Page 109 of Archer

I met Sloane’s eyes. “I slept well. Thank you again for inviting me to stay.”

“Anytime. I mean that.”

“She does,” Knox confirmed. He slung his elbow over the back of her chair and grinned before kissing her temple.

Colton’s attention had already returned to his open laptop, data scrolling across two open windows. “I’m trading emails with Nash about how to find Webb.”

“We should brainstorm,” I suggested.

“Eat first,” Maggie said. “Nothing beats my warm muffins.”

Colton snorted, then fought a little smile.

She set a plate in front of him as well. “You should try them.”

A blush bloomed across Colton’s fair cheeks, and I looked immediately to Sloane.

She hid a smile behind her coffee mug, eyes flickering to meet my gaze.

There was definitely a story behind these two, but I doubted I’d get the scoop from either of them.

I bit into my muffin, then moved a pile of fruit from the tray to my plate with the serving tongs. Emotion tightened my windpipe as I chewed. How had a group of virtual strangers become like family so soon?

And none of them had asked about my career or success. No one wanted anything from me. No invasive questions about celebrities or requests to attend parties.

They all wanted to help me. Just because I was here and needed help.

My heart lifted on a wave of sincere gratitude.

Archer met and held my gaze for a long moment. I offered him a small, apologetic smile. I’d been overwhelmed and hurt yesterday. He hadn’t intended to hurt me with his words, and I’ve overreacted. The immeasurable stress we were under likely contributed to both problems.

We still needed to talk about that.

“Colton.” Knox’s voice pulled my gaze from Archer. “What do we have to work with?”

“The social media accounts Webb used to interact with Harper went quiet around four AM.” He sipped his coffee and cleared his throat, eyes fixed to the screen. “The HarperFan1 account picked up over forty thousand followers overnight with those photos. Mostly people horrified by the images and demanding answers. A few true crime accounts have started speculating.”

I cringed at the memory of last night’s posts. Me wearing only a sheet, peering into the night through broken glass. Him running shirtless across the sand in January. “Is that bad?” I asked. What did it mean that his account was amassing a following?

“Jury’s out,” Colton said. “Public attention could pressure him to move on. Or it could just give him a bigger stage.”

“He won’t move on.” I broke off a piece of muffin. “That’s a pipe dream at this point.”

Nobody argued.

The sounds of footfalls on the stairs outside Knox’s door caused my muscles to clench.

Knox rose, the legs of his chair scraping over the floor.

“Hey,” Archer’s soft voice pulled my eyes to his. “It’s probably Nash. He said he was on his way right before you came out.”

“Yep,” Knox confirmed, opening the front door to let the last of our little group inside.

“Morning,” Nash said.

Maggie set a mug of coffee at the table. “Take my seat. I’m going to clean up in here then sit at the island.”

Sloane rose. “Let me help.” She extended a hand in my direction before I could speak. “Just me. You eat and keep these boys straight.”