Page 14 of Take My Kiss
“So I’m not gonna have a vehicle?”
“We need him to think you’re still here so we can catch him.”
Fuck.
“That sounds like a potentially dangerous situation, Wilder. What if he’s armed or somethin’?”
He averts his gaze, holding back a smirk.
“What?” I ask, confused.
Delilah chuckles. “Everyone’s armed here, babe.”
“Oh, right. Doesn’t make me feel any better ’bout puttin’ y’all in the middle of it.”
“If it helps, my cousin Maddox is gonna come down from Stonehaven Falls to assist me. We’re gonna find this asshole in no time.”
“Who’s that?”
I think back to the Langston siblings and don’t recall one with that name.
“He’s technically our second cousin. His family is…”
“Unhinged,” Delilah finishes for him.
“Creative—” he defends, then carefully picks his next words. “—in how they handle shit.”
I cross my arms, growing impatient. “I’m gonna need more context than that.”
“His dad’s the sheriff, so Maddox helps find people who’re on the wrong side of the law while possibly breakin’ a couple laws in the meantime. It keeps the crime rate low. Kinda like….”
“Wilder, spit it out,” I demand, too tired to try and piece together whatever he’s trying to say.
“A redneck bounty hunter,” Delilah blurts. “Without the trainin’ and background check.”
Good God.“What does that mean?”
“He’s not a redneck!” Wilder scoffs. “They run a legitimate B&B on their ranch. Rated very highly online.”
Delilah rolls her eyes. “And hunts bad people down as a fun li’l hobby.”
“With guns?” I ask, blinking hard. “That sounds corrupt and even more dangerous to be ’round.”
“Only when he has to.” Wilder shrugs. “He’s massive, basically a lumberjack mountain man, so he can usually take ’em down with his fists without havin’ to use a weapon. And he’s only put one guy in a coma.”
“Shockingly, that doesn’t make me feel better about his so-calledjob,” I deadpan. “What does this lumberjack mountain man do with the people he finds who aren’t lucky enough to lose consciousness?”
Wilder flicks his tongue piercing and scrubs a hand through his hair. “Do you want me to lie or tell you the truth?”
“For fuck’s sake. Is his family the mob or somethin’?”
At this point, I wouldn’t bethatsurprised. They already sound gangster as shit.
Delilah snickers. “We don’t ask questions we don’t want answers to. I stopped askin’ a long time ago.”
“You know what they say…” Wilder shrugs. “Small towns come with big secrets.”
“They should write that motto on the Welcome to Sugarland Creek sign and warn the visitors,” I say, somberly. “Still not feelin’ great about this plan of yours. Y’all could get hurt.”
