Chapter 11
LANGSTON
My gut told me something wasn’t right with them.
It was their reasons for coming to Anchor Bay that had the suspicious feeling strengthening through the quick trip from Anchorage to home.
It didn’t seem as if they wanted to harm anyone, yet the heavy weight of shame and guilt had ballooned in my chest, making it hard to breathe.
Why?
Hell if I knew.
I had a feeling the elephant sitting on my chest had to do with how the woman they were here to surprise would take them showing up unannounced.
The word surprise had a positive spin to it; what they were doing seemed more like a sneak attack, but I still hadn’t found out why.
Neither seemed the type to plan all this to attack Juno, but that wasn’t the only way to hurt someone.
Maybe that was just guilt hanging around my neck like a noose. I prided myself on protecting my family and friends, and somehow Juno too, yet I allowed the two people who were obviously conspiring about something to walk off the boat with no interrogation about what that surprise encompassed.
Surprise her with an apology? Not likely, based on that douchebag Eric.
Surprise her with a knife in the back? Not their type.
Surprise her with news that wouldn’t feel like good news to Juno? That felt closer to the truth.
I ripped off my ball cap and slapped it on my thigh, cursing myself.
I’d fucked up big-time. I’d allowed my frustrations with Juno to cloud the black-and-white guidelines I kept to, in order to keep those around me safe.
Hopefully, it wasn’t as bad as the massive weight crushing my chest, slowly suffocating me, made it seem.
But why did it feel like I’d betrayed her just by being their water taxi?
The coarse rope slid across my calloused palms as I secured the multifunctional boat Uplift purchased for ferrying clients between here and Anchorage, plus other water activities that I guided.
Both knees popped as I stood, dusting off my hands on my thighs before waving back at the captain as he pulled out into the bay.
The docks were quiet at this time of day, most of the boats out fishing or out with clients.
Uplift Adventure and Rescue wasn’t the only adventure company in Anchor Bay, but we were the biggest—and the best, if you asked the locals.
Brandon, Carl, and Amy handpicked everyone who worked for them, which was why the small community had grown from a place to work to a family.
A genuine family. One that had one another’s backs and wanted the best for everyone.
Sure, I had Mattie back in Vegas—she was my only living blood relative I had left—but the men and women at Uplift were just as much family as she was.
The water-swollen wooden planks groaned beneath my weight as I marched down the narrow walkway, the icy waves splashing beneath me and slapping against the poles, making light showers of spray sprinkle across my jeans.
Nostrils flaring, I inhaled the comforting aroma of salt water and diesel fuel, holding it until my lungs burned, hoping that would chase away the pressure in my chest.
“I didn’t know,” I grumbled to myself as I exited the dock, slamming the wire gate behind me with more force than necessary.
“It was a job. Brandon said we couldn’t tell her.
” Hand shoved into the front pocket of my jeans, I wrapped my fingers around the 4Runner keys, tightening until the metal bit into my skin.
“Going against a direct order goes against everything the Army taught me.”
Reaching for the door handle of the late-model SUV, I paused to pull the ringing phone out of my pocket. A sigh of frustration blew past my lips at yet another delay. The insistent need to see Juno and make sure she was safe—from a distance, of course—rode me hard, making me almost twitchy.
I frowned at West’s name flashing on the screen. With a finger on the green circle, I answered the incoming call and tucked the phone between my ear and shoulder as I pulled the driver’s side door open. “I just got back, headed home now—”
“We have a problem.”
It was the tremble in his voice, the fear and worry leaking through his words, that had me freezing halfway inside the SUV.
“Who?” I asked as panic surged. Once again, I wasn’t there, and someone got hurt. That was the only explanation for why West sounded like he was about to shit his pants.
“Juno.”
I would’ve thought hearing her name, not one of the other members of Uplift, would’ve offered a sliver of relief considering everything, but the opposite happened.
Sweat instantly slicked my forehead as a fresh rush of guilt and dread pumped through me.
Heart slamming in my chest, I slumped into the driver’s seat, death grip on the phone with one hand and the wheel with the other.
“Is she hurt?”
He paused.
He fucking hesitated.
It was bad, then. Each knuckle turned white from my tightening grip on the wheel.
