I insisted Garrett wait until dinner to hear about my last twenty four hours, giving me some time to get washed up and rest. The guest room I was given was exquisite, complete with a solid maple four post bed, bay window, and sitting area. The room featured creams and yellows, the colors helping to lift my spirits a little. Kael had found me several different pieces of women's clothes to choose from. Where they originated, I neither knew nor wanted to know. Despite this, I decided they had to have been from one of the following: Madeline's closet which was disgusting, another girlfriend's wardrobe which was disturbing, or a trafficked victim's possessions which was despicable.

I soaked in the claw foot tub in my bathroom, massaging the blisters on my wrist. I hadn't really given enough thought to the darkness surrounding the manor. When I did, it sobered my mood considerably. How could anyone condone or even love someone that would engage in such a horrific business? I wondered if that was why my father had sent me away, assuming that I would never understand or love him. My mother must have been able to overlook his flaws or worse, hadn't had a choice. I made a mental note to ask Kael if he knew who my mother was as I stepped out of the tub and slipped on a robe. I had always assumed I was the result of a one night stand or some other accidental pregnancy scenario, but I had actually not considered rape. I shuddered at the thought.

The clothing selections weren't terrible at all, so I comforted myself that they could not be from a victim's collection. I selected a navy nylon dress reminiscent of the one I had worn to Maria's rehearsal. I left my hair down to dry and re-donned my wedges. I was actually growing rather fond of them. I tiptoed to the stairs, hoping not to alert the ever inquisitive Garrett of my exit.

I have always been rather unsuccessful at moving covertly. Garrett's door flung open. "Harper! Get in here!" He whispered desperately and gestured for me to come.

Resignation settled in as I turned toward him. After all, it would be much less awkward telling the story without Kael in company. No reason to ruin our dinner.

Once inside his room, I showed myself to the sofa, kicking off my shoes. His room had a similar layout to mine but featured navy and silver. It was very regal but much darker than my bright color scheme. Garrett sat down beside me, eyes about to come out of his head in his excitement.

"Tell me everything! I can't believe that this may be the best break yet. We can probably get all the information we need from this guy! He knew your father, right?" Garrett was so eager. I started from the beginning, trying not to leave out anything. The one exception was that I tipped Madeline off in the shop in Havensport. It was a meaningless little detail anyway.

He interjected occasionally with "I knew it!" or "I should have known!" Overall, he gave me a surprising amount of time to talk. The phone on the end table rang and startled us from my story.

We both stared at it. After a dozen rings I finally asked, "Should we get that?"

Garrett tapped his chin. "Ok. Why not?" Reaching over he answered. After a pause he said, "Ok, we'll be right down."

"What was that?" I hoped it wasn't a notification of a security breach, because I knew I couldn't handle any more excitement today.

"Put your shoes on, Harper. Apparently, dinner is ready in the dining room." He gave a mockingly loud clap and headed for the door. "You know what we have to do, don't you?"

"Make a plan?" I guessed tiredly as I shuffled after him.

He grinned. "You know it! We don't know what kind of crazy agenda Kael has in his head, but we need to be one step ahead. Get in; get out."

"Right." I wasn't sure what he meant, but I knew better than to ask. We went back down the stairs and stopped at the bottom, looking both ways. "Do you have any idea where it is?" I asked.

"He said head straight down and to the right. Said we couldn't miss it. I believe Ms. Clark failed to show it to me on our tour." Garrett shrugged and headed off. I followed.

I had to admit, part of me expected a regal spread complete with roasted turkey, dressing, and mashed potatoes. Instead, when we entered the dining room, we found a long wooden table with three plates boasting sandwiches and fries. Three cans of soda completed the feast.

Kael had cleaned himself up. Next to his dark shirt, his hair did look a lighter brown as I had suspected. "Cook's on vacation," he offered in explanation.

"No problem," I said as I grabbed my soda and plate. I hadn't realized how hungry I was. Enough time had elapsed and Garrett began his barrage.

Garrett didn't hide the condemnation from his voice. "So Harper told me everything." He glared at our host who had taken a seat opposite both of us. Kael didn't seem to notice or care about Garrett's accusatory air. He continued eating as Garrett went on. "But I feel that it's good that everything's out on the table. We can deal with it later. The issues at hand are uncovering what happened to Harper's father and stopping the people obsessed with hurting her. Do you have any idea who these people are? Who they work for?"

