Page 129 of Peaks and Promises

At the front window, I peered out into the darkness. Was there another vehicle out there? It was hard to tell, but someone could have parked behind my SUV and remained hidden from where I was standing.

Would Axel drive right up to the house and try to take Nate in the middle of the night?

I couldn’t rule it out. But if he had figured out where we were, he wasn’t getting past me.

Adrenaline pumped through my veins as I stepped outside and closed the door behind me. The porch light was off, the house dark. There weren’t any other houses nearby, and the driveway and surrounding trees were shrouded in black.

A rustling sound came from my right. Could have been an animal. I hesitated, listening. Silence.

Then a crunch of gravel. I hurried to my SUV, using it for cover. Footsteps. Then a vehicle door opened and a moment later closed again.

Stepping softly, I made my way to the back end of my SUV and raised my weapon.

“Stop,” I said. “Don’t move.”

A figure froze in the darkness. He slowly raised his hands.

“Reese?” The voice was familiar. Too familiar.

Squinting to see in the dark, I stepped closer. “Zachary?”

“Dude, are you pointing a gun at me?”

I lowered my arm. “No.”

He put down his arms and moved closer. “You were pointing a gun at me. You asshole. Only Garrett’s allowed to do that.”

“I didn’t know it was you. What the fuck are you doing out here?”

“I was up with Emily. Got her back down, but I couldn’t sleep. Figured I’d come up here and make sure everything was okay.”

Double-checking that the safety was on, I tucked the gun in my pants. “Next time give me a heads-up.”

“Yeah, well if I knew you were walking around armed, I would have.”

He gestured toward the porch, so we walked over and sat down on the steps.

“I take it no one spotted him yet,” Zachary said.

“Not yet. I’m guessing he didn’t ride in on his bike, so we can’t count on that to find him.”

“What are you going to do when you find him?”

I rubbed a hand up and down my face. “That question has been eating at me since we decided to come here. I hoped he’d give up eventually. Decide it was too much trouble and he had better things to do. I knew I needed a plan in case he actually found them, but there’s a big-ass problem.”

“What’s that?”

“He’s not just some guy. A shitty ex who won’t leave her alone. He’s a club member. If I get rid of him, one of two things will happen. Either they won’t give a shit and it’s over. Or they’ll take it as an insult, and it won’t be.”

“That sounds bad.”

“It is bad. But honestly, they might not retaliate. Axel did time. The club wouldn’t have let someone high ranking go to prison, so the fact that he did tells me he’s expendable.”

“So you’re gonna…” He gestured to the gun. “Off him?”

I didn’t reply. Just stared into the darkness.

“You ever done that before?” he asked.