Harley's Achilles (The Rock Series Book 3) (14 page)

“Yes?”

“I’m Achilles Castellanos, Harley’s bodyguard? Can I please come in?”

“Oh, sure.” She backed up a bit and I strode past her. “Can I get you a drink?”

“Water will be fine,” I said as I walked around the living room. Pictures of Holden were everywhere. Not one of Harley among them. I balled my fists. I stopped in front of the flag in its case and peered at it closely.

“Here you are.”

I turned to find Harley’s mother holding a glass of water. I took it and thanked her as I perused the rest of the pictures.

“What can I do for you, Mr. Castellanos?”

“Well, you could start by handing over Holden’s letter to Harley.” I fixed her with a look.

“His what?” She asked nervously.

“Don’t try to play stupid. I know full well you got two letters. I’ve got a guy who’s willing to swear to it. So, I would advise you to hand it over.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” she shouted.

“Don’t lie to me!” I threw my glass against the mantle and one of Holden’s pictures came crashing down, hitting the floor. Glass shattered everywhere and Mrs. Payne gasped audibly. She rushed over to the picture and began picking up glass. I peered around her and noticed a white envelope sticking up behind the picture and the mat behind it.

“Stop!” I ordered. Her hands froze above the glass and I bent down and plucked the envelope from between the layers. Across the front, written in Holden’s handwriting, I was sure, was one word.

Harley.

My hands shook as I turned it over and that was when I noticed it had been opened. Harley’s mother stood on shaky legs and stared at the wall.

“How could you?” I whispered. “You opened it? This was a private letter from your son to his brother. How could you invade his privacy like that?”

Harley’s mother hadn’t moved. Still stared at the wall. I turned her around and lifted her face to mine.

“What kind of mother are you? To completely ignore the one remaining son you have? To keep this letter from him? To read Holden’s last words to his brother? Who the fuck are you people?”

“Give that back!” she snapped.

“Oh, the hell I will. I’m giving this to Harley. And let me tell you something else — you want to act like he doesn’t exist? Fine. Then he won’t be paying
anything
for you anymore. The gravy train stops right here.” I strode to the front door and looked back at her. “If I were you, I’d drop the charges against Harley because I bet his brother left him that bike in this letter.” I shook it at her. “God help you.”

“You have no right —”

“I have every right!” I shouted. “What did your letter say, huh? Something like ‘stop ignoring Harley’? ‘Be parents to him’? ‘Love him’?” Harley’s mother fidgeted and I glared at her. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

I stomped out of the house, slamming the door behind me. It had taken everything I had not to strangle her. I stared at the letter in my hand and then pocketed it in my jacket. I drove back to Harley’s with a heavy heart. I knew he would be glad to finally have something from his brother, but my part in all this had to come out. I pulled up and cut the engine, contemplating what to do next. Axel’s car was gone, and that meant I had to do this on my own. Harley ran out of the house just as I stepped onto the driveway.

“Where did you go?!” Harley yelled. “I was worried sick!”

I took Harley by the hand and led him into the house. I sat him down and kneeled in front of him. Harley took my hands, which were shaking, and looked into my eyes.

“You’re freaking me out. Please talk to me,” Harley whispered.

“I just came from your parents’ house, Harley.”

“Why?”

“Because your father filed charges against you for the theft of Holden’s motorcycle.”

“What?” Harley looked as though he’d been slapped by his father a second time.

I stood up and began pacing. I didn’t know how I was going to tell Harley what assholes his parents were. Keeping something like this from him was just cruel. I stopped pacing and locked eyes with him.

“I told them you won’t be paying anything for them anymore.”

Harley jumped up. “What? Why would you do that?”

“Because of this.” I pulled the envelope from my jacket and held it out for him to see. “They’ve had your letter all this time.”

Harley stared at it, his hand twitching to touch it. I stepped closer and held it toward him. “Take it.”

“You had no right,” Harley whispered.

