Chapter Sixteen
Nate looked out the window of his apartment toward the light across the street.
Right before the sun had set, the temperature dropped, and snow started to mix into the rain. He wouldn’t be surprised if he woke up in the morning to a few inches or more. It was a good thing it was the weekend and he didn’t have anywhere to be.
His phone buzzed where he had it plugged in next to his sofa.
Ash’s name came up on the screen.
Why would Ash be calling?
Luna.
“Hey,” Nate answered right away.
“Hey, Nate, it’s Ash Canning.”
“What’s up? Is everything okay?” Nate didn’t like the alarm he heard in his own voice. But he didn’t know Ash well enough for a random social call, so something had to be wrong.
“That’s what I need to figure out. I can’t get ahold of Luna. I’ve been trying for a few hours.”
“What about Miley?” Nate asked.
“She’s on a skiing trip. Said the last time she heard from Luna was right before noon. I logged in to the house cameras, but they were turned off before the entire system went offline.”
“Sounds like a power outage.” Some of the tension left Nate’s shoulders.
“That’s what I think.”
“I hear a but . . .”
“But I don’t like it. I called Harper to see if she could go by and check on her, but she’s in Bend with her husband and in-laws.
Harper also suggested it’s just the power, but then we started talking.
Luna’s pretty good about keeping her phone charged.
And I’m sure she has a portable charger somewhere. ”
Nate smiled and looked around for his shoes. “Do you want me to go and check on her?”
“Wow, yeah . . . that would be great. Wish I had thought of it.”
Nate laughed.
“Seriously. I know I’m overthinking this but, ah . . . ever since I was there, I’ve had this feeling like something is coming.”
That made Nate pause. “Probably all the ghost stories you guys kept telling.”
“Right. I’d drive up myself, but we’re all on mandatory overtime. We’re expecting several inches of snow and the roads are already layered in ice.”
Nate put the phone on speaker and slipped on his shoes and started to tie them. “I got ya, Ash. I’ll call you when I get there.”
“You’re a good man, Nate. I owe you.”
“No problem.”
It was a problem.
Not only were the side roads covered in snow, but there was also plenty of black ice under that white layer.
What should have taken Nate fifteen minutes to do, took him forty.
Luna’s neighborhood was dark.
No streetlights, no house lights, no nothing.
Nate took one look at the slope of Luna’s driveway and decided he was better off parking his car on the flat street outside or risk sliding right off the road. He was lucky he made it this far without finding a ditch to park his car in, he didn’t want to press his luck.
A dark night with silent snowfall held a certain power that no other weather created. It was Mother Nature’s way of telling everyone and everything to slow down and enjoy the quiet. Giant flakes hit his face when he got out of his car, flashlight in hand.
One step on her driveway, and Nate was fighting for balance. Tennis shoes were not the best choice.
The air was filled with the scent of fresh snow and wood burning from a fireplace.
One careful step at a time, Nate made his way to the side door of the house. “Luna?” he called out as he knocked. “It’s Nate.”
There wasn’t an answer. And the kitchen was dark.
“Luna?”
He knocked again.
It was still quiet.
He angled his flashlight to look through the kitchen window.
He saw the silhouette of a person holding a shotgun and immediately dropped into a squat.
Nate reached for his gun; his heart shoved firmly in his throat. “Fuck.”
Slowly, he inched away from the back door toward a shrub on the side of the house for shelter.
That’s when he heard her.
“I have a gun. I already called the police.”
Nate stopped moving and nearly collapsed onto the ground.
“Luna,” he yelled. “It’s Nate. Don’t shoot.”
She didn’t respond.
“Luna?”
The back door slowly creeped open.
Nate quickly dropped his gun. “It’s me.”
“Nate?”
Luna stepped from the door; the barrel of the gun swung toward him.
“Don’t shoot!” he yelled. He shot his hands in the air.
Without any light, Nate couldn’t tell if she understood him or not. And the gun was pointed directly at him.
“What are you doing here?”
“Can you point that somewhere else, please.”
She lowered the weapon.
“Shit.”
“Nate?”
“Give me a second.” He needed the adrenaline in his veins to catch up and his heart rate to slow down. He grabbed the flashlight with one hand, his gun with the other.
“You scared the hell out of me,” Luna scolded him.
“That makes two of us.” He stood and pointed the flashlight toward her.
She shielded her eyes.
