Unconditional Love (38 page)

I took it out and began to read it. The first few words and I knew it was Azurdee’s letter to me. She must have made a copy and stuck it in the book. I continued to read as I fought to hold back the tears in my eyes as I read the words she had written down. Words from her heart. When I finished the letter, I folded it up and placed it back where she put it.

I wasn’t sure how long I sat there just staring off into space. Memories of Azurdee flooded my mind and I fought like hell to keep from calling her and telling her how much I loved her.

I closed the book and got up and put it back where I found it. I turned and made my way to the bedroom and crawled into bed. For the first time in my life, I felt like I wanted to cry.

The loud noise pulled me out of my thoughts and I quickly looked around. I looked over to Jason and he gave the all clear.

Fuck. My nerves are on edge. I pushed Azurdee out of my mind and focused on the mission.

Another two hours passed as we sat there and did what we were good at: Waiting. I looked at each set of teams and then over to Jason. I slowly raised my hand and signaled to make sure he didn’t need a rest. When he said he was okay, I turned back around and closed my eyes. I quickly opened them again. The only thing I saw when I closed my damn eyes was her smile and the pain in her eyes when she ran out of the barn.

I thought back to the night we went for a drive in the ranch jeep.

I pulled up to the old shed and parked the jeep. I looked over at Azurdee and when she smiled I instantly smiled back at her. “You want to go for a walk? The night is beautiful and it’s a nice cool evening.”

She nodded her head and jumped out of the jeep and met me in front of it. I grabbed her hand and we slowly started walking.

“So how do you like my family?”

She laughed and said, “I love them. They’re funny. I can see how much they love you and Tristan. Your mom cracks me up. I’m going to have to cook one of her recipes and put on a daily special and take a picture.”

We walked for a bit in silence. Azurdee stopped and looked at me. “Dance with me.”

I laughed and said, “There’s no music.”

She shrugged and said, “Do we need music?”

“I need music to dance.”

She laughed and pulled my hand and began walking back to the jeep. “Does the jeep have FM stereo? Please say it does.”

I chortled and said, “Yes ma’am, it does.”

She jumped into the jeep and turned it on and then turned on the radio. The moment “Best Night Ever” by Gloriana began playing she let out a small scream and jumped out and ran into my arms.

I laughed and spun her around and then began dancing with her. “I take it you like this song.”

She laughed as she nodded her head. “It makes me think of that first night I made you dinner. Then our first night together.”

I pulled her closer to me. “That day changed my life.”

“Which one?” she whispered.

“Both.”

She pulled back and gave me the sweetest smile ever. I leaned down and gently kissed her soft sweet lips.

I pulled back a bit and said, “I’m thinking we make this the best night ever too.”

She bit down on her lower lip and nodded her head in that innocent way that turns me on even more. I picked her up and she wrapped her legs around me as I walked her over to the jeep and set her down on the hood.

And it was indeed the best night ever.

I jumped when I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket.
Fuck! I was sure I turned it off.
I quickly pulled it out.

We had been sitting here all night and well into the morning. I saw Scott’s text message scroll across my screen. I looked over to Jason who was looking through the binoculars.

I opened up the text message:

Lark. As soon as you get this call me ASAP. Azurdee’s restaurant caught fire. Her car is still there. They think she may still be inside.

I just stared at the text message for a couple of minutes trying to make sense out of it. My heart dropped to my stomach and I leaned over and began throwing up. I tried like hell to stay quiet. One of the SEAL team members looked at me and signaled to see if I was okay. I held up my thumb and wiped my mouth off.

I got a drink from my canteen and hit reply:

Me: When? When did this happen? Is the fire going on right now? Maybe she got out the back? I can’t come home, I’m on a mission. Keep me updated.

I hit send and prayed to God I would keep the signal long enough to get it out. When it popped up that the message delivered my hands started shaking as I turned off my phone.

Azurdee. Please God. Please don’t take her from me too.

I needed to get to Azurdee. I needed to get home. I was just about to reach for the radio to call an abort on the mission when Jason gave the signal sound. I quickly got into position and tried to calm my shaking hands. I turned on my iPod and took a deep breath and cleared my mind of everything. I looked and saw Jose walking out. They were laughing and high-fiving each other.

The fire. It wasn’t an accident.

I focused my scope in and put my target right on that fucker’s head.

“This is for you, Azurdee,” I whispered as I pulled the trigger.

