Chapter Thirty-three Beckett #3
Her hand caressed my cheek, throat bobbing and eyes swimming. Then she gave me a weak smile and reached for the door handle. I climbed out and joined her around the hood of the car, twining my fingers with hers.
Heads turned in our direction, proving we’d continued to be the center of our small-town rumor mill, maybe even more so with the talk of her dad’s death.
Vader trailed us with his leash in Maisey’s hand. His tail was up, on alert. The emotions he’d sensed bleeding from us for two days were keeping him on edge just like us.
When we reached the bleachers, we drew to a halt, watching people dance to Watery Reflection. The band members may be in their fifties, but you’d never know it from their energy on stage. The eclectic mix of rock and pop and folk meant their songs had something for every type of music lover.
All I wanted to do was swing Maisey into my arms, dance with her, and kiss her under the fireworks.
I promised myself, next year, things would be different.
If I got the fire chief position, I’d be here, supporting my crew, but I wouldn’t have to stand watch.
I’d be able to tuck Maisey up against me and make sure she and the whole damn town knew just how permanent we were.
Cleaver eased up next to us, and I asked, “What’s the news from the sheriff?”
“The movie set broke up two days ago, and the cast headed back to LA. But they aren’t picking up filming there until after the holiday weekend.
No one knows where Chelsea and Gavin are staying, and the Helmers’ place is empty.
We have a deputy sitting on it, but he may get pulled away if things get hectic downtown. ”
I thought about our chat with Chelsea at the mall. She’d said they were on a break from filming but were due back. It wasn’t a lie. It matched this story, but she’d made it sound like they were still filming here in the mountains.
“What’s next?” I asked.
“We’ve got an APB out on Gavin’s car and are running their credit cards, but we have to find them before we can question them.”
Every time we talked with the sheriff’s department, we got a wait-and-see kind of answer, and I had to clamp my teeth to stop myself from biting out an angry retort.
“Maisey!” a voice called from the bleachers, and we whirled around to see Andie waving at her to come join them.
Maisey squeezed my hand and then let it go, heading toward the stairs.
“Don’t go anywhere,” I called after her.
“I won’t,” she said.
I looked down at Vader. “Protect Maisey. Go with Maisey, boy.” He barked, accepting his task, or maybe he was just as much in love with her as I was. All I cared about was that he went after her, adding another layer of protection.
I shot Cleaver my deadliest look. “Anything happens to her on your watch, I’m holding you responsible.”
He started to respond, but I didn’t wait to hear it. Instead, I headed for the engine and my crew, who were all waiting for me in their turnout gear. They shifted on their feet in discomfort, but it was Tejas who asked the question.
“How are you and Maisey holding up?”
“We’re okay. We’ll be better once the sheriff catches the person responsible, and we’re hoping that happens tonight. Right now, I need to concentrate on getting this done so I can get back to her.”
I handed out assignments, ensuring we’d be spread out as wide as possible to catch any ember that sparked, before returning my attention to the grandstands.
Maisey was sitting with Andie and some of the other staff from the resort. She was safe, with Vader lying devotedly at her feet and Cleaver watching her from the foot of the bleachers, and yet my gut was screaming at me in warning.
Was it Cleaver I didn’t trust or just the entire situation? Maybe it was simply not having her next to me, where I could step between her and her enemies if need be.
The sun finally slid completely past the mountains, and the stars winked into existence, their reflection sparkling in the smooth ripples of the lake.
The smell of pine, wildflowers, and hay that always surrounded the Harrington resort was almost hidden beneath the aroma of barbecue and beer.
It mingled with the sweat and suntan lotion of bodies who’d spent a day in the sun and water—a day celebrating community—while Maisey had spent the day anxiously worrying. The unfairness of it pissed me off.
As I stepped into my gear, my mind should have been on the potential fire danger. Instead, all I could think about was Maisey and the danger to her life.
I grabbed my lid, tucked it under my arm, and slammed the storage compartment on the engine shut before peering around the cab once again to reassure myself Maisey was still sitting right where I’d left her. I groaned inwardly when Delilah blocked my view.
She was in a red-white-and-blue sundress that flirted with her knees.
Her dyed mahogany hair was drawn back in a graceful bun.
It was hopeless to think I’d escape her, but I also didn’t want Maisey worrying about whatever conversation I was having with Delilah, so I stepped back into the shadow of the engine.
I leaned up against the truck as Delilah crossed her arms in front of me.
“I’m tired of you and Maisey pointing fingers at me, Beckett.”
For two seconds, I felt bad for doubting her. Delilah was messed up, but she’d never really harmed anyone but herself.
“I’d say I was sorry, but the truth is, I didn’t know who else to look at, Del. And I’d do anything to protect Maisey. Anything. I’m hopeful after tonight—tomorrow at the latest—it should be over, and we can all just put this behind us,” I explained.
She studied the lake before turning her face back to me. Then, she sighed and moved to lean up next to me against the truck.
“I didn’t get it, you know,” she said. “I knew she loved you, but I didn’t get how much you loved her right back.
I guess I wanted to believe the act you put on about having no interest in any kind of long-term relationship.
