Page 71 of Peaks and Promises

Still, it was hard to let go of the guilt—especially the feeling that I hadn’t given them enough credit. I’d underestimated them, and because of that, I’d missed a lot.

And they didn’t hate me for it.

Maybe the weight of my guilt was punishment enough.

Or maybe my brothers had something else in store.

Finally, almost a week later, I got a text from Z.

Angel Cakes Bakery. Midnight.

The prank was on.

I told Summer I’d be out that night and not to worry. Although she seemed curious, she didn’t ask a lot of questions. It was just as well. I didn’t know how to explain what pranking meant in Tilikum to someone who hadn’t grown up there.

When I left a little before midnight, it felt like I was a kid again, sneaking out of the house. Zachary had probably been the brother to get in trouble the most, but he’d been brazen about it. My brand of rebellion had usually been quieter—less likely to get me caught—but I’d been as much of a troublemaker as he’d ever been.

The town was peaceful in the middle of the night. The streets and sidewalks were empty, and even the squirrels were tucked away wherever squirrels went. I drove to Angel Cakes Bakery and pulled into the parking lot behind the building.

There were a surprising number of vehicles, and what looked like at least a dozen people—maybe more—moved around in the dark. Guys hauled storage totes and boxes from a box truck into the passenger vehicles. It looked an awful lot like a coordinated theft.

I jumped out of my SUV and looked for Zachary. Garrett was there, so unless he was a dirty cop—and there was no way—I hadn’t stumbled on a hijacking.

“There you are.” Zachary appeared carrying a clipboard. “I thought you weren’t gonna show.”

“What the hell is going on?”

His mouth curled in a grin. “I told you, it’s a prank.”

“You’re going to have to be more specific.” I caught sight of one of the guys loading something into the back of a truck and had to do a double take. “Is that one of the Baileys?”

“Yeah, they’re all here. Except Asher. He’s on duty at the firehouse tonight. Couldn’t make it. I also got a bunch of the SPS guys to help.”

“What are we doing that requires this many people?”

He grinned again. “Tomorrow, when everyone wakes up, it’s going to be Christmas.”

Luke walked by carrying a big cutout of a snowman. “Is there room for this in your rig?”

“If you put the back seats down.”

“Awesome.”

I turned back to Z. “We’re decorating the town for Christmas?”

“Pretty good huh?” Zachary chuckled. “There’s more to it, but I’ll get to that later. First, we need to get all the decorations up before sunrise.”

I had to admit, it was funny. And the scale was bigger than anything we’d pulled when we were younger.

I got to work moving things from the box truck into my SUV. Zachary directed the operation like a supervisor on a construction site. His clipboard had a map of the downtown area divided into zones and notes about what decorations were supposed to go in each area. I didn’t ask how he’d gotten his hands on the town’s stash of Christmas decor. You never knew with Zachary.

A noise behind me made me pause. It sounded like animal hooves clicking on the pavement. I turned to find someone—was that Gavin Bailey?—leading a reindeer into the parking lot.

“Holy shit, Gav,” Zachary said. “You took one of the reindeer?”

“It’s fine,” Gavin said. “I left a note. Where do we want him?”

“Let’s put him in Lumberjack Park.”