RECLAIM

Chapter 24. Lost

~Arden~

Arden pushed the door apart, leaving Alex and the twins to follow. Inside her medium size apartment, it looked as though the whole place was empty. Only the presence of soft light filtering from curtains free patio door announced that someone is here. That and the fresh espresso on the coffee machine. Well, at least the whole place is clean. Not that surprised him.

"And here I thought you'll show up faster," Laith bit out as he encounters her sitting comfortably on a small sofa.

With his arm free after dumping piles of foods and drinks into the nearest table, he pours himself a cup of that idle sitting coffee. Now wasn't the time for an argument, yet he felt himself itching for it. Too much information that leads to nothing but dead ends frustrates him beyond compare.

"Wolf, cut the Enforcer some slack. While you were holed up in this place, he's been trying to clear the mess you made." Camille leans her back at the sofa Laith sits on.

"The mess both of us made. He's got a say in it too." She shrugged.

"Doesn't change the fact you are the mastermind," Carlo piped in from where he sits at the automatically heated wood floor. "Hence the suspension."

"I ask the two of you to take part. You say no. Not my fault you miss the fun," Laith counter back, her voice on edge, as she chug down her own coffee. "And please make yourself at home," she made a hand gesture toward Alex, who stand awkwardly by the door. "Everyone else already does."

"Thanks." Alex takes his place at one of two remaining chairs. "And you should cut down the coffee. You need to rest." There's a tangible, genuine care in his voice that make Arden brows raised slightly. Here he thought the Vanguard was wary at her. He guessed that's history.

"It's true. You look like a mess." Arden takes a big gulp from his own mug and sat down right in front of her. "We don't have time to waste here."

"This happens to us when our insignia is taken and suspended." Laith snarled. "We get cranky. Get used to it."

Carlo and Camille nod in understanding. "Well, we give you that."

Arden stared disbelievingly at her and the twins, who by now already immerse themselves in animated conversations. Breathing out a hard sigh, he takes a long look at his cranky partner. Today, she opts to wear a lighter wardrobe consist of a dark shirt and baggy blue jeans. On the surface, she was the same as she always does with her quip and witty attitude. But underneath, he can feel something has changed.

He can see her slender shoulders sag. There are bags under her tired blue eyes, darkening it to sapphire like hue. Her usual neatly pulled hair is unbound, a little unruly on some part. It framed the Asian contours of her features and highlights them even more. She's angry, but these changes seem to warn him that there is something bigger than just the suspension.

Even though he's worried about her, what waiting for them upon returning from the ordeal three days ago was not that surprising. They did draw a lot of attention after the whole kidnapping fiasco. Not to mention the involving an outsider part. Keeping a secret after pulling a disappearing act and suddenly comes back with something that they can't easily share was not an option either. So, of course they sealed their mouth. In a matter of fact, he believed she was the most uncooperative out of the three of them. Hence, the suspension.

"Screw this. The Hive can kiss--"

"Whoa, hold that sentence sister." Camille tapped Laith's upper arm gently.

"If the pompous bunch heard you then this thing will have to be returned to them." Carlo dangled what looked like a small, square transparent gel like substance. "And yes, they did say that. Minus the pompous part, of course."

"Just give my insignia back. And then we can finally move on."

"Move on to what exactly?" Arden finally bit out, dragging her attention away from the twins as he checked the e-Links to be certain that nobody's snooping. "Were you able to come up with more brilliant ideas when we're not looking?" He flashed her irritated look.

"I might have." She leaned back in the sofa, crossing her arms. "Remember our friend, Ratty? Did you know I've been looking for him these past few days? Guess what, he's gone. And no, Rush, he's not running. He is missing."

She shot him a disgruntled look which he decided to ignore. The way her eyes looked at him beneath her lashes affected him too much. He took a deep breath and reign in it for the moment. He reminded himself that this unexpected information she mention did carry some weight.

"Who give you this information?" His voice was a rough rumble as he asked the question. "And why we should believe it?" Arden can see that she felt more than a little insulted at the rough accusation.

"It doesn't matter who the source. You can believe me. I check to verify it myself. No one has seen him for days," she bit out. "And let me remind you before you throw 'what were you thinking' bull on me that you have no rights over me, Rush. I'm a Reclaimer. I have the authorization to do this kind of things."

"A Reclaimer on suspension," he pointed out, raging now. She has the nerve to check it? Alone?

"Yes, I was," she reminded him as she put on her neck insignia. "But, not anymore."

"All I want is for you to be safe. What's so hard about waiting for me?" Arden sighed.

Laith blinked, not entirely certain if she heard him right. Arden looks like he's not so sure about what he's just said either. OK, their conversations were spiraling out of control. Instead of saying it like a work partner, he's starting to sound more like a worried spouse or something. Arden scrambled to get his bearing and turned his head toward the patio door and stared at the view. He took a deep breath and tried again, more calmly this time.

"What I mean is that you need someone with a clearance. You might run into a suspect and not have the authority to arrest them. Or worse, you can be forced to neutralize them. What a mess it could be," Arden rambles on. As he turned his head back towards her, he can't shake the feeling that he just landed in a strange land.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you so much for giving this book a chance. I would love to hear your feedback, so feel free to comments. If you like this book, please do vote and add it to your library. Thanks again and read on!

Video: Bastille - Things We Lost In The Fire