8. Chapter 8 – Zach
I gritted my teeth against Deputy Vega’s flirting. In another lifetime, I would have flirted back. But not with Rae in my arms. Grounding me. Trusting me. Her warm weight helped ease the tension that threatened to lock my jaw.
An intruder had been in the house. I couldn’t swear to exactly when I’d last been in the office, but I would have noticed the scratches.
The other signs that someone had been inside were subtle.
A hint of cologne. A pile of documents on Jordan’s desk that were askew earlier.
Nothing seemed amiss in the living room or kitchen.
But I’d swear the guest room door was closed when I left. I doubted Rae opened it.
We walked through with Deputy Vega, Rae peeling off to sit with the kids after confirming for the deputy that she hadn’t noticed any damage to the filing cabinet before today.
“We’ll add more patrols out this way. Have you considered upgrading security at the house?”
I grimaced. “It’s not our house. I’ll have to talk with Rae. See what she thinks Jia would be comfortable with.”
“Right.” Deputy Vega smiled sheepishly. “I think it’s so sweet what you’re doing, helping out while she’s gone.”
My “Thanks for coming out,” was brusque, but I didn’t care that the deputy’s smile faltered. I needed to get back to Rae and the kids .
Hana was groggy, just waking from her nap as I returned to the living room. “Want a snack, Hana-banana?” I asked, connecting with Rae and dipping my chin toward the kitchen.
“A cut-up apple?” Hana asked hopefully, and I nodded.
“You got it. What about you, Tae?”
“I’m good,” he said, returning to his video game.
He seemed uninterested in the deputy, which only served to remind me that he’d probably seen more law enforcement in a few short months than I had in my entire childhood.
His dad’s accident had created a lot of questions.
Rae and her friends discovered Jordan’s body floating in a cove on one of their Saturday hikes.
The coroner’s report indicated accidental drowning, but nothing explained how Jordan had made it to the cliffs or what he’d been doing up there so late.
The best anyone could figure, he’d been dropped off to watch the sunset, but no one admitted to giving him a ride, and his truck was found in town.
“Did the deputy have anything new to share?” Rae asked as I sliced an apple for Hana.
“No. Just offered to increase patrols to our area. She did suggest that we look into more security for the house.” I glanced up from the cutting board. “How do you think Jia would feel about that?”
Rae screwed up her face in a grimace. “I’ll try to get a message to her.” She rubbed her shoulders. “I don’t like the idea of someone getting in here.”
“Do you want to take the kids and move onto one of the boats?” I asked.
“Not enough room.”
“What about the farm? We could move in with my parents and Gran for a while. There are plenty of bedrooms there. ”
Rae’s smile was forced, but the hint of mischief gave me hope. “I’m not sure what’s worse: strangers pawing through my things, or your Gran. She has no mercy.”
My chuckle sounded rusty, but if Rae could joke, I could too. “She’s never met a boundary she couldn’t cross.” I sobered. “But if that’s what it takes to make you feel safe, that’s what we’ll do.”
Rae rubbed the heels of her palms over her eyes.
“I don’t know. Maybe I’d rather face Jia’s wrath for installing a security system she doesn’t want.
I’d never forgive myself if we went to your family farm and something bad happened here.
Jia needs a house to come home to. Living with your family isn’t a permanent solution. ”
“No, but Jia would want the kids’ and your safety to come first,” I pointed out.
“Let me think about it,” she said.
I piled apple slices on a plate and dropped them off in front of a thankful Hana. She smiled absently, her attention captured by the cartoon she’d turned on.
“Don’t you have to go back to Harbor Brews?” Rae asked.
“Nope. Thought I’d take the rest of the day off.” I held her gaze. “I’m not leaving you alone.” She looked like she wanted to argue. “I’m not.”
Rae was too important to risk. It had taken me too long to realize it, but now that I’d wised up, I wasn’t losing time or opportunities. I didn’t like the idea that someone had invaded her space. Touched her things.
Jordan’s death hit our community hard. Someone breaking in while Jia was deployed had my intuition for trouble buzzing. Anyone who thought Rae would be an easy target was dead wrong. She had me. And I’d call in the fucking cavalry if I needed to. Burn every favor. Play every card at my disposal .
Anyone who wanted her was going to have to go through me.
Rae bit her lip, tilting her head. She wasn’t used to seeing me act tough.
I liked to think I played the happy-go-lucky role with a certain panache.
Only on SAR missions did I revert to my more serious side.
