Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
M oon sat in the shadows of a tree, watching a small house across the street from where he was hiding. In three hours, it would be dawn, and he would have to change his hiding spot to remain unseen.
Dodging the fucking cameras on the surrounding houses made it hard to switch positions. He had been staking out the house Larissa’s mother lived in for the nearly two weeks and, so far, he hadn’t caught sight of Larissa.
He had been able to use his own skills to find Larissa’s past addresses, and those of her relatives. It hadn’t taken long to find out her family was small, consisting of her mother and her two sisters. Her father had died when the girls were in grade school. An Army veteran, he had served overseas to come home to become a firefighter. He had lost his life when a home caught on fire and he risked his life trying to save a child who had become frightened and hidden in a bathroom linen closet. Neither had survived.
Moon had to harden his heart. Just because the father was a hero didn’t mean the same qualities he possessed had rubbed off on Larissa.
Keeping his eye on the sky as it grew lighter, he started his move. He had already come to the conclusion that Larissa wasn’t in her mother’s home. What he was waiting for was the opportunity to sneak into her mother’s house to search for anything that could provide a clue as to Larissa’s whereabouts.
Every Tuesday, her mother went to the grocery store and was away for approximately an hour and a half to two hours. Ignoring his cramped legs, he waited for Kendra Griffin to leave. When she did, he had to practically crawl before he could stand. How in the fuck did Shade manage to walk after waiting for his targets? He felt as if he were a ninety-year-old man. If someone called the cops on him for sulking around the neighborhood, he would have to give up before the chase could begin. The way he felt, a turtle could outrun him.
Slipping into the backyard without being spotted took longer than he’d expected when he was nearly caught by a fucker taking out his trash. He had already determined his entry point. So, moving toward a kitchen window, Moon carried a deck chair and placed it underneath. Using his knife, he then managed to raise the window and slide inside.
He dropped inside and sat on the floor until he got his bearings before he used the kitchen counter to rise to his feet, cursing. He was getting too old for this shit.
Looking at his watch, Moon got on the move. He barely had thirty minutes left before Larissa’s mother would return.
He moved from room by room but couldn’t find anything that would shed any light on where Larissa was. If there weren’t several pictures of her and the sisters, he would have thought he was in the wrong place.
Moon closed a desk drawer in Kendra’s bedroom before he glanced around the room, rubbing his jaw thoughtfully. There wasn’t a speck of dirt, the dishes were all done and put away—hell, even the coffee pot had been cleaned to a sparkling shine. Either Larissa’s mother had OCD, or she had been expecting him.
He climbed back out the window, then returned the deck chair to the same position he had found it in. But instead of going back to his hiding spot, he returned to where he had left his motorcycle three blocks away in a parking lot.
L arissa’s mother had made sure there wasn’t a scrape of information he could use. Either it was deliberate, or she was a clean freak. He was done wasting his time.
He grabbed a bite to eat at a drive-thru, ate, then rode to the house he had been watching. Parking in the front, Moon strode toward the door, knocked, then waited for Kendra Griffin to ask who he was.
The front door opened to show a woman who appeared much younger than her age.
“Hello, Moon.”
His fake smile nearly slipped. Holding on to it purposefully, Moon was aware of her gaze sweeping over him critically.
“Since you used my nickname, mind if I use your name, Kendra?”
“Not at all. Would you like to come inside?”
“Thank you. Yes, I would.”
Kendra stepped aside to allow him inside. He followed her into the living room, where he took the chair she motioned him toward.
Larissa’s mother didn’t mince words. “If you came here expecting to find Larissa or for me to tell you where she is, you’re going to be disappointed.”
“Would you at least give me a number so that I can talk to her?”
“No, I’m sorry. My daughter would have given you a way to contact her if she wanted you to have it.”
Moon kept his tone friendly despite his anger. “Do you know why I want to contact her?”
Kendra nodded. “Lana and Priscilla told me you believe Larissa is pregnant.”
“Is she?”
“Larissa hasn’t told me if she is or isn’t, nor have my other daughters. I’m terrible at keeping secrets.” She shrugged. “If they don’t tell, there is no tea to spill.”
“I deserve to know the truth.”
“I agree, which is yet another reason they won’t share the information.”
“If you agree I should know, the least you can do is give me her number so I can talk to her.” Moon gave her a concerned look. “As a potential father, I’m worried sick something could happen, and I won’t be there. As a parent, surely, you can understand my dilemma?”
Her eyes narrowed on him while her friendly manner appeared to mirror his. “I understand. There just isn’t anything I can do about it.”
They were playing each other.
Moon rose to his feet, his smile disappearing. “I will find Larissa. Until then, you can give her a message for me. Come back to Treepoint, so we can talk amicably.” Moon had to contain himself from saying what he really wanted to say. “I never meant for her to move away from Treepoint. I lost my temper, which I regret. There’s no reason we can’t coexist in town, whether she’s pregnant or not, and I hope she’ll give me a chance to apologize in person.”
Her eyes searched his. “I will relay your message to my daughter.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m relieved to hear you want to apologize and want Larissa to move back to Treepoint. My daughters are close; that’s why Larissa moved to Treepoint after Priscilla and Lana did. Hopefully, Larissa will reach out, and you two can put the past behind you.”
“I hope so, too.”
Moon left the house and got on his motorcycle. He had gassed it before he ate, so he rode through the city limits toward the interstate, Ohio was closer to the part of Kentucky he was in, but he took the exit heading back to Treepoint.
After he talked to Larissa’s mother, his instincts were yelling at him to get his ass back to Treepoint. Each club had its pros and cons, but he used to be closer to the brothers in Treepoint … until the last few months. His behavior had created a wedge he hadn’t attempted to breach. On the other hand, the brothers in Ohio were generally more laidback under Wizard’s way of running the club. Wizard might be more lenient than Viper in some respects; in others, Wizard wasn’t as forgiving as Viper and could be more ruthless in doling out punishments when the brothers inevitably made mistakes.
Jesus, he was tired. He hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since he didn’t know when. Years?
Merging onto the interstate, he rode into the wind while fighting to hold his bike steady as a semi moved over into the passing lane, blaring his horn at him.
Moon didn’t feel an ounce of fear for his safety. It was his super power, or his biggest weakness. He hadn’t even felt the emotion until he had to take psychological tests when he was in the Navy to qualify for the assignments he had wanted. Inevitably, it was why he had never been able to increase his rank. The Navy wouldn’t give him command when his profile showed he didn’t feel a normal level of fear, making him an extreme risk taker. Viper, as his supervisor, had been aware of the findings and made allowances both in the service and once they were out. He had never asked Viper if he told the other brothers. He just assumed he did, and that was why they made allowances for him.
A sudden thought struck him. What if Larissa was pregnant? What if his risky behavior was genetic? The baby’s grandfather was also a vet, who had become a firefighter, who rushed into burning buildings for a living. What if Larissa passed that gene on to their child?
Fucccck! Why in the hell hadn’t he locked his bedroom door?