Page 236 of Tangled up in You

Both men rushed as fast as they could back to towards the cabin. When they were close, he yelled out to get Angus’s attention inside.

When they got through the front door, he told Brodie to get the shower going and to keep it cold for now. He watched his friend strip down to his boxers, keeping his shirt on, then step into the shower reaching for the unconscious woman.

Jack handed her off then started removing his snow suit. Once he’d removed his snowsuit, he assisted Brodie in removing the woman’s shoes, socks, pants and shirt.

Keeping her in her bra and underwear, they started rubbing her arms, legs, hands and feet to get the blood circulating again. When she started shivering, Jack reached over and slightly turned the hot water on to slowly heat up the water.

“Where the hell did you find her?” Angus demanded from the doorway.

“Edge of the property. I heard Brodie yell out then take off running. No idea who she is or where she came from. She had no coat. Once we get her situated, I’ll go back out and look to see if I can find anything.”

Jack looked over his shoulder to see that Angus had left. He knew the man was suiting up to go do the search himself.

When they noticed the woman’s skin starting to regain some of its natural coloring, Jack turned off the shower and grabbed a towel to wrap around the woman. He handed another one to Brodie.

“I’ll go grab a shirt and sweats for the lass. I’ll also spread out a sleeping bag in the living room. I’ll add some more logs to the wood stove to get the temperature up. I’ll cover up wit the lass. Body heat will help.” Brodie suggested as he dried off.

“Aye. You take one side, I’ll take the other after I get changed. Once she’s conscious and safe from frost bite, we can find out who the hell she is and where she came from.”

“Aye. It will save Angus from having a stroke. At least for tonight anyway.” Brodie laughed as he strode away.

Jack chuckled as he walked into the living room and placed the now somewhat warmer woman on the couch. Now it was his turn to go get changed out of his wet clothes.

CHAPTER 4

Brodie looked over at the door when his childhood best friend walked into the cabin. Angus quickly knocked the snow off his boots and as he took his snow suit off.

“Found her bags.” Angus announced as he held them up after hanging his snow jacket up.

“Any i.d.?” Brodie from his spot in the floor, his back relaxing against the base of the couch.

“Aye. Her name is Bethany Carter. Looks like she is from the United States. Some place called Lakeland, Kentucky.”

“Does she have a phone or anything showing where she was going in this mess?” Brodie asked as he looked over at the sleeping Jack who was curled up with the now resting peacefully Bethany.

“Aye. Looks like it’s dead though. I’ll charge it up some to see what it tells us.” Angus confirmed as he pulled out her cell and charger.

“Let’s get some more logs for the fire so it doesn’t go down. That storm looks worse than they predicted for us. I wouldn’t be surprised if we lost power. How did the generator look?” Angus asked as he looked over at Brodie.

“It’ll hold up for a couple of days if we lose power. There’s also a backup generator to the original one if that one isn’t working. If all else fails, then we have the wood stove to keep us warm, plenty of food and water.” A sleepy Jack answered as he moved to stretch.

“Good. I’m going to bed.” Angus walked out of the room.

“He’s not a happy camper. She wasn’t a planned distraction.” Brodie nodded towards a sleeping Beth.

“She wasn’t for any of us.” Jack reminded Brodie. “It was strictly a guy’s week get-away from the hell of our world.”

“Aye. And the shite with LeAnna didn’t help any. Especially the shite she tried to pull when it didn’t work with me.” Brodie sighed as he rubbed his face with his hands.

“Wait, what the hell are you talking about?” Jack moved away from the sleeping figure and turned towards Brodie.

“When LeAnna didn’t get what she wanted with me, she turned her claws onto Angus. Claiming that he forced himself on her when she refused his advances because she was in love with me and that’s truly how she got pregnant. I told the Lt. Colonel to use the DNA test that was taken for me and the kid to compare it to Angus’s. When he asked for the date, she claims this happened, we had been deployed on that date for a month.” Brodie informed his friends.

“What the fuck? This bitch is demented. What did Stolens say when he realized what she was doing?”

“Had the coo escorted out of the building. Called the front gate and told them once she left the base if she came back, she was to be arrested and thrown in the brig. He’s making some calls about getting her charged with false claims. Seems we aren’t the only ones she’s made false claims about. Had one lad on the hook for months during the pregnancy.”

“Jesus! Charlie needs to be told what this harlot is doing. He needs to start protecting his customers.” Jack shook his head as he got up to go into the kitchen.

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