Ghostly Holiday (A Harper Harlow Mystery Book 11) Read online

  Harper stared at him for a long beat and then nodded. “That’s the outcome I want, so I’m choosing to believe that, too.”

  “Good.” He leaned over and gave her a soft kiss. “We’ll start from scratch in the morning. Until then, Zander made us a feast and we both need the fuel. I suggest we eat it and get a good night’s sleep.”

  “I’ve had worse offers.”

  “I’m holding on to the best offer until we’re alone in the bedroom.”

  Harper brightened. “Fun.”

  “Only for the two of you,” Zander sneered. “It’s not fun for me when he’s a pervert.”

  “You’ll live.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

  Five

  A solid eight hours of sleep did wonders for Harper’s psyche. She was full of hope when she rolled over the next morning and planted a kiss on Jared’s stubbled jaw.

  “We’re going to find her. I can feel it.”

  Only half awake, Jared cocked an eyebrow and looked down at her pretty face. She was one of those women who didn’t need makeup to be beautiful. Her soul shone from within and made her the prettiest woman in the world.

  “I don’t want you getting your hopes up,” he said quietly, hating the way her lips twisted. “I know you want to believe she’s okay — and I definitely want to believe she’s okay — but blinders aren’t a good idea. We have to hope for the best but prepare for the worst.”

  “No.” Harper pulled away from him and slid out of bed. “I won’t do that.”

  “Heart ... .”

  “No.” She was firm. “I believe Zoe is alive and she’s out there waiting for us to find her. I won’t entertain the alternative. If you don’t like that ... well ... I guess we’ll simply have to agree to disagree. It won’t be the first time and I very much doubt it will be the last.”

  “I’m not trying to be a downer.”

  “I know. It’s almost Christmas, though, and I believe in miracles. After all, it was a miracle I found you, the world’s most perfect man.”

  Jared groaned as he slapped his hand over his eyes. “You’re just saying that to manipulate me.”

  “I’m saying that because it’s true.”

  “You know exactly how to get me to agree with you.”

  “I do,” Harper agreed. “Right now, I want you to agree to get in the shower with me. Then I want you to agree to a nice breakfast. After that, I want you to agree to bundle up because it’s cold out. As for the rest of the stuff, we’ll see how the day goes.”

  Jared recognized he’d already lost so he merely shrugged. “I guess I can live with that.”

  “I promise to make the shower worth your while.”

  “I can definitely live with that.”

  “Somehow I knew you would say that.”

  ZANDER AND SHAWN WERE already up and in the kitchen when Harper and Jared joined them forty minutes later. Zander was briskly stirring pancake batter while Shawn grilled sausage links.

  Jared’s stomach growled in response, causing Harper to laugh.

  “You know, things are going to be different when we move into our house. I don’t cook. You’re going to be stuck with toast and cereal.”

  “Um ... I’m coming over here for breakfast every morning,” Jared countered. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but my mornings will be exactly the same. The walk from the bedroom to the kitchen will simply be longer.”

  “And what if you’re not invited?” Zander challenged.

  “Oh, we both know that’s not going to happen. You’re going to want Harper over here as often as possible. That means she’ll be bringing me with her for breakfast.”

  “Hey, I might want Zander’s world-famous breakfasts all to myself,” Harper countered, frowning when she heard her cell phone ring in the other room. “I have to get that in case it’s a job I need to turn down — we’re looking for Zoe, not ghosts, this holiday season if anyone cares — but I’ll be back to finish this argument.”

  Jared watched her go with a mixture of amusement and adoration. Then he remembered he was in the middle of an argument. “You’re going to cook me breakfast and love it.”

  “You stole my best friend. I’m not cooking for you if I don’t have to.”

  “Oh, geez.” Shawn rubbed his forehead. “This is the argument that will kill me. I can feel it. It makes me think I’m like five minutes from an aneurysm.”

  “Oh, you’re such a baby.” Zander poked his side. “This is barely an argument.”

