I stared, because I had a feeling he wasn’t finished, and I was right.
“For Leon, though…”
“You…” I inhaled shakily. “You can get rid of Leon?”
Shady smiled wider. “For now, let’s focus on Harper, shall we? The rest can wait.”
“You can find him?”
“Easily.”
I nodded. “How long do you think it’ll take?”
“So impatient.” He chuckled. “Not long at all. Go home, Benny. I’ll be in contact with you very soon.”
I didn’t trust him, not at all, but I needed him, and I’d pay any price to get Harper back. We had things we needed to talk about. And I was so angry at him for leaving me again. But he was still mine, and I was bringing him home.
It only took two days for Shady to find Harper. He’d called me while I’d been moping in bed watching yet another video on snake care. I’d asked him how he’d found him, and he’d just chuckled and told me he’d be in touch shortly to help us with the rest of our “problem.”
Matthew had moved in with Ma, to help care for her he’d said, but I knew there was more going on between them. Between him and Rachel, I wasn’t worried about leaving her for a few days. And Matthew said he’d come back around to make sure the snakes were okay.
I’d closed the gym. It wasn’t like I had many clients anyway, and I’d borrowed Rachel’s Jeep to come all the way here. Hollow Creek, West Virginia.
What the fuck was Harper doinghere?
It hadn’t taken long to find my car parked in the lot of the only motel.
I was searching for some hint of him when someone approached me from behind.
“You need something?”
I turned to face a guy, maybe slightly younger than Harper, eyeing me suspiciously. “Nope. You need somethin’?”
He glared at me as if it were his car he’d caught me snooping through. “You seem real interested in that car.” He raised his voice a little.
Normally, I tried to be pleasant to strangers, even the difficult ones, because you never knew what struggles they were going through. But I was tired, and I just wanted Harper back, and none of that was this stranger’s business.
“Why wouldn’t I be? It’s mine.”
“I don’t think I believe you.”
I clenched my jaw. “No? Well, call the cops, then. Though I’d really like to catch the guy who stole it myself.”
He directed me to the sheriff’s office so I could report it stolen, but I had the distinct feeling he was trying to get rid of me rather than actually being helpful.
“You wouldn’t happen to know which room the driver’s checked into, would ya? Since you’re so sure this car ain’t mine, ya must have seen him.”
“Couple of days ago. Not since.” He gestured to two of the ground-floor rooms. “One of those two, I think.”
“Hmm. Thank you kindly.”
I stared, waiting for him to reveal more or fuck off. He stared back for a long time before deciding on the latter.
I watched him until he was out of sight, then turned back to the motel, confident Harper was staying in any of the rooms other than the two the guy had gestured to.
I knocked on every door, looked through every window. Harper wasn’t here, at least not at the moment.
Time to ask around.
