50. The Take
The Take
Caden
“What do we do?” Harper asks, her gaze falling on each of us in turn. “What do we need to focus on?”
“I need to check on Will Frank and find out his progress on the files.” Jack reaches into his pocket.
“I didn’t know if you still need this, Luke.
They sent over the files last night, and I copied everything to that drive.
It’ll hopefully shift your father’s attention.
Or get him to think you’re still under his thumb. Either way, it could be helpful.”
Shrugging, he holds out a flash drive. Luke smirks as he takes it. He looks it over like he can see the files written on it. Maybe looking for something his father will find fault in. His lips press together.
“I don’t want to play into my dad’s hands anymore.” Luke holds it out for Jack to take back. “I don’t want anything to do with him.”
Before Jack can take it, I push Luke’s hand back at him. “Keep it. We still have to go to your house tomorrow. It might be a good idea to butter up the old man if we run into him.”
Harper stands and wraps her arms around Luke’s waist, tucking in against him.
Luke curls around her, like he can protect her from everything coming for us.
Like him moving out will keep his father from her.
But we know better. We’ve pushed down this whole mystery surrounding her father, at least as much as we can.
Especially knowing our fathers might be the reason Sean Davidson is gone.
But that’s all in the past, and we just have to uncover what really happened that night in the quarry.
Right now, Zach is an immediate threat that has to be dealt with. We can deal with our fathers after we put him down.
And speaking of putting him down...
“We found a phone Zach ditched in the locker room.” I run a hand through my hair.
“A burner that he ditched. We didn’t want it on us, so it’s stashed for now.
We also found their camera in the girl’s shower like we suspected.
He sent some dumbasses to collect them, but the locked door thwarted them.
I sent you what info I could off the camera, Jack. ”
He nods, his blue eyes wary. “I doubt it will still be there Monday, but if it is, we’ll have someone report it.
Not that they’ll find anything to tell them who planted it.
It doesn’t have storage on it, just sends the live feed to a computer for storage.
But I may be able to see where the video was sent and grab the file.
Zach’s upped his security on his computer, but I can still get in. ”
He puffs his chest out with pride. There aren’t many who can stop Jack when he wants something.
Luke releases Harper, but for a second, she holds on like she’s afraid to let go. I meet Luke’s eyes. His are determined. We’re on the same page. This girl is everything to us. When I look at Eli and Jack and Nico, I see it in them too.
Whatever it takes, Harper makes it out of this unscathed.
“We need to take my mom to the quarry tomorrow.” Harper pulls away from Luke. He caresses her hair as she backs toward her seat between me and Jack. “The longer we leave it the more likely someone else might find that other SD card first.”
In the video from Sean, he mentioned recording the meeting and stashing the SD card somewhere only Jennifer could find. The trail cam must have been a backup, but there could be damning evidence in that quarry. Something that would free us of our fathers’ plans.
“We can do that.” Eli rubs his hands together between his knees as he lifts his gaze to us. “Anyone else hear anything tonight?”
“Penny is going to talk to Vicky.” Harper blows out a breath. “Ashley told her that Vicky is the one spying on her for Mr. Foster.”
“What does Penny plan to do?” Eli cocks an eyebrow at Harper. He wouldn’t want Penny to waste this opportunity.
Harper runs a hand over her hair and her eyes meet Eli’s. “She wants to know how deep Vicky’s loyalties go. We talked about it briefly, but she’s not sure how to handle it. They’ve been friends since kindergarten off and on.”
A memory of the photos on the wall at Harper’s house flashes through my mind. “You had friends in kindergarten, little nympho.”
Eli looks at me like I just grew an extra head.
“What?” Harper tilts her head at me like she doesn’t understand the words coming out of my mouth. Yeah, that was a stretch.
I smirk and reach out to brush a strand of her hair off her cheek. It’s been in the back of my mind, along with the desire to share my art with her and get her to share her art with me. So many things we still need to learn about each other.
“There’s a picture of you when you were little with a bunch of little girls.
I saw it on your wall. I didn’t get a close look at it.
” It never really registered after her birthday.
There was just too much going on afterward.
Is it important right now? Not really, but fuck, I want to know.
I want to know everything she hid from us for so many years.
Her brow furrows like she’s trying to remember. “I haven’t looked at those pictures in years. I’m not even sure if I remember who was in them. The only one I tried to stay friends with moved away.”
“Caroline?” Nico asks. My chest burns with jealousy. It’s like he has this insight into her past we’ll never have. I’m willing to share, but I’m fucking greedy and want all of her. Every thought. Every hope. Every dream.
Harper nods. “Yeah, but we didn’t keep in touch. I don’t even remember where she moved to.”
She turns to me and puts her hand on my thigh. Awareness sizzles through me. “What made you think of it?”
I shrug. “Girls, friends, kindergarten. I saw it on your birthday and wondered about it, but other things became more important. There’s a lot we still don’t know about each other.”
“We have time.” Harper smiles softly. Her eyes sparkle in the light, and I just want to take her in my arms and keep her there until all this bullshit is over with.
Time. A future. Together. Both are waiting for us on the other side of this crap.
I lower my head and brush my lips across hers. “We do.”
I just need to make sure Tanner and Zach don’t steal that time out from under me.