The moment he slumped to the ground, I yelled out the signal and gunshots rang out all around me. I checked through my scope to make sure Jose was down. I aimed one more time and shot again for good measure.

Jason held up his fist and called out “All down!” We jumped up and grabbed our stuff and began humping out. We got a few miles out and Jason called in our location and estimated time to the extraction location. I walked up to him and grabbed the radio from him.

“Skip. Is Azurdee okay? There was a fire.”

“How in the fuck did you know?”

“I forgot to turn off my phone. I got a text.”

“What?” he yelled out.

“Skip!”

“Our guy saw her walk in, only he never saw her come out. He said he heard a car door shut and looked up to see a car pulling away. He grabbed the plates and they are being run now. He decided to follow the car. He got about a mile away when he heard a loud explosion. He looked in his mirror and saw flames shooting in the sky in the direction of the restaurant. He turned around and went back to find the restaurant up in flames.”

“Did he see who got in or out of the car?”

Silence.

“Fucking hell, Skip, don’t do this to me.”

He let out a sigh. “He said he fell asleep, so the car door was someone getting in and then they drove off. We’re thinking they planted the bomb and then gave themselves plenty of time to get away before it exploded.”

“Did she get out?”

“Lark, let’s just get y’all off the goddamn mountain.”

“Did. She. Get. Out?”

He let out a sigh and said, “They just got the fire under control. Her car is still there though.”

I stopped and tried to keep my legs from giving out on me. “No,” I whispered.

“Lark, we don’t know anything yet. Let’s just get you off that mountain. Get your ass to the extraction location and by the time you get back we’ll have more information.”

“Oh my God. She can’t leave me. She can’t leave me,” I cried out.

“I can’t believe we get to hang out. It’s about time,” Ryn said with a wink.

“I know.” I chuckled to myself when I thought about Ralph. He had no idea I had planned on closing down the restaurant today. He never paid attention to what our website said, or the door for that matter. It wasn’t a planned closing but the regulars were aware we changed the schedule up sometimes.

We heard a loud bang and Ryn jumped. “Shit. What in the hell was that?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Not sure, but damn it was loud. Hey, we have to go to the Wimberley glass blowers. It’s a bit outside of town, but I think they have the pendants you’re looking for.”

Ryn looked at me and raised her eyebrow. “Really? Don’t get my hopes up, Azurdee. You know how I’ve been searching for the perfect pendant lamp.”

I laughed as we continued to drive through Wimberley. When we pulled up to the Wimberley Glass House, I let out a little squeal. I knew Ryn was going to flip when she saw this place. It was just the type of place she had been looking for.

When we walked in, I watched her face. I smiled knowing I had hit a home run.

“Oh, Azurdee. This place is amazing.”

I nodded and said, “I know, isn’t it?”

We walked around a bit and we were even lucky enough to see a demonstration of glass blowing. Ryn finally picked out the pendants she wanted.

We were walking out when her cell phone rang. “Ugh. It’s Tristan. What the fuck does he want? He hasn’t called in a few months.”

She hit ignore and sent it to voicemail. As we walked outside her phone rang again. She hit ignore again and rolled her eyes. We got in the car and before she put it in park a text message came through. She sighed as she opened it up.

She looked at me and said in a scared voice, “He said it’s an emergency.”

My heart began pounding in my chest so loud I could hear it in my ears.

“Lark,” I whispered.

Ryn hit Tristan’s number.

“What’s wrong?” Ryn asked.

She looked at me and gave me a weak smile. “Why do you want to know where I am? Listen, I don’t have time to…”

“Yes, I’m in Wimberley. How did you know that?”

Her mouth dropped open and she began shaking her head. “Wait. Tristan. Slow down. Azurdee is with me. Yes! She is sitting right here next to me. What do you mean there was an explosion?”

I started wringing my hands together. I was wishing she would just put it on speakerphone.

Her face turned white as a ghost as she handed me the phone.

“Hello? Tristan! Is Lark okay? What’s going on?”

“Azurdee! Oh my God.” I heard him muffle the phone and then yell, “She’s okay! I’m talking to her. She isn’t in the restaurant. She’s with Ryn. She’s okay.”

“Tristan. What in the hell is going on?”

“Azurdee, I don’t know how to tell you this but…your restaurant. There was some kind of explosion and it…there was a fire. Honey, I’m so sorry but it is a total loss,” Tristan said in a worried voice.