His shaky breath blew across the mouthpiece. “Physically hurt, no. But she’s not okay, Lang. Like, really not fucking okay. I think she’s having a panic attack. Come help me. Help us.”
Shoving the key into the ignition, I cranked the engine and slammed the door shut.
“Where are you?”
“In the alley next to Sips.”
That was the last damn place I’d expected him to say, but that didn’t matter right now.
All that mattered was getting there and helping them both.
I knew West—seeing Juno upset or whatever she was meant he needed help too.
With his background, he didn’t do well in high-emotion situations; they made him shut down.
But it sounded like he was actually holding it together okay. For now.
“On my way.” I shifted the SUV into reverse and pressed down on the gas pedal without looking behind me. “You okay?”
“Yes and no.” The tremor in his voice had me cursing under my breath. “We fucked up, Lang. We really screwed up.”
“How?” The tires screeched along the pavement, trying to get traction as I peeled out of the parking lot and turned the wheel toward Sips, the sign already in sight.
“Them, him. She saw them walking down the street and….” He trailed off, gasping for breath as if he was the one having a panic attack. “I think you just brought the reason she’s been hiding her past from us—hell, from everyone, I think—to Anchor Bay.”
My heart stopped before kicking back up again and banging against my chest. “It was my job.”
“But we both knew better, both thought it sounded shady as fuck. We should’ve pushed Brandon so she could’ve had some warning and not been caught off guard.” He paused. “What if she never trusts us again, Lang?”
The heartbreak in his tone had me sucking in a sharp breath and holding it. Not knowing how to respond to that—the idea of losing Juno’s trust had unfamiliar desperation welling inside me—I told him I’d be there soon, then hung up and focused on not hitting pedestrians in my race to them.
The alleys between a few of the brightly colored buildings weren’t big enough for a car, the narrow gaps mostly for the business owners to place their trash and accept walk-up deliveries.
The tires all but smoked when I slammed on the brakes, the SUV coming to an abrupt halt directly in front of Sips, uncaring that I took up three spots in my hurry.
The slam of the door echoed, followed by the pounding of my boots on the wooden walkway.
The stench of garbage mixed with the sweet scent of baked goods filled my nose the moment I turned the corner into the alley. Gaze bouncing, I searched the area for the two people who were responsible for my near-stroke-level blood pressure.
I was about to call West when he stepped out from behind a dumpster.
I was already moving toward him before he finished waving at me.
Stepping back around the metal bin, he dropped low, balancing on the balls of his feet in front of where Juno sat on the broken pavement, her back pressed to the brick building, holding both knees tightly to her chest.
Seeing her like that, curled up so small, like that could protect her, I understood the heartbreak in West’s tone on the phone.
The feisty woman who could hold her own with me verbally, put me in my place daily, had the balls and strength to take me down, was gone, and this trembling, small, terrified woman was left.
She shifted, slowly lifting her head to peek up at me, lashes and cheeks wet from recent tears, before burying her face behind her knees once again.
She looked utterly destroyed.
“Juno.” Stopping beside West, I gripped his shoulder to help him up, allowing me to take his place. Kneeling, I ran a palm over her wild hair in slow, repetitive strokes. “Hey, shortcake, I need you to look at me.”
I bit the tip of my tongue, hating that in my moment of weakness, I let the nickname I’d been calling her in my head slip out.
Juno responded with something that I couldn’t understand with her face buried in her knees.
“You have to look up for me to understand you,” I admonished, giving a strand of her brown hair a slight tug.
Ever so slowly, she unfolded, her tear-streaked face tipping up until her aqua eyes met mine.
“I hate you. I hate you so much right now.”
I shot West a dirty look, knowing he was the one who told her exactly who brought the mysterious couple to Anchor Bay. The asshole just shrugged, his worried gaze locked on Juno.
“Why did you bring them here? Do you want me gone so badly that you’d dig into my shit past and bring the two people who—”
I pressed the pad of my thumb against her lips to stop her.
“I don’t want you gone,” I said steadily. Her eyes narrowed. “And you don’t hate me.”
She huffed in annoyance, but a gleam shone in her gaze, warning me that I’d better watch out half a second too late.
“The fuck?” I jerked my thumb back and studied the slight teeth indentations. “You bit me.”
“You were silencing me.”
“You were accusing me,” I snapped.