Chapter 21
TWENTY-ONE
Two months later
Elias watched as April’s son, Kevin dashed around like a mini-tornado, weaving through a sea of adults gathered at Gina and Lachlan’s housewarming party. Poor April was run ragged chasing after him, tossing out apology after apology as guests lifted their drinks and dodged out of the way. No one was upset about it—Kevin was a cute kid, just rambunctious—but that didn’t seem to matter to April, judging by the mortified expression on her face.
“Kevin, stop running!” she pleaded.
“I’m looking for Shane so we can play with the dogs!” he yelled back as he whizzed past Gina.
“Hold this for me, please.” Wren handed him her virgin Bloody Mary. She was working with Chase later so she wasn’t drinking. Another house through the trees a few acres away was about to go on the market and Chase was the sellers’ agent. He’d become the neighborhood’s unofficial Realtor after Gina and Lach paid cash for the house near Bear and Ellie’s place.
Wren cupped her hands around her mouth. “Hey, Kevin!” she shouted. “Come here, I want to show you something.”
Kevin barely acknowledged her.
“I guess you don’t want to see my drone.”
He skidded to a stop and whipped around, then charged straight at her.
“Incoming.” Elias quickly set the drinks aside and caught Kevin right before he barreled into Wren, sweeping him up in an arc over his head while making airplane sounds. Kevin stuck his arms out to the side, laughing as he ‘flew’ through the air.
I want a son. Or a daughter. I want kids . The thought had been popping up so often lately that it didn’t freak him out anymore. Now he just needed to bring it up with Wren and see where she was at.
Elias set Kevin down, but before letting go of him, he said, “Okay, if you want to see the drone, you have to sit crisscross applesauce on the grass.”
“As soon as you’re sitting I’ll run to my car and get the drone,” Wren added. “But you have to still be sitting when I get back. Think you can do that?”
Kevin nodded like a bobblehead.
“Okay, start counting and see how fast I can go.” Wren crouched like she was on the starting line. “And…go!” She took off sprinting and Kevin started counting. In the meantime, April jogged over.
“You and Wren don’t have to watch my kid,” she told Elias.
“No, it’s no problem. Go grab a drink or a burger. We’ve got him.”
Wren came running back, carrying the drone case.
“Are you really going to show him that?” April asked her.
“Yup, I said I would.”
April dropped down beside Kevin. “I’ll just?—”
“No.” Wren waved April off. “Go take a break. Enjoy some adult time. We’ve got him.”
April looked close to panicking. “All right, Kevin, you listen to every word Wren says. Do not touch the drone. Do not touch the landing pad. Don’t touch anything. As a matter of fact, sit on your hands.”
“April, it’s okay, I promise,” Wren said gently as she set the case on the ground and sat cross-legged. “He won’t break anything, and my drone’s insured anyway. Besides, it’s really pretty tough.”
“Mom,” Kevin said. “I won’t break it. Promise.”
“See? You have his word. He won’t break it.” Wren pointed toward a table across the yard where a bunch of their friends were talking and drinking wine. “Now, take a break and go have some fun for once.”
“Okay, fine.” April stood up. “But your next five lattes are on me.”
“Just vamoose.” Smiling, she waved April off.
“Vamoose, Mom!” Kevin laughed and threw his head back like a howling wolf. “Vamooooose!”
April put her hands on top of her head, fingers spread across her scalp as she walked away. “You’ve been warned.”
“All right, Kev.” Wren opened the drone case. She took out a controller and popped her phone into it. “This is how we control the drone. We can see what the drone sees with this app right here on my phone, see?”
Wren took the launch pad out and spread it on the ground. Then she picked up the drone and unfolded it. She pointed out all the parts one by one and what they did.
Elias watched her sitting cross-legged on the grass, talking to Kevin like he was a little adult. The boy hung every word.
She’s so good with kids . He smiled and took another sip.
Doesn’t automatically mean she wants them though . He frowned.
Over the past two months as he’d gotten to know her better, the more he learned, the harder he fell in love. But the one thing they hadn’t discussed was starting a family. It never seemed to come up in conversation.
“And this is my favorite part on the whole entire drone,” Wren said. “The camera.”
Kevin had sat spellbound and silent the entire time she spoke. A miracle.
“What makes the drone go?” he asked.
“It’s got a battery. See, here’s an extra one.” She took a battery out of the case and handed it to him. He turned it carefully in his hands and Wren grinned.
“What happens if the battery dies when it’s way up in the air? Does it crash?”
“Nope. But that’s a great question.” She picked up her controller and tapped her phone screen. “See these numbers here? These are called coordinates. That tells the drone where it is and where it needs to go. Every little spot on earth has coordinates. Let’s see where we are right now.” She did something with her controller. “There. Those are our coordinates.” She pointed at the screen.
“So to answer your question, I can program in emergency coordinates, and if for some reason the drone loses touch with the controller and the battery is close to dying, the drone knows to stop what it’s doing and fly right to this spot where it can make a safe landing, and I know right where it is so I don’t lose it. Here, I’ll show you.”
Kevin’s eyes lit up. He squirmed, but he stayed sitting, as promised.
