8. Noah
Chapter 8
Noah
Why did I have to be the one to roll up on this shit show?
Was this punishment for eating the last of the sweets earlier? It wasn’t my fault the others were too slow. Everyone in the station knew, they were first come, first get.
On a serious note, I was standing here, staring at a sliced tire, contemplating my life. The whining this chick was doing. Sweet Jesus.
I held up a hand. “How do you know it was Brenna who did this? Are there surveillance cameras in this area?” I asked both the whiner and Nick.
“She did this! She’s a bitch.”
“There are no cameras back here behind the shop,” Nick said, talking over her.
Shit! My brother would be fixing that little problem this week. Without proof, it was quite literally this girl’s word that it was Brenna. Now don’t get me wrong, I knew my sister-in-law and she was many things, including being a little unhinged at times—but a tire slasher? Vandalism wasn’t the right vibe. No, she’d beat this girl’s face in before she did that. I couldn’t say that, however.
I had to be as impartial as I could be. This badge didn’t mean I could make my own rules.
“I already said, B didn’t do this. There’s no way.”
Abel was scowling at everyone. I clapped him on the shoulder.
“She did it. You saw her earlier. She even disrespected you, in your own shop.”
“Oh, for fuck sake. You know what? Fuck this shit. She didn’t do it. If it will make you happy and get this shit rolling, I’ll pay for the fucking tire! But you,” he pointed at the girls, “are no longer welcome in my shop. Go flirt somewhere else.”
“Hey,” I shook him a little, “Keep it together, man.”
“You can’t do that. You have to finish this one!”
“You should have thought of that before you bashed my fucking wife! It’s bad enough you disrespect her by shamelessly flirting. Guess what, I don’t want you. I want no one but my queen. Do you hear me?”
This was getting to be too much for him. I walked him to the alley door. “Go inside, cool down, and get lost in your next tat. I’ll get this sorted and be inside in a bit.” He didn’t move; he was too busy glaring at the girls. “Hey, bro, go inside, okay?”
“Yeah, okay. I’ll see if I can get my queen on the phone. Now, I’m getting paranoid. I need to make sure she is okay.”
“Go on, I’ve got this.”
“Look, girls, there isn’t much we can do, other than make a report, without some sort of evidence. An eye witness, video proof. Something concrete.” Nick was ready to lose his temper too. I could see it in the hard lines between his brows. I was—well, to put it bluntly—just over it.
“She is jealous of me. She was bitchy earlier, of course she did it. You—” She pointed a Barbie pink fingernail at me. “You just don’t want to do anything to her ‘cause she’s your family.”
“Look, kid , that has nothing to do with this situation. You’re not getting this. Literally anyone could have done this. You left your car in an open, public area on a busy day. People can be assholes,” I paused looking at them, then continued, “there’s absolutely zero evidence that Breanna was the one to do this.”
“Enough!” Nick cut back in, stopping me from saying more. “I’ll write this incident up; you can submit it to your insurance company for reimbursement for roadside assistance. And if we find evidence later on, then we will go forward. Until then, this is all we can do.”
“This is so unfair!”
“What’s unfair is you trying to get someone in trouble with no evidence, or even a good goddamn reason,” I ground out.
Nick placed a hand on my shoulder, and I took a step back. “It could have been punk kids. An ex. Another pissed off wife.” I raised a brow. “Or most likely, a random passerby who was having a bad day. They wanted to make your day bad, and they did. Hell, your friend here could be the one who did it, and yet, you blame someone who isn’t here to defend themself.”
“How dare you blame me. I was with her until—anyway. You can’t say I did it.”
“Deputy Stroud is going to write up your report. Have the day you deserve, ladies.”
I needed to give Abel a report of what was said. He’d been out there before Nick and I arrived on scene, so the poor fucker was about ten shades of ready to kill. His anger toward them and the situation wasn’t helpful in the slightest.
He was determined to defend his wife, and that seemed to upset them both…if the constant scowls they wore said anything.
