Harper cleared her throat and explained. “The woman who kidnapped us. I killed her. I didn’t mean to. I was trying to knock her out. Anyway, I found Shaker on my way out and freed him. He said we could leave her and let the police handle it, or we could not involve the law and torch the place. I suggested we let you make that decision.”
I pulled her back into my lap and gave her a squeeze. “Damn proud of you, baby.” I looked up to see every brother in the room looking at her with pride in their eyes.
“Damn fine woman you are, Harper Jackson,” Phoenix told her, smiling broadly. His smile faded with his next question. “Did you kill Valarie Vine?”
She couldn’t hide her surprise. “Y-yes, how did you know?”
“Carbon can explain the details, but when you and Shaker turned up missing, we started digging. It took some doing, but we finally pieced together that Valarie Vine was posing as Hilarie Thaxton.” He cleared his throat and addressed the room. “I think we should let the law enforcement officers handle this one. It isn’t directly related to the club or club business, and it was clearly a case of self-defense. They’ve only been here for a few minutes, so if we call now, there won’t be any gaps in the timeline.”
“We didn’t file a missing person report for either of them,” Dash added. “How are we going to explain that?”
Phoenix grinned. “Oh, but we did. Byte filed them online.”
The room erupted in laughter, and Harper turned to me with confusion on her face. “I’ll explain later,” I whispered in her ear.
“I’ll place the call now. Until further notice, the club is still on lockdown. Dismissed,” Phoenix said and pulled out his cell phone.
I pushed open the door and stepped into the common room. Suddenly, Harper’s hand was ripped from mine, and she let out a yelp. I spun around quickly, ready to defend my woman when I heard her giggle. She was on the floor with Titan standing over her, licking all over her face. She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I missed you, too. Yes, I did,” she cooed at Titan.
“Sorry, I didn’t know how to stop him,” Annabelle said, looking sheepish. She had volunteered to look after Titan while we were out searching for Harper.
When Titan calmed down, Harper got to her feet and asked, “Do you think I have time to take a shower before the police officers arrive?”
Three loud knocks on the front door answered her question for me. Phoenix gestured for one of the prospects to open the door. Phoenix greeted the officers and led them to our Church room. Shaker and Harper followed Phoenix and the officers while Duke, Judge, and myself followed Harper. Phoenix stopped us at the door. “You can wait right outside this door if you want, but you three aren’t coming in there.” Before any of us could say a word, he slammed the door, and I heard the lock slide into place.
Oh.
Hell.
No.
President or not, he was not going to lock me away from my woman, especially when I had just gotten her back only minutes ago. A small body hit me from behind, and arms circled around my waist.
Reese.
She knew I was about to rage. “Stay with me, big scary brother. She’s going to need you when they finish in that room, and you can’t be there for her if you’re locked up in jail or sedated by Patch.”
She didn’t let go of me until my breathing returned to normal. Once I had calmed, she led me to one of the couches and placed James in my arms. I couldn’t help but grin at the little guy. He was so damn cute. “Smart move,” I mumbled.
She dropped down beside me and didn’t leave my side until the locked door opened. She scooped James into her arms and leaned down to kiss the top of my head. “Call if you need me, either one of you. Love you both,” she said and carried her son toward Duke.
I stood when I caught sight of Harper. She said something to Duke and Judge, hugged each one of them, and came straight to me. “Can we go now? If I can’t shower and sleep in the very near future, I will not be held responsible for my actions.”
I took her hand in mine and led her to my room. “The club has been on lockdown since you and Shaker went missing. Phoenix hasn’t officially given the all clear, so we have to stay here for the time being,” I said, hoping she wasn’t going to be pissed about it.
“I don’t care where we stay, as long as you’re there, and I get to shower and sleep.”
I was already in bed waiting for her when she finished her shower. She crawled under the covers and nestled against my chest. Neither of us said a word before almost instantly falling asleep.
***
Pounding on my door woke us. “Carbon! Open up, brother,” Duke shouted.
I yanked on a pair of jeans and stumbled to my door. Pulling it open, I stretched and yawned. “What do you want?”
He pushed against my chest in a weak attempt to move me to the side. “I want to make sure my sister is okay!”
“She’s fine. Why wouldn’t she be?”