10. Gray
GRAY
I was out the door in sixty seconds. The Hemingway I’d been reading sat abandoned on my armchair, its pages fanned open to a story I’d not be finishing tonight. I locked my apartment and took the stairs two at a time to the street where my truck was parked.
The drive to Bonnie’s house took fifteen minutes. It would have taken longer if I’d followed the speed limit, which I didn’t.
She was standing on the front porch when I pulled into the driveway. The porch light was on behind her, and in its glow, she looked smaller than usual. Her braid was half undone, and loose strands framed her face. She walked to my truck and climbed into the passenger seat without a word.
My owl registered her presence with an awareness that settled in my chest like a second heartbeat.
“Tell me where to go,” I said. “I kept an eye out on my way here, but didn’t spot anyone walking.”
“He’s probably at Darren’s place. It’s on the east side of town,” she said.
I pulled out of the driveway and headed in that direction. The streets were empty at this hour. Driftwood Cove at one in the morning looked like a town that had been put to sleep, and the two of us were the only ones still moving through it.
“What happened?” I asked, hoping she didn’t mind.
“He wasn’t home when I got back from the library. I went to check this app I’ve been using to track his phone, but realized it was in his room. Don’t judge me for tracking him.”
“I’m not.”
“Thanks.” She swallowed hard. “I had no idea where he was. He walked in around twelve thirty. He was pissed already, and there was something in his backpack. It sounded heavy and maybe metal. When I tried to see what it was, he grabbed it and wouldn’t let me look.
Everything blew up even more from there. ”
“What do you think was in the bag?”
“I don’t know. Tools, maybe. Or something he took from somewhere. He got really defensive about it.”
The implication hung in the air between us. Whatever Lawson was doing with Darren and Cade, it had moved past hanging out and smoking weed.
“He told me they’re more family than I am,” she said with a scoff. “How am I supposed to compete with that?”
“You’re not competing. You’re his sister.”
“He doesn’t want a sister. He wants someone who didn’t abandon him, and I can’t undo anything from the past.” Her voice cracked. “I’m losing him, Gray. I can feel it. Every day he pulls a little further away, and I don’t know how to stop it.”
My right hand left the steering wheel and found hers in the dark. I didn’t plan it. Didn’t even think about it. My hand just moved the way my owl moved when something mattered—without hesitation or second-guessing.
Her fingers were cold. The second our skin touched, something jolted through me—sharp and warm, like a current running from her hand straight into my chest. My owl went completely still.
She stiffened.
I knew it was because she’d felt it too. I could tell by the way her breath caught.
For a second, I thought she’d pull away. Then her hand turned under mine, and her fingers slid between mine.
Darren’s place was dark when we got there. There were no lights on and no car in the driveway.
“He’s not here,” Bonnie said.
“Where else would he go?”
“I don’t know.” Her voice shook. “I don’t even know where Cade lives. He could be anywhere. I guess take me home. I’ll have to wait until he comes back.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.” She smoothed a hand over her forehead. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have called you.”
“I’m glad you did,” I said, meaning it.
I turned around and we drove back through town. As I drove, I took it slow, checking parking lots and the spaces between buildings while my owl strained for any sign of movement.
We were near the docks when I saw it.
At the far end, past the last row of fishing boats, a pickup truck was backed up close to the water with its tailgate down. A utility lamp sat in the truck bed, casting a harsh yellow glow across the dock.
Nobody had any business down there at almost two in the morning.
“Gray,” Bonnie said, and I knew she’d seen it too.
I killed the headlights and pulled over, out of their line of sight.
Three figures moved around the truck. Two I recognized even at a distance, and my owl went rigid.
Darren stood off to the side with his arms crossed, watching the other two.
He had the posture of a man overseeing an operation he’d done a hundred times.
Cade was the second figure. He was hauling something from one of the boats—equipment, it looked like—and passing it off to be loaded into the truck bed.
The third figure was smaller. Thinner. He moved in sync with Cade, but whatever he was carrying looked too heavy for him.
That had to be Lawson.
Bonnie’s hand tightened on mine so hard I felt her nails bite into my skin.
“Oh God,” she whispered. “That’s him.”
We sat in the dark and watched.
Lawson carried what looked like a marine radio to the truck and set it in the bed with the rest. There was already a pile of stuff back there.
From here, it looked like coils of copper wire, some tools, and electronics stripped from the boats.
Cade said something to him, and Lawson nodded and jogged back toward the slip for another load.
The way he moved made it seem as though he’d done this before.
This wasn’t sneaking out. It wasn’t rebellion or teenage stupidity either.
It was straight-up theft.
He was helping Darren and Cade strip boats at the docks while the town slept. My owl shrieked with a fury I hadn’t felt in years. Every predatory instinct I had locked onto Darren and his brother with a cold, calculated focus.
Fucking vultures.
“How long has he been doing this?” Bonnie whispered.
She wasn’t really asking me, so I didn’t answer.
“I have to stop him,” she said, reaching for the door handle.
“Wait.” I put my hand on her arm. “Not yet. We need to think about how we handle this first.”
“That’s my brother down there, Gray.”
“I know, but we can’t just rush in blind. Let’s watch for a minute, then we’ll go together, calmly, and get Lawson out.”
She looked at me, her jaw tight.
“Okay,” she said.
She let go of the door handle. I let go of her arm.
And for a long moment, we sat in my truck, watching her fourteen-year-old brother load what had to be stolen goods, given his company, into a truck for a guy who’d somehow or another never face a single consequence for it if they got busted tonight.
My owl settled in with the focus of a predator right before the strike.