Page 94 of Unwanted

Rylee had taken a sip of her own wine and now was looking at Harper over the rim of her glass. “You’re in love.”

She smiled, sitting back. “I am. Ridiculously in love, Ry.” And despite the recent upheaval, she felt at peace inside, for the first time in what felt like forever.

Rylee smiled, looking like she might be about to cry. “I’m so happy,” she whispered. “And I want to meet him immediately.”

Harper grinned. “You will. He’s coming to live with me.” She held up a hand when Rylee opened her mouth to ask if she thought that was a good idea, Harper could tell. “I know it’s sudden. But…it’s right. Jak needs to figure out his own life, and he knows that. But we’re going to do it together. It feels right.”

Rylee watched her for a second and then smiled. “It must because I’ve never seen such peace in your eyes.”

Harper grinned, taking another sip of wine. “There are still some loose ends as far as what exactly happened to Jak,” she said. “But those questions will be answered eventually, or they won’t. Either way, he’s good. He’s the strongest man I’ve ever known.”

Live! The words he’d said to her on the side of that cliff a lifetime ago rang through her head as they’d done before—down deep in her subconscious and floating to the surface now and again, the rallying cry not to give up. And she hadn’t. Because of him.

Then she told her friend what Agent Gallagher had discovered, what she and Jak had discovered after he’d disappeared into the woods, back to the one place that still felt like home to him, though she vowed she would change that. She would be his home. From that day forward. And he would be hers.

Rylee sat, mouth gaping. “Do the police think Driscoll killed your parents too? So that he could kidnap you and make you part of his study?”

Harper frowned. “They don’t know. And I might never know. But yes, it’s the best theory as of now.”

“Good lord,” Rylee said. “I can’t believe something that demented was going on right here in Helena Springs.”

“I know. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it all.” And that would likely take a while. But she was a survivor. She always would be. Was there any reason to know the why and how about her parents? About why she had been chosen? Not really. It wouldn’t bring them back. It wouldn’t change the outcome of their lives. I lived.

And Jak was the greatest survivor of all time as far as she was concerned. Her hero. Her love. Her forever mate.

“So what happens from here?”

“Agent Gallagher is still working the case, trying to figure out who killed Driscoll. And he’s trying to identify the bodies found on Driscoll’s property.” A shiver went through her—how close she’d come to being nothing but remains on Driscoll’s land. A red X on his hand-drawn map. She took a deep breath. “But while that unfolds, I’m going to be taking some psychology courses in Missoula. I want to understand why people do the things they do.” She wanted to work in the criminal justice field someday, helping agents like Mark Gallagher out on cases. Everything that had unfolded had been terrible and tragic and mind-boggling, but seeing the case being worked from up close had inspired her to do the same type of work. And she knew she’d have an advocate in Agent Gallagher.

In the meantime, she and Jak would run her guide business. To say he’d be a natural was an understatement. Who knew the wilderness better than he did?

Harper and Rylee talked for another half hour, exchanging Christmas gifts, laughing, and reminiscing, and when Harper got up to hug her goodbye, she felt even fuller. Being in love was a wonderful miracle, but having a community surrounding her and Jak would enrich life for both of them.

Harper smiled to herself as she walked down Rylee’s steps, turning into the covered parking area, eager to get home and wait for Jak’s arrival. Just as she was removing her key from her purse, she sensed movement behind her, turning halfway as someone grabbed her from behind. She opened her mouth to scream, inhaling a big breath of something sweet and noxious as a hand went over her mouth. Terror spiked through her. She tried to lift her arm, to hit, to flail, but her body was too heavy. The world wavered, faded. Blinked out.

***

She couldn’t see. She could barely hear. Her head roared, and it was several minutes before she realized it wasn’t coming from inside her own mind, but rather, it was outside, somewhere beyond the darkness. She listened, her brain clearing, memory returning piece by piece. Water. It’s water.

She’d been leaving Rylee’s house. Someone had come up behind her. Taken her. Her heart raced, the brain fog clearing.

Whatever had been covering her head was removed suddenly, and she let out a short yelp, the sudden light blinding her. She opened her eyes, the smell of nature meeting her nose—trees and dirt and rushing water.

I’ve been here before.

She was standing on a cliff, a river flowing next to her, spilling into what she immediately recognized as Amity Falls.

“Beautiful up here, isn’t it?”

She whirled around so quickly, she almost stumbled over her own feet.

A large, tall man with graying streaks in his mostly black hair stood in front of her, smiling casually. Next to him was an equally tall young man with bronzed skin and dark eyes, his expression blank. “My favorite place in all of this godforsaken wilderness.” The older man smiled. “I’m Dr. Swift, by the way.” He walked toward her but not too close. She gaped at him, her mind searching frantically to put this into context. What is happening?

“This whole thing started out with a ceremony, albeit an interrupted ceremony, and…it’ll end with one.” He smiled. “Of sorts. Though not in the same location, exactly. Isaac picked the first one. But he’s not here anymore to choose anything, is he?”

“Isaac?” she murmured. Isaac Driscoll chose the first location. The first ceremony? The first time she’d stood on a cliff like this. With Jak. And two other unnamed boys.

Hazy pictures filled her mind, things she’d always thought were dreams or nightmares or bits and pieces of her fighting her way through the wilderness…the voices of the hikers who found her maybe…her fear, the cold. It’d all swirled together in her child’s mind, creating confusion and too much that was unknown or out of context for the adult Harper to begin to understand.

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