“You don’t?” Harper couldn’t help being surprised. “I thought you were going to give me crap about how much time I’ve been spending with Jared.”
Zander pursed his lips, looking Harper up and down. For a second – it was only a moment really – he saw her as the shy and gawky teenager he spent every waking minute with ten years before. That image dissolved, leaving behind the strong and self-aware woman he shared his life with today. “I think you’re happy with Jared.”
Harper swallowed hard, the serious tone of his voice knocking her for a loop. “I am happy with Jared. I didn’t know it was possible to be this happy.”
“I know.” Zander bobbed his head. “You’re in love with him.”
Instead of answering, Harper’s mouth dropped open and she worked her jaw in silent protest. “I hardly think … .”
Zander tilted this head to the side, cocking a challenging eyebrow as he crossed his arms over his chest in marked defiance. “You hardly think what?”
“We haven’t been dating long enough to be in love,” Harper supplied, staring at her fingers. “I mean … it’s too soon for that.”
“Do you feel it?”
“I … .”
“If you feel it, it’s not too soon for it,” Zander prodded. “Do you feel it?”
Harper’s face was hard to read as she stood, immobile, lips parted. She wasn’t sure how to answer.
“Do you not know the answer to the question or are you trying to decide what will be easier to tell me?”
“I … have no idea what you just asked.”
“Oh.” Zander nodded sagely. “You know the answer, but you’re not ready to admit it to yourself. That’s even worse.”
Harper made an exaggerated face, regrouping. “I think you’re talking simply to hear yourself talk right now. There can be no other explanation.”
Zander refused to lower himself to an unnecessary argument, especially when the conversation was so important and the potential for double pay was right around the corner. “You love him. Admit it.”
“I … love you.” Harper pressed her lips together and widened her eyes. “I love you very much. Well, I should say that I love you on most days. I’m not particularly fond of you right now.”
“If you don’t admit it to yourself, you’re never going to be able to say it to Jared,” Zander pressed. “Are you worried that he won’t say it back? If you are, I can promise you that’s not the case.”
“Do you remember Quinn?” Harper struggled to get the question out. She never wanted to talk about her ex-boyfriend, the one who died alone in the Michigan wilderness following an accident. The one she spent years searching for because she wanted to help his ghost cross over – and came up with nothing.
“I do remember Quinn,” Zander confirmed, his heart rolling. “I remember you tore yourself apart for a long time because you want to put him to rest. You have the best heart of anyone I know and you were desperate to make sure he crossed over to a better place. You didn’t love him, though.”
Harper didn’t argue with the assertion. “I didn’t love him. I think that’s what made things worse, harder than they should’ve been, when it came time to put his death behind me.”
“You love Jared,” Zander pointed out. “Quinn and Jared aren’t the same. Your relationship with Jared is nothing like what you had with Quinn. I don’t want to say that what you had with Quinn wasn’t real – that somehow doesn’t seem fair – but what you have with Jared is much stronger.”
“I know that.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
“I’m afraid.” The words escaped on a breathy note as Harper licked her lips. “If I didn’t love Quinn and yet I almost lost myself when he died, how am I supposed to survive if something happens to Jared?”
“Are you worried because he’s a police officer?” Zander asked, confused. “Being a police officer is going to always put him in some form of jeopardy, but Jared is a strong and capable officer. I think he’ll be okay. In the grand scheme of things, we find more trouble than Jared does.”
“And thank you so much for pointing that out,” Harper said dryly, rolling her eyes. “I’m worried because I’m pretty sure I would fall apart if something happened to Jared.”
“I’m pretty sure you would, too,” Zander said. “That’s not exactly news.”
“I think maybe it was a mistake to get this close to him,” Harper said. “I’ll end up with a broken heart if he leaves … if he dies … if he doesn’t love me back.”
