29. Chapter 29 – Zach
R ae mewled softly, frowning in her sleep as I slid from behind her. A faint thump echoed through the house downstairs. Thump. There it was again. Gliding silently toward the stairs, I grabbed the first thing I could find as an improvised weapon.
A dark figure floated across the living room. I gripped Tae’s bat tighter, creeping forward. A familiar voice cursed in the darkness, and I flicked on the light.
Gran covered her eyes. “Watch where you’re pointing that thing!”
“The overhead light?” I asked dryly.
“These old eyes don’t adjust like they used to,” she scolded. “I figured you’d all have calmed down a bit, given Brandon’s in jail.”
“Yeah, but I’m still wary of intruders.”
“I’m not an intruder; I’m your grandmother.”
“And it’s late,” I said.
She flicked a hand. “My date ran long.”
Her pink hair was smushed to one side, her lipstick smeared. She’d either been on a bender or had a hell of a good time on her date. Maybe both .
“Anyone I know?” I asked before considering that I really didn’t want to know.
“Ollie Reyes,” she responded airily, gathering the last of her things and slinging her bag over her shoulder. “I’m headed home for the night. Jia’s guest room is nice enough, but now that you don’t need me, I’d rather sleep in my own bed.”
She snapped her fingers. “I almost forgot—I left the combination for the safe on a sticky note on the fridge if you need it.”
“If we…”
She wiggled her fingers. “G‘night. Tell Rae I said I’ll see her at the next family dinner. I’m glad you kids have finally hooked up.”
I stared after her, half-wondering if she was a dream or nightmare. If I found the sticky note in the morning, I’d have my answer. Slowly, I made my way back upstairs, dropping Tae’s bat outside his door and slipping back under the covers with Rae.
She muttered in her sleep, turning into me.
She was too cute, with her mussed curls and pink cheeks.
A smile tugged at my lips. Gran was onto something with the guest room.
It was fine, but being home was much better.
I brushed a kiss across Rae’s forehead, smiling against her soft skin when she murmured a few unintelligible words of contentment. Yep, home was pretty damn perfect.
I was frying bacon when Rae joined me downstairs the next morning. She slid into my arms for a quick kiss and asked, “Did I dream that you got up in the middle of the night?”
“Nope. I heard something downstairs and thought we had another burglar. Turned out to be Gran, back from her date to pick up her stuff.”
“So she’s gone?”
I nodded. “But not without leaving us a little present.”
Rae wrinkled her nose. “Do I want to know? ”
A low laugh rumbled through my chest. “In this case, yes.” I tilted my head toward the fridge. “She left us the safe combination.”
Rae’s eyes widened, fully awake. “She did? Did you try it?”
“Not yet. I wanted to wait for you.”
“Oooh. Gimme.” She grabbed the lime-green note in my grandmother’s scrawl, and I followed her into the living room.
The safe looked innocent enough. But what about the contents? I’d been too tired to even think of questioning Gran last night.
Rae spun the dial, twisting it to match the numbers Gran provided. With a pop , it swung open.
Rae rooted around inside, frowning. “There’s nothing here.”
“Nothing at all?”
“Nope.” She held my gaze. “Does that mean we still have a problem?”
“If Brandon isn’t the only one looking for whatever it is, then yes.” I tugged at my bottom lip. “If no one else is looking, or his intel was bad, then no... What was Jordan into?”
Rae looked cute when she frowned, even if I hated to see her disappointed. “Jia claims not to know anything. I think our only shot is if Brandon talks.”
“Anything he says is only likely to incriminate him further.”
“Exactly.” She wrinkled her nose, making the sprinkling of freckles there dance. “We can do another search, but if there was nothing in the safe, I’m thinking there’s just nothing to find. I’ll let Sheriff Walker know about the safe when we go into his office to review our statements.”
We bundled the kids into the car after breakfast. Violet offered to take them while we gave our statements, so at least Hana and Tae didn’t have to cool their heels waiting for us. Going over the details took a couple of hours. Sheriff Walker was tight-lipped about Brandon’s statement.
I could only hope there was nothing left to find at Jia’s. Rae and I didn’t need any additional unplanned visitors. Every time I thought about Rae, trapped alone in the garage with Brandon, I wanted to put my fist through a wall. She should never have been vulnerable like that.
Failing to protect her would haunt me for the rest of my life.
But pride in the way she’d outsmarted him kept me from losing my shit entirely.
Rae was strong. Capable. Just because she shouldn’t have had to face him alone didn’t mean she didn’t have the skills to do it.
But I couldn’t help feeling that I’d failed her as a partner, even if my more rational mind had expected Gran to be there too.
Would Brandon have taken his chances with both women at home?
Even if he’d been confident in his ability to cow Rae, he’d heard enough Gran legends to be wary.
But there was no way I’d blame Gran for leaving.
We’d grown too complacent. Just because Friday Harbor was small and isolated didn’t mean we were immune to crime.
Human greed and desperation didn’t skip zip codes.
I could only hope, with Brandon in jail, the danger to Rae and the kids was over.
But the whole thing was fishy. Jordan’s death.
Brandon’s belief that Jodan had been hiding their illicit business at the house.
There were too many unanswered questions for me to rest easy.
The only thing I could do was hold on tight to Rae and stay alert. I couldn’t afford to let my guard down.
If the last twenty-four hours had taught me nothing else, I’d learned Rae was my heart, and I wouldn’t let anything happen to her. If trouble came knocking, I’d be the one standing in its way.