Chapter 28
TWENTY-EIGHT
Piper
Friday afternoons at Silver Linings were usually quiet. Most people were done with their work week and thinking about happy hour drinks by now.
But I had no interest in going out. I’d meant it when I mentioned ice cream and a hot bath to Grace. If Grayden didn’t want to meet up with me, fine. I would make this weekend all about self care.
And perhaps a session or two with the vibrator I kept on the top shelf of my closet.
At Main Street Market, I picked up things I loved but didn’t get often enough. Like a wheel of brie and some fig preserves, the hearty bread Ollie hated, and even a bottle of Colorado whiskey. Plus raiding the ice cream sale, of course.
After I got home, I was putting away my frozen bounty when a call came in.
The screen read, Silver Ridge Police Department. Same thing it always used to say when my brother was calling from his office at the station. Of course, it wasn’t Teller calling this time.
A cold chill traced down my spine, and it had nothing to do with my freezer.
Should I let the call go to voicemail? But if there was a problem, ignoring it wouldn’t make it go away.
“Hello?” I asked, shutting the freezer door and leaning against the counter.
“Is this Piper Carmichael?”
I recognized Susan Nichols’s voice immediately. “Hello, Chief. It’s me. What can I do for you?”
“I expect you know what I’m calling about.”
I grimaced, thankful she couldn’t see me. Anxious goosebumps broke out all over my skin.
“Huh?” I asked, oh-so-eloquently.
“We have a contraband drop box here outside the station,” the chief said. “As you know. We recovered a package from inside, and our cameras observed you dropping off that package yesterday.”
Breathe, I told myself.
Could I pretend I’d lost the call? Ugh, seriously, I was bad at this. I’d felt so rebellious and defiant dropping off that contraband. Where had my inner outlaw gone?
“Don’t know what you mean.”
Nichols let out a tired sigh. “Let’s skip the song and dance, alright? We’ve known each other a long time. That’s why I’m calling, because frankly, I’m concerned you’re mixed up in something.”
“Like what?” I sputtered, fully expecting her to say drugs. To accuse me of getting caught up in Grayden’s nefarious drug ring.
“First there was the anonymous tip that came in yesterday about Mr. O’Neal. Your tenant. And then you dropped off a suspicious package. Not that hard to connect the dots.”
“You can’t prove it was me.”
There was silence, but I could almost hear her rolling her eyes. Maybe I didn’t have a future in crime after all.
“Piper, here’s the deal. We ran a test on the contents of that package. It was powdered sugar.”
“What?” I roared.
“Okay, ouch,” Nichols complained. “You just screamed in my ear. That was loud.”
“Sorry.” My free hand fluttered in front of my face. “I’m just…you’re sure? Powdered sugar?”
“The type you can get at most grocery stores. Nothing illegal at all. But you thought it was contraband, and I’d like to know why. I’d also like to know what it has to do with Grayden O’Neal and that anonymous tip we got about him. Because something weird’s going on, and I don’t like that.”
Nichols sounded so much like my brother right now. How many times had Teller marched around, grumping about exactly this kind of thing? I want to know what’s going on in my town. Grr.
But for me, a lot more about this picture was becoming clear.
The real question: should I tell Chief Nichols that Danny was behind this? I didn’t have any proof. But if this could help Grayden…
“I think it was my ex. Danny Carmichael. He has a grudge against Grayden.”
Another deep sigh. “Go ahead and tell me everything.”
I hoped I’d made the right decision.
I’d told Chief Nichols pretty much everything that happened yesterday. Well, not the part about me riding Grayden’s thigh at Silver Linings. That secret, I would take to my grave.
But I’d told her the rest, including how Grayden and I both believed Danny was behind the tip and the planted package.
It was far better that Danny hadn’t actually planted drugs at Grayden’s place. And it explained how Danny could get the money for a brick of narcotics—he didn’t. It hadn’t been real in the first place. Just a way to get the police to harass Grayden.
I had to give Grayden an update. This involved him too, so I owed him that much, didn’t I?
Hey. Spoke to Chief Nichols, and you won’t believe what she told me. Package was a fake. The powder was nothing but sugar
Grayden’s response took about five minutes to come in. I wasn’t proud to say I checked my phone every thirty seconds until I finally saw the three dots appear.
Damn. Definitely good news. Scared us both enough
Right??? It was a big stupid hoax to make the police harass you. I told Nichols that Danny was behind it, and then I pretty much had to tell her why Danny doesn’t like you. Because you defended me after Danny broke into your rental
There was a long pause.
Okay
Okay? Was this man serious? All I got was okay?
He didn’t write anything else, and neither did I. Seemed like our conversation was over.
After that, I couldn’t sit still. I warmed up some leftover soup for dinner and barely tasted it. Watched half an episode of some drama on streaming without remembering a single detail.
Callum had texted earlier that he and Ollie arrived in Denver. Ollie texted too, reporting they’d had tacos and churros for dessert, complete with chocolate sauce Ollie had finished with a spoon.
So everything was great with my kid.