“Oh, Harp, he already loves you back,” Zander said, striding forward and grabbing Harper’s hands. “You’re tying yourself up in knots over this, aren’t you? That’s why you allowed yourself to get worked up over Tina Dobson the other night when you would’ve regarded her as nothing more than an annoying gnat at any other time.”
Harper’s mouth dropped open. “Did Jared tell you about that? I apologized. I don’t know why she made me so crazy. I was perfectly fine when I ran into her the next day and she tried to pretend she had a date with Jared.”
Zander matched Harper gape for gape. “You didn’t tell me about that.” He smacked her hand. “You’re supposed to tell me about things like that. What were you thinking?”
“I was thinking that I acted like a fool the night of the retirement party and I wanted to put it behind me.”
“You weren’t acting like a fool,” Zander countered. “You were acting like a woman in love.”
“Is that different?”
Zander’s face lit up as a wide grin came out to play. “You and Jared are going to be happy. I have faith in that. You need to suck it up and believe, too. You guys are both wound up about this right now and it’s going to drive me crazy if you’re not careful.”
“And we both know your feelings are most important,” Harper teased.
“Exactly.” Zander tugged Harper to him so he could hug her, pressing his cheek against her temple as he clung tight. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”
“I know it is. I honestly do know that. It’s just … .”
“The anticipation is killing you,” Zander finished, amused. “I know the feeling. I promise this is going to work out, though. If I believed otherwise I would’ve smothered Jared in his sleep and buried him under the hammock the first time he tried to get fresh.”
Harper barked out a laugh as she pulled back, her heart lighter. “Are you ready to fight a ghost in the zoo? I still can’t get used to that, by the way. Where exactly is this ghost supposedly roiling up trouble? Oh, please tell me it’s in the penguin habitat. I love penguins.”
Zander’s grin widened. “Oh, didn’t I mention where exactly we’d be working? That’s so unlike me. It’s in the reptile house.”
Harper’s smile tipped down. “Snakes? It’s by the snakes? You know I hate snakes. They have those weird eyes … and sharp teeth … and forked tongues. You know I hate forked tongues! I can’t believe you did this without telling me, Zander. You … well, you freaking suck!”
“And yet you love me all the same.”
“I HATE YOU.”
Harper was a filthy mess as she trudged out of the snake house two hours later, dirt and grime spread across both cheeks as she clutched a used dreamcatcher to her chest and planted a dark scowl on her face.
Zander, who could always find the bright side of any problem, looked downtrodden and beaten as he followed his best friend. “We should’ve given this job to Molly and Eric.”
“They’re not responsible for facing off with ghosts,” Harper reminded him. “They’re supposed to back us up. Today of all days, by the way, you decided we didn’t need backup. I don’t know what you were thinking.”
“I was thinking that it’s the zoo and we both love the zoo,” Zander fired back. “And as for Molly and Eric, I can’t help but believe they’d both be better equipped to deal with snakes.”
Even though she was mildly irritated and certain she would be plagued by nightmares for the fores
eeable future, Harper couldn’t hide her smile. “I thought you fancied yourself a snake charmer.”
“You’re so crude.” Zander heaved out a sigh. “I prefer a different sort of snake.”
“And you say I’m crude,” Harper teased, giggling. “Am I to assume that you’ll only fight ghosts when trouser snakes are involved from here on out?”
“Oh, you made a joke!” Zander reached for Harper, extending his fingers so he could tickle her. He didn’t a get a chance, though, because a man stepped out from between two trees and cut off his avenue of attack, planting a beefy hand in the middle of Zander’s chest and knocking him off balance. “Hey!”
“Who are you?” Harper recognized danger almost instantly and took an involuntary step back, banging her head into a low-hanging tree branch as she looked the new arrival up and down with flat eyes.
The man, who stood out in the middle of the zoo (and only partially because he was dressed in an expensive suit), narrowed his eyes as he locked gazes with Harper. “Where is it?”
Harper glanced around, convinced she was on some sort of hidden camera reality show. “Where is what?”
