“Yes, of course.” Harper nodded. “I’ll call you as soon as I find her.”
Once he turned and left her room, Harper let her own panic set in. She didn’t want Brian to worry unnecessarily, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t scared herself. It wasn’t like Gemma to stay out past curfew. Gemma liked to push the rules, but she rarely broke them.
Harper went over to her window and pulled back the curtains, looking out at Alex’s house. His car was in the driveway, so that meant he wasn’t out with Gemma. Harper grabbed her cell phone off her nightstand and dialed his number anyway.
“Hello?” Alex answered groggily after the fifth ring.
“Is Gemma with you?” Harper blurted out and paced her bedroom.
“What?” Alex asked, and his voice suddenly became clearer. “Harper? What’s going on?”
“Nothing.” She took a deep breath and stifled the urgency in her words. She didn’t need to scare him, too. “I just wanted to know if Gemma was with you.”
“No,” Alex said. Through her bedroom window, Harper saw the light turn on in his room next door. “I haven’t seen or talked to her since I dropped her off at your house last night. Is she okay?”
Harper held the phone away from her mouth and swore under her breath. Alex would never keep Gemma out all night, and she should’ve known that.
If Gemma had been with him, he would’ve insisted that she get home right on time. Not just because it was the right thing to do, but because he was afraid of incurring the wrath of Harper and Brian.
“Yeah, no, I mean, I’m sure she’s fine,” Harper replied quickly. “But I have to go, okay, Alex?”
“What? No, it’s not okay. Where’s Gemma?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I have to go. I’m going to look for her. I mean, I know she’s fine, but I have to find her.”
“I’ll go with you,” Alex offered. “I’ll put on some pants and meet you outside.”
“No, don’t.” She shook her head, even though he couldn’t see it. “You stay here in case she comes back. You can keep an eye on the house.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.” Harper sighed. “Watch out for her, and if she contacts you, let me know, okay?”
“Yeah, I can do that. And you tell her to call me as soon as you find her.”
“Will do.”
Harper hung up the phone without waiting for him to say anything more. She knew where she had to look, and it twisted her stomach in knots. Gemma had gone out to the bay last night, alone, and she hadn’t returned.
Still in her pajamas, Harper slipped on her flip-flops and ran down the stairs. She moved fast in the hope that she wouldn’t have time to think about all the horrible things that could’ve happened to Gemma. Drowning. Kidnapping. Murder. Hell, even a shark attack was possible.
“Did you find her?” Brian shouted from the bathroom. He’d heard Harper flying downstairs.
“Not yet!” Harper yelled back up to him and grabbed her car keys off the rack by the door. “I’m going out now. I’ll call you later!” She jogged out to her car.
As she sped through town, Harper looked around as much as she could. Gemma could’ve just as easily gotten hurt on the way to or from the bay. But somehow Harper knew that wasn’t what had happened. The terrified pit in her stomach insisted that it was something else, something worse.
Since Gemma had ridden her bike last night, Harper went down to the docks where Gemma usually parked it. She raced down the worn wooden planks, praying the bike wasn’t there. If it was gone, it meant Gemma had left, that she’d gone somewhere else.
As soon as she saw the bike, all locked up with Gemma’s backpack, her heart dropped. Gemma was still out in that water, as she had been for the past eight or nine hours.
Unless …
Harper whirled around and found The Dirty Gull moored in the same spot as always, just a few feet down from where Gemma had locked up her bike.
“Daniel!” Harper shouted and ran over to his boat. “Daniel!” She reached out for the railing and tried to climb up. “Daniel!”
“Harper?” Daniel called. He opened the cabin door and stepped out, buttoning up the pair of jeans he’d just pulled on.
Harper was trying to pull herself up over the railing, but the boat was too far away from the dock. Her foot slipped off the edge, and one of her flip-flops fell off and splashed into the water. She would’ve fallen in right after it if Daniel hadn’t come over and grabbed her arm.
He wrapped a strong arm around her shoulders and lifted her up, pulling her over the railing. To do that, he had to press her against his bare chest. Harper was cold from her panic and the morning air, and his skin felt warm against her.
“What are you doing here?” Daniel asked when he released her.
“Is Gemma here?” Harper asked, but by the confused expression on his face, she already knew the answer.