I bark out a laugh, the sound startling Dodge who flicks her ears back. “No can do. Those are taken. You ain’t rich and can’t fly, don’t meet the criteria.”
Fisher crosses his arms, dead serious, while another horse noses at his shoulder. “Fine, I got a better one.”
I smirk, leaning on the fence. “Superman is taken, too.”
His eyes light up. “What about Fury?”
I raise an eyebrow. “Fury?”
“Yeah. I’m faster than a fox, sneakier than a bunny… and when I sneeze, it sounds like a tornado in my head!” He strikes a dramatic pose, fists on hips.
I grin, ruffling his hair. “Lord help us all. That one just might stick.”
Just then, my pocket buzzes. I pull out my phone, and Knox’s name lights up the screen. He never calls. Always texts—unless it’s real important.
My thumb hangs over the screen. I know he’s been tangled up in the Kennedys’ mess. And I been waitin’ on him to man up and tell me. Maybe this is it.
Maybe it don’t have to be the end. Maybe he’s got an excuse. A reason. If it’s about his daddy’s ranch, hell—we can work somethin’ out.
I swallow hard, then swipe. “What?”
“You seen Sawyer?” Knox’s voice cracks, too desperate, too raw.
My stomach drops. “No.” I look around. “Why?”
Why the hell’s he callin’ me about her?
“I found her phone.” He pauses. “It was lyin’ in the dirt by my daddy’s property, out by the road. She’d never leave it behind. I can’t find her anywhere, and… somethin’ don’t feel right.”
The world tilts. My hand clamps around the phone so hard the glass should shatter. My pulse is a jackhammer in my throat.Sawyer. Gone. No way in hell.
“I’ll find her,” I grind out, barely breathin’.
“I think the Kennedys got somethin’ to do with this,” Knox blurts. “I’m goin’ over there?—”
“There’s no way they’d be that stupid,” I snap, eventhough my gut’s already churnin’. Maybe they are. Maybe they really fuckin’ are.
“Trouble…” His silence stretches. “There’s somethin’ I need to tell you.”
I shut my eyes. My teeth grind so hard my jaw pops. I already know. Christ, I already fuckin’ know. “Say it.”
“The Kennedys?—”
“Iknow,Knox!” My voice is all gravel and fury. “This is all because you been fuckin’ around with them, isn’t it?”
Silence. Then he lets out a soft, broken, “You knew?”
“Damn right I knew. You think I wouldn’t notice the shit was disappearin’? That my best friend was in on it?!” My throat burns, my chest squeezes tighter and tighter, and still I can’t stop. “I kept hopin’ you’d tell me yourself. That you’d grow a fuckin’ spine and come clean. But no—you wait ‘til now? When she’s gone?”
“I didn’t mean?—”
“Save it.” My voice is a growl, low and lethal. “I’ll deal with you later. Right now, I’m gettin’ Sawyer back. And she better be in one piece.”
Didn’t wanna believe it. Kept tellin’ myself it couldn’t be true at first, even when the signs were screamin’ in my face. Somebody had to be helpin’ the Kennedys from the inside. Should’ve known it’d be him. The one person I trusted with everything.
Yeah, I’ve kept my own secrets, done things Knox don’t know about. Maybe that makes us even. Maybe it don’t.
All I know is if they’ve laid one hand on Sawyer—I will kill every Kennedy I can find.
