Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Kyren
Harlan has been giving me updates while I’ve been hanging out in the park, people watching. There are alphas in this town, just not as many as you’d expect. While I get a couple of sidelong glances, I’m largely ignored.
There are people hanging out and chatting as they have dinner together while they catch up. It appears that it’s normal to pick food up from one of the restaurants in town before walking to the park.
It’s nice out, and I gaze up at the sky as the orange globe makes its way past the horizon. The earlier cloudiness is over now, leaving the world with fiery oranges, golds, and pinks. It’s absolutely gorgeous.
“There’s nothing like a Colorado sunset,” a woman sighs as she walks her dog. Her gaze is also trained at the sky as she smiles.
Her pet sits on the ground beside her, a golden retriever content to allow his owner to admire the sky.
“I’m seeing this,” I murmur, hesitant to break the magic of the sky.
The woman smiles dreamily before continuing on, and I sigh as I look around the park. I’ve heard all kinds of stories from the smoky SUV giving one of the mechanics fits, as well as some type of dirty trivia happening up at Club 21. There’s definitely character in Widows Peak.
“If I was looking for a place to stay, what are my best options?” I ask, leaning toward a couple of seniors battling it out in another game of chess.
It’s been pretty serious, though they’ve been chatting with me here and there between games.
“Well that depends, Kyren,” Ralph states, his eyes moving shrewdly in my direction. “How many of you are there and how long are you planning to stay?”
“Ah, have you heard about the SUV that’s smoking over at Shepherd’s garage?” I ask. “I’m pretty sure it’s mine. I sent my friend in to get the battery checked, as it’s been giving us trouble with the cooler weather, but it may have imploded instead.”
I make sure not to mention how many of us are traveling together, pretending to not have heard the question. Hopefully the guys will let it slide.
“That’s awful,” Ralph says sympathetically.
“You might be here a while then. Tea runs a great bed and breakfast down on Eleanor Street. It’s a gray house with bright blue shutters.
It’s called The Guest House. The food is good, and the sheets are clean.
Go up to the Main Street here, hang a right, and go up the hill till you see Eleanor Street.
It’s about six houses up the road. Tell her Ralph sent you, yeah?
It’ll keep her from grilling ya too much since she’s my cousin. You seem like good people.”
My brows raise at the high praise, and I incline my head in thanks.
“I appreciate your help,” I say. “It’s bad luck that the car is giving us trouble.”
“You could have gotten stuck in the mountains,” Ralph’s opponent, Arnold, states. “Stick around long enough and people will thaw out. If you get Silva in your corner, it may happen sooner.”
“Who’s that?” I ask. I pretend not to know a name that pulled me from miles away on a lead that an omega by that name may be living here.
For all I know, it could be a coincidence, and I tell my excitement to take a back seat to logic. Harlan and Aiden have been looking for her and her twin sister Lexi for a long damn time, and Silva’s name could be popular here.
I figure with a name like hers, she’s probably in her seventies and a crotchety old lady. The guys here seem to think very highly of this woman as well.
I may as well keep my expectations low. We’ve been wrong before, and we’ve hit a lot of dead ends together over the years.
“She runs Club 21, and is just lovely,” Arnold says.
Ralph snorts as if I’m missing something, turning back to take his turn.
“She’s lovely to you because you’re senile, Arnold,” he says.
I can’t help but chuckle as I stand, remembering the name of the club being mentioned earlier.
“I’d head over tonight, but I heard it was ladies night,” I reply.
“Oh yes. You don’t want to go up there now,” Arnold grins. “Martha always comes home with stories from their ladies nights. You couldn’t pay me to interrupt their time.”
“Go on and see her tomorrow,” Ralph says. “Be careful of her cattle prod and don’t piss her off!”
My jaw drops at his words, but the older betas continue with their game as if I’m no longer there.
“Shut your mouth before you catch flies, son,” Ralph grunts.
