Chapter 23 Phoenix
PHOENIX
I’d just stepped off the bottom of Rose’s driveway when two headlights cut through the darkness. I glanced up the hill where her house was barely visible through the rain, then back at the lights.
The truck slowed, the window rolled down. Not one to miss much, my younger brother, Gunner narrowed his eyes.
“What’d you do to your hand?”
I glanced at the blood dripping off my fingertips.
“Fell into a tree.”
He propped his tattooed elbow on the windowsill.
He didn’t ask if I was okay. That wasn’t his style.
Gunner was the wallflower of the family, the black sheep.
Soft-spoken, although you’d lose a tooth for comparing him to anything soft.
He was never the life of the party, never the leader of the pack, but he was the type of guy that when he spoke, the world stopped and everyone listened.
Not a single person challenged Gunner Steele and got away with it.
While I was in the hospital, Gunner had taken my place at the helm and ran the family business and took care of our younger brothers.
He did it, did it well, even though I knew he’d hated every second of it. Gunner was the guy you could count on.
Like I was then.
He grabbed a bag from the backseat, thrust it out the window. “Your ride’s in the back.”
I glanced at the small trailer attached to the truck. A black snout and black hair to match poked out the side.
“Got a blanket on her?”
“Yep.”
I flung the backpack over my shoulder. “Everything in there?”
“Everything you just texted me. Plus tacos and a fifth of Jack.”
The corner of my lip curled up. Yep, you could always count on Gunner Steele.
“Heard about Andrew from the morgue,” He said.
“Word’s out already, huh?”
“Oh yeah. It was all the talk at the liquor store. Bad?”
“Bad.”
He nodded and looked away. We’d seen some bad things in our day, most of which still visited us in our deepest, darkest sleep. When we allowed ourselves to sleep, anyway.
“I need a favor.” I said.
“Besides this?”
“Yep.”
“I need you to determine Josh Davis’s whereabouts last night.”
His eyes narrowed, but true to form, he didn’t ask. “Will do.”
“Also, have Wolf pull a list of current clients at Kline and Associates and then compare that list to criminal records.”
Wolf Blackwood, our head of security at Steele Shadows was known as much for his genius-level IQ as his ability to hack into secure systems. My personal favorite thing about him.
“Also, have him compile another list of every retailer in the area that sells mini spy cams. Give that list to Jagg and have him talk to the owners. Try to get the names of everyone in the area who purchased one recently.”
“Done.”
“One more thing. Tell Jagg to stay close to Andrew’s case and to keep me up to date.”
“Will do. Need anything else?”
“Not right now.”
“Alright, bro.” His gaze flickered to the cabin on the hill.
He didn’t ask what I was doing there, or who she was.
Not because he didn’t care, but because I had no doubt he already knew.
He’d probably had Wolf pull everything on the homeowner as soon as I texted him the address.
Gunner very likely knew more about Rose than I did at that point.
We were protective of each other. Always had been.
Gunner helped me pull Spirit from the trailer then slipped back in the truck. He looked up at the sky. “Gonna get cold.”
“I’ll be alright.”
“Talkin’ about the tacos.”
I grinned, pulling Spirit away from the truck. “Night, bro.”
With a nod, the window rolled up and the truck disappeared down the dirt road.
The wind whistled through the trees as I stroked Spirit’s mane.
“Thanks for coming.”
She snorted.
Gripping her reins, we made our way back up the hill, although this time, I took the woods to avoid being seen. Spirit walked slowly, smoothly beside me. A content partner. Happy to just be.
Taking note of every rock, tree, log, twig, I took mental inventory of Rose’s property, then, journeyed deeper into the woods to do one more perimeter check.
An hour later, I perched myself between two boulders, with Spirit next to a thicket of pines that blocked the wind.
The rain had stopped, but the temperatures had dropped.
I settled in, my eyes locked on Rose’s cabin just past the tree line.
From the spot I’d chosen, I could see her entire house and most of the back yard.
No one was getting into that house tonight.
No one was getting past me.
I fixated on the bedroom window and found myself wishing she’d walk by. Maybe look outside. I wanted to see her. Just see her face once again.
Minutes ticked on, the silence of night settling into the woods.
I pulled the whiskey from the bag and took a swig.
I checked the time; almost ten o’clock.
Another minute slid by, then, like a click of an alarm, my focus shifted behind me. A finely tuned instinct that told me I wasn’t alone.
Seconds faded to minutes as I mentally tracked the person who had set up shop behind a thicket of bushes six yards to my east.
I waited, listening.
A few more minutes passed.
Finally, I sighed, shook my head, and looked down.
Gunner might not have known the full reasons of why I was doing what I was doing, but between Andrew’s murder, the odd request to send me my horse and a bag, and my bloody knuckles, he’d taken it upon himself to be my backup for the evening.
My uninvited spot. I’m sure he knew that I knew he was there.
I’m sure he wasn’t announcing his presence on purpose because he knew I’d drag his ass home.
The Steele brothers were loyal and always had each other’s backs. But I couldn’t help but wonder if it weren’t for my “injury,” if Gunner would’ve been back home. Instead, he was there, in the damn cold, in case I needed something.
In case I couldn’t handle the situation I’d placed myself into.
That cut me deeper than any guilt I’d felt before.
I’d become the burden of all burdens. I was failing my family, my business, myself.
I took a gulp, the amber liquid sliding down my throat with that familiar burn.
What had I turned into?
Who was I?
I was someone who needed to walk away from Dr. Floris. She didn’t need my baggage, and I didn’t need whatever the hell the woman was doing to me.
I decided that after that night, I’d find another therapist, and that would be that—after I made sure Rose made it through the night untouched.
With that plan in place, I grabbed my bag and ripped it open.
I pulled the camouflage tarp, thermal blanket, and pocket warmers from the bag, set them aside.
Pulled out the box of tacos, set them aside.
Then, I grabbed the night vision scope and scanned the windows, then the woods around the cabin as I would do a hundred more times over the course of the night.
Seconds passed and I imagined her sliding into bed.
Wondering what she was thinking.
Wondering if she was thinking about me.
Wondering if she felt like I failed her, too.