So why was she in the basement of the distillery?
Darkness all around her, she could not make out the familiar shapes of boxes of whiskey and fermentation supplies that were kept down there.
Her consciousness and alertness finally took hold. Harper sat up straight with a gasp. "Mom! Why am I down here in the dark?"
She felt around on the floor and soon realized this was not the basement floor of the distillery. She felt around for the French drain that was not there. The distillery basement had a stone floor, and this was smooth concrete, cold under her bare feet.
Think, Harper. Think. She stood carefully, feeling a bit dizzy. Reaching around in the dark, she looked for the pull string for the overhead lightbulb, but again, there was nothing. Eventually, finding the stone wall, she felt her way along. It was oddly damp. This was not the distillery.
She cast her thoughts back to that morning. She'd been at Crow Bar with Dash, and she'd been formally introduced to Dash's mom. They'd informed everyone vital to them that they were now officially a couple. The reception of that had been bland at best, except for Mrs. Fitzgerald. Afterward, she had walked on the beach but got sidetracked by a…wait a minute…a lady with a dog. Or a lady missing her dog?
The barrel of a handgun in her side…a threat…and then she'd felt a pinch…and everything had gone hazy, fading into black.
Oh my god. The house. I'm at some crazy person's house in a neighborhood I don't even know.
She'd been tricked, threatened, kidnapped, drugged, and tossed into a dark, unfamiliar space. She knew two things for sure: she was underground, and she was about to panic.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Dash
Leave it to Billy to show up with the contents of the Crow Bar safe: guns and ammo. Levi showed up with the headsets, admitting he had no idea if they would work or how they would use them, but he just panicked and grabbed them in case. Ricky brought a Sharpie and the legal pad. Holden and the rest brought muscle, and Katie brought in Mike. Dash had heard legendary stories of Mike's efforts to protect Katie—quite possibly the wealthiest person in all of Newcastle. Seeing the man in person gave him an odd sense of calm amid the shitstorm raging in his head.
Also, there was his mom, Levi's grandmother, and Fr. O'Brien. Even Declan had shown up. A hard knot of pride formed in his throat. If he hadn't guessed that Harper was a great human before, he knew now just by the sheer number of people who were showing up to help find her.
"Thanks, everyone. This means a lot," Dash said, swallowing back tears. "I could be overreacting, but—" Fiona, Levi's fiancée, cut him off. "Seriously, Dash. No. Trust your gut. The girl has a target on her back, and we need to find her."
Dash nodded grimly. "Okay. First, we make a list of Harper's enemies."
The list was long, but her list of friends was longer.
Ricky, who was of much calmer and sound mind than Dash at the moment, delegated out the tasks to everyone. Billy handed each of the Brute Squad a firearm, bullets, and showed each one how to use them. The longer Dash knew Billy, the more he began to wonder if his real job was a super-spy or something. The dude knew too much about too many things, all of which were strangely handy in a crisis.
Before they all split up, Fr. O'Brien placed a hand on Dash's shoulder. "You don't even need to ask. I'll stay here and wait for her in case she shows up. You go and do whatever you need to do. And take this."
The priest pulled out a long silver chain with a small oval pendant on it.
Dash examined it. "Saint Anthony."
Fr. O'Brien squeezed his shoulder. "To help find what is lost."
Dash was not at all religious these days, but whoever and whatever spirit out there that would be willing to help him find his girl, he would take it.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Harper
Slowly feeling around all the brick walls that surrounded her, she listened carefully for noise, any kind of noise at all.
A gap in the stone wall surprised her, and she fell to her knees, her face hitting the dirt. What the hell? She sat up and felt around. The gap was rough, not like a door. And it led into an even tighter space than the concrete and stone room where she was. Claustrophobia began to creep in. Trying her best to control her breathing, she backed out of the tight space and listened.
Nothing but a faint echo of scurrying off in the distance. Probably rats. Great, I've been left to rot along with the rats. I have to find a door and get out of here.
Carefully feeling her way along the damp stone walls, trying so hard not to hyperventilate from fright, Harper finally came to another opening in the wall. Feeling around some more, she realized she had come to a narrow, rough stairway made of concrete. And there was light coming from up above that stairway. It was dim, not enough to illuminate her surroundings, but it was something, and it came from around a door at the top of the stairs. Behind the door, someone was speaking.
Feeling around with her hands, she steadied herself as she made her way, slowly, up the stairs. She moved maddeningly slowly, but she needed to keep herself as quiet as possible. She smirked at the knowledge that, as cold as her feet were, bare feet gave her the upper hand in stealthy movement. Someone might be listening.
She reached the top step and was, of course, met by a door. Gingerly, she slowly tried the knob, which was locked from the other side. Not knowing where she was or what was going to happen to her, she stayed at the top of the
