27. Chapter 27 – Zach
T he house looked quiet. But the garage door was open, and Gran’s truck was missing. Something about both of those details made me uneasy. Or maybe it was the plume of dark smoke coming from the back of the house.
Part of me felt guilty for leaving the kids in the car, unprotected.
But Rae was somewhere inside. Possibly with a murderer.
Jordan’s death was supposed to be an unfortunate accident.
Maybe it was more. There was no way I was taking a chance with the woman I loved and doing anything but playing it cautious.
I skirted the open garage, careful not to silhouette myself.
I’d be an easy target for anyone inside.
Plus, there was no need to announce my presence. Or maybe there was.
I’d been playing the role of the clueless but charming coffee shop owner enough that possibly even our housebreaker believed it .
“Hey, Rae! You in there? I told you I’d dig through Jordan’s crap and find the yard games for the kids when I got home. Why don’t you come on out, and I’ll work on that now? I don’t want to be an ass, but I think dinner might be burning.”
Rae’s laughter emanated from the back of the garage. The sound cut like a serrated blade, obliterating my sense of peace. Unnatural. Stilted. Like she was forcing the humor to cover fear.
“No worries. I’ve almost got it. I’ll be right out.”
If things were really all right, she’d care that dinner was burning. I crept closer, skipping the aisles closest to the main house and diving to hide against one of the towers of bins and boxes closer to the workbench.
My heart thumped, pounding hard in my ears. Overwhelming my ability to decipher the sounds in the garage. A footstep. A box in the next tower shifted slightly, sending a screwdriver clattering to the floor. I strained, listening for more clues.
Barreling around the corner could get Rae hurt.
If our friendly neighborhood criminal wasn’t all that friendly after all, they’d have a weapon.
I wouldn’t risk Rae. Waiting was torture.
But I had to trust that, for the moment, she could take care of herself.
That her words to me were a signal. As much as I wanted to claw my own skin off waiting, I’d do it.
Ready to spring into action at the first sign she needed me.
Sitting on my hands went against every instinct. I held my breath, trying to calm my heart rate enough to hear movement at the back of the garage. Another shift.
“ Where is it ?” a low voice hissed in the darkness.
I dropped closer to the oil-stained concrete floor, peering around the boxes sheltering me. A bulky figure hulked over Rae, a ski mask obscuring the person’s features. Big. Male. But not visibly armed .
My pulse spiked, my muscles coiling for action, tight and ready.
I wanted to explode into a fury of kicks and punches, take him down with my adrenaline alone.
But fear for Rae held me back. Just because I hadn’t spotted a weapon yet didn’t mean he didn’t have one.
Blind rage kept me tunneled in on her assailant, even as I needed to take in every bit of information available to craft my takedown.
Time slowed, and I breathed through the anger, focusing on the only thing that mattered: Rae’s safety.
If love alone could shield her, she’d be fucking indestructible.
I exhaled, shaky but resolved. He wasn’t going to hurt her.
Not with me here. At the first sign of danger, I’d spring forward.
Until then, I’d trust her. She was ten times smarter than most people.
No doubt twenty times smarter than the fool cornering her in the garage.
If Rae could keep him calm and get him out of the garage, I could take him down. Sit on him until the deputies arrived if I had to.
“We found it in that box,” Rae said calmly.
The masked man dove for the cardboard box, seeming to forget that he’d cornered a very brave, very determined woman with him. Foolish in the extreme. The second he turned his back, she reached for something from the bench, whacking him on the shoulder and sprinting toward me.
“Close the door!” she yelled.
Fucking brilliant. Distract him and lock him in until help arrived. Risky as fuck if she couldn’t escape or he had a gun, but also fearless and smart. Just like my Rae.
I sprinted after her, punching the button to shut the door. It wasn’t perfect. He could still recover and find the manual latch, but it’d take precious time he didn’t have. I could already hear the scream of sirens. Tae and the local authorities had done their part .
I yanked Rae into my arms, holding her shuddering body tight as the large door closed, cutting off her assailant from freedom.
“Are you hurt?” I couldn’t hide the frantic edge to my voice.
“Fine. Just shook up.”