Okay, so maybe they do know I’m here.
Shutting my mouth the way my elders told me to, I begin my walk to see Tea.
Pulling out my phone, I shoot Isidro a text to see how he’s doing.
I also need him to grab my shit out of the car.
There’s a secret compartment on the SUV for our weapons that’s locked under the false bottom in the truck, so I’m not worried about that.
We just need a couple of days for people to get used to us. Then we can get comfortable and start looking for twin sisters named Silva and Lexi Davenport.
Izzy
I’ll meet you up there. People here will talk about everything and anything if you pretend to be part of the scenery for long enough. I’m hungry. What do you think about burgers? I’ll pick some up on my walk.
Me
Yeah, that’s good. A girl named Silva works at Club 21. Want to go up with me tomorrow for a drink?
Izzy
She owns the bar, Ky. I’m telling you, this is our girl. I’ll go with you tomorrow, scope things out. The place gets busy I hear on Friday nights. It’s more than just a bar. We can hang back, see what she’s like. Her boyfriend is the sheriff.
Me
Well then I look forward to seeing you later so you can tell me about what you found out. See you soon.
Izzy
Over and out.
Me
I’m going to kiss the fuck out of you, tie you up, and then give your ass to Harlan.
Izzy
Daddy, please talk dirty to me. You know I love it.
I can’t stop the smirk that splits my lips as I turn onto Eleanor Street. Isidro always manages to put me into a better mood. It feels like we’re so damn close to what we’ve been chasing.
I can almost taste our victory.
The bed and breakfast is exactly the way Ralph described, and I climb the stairs in hopes Tea will give me two rooms. Sloane and Aiden will share one without a problem, it’s just making sure I can get a large enough bed for Harlan, Izzy, and I.
Opening the door, I walk inside, smiling as I smell chocolate chip cookies being baked.
Unfortunately, there’s no sign of anyone at the little desk underneath the stairs.
Making sure to close the door behind me since the temperature is dropping, I stride over to the desk, looking for clues for what the proper etiquette is moving forward.
I don't want to piss Tea off for being impatient. There aren’t any notes saying she’ll be back, nor is there a bell.
“Hello?” I call out once, content to wait if necessary.
“Just a moment!” a woman calls out.
I nod as if she can see me, leaning against the wall to wait.
“Take your time,” I reply so she can hear me.
I look around, taking in the cuckoo clock marking the passage of time, the simple lighting that’s soft and warm for the comfort of omegas, and the stained glass window behind the desk. It’s eclectic and beautiful.
“Why hello dear,” a woman with brilliant red hair says, walking quickly from another room. There are laugh lines and wrinkles on her face that tell the story of her life, and she’s wearing a black flower printed skirt with a red shirt.
“Please don’t hurry for me,” I say. “I’m having car trouble, and it looks like I’ll be in town for a while. Ralph suggested I stay here. I’d need two rooms if possible?”
I’m feeling out her reaction as I push off the wall to face her, and her eyes react in a way I don’t understand. It’s almost calculating, which is an odd thing when she looks like someone’s grandmother. On the other hand, if she wanted to keep an eye on us, this would be the best way to do that.
That’s not to say the five of us aren’t adept at sneaking around when we need to. As long as the window isn’t too small or nailed shut, we’ll gladly make that our new way in and out of here.
Which is why I merely smile at her, pretending not to know what she’s about.
“Just two rooms?” she asks.
“Yes please. If one of the rooms could have a larger bed, that would be wonderful. I like to cuddle,” I tell her, grinning. “Are you Tea?”
“I’m so sorry. That was rude of me. Yes, I am. Ralph is my cousin. I own The Guest House,” she says. “I have two rooms on the third floor that should work. I hardly ever rent them out because they’re so drafty.”
She’s fucking with me. I shrug as if it doesn't matter to me.
“Alphas make great body heat,” I reply, seemingly unbothered.
