Harper jumped up from her kitchen chair. “Deal. Now, let’s grab dinner. I’m starving.”
“Sorry, I can’t tonight. Ellery and I have dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Cummings.”
Harper shrugged more to fend off the sudden feeling of loneliness than to shrug off her brother. “More hush puppies for me then.”
Harper hugged her brother tightly. “I love you. Thank you for taking such good care of me.” What was happening to her? She was all emotional. She stepped back and grinned at Gavin’s shocked face. “I can still beat you up.”
“I love you too, Harper. Don’t do anything stupid for a week to let your brain heal. Okay?”
“I’ll try.”
Gavin groaned. “Harper!”
“You know me. Stuff happens.”
“Try really, really, really hard. Okay?”
“Cross my heart.” Harper made a little X over her heart with one finger as she crossed her fingers on the other hand that was hidden behind her back.
Gavin looked at her as if he knew she was lying but kissed her cheek and didn’t argue with her. This blow on the head was messing with her, making her emotions go haywire. Telling her brother and cousins she loved them. Feeling lonely for the first time since she’d sealed off her heart. Missing Dare. Ugh. Something was really wrong with her.
“Harper?”
Harper looked up from her thoughts as she walked toward the Pink Pig. Her hands were buried in the pockets of her black hoodie, her feet encased in boots, and the dark indigo blue jeans made her realize she looked as dark as her thoughts.
“Hey, Edie. Getting dinner?”
“Yeah. Want to join me?”
“Yes.” Harper almost rolled her eyes again. She loved Edie like part of the family, but she’d never jumped at eating with someone before like this. It was like she was desperate. No, not desperate. She was scared.
Harper stopped walking as reality smacked her so hard her head hurt. She was scared. She was scared of the emotions she hadn’t felt since college roaring back to life. She was afraid of being used again. She was afraid of being the one left broken and alone again. She remembered what it was like to be broken and alone. She remembered swearing she’d never again need a man to make her whole.
“Harper, are you okay? You’ve gone pale.” Edie rushed forward and grabbed Harper’s arms as she looked at her face.
“No, Edie. I’m not okay. I love him. I love Dare.”
“Oh, crap.”
Harper’s eyes focused back on Edie and then they both burst out laughing. Edie slung her arm around Harper’s shoulder as they walked into the Pink Pig. “Come on, let’s hash this out over some hush puppies.”
Harper took a deep breath of the fresh hush puppies that had just been placed on the table. Edie hadn’t asked anything else. Instead, they had talked about how Harper was feeling physically and what Edie had been up to until Harper had eaten her first hush puppy.
“So you love him. Do you think he doesn’t love you?”
Harper shook her head and took another bite of the hush puppy. “He told me he loved me when he put me in the helicopter.”
“Oh. Then what’s the problem?”
“He’s ghosted me since then. He told me he’d find out who’s responsible for hurting me and make them pay. Then he told me he loved me and left.”
Harper saw Edie struggling not to smile. “I’m sorry. He’s just so perfect for you.”
“Perfect for me because he’s left me hanging?”
“Harper, he’s proving he’s worthy of you.” Harper saw the tears forming in Edie’s eyes. “Shane did the same thing. Shane liked me but didn’t want to break some dumb bro code about dating your best friend’s sister. He finally made his move when my car broke down. Walker couldn’t get to me and sent Shane instead. While I was waiting for him, some creep came up to ‘help’ me. Well, this guy was not helping me with my car. He’s hitting on me. Touching me. Flirting. It’s clear I’m uncomfortable and I’m telling him that. I was about to knee him in the balls when Shane pulled up.
“He took one look at the situation and told the guy to back off. The guy didn’t. He said some stupid stuff about me going to reward him for saving me as he thrust his pelvis at me. Shane took him down fast. He didn’t hurt him, but he let the man know he could snap his arm in a heartbeat. Shane lectured him on respecting women and then sent him off with his tail tucked. Then he said, ‘If I were your boyfriend, I’d treat you as my equal and show you through everything I did how much I love you and that I was worthy of your love.’”