  “He’s right,” Jared said, amused at Shawn’s long-suffering expression. “This is like a mini-argument ... or a toddler argument, if you will.”

  “The fact that you guys have named your arguments bothers me like you wouldn’t believe,” Shawn groused. “I thought things would get better when we separated into two households. Now I’m starting to wonder if they’re going to get worse.”

  “They won’t.” Jared was sure of that. “I think we’re all going to get along better when we’re not on top of each other all the time.”

  “Puh-leez.” Zander rolled his eyes. “You’re planning on being on top of Harper twenty-four hours a day once you move. I know how your perverted mind works.”

  “I think you believe that because your mind is the one that’s perverted. In fact ... .” Jared lost his train of thought when Harper returned to the room. He could tell right away that something was wrong by her pallor. “What happened? Are you okay?”

  Harper nodded as she gripped her hands together in front of her. “I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be fine?” Her voice was much shriller than normal, which caused Zander to tilt his head.

  “You’re not fine. You haven’t been this pale since the time your mother invited you to a spa weekend and you found out you’d be staying in the same room. What’s wrong? Wait ... is that your mother’s gift again this year? If so, you can fake sick to get out of it.”

  “That wasn’t my mother.” Harper chose her words carefully. “That was Michael Jordan.”

  Jared blinked several times in rapid succession. “The basketball player?”

  “Please tell me it’s the hot actor,” Zander countered. “He’s all sorts of ... yum, yum.”

  “While I would normally take offense at you drooling over another man when I’m in the room, I have to agree about Michael B. Jordan,” Shawn said. “I’ll play boxing games with him every day of the week.”

  “Michael Jordan the attorney,” Harper corrected. “He’s Quinn’s attorney.”

  All three men came rushing back to reality.

  “What does he want?” Jared asked, abandoning the coffee pot and moving closer to her. “Did he threaten you? Did he try to bribe you? I will have his law license yanked so fast.”

  “I’ll do worse than that,” Zander snapped. “I’ll kick him in his private parts and make it so he can never have children. I won’t even feel a little sorry about it.”

  “I’ll help him,” Shawn offered.

  Even though she was feeling discombobulated, Harper couldn’t stop herself from smiling. “I love the different sorts of backup I always have at my disposal.”

  “Yes, we’re all knights in shining armor,” Jared drawled. “Tell me what the attorney wanted. If he’s trying to threaten you, I’ll handle it.”

  “He’s not threatening me,” Harper said hurriedly. “He called to ask me if I’d be willing to stop by the county jail.”

  “Why?”

  “Because Quinn wants to see me.”

  Zander, Jared, and Shawn exploded at the exact same time.

  “I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Shawn hedged.

  “He tried to kill you, so he can rot,” Zander snapped.

  “That’s not going to happen,” Jared boomed, his eyes firing.

  Harper took a moment to absorb each reaction. Only Shawn’s didn’t irritate her.

  “I’m fully capable of making my own decision on the matter.”

  “Oh, really?” Jared’s tone was full of ch
allenge. “And what have you decided?”

  “I’m not sure yet.” Harper averted his gaze and moved to the coffee pot. “How fresh is this?”

  “I just made it,” Shawn replied, earning a smile from her as she poured a mug.

  “That’s good. I think I’m going to need a lot of caffeine today.” Harper focused on adding sugar and cream to her coffee before risking a glance at Jared and Zander. She found both of them standing shoulder to shoulder, determined looks on their faces. “Oh, good grief. I hate it when you guys actually agree on something. Somehow that’s worse for me, and I still can’t figure out why.”

  “I know why,” Jared said. “If we both agree, that means you’re in the wrong. We outvote you, and you don’t like to be outvoted. If we’re split, that means you can usually manipulate one of us into your way of thinking.”

  Harper scowled. “I think you’re making me out to be more of a megalomaniac than I really am.”

  “And I think you’re not going.”

  She sucked in a breath to calm herself. “Jared, you can’t stop me from talking to him.”