Harper
I sit back and listen absentmindedly while Jack tells the guys basic stuff he learned from hanging out with Mike and Emma and the guys tonight. Who’s been hanging out with whom. New couples. Breakups. That kind of thing.
A lot of names I’ve known for years, could even put a face to some. Did they ever know mine? Could they pick me out of a line-up? Am I just as invisible as I’ve ever been? No one knows me. They know me as the horsemen’s girlfriend. Not as Harper Davidson.
Caden asking me about the girls from kindergarten weighs on me. Why can’t I remember their names? It’s so long ago and really was less than a blip in my life. I couldn’t hold on to those girls.
Would Mom remember? It just became too much to try to see those girls outside of school.
They didn’t live within walking distance like Nico.
And they saw each other without me until they had all these inside jokes and shared experiences that I couldn’t catch up with. I wasn’t part of them. I got left out.
Caroline was the one I connected with the most, and she stayed my friend, at least at school, until her family moved away. I don’t even remember the day that picture was taken. I could text my mom about them, but why?
It’s not important in the grand scheme of things. Just more friends I lost along the way. I have Kenz now. And I got Nico back. And I have the guys. There’s potential with Penny and her group. So everything should be fine.
Caden squeezes my thigh, and I lift my gaze to him. Everyone else has stopped talking, and they’re all looking at me. I swallow as my gaze collides with Eli’s. His eyes soften.
“You’re either with us or with your mother tomorrow, kitten,” Eli says. He’s standing and looks me over like he’s trying to figure out a way to make me safer. If he could tie me to his bed to ensure my safety, he would. I have no doubt. And I’d enjoy every minute of it.
I nod and focus on him. “What’s left for tonight?”
After rubbing my back, Jack stands and leans over to press his lips against mine. I smile at the sparks flowing between us. I’ve been grateful to sleep with Jack the last few days and work on strengthening our connection.
Seeing him with his family, feeling safe in his home. Having my mom. This week turned out better than I thought it might.
“I need to go over to Will’s to find out what he’s been able to unravel.” Jack backs toward the door.
“Alone?” I stand and look at the others, because that doesn’t seem like a great idea. “Is that smart with everything that’s going on?”
“Jack will be fine, little nympho.” Caden pulls me onto his lap, wrapping his arms around my waist. I snuggle into his warmth. “It’s just a pit stop on the way to my house for the night.”
Jack smirks. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’ve got Mike riding shotgun and Emma tagging along with me. Emma will throat punch any threats to my person.”
He chuckles. Some of the tightness releases around my heart, and I feel a little better. If it weren’t for Ashley and Emma, tonight could have gone so much worse than it did for me, Kenz, and Penny.
Eli tips my chin up so our gazes can lock. I could fall into the endless abysses of his dark eyes forever and not need to come up for air.
“I need to find Penny. We need to discuss what information she’ll feed Vicky.” His thumb traces my lips before he takes his hand away.
“What will you tell her to do?” I ask.
Eli shakes his head. “I haven’t figured that out yet, but I’ll think of something. I’ll catch up to you guys in a few.”
He disappears out the door with Jack, leaving me with Nico, Caden, and Luke.
“What all do we still need to do tonight?” I rest my head back on Caden’s shoulder and look up at him.
“It’s time for bed, sunshine.” Nico yawns and moves to stand. Luke steps over to his crutches and then helps Nico to his feet. “We have a long day tomorrow.”
I sigh. “It feels like we’re not prepared for whatever they have planned.”
“We’ll know more in the morning, princess.” Luke walks over to stand in front of me. “We need sleep to be able to function. That includes you and Jack.”
I pout slightly as he helps me to my feet and Caden uses his hands on my hips to lift me. Luke doesn’t back up and our fronts brush against each other. Caden stands behind me, trapping me between their warmth.
My pulse races, and fuck, I’m ready to be done with trying to figure out tomorrow. I place my hands on Luke’s stomach, and his muscles tense beneath my fingertips. Anticipation swells inside me.
“You ready to go get off your feet, sunshine?” Nico smirks as his dark eyes take in the three of us, so fucking close, but separated by clothing.
A smile grows on my face. I have no idea what’s in store for me tomorrow, but I know tonight they’ll take care of me.
Caden’s phone vibrates. His hand squeezes my hip before he steps out from behind me to look at his phone. He sighs and lifts his green eyes to Luke.
Luke presses a kiss to my temple and steps over to Caden to see what’s on his phone. A little shiver runs through me as the cold closes in on me. Nico motions me over with a jerk of his head.
Our time together has been good too. Though I wish it was because of better circumstances. His knee was going to take time to heal, but he’s confident he’ll be playing football in the fall.
I cuddle into his warmth and turn to look at the others. Luke and Caden have their serious faces on. My heart skips a little.
“We need to get Eli and head out to the hill.” Luke runs a hand through his hair and looks me over with something close to regret. “We have to meet the asshole who took money to hurt Nico. He’s got information on Zach that he thinks might be worth something to us.”
“Worth how?” I ask. Nico’s jaw tenses, and I slide my hand over the muscle.
“He wants more money, little nympho.” Caden pockets his phone and focuses on me. “It better be good, or he’ll just end up with another ass kicking.”