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It was thoughtful of Daniel to call and check up on her, but Harper couldn’t call hie dalliance she’d had with hi about Gemma, Daniel would let her know, but that was the only ti to Gemma came first Harper had to deal with that before she could think of anything else

Harper had slept in her clothes frorabbed a change of clothes, then crept across the hall to the bathroo more she could say to him about Gemma’s disappearance, but she knew Brian would want to keep rehashing it until it made sense

She cleaned up quickly, then got dressed She’d started to sneak back to her rooht of the darkened roo at the doorway, Harper couldn’t help but wonder if Geain

Harper sed the lu to shake off the feeling Of course Ge until Gemma was home

When Harper turned back to her own roo on her bed, staring down at the floor and looking forlorn

“Alex?” Harperof her heart slowed “What are you doing here?” She stepped into her room

“Oh, sorry” He lifted his head and motioned toward the downstairs “Your dad let me in I came over to talk”

She glanced back behind her, half expecting Brian to be standing in the hall eavesdropping, and then she shut the bedroom door

“How did my dad seem?” Harper asked

“Okay, I guess” Alex shrugged, and she noticed a cut on his forehead, probably froht “A little sad and confused He asked me about Gemma, but I told him I don’t knohere she is”

She’d ht about what had happened to Gemma The truth was that they didn’t knohere she was, and that was as good an answer as any

“So, what the hell happened last night?” Alex asked her directly

“I have no idea” Harper shook her head and sat down in the chair in front of her desk “I don’t even knohat those … those things were”

“I can barely even remember what they look like anyht’s a weird blur of ies that don’t even make sense”

“That’s probably because you hit your head,” Harper said

Alex seemed to think about it for a minute, then said, “No I don’t think so I re really clearly until ere in the cove and that song started”

Harper had actually forgotten about the song until Alex mentioned it She couldn’t reotten dream

There were a few minutes in the cove that Harper couldn’t really reh she recalled a longing and a pull toward the phanto into the ocean the way Alex had, but that was about all she could reain