Instead of standing, Wren kept sitting next to him as she readied the drone. She set it on the launch pad, worked the controller, and it lifted thirty feet straight up, catching everyone’s attention. Wren circled it around the house.
“Now, pretend the battery’s about to die,” she told Kevin. “It would do this, but without me doing anything.” She tapped the screen, then set her phone aside. The drone stopped circling and started beeping as it changed direction and headed straight for the landing pad.
Wren held up her hands. “Look, no hands.” Kevin laughed.
The drone made a perfect landing and everyone clapped, Kevin loudest of all. Wren stood and took a bow.
“Kevin,” April called. “Tell Wren thank you and come get a burger.”
“Thank you!” He jumped up and zoom . Off he went like a hummingbird.
“Thank you,” April shouted to Wren. She looked much more relaxed.
Wren picked her controller up and looked at her phone.
“Whoops. I lost track of time. I’ve got to hurry if I don’t want to be late for the shoot. At least it’s close by.” She stooped and picked up her drone, then packed everything up.
“Let me carry the case for you, Scrubs,” Elias said. She gave him a big smile every time he used her new nickname, so he used it often.
“I will let you do that, Lion, over. Did I do it right this time?”
“Close enough for guv’ment work,” he joked as he picked up her case.
They headed for her car. They’d driven up separately so that she could go to work, then come back to the party when she was done.
“Chase will probably stop by too when we’re done. At least I’m going to try and talk him into it,” Wren said. “Oh, and I have his wedding invitation on the dash since I knew I’d see him anyway.” She looked back over her shoulder at the party. “Don’t know why I bothered buying and sending wedding invitations when pretty much everyone we invited is here. I could have just stood on a chair and made a general announcement.”
She pretended to yell, “Hey, everybody, wedding in two weeks. Ellie and Bear’s place because they insisted it’s the wedding spot. Be there or be square.” She shook her head. “We could have saved a bundle if I’d only sent them out to my old colleagues, a couple college friends, all the parents and step-parents. Barbie already knows because duh, she’s my maid of honor. And, let’s see.” She pursed her lips and looked up at the sky, thinking. “Yup, that’s everybody.”
“Oh, don’t give me that,” Elias teased. “You loved hand-addressing every single envelope.” They reached her car. “Besides,” he set the case down and took her in his arms, “you only get to do it once.”
She gave him her warmest smile. “Very true. By the way, do you know what today is?”
“Well, let’s see.” He pretended to think about it. “I believe that on this day three months ago, I was… What was I doing?”
“Keep thinking. It’ll come to you.”
“Oh, right. I was de-quilling a porcupine.”
“Yeah, something like that.”
“A mostly naked porcupine, if I recall.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re still a pervert.”
“Happy anniversary.” Elias tangled his hands in her hair and kissed her lips. He kissed the sensitive spot on her neck below her ear.
Sweet peaches and salt .
He pressed his forehead against hers. “Hurry back, Scrubs.”
“Why? So we can leave early and celebrate our anniversary alone?”
“You read my mind.”
“I love the way you think.”
“I love you .”
She kissed him one more time and got in the car while he stowed her drone in the trunk. He closed the trunk, banged on the top twice, and waved as she drove away.
“You look good, brother,” Waylon told Elias back at the party.
“I feel good, brother.” They clinked beer bottles and drank. “You buy that tux yet? Wedding’s only two weeks away.”
“Still hoping Scrubs is gonna steal one for me.”
Elias smirked. “She’s out of that game, so I guess my best man’s gonna show up in his underwear.”
“Naw, you’re in luck. I’m renting the same damn tux I wore to the last wedding.”
“Telling you. If you buy it, you’ll save money.” Elias nodded at the scene across the lawn. A pack of dogs made up of pets—including a very happy Chuck and Penny—and working dogs from Watchdog, were taking turns doing tricks for Shane while guests clapped and cheered then returned to their conversations.
No surprise, the most enthusiastic audience member was Kevin.
Shane gestured to the kid, who came tearing up to him. Shane crouched down, told Kevin something while he pointed at the dogs, then handed him a dog treat.
Kevin shouted, “Peetie,” and Shane’s working dog broke from the pack and trotted up to Kevin. The boy told him to sit, then he balanced the treat on Pete’s nose. He shouted another command, and Pete flipped the treat high into the air and caught it in his mouth.
Kevin lost it. He clapped and shouted and jumped up and down while Shane practically glowed with pride, watching the boy. Then he turned in time to see April walking up to him.
“See?” Elias said. “There’s your next wedding.”
Watching April, Shane glowed brighter.
Until April walked right past him to Kevin.
“We need to go now,” she said flatly.
“Mom, no! I was just getting started.”
“ Now , Kevin.”
He stamped his foot. “No!” Tears ran down his cheeks.
Guests murmured then pretended nothing was happening.
“Kevin, listen to your mom, buddy,” Shane said, dropping down to the boy’s level. “I can teach you more tricks at the wedding reception, but not unless you do what she says, and do it with respect. Not because I’m trying to punish you. But because good dog trainers know how to control themselves first, or no dog will ever listen to them.”
