Chapter 13
Presley stared out the window. She’d gone through the calculations in her head a dozen times. Tomorrow she’d be a day late.
It didn’t necessarily mean anything other than she would officially begin to worry. As if she wasn’t already doing that.
Waylen reached across the vehicle and took her hand. “You haven’t said a word since we stopped and picked up food. What’s going on?”
“I’m tired,” she said.
He kissed her palm. “I know you’re concerned about me calling off the boys from tailing Vernon, but there’s no way he’s going to be able to get to you.”
A million things ran through her mind, most of which didn’t have to do with Vernon. She wanted him out of her family business and out of her life for good. Whatever it took to make that happen, she was on board with it. She trusted Waylen and his team, along with Hale. They were the experts, and she knew they would all eventually get the job done.
It was the sitting around and waiting for it to happen that made her crazy, but she didn’t have a choice, not if she wanted Vernon to go away for good. Someone had to put a stop to his madness. She couldn’t let him hurt anyone else.
She pulled her hand away. “I’m also still mad at you.” She turned. When she’d admitted to Sally that she wanted Waylen to stay and had made the promise she’d tell Waylen how she felt, she hadn’t realized what that would do to her heart. The confusion it would create in her mind and soul.
The past, present, and future collided like a tidal wave crashing into the shore.
“Why? What did I do now?”
Explaining it all would open up a can of worms that couldn’t be closed, but it wouldn’t be fair to either of them in the long run if she didn’t. His mother and everyone had been right. She always put everyone else in front of herself and it was high time she stopped, even if it did break her heart.
“We’re hanging on to what was, not what is,” she said.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“You never let me go. You held on to every memory you had of me. It ruined your marriage.”
“Oh no, you don’t.” He glanced in her direction with a hard glare. “When Elena found that box, our relationship was already dead.”
“That may be true, but you were clinging to a part of the past and so was I. The day I married Vernon, I stood in front of a mirror in my wedding dress and my first thought was how much you would have hated that dress.”
“I’m sure you looked beautiful in it.” He rolled to a stop at a red light. They were still about eight miles from the marina.
“I did, but that doesn’t change the fact that it wasn’t the kind of gown I would have picked out if I was marrying you. It wasn’t the kind of wedding we would have had, and that’s what I was thinking about.”
“What does this have to do with anything?” Waylen angrily punched the gas and then had to tap the brakes to avoid hitting the car in front of them.
She pressed her hand on the dashboard. “Both of us spent our adult lives pining over something we couldn’t have. Maybe it’s because we didn’t get the opportunity to have proper closure. I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. But now that we’ve spent these two weeks together, we’ve eased into this comfortable thing like it was yesterday. It’s not. We’re different people and we can’t keep acting like what we had is enough to jump into a life together. It’s crazy. I know I said I wanted you to stay, and it’s not that I don’t want you to, because the idea of you leaving again hurts. However, I have to ask myself, why?”
“I think the answer is pretty simple.”
“No, Waylen. Not if we’re being completely honest. We’re living in the past. We’re thinking about all the things that could have been. All the things we could have done differently back then. It’s weird. It’s just as unhealthy as how we held on to each other during our adult lives.”
He took a turn a little too aggressively, and she had to grab the holy shit bar. She wanted to yell at him about his driving but opted to keep her mouth shut about that. One argument at a time.
“You want a heavy dose of truth?” He slammed on the brakes at a stop sign and then gunned it. “I don’t regret my life.” He shifted his gaze and arched a brow. “Leaving here was a good thing for me and my mom. She needed to get off this island to grieve with her family. I’m not sure she could have gotten through it if she stayed. And if I’m being honest with myself, I couldn’t have either. Being with my aunts, uncles, and cousins gave me a different perspective. A different view of my dad and his life. It was all very healing.”
“I’m glad,” she whispered.
“I won’t deny how much I missed you or my friends back here on Big Island. But I forged ahead with my life. The Naval Academy. I worked my ass off and I’m proud of my accomplishments. Even my marriage to Elena, which was hell in the end, didn’t start off as bad. And yeah, I thought about you, but who doesn’t think about their first everything.” He lifted his gaze, glancing in the rearview, then the side mirrors. “I don’t find any of this strange. Or unhealthy, as you put it. And I’m sure as fuck not living in the past. I’m right here. In the moment, and if you can’t see that, I’m unsure what to tell you.” He shifted lanes and passed a vehicle.