Crushing her to me gave me a sliver of peace, but it wasn’t enough. Not after almost losing her. I pressed my face into her hair, breathing her in. She was alive. She smelled like a mix of musty garage and grill smoke, and I huffed out a breath, half-laugh, half-sob, relief making me giddy.
“Sadly, I don’t think we can say the same about dinner.”
She let out a soft chuckle, her breath warm against my chest. “Yeah. I was a bit busy there at the end.”
“Not a complaint. I’m just glad you’re okay.” I stroked from her shoulders to her hands, twining our fingers. Touching my forehead to hers, just for a moment, to ground myself. “I can’t believe I almost lost you.”
I eased back, inspecting her from her wild curls to her composite toe sneakers. She was a little pale, but that was the only sign that anything was off. If it weren’t for the intruder locked in the garage, I’d think she just needed a little sun.
She rolled her eyes, but there was no real bite behind it. “Don’t get all freaked out, Fenwick. I’m fine.”
“Yeah, but I’m not.” I swallowed hard, my chest tight, my heart still trying to catch up with the fact that she was standing in front of me, whole and safe. “I love you, Rae Dawkins. I’m sorry I was such an ass about the whole Simon thing.”
She blinked, something soft and unreadable flickering in her eyes before she pushed up on tiptoe. Our lips brushed, the kiss barely more than a whisper. A gentle benediction that spread warmth through me .
“I love you too, Zach.” She shuddered, the tremor rolling through her. “And I’m glad you were here. You gave me the courage to face Brandon.”
Of course she’d figured out who she was dealing with. I rested my forehead against hers, shutting my eyes for a beat. “Always,” I promised. Because there was no other option.
A patrol vehicle slid to a stop in the gravel, Deputy Vega emerging with a nod to me and Rae. “Young Tae reported an intruder here. Y’all okay?”
Rae gestured to the closed garage. “Brandon Chen is in there. He admitted he’s the one who’s been burglarizing the place, looking for something of Jordan’s.”
“Any idea what?”
“You’ll have to ask him.”
Rae punched in the garage code, and Deputy Vega led a groaning Brandon to the back of her vehicle.
Tae and Hanna popped out of my car, sprinting for us. I scooped up Hanna, cuddling Tae between Rae and me. We stood for what felt like forever in a mash of arms and tiny bodies, hugging tight. Safe . We were all out of danger.
“I need to turn off the grill, but after that, what do you all say to dinner in town?”
Rae pulled back. “You’re not worried about leaving the safe unattended here?”
“With Brandon in custody, I think we’re fine. But what happened to Gran?”
Rae lifted a shoulder, her lips pressed together like she was trying to hide a smile. “Apparently, it’s date night.”
“This is what I get for relying on a horny octogenarian for private security. ”
Dinner was unsalvageable. I dumped the burned lumps in the trash. We locked the house, and the kids clambered into the car, their excited chatter a welcome distraction. A trickle of unease lingered. Leaving the house unattended was a bad idea.
I rolled my neck, loosening my shoulders. That thought was just a hangover from the drama with Brandon. Rae was unhurt. That should be enough. But cracking the safe, finding the answers locked inside seemed more important by the minute.
Downtown was a hive of activity, summer crowds swelling the local restaurants.
We grabbed a picnic table and drinks at the brewery while we waited for a table.
Hana made fast friends with another little girl, and they entertained us with cartwheels and attempts at handstands.
Tae seemed more interested in a small ant colony, dropping blades of grass as obstacles and observing them march.
It was surreal watching the little girls giggle and chase after the last hour. I’d expected more fear from them, but they acted like Deputy Vega carting off their dad’s business partner was nothing. Maybe given everything else they’d faced, it was.
I wrapped an arm around Rae, tugging her into my side.
She melted into the space I made for her, resting her head on my shoulder.
I filled my lungs with the scents of grass, beer, and Rae, expelling my breath slowly.
The combination of sun, laughter, and the ferry horn in the distance helped me relax, my jaw loosening as it truly sank in that she was okay.
“I’m right here, worrywart.”
“Hmmph.” I nuzzled her shoulder. “Believe it or not, I’m used to us being in dangerous situations together.”
“SAR is good for that.”
“Exactly. But this was different. I think I lived ten years in those last ten seconds in the garage. ”
“Brandon was desperate, but I didn’t think he’d hurt me.”
“You’re that confident he didn’t eliminate Jordan?”
