He pulled me in for a hug. “Whatever you want, baby.”
I jolted when someone rang the doorbell, causing Chase to laugh. “Holy shit that was loud. I didn’t hear anyone pull up, did you?”
“Nope. It’s probably my surprise. Stay put,” he threw over his shoulder while he strolled to the front door. I could hear male voices and then, “Harper, I’ll be right back. Stay in there and don’t ruin it by trying to peek!” Damn him for knowing me so well.
What seemed like an extremely long period of time later, Chase yelled for me to come downstairs. I flew down the stairs and didn’t see him anywhere. I heard him laugh and then he yelled for me to come all the way downstairs. Descending to the lowest level of the house, I found Chase standing in the game room. “Follow me.”
He led me through the sliding glass doors, onto an impressive deck, down the paved driveway, to the floating dock, which had a wicked looking boat in it. Chase held up a set of keys and jingled them. “Surprise!”
I squealed and launched myself into his arms. “I can’t believe you rented a boat for the weekend! Thank you!”
He chuckled. “I didn’t rent it, baby; it’s mine.”
Still in his arms, I leaned back so I could see his face. “You bought a boat for a four-day weekend at a lake?”
He shook his head. “I’ve had it for five or six years, but I don’t get to use it as much as I would like. I keep it at a marina at a different lake, but I arranged to have it delivered here for us to use this weekend.”
I held his gaze and murmured. “That was very thoughtful. Thank you.”
It was almost a whisper, “I would do anything for you, baby.” His lips met mine in a deliciously soft and sweet kiss, a rarity from Chase. Our tender moment was short lived due to the sound of a rumbling engine approaching.
By the time Duke, Reese, Ember, and Dash were settled, Chase and I had been at the lake house for well over two hours, but Shaker and Hilarie had yet to arrive. They pulled out right behind us when we left Croftridge. Even if they stopped a few times for food and bathroom breaks, they still should have already been there. Chase didn’t seem the least bit worried, but I was. Something was off with Shaker, and they weren’t on the greatest terms when we left.
Excusing myself to the restroom, I ventured upstairs and grabbed my phone before locking myself in the bathroom. I dialed Hilarie and crossed my fingers. When her phone went straight to voicemail, I debated whether or not to call Shaker for a good five minutes before I said ‘screw it’ and dialed him. When his phone went straight to voicemail, my worry kicked up several notches.
Trying to maintain an even tone, I opened the bedroom door and called out for Chase to come upstairs. Clearly, I was not successful in hiding my trepidation when Chase, Duke, and Dash crashed into the room. “What’s wrong?” the cavemen triplets barked in unison.
Any other time I would have answered with a sarcastic remark, but I was too concerned about Shaker and Hilarie to dispense with my usual smartassiness. “Shaker and Hilarie should have been here by now. I tried to call them, and both of their phones went straight to voicemail. They left when we did, and we’ve been here for over two hours.”
Chase nodded and pulled out his phone. “Yo, need a location on Shaker’s bike.” Chase pulled the phone away from his mouth and used his hand to guide me, “Come on, let’s go back downstairs.”
“Thanks, brother. Send those to my phone,” Chase said before placing his phone in his pocket. He looked to Duke and Dash, “Byte is sending the location of his bike. He said it appears to be stationary. I’m going to go check it out. You two coming or staying?”
Ember rose from the couch. “You boys go. We’ll be fine until you get back.”
The boys looked unsure until Reese added, “Go make sure they are okay. We’ve got Titan, Ember, and two guns. Now go.”
I lightly coughed out, “Three guns.”
Convinced we would be safe in their absence, they piled into Dash’s Hellcat and drove off into the night.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Carbon
The entire time we were driving to the location Byte sent us, I assumed we would roll up to find Hilarie bent over Shaker’s bike while he plowed into her from behind. It wasn’t until the headlights illuminated Shaker’s bike propped up against a tree that a sense of unease set in. His bike didn’t appear to have a scratch on it, but the thing that didn’t sit well with me was its location. Instead of resting on the kickstand, Shaker’s bike was leaned against a tree. Why hadn’t he used the kickstand?
“What the fuck?” Duke uttered to no one in particular.
“Don’t know, but let’s go find out,” I said, pushing open the passenger door.
Surveying the surrounding area and the bike itself, I didn’t see anything that would help clue us in as to what had happened to Shaker and Hilarie. The bike had plenty of gas in the tank, and both tires were fully inflated. Turning to see if Duke or Dash had found anything, I noticed Dash had gone back to the car and had his phone to his ear.
“He’s talking to Phoenix,” Duke answered my unasked question. “I didn’t find shit. You?”
“Nothing.”
We continued to look around while we waited for further instructions from Prez. “Come on, brothers. I’ll explain in the car,” Dash yelled, sliding into the driver’s seat.