“They’re here?” said Clare.

“They’re here. They won’t let him hurt you. Or your mother.”

“Okay.” Clare turned toward him with the gun in her hands.

“No!” Hunter dodged to get out of her line of fire—especially since her father had lunged forward to grab for the weapon.

The gun went off. Clare cried out. She fell to the ground, just as her father raised his arm, pointing the gun at Hunter.

Hunter didn’t think.

He pulled the trigger.

CHAPTER 5

“So what did you learn?”

Hunter slumped in the free chair in his dad’s office. He’d been up all night—and his dad had already made it clear that he expected Hunter to go to school.

Clare and her mother were in the hospital.

So was her father, under police guard. He had a bullet hole through his left shoulder.

“A lot of things¸” said Hunter.

“Specifically?”

“I should have told you she took the gun.”

His father smiled, but there was an edge to it. “No, that one I understand. What did you learn about her?”

Hunter set his jaw and looked out the window, where sunlight was just beginning to crawl into the sky. “She was using me.”

“And what did Jay tell you about girls?”

Hunter rolled his eyes. “To use them first. That doesn’t even make sense. You want me to go through life using everyone I meet?”

“If it will keep you safe, yes, I do.”

Hunter didn’t say anything.

“Even last night,” said his father. “Even knowing she’d stolen from you. You wanted to help her. Didn’t you?”

“Who wouldn’t want to help her? Can’t you imagine what she must have been going through? Do you blame her?”

“She could have told you, Hunter. If she cared about you, if she trusted you, she would have. Jay was here in uniform last night. She could have told him.”

Hunter scowled.

“If nothing else,” said his father, “say you used her for the lesson.”

“What about you?” Hunter snapped.

“Me?”

“Do you use Mom?”

“You keep saying the word use like it’s a bad thing. As if there’s nothing given in return. Your mother wanted security. A family. A husband who would take care of her. She got those things.”

Hunter snorted. “You make my whole existence sound like a barter transaction.”

“Good. Start thinking of every relationship in your life that way.”

“What fun.”

“You can think about it while we’re gone. I think you’ll figure it out.”

“Gone?” Hunter straightened in the chair. “You’re leaving?”

“We got another message about this family in Annapolis. It sounds suspicious. We’ve decided to go a few days early, get the lay of the land before they know we’re there. Jay’s packing the car now so we can beat traffic.”

Hunter looked out the window. “This is bullshit.”

“Excuse me?”

Hunter flew out of his chair. “I said this is bullshit. I can do this. You know I can do this. I should get to go. You even said yourself—I could be a decoy. I could help. I could—”

“You’re not ready.”

“I am ready! Look at last night! Look at—”

His dad raised an eyebrow. “I am looking at last night, Hunter.”

Hunter flushed. “I don’t mean the . . . the using. I mean—”

“I know exactly what you mean. I also know that man had every thought to kill you, and you shot him in the shoulder.” His father paused and put his hands on Hunter’s shoulders. “You’re not ready. And that’s fine.”

Hunter shoved his hands off and moved to brush past his father. “Fuck you.”

Hunter didn’t realize his dad had grabbed him until he’d been spun around and pinned to the doorjamb.

His father didn’t even raise his voice. “Want to try that again?”

The door frame was pressing into his cheek exactly where he’d gotten the bruise yesterday—and Hunter could swear his dad knew that. “Let me go.”

“Acting like a cocky teenager isn’t the way to convince me you’re ready.” But his dad let him go.

Hunter shoved him, hard.

And then his dad came after him.

“Hey. Hey.” Uncle Jay was there, dragging them apart. “Leave him be, John. The kid’s had a long night.”

“Forget it,” said Hunter. “I’ve got to get ready for school.” He didn’t look at his dad, just turned for the steps. “Have a great time on your trip.”

When Hunter came out of the shower, his father and uncle were gone.

It figured.

Hunter slammed through the underbrush surrounding the property. He was exhausted, but fury rode him hard. He kept replaying those last minutes with his dad.

And a small nagging voice at the back of his head kept insisting that his dad had left for a potentially dangerous assignment, and for the first time, he hadn’t said good-bye.

Hunter hesitated and pulled the phone out of his pocket. He tapped out a text to Uncle Jay.

Tell Dad I’m sorry.

Before he could press SEND, someone tackled him from behind. The phone went flying, disappearing beneath the leaves.

“Payback’s a bitch, huh?”