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"I'll get my truck, too," Bash said. "We'll split up and cover more ground."
I didn't wait; I took off on foot. Maverick stepped in beside me.
"I'm with you," Maverick said. "We'll find her."
Chapter 46
Harper
A chill slithered up my spine as I tucked myself into the darkness down by the lake. My plan had been to leave the Valley, but I had nowhere to go, and I feared what could be waiting for me on the other side of those gates.
Aiden had been right. It wasn't right of me to ask Christian to keep this secret from his best friend. I shouldn't have asked him to choose between the friend he'd known his whole life and me, the girl he just met, who only brought chaos into his life.
My only chance was to get out of this town and disappear forever, but tonight it was cold and dark, so it would have to wait until morning.
"Please be unlocked," I whispered, sucking in a deep breath as I turned the handle to the front door of Link's family's lake house, and when the door pushed open, I blew out a breath. "I'll just hang out here until morning."
Pulling the blanket off the back of the sofa, I wrapped it around myself. I needed heat. Running my hand along the electric fireplace, I searched for the button to turn it on when I heard tires crunching along the gravel road leading up to the house. "Shit!"
Dropping the blanket, I dipped into the first closet I found. The wood of the porch creaked, and the door handle jiggled. Someone was inside. My pulse raced as I sucked in a deep breath, holding it in.
"I know you're here, Harper," the deep voice said. Thank God, it was Link. "So, you can save us both some time and just come out."
Blowing out my breath, I pushed open the door and stepped out to find Link standing, fists on hips. "How did you find me?"
"The property and house are covered in camera." He pointed to a small black camera tucked into the corner.
"I never was very good at being bad," I mumbled, sinking onto the couch. Grabbing the throw pillow, I pulled it to me, hugging it to my chest. "Does Christian know?"
"No." He sighed, sinking into the couch beside me. "We've all been out searching, and I was right down the road when I got an alert that someone was at the lake house."
"You should just call him," I muttered. "I don't want to come between you two anymore."
"Anymore," he said, cocking a brow at me. "I won't call him unless you want me to, but I'm also not going to let you leave the Valley without protection. Noah and his pack of thugs are waiting for a moment of weakness to pounce." He shrugged. "So, if you want to leave, I will help you do it safely and never say a word to Christian."
"Why? Why would you go against your best friend?"
"Christian loves you, and he would want me to help you." He swept his tongue over his lip ring. "He might be upset, but he would understand. Why do you want to leave?"
"Because I feel stuck. I feel like the walls are caving in, and I can't breathe. I feel like this is all too much, and it's all because of me. I'm ruining everything for everyone."
"That's not true," he scoffed. "You are part of our family now, which is what family does. Is Christian smothering you?"
"No." I shook my head. "What would you do if you knew a secret that could hurt others? If the secret came out, it could possibly hurt your friend's family."
"That's a tough one," he said, pursing his lips. "But honestly, everyone deserves the truth, even if it hurts."
"So, you would want to know? Even if that truth could possibly destroy your family?"
"Yeah," he said. "Wouldn't you?"
He was right! I'd been searching for the truth my entire life, and to find out that someone I knew purposely hid it from me, thinking they were protecting me, would be incredibly frustrating, but I didn't have the same perfect life Link had.
"I think I may be your half-sister," I mumbled.
"What?" he narrowed his eyes.
"I think I may be your half-sister," I said, this time louder. He stared past me as his facial expression went from processing my words to disbelief to something I couldn't quite read. "Link? Are you mad?"
