Chapter 70
Coup De Main
Luke
Harper fiddles with her phone as we pull up to her house. Her gaze jerks up and collides with mine. She’s nervous. We’re heading back to reality. Even though we worked a lot, it was nice to play with her and know we’re not being listened to.
I get out and open her door. When she steps out, I draw her into my arms. She comes willingly, crashing into me sweetly. Her arms wrap around my waist and her head rests against my chest. I don’t know how I lived before her hugs.
She releases that sigh she gives right before she surrenders to me. The tension drains from her, and she softens in my arms. Knowing what Zach and his crew might want to do to her makes me want to shove her back in the car and drive as far away from this place as possible.
Leaving is an option, but not a good one. We’d all be drawn back. By family. By commitments. And we’d end up in this spot all over. Until we prove we’re strong enough to hold our line, they’ll keep coming at us.
The only way past is through. The only course left is victory. Prove to them there will be hell to pay if they touch her.
She draws away first, slowly, prying us apart like it takes effort now. Like she doesn’t want to leave my arms but knows we have things to do. Unable to resist the lure of her plush lips, I tip up her chin and kiss her tenderly.
She’s the only one I’ve ever had the desire to kiss this way.
Before it was about the conquering, easing an ache.
With her, it’s about so much more than that.
It’s this fierce connection. This need to have her in my arms, in my life.
When I lift my head, the look on her face screams her love, and my heart beats harder.
I’ll do anything for her.
That should frighten me, but it doesn’t. No matter what, I’ll keep her safe and burn anyone to the ground who wants to take her from me.
“Come on, kitten.” Eli holds his hand out to her and she takes it, but her eyes don’t leave mine. He has her bag in his hand.
I head for the door and hold out my hand for her key. She quirks her eyebrow, knowing I have a way in without her key, but she drops it in my hand.
When I go to put the key in the lock, the door swings open. I stop. Fuck.
“Stay out here.” I hold my hand up to Eli.
“Mom?” Harper’s eyes grow wide, but Eli wraps his arms around her. Her gaze darts to her mother’s car in the driveway. I can see that need in her to break away and run into the house.
“It’s probably nothing, princess.” I try to reassure her, but everything in me is on red alert.
The others pull up and Jack and Caden get out of the car. I gesture them forward. So far, I haven’t heard anything from inside the house. What are we walking into? Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it. But everything inside me needs to protect Harper.
“Come on, kitten. Let’s go check on Nico.” Eli’s eyes meet mine, and I nod. As jealous as I was, I couldn’t have handled this on my own. I couldn’t be the only one Harper has to rely on. But I can be one of five.
Once Harper is farther away and Caden and Jack come in close, I lower my voice. “Door was open. No idea what we’re walking into.”
Caden’s brow furrows and Jack pulls out his phone. He brings up the security application.
“The cameras are disabled.” Jack taps on the screen. “Someone’s downed their Wi-Fi.”
“I thought this one worked on a cellular plan?” Caden glances over his shoulder at Jennifer’s car in the driveway. From the outside, everything looks normal. It could just be a glitch and a coincidence. Maybe she didn’t pull the door shut all the way.
“It does.” Jack moves his phone close to the door and his bars vanish. “There’s a blocker inside.”
“Should we call the police?” I ask.
Caden narrows his eyes. “What will they do? Trample over evidence and make it impossible for us to figure out what happened?”
I blow out a breath and turn to seek out Harper. She stands in Eli’s arms, talking with Nico, who’s still inside the car. Harper isn’t a minor, but her family might try to step in if they know Jennifer is missing. They could take her away.
“We go in and if we need the police, we call them.” Jack tucks his phone away. “No one from inside has come to find out why the door is open. There’s no sound in there. Maybe Jennifer is sleeping and the door just didn’t latch.”
It’s wishful thinking. We all know this doesn’t look good given everything that’s happened, but he’s right. We need to know and the cops would block us out.
“Stay together.” I drag in a breath and step into the house. “Don’t touch anything we don’t have to.”
“Got it.” Caden steps in behind me.
It’s late afternoon and the house is dim.
But there’s clearly been some sort of struggle or quick exit.
One of the kitchen chairs lies on its side.
We move into the house quietly. Careful not to touch anything or make a sound.
We head up the steps, bypassing Harper’s room and going to the main bedroom.
I turn the knob and push the door open wide. The bed is empty and the bathroom door is open. Caden steps through, and we wait in the hallway as he explores the whole room.
Time seems to tick slowly in the space before he returns and shakes his head. We back up and check the guest bedroom. When we open Harper’s door, there’s obviously been someone in here.
Her desk chair is pushed off to the side and her clothes are thrown into a pile. Her drawers are open and emptied all over the bed. We catch each other’s eyes, but don’t say anything.
Harper can’t see this.
We head back downstairs and double check all the rooms. Besides Harper’s room and the kitchen chair, there’s not a thing that tells us what happened. But Jennifer isn’t here and her car is.
“Tell her to come in.” I flip on the light switch in the kitchen. “Cell signal still blocked?”
Jack nods.
“I’ll check the security system.” He heads back to the office.
Caden goes outside. He comes back with Eli, Nico, and Harper. Her face is pale.
“Does your mom have a spare key to her car?” I snap my fingers to catch her attention, and she focuses in on me instead of the one chair out of place.
She nods and goes to a drawer. She holds up the keys and Eli takes them from her, heading outside to see if her car starts.
“Where does she keep her purse?” I’m trying to give Harper tasks so she can’t think. She’s pale and holds herself around her waist. She turns to look at the rack by the door.
Caden goes over to check for her purse. Harper looks so fucking lost.
