Chapter 29

 

For the first time in years everything felt right.

Waking up next to Harper was just about the best feeling in the world. A close second was making breakfast for Flynn as if we had been doing it for years. Sure, the little guy finding me in his mom’s kitchen possibly wasn’t the best way to introduce him to the idea of me being around long term. To his credit, though, he seemed more excited than freaked out.

I had to admit as great as I felt; I felt anger in equal measures. How any man could think it was okay to raise a hand to a woman, was beyond me. The love of a good woman wasn’t something you took for granted…ever. I was overcome with this need to find out where I could find Drew Mercer. I would have loved to see him pick on someone who could fight back.

“You think mommy would say yes?”

Flynn’s little voice sounded beside me and promptly gained my full attention. “Yes to what, buddy?” I shot him a sheepish smile before I turned my eyes back to the road.

A small, exasperated sigh slipped past his lips and I had to hide my chuckle. “To fishing this weekend, you said you’d teach me.” With every word he uttered the excitement in his voice was evident.

“Wouldn’t hurt to ask, right?”

“Yes!” Flynn bounced in his seat as much as his safety belt would allow him to. I’d be a liar if I said that I wasn’t feeling the same level of excitement. This little boy and his momma were my forever even if they didn’t realize it just yet.

Pride filled my chest when we pulled up to Flynn’s school and he allowed me to walk him in. Hell, he even held my hand the whole time and gave me a hug goodbye. I had to bite back the emotion until I was safely seated inside my truck.

I allowed myself to revel in the possibility of being a dad to someone even if it wasn’t by blood. I was eager to teach Flynn the same things Pop had taught me. Shaking my head at my mile-a-minute-thoughts, I turned the key in the ignition. After my truck rumbled to life, I pulled away from the curb with one destination in mind.

Eli and I had a few things to discuss.

Willow Creek wasn’t all that big, so it made sense that the Sheriff’s office wasn’t massive either. Sitting on the corner of Main Street, tourists would have easily mistaken it for another shop, if it hadn’t been for the big sign or the courthouse across the street.

With each step I climbed, I tried to calm myself. Barging in there and throwing accusations around wouldn’t get me any answers and it would put an even bigger rift between me and my brother.

I found him in his office with the phone pressed to his ear. By the look on his face, the conversation wasn’t pleasant. I opted to wait outside until he was done. A few seconds later his head popped out; I didn’t miss the worried look in his features.

“Logan,” he greeted me with a nod. “What brings you here?”

Pushing off the wall, I returned his nod and then followed him into his office. “We gotta talk, brother.” After closing his door, I sank into one of the dark brown leather chairs in front of his desk.

Eli rubbed his face with both his hands and let out a sigh. “Look if this is about that woman-“

“Dammit, Eli!” My voice bounced off the walls. “She’s not who you think she is and even if she was, don’t you even care that she means something to me?”

Dragging his fingers through his hair, my brother fell back against his seat. “It’s because I care. I’ve seen first-hand how a woman can blind you and then tilt your world on its axis.”

I moved to the edge of my seat and rested my arms on the smooth surface of his desk. “She told me about the name change, in fact, she told me all there is to know about her. And before you ask, I’m not going to tell you anything, it’s not my place. I’m here to tell you to lay the hell off of her. She’s got enough troubles; she doesn’t need to add you to the list.”

I stared into the eyes that reminded me so much of my own. Eli knew pain, he’d been living with his for the past seven years. But, he needed to understand that not every woman was as rotten as Melissa, especially not Harper.

With a huff my brother broke eye contact and yanked on one of his drawers. He pulled out a folder and slammed it down in front of me. “She tell you about this too?” Eli ground out.

I pulled the folder closer and opened it, expecting to find the story Harper had told me last night. I didn’t. As my eyes scanned over the document, the evil that was following my girl became clear.

According to the report Sarah Mercer had tried to kill her husband before stealing his money and going on the run.

A normal person would’ve had doubts settle in at around this time. Not me, though. I knew without a single ounce of doubt that what Harper had told me was the truth and these words on the paper were nothing but, “Lies!”

I shoved the folder back at Eli. “You expect me to believe this nonsense?” Angry, I pushed to my feet and planted my palms on the desk. “Maybe if you’d asked Harper instead of accusing her, she’d have told you the truth.”

Eli shook his head and spread the papers on his desk. “Don’t be stupid, Logan. This guy-” my brother poked at the paper with his index finger. “-is a decorated detective. Why would he lie?”

Pushing off the desk, I threw my arms up in the air, “Oh, I don’t know, maybe because he used to use her as a punching bag?” Dammit, I didn’t mean to spill Harper’s secret. But I couldn’t allow Eli to believe that after Harper tried to kill that idiot she apparently went on the run.

My brother’s brows drew together as he started shuffling through the pages. I shook my head and dragged my fingers through my hair. “You’ll believe some crappy report but you won’t take my word?”

“This doesn’t add up. What reason does he have to lie and how does the boy fit into this?” His frown deepened as he began looking through the pages more frantically. I got the feeling that his strange behavior had something to do with that phone call earlier. Thinking about it, Eli had been acting a bit off for a while now.

I took a deep breath and then walked over to where my brother was still scanning the documents. Flattening my palm on the paper, I gained his attention. “Flynn is the reason Harper ran, to begin with. The detective doesn’t know about him. Look-“ I let out a sigh, I couldn’t believe what I was about to say. “-I’ll go get Harper, convince her to explain all of this to you herself.”

“You get her to come here and tell me all of this is lies and I’ll look into her version of the story.”

Eli wasn’t going to give me any more than that. I knew it, that was why with a brusque nod of my head I turned and hustled to my truck. The closer I came to Harper’s house, the louder my heart pounded.

Not even twenty-four hours ago, she’d trusted me with her secret and what did I do? I spilled it all to my judgmental brother and now I had to somehow convince her to retell her whole tragic story again.

Yeah, I wasn’t feeling particularly good about myself.

An eerie feeling ran down my spine as I pulled to a stop in Harper’s driveway. Doing my best to ignore it, I hopped out of the truck and headed for the front door. My walk turned into a jog when I saw that the door was ajar.

The thundering in my chest became almost unbearable when I pushed at the door and found telltale signs of a struggle in the living room. Broken frames and vases were scattered on the floor beneath my feet. Her little coffee table tipped to its side.

I could hardly breathe as I rushed through the house, just to find room after room empty. This could not be happening! Defeated, I slumped against the wall and slid down until my ass hit the cold surface of the tiles. I pulled my legs up and dropped my head to my knees. “Where the hell are you, Sugar?”

And then it hit me: The bastard had found her. I hadn’t been gone that long, an hour tops, so they didn’t have that big of a head start. Pushing to my feet, I felt the air return to my lungs as a plan formed in my head.

I was on such a mission that I almost plowed straight over Mrs. Jensen from across the street. Gripping her slender shoulders, I apologized, “I didn’t see you there, Mrs. Jensen.”

Her elderly hands came up to pat mine. “Oh, that’s alright. I was wanting to tell you that I saw Harper leave with a blonde man. She didn’t look too pleased to go either.”

Fear gripped my heart and squeezed. “Did you see which way they went?”

“No, dear. I’m sorry.”

After I sidestepped the little old lady, I sprinted for my truck. I didn’t care what Eli believed to be true, he was going to help whether he wanted to or not.

All the way to the Sheriff’s office I prayed that I wasn’t too late. I’d just found my family I couldn’t lose them now.