“And did he?” Harper asked as she leaned forward. Edie hadn’t talked this much about Shane in a long time and Harper had never heard this story before.
“He did. Every day.” Edie turned her head away. Harper still saw the tears Edie was shedding as she tried to wipe her face dry.
“I’m scared.” It was barely a whisper but Edie heard her.
She turned her head back to Harper and sniffed. “Of what?”
“What if he’s using me? What if he leaves me? What if I need him to feel complete? I swore I’d never be that woman again. That woman who was nothing without a man.”
Edie shook her head and then took a deep breath, getting her own emotions under control. “Love is different. It’s not a desperate need of insecurity. It’s two souls wandering the world looking for their match and finding it. It’s a realization of what feeling complete is and you’re lucky you found it.”
“I miss him, Edie.” The admission hurt Harper to say.
“Of course you do. Dare holds a piece of your heart. You can miss him and still be you. You’re not trying to be what he wants you to be. You’re being you and he’s being him. You both love each other. You miss each other. You know you support one another. That’s the difference, Harper. You supported your ex, but he didn’t support you. You made yourself be who your ex wanted you to be. Has Dare ever done that?”
“No. Never.”
“Has he seen you at your best?”
Harper thought about it and then nodded. “He has.”
“Has he seen you at your worst?”
“Yes.” Harper thought of how she’d buried her head in his chest and cried after Gator found her.
“Did he tell you he loves you after seeing both your best and your worst?” Edie asked as if she already knew the answer.
“Yes.” The panic was dying down and the fear that was she would repeat past mistakes was similarly fading away and being replaced with a sense of freedom to be completely herself.
“Do you still want to talk about it?”
Harper shook her head. “No. I think I’m good now. Thank you, Edie.”
“I’m happy for you, Harper. Embrace this love with all the fire I know you have inside of you, and you’ll never know a bad day again. No matter what happens, you’ll be able to say you loved and were loved.”
Harper reached across the table and covered Edie’s hand with hers. “You can have that again, Edie.”
“No. I’d be selfish looking for another love like that. What Shane and I had was forever.”
“That doesn’t mean you can’t find room in your heart for someone else. You’ll still love Shane forever and some man will be man enough to love you and Shane’s memory.”
Edie smiled a ghost of a smile and looked away again. Suddenly the door to the restaurant flung open as Quad and several of the high school basketball players rushed in.
“Ghosts!” they yelled at once.
“Quad, calm down. What’s going on?” Harper asked. She and Edie and half the place were already out of their chairs.
“We were having a team meeting at the church. I swear there were sounds coming from the pits of hell.” Quad’s eyes were frantic as the team members told people around them what they’d heard.
“I told you the ghosts have been unsettled,” Skeeter told her as he came up to question Quad.
“Is Reverend Winston there?” Harper asked the players.
Quad might be six and a half feet tall, but right now he looked like a scared little boy. “No. He left for dinner at Lowcountry Smokehouse. We came here because it was closer.”
“Skeeter, you go get the reverend,” Harper ordered.
“What are you going to do?” Skeeter asked.
“Going to see if things really are going bump in the night.”
“I’ll come with you.” Edie stepped up beside her before they both started their ghost hunt.
27
Dare slowly sipped his soda as he watched the bar. The bottle with the white top was still sitting there. Dare wanted to watch it before he stole it. He wanted to see who came for it and where they took it.
It was hard to focus on it, though. While he spent hours at the bar talking to Brody or dancing with college girls looking for an off-campus party, his thoughts were on Harper. She hadn’t texted him, but he knew she wouldn’t. She wasn’t that type. He just wanted to wrap up this investigation and get back to her. Tell her properly that he loved her and wanted her in his life forever.
“Darrell.” Dare turned to see Isabella take the stool next to his. “What are you doing here tonight?”