Nate lowered it once again. “Ash called me. Asked me to come over and check on you.”
“What?”
Nate stood and brushed the snow off his knees. “You weren’t answering your phone.”
“For crying out loud. I turned it off. It’s almost out of charge. The power’s been out all day.”
Luna stood there in a bathrobe and slippers, holding a shotgun. It would have been comical if Nate’s life hadn’t just flashed in front of his eyes. He tucked his gun back into his waistband holster, the cold metal gave him a jolt.
“Come in,” Luna said as she headed back inside.
He set the flashlight on the kitchen island and pointed it up toward the ceiling.
“I can’t believe Ash called you.” Luna set the shotgun next to the flashlight.
“I forgot you had that,” Nate said.
Luna stood close enough that he saw that her face had turned white. “I could have shot you.”
“I’m aware.”
“I’m going to kill my brother.”
“He said the cameras went out before the alarm system went offline. He called Miley and your sister. I was his last resort.”
Luna started to laugh. Slowly at first but then the laughter grew.
Nate felt a smile hit his face and then he joined her.
“It’s not funny.” But she kept laughing.
“I’m pretty sure I shit myself.”
That made her laugh harder. Luna placed a hand on his arm. “The look on your face.”
“I couldn’t see yours.” He kept laughing. “Thanks for not shooting me.”
Luna dropped her forehead to his chest as she gained control of her laughter.
Nate felt the moment Luna’s adrenaline dropped.
Her knees buckled and Nate caught her before she could crumple to the floor. “Oh, God.”
“It’s okay.”
She was shaking now, the laughter forgotten. “I could have killed you.”
His arms tightened around her. “But you didn’t.”
Nate felt her fist grab at his jacket and her face flatten against his chest.
He closed his eyes and held her close. “It’s okay.”
Slowly, one breath at a time, Luna came back to herself.
He’d had that moment more than once in his career. Pulling his gun, finger on the trigger. One split second and it all could have ended tragically.
Nate waited for her to draw away before loosening his grip.
Luna looked up at him. He saw moisture in her eyes.
He placed a hand to the side of her cheek. “I’m okay.”
Her gaze drifted over his face, hesitated on his lips.
Without thought, his eyes fell on hers. Soft, pink . . . slightly parted. What would she taste like, he wondered. Sweet like honey, or spicy like the rim of a glass of a jalapeno margarita?
The meow of Luna’s cat snapped them both out of the moment.
Nate dropped his hand and Luna leaned back.
She glanced at the gun lying on the counter. “I want that thing out of my house.”
“If I were an intruder, that could have saved your life.”
“I don’t care. I’ll take my chances,” she said.
He’d argue the point another day. Now was not the time. “Wait, did you call the police?” Nate asked.
“No. My phone is upstairs.”
Smart, he mused. “Here.” He removed his phone from his back pocket and handed it over. “Call your brother.”
She took the phone from his hand and walked away.
Nate grabbed the flashlight and took a step.
Midnight stood under his feet, meowed, and peered up at him. “Great timing,” he whispered.
The cat put a paw on his leg.
He reached down and picked her up and followed Luna.
“Really, Ash? The power has been out for hours . . . Yes, I’m all right.”
Luna walked into a dark hall, and Nate moved toward the soft glow of the fireplace in the family room.
He put the cat down and peeled off his coat.
Luna’s side of the conversation was impossible to miss.
And she wasn’t happy. “I could have shot him. No. That’s not the point.”
Nate leaned down and put another log on the fire and used the poker to set it right.
He looked over at the sofa, the one he’d slept on, to see that Luna had set herself up to sleep there for the night.
“Then you can call them and let them know that you’re a paranoid psychopath and that I’m fine.”
Poor Ash, Nate thought. The man was more protective than the father of a teenage daughter on her first date.
Nate took a seat on the smaller sofa. His gun reminded him that it was there, so he pulled it out and set it on the side table.
Luna’s voice had softened. “I know. None of that was your fault.”
Nate stopped moving when he heard what she said.
“Well, I’m fine, so you can stop thinking like that.”
Midnight jumped up next to him and nudged his hand with her face.
Nate responded by rubbing his fingers to the side of Midnight’s neck and under her chin.
Luna had either moved farther away or she’d lowered her voice enough that Nate couldn’t hear.
It wasn’t long before the soft shuffle of her slippered feet walked his way.
“Is everything worked out?” he asked.