And I guess what you didn’t understand was how tempting that act was to us mere mortal females. ”
Surprise shifted over me. Seeing it, Delilah shrugged and gave me a wry smile, as if I’d said something witty when I hadn’t opened my mouth at all.
“After all, what woman can resist the challenge of changing a self-proclaimed bachelor into a lovesick fool? I thought if I could just get you to spend enough time with me, I’d have you on your knees, declaring your love.
But that was never going to happen because you’d already given your heart to Maisey when we were kids. ”
“There’s never been anyone else for me,” I told her truthfully, knowing that even those words couldn’t adequately express the full depth of my love for Maisey.
Silence dropped down between us for a long moment.
Delilah inhaled deeply and then asked, “So they found out who drugged her dad?”
I wrestled with telling her the truth, because if Maisey’s guess was right, both Delilah and Carter were in the clear, but I wouldn’t bet Maisey’s life on it. I’d let the cards fall where they would, and Del could hear about it later
“Captain. You about ready to head to the lookout spot?” Tejas asked, coming around the truck.
I stepped away from the engine. “Yeah. Give me two seconds.”
He moved off, and I looked down at Delilah.
“I’m sorry if I ever led you to believe we could have been more than friends, Del.”
She shook her head and grimaced. “You didn’t. I can’t count the times you told me you weren’t interested.”
The sadness in her voice brought back the teenager I’d found under the bleachers.
The one with blood pouring from her wrists, who’d sobbed that no one loved her.
That no one would ever love her. She’d gotten better at hiding it, surviving with it, but Delilah was still carrying those wounds with her, just like I’d carried my childhood traumas with me.
I hoped she could get past whatever her version of the smoke was to truly open herself up to someone.
“If I hadn’t already given my heart to Maisey, Del, you would have been at the top of my list.”
She scoffed. “Thanks for trying to make me feel better, Beckett, but you and I both know that isn’t true.”
“If you can’t believe that, then at least believe this—there is absolutely someone out there for you. Someone who’s going to fall on their knees just like you want, adoring you for your relentlessness and determination. Someone who will return all that love you have in you.”
She put a finger to the corner of an eye, as if holding back tears.
“Is there any hope of you turning your thing with Carter into something more?” I asked, even though I hated the idea of her with him.
Even if he was in the clear when it came to what was happening with Maisey, he was still a smug bastard.
A slick and oily creep who, according to Maisey, was using drugs.
Delilah laughed. “No. He’s worse than Dad when it comes to keeping his dick in his pants.
He’s someone you scratch an itch with, but not someone you want to be the father of your children.
” She looked out at the lake. “Plus, I think he’s going to be hightailing it out of town soon.
Carter was counting on you and Lewis selling your properties to him for the Meadow Lane development he had planned.
He said he had a sure way to get you both to sell, but you didn’t.
Now, Carter is running scared because he has no way to pay back the loans he took out from Lorenzo Puzo.
And we both know how the Puzo family deals with unpaid debt.
I’d be shocked if Carter is not in Mexico by morning. ”
Every single breath left my body. Had Maisey been wrong? Was this actually Carter? Desperate and afraid?
Fuck.
Fear coursed up my spine. I stepped around the front of the engine, frantically searching the bleachers for Maisey. My heart nearly stopped when I found the spot where she’d been empty. Andie was still there, laughing and chatting with Francois, the resort’s head chef. But no Maisey. No Vader.
No Cleaver either, and it should have eased the tension racing across my shoulders, but it didn’t. Where the hell had they gone? Maisey had promised she’d stay in the stands, where not only Cleaver but the other deputies and Parker’s security team could watch over her.
“I gotta go.”
I left Delilah calling my name. I moved in the direction of the shore and my team, but it wasn’t them I was seeing. I was desperately scanning the crowd for my fiancée.
The pyrotechnic crew had already taken the motorboat out to the temporary dock in the middle of the lake and were minutes away from setting off the fireworks. The band was no longer playing, but music still blared from the speakers that would soon match the bursts of light in the air.
My team had taken up their positions, spread out along the shore as planned, and I should take up mine, but my heart and soul screamed at me to leave. To run. To go find Maisey.
Dread pooled and grew in my stomach until it was a painful ache.
I fished out my phone from the depths of my gear and sent a text to Maisey. When she didn’t respond, I called Cleaver and tried not to panic even more when he didn’t pick up.
By the time neither Wylee nor Parker picked up either, the feeling of dread had grown until it was ringing in my ears like an engine’s siren.
Nothing was right.
Then it hit me. You’re a fucking idiot, Romero.
I knew how to find her. Just today, I’d insisted she add me to the Find Family app. I brought it up, held my breath while the circle spun, searching for Maisey’s location.
When I saw it, the panic grew to full-out terror. She was too far away. Too damn far.
I was already running, the heavy turnout gear weighing me down.
Tejas and Kasey called out after me in confusion.
But I didn’t care about my job, or the people under my command, or potential flames.
I only cared about ensuring I found Maisey before the worst happened.
I only cared about preventing another knot in my life from unraveling.