“Brody was telling me about how tonight’s a good night for the club. I thought I’d check it out. Have a little fun.”
Isabella’s hand settled on his knee as she leaned into him. “If you want fun, you can do a lot better than some inexperienced sorority girl. I bet a woman with more power than you, submitting to your every desire, would turn you on more than the whole group of them ever could.”
“And you’d do that? Submit to me?” When she nodded, he leaned closer too. She’d been right. This would have turned him on before. He liked taking control. Things had changed, though. Harper had changed them for him. There was something exhilarating being with a partner who was just as dominant as you were. He felt no desire when he looked at Isabella. “Why me? I see your boy toys circling you. I’m nothing like them.”
“That’s why. They’re toys. You’re a man, and I bet you can make your own decisions. I do that all day long. Do you know how good it feels to not have to direct everything, including sex?”
Dare did understand what she was saying. He’d been with powerful women before and they, too, had desires similar to Isabella’s. However, his mind was solely on Harper.
Out of the corner of Dare’s eye, he saw C.J. glaring at him. Dare also saw him turn his back on them and reach for the bottle with the white cap.
“I can make my own decisions as well as yours. First lesson. Never offer a man like me something I can easily take. I need a challenge.”
“What does that mean?” Dare saw her shiver in anticipation, but he was more concerned with C.J. walking out from behind the bar.
“It means you have to find a way to make me chase you.” Dare leaned forward and placed his lips by her ear. “Because the best part of the chase is being caught. Now, run.”
Isabella practically leapt from the stool. Her eyes were dilated and her chest rose with her increased heart rate. “When will you catch me?”
“When I’m ready.”
Isabella straightened her skirt, gave him a lust-filled last glance, and sauntered out of the club. Dare blended into the dancers with Isabella already forgotten as he kept an eye on C.J.
“Come on, weasel. Lead me to your burrow.”
“You go inside the church. I’m going to go around back and see if anyone is messing with the basement doors.”
Edie stopped and shook her head. “Remember what happened last night? I can’t let you do that.”
“I won’t be surprised this time. I promise.”
Harper took off at a slow jog. She pressed herself against the side of the church, and as she came to the back of the building she stopped and listened. Taking a deep breath, she dropped to the ground and slowly peeked around the corner.
There wasn’t a single soul, living or otherwise.
Harper pulled her black hoodie up and over her head and made a crouched run for the cemetery. Her head wasn’t a fan of running.
Using the headstones for cover, Harper made it to the middle of the cemetery where a giant oak tree stood covered in Spanish moss. Harper took cover behind the trunk and looked back at the church and watched. She saw lights being turned on and off as figures passed by windows. Most likely Edie, Skeeter, and Reverend Winston, based on the systematic way the lights were being turned on and then off.
An odd creaking sound seemed to echo from behind her. The trouble was the only thing behind her were headstones and the river. Harper reached up to the nearest limb of the oak tree and pulled herself up. Hugging the trunk five feet off the ground, she used the limbs and the moss to hide her from view as she surveyed the area below her.
“Ghosts?” Harper gasped in disbelief. Figures in flowing white seemed to rise up from the earth. Only, these ghosts didn’t float away. They shoved something on the ground and walked to the river where they pulled back a black cover to reveal a large shallow boat. Harper knew what kind it was. Appropriately, it was the professional Stealth Ghost. Used mostly for fishing because it could run with complete silence, it could also hold almost three thousand pounds of cargo.
Harper watched as the men turn the motor on and quietly maneuvered through the low tide—a low tide that would otherwise make it impossible for bigger boats to navigate.
She waited until the boat was out of sight before she climbed down from the tree and quickly walked to where she’d seen the men appear from the ground. Harper kept to the gravestones in case she needed to dive behind one for cover but was soon standing where the men had been.
How did they just appear out of the ground like that? Harper began walking back and forth, moving a little closer to the river with each down and back.