“Hey!” Zander regained his senses, smoothed his hair, and jerked his head in the man’s direction. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I doubt very much he’s here to see the animals,” Harper answered, her eyes filling with fear as the strange man advanced on her. “I think you should call the police.”
“Screw that,” Zander argued, squaring his shoulders. “I don’t need the cops. I’m a lethal killing machine all on my own. I used to take karate when I was a kid. You remember that, right, Harp? You stay away from her!”
The stranger ignored Zander’s theatrics and remained focused on Harper. “Where is it? I know you were on the boat. You’re the only one who had a chance to take it. I want it!”
“Boat?” Puzzled, Harper wrinkled her nose. “Are you talking about the wrecked boat? The one the Reiters were on? Hey, your name isn’t Jack, is it?” Harper barely got the question out before the man grabbed her by the throat and slammed her into a tree, allowing his face to drift as close to hers as possible as he seethed out rancid breath and warm annoyance on the tip of her nose.
“Where is it?” he gritted out, spittle forming at the corners of his mouth.
Harper had no idea what she wanted. Even if she did, though, she couldn’t draw in breath to answer. Her face turned red as she struggled, her hands beating ineffectively against the man’s chest as she desperately fought to put distance between them. “Zander.” She barely managed to eke out the word as her eyes rolled up.
That’s when Zander sprung into action, throwing himself on the man’s back with a primal scream as he fought for his best friend, raining a serious of hard blows on the back of the man’s head and neck as he bucked back in an attempt to dislodge Zander.
“You’ll be sorry,” Zander yelled, digging his fingers into the man’s eyes and causing him to scream as he released Harper. “You’ll be sorry you ever met us.”
Harper sucked in three deep breaths, coughing as her lungs flooded with oxygen. The stranger had completely forgotten about her and turned his full attention to Zander, who opted to ride him like a horse he was trying to break in. Despite Zander’s courage, the stranger looked mean, furious even, and Harper knew Zander would be no match for his strength.
“Run, Harp!” Zander was nothing if not loyal. “Save yourself!” He was also a bit dramatic.
“Hold on,” Harper sputtered, searching the immediate area for something to use as a weapon. The only thing she found was a shovel, and when she grabbed it she couldn’t help making a face when the strong odor of excrement hit her nose. “This must be the shovel for the petting zoo.”
It made sense since the petting zoo was on the other side of the reptile house. Harper didn’t give it any further thought, instead tightening her grip on the shovel and eyeing the man trying to wrestle Zander to the ground. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Hurt him!” Zander barked. “Make him cry for his mommy! I don’t care if you hurt him, Harp! His feelings don’t mean squat to me.”
Harper licked her lips. “This is your last chance!”
“Shove that thing up his you know what, Harp!” Zander bellowed. “He’s about to ruin my shirt! It’s only two weeks old and still has that ‘new shirt smell’ I love so much. Do you care about me at all?”
Harper didn’t care about Zander’s shirt, but she did care about his health. She screwed her eyes shut and swung the shovel as hard as possible, cringing when the sound of metal clanging against a hard object assailed her ears. When she risked opening her eyes, she found the stranger prone on the ground and Zander leaning to one side, a hand on his knee as his chest heaved and he eyed her with overt distaste.
“What?” Harper asked, regrouping. “I saved you.”
“It took you long enough,” Zander grumbled, glaring at their attacker. “Who do you think this guy is?”
“That’s a very good question.” Harper chewed on her bottom lip as she turned her attention back to the unconscious man. “Do you think he’s in danger of dying? He’s breathing, right?”
Zander didn’t care whether he was breathing or not. “And I thought the snakes were going to be the worst thing that happened to us today,” he lamented. “You just knocked that guy out with a poopy shovel. Things are officially worse.”
Harper had no doubt about that.
13
Thirteen
“What happened?”
