“To clarify, I’m going to refer to the crazy bitch as Hilarie, since that’s how we all know her. So, after Duke killed Vincent and rescued Harper, things got even worse for Hilarie. Her mother killed herself, and Hilarie ended up in the care of relatives who ultimately had her committed to a psychiatric hospital, where she remained until her 18th birthday. When she turned 18, she inherited the money from her family’s estate, as well as her father’s life insurance money. She used the money to find Harper and relocate to be close to her. She enrolled in the same college, always lived near her, and even managed to work at the same place as Harper. The officers said it seemed like she wanted to be close to Harper and have a relationship with her like one would a sister. Things were fine until Carbon and Harper went from casual to serious. Her attempts to tear them apart only pushed them closer together. Changing tactics, she thought dating one of the brothers would allow her to still be close to Harper, so she set her sights on Shaker. Shaker wasn’t following the script she had in her head, so she had to come up with another plan. When Carbon and Harper got engaged, and Harper announced she was moving to Croftridge, Hilarie became desperate. In short, she kidnapped Harper and planned to keep her as her prisoner for the rest of their lives. As for Shaker, well, whatever happened pissed her off, and she planned to kill him,” Phoenix told us.
“How did she try to tear us apart?” Harper asked.
“She was the one who broke into your house. She was pissed about you being in Croftridge for a few weeks and thought it would scare you and have you running to her for comfort. She was also the one who broke into Carbon’s condo and stole the gun that she somehow managed to link to a gang-related shooting, hoping to get him sent to prison for the foreseeable future,” he explained.
“She was the one who tried to get Carbon and Shaker arrested for supposedly drugging a drink at Ember’s bachelorette party. And she was responsible for getting herself and Shaker arrested on the way to the lake house,” Phoenix added.
“What?”
“How?”
“Seriously?”
“No fucking way.”
The four of us exclaimed at the same time.
Phoenix held up his hands. “I don’t know the details. I’m guessing it’s all in the folder. Like I said, they gave me the highlights, and I just gave them to you.”
Harper was flipping through the copied pages, apparently on a mission to find something. “What are you looking for, baby?”
“I want to know about the peas and the damn dots,” she answered distractedly. It didn’t take her long to find what she was looking for. “Two peas in a pod!” she screeched. “There were no pods! That bitch covered my bed with frozen fucking peas. Oh, and get this, the dots on the wall was her rendition of the Gemini Twins constellation. I’m not her fucking twin!!”
“Baby, it’s over now. She’s gone. You don’t have to worry about her anymore,” I soothed.
“It’s not over, Chase. You heard the officers. They think she had help. That means someone is still out there who may or may not be coming after me, especially when they find out I killed her! What am I supposed to do, hide out at the clubhouse for the rest of my life?”
I didn’t know what to say to her, so I chose to say nothing at all. I held her in my arms and let her have her meltdown. She needed to cry and scream and get it all out.
Our moment of silence was interrupted by Duke’s voice. “I think now would be a good time to tell her the rest of it,” he said.
Her head shot up immediately. “What the hell else is there?”
“When we realized you were missing, we started looking for you. I guess Hilarie set a trap for us, or tried to, because your house went up in flames while we were there. No one was hurt, but your house was destroyed. Duke has touched base with your insurance company since he’s your next of kin,” I told her, hoping the news wouldn’t be the straw that broke the camel’s back.
She inhaled deeply and released it. “I’m glad no one was hurt, and I guess I don’t have to worry about going through the hassle of selling it now.”
I smiled. “That’s my girl.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Harper
I was more than ready to put anything and everything involving the Vine family behind me for good. In order to do that, I had to read her journal. Hell, even a part of me wanted to read it, but I was scared of what I might find written on those pages.
I was already having a hard time dealing with certain aspects of the situation. Even though I knew Hilarie and Valarie were one and the same, to me, it still felt like I had lost the person who had been my best friend for the last few years. Up until a month before my kidnapping, Hilarie and I had never had a major argument, and I genuinely enjoyed the time we spent together. Once I remembered I was grieving for a fictitious friendship, I would get angry with myself. How could I have been so stupid not to figure out who she was? I knew her for years! Berating myself over and over for being an oblivious moron with zero self-preservation skills, I would start to cry and feel sorry for myself. Just like anybody else, I would automatically want to call my best friend and cry on her shoulder, bringing me back to missing my friend. The emotional merry-go-round wouldn’t stop, and I couldn’t figure out how to get off.
Chase was great about giving me space and not pressuring me to talk about it. He carried on as if it never happened, but I could see the worry in his eyes, and the anger lurking behind the worry. With no one to talk to and the club still on lockdown, I only left Chase’s room in the early morning hours to get enough food and water from the kitchen to last me until the next day.
On the seventh day of my pity party, I slipped out of bed at o’dark thirty and made my way to the clubhouse kitchen. I flipped on the lights and nearly pissed myself. Sitting on top of the kitchen island with her arms and legs crossed was none other than the president’s wife, Annabelle, clearly waiting for me.
“Good morning, Harper,” she said gently. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I wasn’t expecting anyone to be in here,” I blurted, still trying to compose myself.
She nodded knowingly. “Yeah, I figured. That’s the reason I’m here.”
“I’m not sure I understand,” I mumbled, even though I was fairly certain I knew exactly what she meant.