My gut was telling me there was more to this whole story. If there was one thing I’d learned in life, it was to follow my gut. This whole scenario, well, one plus one was equaling ten. I just had to figure out what the missing components were before something else happened.
“Abel!”
The shout drew everyone’s attention.
“Oh shit, glad I’m not you right now, bro.” Spencer chuckled and hurried back into his side of the room.
I turned to find my wife bustling through the door, her scowl firmly in place.
“Mara? Where’s?—”
“With Dana and Cindy,” she cut me off. “She’s cooing at little Charlie.” Her scowl fell for a moment. “Did you get Brenna to answer the phone?”
“No, she’s either turned it off or just ignoring me. I probably deserve that. Fucking hell.”
“See, and you told me ‘oh, don’t worry’ when you asked if I’d seen her. I swear…”
I pulled Mara to me and whispered in her ear, “There’s something he’s not telling me. But don’t scare him, okay? There’s been some heavy shit happening already.”
Her brow arched before she turned to face him.
Abel, the smart man he was, took a step back and put the chair between him and her. Mara’s hands went to her hips.
Who needed an interrogator with my beautiful wife around?
Spencer was right though; I sure as shit was glad that look wasn’t pointed at me.
Mara
I was sure that by now everyone in this family had lost their damn minds.
The phone call, ‘have you seen Brenna’ might not have normally spiked a football of fear into my gut, but today, it did just that. His voice—Abel sounded upset. It wasn’t right. My gaze met his and I kept my voice calm as I spoke. “What did you do, and don’t tell me ‘nothing.’ If you do, I will come across that chair and use your head as a bowling ball. Comprende?”
“I didn’t do anything.” He backed up, hands coming up to cover his junk.
I chuckled.
“Brenna came in earlier while I was working on Leah. The ladies flirt; I don’t stop them, but I don’t encourage it. I was annoyed with Leah, and I guess it came across like I was aggravated with Brenna. She left and had coffee with…Willow. Willow came back alone about the time I was done with Leah’s tatt. She batted her eyes and made comments that I ignored. Ask Spencer. I never work alone, especially with people like that in my chair. He was here the whole damn time.”
“So was I.”
A large man with a beard came out of the other room. Spencer right behind him, wiping his hands on a rag.
“That young fella put up with a lot today. Son, I don't know how you do it. I’d have slung them both out of here.”
Abel shrugged. “I ignore what I can. I think about anything else. Usually my naked wife.”
“Eww, Jesus.” My hand went to my brow, and I rubbed the throbbing there. “I swear you need to be neutered.”
“Mara,” Noah chided.
“Yes, yeah, I know.” I rolled my eyes.
I let the men converse for a minute then snapped my fingers. “I’ll meet y’all back at the house. I have an idea of where she’s gone.”
“What about the baby?”
“I’m taking her with me, duh.”
His chuckle made me grin. “Abel, I promise, I will find her. When I do, you better be ready to fix this. The longer she’s upset, the worse your life will become.” I hurried to kiss Noah’s cheek and was out the door.
I made my way to the bakery, groaning in delight as I pushed open the door. The smell of sugary baked things…bread…cookies. Oh yeah, I had a plan.
“I need my child back.” I wiggled my fingers at Cindy. “Lacey, sweetheart, can I get three of the double chocolate croissants, half a dozen bear claws, three blueberry muffins, three banana nut muffins and tw—four bottles of water, please.”
“Where are you off to, and who are you feeding?” Dana asked, taking the baby from Cindy. She pressed a kiss to her temple before finally bringing her to me.
“Going to talk with Brenna. It’s apparently been a hard morning. Abel still has his balls attached, but that may not last long.”
“Uh…” They shared a look.
I paid Lacey and watched her box up the order. Was this amount of sweets overkill? Maybe, but I wanted to be armed to the tee, so to speak.
It took me a few minutes to convince the girls that everything would be okay. The only reason they gave in was because I’d agreed they could come with me. Three was better than one in this case.
