Page 4 of The Huntress and Her Hound

It’s always the fucking finance guys.

“My sister likes to keep to herself, and honestly, I don’t think she’s ever liked any of my friends over the years,” Henry continues on about Cher as he stands up straight behind me. “Besides, she’s...strait-laced. We’re far from that.” Henry shrugs with nonchalance, takes a seat beside me, and then starts scrolling through the limited information given as I lean away.

My eyes linger on the screen for a few moments, but my buzzing phone draws my attention away from it. “Speaking of sisters...” I mutter, glancing to see Elizabeth calling. Again.

“I don’t know why you put up with her antics.”

“Yeah, well, you’re lucky your sister doesn’t have any.” I decline the call, already knowing that she’s late on her rent...again. But that’s what happens when you blow it on designer shoes and clothes. “I don’t know if mine will ever learn.”

“Trust fund baby problems,” Henry jokes, side-eying me. “I think that’s what your sister’s issue is.”

“Yeah, and she’s been cut-off for now,” I laugh, shaking my head. “Just like me. No more access to all the money Mom and Pops worked so hard for.” I roll my eyes at the notion, a sick taste following the mention of my parents. As far as I’m concerned, they’re dead and gone. They’re just another pair of fucking useless, wealthy assholes who choose green paper over their own flesh and blood.

“Yeah, but she’ll apologize her way back into their good graces. I don’t see her working at The Den much longer,” Henry says as he types the guy’s Vegas address into the GPS system, squinting at the coordinates.

“Yeah, that sin-hole is a shit show.” I shudder at the thought of The Den—and everything that happened to Luca and Emma there. “I haven’t been back in almost nine months, and Elizabeth is still putting in hours up front. I thought if I stopped showing up to keep an eye on her, she might quit.”

Henry pauses and glances over to me. “Well, it’s not like you could protect her from any of those pervs.”

I grit my teeth, ignoring the jab. I get shit on all the time... from everyone. I’m the tech guy, the big-time loser who dropped out of Harvard to join an invasive cyber hacking team... Which then landed me in prison and estranged me from anyone I ever knew beforehand. However, it did result in me meeting Teddy Lucero, who then introduced me to the cleanup team where I consequently met Henry.

And now here I am, everyone’s favorite hound–and the weakest physical link.

“I think we should go to Vegas,” Henry says, getting back to the task at hand. “Lydia and Emma are going on that girls’ trip to Destin. So we could stay there for the stake out and the hit itself. If it runs over the three weeks, then I can fly Lydia and Duke to join us. It might give you a chance to get a better internal feel, too. Drop a USB in the parking lot or whatever the fuck it is you do sometimes.”

I make a face at him and his amateur black hat hacking joke. “Just one big happy family vacation then,” I snort, rubbing the back of my neck. “However, before we jet off, you might want to clear it with Cher first. She may not enjoy the two of us just showing up.”

“Maybe, but I doubt she’ll turn me away. I’m actually pretty fucking worried about her.” He turns to face me, frowning. “She’s such a recluse, you know? Every time I call her, she’s reading or watching a movie. All she has is that new dog of hers. She never goes out or meets people.”

“Cash?”

He gives me a funny look. “Yeah, Cash. I always forget you have an insane memory.”

“It’s a good trait,” I smirk, but it fades as I start to consider Cher, herself. “Does your sister look anything like you?”

“Kind of. I don’t know,” Henry says with another shrug, and then pulls out his phone. “I’ll call her right now to double check that she’s not busy though, if it’ll make you happy.”

I nod, my mind still trying to conjure up a female version of Henry. In all this time, I’ve never seen Cher. There’s no pictures of her online for whatever reason, and even her brief social media stint was useless as she only used it to follow authors and musicians. However, I’ve always been intrigued by her existence. In fact, I was so curious at one point, I even hacked into her Cloud.

But there was nothing to see. The woman keeps nothing. She’s a mystery.

I gaze over to Henry, whose dark waves are slicked out of his face. His steely gray eyes are focused on his phone, and shift to me as soon as he presses the call button, putting it on speaker. For a few beats, I try to imagine a woman with his hair color and maybe eyes?

Oof. I push the idea away, somewhat disturbed by the notion she might be attractive. That would be a death sentence from Henry, and I’ve already come close to that after Lydia was nearly killed when I was babysitting her. Well, and hiding Emma from Lydia and Henry.

Yeah, I’m already skating on thin ice.

“It’s late,” Cher’s voice comes over the phone, one that I’ve heard many times. It’s sweet and soft, the kind of voice I’d expect a cute little cupcake decorator to have. I know Cher can be feisty, but I imagine her like a kitten. I nearly laugh at the thought.

They’re definitely opposites.

“Sorry if I woke you up,” Henry says into the phone, his voice automatically dropping to a kinder tone. “Jude and I are just working on a job, and we need your help.”

“My help?” She bursts into laughter, and it rattles my chest. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard that come out of your mouth. I don’t know what you could possibly need from me.”

“We just need to set up at your place.” Henry turns to me, and I shrug. I don’t care where we stay as long as there’s fucking air conditioning.

“Um, okay. But you’re not going to draw any attention, right? I don’t want the police to come knocking on my door.” She lets out another stilted laugh, and while Henry chuckles along with her... I don’t. She sounds nervous, though maybe it’s just the trouble that seems to follow Henry. Or maybe she just doesn’t like visitors. Maybe she doesn’t want us to come.

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