Page 111 of Torn In Two

Kyle hunched over on himself. “They’re prisoners and they don’t even realize it. But it also keeps Josiah safe within the walls, and this podcast means everyone else is doing his dirty work for him. If you keep listening, you’ll hear him offer a one-hundred-thousand-dollar reward and a spot on Josiah’s closest council to the person who brings back Kara and Hayley Jade.”

I stared at him in horror, turning up the podcast and hearing Kyle’s words confirmed in Josiah’s voice. “We need to call the police. Have them listen to this. This is a kidnapping threat. They have to get this taken down before it attracts all the fucking whack jobs who need a quick payday.”

“I don’t disagree, but this podcast has been up for days already. It has hundreds of thousands of listens.”

He had to be joking. “You’re fucking kidding me? He has that many followers?”

“No, but he has more than you might think. It’s something he’s put a lot of time and attention into the last couple of years. He calls it spreading the Lord’s word.”

“But it’s really just feeding his own self-inflated ego.”

“There’s thousands of shares. That’s why it has more listens than it should. Word is already out, so even if the cops force him to take it down—”

“It’s not going to do any good. Kara is still going to have a merry band of fucking God-loving lunatics after her.” I ran my hand through my hair. “We knew Josiah’s men were probably lurking around, but a handful of his pod people are one thing. Offering a reward like that raises the stakes to every Joe Blow out there.”

“What are you going to do?” Kyle asked.

There was only one thing I could think of. “Kill Josiah.”

33

KARA

Ipaced the clubhouse nervously, gaze flicking to the door every time it opened. Eventually, Hawk and Kyle appeared, Hawk’s face like a thundercloud but Kyle’s bag slung over his shoulder.

I breathed a sigh of relief as he dumped it on the floor. “You’re letting him stay?”

“Until he pisses me off, I guess I am.”

I lifted up onto my toes and kissed his mouth. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

He grumbled against my lips, but then his hand slid to the back of my hair and he deepened the kiss, his tongue sliding with mine. When he drew back, his eyes were warm. “Don’t you know by now that I’d do anything for you?”

“I love you.” I let him tug me against his chest, cradling the back of my head.

A contented sigh grumbled through him. “Can’t get enough of you saying that. Need those words on your lips like I need air to breathe.”

“Then I’ll keep saying it,” I assured him.

He tipped my head back to claim my lips again then reluctantly pulled away. “Can you show Kyle out to your old cabin? We’re running out of rooms up here.”

“Of course. Hayley Jade is in the kitchen with Queenie making dessert to go with whatever Hayden is bringing home from the restaurant.” I noted the time on my phone. “He said he’d be home around now.”

“Good.”

Grayson glanced over at him. “Did you just say it was good that Hayden was coming home? I thought you two were mortal enemies apart from…” He wriggled his eyebrows.

I hid a small smile at the flustered expression on Hawk’s face.

He flipped Grayson the bird. “There is no—” He mimicked Grayson’s actions, raising and lowering his eyebrows but without any of the playful amusement Grayson had displayed— “going on with me and Hayden. Whatever you heard—”

“I heard a lot,” Aloha called from the couch where he’d clearly been eavesdropping. “A whole lotta moaning, name-shouting, thigh slapping…”

Hawk gave him the dirtiest look known to man. “Nothing happened between me and Chaos. Not that it’s any of your fucking business. Don’t you have somewhere else to be or something else to do?”

Aloha shook his head. “Nope. Just sitting here waiting for Chaos to bring the food. Same as you. Right?”

Hawk’s lips pressed into a tight line at the snigger in Aloha’s voice. “Right.”

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