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Chapter Twenty-Seven
Wyatt
Walking into the house, I toss my keys on the dining room table and turn toward the kitchen to grab a beer as my mind drifts to last night at my parents’ house and how nervous Piper was to see them again after all these years. Grinning, I take a beer out of the fridge and pop the top off. Right after we got back from Charleston and Piper agreed to give this relationship a shot again, I called them and told them the whole story. My mother was not pleased, at first, but after she found out the truth, her heart hurt for Piper just as much as mine did and Dad felt guilty that he didn’t look for her after he went to North Carolina and found the house empty. Both echoed the sentiment that they should have known better. Piper has been a part of their lives for so long and they know what kind of person she is but more importantly, what kind of person she isn’t. What we have is special and there is no way in hell she would intentionally do anything to damage it.
Releasing a breath, I smile at the sense of calm I feel today compared to the storm of turmoil I’ve been walking around in for the last week. I don’t think I realized just how bad it had gotten until I woke up this morning in my childhood bedroom and it didn’t feel like there was a dark cloud hanging over me. Last night was exactly what I needed to clear my head and stop losing my shit at every turn and I’m so fucking grateful that Piper knew what to do to help me. I was so close to cracking up and I hate to think what could happen to her if I am not on top of my game with this maniac running around. I need to be focused no matter how nice it was to just relax yesterday.
We spent all day with my parents, sharing memories and laughing before Mom made a huge dinner to celebrate Piper and I renewing our vows. She also pestered us about when we would be giving her a grandchild but Piper doesn’t want to tell anyone until she actually gets pregnant so all we could say is that it will happen when it happens as we shared a secret smile. After dessert, Piper took me out to the woods behind the house where I kissed her for the first time and we made out like a couple of teenagers before going to sleep in my old room. The full-sized mattress wasn’t the greatest but it did mean I got to hold Piper all night long. When I dropped her off at the studio this morning, we both had smiles on our faces and it feels like I can breathe for the first time in a week.
Of course, I had to go to the clubhouse and temporarily ruin it. Even with all of us digging into these cases now, we’re not finding anything new and I'm beginning to echo Streak’s sentiment when we found the photos on the wall.
This guy is good.
But after the craziness, whoever is doing this has only made the club’s bond stronger. Where we were bickering and arguing before, we are united and ready to face down whoever this is. We won't let him win and while we can't find any evidence to go on, we have come up with a plan of attack for the next time this guy strikes and each of our women are thoroughly protected. Blaze tasked Storm and Chance with calling all of the women we’ve helped in the past three years also to warn them of the threat and remind them that they could reach out to us at anytime so hopefully, we won’t have a new death to look into anytime soon. But it feels naive to have so much hope when we have nothing to go on.
Walking back out to the dining room, I sigh and take a sip of my beer before setting it down on the table. I turn to sit down but before I can, the phone rings on the wall behind me. I turn and pick it up.
“Hello?”
“Hi. This is Diane at the Hyatt Regency Lake Washington. I’m looking for Piper Landry.”
I scowl as I turn around. “I’m sorry. Where?”
“The Hyatt Regency in Seattle, sir. May I speak to Miss Landry, please?”
Why in the hell would a hotel in Seattle be calling Piper?
“She’s not here right now but this is her husband. Can I help you?”
“Oh, yes! We received your reservation this morning but there was a problem with the credit card your wife provided so we just need an updated payment method.”
“What?” I ask, my thoughts screeching to a halt as I run my fingers through my hair. “What reservation?”
“Um… it says here that you will be getting in tomorrow night and staying for six days… oh, wait… I guess it is just your wife on the reservation… were you planning on joining her? I can add your name here in the system.”
I shake my head and stumble to the table before sinking into a chair. My chest feels tight as I run my hand through my hair again. “And you said that reservation was made this morning?”
“Yes, sir.”
My knee bounces. “What time?”
“Um… looks like ten-twenty-six a.m.”
No.
No.
No.
This can’t be right…
That was just after I dropped Piper off at work for her first session so why would she be making hotel reservations? And why all the way in Seattle? Everyone we know is here in Baton Rouge and if we’re taking some kind of vacation, I have other places at the top of my list. I release a heavy sigh and drop my face into my hand as I shake my head, trying to make sense of all this. My heart feels like it’s going to explode and I can’t stop my damn leg from shaking.
What is happening?
Why the hell would Piper be going to Seattle?
“Sir?” the woman says on the other end of the phone and I glance up like I can somehow find the answers I need somewhere in this house. My gaze lands on our wedding picture and I shake my head again like I can somehow shake some damn answers into my head. Piper just put that photo up on the wall the other day along with a bunch of others. She said it made our house a real home.