  “Why would you possibly want to talk to him? He tried to kill you. Your whole relationship was a lie. He was using you as part of a grift.”

  As much as the words hurt, Harper had come to grips with them weeks before. She felt no sympathy for Quinn. She simply had a few things she wanted to say to him.

  “We didn’t get much of a chance to talk when it was going down,” she offered, calm. “I was too busy trying to stay alive to say the things I was really feeling.”

  “And what are you feeling?” Jared asked, adjusting his voice so it didn’t threaten to take over the entire room.

  “I feel that I need to get a few things off my chest,” she replied. “He was an important part of my life for a bit, and then he derailed it by being scummy. He came back to mess with us, with me in particular, and I want to talk to him about that, too.

  “I know you don’t understand it,” she continued, gently reaching out a hand to touch his wrist. “I know you want me to stay far away from him. He’s going to be separated from me by security glass, though. He won’t be able to touch me.”

  “That doesn’t mean he can’t hurt you.”

  “No, but I’m beyond his reach now.” Harper was so earnest it made Jared’s teeth ache. “I was beyond his reach when he came back. I felt guilty for never really loving him, but that’s long gone now. I’m fine. I’m going to stay fine. I need to do this.”

  Jared found that all the reasons he wanted her to stay away from Quinn were really his reasons. His fear had teeth and he wanted to bite. That wasn’t fair to her, and he knew it. “Okay.”

  Harper wasn’t sure she heard him correctly. “You’re good with this?”

  “That’s not the correct word. I’m not good with it.”

  “But you’re not going to put up a fight.”

  “No, I’m not going to put up a fight,” he confirmed. “You need to do this. I want you to have everything you need.” He thought about the upcoming proposal and realized they both needed to put this behind them if they truly expected to move forward. “I want you to be careful and don’t fall prey to his machinations. I’ll be close if you need me after.”

  “Oh, see, this is why I love you.” She slipped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. “It’s going to be okay. I’m not going to call you, though. You need to find Zoe. That should be your priority.”

  “You’re always going to be my top priority, but I’m going to let you handle this on your own and not get involved for a change. As long as you promise to be careful, I’m going to step back and let you do your thing.”

  “I promise to be careful. I always am.”

  Jared’s lips curved down. “That is a lie. You’re never careful.”

  “I promise to be careful this time.”

  “You’d better.”

  “It’s going to be okay. Once it’s done, other than testifying at his trial, we’ll be done with him. To me, that’s something to look forward to.”

  Jared hoped that was truly the case because if anyone could get under Harper’s skin, it was Quinn. The man was a manipulator through and through and he was only happy when he was toying with others. Jail would’ve limited his options, which meant he was probably feeling feisty.

  “I’m only a phone call away.” He kissed her cheek. “Don’t hesitate to call if you need me.”

  “I’ll be okay. Focus on Zoe. She’s the one in trouble.”

  “Yeah. We’re heading toward the former girlfriend’s house first. It’s doubtful she’s a suspect, but we have to rule her out.”

  “I’ll join you this afternoon and offer whatever help I can. Hopefully we’ll know more by the afternoon.”

  “That would be a nice development.”

  JARED WAS STILL SULKING about Harper’s plans when he and Mel parked in front of Jessica Hayden’s house an hour later. His mood matched the weather, which was stark and chilly.

  “I can tell you’re going to be a lot of fun today,” Mel groused, exiting the vehicle. “Do you want to tell me what you’ve been muttering over there for the past twenty minutes?”

  Jared stomped his feet extra hard against the cold driveway as he joined his partner. “I don’t think you’re going to care.”

  “Let me guess, Harper did something to irritate you.”

  “Not yet, but soon.”

  “She told you she’s going to do something to irritate you?”

  “She’s going to see Quinn. His lawyer called this morning and he’s asking for a sit-down.”

