Page 36 of Tempt Me

“If she goes, I go,” I state, gaining frowns from Noble and Aunt Fred.

“What if they find her?” Siobhan asks her parents. “Tack can’t go against mercenaries on his own.”

“How would they find her, sweetie?” Elvis replies, foolishly thinking logic might work on an agitated Siobhan.

“I don’t know. But if they did, they might kill Tack.”

Noble exhales roughly, seeming on edge again. “Zoot will want to send her away. We’ll need to hash things out with Suzanne before a decision is made.”

Aunt Fred sighs. “Suzanne said if Hunter can’t travel to her that she wants to fly back to Banta City.”

“Talk her out of it,” Noble says immediately. “She might end up as a target just to draw out Hunter. Plus, she’ll try to micromanage shit, and we need to keep this situation in-house. That’s why everyone will do our interviews with the cops at the farm’s meeting hall. We have to keep our information vague and on point to ensure the local pigs stay out of our way.”

Noble’s rising temper gains a worried frown from Aunt Fred. He’s usually the calming force to Zoot’s rage. Today, though, we nearly ended up dead on the asphalt.

“Work your magic on Suzanne,” Noble tells Aunt Fred as his voice softens. “Explain how we need time to figure out where to send Hunter to ensure she’s safe. Tack is our family, and he’s now in the crosshairs, too. So, settle that woman down, okay?”

Once Aunt Fred nods, Noble turns his gaze to me before glancing at Siobhan. “You two need to sit down with Hunter and make a list of every pervy guy she can think of. Leon Kovak has already sent over a list of Verge customers removed from Hunter’s tables over the last few years. But she’s also in that band and does plays and shit. I’m sure she has plenty of weirdo admirers because of the slutty Molly Ringwald thing.”

Siobhan frowns and mutters protectively. “Hunter isn’t slutty.”

“I know, kid. We’re just saying what others say, but we know the truth.”

Once Siobhan smiles at her uncle and settles down, Noble looks outside to where kids run past. “The farm needs to be locked down. Only approved people should be coming and going. Put the traps in the woods. Keep the prospects here on patrol rather than sending them to the clubhouse. Have everyone armed. If your gut says something’s off, assume you’re right.”

The conversation ends when Hunter arrives on the porch with a nurse. Noble and Indigo take their turns getting patched up in the trailer while Aunt Fred calls Suzanne.

Meanwhile, Hunter cuddles with Siobhan in the living room while staring at me.

“What happens next?” Hunter asks.

“We hide out here and lick our wounds.”

“What about my mom?”

“Aunt Fred is handling Suzanne.”

“Should I talk to her?”

“Do you want to talk to her?”

“I think I’ll just end up crying until she panics and returns home.”

“She might do that anyway.”

“I can text her,” Hunter says and then realizes she doesn’t have her phone. Tearing up at the thought of where she left it, she hides her face against Siobhan and sobs like someone tore out her heart.

Siobhan and I hug Hunter between our bodies and let her cry. As much as I hate for her to have lost people, I’m just relieved she’s alive and my people got out of the chaos in one piece.

HUNTER

My plan is to hide from Suzanne for a while. However, I text her on Siobhan’s phone to say I’m okay. Unwilling to be ignored, Suzanne immediately calls me.

Taking the phone, I hide in Tack’s bedroom and shut the door. His white walls are empty except for a 42-inch flat screen. His small closet is filled with clothes. My gaze zeroes in on a dog bed in the corner. Frowning, I can’t recall Tack ever mentioning having a dog, even when we talked about pets last night.

I’m distracted from the dog question by my mother’s sobs. “My baby,” she whimpers, sounding broken in an unexpectantly fragile way. “I don’t know what to do.”

“There’s nothing to do right now.”

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