“Nothing. When she pulled over, I asked if she could give us a ride to Croftridge.”
That made me laugh even more. Clearly, I was losing my mind. “I can’t imagine what you’re thinking right now. What a sight the two of us must be.” I was laughing so hard my eyes were watering.
Shaker turned in his seat to look at me. “Harper!” he barked. “Not yet. If you lose it, I’ll lose it, and we can’t do that right now. Got me?”
Something in his eyes had my laughter dying instantly. I pushed myself to a sitting position and nodded. “Got you.”
“Are you guys okay?” Shannon asked, eyeing us both warily. “Should I call Boar or Phoenix?”
“No!” we both shouted, and she flinched.
“Sorry,” Shaker continued. “We’re okay right now. We just need to get back to the clubhouse. It’s not a story to be shared over the phone.”
Shannon nodded knowingly. “Enough said.”
She kept us occupied with idle chatter for the entire drive to Croftridge. I would be forever grateful to her for that. If she hadn’t kept us talking, I wouldn’t have been able to hold it together. I almost broke down when I saw the gates to the clubhouse come into view.
Shaker turned again, his eyes locked onto mine. “Not yet. We’re going to be rushed the moment we walk through those doors. Then, Phoenix is going to call Church, and you’ll have to come in there to tell your part of the story. He’ll decide what the next steps will be. Once we’ve told them everything and he dismisses Church, you can let it go.”
I sucked in a deep breath and nodded. “For the record, I’m damn proud of you, Harper.”
Shannon pulled up to the gate, and I heard Kellan say, “Holy shit!”
“Not a word, prospect. Open the gate and keep your mouth shut,” Shaker ordered.
Kellan nodded. “Glad you two are okay.”
When the gates opened and Shannon drove through, I felt like I could breathe again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Carbon
Three fucking days and we still hadn’t found her or Shaker. We were assuming that Hilarie had done something with both of them, but we didn’t have any proof of that. Phoenix had a prospect basically living at Shaker’s apartment in case he or anyone else happened to show up there. The club was on lockdown. Ember, Reese, Aunt Leigh, and a few of the other girls were always crying. Duke, Judge, and I had put more miles on our bikes in those three days than we did on some of our longest runs.
I hadn’t slept more than the minimum necessary for my body to continue functioning. The same could be said for Duke and Judge. Phoenix was the only thing holding us together. He let us lose our shit when we needed to, he let us ride out when we needed to, and he sat us down for reality checks when it was warranted.
Walking into the clubhouse after spending several hours out searching for Harper, I went straight to Duke’s room in search of my sister. She opened the door to their room and pulled me in for a hug. I couldn’t hold it together any longer, and she knew it. She didn’t say a word while I cried on her shoulder. Giant, body-wracking sobs shook me and my little sister. I could hear her sobs mixed with mine, yet neither one of us uttered a word. Exhaustion took over, and before I knew it, I had fallen asleep on my little sister’s shoulder.
“CARBON!!!” my sister shrieked. “Carbon! Carbon! Carbon!”
I jumped to my feet and started running, slightly disoriented until I realized I was in Duke’s room instead of mine. She continued screaming my name as I ran toward the sound of her voice. I rounded the corner to the common room at a full sprint and immediately dropped to my knees when I saw Harper standing between Duke and Judge. I didn’t give a shit who was watching. I shamelessly let the tears run down my face as she walked to me. “Baby,” I croaked and yanked her to me as soon as she was within reach.
“Are you okay?” I asked, running my hands all over her.
“Yeah, I’m okay. I missed you so much. I love you, Chase.”
“I love you, too, baby. I was so fucking worried. We haven’t stopped looking for you. Oh, I can’t believe you’re standing right here in front of me,” I rambled, holding her tightly to my chest.
“Church!” Phoenix bellowed.
I rose to my feet to protest. There was no way in hell I was letting go of her for Church. Hell, I probably wouldn’t let go of her for the next month. Phoenix stopped me before I could get started. “Relax, big guy, she’s coming, too.”
Phoenix cut right to the chase. “We’re all happy as fuck to have you two back. First, are either one of you hurt, other than what we can see?” he asked, gesturing toward Shaker’s beat up face. When they both said they were fine, he continued, “Before we get to the details, do we have any loose ends that need attention?”
Shaker nodded and opened his mouth to speak, but Harper rising to her feet had him closing his mouth. “Yes, we do. I killed someone, and we left the dead body in the house.”
No other words could have shocked me more. “What?” the room collectively asked.