Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 83786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
“Problem is, there probably isn’t enough damage to the other truck to justify gettin’ it fixed.”
“Maybe they’ll come into the garage for an estimate anyway,” Casper said dryly. When Hulk looked at him like he was an idiot, Casper shrugged. “I’ve seen dumber shit.”
“You hear anything?” Dragon asked Gray.
“Nothin’ so far.” Gray shook his head once. “I’ll ask around again now that I’ve got a little more information to work with. Someone knows this guy. I’ll check the recordings again—see if a big truck with a winch is in any of them.”
“Good call,” Will said. “What the fuck is goin’ on? Harper?”
“Doesn’t make any sense,” Leo muttered.
“It will,” Casper said ominously. “Always does.”
“Let’s figure this shit out before anythin’ else happens,” Dragon ordered.
I was pretty useless as they looked over the truck and fucked with the tailgate, seeing if they could move it. I’d taken care of shit during the crisis, but now I felt like I was flailing. I could barely follow their conversation because my mind was in the kitchen with Harper.
“Go,” Leo said eventually, waving me off. “Check on Harp.”
I nodded and left before any of them needed me for something. The good news, if you could call it that, was they seemed to finally agree that someone was going after Harper specifically. Two instances where she could have been seriously hurt while no one else had reported anything were pretty clear.
Inside the house, Harper had moved to the couch and was surrounded by women. I hadn’t even noticed them in the kitchen beyond realizing there were other people in the room. Both of her grandmas, Farrah and Brenna, were seated in chairs, Molly was sitting criss-cross on the floor beside Frankie, her Aunt Trix was sitting on the arm of her mom’s chair, and Lily was next to Harper. They all quieted when I walked into the room.
“Hey,” Harper called, tilting her head back to look at me. “Are they all out there boohooing over the truck?”
“Pretty much,” I lied. “How’re you doing?”
She was wearing a different pair of glasses perched on the end of her nose so they wouldn’t touch the wound.
“Headache,” she said with a groan. “Pissed.”
“I bet,” I said, crouching down beside her.
“I put on pajamas so Mom could wash the blood out of my clothes.” She plucked at the baggy sweatshirt she was wearing. “But I can put some jeans on if you’re ready to go.”
“What?”
“I’m still staying at your house, right?” she asked, frowning and then wincing when it pulled at the cut. “I should wear jeans if I’m going to be on the bike—”
“You’re not ridin’ on my bike tonight,” I replied incredulously. “You’ve got a fuckin’ head wound.”
“It’s just a cut.”
“Not fuckin’ happenin’.”
“Well, my parents aren’t going to let me borrow another one of their cars,” she said in exasperation. “Probably ever.”
Lily made a choking noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.
“Doubt your parents are gonna want you to leave,” I said quietly, glancing at Lily.
Harper leaned forward a little bit. “I’m an adult,” she whispered like it was a secret. “They can suck it up.”
“Rude,” Lily said as the front door flew open.
I was on my feet, my hand wrapped around the grip of my pistol, when Harper’s Aunt Rose rushed inside.
“What the hell happened?” she asked, her voice just shy of yelling.
A gentle hand on my arm drew my attention, and I turned to find Trix.
“Relax,” she said calmly, watching me closely until I’d let go of the pistol and pulled my hoodie over it.
“I’m fine,” Harper said, letting Rose take off her glasses and look her over. “Some asshole rear-ended me, and I hit my face on the steering wheel.”
“Did he stop? I’ll kill him.”
“No, he kept going,” Harper replied. “And you’ll have to get in line, I think. He fucked up the back of my dad’s truck.”
“What an asshole,” Rose said, letting go of Harper’s face. She turned to Lily. “How you doing, Mama?”
“New gray hairs,” Lily said as Rose hugged her. “And a few years off my life.”
“No shit,” Rose said sympathetically. She turned to face the room. “Damn, it’s a party.”
“They were here before we’d even made it home,” Lily said, sitting back down.
“Mom said she’ll call you in the morning,” Rose said, plopping down between Harper and Lily. “I told her I’d text her as soon as I’d seen Harper with my own two eyes.”
“I’m fine,” Harper said with a groan. “This all could have been discussed in a group text.”
“So, the rumors are true,” Rose said, looking at me. “Interesting.”
“Leave Bas alone,” Harper ordered.
“Where were you?” Rose demanded.
“A few minutes behind her on my bike.”
“Not that it matters,” Harper cut in. “Since it’s not Bas’s responsibility to babysit me.”
She threw the blanket off her lap and rose from the couch. “I love all of you, and I’m so glad you came, but Bas and I are going to leave now. Discuss us at length.”