Page 65 of Harper's Song

“I’ll do what I want with her,” Reggie is saying. “She’s mine.”

“We didn’t sign up for this shit,” another says, an older guy judging by the grating quality of his voice.

“This was always part of the deal,” another man says, darkly and kinda hissingly. “We take Scar’s daughter to bring him here faster, but we don’t give her back in one piece. Now come on, I need some pictures of her for that idiot Jax, else he’s gonna let us torture him until he’s dead before he talks.”

Jax is alive?

The news rises like a soft bubble of hope in my chest, pushing away all the fear and sadness. For about two seconds.

Because they’re torturing him. Because he’s almost dead.

“And if he cuts her up now, then we can use the same pictures to send Scar,” another guy adds. “Two birds with one stone. We’re as ready for this fight as we’re ever gonna be.”

“The Jester Kings don’t mutilate women,” another guys says.

“I’ll do what I want,” Reggie snaps. “This is between me and my brother.”

“Come on, Snake,” the guy who raised the first objection says, ignoring Reggie completely. “Man on man, I’m willing to fight the Devils to the death, you know that. But going after one of their daughters like this. That ain’t right. Cherry’s been on me all day about it, and she’s right.”

“You’re an old school idiot, Dice,” Reggie says. “And now you’ve started listening to whores, which makes it even worse. We do this thing. She’s mine. Now everyone shut up and go get ready. She’ll be ready for you when you need a break. All nice and chained up. I’ll get things started.”

The mere thought of him anywhere near me turns my stomach, and him touching me is beyond anything I ever want to imagine.

Another wave of roaring bikes approaching sends echoes into the night. For a second, I dare hope it’s my dad coming to rescue me.

But then the sound dies down and Reggie shouts in an annoyed voice. “What the fuck now?”

“He’s gone,” a man says breathlessly. “That little hacker rat must’ve freed him. I told you not to trust that weasel.”

“You useless pieces of shit! How hard is it to guard a tied up man?” the hissing man shouts. “What are you even doing here? Go find him. He can’t have gotten far. He was half dead.”

Several bikes roar back to life and leave.

Jax?

Could he be talking about Jax?

I hope with all my heart that it’s true. Because fantasy can be reality. It can.

But it might be too late for me.

Reggie will hurt me and no one’s gonna talk him out of it. I know that now. I heard it in his voice. His hatred for my father is too strong. It has driven him even more insane that he already was to begin with.

* * *

Jax

“It’s Jax,” I told the guy who picked up the phone. “Harper needs your help. I have someone with me who can show us where she is.”

In hindsight, I probably should’ve found better words.

The guy told me to hold on and then all hell must’ve broken loose on his side of the line if the little of the cursing and yelling I could hear of it was anything to go by.

“Where are you?” was the next thing I was asked. By Cross, no less.

Gene provided the name of the road, then the make of the car and its license plate number when asked. Then Cross just told us to keep driving west and ended the call.

“What’s gonna happen now?” Gene asked in a shaky voice.

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