“I didn’t? Probably not, but I was pissed. There’s more, and you won’t want to see me anyway after I tell you, so I guess I’ll lay it all out. I’m the reason Holden died.”

Harley’s head snapped up. “What?!”

“It was my team that was supposed to rescue them, but we were ambushed ourselves and we never made it. That’s why Holden died. We didn’t get there in time to save him.”

“Get out,” Harley choked. “I can’t handle all this right now!”

“I’m sorry, Harley. So very sorry.”

I stepped out of the house, closing the door firmly behind me. I sent Hammer a text asking him to get to Harley’s, then climbed into my truck. I drove blindly for a bit, not knowing where to go. I rolled my windows down and inhaled the fresh pine air. I stopped on the side of the road and closed my eyes. I felt a pinch at my neck and slapped my hand on it, only to come away with a dart between my fingers.

“Shit…”

Harley

I stared at the letter in my hand, trying to process everything. My parents had kept Holden’s letter from me? For three years, they’d kept it from me. I couldn’t even process the other news Achilles had dropped into my lap because I was still focused on the letter in my hand. My name was written across the front in Holden’s neat cursive. My heart was pounding in my chest. I didn’t know what to do first. I sprung into action, grabbing my truck keys and walking out of the house.

I drove across town to the cemetery and pulled into the parking lot. My hand shook as I got out and walked to Holden’s resting place. Flowers were drooping off to the side in a vase and I took them out, throwing them in a trashcan nearby. I sat down on the cold grass in front of his headstone and pulled the letter from my pocket. As I flipped it over, I noticed the seal was broken. Is that why Achilles had gotten so mad? I knew I was. They’d kept it from me
and
they’d read it?

I must have sat there for hours. Part of me wanted to read it so much and the other part was afraid of what would happen if I did. Every day was hard to get through without Holden and now I had his last words to me in my hand. I took a deep breath and pulled the paper out of the envelope. Opening it slowly, my eyes caught Holden’s handwriting.

Harley,

If you’re reading this, it means I’m gone; and God help me, I never wanted to leave you. I prayed every day that I’d make it through deployment, not for me, but for you. I wanted to be there when you got married and had babies. I wanted to be crazy Uncle Holden. But I am gone, and I need you to know something. No matter how you felt, you were never a mistake in my eyes.

You were my miracle.

I loved you with every breath I took and I will keep loving you even after. You are a special human being and I am so proud to have been able to watch you grow up and become the man you are today. I want you to have my bike, Harley. It was always yours and I want you to think of us when you ride it. I will always be with you. You are never alone.

I see you.

I have always seen you.

All my love,

Holden

I couldn’t see as tears rolled down my cheeks. A huge sob escaped me and then I was up, throwing whatever I could find.

“Why?! Why did you leave me all alone, Holden? You left me with
them
! You said you’d always be there! You said it!”

I fell to the ground and let it all out; my anger, the sadness, everything. I couldn’t grab enough air and my nose was stuffed up. I sat back on my ass and wiped at my eyes.

“Well, it’s about time.”

My head snapped to the left to see Jinx standing across from me with his arms folded over his chest.

“Jinx?”

Jinx walked over to me and squatted down. He took my hand and palmed my cheek. “I’m so sorry.”

“How did you know?” I asked.

“Axel.” Jinx wiped my tears away. “I heard about Achilles, too. You can’t blame him —”

“I don’t.” I sighed. “I know he couldn’t have done anything. He almost died that night. Besides, Holden would be so mad at me if I did.”

“Yes, he would.” Jinx nodded in agreement.

“Why did they do this to me?” I snuffled, holding up the letter.

“I don’t know.” Jinx sat down next to me and we both stared at Holden’s headstone. “What I
do
know is that Holden would never forgive you if you let someone like Achilles get away.”

“He would tell me that Achilles is one hell of a fine piece of ass,” I agreed.

I glanced over at Jinx to see a huge smile on his face. Our eyes met and we both busted out laughing.

“Yeah, he would.” Jinx cracked up.

“I was more mad at him for interfering with my parents. If anyone is going to tell them they’re cut off, it’s me.”