Using humor and charm to deflect was an art I embraced.
My way of dealing with the sorrow and tragedy that came with volunteering for search and rescue.
More often than not, we were tasked with recovery missions.
Those came with the relief of closure, but no real happy ending.
I still believed in the mission. Believed in keeping my fellow islanders and our guests safe. But each failed rescue left scars. Sometimes coping looked like forgetting or irresponsibility, when it was really caring so damn much that I couldn’t let go.
“I’m glad I have you here with me,” Rae finally said, her voice soft.
“When I saw the door was ajar, I was fully prepared to storm into the house and confront whoever was there, self-preservation be damned. But something stopped me, and I called you because I knew you would answer. I knew I could rely on you. Always.”
Her liquid eyes and the trust in her tone filled me with a renewed determination to protect her. “You did the smart thing. The safe thing. Good girl.”
The praise slipped out. I half expected her to call me on it, but she just smirked.
“Does that make you my bad boy?”
There was an edge of teasing in her low alto that scraped along my nerves, setting them afire. “Depends. Are you into bad boys?”
She snorted. “Not particularly.”
“Then, no. I’m a saint.”
She chuckled. “Too bad I’m a sinner then.”
“Rae Dawkins, your idea of rebellion is jaywalking,” I scoffed.
“Careful, Zach. You don’t know what kind of dangerous game you’re playing.”
“No, but sign me up to find out.” I raised my hand. “Is it kinky? Please tell me it’s kinky. I volunteer and everything. Where’s the liability waiver?”
She giggled, swatting my hand down. “Knock it off, Fenwick. There are impressionable children present.”
“Just slide into my DMs with those terms and conditions, Captain.” I added a wink, playing off my flirting as nothing serious. Too aware that if she whipped out a contract, I’d sign it in a heartbeat.
Rae settled on the couch, one lightly tanned arm spread behind Hana’s dark head to stroke her shoulder.
The little girl seemed oblivious to the adult drama, intent on her show.
She’d already had more than enough tragedy in her young life, losing her dad so young.
We didn’t need to add the trauma of a stranger in her house to the mix.
The gravity of a potential break-in struck me all over again, dissolving the laughter that lingered from bantering with Rae. Unable to settle, I drifted around the room.
My instinct was to get them all out of the house. Away from any potential danger. But would that just embolden whoever had gotten inside to try again? Rae was stubborn enough to avoid letting that happen. To protect her turf. I was only stubborn when it came to her safety.
Jia’s house was off the beaten path, even by island standards.
Whether I rallied the entire SAR crew to work in shifts or not, it’d be difficult to offer any real protection.
Electronic surveillance was the more practical option.
I slid a glance at Rae, who at least pretended to be engrossed in Hana’s cartoon.
Her good mood didn’t matter as much as making sure she and the kids were safe .
I texted my older brother, Drew. If he wasn’t too busy at the farm, he could help me.
Zach: Do you still have a camera or two left over from the farm setup?
Drew: Yes, but I’m not letting you use them to get your perv on.
Zach: I don’t need cameras.
Zach: I have eyeballs and women who give it up just because of my purty smile.
Drew: But not your grammar and elocution.
Zach: Whatever, college boy.
Zach: You’re missing the point.
Drew: You had one?
Zach: Someone broke in at Jia’s.
Drew: Shit, I’m sorry.
Zach: Will you help me set up the cameras?
Drew: Yeah. Let me dig them out of the garage. Be there in about 20?
Zach: You’re the best.
Drew: Laying it on thick. Already said I’d help.
Drew: Rae, if not you.
Zach: About that…
Zach: I still need to get her on board.
I glanced at my watch. Twenty minutes to sweet talk Rae into letting me put up cameras without clearing it with Jia first. She’d said she needed to think about it, but when it came to securing her and the kids, I only wanted action.
She looked cozy, snuggled up with Hana on the couch.
She still wore her hiking clothes from their morning adventure.
Her brown curls were loose, one long lock wrapping over her shoulder, tempting me to tuck it back in place.
I dropped onto the cushion next to her, giving her a broad grin when she bounced a bit, sinking into me.
“This okay? ”
“Sure,” she murmured, returning her attention to the animated dogs chatting on screen.
“I want you and the kids to feel safe here,” I murmured for her ears only, keeping my voice low. “Drew has a couple of cameras left from a project at the farm this winter. Why don’t I hang them with him? Worst case, we can take them down before Jia comes home if she doesn’t like the idea.”
