56. Jude
Chapter 56
Jude
I’m half an hour into an NFL highlights show when my internet dies. I don’t even bother trying to restart my PC’s Wi-Fi because I already know what’s happened. Dad’s cut me off.
I groan and go lie in bed to take a nap, but the day’s events keep playing through my mind.
I try jerking off, but it feels like I’ll go into muscle failure before I come, so I abandon that idea. Instead, I take Harper’s phone out of its hiding place in my closet and turn it on. I remember her pin from when I made her delete Sean’s number—and she hasn’t bothered to change it.
I go through her messages, looking for a clue as to where she might be. Her last message came from Alex.
U OK?
Of course he’d pretend to be worried about her. It’s obvious he wants to get in her pants. I almost send him a reply, but I’d rather wait to find out where Harper really is before getting involved. I don’t want some nasty message I send to be traced back to me.
Then I see all the messages from Talia. The last one sends a cold wave through my body.
WHERE R U? U SAID I’D GET MY MONEY 2DAY.
Does that mean Harper’s not at school? This message was sent about an hour before Alex’s. I read the rest of the messages, my muscles growing tenser with each one. So Talia sold Harper the drugs that might end my football career. I’m in half a mind to hunt the bitch down and make her pay.
Oh, right. I’m grounded. Dad took away my car. If I wanted to do that I’d not only have to sneak out of the house without them finding out, I’d have to get a lift, too. I’m pretty sure Dad’s tracking my credit card, so he’d see something come up for an Uber.Suddenly wish I had more cash to my name.
Fuck, Sis, how do you do it? Every time I think I’ve fucked you over, you turn it back on me.
My grudging respect for her is starting to fester into something approaching admiration.
A worthy opponent indeed. I kinda wish she hadn’t run away right when this was becoming so fun.
The sun is starting to set and Harper isn’t home yet. That should be the end of it, except...
I can’t stop thinking about her. Now that the seed has been planted, I’m convinced she’s in danger. I can’t for the life of me think why. Crime in Cinderhart is a bit of a touchy subject. Everyone knows it happens, but the town as a whole prefers to sweep these things under the rug.
I doubt a girl like Harper could get herself into trouble if she was busy wandering through the town square. Except if she happened to end up in the warehouse district, especially in those blind alleys where the people too poor to even live in Jackleg Valley wash up, then she might not make it back home. But Harper isn’t an idiot. She should know how to keep herself safe?—
Like she did at Sean’s party?
Christ. What am I thinking? Of course she can’t look after herself. Not if she’s been drinking. Not if she’s pissed off and depressed and just looking for something—anything—to get her out of her own headspace.
I open my bedroom door and listen. Dad is busy arguing with someone on his phone in the kitchen. I’m pretty sure it’s the sheriff. No surprise. I knew they’d only consider Harper a missing person in a day or two.
But by then she could be dead...or worse.
There’s no way I can sneak past him without being seen. And he still has my Range Rover’s keys in his fucking pocket. If I want to go look for her, I need transport.
I close my bedroom door again, pocket Harper’s phone, and go to my window. When I open it, a gust of brisk air slams into my face. I peer down and study the paving beneath me. Far beneath me. Christ. I climbed out this window before, but those were in my rebellious days, before I realized football and college were more important than getting drunk or being laid. Back then I obviously didn’t care about injuring myself.
Gritting my teeth, I turn and lower myself out the window. I wedge my sneaker into a gap between the bricks and carefully start climbing down. I drop soundlessly to the patio and stay hidden in the shrubs as I catch my breath. Dad is still hollering at someone on the phone, so I’m hoping he doesn’t decide to look up as I race over the patio and disappear behind the garage.
I wait a few seconds to find out if he’s spotted me, but his harangue continues without a pause. Safe for now. I hurry around the building and stop in front of the motorized door. Thank God I have Harper’s phone. She has the same app I do, the one we can use to control things like the front gate, the garage door, and some of the lights inside the house. I unlock her phone and use the app to open the garage door.
From this side of the house, it’s impossible to see into the kitchen. I don’t know if Dad’s still there or not. But it helps me a shit load because when I take the spare key for his ‘68 Impala out of its hiding place and freewheel the car out of the sloping drive, there’s no way he can spot me.
I head for Cinderhart Square. It’s the only place Harper really knows except for our school, so it’s the best place I can think to start looking for her.
Until I stop at an intersection close to the center of town and notice the bus stop.