“Oh, well then,” she says, blinking at me.
I have a feeling I know what she’s seeing, and it’s hard to seem completely unassuming when I’m built for illegal tasks. I can do a damn good impression of the boy next door, though, and that’s what I’m going for as I smile back at her.
My red hair is artfully styled to appear as if I just rolled out of bed, and my sage green eyes always appear as if I’m about to get into trouble at any moment.
Paired with my sweater and jeans, I look like anyone else coming off the street.
We do our best to meld into the background while we’re working.
It just so happens that I can also be charming as fuck when I want to be.
I’ve never really been interested in women. They keep secrets, and make everything so damn complicated. I’m here on a mission to get in and out. I’m intrigued by the omegas that have been haunting the brothers on my team, but that’s more so because we’ve been looking for so long.
“I have cookies laid out in the next room that you’re welcome to, and breakfast happens family style in the dining room. It’s through the room I just came out of. I have a no smoking rule, and I’m very strict about it,” Tea continues.
“That won’t be a problem,” I promise.
Izzy likes a cigar on occasion, but he won’t smoke here. He needs to be very relaxed and partially drunk to be in the mood, and this isn’t the right environment for him to let loose. Hopefully soon, I’ll be able to take a vacation with my pack where he can go off his medication.
We all know what it’s like to sacrifice things for the job, and Izzy gives up his instincts for this every day.
“Alright then,” Tea says, pulling out two old fashioned keys. “Room twelve has the biggest bed, and there’s an outer bathroom that’s shared in the hallway.”
Well, it kind of sucks that we have to share a bathroom, but we’ll make do.
“Sounds good,” I say instead, tamping down the grumbling in my mind.
“We’ll do a trial for five days and then go from there,” she adds.
“I lock up the doors at eleven, but the back door has a key you can take to come and go. That’s everything I can think of.
Sheets are on the beds, towels are in the rooms, and I go in to clean daily.
Unless, of course, you’d rather do it yourself.
On the fifth day, I will insist on cleaning in case you decide to extend your stay so I can freshen everything up. ”
None of us are generally messy, but new sheets are helpful.
“Thank you.” I take the keys from her with a smile and glance at the stairs. “Would you like to have my card to charge it for the first five days?”
“No, no. We’ll do it weekly,” she says. “Have a good night and welcome to Widows Peak.”
“You as well,” I say, making the climb to the third floor.
There’s not a speck of dust anywhere, and there are knickknacks everywhere as I walk. I don’t see a soul as I make it to the third floor either. All of the doors are closed, which means that the guests could be here or still out in town.
Unlocking both rooms, I check them from top to bottom, finding that Room twelve is bigger. It also has a large bed. That’ll make things easier for us tonight. Walking over to the bathroom, I make a small sound of dismay as I see how fucking small the shower is.
There will not be any shower fucking here. Fuck, I think I’ll be getting lots of bruises contorting to wash my body.
Shutting Aiden and Sloane’s bedroom, I enter the one I’ll share with my pack and close the door with a sigh. There’s what I hope is a comfortable sofa in the corner of the room, and I walk over and collapse into it.
“Oh yeah,” I groan, getting comfortable. I just need a nap before everyone gets here.
Me
We have rooms eleven and twelve. Everything is miniature sized, Izzy. Taking a shower will take contortion and possibly lube.
Izzy sends me a gif of a drenched donut, making me snort in amusement.
Me
I’m going to shut my eyes until you get here. Come on up. The door isn’t locked.
Izzy
Lock the fucking door, Ky. Then take your nap. The last thing I need is for you to shoot someone because they surprised you.
“Goddamn it,” I groan, doing what he demands because he’s right. I have a twitchy trigger finger when I’m startled.
I’m working on it, okay?
Stomping back to the couch, I resume my horizontal position and close my eyes. Night night, Widows Peak. It doesn’t matter that my first night here has been lukewarm at best. I’m going to fucking win you over.