But my weekend of relaxation and self care? Not off to a great start.
Maybe because Grayden’s final word to me had been okay. Nothing else about what we’d been through together yesterday. Or the open-ended invitation I’d given him.
Maybe I’ll see you this weekend?
He knew I was alone right now. It was Friday night and I had no plans. And Grayden knew I wanted more of what we’d done last night, because I’d made that pretty obvious. If I texted him yet again, I would probably sound desperate.
See, this was why I didn’t date. Grayden was tying me up in knots.
Somehow, I wound up at my kitchen island with that bottle of Colorado whiskey, a shot glass, and a pint of chocolate fudge brownie.
The whiskey lit up my throat with the best kind of toasty burn on the way down. And the chaser bite of ice cream soothed my tastebuds with indulgent, creamy goodness.
Mmm. Yum. Now this was more like it. The liquor and the ice cream made a dangerous combination.
Which probably explained how, half an hour and quite a few shots later, I found myself with my phone in my hand hitting Grayden’s number.
“Piper?” he asked. “Are you okay?”
His deep voice worked its way under my skin, like always.
I sloshed another half-shot of liquor into the glass. “Are you mad at me?”
“What are you doing?”
Tossing back the whiskey, I coughed. “I’m asking if you’re mad at me for talking to Chief Nichols.”
“Are you drinking? Where are you?”
“I’m at home. Alone. Like I’ve been for hours. I’m not on mom duty, so yes, I’m enjoying an adult beverage. Now would you please answer the question?”
“No, Piper. I’m not mad,” he said after a beat. “I could never be mad at you.”
“That doesn’t make any sense! Plenty of people get mad at me. I earn it. I have a very strong personality.”
Grayden made a soft, amused sound. “I know. I’ve told you I like that about you.”
Ah yes, he’d compared me to a natural disaster before. How flattering.
“Aren’t you worried I told Chief Nichols about what you said to Danny? Threatening to break all his bones if he ever touched me again? And how you were choking him?”
My heart rate kicked at those memories. How ferocious Grayden had been, declaring himself my protector.
“I said what I said, and I did what I did. You can tell the police what you want. I will never ask you to lie about anything for me.”
My spoon scraped the side of the ice cream pint. “Stop being so perfect.”
There was that soft almost-laugh sound again.
“And don’t laugh at me,” I added.
“You’re being very cute though. Bossy Piper is always fun, but Drunk Piper might be even better.”
“I’m not drunk.” I picked up the whiskey bottle and carried it, along with my phone, over to the couch. The cushions squeaked as I fell back against them, staring at the ceiling.
“Did you tell Chief Nichols about what Danny did to you?” he asked. “Did she ask whether you want to press charges?”
“Yes and yes. But it’s like I thought. It would be difficult to nail him for anything aside from the trespassing, unless I want to go through a whole trial or something. Because he’ll deny attacking me. You’re my only witness.”
“And I don’t have a stellar track record. Any defense attorney would flay me alive on cross-examination. I’m sorry about that.”
Same kind of thing that might happen if I went to court to revoke Danny’s visitation rights. At least he hadn’t actually been handling drugs.
“It sucks,” I muttered. “But at least Nichols knows Danny has a vendetta against you. She’s a good cop. Teller always trusted her.”
He didn’t reply to that. My head was getting all swimmy now.
Maybe I’d overdone the whiskey.
“Grayden, I had a crush on you,” I said to the ceiling. “Did you know that?”
“You mean when you were younger? Yeah. I guessed.” His voice was right there in my ear. Gravelly and intimate. So close yet so far. “I was way too old for you then.”
“But not now.” My eyes fluttered closed. “Last night was the hottest thing I’ve ever experienced. The way you touched me? You felt how wet I was. All slippery.” The word felt downright erotic on my lips. How it forced my tongue against my teeth. “I’ve never come that hard.”
My thighs squeezed together as arousal built between my legs.
“I didn’t even get to play with your piercing.”
He groaned. “Piper, I…”
A loud sound outside made me sit up. “What was that?”
“What do you mean?”
“I heard something.”
“Where?”
“Outside.” Getting up on wobbly legs, leaving the whiskey bottle upright on the rug, I tiptoed to the nearest window. Everything was dark outside. My nearest neighbor’s lights were off, probably having gone to bed.
“What kind of noise was it?” Grayden asked sternly. There was a rustling sound, like he was moving.
“A bang. Something breaking.”
And now there was an electronic beeping. Where was that coming from?
“But it wasn’t in your house?” Grayden asked.
“No. It sounded like it was coming from…” I moved into the kitchen, looking through the window over the sink. “My garage. The side door looks open.”
The beam of a flashlight appeared, cutting through the darkness. Shit. I ducked down to hide. A cabinet knob dug into my back.
I understood that beeping now. The alarm panel for my home security system. The garage was detached from my house, but it was still wired into the system.
“Grayden,” I whispered. “Someone broke into my garage.”
“Don’t move, okay? Stay right where you are and call 911. I’m on my way.”