I was out of breath by the time I reached Emmie. Not because of the sprint I’d just done, but because I was so scared that something had happened to someone I loved. Emmie spotted me coming before I’d even reached her and lifted the phone from her ear. “Get all the roadies together now. I want to know if anyone saw anything. The least little thing out of the ordinary I want to know about.”
I nodded. “What happened? Are they okay? Where’s Jenna?”
“The only one who got hurt was Ranger,” Emmie told me, her eyes cold in her beautiful face. “Shane and Wroth are with him at the local emergency vet. The bus is torn all to hell. Harper is on Drake’s bus with Jenna. After you get the roadies together, I want you to go check on her. All the guys are over there. They’ll keep her safe until Peterson is free.”
“Safe?” What the fuck did that mean? “Emmie, what the hell is going on?”
My boss blew out a frustrated breath. “Some lunatic tore the bus up, stabbed the dog and then left a message written in the dog’s blood on the bathroom mirror.” She swiped at the screen on her phone and a picture popped up. She turned it so that I could see it and I nearly threw up.
The message that had been written on the bathroom mirror chilled my blood and I swayed for just a moment before stiffening my knees. “You’re next bitches” was written with Ranger’s blood.
“Someone’s trying to hurt Harper?” I whispered.
“Looks like it.” Emmie nodded grimly. “The cops will be here soon. Peterson called them in hoping they can find some useful prints. Seller is sending me a team of security and an additional guard for Harper. I’m going to have to have the entire bus redone. It’s not livable right now.”
I fisted my trembling hands and stiffened my spine. Now wasn’t the time to fall apart because some psycho was after my sister-in-law. Harper had crazies hating on her every day. That was why she had a personal bodyguard in the first place. Right now I had to focus on the things Emmie needed me to do.
I scribbled a few more commands onto my clipboard and then set off to get all the roadies gathered together. Twenty roadies were spread out all over the place, but I eventually found them all and told them to meet on their buses. Once I’d made sure that they were all there, I sent Emmie a text telling her they were ready for her to talk to and then went to Drake’s bus.
I could hear Harper cursing before I’d even opened the bus door. I knew she was upset from that alone. Harper rarely swore, but when she did she could put Emmie to shame. I stepped onto the bus to find the living room crowded with my family. Nik, Jesse, Drake, Lana, Layla, Lucy, Jenna, and Harris were all sitting around while Harper paced the length of the living room and back again. Looked like Harper had picked up Shane’s habit of pacing when he was agitated over something.
Spotting me, Nik jumped to his feet. “Do you know anything? Is Emmie okay? Did she hear from Shane yet?”
I didn’t know how much Emmie wanted me to share with everyone yet and I really didn’t know all that much so I answered the last two questions. “No, she hasn’t heard from Shane yet. She’s pissed off, but otherwise okay.”
Harper turned at the sound of my voice, her violet eyes bright with a mixture of tears and anger. “Shane’s okay? Please, Natalie. I’m going out of my gods damn mind here. I can’t reach Shane on his cell. I need to know he’s okay. I need to know what’s going on with Ranger.” Tears spilled from her eyes. “Look, I know Emmie is busy trying to deal with everything else, but please. Find out what’s going on before I start climbing the walls.”
I wrapped my arms around her shaking body, needing to hug her at least once before I started promising her I would help her find out as much as I could. Her shoulders sagged a little as I held onto her tightly. “I’ll do what I can, Harper.”
The door opened and Dallas, Axton, Marissa, and Linc rushed into the living room. Dallas practically jerked Harper from my arms and into her own. “Are you okay?” she demanded. She stepped back to do a visual exam of her best friend, her eyes full of tears. “Are you hurt?”
More tears fell from Harper’s violet eyes. “I’m fine. I just need someone to go check on my husband and my dog. Emmie said Wroth is with him. Wroth! He can’t handle Shane if he’s even half as upset as I am right now.”
Marissa’s eyes widened. “Wroth is with him?” She bit her lip, something she was doing a lot of lately. It was both annoying and adorable. I wished she would stop doing it. Her lip was going to have permanent teeth impressions if she didn’t. “Someone needs to go over there with them. Does anyone know where the vet is?”
I pulled out my phone and started texting. Within a minute I knew the address of the vet. I scribbled the address onto the corner of the top sheet of paper on my clipboard and tore it off. “Linc, help Marissa get a taxi,” I told him, knowing that Marissa wanted to go so that she could help Wroth. From the looks on all the other Demons’ faces, they wanted to go too, but knew that they would be better off staying with Harper. It was what Shane would have wanted, for them to protect the most precious thing in his life.
Harper stopped Marissa before she made it to the door. “Tell Shane I love him. Make sure he’s okay. He…” A sob escaped her and she rubbed her hands over her face before continuing. “I just want him to be okay.”
I followed Linc and Marissa out but while they went off to grab a taxi I went back to Shane’s bus. The cops were already there and Peterson, the tall mean-looking bodyguard who had promised to protect Harper with his life, was talking to some guy in a suit. Emmie stood between the two men, listening intently. When I reached them Emmie took my hand and held onto it tightly, the only outward sign that she was having an emotional breakdown behind those big green eyes of hers.
Sometimes it was hard to remember that Emmie was just as human as anyone else. She was so efficient, so solid and dependable when everything was going to hell around her. When things got crazy she was in the zone. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t torn to shreds like everyone else. I knew just from the way she held onto my hand that she was not just pissed off but upset.
She’d dedicated her life to doing everything she could to help the Demons. She loved them all. They’d been her family when she’d needed someone the most. They had raised her, treasured her, and made them one of their own. When this lunatic had hurt Shane and Harper by destroying their bus and possibly even killing their beloved dog, they had hurt Emmie just as badly.