“And we might not.”
Harper hated how defeated he sounded. “Well ... what other options do we have?”
“I don’t know. I need to think on it.”
“Then I’ll help you think.” She pressed her lips to his cheek. “We’ll find her. I have faith.”
“I hope you’re right. It’s not going to be a merry Christmas for anybody if we don’t find that kid.”
“We’ll find her.”
They stood together, quiet, and absorbed each other’s warmth and strength. The moment was exactly what they needed.
And then Zander opened the door and called out to them.
“Don’t do it in the yard. Are you animals? We’ve been waiting for you and have dinner prepared. It’s going to get cold if you don’t get your bottoms in here.”
Jared sighed as he rubbed his cheek against her head. “Just think. In a few days, we’re going to be living across the road and we’ll have no one to greet us this way after work.”
Harper snorted. “You don’t think his voice can carry across the road?”
“Good point.”
“ANYTHING?”
Shawn didn’t wait for Harper and Jared to get comfortable at the dinner table before asking the question.
“Not yet,” Jared replied, rubbing his hand over Harper’s back as Zander carried a huge tray to the table. “What’s that?”
“Roast chicken, potatoes, and carrots,” Zander replied. “It’s comfort food. I thought we could all use it.”
“Actually, you have no idea how excited I suddenly am for dinner.” Jared’s stomach picked that moment to growl, causing everyone to laugh. The nervous chuckle was enough to kill some of the tension hanging over the table.
“You can have first dibs on what you want,” Zander offered. “I have a feeling you’ve had a long day.”
“We’ve all had long days,” Jared argued, although he accepted the huge spoon Zander handed him. “You guys spent hours searching the town. I had to run back to the coffee shop to drag Harper home. Ally is living through hell. No one’s day has been good.”
“What about Luke?” Harper asked, smiling when Jared shoveled food on her plate before tackling his own. “You’re so chivalrous,” she teased. “You’re starving and yet you’re worried about me instead of yourself.”
Jared merely shrugged. “You’ve had a long day, too.”
“There’s plenty to go around,” Zander supplied. “I put everything in the slow cooker this afternoon, thinking we would be able to eat it when we found Zoe. It was between searches and I left to look again. I guess it’s a different kind of comfort meal now.”
“It’s exactly what the doctor ordered.” Jared offered Zander a heartfelt smile. They didn’t always get along, but they were both good men who recognized when to support one another. “Thanks a lot for this.”
“Just think, when you move across the street, you’re going to miss out on meals like this. Maybe you should’ve thought about that before you stole my best friend.”
Jared’s smile slipped. “Are you seriously going to start in on that again?”
“No.” Zander made a face. “I was simply messing with you.”
“You’re good at that.”
“I’m the king of that,” Zander agreed. “Tell us about Luke, though. I’m guessing that wasn’t the most comfortable of conversations.”
“That guy is a complete and total ... jerk,” Jared replied, opting for a much softer word than he was originally envisioning. “I don’t know how he can live with himself.”
“I take it he didn’t know anything about Zoe’s disappearance,” Harper noted.
“Nope, and he didn’t seem all that concerned. He said he doesn’t have anything to do with the kid and he came to an arrangement with Ally, so he doesn’t owe child support. He claims he has no motive. Technically, he’s right. He did allow us to search his home, although he wasn’t happy about it.”
“Obviously you didn’t find anything,” Shawn said. “Was he at all sorry about not being part of Zoe’s life? I mean ... I can’t imagine having a child out there, my own flesh and blood, living in the same town and never interacting with her.
“I’ve seen that little girl before and she’s adorable,” he continued. “She was with her mother a few days ago on Main Street. She had hot chocolate and it was all over her mouth, and when she smiled at me she looked so cute I wanted to buy her more chocolate.”
“She’s definitely a cutie,” Zander agreed. “At the Halloween festival, she insisted on being a princess even though I told her princesses aren’t scary. She said she was going to be the first scary princess and that I was allowed to be her prince if I promised to be a scary prince.”
Harper’s heart plummeted at the memory. “Yeah. She loved you, said you were handsome and definitely prince material.”
Zander snickered. “We have to find her. I can’t lose a member of my fan club.”
“We’re going to, but I don’t know that I believe Luke is at the center of this,” Jared said. “I mean ... the guy isn’t perfect. I would never say he is, but he seemed legitimately shaken when I told him what was going on.”
“Not shaken enough to rush out and look for his kid,” Zander muttered, bitter.
“No, not shaken enough for that,” Jared conceded. “He was hard to read, though. His place was full of empty pizza boxes and beer bottles. He didn’t exactly act as if he was living a great life.”
“Did he tell you anything of note?” Harper queried.
“Just that he was dating a woman named Jessica Hayden until recently. He broke up with her out of the blue, and was apparently rude while doing it. I think that’s his normal mode of operation, though. Do you know her?”
Harper nodded. “She’s a crisis counselor.”
“Yeah. I met her a few weeks ago when that girl died at the school, although I don’t really remember her. We stopped by her house hoping to interview her after we finished with Luke, but she wasn’t home.”
