Page 128 of Wilde Abandon

“We need to call the cops and get them looking for the van,” Mason said.

“Fine.But I want you in charge.When the ransom demand comes, I will deliver it.”

“First, we need to figure out who has her,” he pointed out.“Who else knows about the lottery win?”

“Dean and Max, my two best friends.Our attorney, tax accountant, and financial advisor.My mom, because her social worker discovered it,” he reluctantly admitted.“And a woman Dean was seeing seriously a while back that none of us have had contact with for over two years.”

“That’s a tight circle.”Mason sounded impressed Fox hadn’t blabbed to the whole world about his windfall.

“We were warned about letting word get out.The money is held in trust accounts, insulating us.”

“Because you shared with your buddies.”Mason had some skills at digging.Exactly what Fox needed now.His skill.His resources.

“Yes.They’re my only real family.Except now I have Melody and the Wildes.And you,” he added, hoping Mason would be another brother he could count on.

“I’m with you on this,” Mason assured him immediately.“So of the people who know about the money, who could have told Amy?”

No one in his circle would tell Amy.Dean barely tolerated her.So… “It could have come from a competitor of mine who dug up the secret and shared it.”

“How would Amy hear about it from someone like that?”Mason asked.

“Amy is a chef.She does a lot of catering in Boston.I hired her to come here to teach for a few months on contract.She could have been working a party, one I was at, which is how I met her, and overheard the rumors.”

“Or she simply knows you own your own successful business and are rich in your own right,” Lyric suggested.

Fox was shaking his head.“No.The way she insinuated knowing but also not saying it out loud made it seem like someone told her to keep it quiet.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t share my personal business with anyone besides Dean and Max and now Melody.Part of the reason I was reluctant to get so close to Melody was because I knew my wealth made her a target.”

“She’s not going to care about that,” Lyric interjected.“She loves you.You don’t put boundaries on that.You take the risks because you know the rewards far outweigh anything bad that comes your way.”

“And will she forgive me for being terrorized and kidnapped after finding another woman in our bed tonight?Because that might be one too many bad things to overcome.Especially if they hurt her.Or worse.”He choked out those last words.

Dean squeezed his shoulder.“They won’t hurt her.Not if they want to get paid.”

Fox picked up a pen and threw it against the wall.“Where the fuck is she?”

“We’ll get her back,” Mason assured him.

But it felt empty.Hefelt empty without her.

2:54.Thirty-six minutes without her.

Chapter thirty-three

Melodyleanedforwardinthe chair she’d been tied to after her captors had pulled her, struggling and kicking, out of the van and into the barn or shed—whatever the musty, earthy smelling place was—a while ago.She’d kind of lost track of time.She’d been through a lot tonight.A long shift at the bar.Finding Amy naked in her boyfriend’s bedroom.The anger and hurt she’d felt when she thought Fox had cheated on her.The utter relief when he’d told her what really happened, that turned into rage because Amy had done something so vile to him.

Yeah, that rage was still simmering.

That bitch better not come near her again.

And now, here she was with a hood over her head after trying to escape being kidnapped and getting in a few good licks at Amy’s smug face, her wrists and ankles bound to a hard wood chair, her captors outside having a muffled argument.She couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying, but if she had to guess, the two guys weren’t happy about how Amy handled things.

Fox had to know she was missing.Which meant he’d be looking for her.

She didn’t have her phone.That was still in her car.Which meant neither Fox nor her family could track her.

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