Page 60 of Montana Heat

I didn’t want to mess with that thing either. “Fine with me.”

The rattling got louder, and Lucas had his gun out again—not that he was going to fire it into the bathtub unless it was a last resort. We all took steps closer.

“On three,” Liam said. “Don’t let that fucker get me. One, two, three.”

I’d never seen Liam move so fast. The bucket went down over the snake, and I put weight on it to make sure it wouldn’t get out.

The thing was pissed now. Rattling up a storm.

Lucas holstered his weapon and set a heavy makeup kit on top of the bucket so I could move. “Okay, it’s not going anywhere.”

The three of us looked at one another from inside the cramped space. Kenzie was lucky she hadn’t been bitten.

Hadn’t been killed.

Someone had left that snake in the tub. They’d deliberately cut the power and rigged her lock so she couldn’t get out.

The stalker had found Kenzie.

Chapter Nineteen

Jensen

Thirty minutes later, Kenzie’s apartment was filled with people.

Charlie was there with a couple of his deputies, looking for prints both in the apartment and where the breaker switch had been thrown to cut the power. Lucas and Liam had managed to get the snake fully out of the tub, and Liam had released it far outside of town.

Kenzie was still curled up on her couch, staring out at nothing. She’d hardly said a word.

“I know she’s struggling, but we still need to talk to her about her ex,” Lucas said quietly to me in the kitchen. “And about what happened in the bathroom.”

I shook my head. “Not here. Not like this.”

Lucas nodded. “Grant and Harlan have offered to come in here and set up surveillance cameras, reinforce the locks. Help so she feels safe.”

I honestly wasn’t sure that was going to be enough. “Let me talk to her.”

I sat next to her on the couch, but she barely seemed to notice. I took her hand, holding it gently between my own.

“Hey, City. Can you look at me?”

It took a long moment, but finally, she moved her glance in my direction.

“I know this is all so hard, but we want to move forward so you can feel safer. A couple of the Resting Warrior guys—Grant and Harlan—have offered to come by and install cameras and locks.”

For the first time, I got an actual response. But definitely not one I wanted.

“I can’t.” Her breath began sawing in and out of her chest as she shook her head emphatically. “No. I can’t stay here. I don’t want to stay here. I want to go home.”

Her pitch was getting higher with each word, and her whole body began to shake. I picked her up and draped her over my lap. I didn’t give a shit who else was here or who saw. Kenzie needed me, and that was the only thing that mattered.

She twisted her fingers into my shirt. “Please don’t make me stay here. I want to go home.”

Aw fuck, sweetheart.Home would be just as dangerous.

“Hey.” I stroked her hair. “You can’t go home. Not yet. But you don’t have to stay here. I will find you somewhere to stay. How about Resting Warrior?”

She shook her head. “No. I can’t be around other people and especially if the stalker keeps coming after me. There are kids that live there. Babies. I can’t put them in danger.”

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