Thump
Harper looked down at her feet. She lifted her foot and stomped it down.
Thump
Harper dropped to the ground, and when her hands felt the grass, she knew something was off. It was green, cut to look like grass, but it wasn’t grass. It was artificial turf.
She’d found something. Crawling on her hands and knees, she groped around until she could feel where the real grass started and the fake grass ended. It wasn’t more than a six-by-six-foot area. But how did they get out from it?
Harper reached under the blanket of artificial grass and began to pull it back. There in the middle was a four-by-four-foot piece of heavy wood.
Harper pulled out her phone and called Dare. This had to be part of his investigation and was probably why she’d been hit on the head.
“Come on,” Harper muttered as the phone went to voicemail. “Dare, I’m behind the church and I found some artificial turf about fifteen feet from the river. I pulled back the turf and found a piece of wood. I’m betting it’s covering a ladder into a pit or something. I saw two men dressed as ghosts emerge not ten minutes ago and get into a Stealth fishing boat and leave. I’m going in.”
Harper dug her fingers into the dirt until they were under the wood piece. Then she lifted with all the strength she had. Her head pounded from the exertion and her fingers felt like they were strained to the max. She got it upright and then it fell with a resounding crash onto the blanket of artificial turf.
Harper turned on her phone’s flashlight, and with shaking hands, she looked down at a ladder leading into a tunnel. Not just any tunnel, but a very old stone tunnel. Was this an entrance to the pirate tunnels?
Harper turned and strode toward the river. Then she made a left and entered a small grove of trees. There the stone steps descending into the ground were covered with a door so thick it had to weigh a hundred pounds. The door wasn’t vertical, but horizontal along the ground. The hinges were in place and the locks Skeeter used to keep the tunnels protected were also still in place.
Harper made a beeline for the hidden tunnel entrance when her foot sank in loose dirt and she went down hard on her hands and knees. From her position nea
r the ground, she saw at least ten mounds in the earth that were unnatural. Had whoever accessed the tunnels searched for them first? This had to have been the bad guys. Reverend Winston would never have allowed it. Heck, Skeeter would have skinned anyone who tried to steal from the tunnels.
Harper crawled on her hands and knees, finding two additional tester spots in the ground before making it to the new entrance. She pulled out her phone and sent a text to Edie. She didn’t wait for a reply. Harper felt the excitement of discovery driving her on as she was already making her way down the ladder.
As soon as her feet hit the sandy ground, she turned on her flashlight. Edie was texting, but Harper had told her where she was and wanted to explore. The ground here wasn’t as solid as it was farther up the cemetery. Reverend Winston had shown them some of the tunnels when Darcy and Wade had found clues to a pirate treasure. She had them mapped in her head, but they were at least two hundred yards to the north.
Harper swept her light until she had seen all of her surroundings and had oriented herself. There was a dolly against the stone wall to her right. Behind the ladder would lead to the original door. In front of the ladder was more of the tunnel that would ultimately head to the church. According to Skeeter, there were lots of dead ends in these tunnels, making them more of a maze. Harper shone the light on the dolly and then moved it to the ground by its wheels. The softer sand-dirt floor showed clearly where the dolly had been. With the flashlight in her left hand, Harper set out to follow the tracks.
28
Harper only had to walk about ten feet before she found a door that was obviously new. She felt around the doorframe and cursed when she found no key. The door had been bolted to the wall with big thick hinges. On the other side about a foot above and below the handle were two steel latches with padlocks. The latches were secured to the stone wall with bolts.
Harper put her hand to the door and felt the thickness of the wood. She was used to her bar door that was over a hundred years old and made of solid wood, three inches thick. This door didn’t even come close. She smiled as she looked at the door again. They’d brought in a cheap, premade door and hung it the best they could. Great-Aunt Marcy always said things weren’t made like they used to be, which meant . . .
Fierce Shadows: Shadows Landing #4 Page 21