“Did your mom have any plans to leave today?” I step closer to her.
Caden clears his throat and shows me her mom’s purse. Fuck.
“Harper.” I capture her attention before she follows my gaze. Outside, the car starts and that’s when her knees give out. If her mom left, why not take the car? I catch her before she falls to the ground and lift her to carry her into the living room.
I sit on the couch with her in my lap. She slides her arms around me and straddles me. Her forehead touches my shoulder and her body shakes like a leaf, but I don’t feel the wetness of tears.
I rub my hand down her back.
“What do we do?” Nico asks in a whisper. We can’t even make plans because we know someone is listening.
Caden comes in with the bug detector and starts searching the house. Eli comes in and sits beside me. His hand rests on Harper’s thigh.
“No one’s is safe.” Eli meets my eyes. He means no one’s house is safe for her. My father. Eli’s mother. Caden’s parents. Nico’s father. We don’t know where Jack’s parents stand, but moving in his girlfriend probably isn’t an option.
Caden sits on my other side and puts his hand on her low back. “My place.”
He glances over at where he put a jammer. It’s near a light switch close to the stairs.
“I have everything she needs.” Caden kisses her shoulder and his eyes meet mine.
Meaning she doesn’t have to go into her room at all. That’s good.
“Do you know where she might go, kitten?” Eli strokes his hand down her arm.
She releases a breath and straightens. Her eyes focus on mine for a moment before she turns to Eli.
“I don’t know.” She draws him in close and whispers in his ear, close to mine. “She might go to the cabin. It’s hard to find and blocks cell phone signals.”
“She wouldn’t just leave you, princess.”
Her gaze swings back to me. She threads her fingers through my hair. “She wouldn’t.”
“We need to go somewhere we can talk.” Jack stands and helps Nico up.
“My mom texted while we were on our way here.” Nico stands with his crutches. “She wants me to come home. I have surgery in the morning.”
He swallows, and all of us understand. This surgery is make or break for his continued football career. He may not have had plans to go pro, but if it was offered, he would in a heartbeat.
Harper straightens and climbs off my lap. I miss the feel of her against me as she moves into Nico, wrapping her arms around him. He rests his head on hers.
“I love you,” she says.
“I love you, sunshine. We’ll find her.” He hands a crutch to Jack and wraps his arm around her, squeezing his eyes shut. “Webcam tonight. I want to be able to see you in the morning before I head in.”
She nods and breathes out as he releases her. “Have your mom send me updates.”
He smiles before he leans in to kiss her. “I will.”
“I’ll take him home and meet you guys.” Jack tosses his keys and catches them. “I’ll bring what we need.”
Harper releases Nico and gives Jack a hug. He whispers something in her ear before he lets her go.
“We should go.” Eli stands.
Harper’s eyes go wide as she stands in front of us. “Should we report this?”
Caden stands and cradles the back of her head in his hand. He shakes his head and she looks around.
“You brought your schoolwork with you, princess.” I join them and rub her back. “Caden has everything you need at his place.”
We lock the house and get into Eli’s car. This time Caden rides shotgun while I get in the back with Harper. Her gaze doesn’t leave her house. I can’t imagine what she’s thinking.
I don’t even want to think too deeply on it, but there was no blood. No evidence of a struggle. Hopefully, her mom made it out. If anyone could escape, it would be Jennifer.
Harper
We drive a little out of the city up to the place they rode bikes as kids. When Nico and I parked up here, that’s what he told me. I can’t process anything. Mom’s gone. Where? What happened?
The guys didn’t want me to go upstairs. Didn’t want me to grab my things. That terrifies me. But if they wanted to call the police, it would have had me in tears. No police. No body.
That means Mom is somewhere. And that means she’ll try to get ahold of me.
I walk to the edge of the road to the little wall that keeps people from careening down the hill. Wrapping my arms around myself, I stare down at our city.
Where is she?
Luke comes up behind me and rubs my arms. I lean back into him, grateful for his presence. None of us knows what to say. I refuse to think something bad happened to my mom. She’s just lying low. I’m waiting for Jack to see if she used our chat. Or even our new friend to get me a message.
It’s not safe to communicate directly.
I’m untethered without her. The guys are all I have right now and it’s fucking scary. Yes, we love each other, but how many other people have been in love and things still went south?
Jack’s car pulls into the spot next to Eli’s and he steps out with his laptop.
“She may not have left you a message if she was in a hurry.” Luke holds me.
I smile because he doesn’t know my mom. “She always leaves a message.”
I turn in his arms and cup his jaw. Something tells me Luke needs to hear this too.
“I will never leave you without telling you why.”
His blue eyes search mine.
Jack sits next to us on the wall and boots up his computer.
I rub the stubble on Luke’s jaw before stepping away to sit next to Jack. When I rest my head on Jack’s shoulder, he opens a secure connection on the computer. It takes a few seconds, but he finally brings up the chat we enabled so Mom could contact us at the house.
I hold my breath as he scrolls to the end of the chat.
Mom:
Poughkeepsie
I release my breath on a laugh.
Luke looks at it. “Your safe word for pickup?”
I take in a shuddering breath and smile up at him. “She’s safe. Type it back, Jack.”
He types it into the chat.
Mom:
Home not safe
I’m safe
Stay with someone safe
Is there anywhere that’s safe? I lift my gaze to Jack, Eli, Caden, and Luke. Between them and Nico, they’ll keep me safe, but what about her? And how long until she’s back?
Because she’s the safest place for me and now my world is turned upside down.
THE STORY CONTINUES IN THEIR WICKED SECRETS
AND
COMES TO A CONCLUSION IN THEIR FINAL SCORE