Page 16 of Deep Waters
Zach stood, hands on his hips, frowning at the desk in Jordan’s office. My cousin ran the business operations of his whale-watching company out of his house. A basic wood desk and mesh office chair took up most of the floor space. One large window overlooked the backyard, and a framed photo of a pod of orcas had pride of place on the north wall.
The laptop sat where I’d seen it last, layer of dust and all. If someone had been inside, they hadn’t been interested in pawnable electronics.
Zach gestured to the filing cabinet. “I don’t remember those gouges in the metal, do you?”
Deep scrapes marred the shiny black three-drawer cabinet.
“No.” I’d hoped it was my imagination. A false alarm. A shiver zipped down my spine, dread filling my belly. A whale-watching business shouldn’t be interesting to thieves. They’d bypassed too many other options for me to believe the damage was accidental.
“You think someone broke in while we were out?” I shuddered.
Voicing it made it real.
“I do,” Zach said, voice steady. He pivoted on his heel. “You don’t remember seeing anything suspicious before you left?”
“Nothing.”
Zach traced the slashes, paint peeling away as he rubbed his thumb along the dent. “Either they found what they wanted somewhere else, or…”
“They’ll be back,” I finished. “I’m going to call thesheriff.”
“Go back to the kids and call from there. I want to do a full walk-through of the house.” His expression was grim. I decided not to argue.
The house felt tainted as I walked through to the back door, the tight bands across my chest easing as I spied the kids. Tae played on his phone. His sister was still sacked out, forehead resting against the back window. Oblivious to the drama.
“What’s wrong?” Tae asked.
“We think maybe an animal took a tour through the house while we were out,” I lied smoothly. “Zach’s just making sure there are no raccoon babies hiding under the floorboards.”
“Oh. Okay. The raccoons usually hide under the bathtub.” Tae added the last part matter-of-factly.
“Excuse me?” I asked, eyes round.
“If the raccoons are back, they usually nest under the house. Last year, you could hear them from the bathroom downstairs. Mom says they like sheltering under the tub.” His nose wrinkled. “I don’t like the idea of them crawling up the drain to bite my toes, though dad said that wasn’t possible. It’s why I started to shower in the upstairs bathroom.”
“Oh,” I said, second-guessing our earlier conclusion.
Zach appeared at the threshold, the faint shake of his head helping my shoulders relax. I was going to feel really silly if raccoons had broken in. They already looked like miniature bandits.
Zach carried Hana inside to her bed. Tae skipped after them. I waited until he was out of earshot before calling the sheriff’s office.
I waited for Deputy Vega outside, not wanting Tae to overhear our real suspicions. As far as I knew, Jia and Jordan hadn’t had much of value beyond the usual household items. San Juan Island had its share of theft and other petty crime, but there was a special place in hell for the kind of ghouls who stole from a family who’d experienced loss like Tae, Hana, and Jia had.
Zach sidled up beside me, wrapping an arm around my waist. And I let him prop me up. Just for a moment.
I sighed, sinking against his hard body. The familiar scent of him, clean laundry and coffee, was ordinary. Soothing in contrast to my chaotic thoughts. It helped me believe that none of it was real. That there hadn’t been a break-in. That the air wasn’t thick with unanswered questions.
He dropped a kiss on my temple. Just for a moment, I let myself live the fantasy. That he was mine. A caring husband, trying to comfort me in my moment of distress. But too many elements had turned nightmarish. Someone had broken into Tae and Hana’s home. And the question I couldn’t shake clawed at my ribs, demanding an answer. Why?
The thought circulated as Deputy Vega arrived, cool and competent. It didn’t escape my notice that her smile turned flirty when she shook Zach’s hand—still professional, but the hint of warmth in her eyes and the gentle curve of her mouth implied an invitation. My mental scoreboard ticked upward. Zach’s dimples: one hundred eighty-seven. The women of Friday Harbor: zero.
I had no right to the flare of jealousy. Zach wasn’t mine. I had no prior claim. But knowing didn’t make it any easier to watch her practiced sternness fold in the face of his easy charm.
Her eyes cooled as he wrapped his arm around me again. His move was casual, almost absent-minded. And she noticed, her interest receding like the tide pulled back out to sea. I let myself sink against him, silently offering comfort in return. Whether he only meant to soothe me and show solidarity didn’t matter in that moment. Pettysatisfaction warmed the aching hole left in my chest by our morning drama.
He’d chosen me.
After too many years standing on my own, keeping secrets that kept me walled-off from him, it mattered. Maybe I was reading too much into an offhand gesture, but something about the way he pressed me more tightly against him whispered that I was his to protect. That the bonds I’d worried I’d severed by revealing my fake situationship with Simon had bounced back, sure and strong.