“Think about it. If he’d killed Jordan, don’t you think he would have gotten whatever has him so desperate first?”
“So, what? He’s just worried about whatever they were up to blowing back on him now that Jordan’s gone?”
“The way he spoke, he hadn’t anticipated anything happening to Jordan. He claimed his ass was on the line because of the safe’s contents.”
“He didn’t say what it was?” I asked.
“No. But my guess? Drugs.”
“You think your cousin was into that kind of thing?”
“For cash? Maybe. But not street-level stuff. He used to rail against the US healthcare system. It wouldn’t surprise me if he viewed whatever he was bringing in as a fuck-you to the insurance companies.”
“So this circles back to the rumors of counterfeit drugs coming in from Canada?”
Rae shrugged beneath my arm. “We won’t really know unless we can get that safe open.”
“You still don’t want to turn it over to the authorities? That was by far the simplest answer. Let the sheriff and the DEA sort out the mess.
“Not without knowing what’s in it first. I owe that to Jia.”
“Speaking of Jia, how are you going to break the news of this afternoon’s excitement to her?” I asked.
Rae leaned back, wrinkling her nose. “I’ve got to call her, don’t I?”
“You don’t want her hearing about Brandon’s arrest on the community page. Especially given that Tae and Hana were there to witness it.”
“Right.” Rae sighed, her features clouding. “Part of me wants to hold on to the fantasy that I can just keep it quiet until she’s back. But, given the Friday Harbor grapevine, I’ll be lucky if she hasn’t had ten texts from friends by the time I call tonight.”
I lifted our joined fingers to my lips. “Joys of living in a small town.”
“Sure. Joys .”
“Mm. Speaking of small-town benefits, it’s only fair that I warn you: after dinner, I drop the news in the family group chat. There’s a fifty percent chance Hurricane Vanessa blows in with baked goods before bedtime.”
“Only fifty percent?”
“With Gran in residence with us, she and my dad might just stay home and enjoy the quiet.”
Rae groaned softly. “Gran. She still needs to come pick up her things after her ‘date.’”
After a leisurely dinner, we walked hand-in-hand toward the marina, the kids a few steps ahead.
Fish nibbled near the surface, sending concentric rings spreading in the still water.
Most boats were docked for the night, leaving only a handful of tourists to roam the wharf with us.
We checked on Sailor Swift and Nauti by Nature .
Both bobbed gently against the dock, secure in their slips.
I glanced at Rae, serene beside me, her curls lifting slightly in the breeze.
“It’s going to feel like the end of an era when Jia gets home,” I said.
Hana and Tae weren’t my kids, but I sure was going to miss them.
Spending time with Rae as a family had opened my eyes to a different kind of future for myself.
One where I wasn’t just a friend, a volunteer, or a business owner.
One where Rae and I might have a partnership and a family of our own.
Going home to family dinners, reading bedtime stories, and making heart-shaped pancakes with chocolate chips as a weekend treat sounded like the kind of life I wanted to claim for myself. But only with her .
Rae stilled at my words, her face stricken. That flash of pain had me rushing to reassure her. “I can’t believe I’m supposed to be the charming Fenwick. I seem to fumble everything when it comes to you. What I meant to say was, I can’t wait to start the next chapter together.”
I turned, spreading my arms wide, silently offering the only thing I really had: myself.
“The last few weeks have shown me what our life together could be like.” I held her gaze. “I want you and that life, Rae. More than anything.”
“I want that too.”
I scooped her into my arms, twirling us both, careful to watch my footing so we didn’t end up in the harbor. Rae laughed, the sound reaching into my heart and squeezing.
“Now me! Now me!” Hana cried, holding up her arms.
She squealed as I lifted her, spinning us both until I was dizzy.
“Whoa.” I put a hand to my head, swaying theatrically like my legs had turned to spaghetti. “I need your Aunt Rae to hold my hand and help me back to the car.”
“I can help too,” Hana insisted, grasping my left hand in hers and pulling me toward where we’d parked. “C’mon. We still have sherbet at home, and I want dessert.”
I winked at Rae. “Me too.”
She shook her head slowly, a smile tugging at her mouth. Like she knew I wasn’t thinking about ice cream. But she took my right hand, leading me toward the car and home.