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Danny had hinted at knowing all sorts of shit about me. Did he know I was gay? That I was into BDSM too?
I wasn’t ashamed of whatsoever, but it was private intel, goddammit. Just because I was no longer in the service didn’t mean I couldn’t get into trouble for being homosexual. Arden should fucking know that. He was bi, himself.
“I wanna know everything you divulged,” I said. I didn’t reveal I was thoroughly pissed off, but my voice brooked no argument.
He cleared his throat. “First of all, I didn’t tell him anything until I had confirmed everything he’d told me. Give me some credit, Em. I’m not heartless—nor was I born yesterday. You were, and always will be, my priority in these matters.”
Those last few words loosened a bit of the tension in my shoulders.
“Go on.”
“Before I do,” he replied, “you’re in the phone booth outside Loretta’s shop, yes?”
I furrowed my brow. “Yeah?”
“Good. I’m faxing over Danny’s files,” he went on. “You’ll want a refresher.”
“Does he know about this?”
“No. I’ve conducted my own research, of course,” he answered. In short, he’d called Kane… “Danny asked for three things. Your whereabouts this weekend, confirmation about your current employer, and your family status. He had guesses for the last two.”
That bothered me. Not many knew I worked at Hillcroft, but sure, after a certain number of missions, rumors and whispers got around within our field.
At least it was no secret I was single and had no children.
Why did Danny care?
“In return, he was willing to give me three pieces of information about himself,” Arden went on. “Access to his initial file in the Army—Kane provided more than that, though nothing you haven’t already had access to yourself—his criminal record, and his reason for wanting to find you.”
I scrubbed a hand over my mouth as my mind began racing. Granting Arden access to files and records was a bold move by Danny, because he knew that meant others could dig further. Danny accepted that. As for his reason for wanting to find me…? He could easily feed my brother bullshit. At the same time, if I ended up dead, Danny would be the immediate prime suspect.
His criminal records didn’t contain anything exciting. I remembered petty theft, though those charges had been dropped. He’d been arrested a few times for assault too. Once because he’d rammed his forehead up a club bouncer’s nose, a couple times because he’d fought geezers who’d gotten handsy with their girlfriends after too much alcohol, and… I’d forgotten one or two.
“Anything else?” I asked tiredly.
“Yes,” Arden said. “Danny is angry, and he is lost. That’s why I agreed to his terms. I believe he’ll find what he’s looking for with you.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I already know what he wants. He left the Army to go private.” I was convinced. At least, that was one of the reasons. “He wants me to train him, all because I was drunk enough to share a story about when I did an extraction in Saudi Arabia.”
Drunk was a strong word, but my tongue had been loose. I’d been warmed up by fire, dry clothes, and whisky after a frigid week of training. So rather than telling the story as if it were a mate of mine who’d experienced Saudi Arabia—like I usually did, because my goal was obviously to keep these soldiers in the goddamn Army—I’d slipped and made it about myself.
The day after, Danny had started asking questions.
I’d shot him down every time.
Arden hummed. “You’ve shared more than that. Danny overheard you on the phone once.”
“What?”
“We won’t get into that.” He turned dismissive. “He just told me you were on the phone once, outside the barracks or something to that effect, and he overheard a conversation. You’ll have to ask him the details. He must’ve misunderstood something.”
I wanted to call bullshit. While the rest of the world was moving on and buying into this cell phone hype, I only used mine in emergencies—if I even remembered it. Every call I’d made from Fort Campbell had either been from an office or the phones in the yard, and you didn’t accidentally overhear anything there. You eavesdropped like a sneak.
I had no recollection of any personal calls, though. To be frank, I didn’t have much of a social life.
“So you’re telling me that’s all he knows about me,” I said. “My family status, my position at Hillcroft, and the location of my cabin.”
“I didn’t say that,” he responded. “That’s all he asked of me. He definitely knows more.”
