Chapter 15
Sebastian
Harper fell back asleep sometime around dawn, but I couldn’t close my eyes. I’d never forget the look on Leo’s face when I’d walked into that kitchen.
It could’ve gone so differently. If Farrah hadn’t carried a pistol in her purse, if she hadn’t recognized the terror in Harper’s voice for what it was, if the motherfucker had just shot Harp the moment he saw her instead of forcing her back to the kitchen.
I’d been through some shit. I’d grieved for my siblings, my mother, and the life I thought I’d have.
None of it had prepared me for those few seconds between witnessing Leo’s expression and seeing Harper on that stool, unharmed.
I ran my hand through Harper’s hair while I listened to the club wake up.
“Bas?” Gray called, cracking the door open. He looked Harper over before meeting my eyes. “Got some news. Come out when you can.”
“Harp, too?”
He paused for a moment. “Yeah, bring her.”
Harper began to stir as he closed the door again.
“What time is it?” she asked groggily, stretching her legs.
“Almost nine.”
“Ugh.” Reaching for her glasses, she threw herself upward and then sat there, blinking. “I’m up.”
“You sure?”
“Funny.”
“How’re you feelin’?”
“Like I barely slept, and yesterday a man tried to shoot me,” she said dryly. “Was Gray just in here?”
“He said there’s news,” I confirmed.
“Oh goody,” she said, crawling to the foot of the bed. When she stepped down, she grimaced. “I’m going to go steal some socks from my mom.”
Tamping down the urge to tell her no, that I didn’t want her out of my sight, I just nodded. I wasn’t quite sure where we were at.
I got up as soon as she left the room and pulled my boots on.
The night before, I’d told her that I was in love with her. I thought I’d done a good job explaining the situation with Lou. She’d kissed me back, more than once, and fallen asleep on my chest.
But that didn’t mean that everything was fixed. I’d basically unloaded on her when she was already fucking reeling, telling her more details than I’d ever told anyone. It would make sense if she decided that it was all too much.
She hadn’t said I love you back.
I paused in the middle of the room, taking a deep breath. I felt like I’d been run over. Every part of me hurt.
“Are you coming?” Harper asked, startling me. She’d opened the door just enough to poke her head inside.
“Get your socks?”
“Fuzzy ones,” she replied.
“Harp—”
Swinging the door open the rest of the way, she padded toward me. Reaching up with both hands, she cupped my face as she rose onto her toes.
“A lot of shit happened last night,” she said softly, looking into my eyes. “And we need to unpack it all. But me and you? We’re just as solid as we were yesterday morning, okay?”
“I shoulda told you—”
“Yeah, you should have.” She flicked my septum ring with her thumb. “But you didn’t. I know now. We’ll go from here.”
Turning my head, I kissed the center of her palm. Then I followed her out of the room.
Leo and Gray were sitting at a table drinking coffee when we found them. They looked Harper over as she strode toward them, and her dad’s mouth curled up proudly.
“Who was that guy?” Harper asked as she dropped into a chair across from them.
“He had a few different aliases,” Gray answered immediately. “Miller Thomas. Thomas Miller. Frank Miller. Miller Franks. You get the picture.”
“So, you still don’t know,” she said with a sigh as I sat down beside her. “I had a feeling, but I was really hoping I’d wake up and we’d know everything.”
“Hold up,” Gray said, raising his hand. “Doesn’t matter what his name is. We know plenty.”
“Like what?”
“Like he’s been operating in the Pacific Northwest for years.
Got a long sheet of suspected hits, but nothing could be outwardly traced to him because seventy-five percent of them looked like accidents.
That was his thing. Car accidents, accidental overdoses, carbon monoxide poisoning, falls down stairs, that type of deal. ”
“So, the three car incidents were on purpose,” Harper said in understanding.
My head shot sideways to look at her. “What do you mean, three?”
Leo and Gray leaned up in their chairs.
“The steering thing,” she said, frowning. “Then the time that truck swerved into my lane, and then when I got rear-ended.”
“A truck swung into your lane?” her dad asked.
“Yeah.” She looked between us. “I just figured he was on his phone or something. I was driving Mom’s car, and I pulled off into the gravel. The traction control kicked in, and I was able to pull right back on the road.”
“You didn’t think it would be important to mention that?” Leo’s voice was deceptively calm.
“Why would I?” Harper countered. “It was just one of those things. It’s happened to all of us. That’s why you have to pay attention when you’re driving. People are idiots.”
“Three times,” Gray muttered.
“Well, four if you count last night,” Harper mused.
A vein in Leo’s temple was throbbing, and I wondered if she knew how close he was to exploding.