Rae’s shoulder rubbed against mine. “I guess that’d be okay.”
“Good,” I gave her my most charming grin, “‘cause he’ll be here in fifteen minutes to help me set them up.”
She raised a brow, amusement flickering in her eyes. “What if I’d said no?”
I leaned closer. “I’d still have fifteen minutes left to convince you of the brilliance of my idea?” Threading my fingers with hers, I toyed with the delicate digits. Marveling at the way her blunt fingertips were meticulously clean. Always a surprise given the grime that was part of her workday.
She was fiercely capable. Strong when it counted. Able to run a rescue. A beast when it came to machines and anything mechanical. But beneath the stubborn resilience was something softer. Something precious.
She was a marshmallow when it concerned her family and friends.
The kind of person who’d rearrange her entire life to make sure her loved ones didn’t bear a burden alone.
And that, more than anything, helped me understand how she got caught up in Simon’s mess.
She’d do anything for a friend. She didn’t consider the cost; she just acted.
I squeezed her hand gently, grounding myself in the warmth of her touch, in the quiet understanding that this was who she was.
Strong. Capable. Reckless in the most selfless way.
And even though it drove me crazy, even though it made me want to sail off and hide her away from the world, I couldn’t change her.
I didn’t want to.
Because it was exactly that stubborn, too-big heart of hers that made her impossible not to love.
Drew’s truck crunched in the gravel drive. “Gotta go help Drew.”
“Thanks.” Her soft smile reached inside my chest cavity and squeezed.
“Anything for you, Dawkins.”
“Fenwick, you don’t have to lay down the charm. I already said yes.”
“But not to everything.”
“What more do you want from me?”
Drew’s booted feet stomped on the porch.
“That’s a conversation for another time.” I glanced meaningfully at the kids. “With fewer young ears.”
A pink flush spread under her cheeks, like she realized finally, finally that I was flirting with her. She’d call me out for trying to charm anyone with a pulse, but it wasn’t true. Sure, I was kind to everyone. Wanted to make them smile. But now that she was single? I only had eyes for Rae.
“Later,” I said, my voice huskier than I intended. Weighty with the promise of all I couldn’t say with an audience. With my brother on the porch.
I covered the distance between the couch and front door in two big strides, pulling open the heavy wood. Drew’s fist was raised to knock.
“Don’t do it,” I said, guessing from his expression that, for a split-second, he debated knocking on my forehead instead.
“What? I just want to make sure someone is home.” His grin turned his usually craggy face into something more befitting the Fenwick charm. He was the spitting image of our dad. Drew’s gaze slid to Rae on the couch with the kids. “Hey, Rae.”
“Hiya, Drew. Thanks for coming by.”
“You know you’re one of ours, Rae-by-cakes.”
She groaned good-naturedly over the old nickname. “I’m thirty. When are you going to stop calling me that?”
My brother’s grin softened. “When you earn a new nickname.”
“How does one go about doing that?” she asked, sounding exasperated.
Drew clicked his tongue behind his teeth. “No one knows…”
I stepped out onto the porch, closing the door behind me. Drew’s teasing smile faded. “Rae’s on board with adding video cameras?” I nodded. He shook his head. “I don’t get you two.”
“What’s to get?”
“Does she know you have feelings for her?”
I sputtered, caught off guard. His words too closely echoed my own thoughts.
He held up a hand. “Wait. Do you know you have feelings for her?”
Glaring only shrank him to regular human proportions in my imagination. My larger-than-life bigger brother didn’t do small. Didn’t do half-assed.
“Word on the street is that she and Simon finally broke up.” His brows rose. “That true?”
“Yep.” I said, uncomfortable with everyone sharing Rae’s business. I gave him a brotherly shove. “But ‘the street’? What do you know about ‘the street’?” I teased.
Drew shrugged off my gentle derision. “Anya’s the street.”
“I figured,” I said dryly.
My probable future sister-in-law wasn’t the gossipy sort, but she was one of Rae’s closest friends. They had to talk .
Drew gestured to his truck. “I brought a couple of motion-activated lights and the cameras. We might not have everything to wire a complete system today, but we can pick up anything else we need at the hardware store tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Drew. I know you’re busy at the farm. I appreciate you dropping everything to come help us.”
For all the grief he gave me, my brother was the solid sort. He frowned. “I wasn’t kidding. Rae’s one of ours, and we protect our own.”
“Damn straight.”