“Is that what you’re going to do?”

“I don’t know yet. I’m so fucking mad right now.” I glanced over at Jinx. “What are you doing here anyway?”

“Well hell, I’ll just go.” Jinx made to stand up and I yanked him back down.

“Just tell me.”

“Axel called after he got the info about Achilles and your brother. I was on the first plane out and just waiting for you to come home.”

“Where’s Jayden?”

“He’s at the house with the rest of the London Boys.”

I wrapped an arm around Jinx and leaned into him. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“There’s no place else I would be, Harley. You’re my brother.”

“From another mother.” I grinned.

Jinx and I drove back to my house only to find Axel pacing back and forth in the driveway. I hit the garage door opener and pulled my truck inside. I hopped out and met with Jinx in the middle of the driveway. Axel motioned to us to come over to him.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“The rest of the guys are coming. Hammer’s in the back yard.”

I studied Axel’s face closely. “What is it?”

“Inside. Now.”

Jinx and I walked into the house and Axel went to the back yard to let Hammer in. Within a few minutes, Buster arrived along with Stan. I searched their faces for any sign of what could be going on, but none of them were giving anything away. Once Axel corralled everyone in the living room, he sat down and faced me.

“Where is Achilles?” he asked.

“I don’t know. He left here hours ago. Why?”

“He’s not answering his phone.”

“Well, I might have gotten mad at him —”

“He would never not answer his phone, Harley,” Hammer cut in.

“You think something happened? Maybe he got in an accident?” I stood up, clasping my hands. “Oh God, what if he’s hurt?”

“Hammer.” Axel nodded to the other bodyguard and I stopped pacing.

“What?” I asked.

“Achilles asked us to check the house once you left. We did. We found a partial print on your window, along with hair follicles. We checked the food in the fridge and had it all checked. Your milk contained arsenic.”

“My milk?” I sat down in confusion. “Someone tried to poison me?”

“We’re running the prints. The hair was blond but with a black root. We also found another print on your milk jug, still partial, but we can work with it.”

“What is this?
CSI Arizona
?” Stan stood up and ran his hands over his face. “What the hell is going on here?”

“Oh God,” I swallowed hard. “If anything happened to Achilles… I yelled at him. The last words I spoke to him were in anger.”

“Hey.” Axel moved to my side. “Achilles is well trained, Harley. We’ll find him, I can promise you that.”

“Blonde with black roots,” Stan mumbled. “Have you had any contact with anyone out of the ordinary? You know, like someone not from town, Harley?”

“Um, the only person I’ve seen is Arielle at the bar. She’s blonde and in need of a dye job.”

“Arielle is here in Flagstaff?” Jinx asked in astonishment. “Why?”

“Said she was visiting someone.”

“Who?” Axel asked.

“She didn’t say, Rebel showed up and she left.” I furrowed my brows. “I was sick right after that. I remember feeling hot and, well, weird.”

“Roofie?” Hammer asked Axel.

“Sounds like it.” Axel nodded.

“Do we have any pictures of her?” Buster asked.

“I don’t think so,” Stan said. “I can call Sebastian Lowery and see if he has any from the party at his house.”

“Okay, get on that.” Axel began to pace again.

“What if something happened, Jinx?” I whispered. “I can’t lose him, too.”

“Achilles will be fine.” Jinx tried to soothe me.

Axel called Gareth and he showed up with Ransom and Rebel. We all sat together, all of them trying to keep me calm. Inside, I was anything but. I wanted to hear Achilles’ voice, see his face and touch him. I needed to know he was all right.

“Sebastian says he doesn’t have any pictures matching Arielle’s description,” Stan announced.

“Wait!” I stood up. “She said something about auditioning for Sal Falco’s movie. Wouldn’t they have something?”

Stan got back on the phone and relayed the info to Sebastian. He hung up and faced all of us.

“Sebastian said he’d call Sal and have him call us. So for now, we wait.”

