Halfway to the back side of Harper’s house, our phones started ringing, all of them. I pulled mine out and accepted the call. My ear was filled with Byte shouting, “Get away from the house! Now! Go! Go! Go!” The five of us started running as a group. We hopped on our bikes and peeled out of the driveway. I was about to stop and ask where we were going when the sky brightened, and I felt an intense heat warm my back. Stopping in the middle of the road, I looked back over my shoulder to see Harper’s house in flames.
“She wasn’t in there!” Phoenix shouted. I felt his hand clasp my shoulder and shake me. “She wasn’t in there! Byte had the true live feed up. That’s how he knew the house was about to go up in flames. She. Was. Not. In. There!”
I nodded and turned my head to find Duke staring up at the house. Copper was in between Judge and Duke, a hand on each shoulder, I assumed having the same conversation Phoenix just had with me. “We have to find her, Prez,” I said, the desperation evident in my plea.
“We will. Let’s get back to the crisis center before the pigs show up and try to pin this on us,” Phoenix said, climbing back on his bike.
Back at the crisis center, I didn’t know what to do. Only one thought was on my mind, and it played over and over.
We have to find her.
We have to find her.
We have to find her.
We used Harper’s office as a makeshift command center. The small space was cramped with everyone piled in there, but we made it work.
“Has anyone heard from Shaker? And what about her little friend that’s been fucking him? Anybody else think it’s strange that they seem to have vanished as well?” Phoenix asked the room.
I jumped to my feet. “You think he has something to do with this?” I growled.
Phoenix pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. “I don’t know what to think. Harper’s missing. He’s missing. Hilarie’s missing. That can’t be a coincidence, brother.” He directed his attention to Byte. “Find anything yet?”
Byte never took his eyes from his computer. “I can’t find shit on a Hilarie Thaxton in Sugar Falls. Are you sure that’s her name?”
“Yes, I’m sure, but screw the computer search. She works here. There has to be something in this place with her address listed on it,” I replied.
I was right. Less than five minutes later, we had the address of Hilarie Thaxton and were heading to her house.
Her house was empty, as in completely fucking empty. No clothes, no food, no furniture. If she had lived there, she sure as shit didn’t anymore. I clenched my jaw and balled my fists, feeling my control slowly slipping from my fingers. We had nothing. Not a damn thing to go on. Anyone could have her, and they could be doing…I couldn’t even complete that thought.
I turned to face my brothers. “What do we do now?”
Phoenix looked at me pointedly and opened his mouth to speak, but his phone ringing stopped him. Phoenix answered, and Byte’s voice traveled through the silence surrounding us. “Get back here now. I’ve got something.”
Byte stood when we entered the room. Spazz had moved to the other side of the desk and continued pounding furiously on the keyboard in front of him. He made eye contact with Phoenix and ever so subtly lifted his chin in my direction. Before Phoenix could make a move in my direction, I held up my hand. “I’m good, but I won’t be if you don’t spit it the fuck out.”
“Does the name Valarie Vine mean anything to you?” Byte cautiously asked.
“She’s the daughter of Vincent Vine, the fucker that kidnapped Harper,” Judge exclaimed.
Duke furrowed his brow in confusion. “She’s dead. Why are you asking about her?”
“What?” Byte asked. “How do you know she’s dead?”
“Because I had a private investigator keep tabs on her and her aunt and uncle. Not long after she went to live with them, she tried to kill herself and was placed in a psychiatric hospital. She was released when she turned 18 and seemed to be making a life for herself. She stayed in the same town, got an apartment, and found a job. A few months later, she was found dead in her apartment. The private investigator called to let me know and even sent me copies of the newspaper with the obituary,” Duke explained.
“What about the aunt and uncle?” I asked.
“They’re both deceased,” Spazz said. “The uncle died five years ago, and the aunt died two years ago. Both from natural causes. I also have Valarie Vine’s obituary pulled up.”
“Again, why are you asking about her?” Duke demanded.
“Because that name keeps popping up. Valarie Vine is listed as the owner of this building as well as Hilarie Thaxton’s house. The property taxes are mailed to Valarie Vine at a PO Box in Arizona, not far from where you and Harper used to live.”
“So, what? We think someone is impersonating Valarie Vine?” I asked.
“Byte and Spazz, keep searching. Brothers, let’s lay out what we know,” Phoenix said and began writing out the facts on Harper’s bare office wall.