We rode in silence to Sweet Haven Cafe, neither one of us ready to talk more about Evie or the new situation we had found ourselves in.
The cold night air cut through my jacket, but all I could feel was the weight pressing down on my chest. I didn’t know what the hell happened to Evie and the mix of rage and worry was terrifying. Every part of me kept screaming that something was wrong.
Rook pulled up first, his bike skidding to a stop outside the alley behind Sweet Haven Cafe. My heart pounded as I followed, killing the engine and jumping off before the kickstand even settled.
Her bike was still here.
Her bag sat on the seat, and I knew her phone would be inside. I had yelled at her so many times after she lost her third phone, because she would keep it in her back pocket while riding. As if it weren’t bad enough that it was dead half the time.
Everything was here, but she wasn’t.
“Check if she’s inside?” I said, already reaching for her bag.
“She wouldn’t be inside without her bag,” he said.
“I know, but can we at least check?”
He gave a sharp nod, not wasting any time and heading inside through the kitchen door.
I found her phone and clicked it on. There was nothing but missed calls and texts from all of us. The battery at one percent.
Rook came back out, shaking his head. Sweet Haven wasn’t a big place and I knew he would have seen her right away. He pulled out his own phone, hitting Harper’s number.
I took a step back, breathing hard through my nose, trying to force my brain to work past the cold knot of unease forming in my gut.
“She was mad,” I said, mostly thinking out loud. “She didn’t want to deal with any of us. Maybe she—”
“Went to wreak havoc? Any of the places we normally go she would have brought her stuff.”
I didn’t want to think about it, but I knew where her mind had been lately. She had been digging into things she shouldn’t, pushing too hard for answers that weren’t safe to get.
Rook was back on his phone.
“Harper, check the tracker again. Tell me everywhere she went before she got here,” he said.
“You know you can check it?”
“And right now, I don’t give a damn to learn how to log in—just check the fucking tracker.”
I pulled out my phone, hitting the name that made my lip curl.
Asher picked up on the third ring.
“Is Evie with you?” I asked.
“Lost your girl again? She’s a damn runner, isn’t she?”
“This isn’t a fucking joke. Is she with you?”
“No. I haven’t seen or heard from her, but I love knowing that you worry about me enough to think she ran to me. It’s not that out of line. What happened?”
“She got pissed and left.”
“Well, I know this isn’t the first lovers’ quarrel between you two. You know she explodes when angered.”
“Yeah? Does she also leave her bike and phone parked in a random fucking alley without a word?” I asked, my voice nearly shaking in anger.
There was a pause.