I watched the second hand on the clock as it ticked agonizingly slow. I felt like every second we wasted, something bad was happening to Achilles. I closed my eyes and prayed that he was okay. All of the bodyguards were hunched over laptops, going over the evidence they’d found. Stan’s phone rang and he answered it immediately. He motioned to the laptop on the table.

“Ransom, check your email,” Stan said.

We all looked over at Ransom and he shrugged, getting up and typing his password in. We all waited on pins and needles for the file to open. There was a glossy black and white headshot of Arielle and her audition tape.

“Thank you, Sal. We appreciate it,” Stan told him, then hung up. “He said if we need anything else, don’t hesitate to call him.”

“Do any of you know her last name?” Stan regarded us all.

We all looked at each other and shook our heads.

“None of you? You’ve all fucked her — ugh, never mind.” Stan sighed in exasperation.

“Hey, hold up!” Buster raised a hand in front of his own laptop. “Something is coming in on the fingerprint.”

Hammer leaned in over Buster’s shoulder.

“Adrianna Henderson?” Hammer turned to look at us.

I gasped. “Holy shit! We went to school with her! I dated her for like, two weeks!”

“What the fuck? She had plastic surgery for sure.” Jinx stared at the picture.

“Well, she’s got a record.” Buster turned the laptop towards us. “She was caught with a guy who was carrying dope. She got community service and he went to jail. Her parents are still here in town. Dad’s a veterinarian?”

“Get the address, Buster. We’re going right now.”

“I’m coming with you.” I stood up.

“That’s not an option, Harley —”Axel began.

“The fuck it isn’t!” I practically snarled. “I’m going with you, no arguments!”

“Um, I’d listen to him, hon.” Gareth poked his husband in the side.

“Fine.” Axel folded his arms. “If I tell you to do something, you do it. Got it?”

“Let’s go.” I trudged by him.

The four of us drove to the Henderson’s house. I was hoping she’d be there with Achilles. What the hell? My ex tried to poison Achilles and me and now she might have taken him? What if she hurt him? The sun was setting as we pulled up to a two-story in a quiet residential neighborhood. Hammer and Buster got out, both drawing guns and disappearing in different directions. I followed behind Axel as he drew his own gun and walked to the front door. He rang the doorbell and an elderly gentleman answered, looking at Axel as if he were the grim reaper.

“Dr. Henderson?” Axel asked.

“Yes? Who are you?”

“We’re looking for your daughter, Dr. Henderson. Have you seen her?”

“Are you cops? What has she done now?” The old man sighed.

“Can we come in?” Axel asked, placing his gun back in his waistband.

The old man gestured behind him wearily and we entered the house. Axel walked to the back door and opened it, allowing Hammer and Buster in. The two of them took off to inspect the house while we dealt with the father.

“I haven’t seen her in two days. She said she had stuff to do. I’m missing a dart gun from my clinic.”

“You have dart guns?” I asked.

“Yes, for the bigger animals. I get called when someone’s injured an elk or a bear and they have to sedate it. I’m part of the park’s animal control as well, so I get called in a lot. We had an incident with an elk on the Eighty-nine and I was called out, but I couldn’t find my gun.”

“She knocked him out.” Axel glanced over at me.

“Who knocked whom out?” Adrianna’s father asked.

“Your daughter,” I answered. “Where would she go? Do you know?”

“We have a cabin up in Snow Bowl, she could have gone there.”

“Could you give us the address?” Axel asked him.

“Sure.”

Hammer and Buster joined us, both shaking their heads.

“She’s not here.” Hammer put his gun away.

“No, she’s not. But we may have a lead.”

~*~

It was getting dark and cold, and once again, I worried over what could be happening to Achilles. I sent up a silent prayer to Holden to watch over my man.

My man.

Yes, Achilles was mine. He’d been mine from the moment he was introduced to me. I would never forget that day as long as I lived. He had such patience with me, chasing me around Europe when I was half-clothed and drunk off my ass. I was going to make sure he knew how I felt the moment we found him.

I just hoped we found him very soon.