“Three times,” Gray said again. “He lost patience. Decided to finish it in a way that would work.”
“It wouldn’t have looked like an accident,” I pointed out.
“People shoot someone they love and then themselves all the time,” Gray said darkly. “He got past the security system and into the house without a trace. Without evidence something else was happening, no one would’ve even known he was there.”
“He didn’t know that Casper has more cameras on that place than a federal building.”
“He does?” Harper asked in surprise.
“Uncle Woody’s got his guy going through known aliases and finding the guy’s accounts. Hitmen never think they’ll get caught, so they’re rarely careful about hiding money trails. We’ll track down who hired him.”
“You got any ideas?” Leo asked. “Anyone who’s pissed at you? Anyone that creeped you out. Gave you a weird feelin’? Anythin’ like that?”
Harper’s hand found mine under the table.
“Um, sort of,” she replied, wrinkling her nose. “I mean, when I walked out of Refordable, I felt pretty weird. It was bad enough that I packed my shit and bought my ticket home. I was at the airport within a couple of hours.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Gray asked.
“Nothing happened.” Harper shrugged. “Once I was behind security, the feeling was gone, and then I was dealing with Paige’s phone call and getting fired. I was a little distracted.”
“You think this company would hire someone to take you out?” Gray asked bluntly.
“No,” Harper replied immediately. “It’s—no. That’s crazy. I quit, and I had an NDA, so it’s not like I could talk about their shit even if I wanted to.”
“Doesn’t guard them from prosecution,” Leo said thoughtfully. “Anyone approach you?”
“No. No one.” Harper plucked at the neck of her sweatshirt. “When do you think I could go home? That guy’s dead, so…”
“Not how it works, Harp,” Gray said sympathetically. “There’s usually a contract—he didn’t fulfill it, so someone else could pick it up.”
“There could be more of them?” I asked, every muscle in my body clenching.
“Maybe not,” Gray replied. “Maybe so.”
“Fuck.”
“This is just great,” Harper said, the pitch of her voice rising with each word. “So, I’m just going to be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life?”
“Hell no,” Leo replied. “We’ll figure this out, Harp. Just might take a minute.”
“So, I’m just supposed to stay here? In the clubhouse?”
“For the moment,” Leo confirmed.
Harper’s chair nearly tipped backward, she stood so quickly. “I’m going…somewhere. Is Mom in your room? I’m going to see Mom.”
We watched her stomp away.
“Woody’s got people workin’ on it,” Leo told me as Harper disappeared around the corner. “Casper and Gray have also been reachin’ out to their contacts all night. We’ll trace it back, cut it off at the source.”
“You really think it’s her old job?”
“Best lead we have,” Gray replied. “Nothin’ else makes any kind of sense.”
“I’ll talk to my pop and set up some security for her,” Leo said. “Might be able to bring her home tonight if we’ve got the boys for it.”
“Okay. Anythin’ you need me to do?”
“Keep her from climbin’ the walls?” Gray said, getting to his feet.
“Good fuckin’ luck,” Leo scoffed.
After checking on Harper, who was in Leo’s room with Lily and Rose, I made my way to the garage to work for a few hours. Even with shit going sideways, we still needed to have income coming in. I was scheduled to do the brakes on a Toyota pickup that day, so I pulled it into my bay and got to it.
The garage wasn’t full, but other members were in and out all day. I just kept my head down and did my thing. I felt wrung out after the events of the last twelve hours, and getting back to a little normalcy was just what I needed. It helped knowing that Harp wasn’t far away if she needed me.
When I decided I was done for the day, I cleaned up and ventured back into the clubhouse. Someone had ordered pizzas, and they were lined up along the bar, but I ignored them even as my stomach growled. I hadn’t even had coffee.
Harper was in the spare room we’d occupied the night before, asleep. I didn’t wake her as I pulled off my boots and set my cut and hoodie on the end of the bed, but the moment I crawled in next to her, she stirred and lifted her head.
“All done?” she asked, propping her head on her hand.
“Yeah. You get a good nap in?”
“A couple hours, I think,” she replied. “Time all kind of runs together here.”
“I know what you mean.”
“It’s like a casino, you can’t tell what time it is because the lighting never changes.”
“Not in the bedrooms,” I countered, jerking my head toward the window. It was covered by thick curtains, but you could still see a little light along the edges.
“Yeah, yeah.” She groaned and fell to her back. “How the hell did I get into this mess? I don’t even drive over the damn speed limit. What is wrong with people?”
“You figure that out, let me know,” I replied dryly. “We’ll get it figured out, baby.”