22. Ember
TWENTY-TWO
EMBER
I woke up to the sound of shattering glass, followed by the roar of an engine. Panic shot through me, and I heard footsteps on the landing below mine a moment before I wrenched open my own door.
“Stay in your room!” Jack yelled at Darby as he flew past. He disappeared out of sight, and I rushed to follow.
I found him in the living room, staring at a brick on the floor surrounded by broken glass. The big window in the living room was shattered. Someone had thrown a brick through it.
Jack’s head snapped up when the floor creaked under my foot, and he jerked his head toward the stairs. “Go to Darby’s room and wait there until I tell you it’s safe.”
A vein in his temple pulsed. His shoulders were a tense line, and his movements were sharp and efficient.
Now was not the time to argue. I went back upstairs and found Darby creeping down the top steps.
She widened her eyes at me, and I nodded at her room.
Once we were inside, she wrapped her arms around me. We hugged each other for a long moment.
“What happened?”
No sense lying to her. “It looks like someone threw a brick through the living room window.”
Darby was quiet for a beat. “Did Dad go after them?”
“I think he’s making sure they’re gone and it’s safe for us to come out.”
“Oh.”
I looked at the purple pig hanging on the wall above her bed. “The painting looks good.”
She turned to follow my gaze before nodding. “Yeah. I wish I had the eye too.”
“I’m kind of glad you only got the pig. The eye was creepy.”
She smiled, still staring at the painting.
We both turned toward the door when we heard footsteps on the stairs.
Jack knocked a second later and cracked the door.
“They’re gone. My brothers are on the way over.
We’ll check all the cameras outside and see if we’ve got anything.
Darby, you’re going to spend the day with Sadie at Gideon’s apartment above headquarters. ”
Apart from the cottage, Gideon had another residence at the top of the Marswood Security building.
Darby bit her lip, and it looked like she was deciding whether or not to argue. After a moment, she nodded. “Okay.”
Jack seemed to relax a little. His gaze swung to me. “Ember, do you mind helping Darby pack?”
“Sure,” I said. “Should we let Oren know that we won’t make it tonight?” The party at the Blanchard mansion was happening this evening. Judging by the look on Jack’s face, he’d forgotten.
He grimaced as he shook his head. “We can’t afford to upset him. He’s asked for extra security during the party, so I’ll have to be there either way—whether it’s as a guest or on security.”
“And I have to go, because I’m the one who got us the invite,” I said. Jack nodded, not looking happy about it.
I nodded and turned to Darby. “Let’s get your things together.”
“Does someone want to hurt us?”
Jack crossed over to where we stood and put his arms around both of us. Until his palm slid across my shoulders and brought me in against his chest, I hadn’t realized how much I needed it. We stood in a little huddle, leaning on him.
“No one’s going to hurt you,” Jack rumbled. “I promise.”
Darby gulped, and a moment later she nodded and squared her shoulders. “I’ll pack my things.”
Once again, I was struck by her toughness. I looked at Jack and noted the lines around his mouth, the tension at the corners of his eyes. “Go,” I told him. “Do your thing. I’ll take care of Darby.”
His shoulders dropped, and he pressed a kiss to my temple. “Thank you,” he murmured, then ducked out of the room again as another car rumbled outside. Judging by Jack’s calm reaction, I guessed it was one of his brothers.
I turned to face Darby, who had an assessing look on her face. She looked just like her grandmother right now, which was slightly terrifying. “You and my dad like each other,” she said, and the way she said the word “like” had layers of meaning.
Yep—tough and perceptive. Just like I’d thought the very first time I’d met her.
I swallowed, at a loss. Not sure what exactly I was supposed to say to that—Jack and I hadn’t talked about “us” or broached the topic of talking to Darby—I decided to go with the truth: “Yeah.”
She stared at me for another second, then nodded like it was a done deal. Then she turned to her closet. “I’m gonna wear my red jeans today, but I want to bring my sweatpants too.”
We packed her clothes and toiletries, then showered and got ready for the day.
By the time we went downstairs, the room was full of Mars men.
They greeted the two of us, then went right back to work on their computers.
I decided the best way for me to help was to provide enough food to keep their brains running smoothly.
I made a vegetable frittata, a big stack of pancakes, and a packet of bacon, and I listened.
“Single motorcycle,” Jack rumbled.
“There,” said Bennett. “Look at his cut.”