“Jesus. What’s wrong with you? Why are you driving like a madman?”
“I think someone’s following us,” he said. “Get my cell out of my back pocket.” He lifted his ass.
She reached across the car and plucked it.
“Text the team group message. Mano’s on it, too. Tell them I’m being followed and to track me. Also, tell them there are three cars on my tail, and I need backup.” He reached across her and popped open the glove box, pulling out his weapon.
“I hate guns.”
“I know, babe, but it’s a necessary evil in some situations.” He held his pistol on his lap while he weaved in and out of traffic.
“What else should I do?”
“Stay low and hold on.”
The closer Waylen got to the marina, the heavier the traffic got.
His cell rang.
He tapped the CarPlay button. “Hey, Kian.”
“I’m a mile from your location. Lane is behind me, and Mano is coming up behind you about half a mile away. Harlan and Raider stayed behind just in case Vernon has someone coming to the marina.”
“Good call,” Waylen said. “I’ve got three SUVs on my tail. One right on me. The other two are hanging about four cars back.”
“What do you want to do?” Kian asked.
“Nothing in this traffic unless they force our hand,” Waylen said.
“Mano thinks you should go to his place. It’s a fortress. No one is getting in or out.”
Waylen gripped his weapon. He sucked in a deep breath. “If we go there, we aren’t getting out without being ambushed once we leave.”
“That holds true at the marina, too,” Kian said. “Have you been able to see any of the drivers?”
“No.”
Presley popped her head up over the seat.
“Jesus. Get down.” Waylen grabbed her shoulder.
“I was just trying to see if I recognized Vernon’s car.” She glared. “I doubt he’s going to shoot me with a street full of witnesses.”
“He tried to blow you up once already. I’m not taking any chances.” Waylen arched a brow. “I should have never let Hale talk me into pulling off the tail.”
“I disagree,” Kian said. “Now don’t get pissed at what I’m about to suggest.”
“I don’t like it already.” Waylen swallowed. He knew exactly where his buddy was about to go because he’d already thought it.
“We’ve already slowed down whatever Vernon was doing and?—”
Hale’s number appeared on the dash. “Kian, hang on. It’s Hale. Let me see what he wants.” Waylen tapped the CarPlay and accepted Hale’s call while he turned down the side street heading toward the marina. “What’s up, Hale?”
“It’s Frank. He’s awake and he’s singing like a canary.”
“What exactly does that mean?”
“It means we’ve got Vernon dead to rights,” Hale said. “I had to cut a deal with Frank to do it, but I got the bastard on arms deals. Drug running. Money laundering. You name it, I got him. Frank wants to nail that asshole for trying to kill him.”
“Does Frank know why?”
“Yeah. Vernon owes him money. Lots of it. First payment was due before that charter and Vernon talked Frank into taking it as a gift, putting him off for a couple of weeks. Now all I have to do is find the fucker since he knows Frank turned.”
“How the hell does he know that?”
“He had a plant at the hospital. We didn’t know that until they informed Vernon, who has now disappeared on us.”
“I think I might know where he is, and I can help you with that, but you’re not going to like it, and you’re going to be late to the party.”
“Shit,” Hale mumbled. “What’s happening?”
“Gather the troops and meet us at the marina. But don’t come in guns blazing. Wait for a text from me or someone from my team. And you’re going to have to let me and my men do this my way because Vernon and his men are already on my ass.”
“Just don’t make me arrest you, got it?”
“I’ll do my best.” Waylen tapped the screen. “Kian?”
“I’m here.”
“Turn around and go back to the marina. We’re going to bring these fuckers to us. He wants to play, let’s show him how it’s done.”
“Are you sure you want to put Presley in the line of fire like that?” Kian asked.
He glanced at Presley, who tilted her head, staring at him with wide eyes. She blinked.
“I want him out of my life,” she whispered.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to do it this way, but I don’t see another option. Do you think you can face him?”
She nodded.
“Get everyone ready. It’s showtime.” He ended the call and then took Presley’s hand. “Whatever happens, you need to know three things. First, I love you. No doubt in my mind about that. Second. The past is long gone. I’m not living there and I wouldn’t want to. And third, I might say some things that are hurtful, mean, and completely out of character when all this goes down. I’m doing it to get a rise out of Vernon. So if that happens, remember the first two things, okay?”
“As long as you don’t believe anything Vernon has to say about me.”
Waylen laughed. “I’ll try not to.”