Kevin wiped his arm across his face and sniffled. He looked from Shane to April as he gave Pete a scratch behind the ears.
“Okay,” he said. He turned and gave Pete a kiss on the head. “Ready.”
“Then go to the car, please,” April said calmly.
Kevin ran toward the line of cars parked along the quiet road. It looked to Elias like their ride was parked damn near halfway to the house where Wren was.
Shane straightened. “April,” he began.
“ Goodbye , Shane.” She stormed off after her son, leaving Shane to watch her retreating figure.
Waylon looked at Elias. “You were saying something about buying a tux?”
Elias shook his head. “Okay, maybe not the next wedding. Give it time, that’s all I’m sayin’.”
They sipped their beers.
“I listened to Kyla Lewis Dean interview Wren about medical bills and bankruptcy on that Up She Rises podcast,” Waylon said. “Saw her photo essay that went along with the story, too. Man, she’s got talent. Those photos.” Waylon shook his head. “Heartbreaking.”
“The good part though, is that the lenders are now under investigation, too. Those people are gonna get their money back, one way or another.”
“Are Gina’s friends one of those ways?” Waylon asked.
Elias nodded. “Sure are.”
Waylon paused, then said, “Wren looked happy today.”
“Yup.”
“She doing all right?
“Yeah. She’s distracting herself from the trial with the wedding plans.”
“Think she’s gonna have to testify against Weisser in person next week?”
Elias shook his head. “They’re still saying she doesn’t, that her written statement’s good enough. They aren’t even releasing her real name. And she recorded the whole confession anyway.”
Waylon raised his eyebrows. “It’s admissible?”
Elias chuckled. “The one in his home office for sure. She told Weisser he was being recorded and he didn’t get it. We’ll see about the first meeting they had at Milestone. Plenty of evidence to convict him though, just from that second meeting. She left the recordings at the crime scene for the police to pick up, so the chain of custody’s preserved.”
Plus, she never did like those damn shoes .
“They’re trying to get him for attempted rape, too. Gina saw him slip something into her glass as he was pouring the champagne. It tested positive for one of those fucking date rape drugs.”
“Fucking hell. So maybe justice will be served, for once,” Waylon said.
Elias didn’t say anything, just took another swig of beer. It looked bad for Weisser, who was shouting from the rooftops about how he was framed. Nobody was buying that. He was looking at significant prison time.
Then again, Elias had seen bad men walk free too many times to have unshakable faith that Weisser would be convicted. The son of a bitch might see time, but then again, he had the money to hire an expensive lawyer who was doing everything imaginable to twist the law. The lawyer managed to convince the court that Weisser was not a flight risk or a danger to anyone, so he was under house arrest instead of rotting in a cell.
As for Senator Robbins, Gina’s friends told her what was going down and she passed the news along to Elias and Wren.
Robbins got a better deal than Weisser—withdraw his support from the proposed bills and table them, pretending to be shocked and appalled at how they could be abused, or be exposed and face charges for accepting numerous bribes, among other things.
Guess who tabled the bills?
“Only one of the many reasons why I’m happy to be mostly retired,” Gina had commented. “Too many politicians get off scot-free.”
Kevin’s shouts coming from the direction of the parked cars took Elias out of his thoughts. They turned to see the boy running full tilt back toward the party, a huge smile on his face. His red-faced mother was trying to catch up to him.
“Oh Lord. Poor April,” Waylon said.
“It’s Wren’s drone! I saw it! I saw it!”
Elias grinned as he shook his head. “Kid’s as crazy about that thing as he is about dogs, man.”
“It’s coming this way!”
Elias frowned. “You mean it’s circling, right?” He twirled his finger. “Overhead?”
“Nuh-uh!” Kevin skidded to a halt on the grass where Wren had demonstrated flying the drone less than an hour before. He bent over, hands braced just above his knees, trying to catch his breath. “It’s going straight. It’s gonna land here. I wanna see it.”
This isn’t right . He pulled out his phone to call Wren.
Waylon caught his brother’s unease. “What’s happening? Why’d she send it back here?”
Elias held up a finger as her phone rang.
“Hello!”
“Wren, what’s?—”
“Thanks for calling Wren Stapleton Photography. I’m busy on a shoot right now but if you’ll leave your name and number I’ll get right back to you. Have a picture-perfect day!”
It doesn’t mean anything. She always sends calls straight to voicemail when she’s working .
His fingers flew as he texted her to call or text him back ASAP.
He heard the drone before he saw it. Elias scanned the sky in the direction of the other house and spotted a little black dot growing bigger.
“Elias, what is it?”
“Kevin’s right. It’s coming in for a landing here. Just like it’s supposed to if the battery runs low and the pilot doesn’t bring it in, which Wren would do. Or if it loses contact with the controller.”
He looked at Waylon. “Code six, brother.”
“Fuck. I’ll get the others. Go! Go!” Waylon pulled out his phone as he started toward the back patio and the majority of the guests.
Elias ran toward his truck. He passed Kevin, then April as she caught up. He thought she called his name.
But all he could think was how as kids he and his brothers had come up with their own secret codes, ones that they still used to this day.
Code six. Eminent danger. Come at once .