By now the fire was roaring enough that he could see all but the dark edges of the room.
Luna curled her feet under her on her makeshift bed.
“I know he means well, but he needs more distractions in his life so he can stop stressing about me.” Luna set Nate’s phone beside her and pulled a blanket onto her lap.
“Being a motorcycle cop isn’t enough I suppose.”
“It’s only made him worse,” Luna told him. “Seeing the aftermath of violent crimes has increased his ‘wellness’ checks on me tenfold. He feels guilty and he has no reason to.”
“Guilty? Because of your ex?”
She nodded. “And other things. He used to extend this paranoia onto Harper, until he realized that Jerry wasn’t even the primary spider killer in the house.”
Nate looked down in his lap, where Midnight had curled up and was nodding off to sleep. “Isn’t that your job?” Nate asked the cat.
“Since when do you flirt with guys?” Luna directed her question to her pet.
Midnight sighed in response.
“Animals are pretty good judges of character.”
“Boosting your own ego?” Luna asked, smiling.
“You’re the one that said she doesn’t like boys.”
Luna laughed. “True.”
He nodded toward the sofa. “Wouldn’t it be more comfortable in a bed?”
“It’s pretty cold up there already and it’s supposed to snow all night. I’ll deal with a stiff sofa for the heat of the fireplace.”
Nate found himself getting lost in the images of the flames lapping onto each other. “That’s the nice thing about these old houses. They still have wood-burning fireplaces.” Nate paused. “Wait, don’t you have a fireplace in your bedroom?”
Luna winced. “There’s something wrong with the ventilation and it blows back smoke. It’s on my list of home repairs. Maybe this summer.”
“That’s too bad.”
Luna stared into the flames. “I tried getting ahold of the power company to see how long this was going to last. I never got through. Did you see any down lines on your way over?”
“No. It’s pretty quiet out there. Not a lot of people on the road,” he told her.
“Where did you park your car?”
“Bottom of your driveway. It’s covered in black ice. I had a hard time walking up.”
Luna’s jaw dropped. “Not only could I have shot you, you could have gotten into an accident on the way over.”
“And a meteor could have fallen from the sky and hit me on the head. I see where Ash gets his overactive imagination.”
“Point taken,” she muttered.
“I should probably get going before it gets too much worse out there.” Nate nudged the cat in an attempt to move her without making her upset.
Midnight ignored him.
“Are you sure that’s wise? They don’t call it Queen Anne Hill for nothing.”
“I’ll be fine.” Besides, staying would be tempting.
She would be tempting.
Much to Midnight’s disappointment, Nate picked her up and moved her to the side.
Luna stood with him, handed him back his phone.
Together they walked through the kitchen and to the back door.
Wind rattled the windows, and the cool air of a drafty house put a chill down his spine. “Do you have enough firewood?” he asked.
“Absolutely. There’s a small shed to the side of the garage that keeps it dry. Ish. Dry-ish.”
“Do you want me to bring some in before I leave?” he asked.
“I brought in plenty before it got dark.”
Nate slipped into his jacket and opened the door.
Wind pushed against him, and snow started blowing in. Something outside had shifted, and the casual snowfall had decided to look and feel like a blizzard.
Seattle didn’t have blizzards.
Seattle barely had snow.
He swung the flashlight to see what he was in for.
The footprints from where they’d both been standing barely thirty minutes before were completely covered.
Snow that had been difficult to see through coming over had doubled in amount and the size of flakes.
“Oh,” he uttered.
Luna moved to his side to take in his view. “I’m not okay with this,” she said.
“I’ll be f—”
Luna stepped in front of him, pushed him back, and reached for the doorknob. “You’ll be fine because you’re not going anywhere,” she said.
“Are you channeling your brother?”
“A little. But I know that’s a problem.” She pointed outside.
“Ash only thinks there’s a problem and acts on it.
It’s bad enough I almost shot you. If you died on the way home, I’d never be able to live with myself.
If you left, I wouldn’t get an ounce of sleep.
It’s not like you can call me and let me know you made it safely.
Sure, I could turn my phone on and check my messages, but if you didn’t call, then I’d use Miley’s car and try and find you, and then—”
“I get it,” he said, stopping her. Luna was right. The drive over had been sketchy as fuck. “I’ll stay.”
“Good. Glad that’s settled.” She marched past him.
Bulky bathrobes weren’t normally a turn-on . . . however.