The feminine shape, startled by his shouting and banging on the glass, jumped backward and grabbed her chest. She then went behind the counter, grabbed a shotgun, and approached him cautiously.
Upon getting a closer look at him, she squinted. "Do I know you?"
Dash shouted, "I'm Harper's boyfriend! Are you Desiree?"
He only knew them vaguely from around the neighborhood and knew that Lori was the one who often accompanied Harper when she was on one of her missions to collect signatures around the area.
The woman's eyes widened.
"What's your name?"
"Dash Fitzgerald."
He began to dig inside his pocket for his wallet to prove his identity, but Desiree opened the door and let him in. As she locked the door behind him, he asked hurriedly, have you heard from Harper today?"
Desiree spun around to meet his gaze, once again gripping her shirt. "No! Why, what's going on?"
Dash could see that this was the most likely parent to freak out before having all the facts, so he tried to remain calm. "I've called her several times today, and no answer. I was just wondering if she was here. No big deal, I'm sure everything is fine."
Desiree arched an eyebrow at him.
"Young man," she said, "Did you and she argue? Because she's not going to tolerate much of that. Maybe she just wanted some alone time."
He swallowed. "No. We didn't argue. But…she didn't show up for work today."
He waited for the shouting and the crying that never came. Instead, Desiree, a shotgun still in one hand, dialed Harper on the business phone and then from her mobile phone. "No answer." She turned her eyes up at Dash. Even though she was more than a foot shorter than he was, she flattened him with her gaze. She had the look of a witch about to put a hex on him. "If you are lying to me, and you're hiding something, I swear to Goddess, I will put you down."
Dash put up his palms. "I understand why I'd be a target, and I am sorry I didn't introduce myself to you earlier. You don't have any idea what kind of person I am, and that's on me. But the real matter at hand here is we need to find Harper."
She narrowed her eyes again and picked up her phone. "Calling my wife… Hi, have you talked to Harper today? …No… I'm here with her boyfriend Dash, and he says she didn't show up to work today."
Lora's voice was calm but terrified. "I'm calling the police."
Dash said, "I'll follow you to your house to help answer any questions from the police."
Moments later, the three of them sat together in Lora and Desiree's living room, Lora speaking to the police dispatch. She hung up and looked defeated. She shook her head and informed the group that the police would not execute a missing person's search until the adult had been missing for 48 hours.
"Fuck," Dash said, punching the sofa cushion and standing up.
He took a deep breath and made another call.
"Who are you calling?" Lora asked. Her voice again sounded weak, like a ghost.
"Holden's fiancée might be able to pull some strings with the police department."
He watched Lora and Desiree exchange a look and shrug. "I'll take whatever help anyone can offer," Lora said. "We just need to make sure she's okay."
While he waited for Holden to answer, he asked for the two of them to think of any place she might have gone. Any business that she frequented. Lora got up and grabbed a notepad and a pen, and the two women began compiling a list of Harper's favorite haunts.
"Holden, it's Dash. Listen, I have a situation." Dash filled in the details for his best friend, hoping he or Katie would have an idea of what to do. Dash was slowly starting to see himself losing it.
Holden replied, "Shit. Hang on; I'm gonna let you talk to the lady in charge."
He heard murmuring on the line, and then Katie picked up. "Dash? Tell me everything you know; I'm already in the process of putting my security detail on top of it. And the police are right, they can't legally begin a search right now, but Mike will do anything I need him to do. Don't you worry. We'll find her."
"Too late, I'm already sick with worry. Thank you, Katie. Thank you so much."
He was too sick to his stomach to care about the way his emotions showed in his words. He had to get Katie back, and that's all there was to it. He would make sure she was okay. If she had just disappeared to be alone for a little while, then they'd have to have a serious talk about her letting him know when she needed space. If she was leaving him, that was her choice, but she needed to speak up.
If someone had taken her somewhere, that someone had just signed their own death warrant. Dash would find them and unleash such an unholy rage, they will have wished they'd jumped off the pier into the frigid sea rather than die at the hands of Dash Fitzgerald.
The worst-case scenario, he could not bear to think of. If she was hurt, or worse, well… Dash just could not let that play out in his mind. He refused.
"I'm gonna go back to her house and wait for her," he said. "If she turns up or if I hear of anything, I'll let you know."
It took some doing, but Dash convinced Lora and Desiree to stay put in case Harper showed up at their house, for whatever reason.
As he headed out the door, he called the only other person he could think of that might help.
"Levi. Round up the squad and meet me at this address…"
Chapter Twenty-One
Harper
The first thing she noticed was the musty smell that reminded her of Horace Ross Whiskey's basement.
Am I dreaming? Am I having a nightmare that Mom sent me down to the basement to fetch some crap,
