“That doesn’t sound unsafe at all,” Jared muttered under his breath.
“Did you say something?” Becky asked hopefully.
Jared cleared his throat, ignoring the pointed look Harper shot in his direction. “I said that particular plan sounds unsafe,” he replied. “I mean ... a bunch of screaming people in the woods and a guy running around with a machete? What could possibly go wrong in that scenario?”
“Right?” Becky’s smile was broad. “I told him it was a great idea.” She was quiet for a beat. “Wait ... were you being sarcastic? I’ve never been all that great picking up on sarcasm.”
“Me neither,” Zander enthused, matching Jared’s smirk. “I’ve never understood people who use sarcasm as a weapon.”
Harper jabbed a warning finger in his direction. “Don’t.”
Becky’s face was blank. “Don’t what?”
“Just ignore Zander,” Harper instructed. “He’s difficult to be around before he has his morning jolt of caffeine.”
“Look who is talking,” Zander muttered.
Harper kept her focus on Becky. “How long have you guys been working on the property up here? I don’t think Harris mentioned that.”
“Oh, um ... .” Becky tapped her bottom lip and tilted her head back and forth, reminding Harper of a young girl debating between chocolate and strawberry ice cream. “I guess we made the agreement about six months ago. That was the dead of winter, though. He came to the house right after to tell me the news and then explained how he wanted me to help him.”
“Right. Obviously you guys couldn’t have done anything when there was still snow on the ground. That probably has you coming out here in March, right?”
“Oh, I wish.” Becky laughed as if it was the most absurd idea she had ever heard. “There’s still a mountain of snow up here in March. We didn’t get down here until the last week of April.”
Harper did the math in her head. “That means that you guys put everything together in less than two months.”
“Pretty much. The hope is that we will be able to work all summer and improve what we already have. Then next spring, we’ll expand. We need to have a really good Halloween season this year for that to happen, though.”
“Well, here’s hoping.” Harper lifted her soda as if toasting Becky and then focused on her breakfast. Her mind was busy, but she found she was having trouble settling on a certain path.
Rather than engage in further conversation with Becky, Zander opted to focus on Jared. “So, where did we land on the plan for today?”
“We’re going to solve a murder,” Becky offered helpfully.
“Of course we are,” Zander agreed, offering Becky a saucy wink. “I just meant us as a group. We like to have a plan when it comes to solving an investigation ... whether fake or not.”
“Oh, right.” Becky continued smiling in such a manner that Zander had to briefly wonder if she was stoned. “I bet you’re always the leader when it comes to solving mysteries,” she said to Jared. “You’re the smartest, right?”
“I’m the smartest,” Zander corrected.
“Don’t listen to him,” Jared shot back. “I’m the smartest.”
“No, I’m the smartest,” Harper corrected. “I’m the one in charge when it’s time to solve a case. They’re just my sidekicks.”
“Hey!” Zander jabbed a finger in his best friend’s direction, legitimately miffed.
Harper ignored him. “Right now we’re going to focus on our breakfast. After that, we’re going to focus on the case.”
“The case we invited you to solve, right?” Becky pressed.
For a moment — only a split-second really — Harper wondered if Harris had sent Becky over with ulterior motives. Then she pushed the notion out of her head. Even if Harris had told Becky to make sure they were engaged in the game, it didn’t matter. She was simply doing her job. Harper couldn’t blame her for being overly enthusiastic. That’s what they paid her to do.
“Absolutely.” Harper flashed her most trustworthy smile. “You can count on us to follow through on this to the end.”
She’d never meant anything more.
17
Seventeen
“The first order of business is finding Holly’s body,” Harper announced when the foursome regrouped on the other side of the bathrooms.
“How do you know her body hasn’t been discovered?” Shawn queried, genuinely curious. “I mean ... isn’t it possible someone accidentally stumbled across her already? Maybe they didn’t have a name to go with the body or something.”
Harper opened her mouth to argue and then slid her eyes to Jared. “Can you find that out?”
He hesitated and then nodded. “I can at least try. I’m going to have to spend some time on the phone, though.”
Harper waited expectantly. When he didn’t immediately pull his phone out of his pocket, she offered up a small series of “hurry up” motions with her hands.
Jared cracked a smile. “You could ask nicely.”
She straightened, appropriately chastised. “I’m sorry. You’re right. Will you please call and find out about a potential body being found in close proximity here?”
“I will, but I won’t be able to wander into the woods if I make that call. I need to wait here. This is the only place in the immediate vicinity where I get a reliable cell signal.”
Harper hesitated. She hadn’t considered that. “Okay, well ... you and Shawn can stay here and wait for the information, and Zander and I will head into the woods.”
Jared immediately started shaking his head. “That is not going to happen.”
“Why not?”
“You know why.”
Harper did know why. That didn’t mean she wasn’t willing to argue the point. “We’ll be out in the open. Somebody would have to be stupid to take us on.”
“I can count on two hands the number of times you two have gotten in trouble when you were supposed to be out in the open and safe,” Jared argued. “I would prefer we stay together.”
Harper understood