“Do you think she’s a legitimate suspect?” Shawn asked. “I mean ... are you thinking that maybe she took the kid as payback for him breaking up with her?”
“That would be a radical form of punishment,” Jared countered. “I’ve heard of weirder things, though.”
“What about dogs?” Zander asked. “Why hasn’t the state police sent dogs?”
“They did right before dusk. They searched the entire town. It was difficult because the atmosphere was roiled up thanks to all the searchers, but they didn’t have to go far.
“The dogs made it exactly one block down the street, to the closest intersection, and then they lost her scent,” he continued. “To me, that seems to indicate she got in someone’s vehicle. She was long gone before her mother even noticed she was missing.”
“If she got in a vehicle, that means she might not still be in town,” Harper said. “If it was a crime of opportunity, then whoever took her could be in another city. Heck, it’s been long enough for whoever it was to get out of the state.”
“True, but I think it was a local.”
“Why?”
“Because it took guts to call out to Zoe in the middle of the street when there were so many people around shopping,” Jared replied. “Whoever it was understood the rhythm of the town, that people were in the coffee shop ... and the other stores. They knew he or she only had a very small window to operate.
“Plus, you saw the video footage of Zoe,” he continued. “While it was difficult to make out her expressions, she didn’t look afraid when whoever it was called out and got her attention. Her body language didn’t reflect fear.”
“What does that mean?” Shawn asked.
“That perhaps she knew her kidnapper.”
To Harper, that was almost worse. “Do you think it was planned? I mean ... do you think someone was watching Ally and waiting for an opportunity to lure Zoe away?”
“I don’t know. We don’t have enough information to make that determinat
ion either way.”
“What does your gut tell you?”
Jared wasn’t sure he wanted to answer the question. He knew if he didn’t, though, Harper wouldn’t let it go. She was agitated, worked up, and she needed time to decompress. She would only do that if he somehow managed to make her feel better.
“I believe that Zoe is still alive, although I have absolutely no facts to back that up. It’s an assumption, and I won’t rule out other avenues of investigation because of that assumption.”
“Thank you for the clarification, Detective,” Zander drawled.
Jared ignored him. “I think whoever took her doesn’t plan on harming her. That might be wishful thinking, but it’s what I’m holding on to for the time being. I think you should hold on to it, too.”
Harper stared at him for a long beat and then nodded. “That’s the outcome I want, so I’m choosing to believe that, too.”
“Good.” He leaned over and gave her a soft kiss. “We’ll start from scratch in the morning. Until then, Zander made us a feast and we both need the fuel. I suggest we eat it and get a good night’s sleep.”
“I’ve had worse offers.”
“I’m holding on to the best offer until we’re alone in the bedroom.”
Harper brightened. “Fun.”
“Only for the two of you,” Zander sneered. “It’s not fun for me when he’s a pervert.”
“You’ll live.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
Five
A solid eight hours of sleep did wonders for Harper’s psyche. She was full of hope when she rolled over the next morning and planted a kiss on Jared’s stubbled jaw.
“We’re going to find her. I can feel it.”
Only half awake, Jared cocked an eyebrow and looked down at her pretty face. She was one of those women who didn’t need makeup to be beautiful. Her soul shone from within and made her the prettiest woman in the world.
“I don’t want you getting your hopes up,” he said quietly, hating the way her lips twisted. “I know you want to believe she’s okay — and I definitely want to believe she’s okay — but blinders aren’t a good idea. We have to hope for the best but prepare for the worst.”
“No.” Harper pulled away from him and slid out of bed. “I won’t do that.”
“Heart ... .”
“No.” She was firm. “I believe Zoe is alive and she’s out there waiting for us to find her. I won’t entertain the alternative. If you don’t like that ... well ... I guess we’ll simply have to agree to disagree. It won’t be the first time and I very much doubt it will be the last.”
“I’m not trying to be a downer.”
“I know. It’s almost Christmas, though, and I believe in miracles. After all, it was a miracle I found you, the world’s most perfect man.”
Jared groaned as he slapped his hand over his eyes. “You’re just saying that to manipulate me.”
“I’m saying that because it’s true.”
“You know exactly how to get me to agree with you.”
“I do,” Harper agreed. “Right now, I want you to agree to get in the shower with me. Then I want you to agree to a nice breakfast. After that, I want you to agree to bundle up because it’s cold out. As for the rest of the stuff, we’ll see how the day goes.”
Jared recognized he’d already lost so he merely shrugged. “I guess I can live with that.”
“I promise to make the shower worth your while.”
“I can definitely live with that.”
“Somehow I knew you would say that.”
ZANDER AND SHAWN WERE already up and in the kitchen when Harper and Jared joined them forty minutes later. Zander was briskly stirring pancake batter while Shawn grilled sausage links.
Jared’s stomach growled in response, causing Harper to laugh.
“You know, things are going to be different when we move into our house. I don’t cook. You’re going to be stuck with toast and cereal.”
“Um ... I’m coming over here for breakfast every morning,” Jared countered. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but my mornings will be exactly the same. The walk from the bedroom to the kitchen will simply be longer.”
