Harper turned around, which was good because the way she was looking at him had made him hard. “Give me a minute and I’ll tell you what we just got.”
Back straight, she headed for the galley. Coffee was brewing by the time he had pulled on jeans and a T-shirt and joined her.
“Coffee?” She poured him a cup before he even had time to answer, then poured one for herself. She handed him a mug, and both of them took a shot of badly needed caffeine.
“Who was it?” Harper asked, careful to keep her eyes on his face. Freshly washed, her ponytail gleamed silver gold.
Chase ignored the heat still pulsing through his lower body. “Good news. That was Tabby. She found the boat.”
Harper’s eyes widened. “She found the boat? Oh, my God, where is it?”
This was where it got sticky. He hoped she wouldn’t guess the most likely scenario—that the yacht had been stolen, Michael and Pia murdered, their bodies dumped in the sea.
“That’s the thing,” he said carefully. “BUZZ Word’s in Colombia.”
She frowned. “Colombia? Why would Michael go to...Colombia?” Her pretty face paled. “Oh, God. You think...think those men were pirates. You think they forced Michael to sail out to sea, then they...they killed him and Pia and stole the boat.”
He forced himself to stay where he was, to ignore the fear in her face and the urge to comfort her. “Take it easy, okay? We don’t know that’s what happened.”
But her eyes welled with tears. The hand holding the mug started to tremble, sloshing hot coffee over the sides. Chase grabbed the mug and set it down on the counter. The next thing he knew he was pulling her into his arms.
“It’s all right, angel, don’t cry. We don’t know what happened. It’s too soon to give up. We can’t do that until we know for sure.”
Harper’s arms went around his waist and she rested her head on his shoulder. He could feel her trembling. He drew her a little closer, the heat of his body relaxing her muscles and he hoped easing some of her fear.
“You hear me, Harper? We aren’t giving up. Okay?” He felt her faint nod of agreement, but she didn’t let go, and Chase didn’t want her to. He wanted to keep her right there. He wanted to tip her face up, bend his head and very softly kiss her. He wanted to tell her everything was going to be okay, that they would find her brother and Pia, and they would both be alive and safe.
Since he couldn’t make that promise and there could never be anything more than friendship between them, he was glad when she took a deep breath and stepped away.
“I’m sorry.” She wiped tears off her cheeks. “It’s just... I was worried about pirates even before Michael left.”
“There’s still a chance he was kidnapped. If that’s what happened, sooner or later the kidnappers will get in touch with your dad. In the meantime, I’m going to Santa Marta. I’ll find the boat and figure out what happened to your brother and the girl. I won’t come back to Texas until I know for sure.”
Harper’s head came up and her spine went stiff. “Wait a minute. You think I’m going back to Texas while you go to Colombia? No way. That isn’t going to happen, Chase.”
“Listen to me. Colombia isn’t the Caribbean. Bad stuff happens down there. You need to go home and let me handle this. If I need help, I’ll call my brother and ask him to fly down. Bran was army Special Forces, spent a lot of time in South America. He knows his way around down there.”
“You can do whatever you want. I’m going to Santa Marta. I’m going to find out what happened to Michael. I hope you’ll take me with you, but if you won’t, I’ll go by myself.”
Chase fought to hold on to his temper. “Dammit, Harper. If I take you with me, you’ll only get in the way.”
“I don’t think so. I’m fluent in Spanish—are you?”
“No, but—”
“I spent a year doing volunteer work in Ecuador. I understand the culture. I know what it’s like down there. I’m going.” She cocked a sleek blond eyebrow. “Should I buy one plane ticket or two?”
She looked like a tiger ready to fight for her cub. He didn’t want to admire her. Another curse slipped out, this one under his breath.
“Fine. But I’ll make the arrangements. We’ll fly private. I want to stay under the radar as much as we can.”
Harper relaxed. “All right. I’ll go pack my things.”
Chase watched her walk away, wishing there was something he could say to convince her, knowing there wasn’t. Harper was a lot stronger than her brother, or at least the man Michael used to be when he was young.
Mikey was lucky to have a sister who cared about him as much as Harper did.
With a sigh, he picked up his phone and punched the contact number for Jules St. Ange. “It’s Garrett. I need to charter a plane to Santa Marta, Colombia. I want to leave as soon as possible. Can you handle it?”
