“No. You go and enjoy your night. When I find him, I’ll come back.”
Piper looked doubtful.
“I promise.”
“Okay. But keep in contact, and if you need help, we’ll come. In fact, I’ll go get Luke to go with you.”
“No! Please,” she said more calmly when she realized she’d yelled. “I’ll call if I need help.”
Piper nodded but didn’t look convinced. Quinn grabbed her bag and left using the rear exit. Minutes later, she was heading out of Ryker Falls.
“I made twelve hundred dollars.” She allowed herself a small smile. She didn’t want to think about Luke and what his behavior had meant, because it likely hadn’t meant anything. She didn’t want to think about the fact he’d won a night with her either.
Her phone was ringing as she parked outside the house. Digging in her bag, she saw it was Luke and let it go to voicemail.
Hurrying inside, she called for her parents, but no one answered. She ran to her room and changed into her flat boots, and then sprinted back out the door. First, she headed to the outbuildings. The first two were empty.
“Quinn!”
Her mother’s voice had her running to the hangar. Shelly Harper was standing there with a torch.
“Any sign?”
“Nothing. Dad has gone in his pickup to the front of the property. He’s working his way back to the house.”
“I’ll take the ATV and head the other way. It has lights. You need to go on back to the house now, Mom. There is nothing you can do from here. Go through each room again and check he hasn’t come back. Maybe he’s hurt.”
“It will destroy your father if anything happens to Levi.” She sniffed.
“I know.” Wrapping an arm around her mother, she hugged her briefly. “Go back now and put on coffee. I have my phone. If I need you, I’ll call. You call me if Dad finds him, okay?”
Her mom nodded and then disappeared at a run.
Quinn opened the hangar door and turned on the lights. She found the ATV in the rear and checked it was gassed up, then was soon heading out of the hanger. Lights on, she rolled along slowly, checking everywhere she could. She stopped every few minutes and called the dog. An hour into her search, there was still no sign of Levi, and her mom hadn’t called.
The Harper land was big. This area she was heading into wasn’t well used. Her father tended to focus closer to the house on the goats and berries these days; consequently, the ground was uneven. But there had always been a central path through. She would do this pass of the mountains and river, then head to the old well. Levi may have fallen in there.
The ATV’s headlights showed her the mountains rising before her. The rock face she and Matt had climbed often as children lured her closer. A river flowed in front of it. She hoped Levi hadn’t fallen in and drowned.
Her lights picked up a shape ahead. Quinn shut them off for no other reason than she was fairly sure that was a vehicle. Stopping the ATV, she cut the engine and got off, moving to the right, away from it. Chances were if someone was out here and shouldn’t be, they’d heard her approach or saw the lights.
Circling round, she approached the vehicle from the right. The moon offered some light, but if she could see the vehicle there was a chance whoever was driving it could see her. Crouching, she moved closer.
The vehicle was empty. She stayed low and headed to the small rise above the river. Looking over the edge, Quinn studied the scene below.
Three people were walking up and down the rock face. She saw the wooden markers they’d pegged out. There were several cases, and a small machine of some sort. They had lamps. Down there, they would not have been too visible from above, and there was no way they’d have seen them from the house.
Anger boiled in her veins. These bastards had to be the ones who had messed with her parents. Quinn needed to get back to the house. Chief Blake would know what the best thing to do now was.
Her phone rang. Quinn fumbled for it, but it was too late. The three people had heard. Getting to her feet, she ran for the ATV, gripping the phone, and headed for home. Seconds later she heard the roar of a vehicle. Soon the headlights were following her. With her foot down on the gas pedal as far as it could go, she fumbled with her phone.
It rang again.
“Help! I’m being followed, by the rock face—”
The vehicle hit her hard from behind. The ATV rose into the air, then flipped and rolled. Quinn felt pain explode inside her head.
She was hanging upside down and struggled to get free of the vehicle. Finally, she managed, and hit the ground hard. Rolling as fast as she could away from it, Quinn heard the thud of footsteps. Getting on her hands and knees she started crawling.