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“Holy fuck,” Finn mumbles behind me.
The three of us stand there, staring at what has likely been her prison for the last two weeks. My fists clench at my sides, and I let out a shaky breath as a tear rolls down my cheek. All I see is red.
And what’s worse, this time, it’s Harper’s.
I managed to tear my eyes away from the room, and we quickly looked through the rest of the small cabin, only to come up empty. I’m about to take after my big brother and throw something at the closest fucking wall when Enzo’s voice calls from outside, “Guys, come here!”
We sprint outside towards the treeline where Enzo and Dante are standing. “Look.” Enzo points to a patch of mud where a small footprint lies—Harper’s footprint.
“Finn, call Sebastian,” Ronan demands.
Sebastian picks up on the second ring. “Did you guys find her?”
“No, she’s not here, but we found her footprints. I need you to pull up satellite images of the area. Is there anything else around here? Anywhere she would go?”
I can hear Sebastian clicking away in the background, and after a few beats, he answers regretfully, “No, Ronan. There’s nothing. Just woods.”
“Fuck!”
“Ronan,” our eyes snap towards Dante, who is now crouched by the small puddle of blood in the driveway. “These small drops leading from inside are still wet. They can’t be more than thirty minutes old. Any longer than that, and they would have been dry.” I give him a curious glance from over Ronan’s shoulder. “Trust me on this. I have a lot of experience tracking people.”
“He knows what he’s talking about, Ronan.” Luca’s voice rings through the speakerphone, filled with nothing but confidence in his friend’s abilities.
Ronan nods in agreement before returning to face Finn and me, still standing at the treeline by Harper’s footprints. “Alright. We don’t know for sure whose blood that was, but considering that the blood stops by the tire tracks and not over here by her footprints, I think it’s safe to say it isn’t hers.”
“Right,” Finn agrees, “And taking into account the fact that she’s barefoot and judging by the blood on that mattress,” I swallow hard at the thought of her spilling even the smallest drop of blood, “and how dense these woods are, she couldn’t have gotten that far.”
“Are you guys sure she’s out there? We can have Seb try to find the make and model of the vehicle that fled from there using traffic cameras?”
“No.” I cut Ronan off before he can answer, even though I’m pretty sure he would agree with what I’m about to say. “That’ll be no use. There will be no traffic cameras he can use this far out. I don’t care about Logan right now. We can worry about him later. Right now, we just need to find Harper. She’s out there. Mo Grá is out there. I can feel it.”
“Sebastian and Luca, keep running facial recognition on Logan. Dante and Enzo, you guys stay here in case she comes back.” He looks at Finn and me and nods. “Let’s move.”
14
Harper
Iknow I haven’t been running that long. The sun was just setting when I fled the cabin, and a sliver of daylight is still left. But it feels like I’ve been running for hours. My feet hurt, I’m thirsty, and my side keeps cramping; whether that’s from exhaustion or hunger, I’m not sure. If that wasn’t enough, the sharp pain radiating down my side and across my chest, screams in agony with every movement and breath. I know it’s only a couple of broken ribs, but it feels as if my chest collapsing in on itself.
“Keep going, Baby. Don’t stop.”
I listen to Ronan’s voice in my head and keep moving through the dense forest. I’ve heard a handful of cars go by, so I know I’ve been running in somewhat of a straight line and am still close to the road. Maybe if I run far enough away from the cabin, I can flag down a car on the side of the road.
“Shit!” I yell as my ankle catches a downed tree branch, and I drop to the forest floor, landing hard on my knees. “Goddamn, motherfucking, son of a bitch!” I roar as I repeatedly kick the stupid branch. I don’t think I’ve ever used that many expletives in a row, but I’m just so . . . so . . . so mad. Mad at the situation I’m currently in, mad at Logan for killing Ronan, mad at Declan for trying to ruin my life, and mad at this stupid branch for busting up my ankle!
I take a beat, sitting on the cold ground, to try and regain a modicum of composure before standing up. I wince in pain as soon as I put pressure on my foot. Surely, I’ve given myself a decent sprain. I take a few slow steps when I hear a branch crack behind me.
Snap.
I stop dead in my tracks, hoping it was just some random squirrel.
Snap.
Another branch snaps, closer this time. It definitely sounded heavier than a squirrel. I hold my breath, hoping that maybe if I’m still enough, whatever it is won’t find me.
What if it’s Logan? I didn’t wait to see if he was dead. What if he followed me out here? He probably just heard my meltdown and is on his way here.
Way to go, Harp. You couldn’t wait to freak the fuck out.