I knew, from the biker gang-related media I’d consumed, that a “cut” was a leather vest with the gang’s insignia on it. The only biker gang around here was…
“A flaming skull,” Knox growled. “The Reapers. We need to talk to that asshole Cash.”
Knox was talking about Cash Bridges. I knew he was a member of the Reapers Motorcycle Club; I’d seen his name come up during my research about Marswood Harbor.
He and his gang had featured prominently in my risk assessment of the town, since they seemed to be the main criminal element in the area.
He was in a couple of articles in local newspapers and on some property and business registration documents.
He seemed to be the leader of the biker gang.
An idea sparked.
Jack swore. “I thought we had a truce.”
“We did,” Gideon said, and I glanced over my shoulder and down the hallway. Gideon stood in profile, a dark look on his face. I couldn’t see any of the other brothers.
The food was ready, so I got Darby to help me bring the platters out to the living room, where the brothers were.
One of them had procured a piece of plywood, which was resting against the wall beside the broken window.
I set my platter of bacon down on the coffee table, and Bennett immediately grabbed a piece, snatched a pancake from Darby’s serving plate, wrapped the bacon in the pancake, and took a bite.
He groaned. “That’s good shit,” he said.
“Swear jar,” Darby informed him.
Bennett groaned, then reached into his back pocket for his wallet and slapped ten dollars into her outstretched palm.
“Thank you,” Knox rumbled as he helped himself to a piece of frittata.
I smiled. “It’s so you don’t go start a biker gang war and get yourselves killed on an empty stomach.”
Jack’s gaze met mine. His jaw tightened. He didn’t think I was very funny.
I looked at the men and straightened. “Alternatively, I could tell you what I learned about the Reapers Motorcycle Club while I was researching Marswood Harbor. It involves a clubhouse on the coast, a new business registration, and an asset that is actually a liability. Fascinating stuff.” I tilted my head. “If you’re into that kind of thing.”
Knox, who had been sitting on my favorite armchair, leaned back. He looked at me with piercing eyes, and it reminded me of the very first time Jack and I had met. Like he was seeing me for the first time. “How did you get this information?”
I shrugged. “I’m very curious and very careful. I did a full risk assessment on the town before I came here.” Jack arched a brow at me, and I couldn’t resist adding, “I also did one on you.”
Of course, he already knew that. But it still made his shoulders ease and the tiniest hint of a smile curl his lips.
I took a deep breath. “Let’s eat, and I’ll tell you what I know.”
Jack tried to forbid me from coming with him to go talk to Cash.
We argued. I won—but he wasn’t happy about it.
He simmered as we piled into three big SUVs and drove away from his house, his hands clenching and releasing on the wheel.
After dropping Darby, Gideon, and Bennett off at the Marswood Security building (I assumed Knox being built like a barn nominated him as our backup, so he stayed), we headed for Rock Bottom, the Reapers’ headquarters.
As we pulled into the parking lot and approached the long row of motorcycles parked in front of the building, my stomach tightened. What was I doing? This wasn’t like me. I didn’t go confront outlaw biker gangs in order to extract information about a local committing a crime spree.
The building was dark, and I thought about telling Jack to take me back to his company’s headquarters with the rest of our crew.
And then what? Sit on my hands? Overthink myself to an early grave?
Maybe the image I had of myself as a careful, risk-averse, boring person wasn’t exactly accurate.
I’d come to Marswood Harbor, hadn’t I? That had taken some guts.
I’d hatched this plan to marry Jack and get my inheritance.
Yes, things hadn’t gone how I’d expected, but I’d still done something. I’d acted.
And the result was meeting Jack. Falling for him. Seeing a future for myself that was unlike anything I could have ever conceived of before. One with fulfillment and community and family and love.
So maybe I could do this too. I could walk into Rock Bottom, talk to the scary biker, get the information we needed, and help my husband catch the bad guy.
“Ready?” Jack asked.
I nodded.
Knox shifted in the back seat, leaning forward. He speared me with his gaze. “Let us do the talking.”
My belly was a mass of nerves. I wasn’t sure I’d even be able to make words once we got in there, so that was fine by me.
We got out of the SUV and walked toward the front door.
The bar’s neon sign flickered above us as a cold gust of wind nearly knocked me sideways.
Jack reached for the door handle and yanked it open.
Suddenly, I needed the bathroom. I was way too anxious for this right now.