
“No, they shouldn’t, but did they lie to you? I mean, from what I overhead between Aiden and Oliver, they were selected for this job. Wouldn’t it be the same thing had they been sent to a new base, or even a different country?”
“What are you saying? I shouldn’t be angry at them for not telling any of us what they were up to?”
“Would you be angry with them if they’d been sent out on a mission? I mean, if you think about it, the military holds most of what they do top secret. Aiden and Ace wouldn’t have been able to tell you about that either. This is their job, Jared. Your parents handpicked them from what Oliver said. They didn’t ask for this anymore than you did.”
“They chose it though, Murphy. They chose to accept what my parents offered and now… and now, I don’t even know.”
“Who are you more upset with, them or your parents?” she asked, her fingertips stilling as she waited for me to answer.
The entire picture snapped into focus. Yes, I was angry that Ace and Aiden hadn’t told any of us what they were up to, but I couldn’t fault them for it. Murphy was right; it was their job. One that was offered to them by my parents. The two people who’d kept the most secrets, who’d kept me in the dark my entire life, had chosen two of my best friends. What they had failed to remember was that both Aiden and Ace were first and foremost part of the Six.
“My whole life I thought my parents were computer techs. They’d never once slipped, even when I walked in on them while they were working from home. As I got older, they were around less. Most days, I stayed out at the cabin with the Six, unless we were in school. Those days were long and boring. School, home, and then back to school. I tried football, but that didn’t hold my interest. I tried band, and stuck with that for a few months, but the teacher wouldn’t let me play my guitar so I quit.”
“Imagine that,” Murphy said with a slight chuckle. “You were a typical teenage boy.”
I snorted in response. “The crazy part was that I wanted so badly to do something that would make my parents proud, so I started messing around on the computer. And I got pretty good at it. I couldn’t tell you how I did things, only that I could do them. I created a few programs and even showed them to my parents. They supported me, bought me all sorts of gadgets and stuff to work with. But when I realized that wasn’t what I really wanted to do, that I wanted to play music, they grew silent on me. They stopped coming home for longer periods of time… It felt like they were shutting me out.”
“I can’t believe it. You’re a computer nerd?” She sounded a little shocked.
I lifted my head up from the bed to look at her. “That’s all you got out of that?”
She swatted at my arm. “No, that’s not all I got out of that. It just surprised me is all.”
“I have all sorts of surprises for you,” I said, sliding my hand down the back of her leg to the bend of her knee.
She’d started to laugh, but it quickly turned into a gasp when I pulled her knee over my hip and rolled over, settling between her legs. “Lots and lots of surprises for you, Skylar Murphy.”
IT HAD BEEN A MONTH since Ace left, and we’d settled into somewhat of a routine. Aiden had stuck around for a week longer than Ace, but then was called away to do something for my parents. And my parents hadn’t made it back from Scotland, so there were no answers to the questions piling up inside my head.
With everything that happened, it had pretty much put me in a tailspin. I had no idea how to keep my focus on anything longer than a handful of minutes before my thoughts split off to Aiden, Ace, and my parents. I owed more than that to the band. My primary focus should have been on creating a new album and getting it released.
Licks, Retro, and Lars watched me when they thought I wasn’t looking, and I could see the frustration behind their stares. I needed to get my shit together.
After a week of wandering around the house and sometimes outside to the rocky water’s edge, Murphy intervened. She’d taken me by the hand, led me to the basement, pushed me down on the couch, and put Stella in my hands. I wasn’t sure if she just knew exactly what I needed, or if she was just tired of watching me mope around the house.
I found that if I stayed downstairs, I coul
d trick my mind into believing I was somewhere I wasn’t. Focusing was a little easier and, before long, I’d submerged myself into a song-writing frenzy.
When I wasn’t trying to put words to paper, I was plucking away at Stella to get the chords down. The days flew by like that. I’d work until my eyes were blurry or my fingers were cramped. It wasn’t long before we were able to start practicing a couple of the songs that were complete.
Lars, happy with the progress, asked Murphy to look for recording equipment, and the next thing I knew, we had one track down.
Feeling hopeful for the first time in a long time, I bounded upstairs, taking two steps at a time in my excitement. I’d talked to Riley a couple of times after Aiden and Ace had left. We kept it simple since there wasn’t much to talk about. She’d been working nonstop with the local vet, Doctor Anderson, and seemed to have found a way to keep her mind off things. I’d told her about the band and how we’d split from Woody to do our own thing. She made me promise to call her when the first track was officially laid down.
I snatched my phone up from the nightstand and called her.
“Hey, Jared!”
“We did it! The first track’s down!”
“That’s awesome. I can’t wait to hear it!” Her voice bubbled with excitement.
“Best feeling ever, Riles. I swear, I never thought we’d get here, ya know… like achieving the impossible.”
“Except it is possible! I have some exciting news for you too.” I could hear the smile in her voice.
“Oh yeah? What’s up?” I hadn’t heard her sound that happy since before I’d announced I was leaving home early to join up with the band.
“I’m going back to school.”
“You are? My promise still holds, Riley. I’ll send you money. Just let me know how much you need.” I might not have it, but my parents did, and I knew all I had to do was say the word and she’d have all her expenses paid. For all my parents’ faults, they’d never balked at paying for the things I asked for.
End Note Page 22