  “Oh.” Mel was legitimately surprised. Harper and Jared’s arguments were generally more tiffs than anything else. He often found it amusing when his partner melted down over things Mel would’ve completely ignored. Of course, Mel had been married for more than two decades. He knew which battles were worth fighting. As far as Quinn was concerned, he couldn’t help siding with his partner. That was a battle he would be more than willing to fight if his wife was the one on the receiving end of a similar call.

  “Yeah, oh,” Jared echoed, grimacing. “I don’t think it’s a good idea. She thinks it’s necessary. I bet you can guess which one of us won that fight.”

  “He won’t be able to touch her,” Mel offered pragmatically as they climbed the steps that led to Jessica’s front door. “They take safety seriously at the county jail. She’ll be perfectly fine.”

  “Physically, yes. Emotionally, though? He’s a user. I’m afraid he’s going to get her all worked up.”

  “She’s a big girl. She knows how to handle herself.”

  “I guess I can see where you land on this particular argument.”

  “Yes, I land on your side,” Mel said, taking his partner by surprise. “I wouldn’t want her going either. It’s not your decision, though. It’s hers. She has a right to see him if she feels it’s necessary.

  “He haunted her life for years,” he continued. “All that pain and guilt she felt was for nothing. If she wants to unload on him, I don’t see what the problem is.” Instead of waiting for a response, Mel rapped on the door. “Stop being a baby and focus on the case. Harper will be fine. She knows what she’s doing.”

  Jared scowled. “Well, if you’re going to be rational.”

  Mel waited a full two minutes. When no one answered, he knocked again. After the third knock, he moved to the big bay window at the front of the house and shielded his eyes from the glare so he could peer inside. “It looks empty.”

  “What are you guys doing?” a female voice asked from the neighboring house, causing both men to jolt and look in her direction guiltily. “Mel?”

  “Hey, Irma.” Mel plastered a fake smile on his face and smiled at the elderly woman watching them with suspicious eyes. If Jared had to guess, she looked to be in her eighties, although still fairly spry. “How are things?”

  “Well, I thought I was coming out here to shoot some bad guys,” she replied, lifting the
handgun she had hidden away in the folds of her skirt. “Now that I know it’s cops, I haven’t decided on a course of action yet.”

  Mel’s eyes narrowed. “Um ... are you supposed to have that gun?”

  “What gun?” Irma was suddenly innocence and light as the gun disappeared into her skirt again. “Can I get you a doughnut and coffee, Detective?”

  Jared bit back a grin as Mel glowered at the older woman.

  “We don’t have time for pleasantries, Irma. We’re looking for Jessica. We need to question her in regard to Zoe Mathers’s disappearance.”

  All trace of mirth disappeared from Irma’s face. “I heard about that. It’s terrible. I don’t know why you would be looking to talk to Jessica, though. She’s a good girl and never gets into trouble.”

  “Yes, well ... she was dating Luke. We simply have to rule her out, and she was his most recent conquest.”

  “I told her he was a bad choice, but she wouldn’t listen. I told her he would break her heart. Guess what ended up happening.”

  “He broke her heart,” Mel finished automatically. “That’s what he does.”

  “Yeah, well ... .” Irma worked her jaw as she got her emotions under control. “As for Jessica, I haven’t seen her since yesterday afternoon. She was on her front porch, looked upset, and she took off in that Japanese car of hers.”

  “Japanese car?” Jared furrowed his brow. “Is that a euphemism for something?”

  “It’s a Civic,” Mel replied. “Irma’s husband worked the lines in the Ford plant for forty years. She doesn’t believe in buying foreign.”

  “It’s un-American!” she barked.

  “Well, that’s not really the important thing to argue about right now, is it?” Mel was calm. “We really need to find Jessica. Do you know where she’s been working?”

  “No. Like I said, she looked upset. She had a big bag and was loading it in the car and then she took off real quick like. I figured she had an appointment.”

  Something occurred to Jared. “What kind of bag?”

  “One of those small suitcase things with the rollers.”

  “Do you think she was leaving town?”