“If Harris is suspicious about what we have planned, we can kill two birds with one stone,” she continued. “We can go back to the scene of the crime looking for clues and search for Holly at the same time.”
Jared worked his jaw. Her argument made sense. That didn’t mean he was keen to be separated from her. “See, I get what you’re saying — and I actually agree with it on principle — but I can’t just let you wander into the woods when we have a killer on the loose.”
“Zander and I are perfectly capable of taking care of each other,” Harper supplied.
“Not always. I happen to remember a time or two when I had to swoop in at the last second and play the hero.”
Harper made a face. “I’ll have you know that I’m a self-rescuing princess.”
Jared fought the urge to smile ... and lost. “I know that. I’m not saying you’re not strong or resilient. You’re not familiar with this area, though. We have no idea who is doing what ... or why, for that matter. You’re not even sure what you’re looking for.”
“That’s why we have to look.” Harper refused to back down. “You said it yourself this morning. We only have a limited amount of time before this ends. If we don’t discover our murderer today, then we won’t have a chance to solve it at all.”
Jared ran his tongue over his teeth, debating, and then held up his hands in a placating manner. “Fine. We need to solve this. We’re both going to struggle if we have to walk away without answers. I’m still not okay with you and Zander wandering around the woods alone.”
“I’m pretty sure there’s an insult buried in there,” Zander muttered, rolling his eyes. “Thankfully he didn’t include a dig about my hair. For that reason alone, he can live.”
Annoyed, Jared pinned him with a quelling look. “Not an insult. Concern. I don’t want anything happening to either of you.”
“Aw, you almost sounded sincere,” Zander cooed. “That was very sweet.”
“I could change my mind and be ready to sacrifice you,” Jared warned, flicking his eyes back to Harper. “We need to come up with a compromise. An hour ago you were promising to stick close to me no matter what. You’re already going back on that promise.”
“I’m not going back,” Harper countered. “I just think there’s a better way to approach this. We need answers. You can get those answers one way. I can get them another. We don’t have time to eliminate one method.”
“I happen to agree.”
She was caught off guard by his change of heart. “You do?” Her brow furrowed as suspicion reared up. “How come?”
He laughed and grabbed her hand to give it a squeeze. “You’re such a trusting soul.”
“I trust you,” she offered automatically. “I trust you more than anyone.”
“Hey!” Zander’s eyes flashed.
Harper ignored him. “I’m just curious what changed your mind.”
“You did.” He reached up and brushed a strand of flyaway hair from her face, momentarily marveling at how beautiful she was, even without makeup and primping. “You need to find your ghost in this world rather than a dream so you can question her. I need to find information on Holly and see if I can get a time of death for Leslie. Those tasks can’t overlap each other ... at least right now.”
“So, what’s the compromise?” Shawn prodded, mildly curious himself. “How do you see this working?”
“You’re going to go with Harper.”
Shawn’s eyebrows hopped. “Excuse me?”
“Yeah, excuse me?” Zander made a horrified face. “There’s no way I’m going to let you send my boyfriend off with my best friend. That means I’ll be stuck with you and ... well ... nobody wants that.”
Jared scowled at him. “You’re right. Nobody wants that. You’ll be going with them, too.”
Zander immediately brightened. “Good idea. You’re putting together the dream team.”
Now it was Harper’s turn to frown. “That means you’ll be alone. I don’t like that.”
“I’ll be alone here in the campground,” he corrected. “I’ll probably be the safest one in the entire group. We need the information, though, and I can’t risk wandering away from a cell signal. I don’t see where we have much choice in the matter.”
Harper wanted to argue, come up with a different solution, but one look at his face told her he had no intention of giving in. “Okay, but I want you to be really careful. If you’re alone, that means you’re going to be an enticing target.”
“I don’t happen to believe that. I have my service weapon locked in the truck, though. If I need it, I can use it.”
“I didn’t think you were supposed to travel with your service weapon,” Shawn said.
“No, actually I am supposed to travel with my weapon just in case.” Jared held Harper’s conflicted gaze and then offered up a charming smile. “I’ll be okay. I need you to promise me that you’ll stick with Shawn and Zander.”
“Of course I will. I just—”
“Promise me,” he repeated in a soft voice.
“I promise.” Harper raised her hand to his cheek. “I don’t like you being alone. Zander and I really will be okay by ourselves. You don’t have to worry about me.”
“I’ll worry a lot less if Shawn is with you. Just ... stick close to him and Zander. As soon as I get our answers, I’ll find you.”
“Watch your back, man,” Shawn instructed as he exchanged a handshake with Jared. “I’ll keep an eye on these two. You make sure to watch yourself.”
Jared pressed a soft kiss to Harper’s mouth before offering Shawn a reassuring wink. “That’s the plan. Something tells me we’re going to keep our streak alive and figure this out. Let’s see if we can do it before nightfall, shall we?”
“Can we have more s’mores