Jared didn’t bother greeting the Royal Oak police officer standing with Zander and Harper in the lobby of the department, instead skirting around him and pulling Harper into his arms so he could hug her. The hour-long ride from Whisper Cove to Royal Oak had felt much, much longer.
“Your message sucked and Zander was making so much noise in the background I couldn’t be sure I was hearing what I was really hearing,” Jared said, running his hand over the back of Harper’s head and studying her face. “All I heard was ‘zoo,’ ‘attack,’ ‘police department’ and ‘get here right away.’ I’m not going to lie, Heart, but that freaked me out a little bit.”
“I’m sorry.” Harper held her hands palms up. “It wasn’t my fault. It happened out of nowhere.”
“I’m going to need more information than that,” Jared prodded. “What happened out of nowhere?”
“Well, we were at the zoo … .” Harper started and broke off, shifting a pointed look in the direction of the police officer. “Do you mind? This is a private conversation.”
The officer, who was young and looked to be new on the job, rolled his eyes. “Oh, this conversation is private? How come that wasn’t the rule when I had to listen to you and your buddy wax poetic about what that poopy shovel did to the brain of the guy you knocked out? How come I had to listen to that?”
“I think it’s karma for your attitude,” Zander replied without hesitation, glaring at the police officer. “You’ve been nothing but a tool since we met you. You’re too young and cute to be a tool. You should really consider adjusting your attitude.”
The police officer stared at Zander, his face unreadable. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he said dryly.
“You do that.”
“Do you think I could have a few moments alone with them?” Jared asked, forcing a tight smile on his face. “They’re worked up and I need to make sure they’re okay.”
“I guess.” The officer didn’t look happy with the situation. “Are you dating one or both of them?”
Jared stilled, his mind momentarily going blank. “I’m sorry but … what?”
“This is Royal Oak,” the officer replied. “Nothing surprises me. You three kind of look as if you fit together.”
“Thank you,” Zander said primly as Jared rolled his eyes. “I’m much more attractive than him, but I appreciate that you took time out of your day to make sure he doesn’t feel bad. Self-esteem is so very important.”
/> “Right.” The officer bobbed his head and widened his eyes to humorous proportions. “I’ll be right over here waiting for you to finish talking.”
“Are they under arrest?” Jared asked, glancing around Harper’s shoulder and focusing on the police officer before he could shuffle too far away. “Are they facing charges?”
“They were at first. Three witnesses came forward and said the guy in the suit tried to choke the girl and this one jumped on him to stop it.” The officer jerked his thumb in Zander’s direction. “Those same witnesses said the girl had no choice but to hit the guy in the suit with a shovel so … they’re not facing charges. They do have to stick around and testify at the arraignment, though.”
“Um … okay.” Jared pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead and waited until he was sure the police officer was out of earshot before turning on Harper. “What happened?” He didn’t wait for an answer, instead tipping up her chin so he could study her neck. The faint outline of bruises – marks he was sure would be much more colorful in a few hours – marred her perfect skin. “Do you need to go to the hospital?”
“I’m fine,” Harper replied, grabbing his hand to soothe him. “I swear I’m fine.”
Jared gently grazed his knuckles against her face before sliding his arm around her shoulders and tugging her into his arms. He felt the overwhelming urge to touch her given the new details. “Okay, well, why don’t you try telling me the story from the beginning and we’ll go from there. How does that sound?”
“It would sound better if we could get some food,” Zander answered.
Jared ignored him. “So, how did you end up in Royal Oak?”
“Zander got a call for a job,” Harper supplied. “It was at the zoo. In the reptile house, if you can believe that. I’m going to need you to go through all of my clothing before we allow it in the house later, by the way, just to make sure no snakes accidentally hitchhiked without me knowing it.” Harper involuntarily shuddered. “I really hate snakes.”
“Except for trouser snakes,” Zander corrected.
Ghostly Wrecks (A Harper Harlow Mystery Book 6) Page 11