Ghostly Despair (A Harper Harlow Mystery Book 10)
Page 20
“He was out there digging a bunch of holes looking for the money, which explains why Betty was convinced the scarecrow was alive,” Jared explained. “She kept seeing movement. It was David, not the scarecrow. I have no proof of this, but I’m going to guess David is the one who pretended to make the scarecrow talk to scare her away. Betty claims otherwise, that the scarecrow was doing it, but that’s the only thing that makes sense to me.”
“What was Quinn’s plan? I mean ... my understanding is that he killed David. How did he think he would find the money without him?”
Harper stirred. “That’s where I came in. He thought David’s ghost would tell me where the money was so he could simply dig it up and be on his merry way.”
“What was he going to do with you?” Zander asked.
“He said I could go with him, but we all know that’s not what he had planned. If I found the money, he would’ve killed me. Even if I didn’t find the money, he would’ve done the same. He had no problem killing David. He didn’t even blink when he did it. It was ... nothing to him. I was nothing to him either.”
“Heart, you can’t get yourself worked up about this.” Jared snagged her hand and pressed it to his chest. “He was a sociopath. You couldn’t have known.”
“Really?” Harper wasn’t convinced. “I was with him for a decent amount of time. It seems to me that’s something I should’ve picked up on.”
“I think you did pick up on it. You simply didn’t realize it. You said it yourself, you were young. You didn’t want to see evil in the world, so you simply looked the other way. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
It didn’t feel that way to Harper. “I still think I should’ve known.”
“You can’t go back and change things.” Jared’s fingers were gentle when they shifted a strand of hair behind her ear. “The most important thing is that you’re okay. You have no idea the terror I felt when Molly called to tell me what was going on. I was sure I would get there too late, and the thought wrecked me.”
Harper managed a small smile. “You came through. At first, I was freaked out when Mel grabbed me and dragged me into the stalks. Then I saw you and knew everything would be okay.”
“All I could think about was getting to you. It took every ounce of self-restraint I have not to race across the field and kill Quinn with my bare hands. That walk through the stalks was the longest of my life.”
“Well, it’s over now.”
“It definitely is.” Jared wrapped his arms around Harper and held her tight as she curled into him. He could read the exhaustion on her face. She needed quiet time to think and decompress. He would have to force Zander into taking a step back to make sure it happened, but he was prepared and ready when the right moment showed itself.
“What about Molly?” Shawn asked, clearly trying to change the subject. “Is she okay?”
“Molly bolted into the stalks the second Quinn appeared,” Jared answered. “She reacted out of instinct and is feeling guilty for leaving Harper.”
“That’s stupid,” Harper muttered. “She did the exact right thing.”
“Which is what I told her. She’ll be fine once she rests for a bit. I think the same can be said for you.”
Harper lifted her chin and met his eyes. “Yeah. I’m tired. I’m also cold. I think I’m going to hit the bathroom and take a long bath. I mean ... if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind. I think it’s a good idea.” Jared gave her a soft kiss, one that promised a myriad of things with one gentle touch. “How about I order some Chinese food and we eat in bed tonight, huh? How does that sound?”
“That sounds like something I’m not invited to,” Zander groused.
Jared ignored him when Harper nodded in gratitude. “Good. I’ll place the order. By the time you’re done in the bathtub, the food will be here. I figure we can watch some television and shut out the rest of the world.”
“That’s a good plan.”
Jared waited until Harper shut her bedroom door before speaking again. “Zander, we need to talk.”
For his part, Zander was expecting Jared to start barking orders. That didn’t stop him from making a pinched face. “Oh, I hate it when you use that tone.”
“I know you do.” Jared was calm but refused to back down. “I want you to leave Harper alone for the rest of the night. Tomorrow morning, though, I’m going to temporarily suspend my rule about you climbing into bed with us. I think that will make Harper feel better. I want you to wait until after nine, though. Everyone has the day off and I want to sleep in.”
Zander was instantly suspicious. “You’re inviting me into bed with you?”
“There’s no need to make it sound dirty.”
“I’m simply asking for clarification.”
“I want you to make Harper laugh,” Jared corrected. “She’s not ready for it yet. She will be tomorrow. You’re the best man for the job.”
Zander puffed out his chest. “That could be said about almost anything.”
“Yes, well, I’ll keep that in mind.”
“What about Quinn?” Shawn asked. “What’s going to happen to him?”
“He’s in our jail until Friday. Then he’ll be transferred to a federal facility. I believe he has a lot of questions to answer.”
“Will Harper have to testify?”
“Probably. I expect the national news media will be all over this place once the story breaks, too. It’s too big not to draw a lot of attention.”
“We’re not going to be able to shield Harper from that,” Zander noted, serious. “She won’t be able to get away from people wanting to interview her. She won’t like that.”
“We’ll do what we can to protect her, but I’m not sure how that’s going to work either,” Jared admitted. “We have a few days to make a plan. This won’t break until Friday. That’s good for us.”
“Yeah.” Zander narrowed his eyes as he studied the police officer. “What about you? How are you feeling?”
“Thankful. I thought I might lose her.”
“Some things are meant to be,” Zander countered. “You and Harper are meant to be.”
“I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
“Yeah, well, you saved my best friend. You’ve earned it.”
“Yeah.” Jared exhaled heavily and rubbed his forehead. “While I have you in a magnanimous mood, there’s something else I want to tell you.”
“What?”
“I’m proposing to Harper over Christmas.”
Whatever he was expecting, that wasn’t it. Zander jerked up his chin. “What?”
“Don’t act so surprised. You knew it was coming. We’ve talked about this before.”
“Yes, but I didn’t know it was happening this fast. Why now?”
“Because there’s no reason to wait,” Jared replied simply. “All I could think about during that drive to the field was how much I love her, how I can’t live without her. Those feelings aren’t going to change. Not a month from now ... or a year from now ... or a decade from now. She’s it for me, and I want to make it official.”
Instead of melting down like he expected, Jared was pleasantly surprised to see Zander fighting off tears. They were of the good variety, though, not the whiny.
“Are you okay with that?” Jared asked pointedly. “I want to make sure before I move forward. I would rather deal with meltdowns now instead of in the future.”
“I guess that depends,” Zander hedged, recovering quickly.
“On what?”
“If I can help you pick out Harper’s ring.”
Jared’s lips curved up. In truth, he’d always wanted the persnickety man with him for that particular task. “Sure. As long as you promise not to give away my plan. I want to make it something special.”
Zander mimed crossing his heart. “I promise. I would never ruin this for her. I love her, too.”
“I know you do. That’s why we’re going to do this togeth
er.”
“Cool.” Zander shot Jared an enthusiastic thumbs-up. “By the way, you know I’m going to be obnoxious when it comes to finding the exact right ring, don’t you?”
“I never doubted it.”
“As long as you’re aware.”
Shawn snorted at the two men, amusement lighting his handsome features. “You guys are going to be a fearsome twosome going forward. I’m looking forward to watching it unfold.”
“That makes two of us,” Zander said, his eyes sparkling.
“Three,” Jared corrected. “There are three of us in this, and we’re going to make all of Harper’s dreams come true. I’ll settle for nothing less.”
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Acknowledgments
I’m a romantic at heart. A true romantic. I love the idea of a happy ending, so much so I have trouble writing a sad one. The world is sad enough. I like escaping in fiction. That’s just me. I like sarcasm and snark – but I’m not sure a sad ending is in me. If you’re looking for an edge like that, you’re probably looking in the wrong place. Just FYI.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
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