Chapter 45 Benny
forty-five
Benny
HUNTING HARPER.
I’d lost him again.
It had been weeks, and I couldn’t find him.
He’d left me. Abandoned me. Even though we’d said always.
I understood why. After my ma’s accident, he was doing what he thought he had to. But he’d still abandoned me.
We were supposed to deal with this together.
I’d begged Rikky for help, begged him to use his family’s resources and networks to find Harper. He’d told me he couldn’t. His father was too closely connected to Leon, and he was sure there was no way for him to locate Harper without his family knowing and Leon finding him as well.
But I couldn’t do it alone.
There was only one other person who might be shady enough to get involved with this. It was right there in his name. Shady.
Pale eyes took me in from his side of the desk.
I never thought I’d be back in this office, especially not to ask him for help.
I had no evidence he even could help me, but when I’d told him everything—and I had told him everything, all Leon had done and just what was at stake, in a rambling mess—he hadn’t turned me away.
He hadn’t questioned why I’d come to him of all people.
It gave me faith that he really might be able to help.
“I’ll find him for you.” He spoke at last.
Relief.
“I umm… I don’t have a lot of money, but I—”
He held his hand up to stop me. “I’m not interested in your money.”
I swallowed. “What do you want, then?”
He smiled. “For this? Nothing.”
I stared, because I had a feeling he wasn’t finished, and I was right.
“For Leon, though…”
“You…” I inhaled shakily. “You can get rid of Leon?”
Shady smiled wider. “For now, let’s focus on Harper, shall we? The rest can wait.”
“You can find him?”
“Easily.”
I nodded. “How long do you think it’ll take?”
“So impatient.” He chuckled. “Not long at all. Go home, Benny. I’ll be in contact with you very soon.”
I didn’t trust him, not at all, but I needed him, and I’d pay any price to get Harper back. We had things we needed to talk about. And I was so angry at him for leaving me again. But he was still mine, and I was bringing him home.
It only took two days for Shady to find Harper. He’d called me while I’d been moping in bed watching yet another video on snake care. I’d asked him how he’d found him, and he’d just chuckled and told me he’d be in touch shortly to help us with the rest of our “problem.”
Matthew had moved in with Ma, to help care for her he’d said, but I knew there was more going on between them. Between him and Rachel, I wasn’t worried about leaving her for a few days. And Matthew said he’d come back around to make sure the snakes were okay.
I’d closed the gym. It wasn’t like I had many clients anyway, and I’d borrowed Rachel’s Jeep to come all the way here. Hollow Creek, West Virginia.
What the fuck was Harper doing here?
It hadn’t taken long to find my car parked in the lot of the only motel.
I was searching for some hint of him when someone approached me from behind.
“You need something?”
I turned to face a guy, maybe slightly younger than Harper, eyeing me suspiciously. “Nope. You need somethin’?”
He glared at me as if it were his car he’d caught me snooping through. “You seem real interested in that car.” He raised his voice a little.
Normally, I tried to be pleasant to strangers, even the difficult ones, because you never knew what struggles they were going through. But I was tired, and I just wanted Harper back, and none of that was this stranger’s business.
“Why wouldn’t I be? It’s mine.”
“I don’t think I believe you.”
I clenched my jaw. “No? Well, call the cops, then. Though I’d really like to catch the guy who stole it myself.”
He directed me to the sheriff’s office so I could report it stolen, but I had the distinct feeling he was trying to get rid of me rather than actually being helpful.
“You wouldn’t happen to know which room the driver’s checked into, would ya? Since you’re so sure this car ain’t mine, ya must have seen him.”
“Couple of days ago. Not since.” He gestured to two of the ground-floor rooms. “One of those two, I think.”
“Hmm. Thank you kindly.”
I stared, waiting for him to reveal more or fuck off. He stared back for a long time before deciding on the latter.
I watched him until he was out of sight, then turned back to the motel, confident Harper was staying in any of the rooms other than the two the guy had gestured to.
I knocked on every door, looked through every window. Harper wasn’t here, at least not at the moment.
Time to ask around.
I met a helpful older man, who gladly informed me Harper was good friends with one of the bartenders at the Rusty Nail named Jack. The description the man gave of Jack matched the man I’d encountered at the motel, and I decided it was time to have another chat with him.
As luck would have it, Jack was working when I walked into the bar later in the afternoon.
He eyed me suspiciously as I sat down and ordered a drink.
What did he know? Harper wasn’t the type to have told him everything, but he seemed wary of me, so what had Harper told him?
Before I had the chance to ask, the door opened, and there he was.
Harper’s eyes locked onto mine. His beautiful diamond eyes, one of them surrounded in a dark bruise that had me wanting to tear the head off whoever had given it to him.
“Shit,” he cursed. Then he turned and bolted.
I was after him, determined to stop him from getting away from me again.
Something shattered behind me, but I didn’t stop to check. Only one thing mattered, and that was getting Harper back.