What a good question! I appreciated Garrett's directness. For once, we might be getting somewhere. I spent far too much time worrying about how to work things into conversations, or ask without really coming to the point. When Kael didn't say anything, I looked at him pointedly, "Do you?"

"Yes." He took a swig of soda, watching me. He sighed, "They're dissatisfied customers. They didn't get their delivery as expected."

"How does that fit? Where does she come in?" Garrett pointed his sandwich at me.

"She's an asset. If they have her, they get the old man's attention." I assumed the "old man" in question was my father. Kael finished his sandwich and leaned back in his chair, bracing himself for the remainder of Garrett's inquisition.

"So he's alive?" Again, Garrett was asking all the right questions. I sat in silence, afraid to take another bite and miss something.

"I can't be sure. He went to look into some things himself and didn't come back. I put the manor up because I thought that would get his attention." Kael shrugged.

"Why would the manor bring him back?" I asked.

"Because he wanted it for you." Kael shifted his gaze from Garrett to me. "He figured when all was said and done, it was the one thing of value he could give you."

"What about his business?" I asked, enjoying finally getting satisfactory answers.

"You'd want that?" Kael looked surprised.

"No, of course not, but I would think that would be the reason. The reason to keep the house. For the easy access to the bay and all." I flushed, hating the thought of it.

"Honestly, there haven't been many customers since the lost shipment. It is very hard to come back from something like that in this business." Kael gathered the crumbs on his plate into a small pile as he talked. "I know if he's alive he'll come back soon. He's got to wonder what I'm doing selling the house when he told me specifically never to give her up."

Garrett nodded, obviously taking this all into account as he formulated his plan. "So we basically have three courses of action to choose from." He used his fingers as a guide. "We either ward off these angry customers somehow, retrieve the shipment, or find her father. What sounds the most realistic to you? We both are in unchartered territory, to be completely honest with you."

"He knows," I mumbled to my friend, tapping his leg.

Kael rubbed his face. "Let's talk in the morning. I need to think about it. None of them will be easy. The problem is, the shipment isn't coming back. Warding them off sounds like a plan, but it's really just putting a plaster on the problem. Finding the old man could be tricky, unless he comes back like I said."

"How long has the house been for sale?" Garrett asked.

"Long enough." Kael looked absently into his plate for a moment before pushing back his chair. "Clothes alright then?" He looked at me as he gathered our plates.

"Perfect actually. Thank you."

Whose were they? I wanted to ask. Afraid of the answer, I didn't.

"Reconvene tomorrow at eight?" Garrett offered.

"Sounds good," I said. Kael gestured a dish laden hand in agreement as he headed off, presumably to the kitchen.

Once he was gone, Garrett whispered to me, "I don't trust him. Something smells really rotten here, Harper. Part of me thinks we should head out directly."

We climbed the stairs side by side so we could whisper effectively. I silently wished Garrett could whisper a little softer. His voice had a tendency to carry despite his greatest efforts.

I glanced behind us to be sure we were alone. "Shhh. You heard what we went through yesterday. There's supposedly fantastic security at this place, and right now that's all I care about." We reached the top of the stairs and Garrett walked me to my door. "We will see how tomorrow goes. If you're still uncomfortable, and we are no closer to ending this, we can go, ok?"

Garrett leaned toward me and continued his efforts to whisper. "Fine, but I'm telling you, something is seriously wrong here. Don't get me started on his supposed security. I haven't seen one person, security or otherwise, since we arrived."

I shuddered and he put an arm around me. "Do you want me to come stay with you? Just to be safe."

"Garrett, for goodness sake..." I shook my head and slipped out of his hold.

His face fell. "How can you still say that? I'm obviously only worried about your safety. You're in danger. I'd sleep on the couch."

"Yes you would," I agreed. "But no thank you."

In my own room, I questioned my decision momentarily before deciding it had been the right one. Whatever Garrett's intentions, if a Madeline-like intruder were to make it into my room, Garrett wouldn't stand a chance. Although he had a solid build, he was less than experienced at hand-to-hand combat. I left my dress on and slid under the covers. I didn't mind that there weren't pajamas in the stack of items Kael had given me. I'd rather be dressed just in case the security wasn't as good as Kael had boasted.

*****

Don't worry; she won't be safe for too long. Thanks for reading and don't forget to vote and comment!

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