So the three of us, armed with boxes of baked goods, a box of chocolate bon-bons, and two babies piled into my SUV. I took a minute to type out a message to Noah. I never went anywhere without him knowing where we were. Especially lately.
Mara: Heading to Cannon Beach. I’m sure that’s where the heifer is. Kelsey and I love you.
Hunka-Hunka: Okay, baby. Be safe. I love my girls.
I cracked up at the name that popped up on his message.
“What?” Dana asked from the back seat.
I held out the phone. “Either Abel or Brenna are up to their shenanigans. I kinda like it though.”
“Better than what they did to my cell. Spencer was changed to Spenster.”
I snorted out a laugh and finished off my text.
Mara: Update ya soon. ??
“Well, it could be worse, trust me. One time I was ‘cookie’ and he was ‘monster.’”
“Oh god,” Dana barked out a laugh.
Cindy though, looked confused. “Um…”
“’Cause he likes to eat my cookie…Jesus.” We all laughed then as I pulled out onto the main road. I had one more quick stop to make.
“Cannon Beach is the other way, doll.”
“Yes, but Hippy is this way. In the event we have to look for her, and she’s not sitting on the beach staring out at the water, we may need puppy backup.”
Once I had Hippie loaded into the back of the SUV, we turned and headed south. The trip was a quick one, about fifteen minutes on a good day. I found parking and went to the back of the SUV.
“Hippie, please behave, yes? Aunt Mara can’t handle much more crazy today. ’Kay?”
I got a few looks from others heading out to the beach. Whatever. Like I was the only person who talked to a dog. I handed the leash to Cindy before moving to the back door. I pulled out Kelsey’s wrap. It always took a minute to get it on, but once she was in and I had her tucked in nicely, this thing made life so much easier.
Dana came around to join us, a carrier hooked to her where baby Charlie was sound asleep. She had the bags of treats in her hands.
“How is he asleep?”
“He’s like Nick. Get a pair of boobs under his head, and it’s lights out.”
“Must be a man thing,” Cindy chuckled.
“For real.” I shut the SUV, locked it, and slid the fob into my pocket. I took Hippie, and she took the bag from Dana. I kept the leash tight to me. Hippie was taking our talk seriously and behaved quite well. He was an angel until he saw his mama. I waited until we were just at the edge of the beach before I released him.
He shot off like a rocket, and I figured I’d better warn her. I cupped my hands and yelled, “Heffa, incoming fur rocket!”
She was a good way down the sandy beach, but I’d gotten her attention. She had just enough time to brace herself before he tackled her ass.
“Maybe you should have waited to let him go?”
“Nah. She’s used to his shit.” We walked down the beach, my toes curling into the damn sand. The clouds were out, but I was hoping, for my kid’s sake, that the rain would hold off a bit longer.
“What are you doing here?” Brenna asked as I stopped and took out the blanket I had stuffed into the large bag.
“Waiting on my merman lover. We meet here every day at this time.”
“I think having my sweet niece killed your brain.”
“No, what kills my brain is my best friend running off to hide without telling me. I get a call from Abel, who was upset, and then your stank ass doesn’t answer anyone’s calls or texts.”
She patted her pockets and cursed. “I left it in the car.”
I shook my head; I should have figured as much.
“Tell me what the hell happened this morning. Then I will tell you what you missed. It’s gonna blow your mind. Oh, uh, I’ve already promised to use Abel’s head as a bowling ball.”
She looked from me back to the water. “Nothing happened. I’m fine.”
You know, I really hated those words. Nothing meant something and fine meant…well, every woman on this planet knew that means you were ready to crack someone’s skull open.
With a long sigh, I sat and wrapped my arm around her.
“Either you open up or I take this baby off and get it out of you one way or another.”
“You and what army?” She laughed.
“Bish, I am my own army. Now, come on, tell us what’s going on in that pretty head of yours. Then we can fix whatever is wrong. Hurry now before the rain starts up again.”
She leaned into me and nodded, finally ready to open up.