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Chapter Twenty-One: Queen to D8
The wooden floors of her apartment have memorised Harper's footsteps by 7 am, she has paced back and forth that many times over the last few hours. Her short hair is frazzled, still in her work clothes from yesterday and there's a crazed look in her eyes as Spencer opens the door. At this point, he's used to coming over to her apartment randomly.
"Hey," he approaches her, noticing her state of mind. "I came on my way to work, as soon as I saw your calls. Are you okay? What happened? Your messages were unclear."
She gulps, staring at him. Her eyes are bloodshot from lack of sleep and worry, Spencer has never seen her like this.
He softens his tone, stepping his legs out to the side to get lower so that he can put his hands on her shoulders and meet her eyes. "Harper? What happened?"
Harper gulps again, opening her mouth to answer but realising this conversation is about to get ten times more complicated.
"Boba is gone."
He frowns, squinting at her slightly. "Gone? He ran away?"
Harper considers just saying yes. She could tell him that Boba ran away – he'd still help her find him. Then, she wouldn't have to admit that she'd been receiving threatening messages. She wouldn't have to look into his dark eyes and tell him that she had lied to him. She hesitates, looking at him, and he speaks again.
"Harper, on average you blink 12 to 14 times a minute, you've blinked 28 times in the last 60 seconds. That's an indicator of duress, but also you blinked slower before you answered, which means you're hiding something."
She frowns, looking away from him. For a moment she considers asking him how and why he has calculated her average blinking – but shrugs it off. It's Spencer, and she is stalling.
"Spence... I've been getting... Well, actually I just got one, until last night... I got a threatening text message. I think... I think Boba has been taken." She bit her lip, tears threatening to spill over.
Spencer's expression shifts from confusion to something deeper, hinting a flicker of fear and anger that Harper rarely sees in him. His hands fall from her shoulders, and he stands straighter, taking a small step back as he processes her words.
His voice is barely above a whisper. "You got a threatening text... and didn't tell me?" His gaze sharpens, his jaw tensing. "We just talked about you telling me everything. You told me to trust you!"
She sighs, closing her eyes as she braces herself. "I know. But it was one text, Spencer! And I thought maybe it was just... I don't know! I didn't want to overreact."
"Overreact?" He takes another step back, crossing his arms. "Harper, this is exactly what I was worried about. If someone is targeting you—especially with everything we're dealing with—they won't stop at one text. And now Boba is missing—who knows what else they're planning!"