“And what if you’re not invited?” Zander challenged.
“Oh, we both know that’s not going to happen. You’re going to want Harper over here as often as possible. That means she’ll be bringing me with her for breakfast.”
“Hey, I might want Zander’s world-famous breakfasts all to myself,” Harper countered, frowning when she heard her cell phone ring in the other room. “I have to get that in case it’s a job I need to turn down — we’re looking for Zoe, not ghosts, this holiday season if anyone cares — but I’ll be back to finish this argument.”
Jared watched her go with a mixture of amusement and adoration. Then he remembered he was in the middle of an argument. “You’re going to cook me breakfast and love it.”
“You stole my best friend. I’m not cooking for you if I don’t have to.”
“Oh, geez.” Shawn rubbed his forehead. “This is the argument that will kill me. I can feel it. It makes me think I’m like five minutes from an aneurysm.”
“Oh, you’re such a baby.” Zander poked his side. “This is barely an argument.”
“He’s right,” Jared said, amused at Shawn’s long-suffering expression. “This is like a mini-argument ... or a toddler argument, if you will.”
“The fact that you guys have named your arguments bothers me like you wouldn’t believe,” Shawn groused. “I thought things would get better when we separated into two households. Now I’m starting to wonder if they’re going to get worse.”
“They won’t.” Jared was sure of that. “I think we’re all going to get along better when we’re not on top of each other all the time.”
“Puh-leez.” Zander rolled his eyes. “You’re planning on being on top of Harper twenty-four hours a day once you move. I know how your perverted mind works.”
“I think you believe that because your mind is the one that’s perverted. In fact ... .” Jared lost his train of thought when Harper returned to the room. He could tell right away that something was wrong by her pallor. “What happened? Are you okay?”
Harper nodded as she gripped her hands together in front of her. “I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be fine?” Her voice was much shriller than normal, which caused Zander to tilt his head.
“You’re not fine. You haven’t been this pale since the time your mother invited you to a spa weekend and you found out you’d be staying in the same room. What’s wrong? Wait ... is that your mother’s gift again this year? If so, you can fake sick to get out of it.”
“That wasn’t my mother.” Harper chose her words carefully. “That was Michael Jordan.”
Jared blinked several times in rapid succession. “The basketball player?”
“Please tell me it’s the hot actor,” Zander countered. “He’s all sorts of ... yum, yum.”
“While I would normally take offense at you drooling over another man when I’m in the room, I have to agree about Michael B. Jordan,” Shawn said. “I’ll play boxing games with him every day of the week.”
“Michael Jordan the attorney,” Harper corrected. “He’s Quinn’s attorney.”
All three men came rushing back to reality.
“What does he want?” Jared asked, abandoning the coffee pot and moving closer to her. “Did he threaten you? Did he try to bribe you? I will have his law license yanked so fast.”
“I’ll do worse than that,” Zander snapped. “I’ll kick him in his private parts and make it so he can never have children. I won’t even feel a little sorry about it.”
“I’ll help him,” Shawn offered.
Even though she was feeling discombobulated, Harper couldn’t stop herself from smiling. “I love the different sorts of backup I always have at my disposal.”
“Yes, we’re all knights in shining armor,” Jared drawled. “Tell me what the attorney w
anted. If he’s trying to threaten you, I’ll handle it.”
“He’s not threatening me,” Harper said hurriedly. “He called to ask me if I’d be willing to stop by the county jail.”
“Why?”
“Because Quinn wants to see me.”
Zander, Jared, and Shawn exploded at the exact same time.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Shawn hedged.
“He tried to kill you, so he can rot,” Zander snapped.
“That’s not going to happen,” Jared boomed, his eyes firing.
Harper took a moment to absorb each reaction. Only Shawn’s didn’t irritate her.
“I’m fully capable of making my own decision on the matter.”
“Oh, really?” Jared’s tone was full of challenge. “And what have you decided?”
“I’m not sure yet.” Harper averted his gaze and moved to the coffee pot. “How fresh is this?”
“I just made it,” Shawn replied, earning a smile from her as she poured a mug.
“That’s good. I think I’m going to need a lot of caffeine today.” Harper focused on adding sugar and cream to her coffee before risking a glance at Jared and Zander. She found both of them standing shoulder to shoulder, determined looks on their faces. “Oh, good grief. I hate it when you guys actually agree on something. Somehow that’s worse for me, and I still can’t figure out why.”
“I know why,” Jared said. “If we both agree, that means you’re in the wrong. We outvote you, and you don’t like to be outvoted. If we’re split, that means you can usually manipulate one of us into your way of thinking.”
Harper scowled. “I think you’re making me out to be more of a megalomaniac than I really am.”
“And I think you’re not going.”
She sucked in a breath to calm herself. “Jared, you can’t stop me from talking to him.”
“Why would you possibly want to talk to him? He tried to kill you. Your whole relationship was a lie. He was using you as part of a grift.”
As much as the words hurt, Harper had come to grips with them weeks before. She felt no sympathy for Quinn. She simply had a few things she wanted to say to him.
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