Page 85 of Famous for a Living

And sure enough, there he is, his Panasonic camera with a dozen special parts and pieces littered around him in the snow.

“What are you doing?!”

But, of course, I know what he was doing. Just like he tossed around that fabricated story about his cat getting run over at my launch party, the ridiculous man really would do anything for a good shot. He would’ve just loved a picture of me standing on the porch of this little shack, accompanying some dramatic headline about my becoming a wild mountain woman.

After Uncle Terry handcuffs Adam and hauls him off, all the while asking why he has such a stupid name and how he decided to do such a stupid stunt and saying how he should be left out here in the cold for the night to learn his stupid lesson . . . and so forth, there’s a moment of silence.

When the brake lights pull out of view down the mountain, Mina turns. Her arms are crossed as she frowns at me. Her eyes flicker down to the object in my hands. “Really, Cat? A lamp?”

I look at the table lamp. The white fabric shade knocking slightly in the breeze. “I didn’t want to come out empty-handed.”

“And what were you doing with your hand on the knob?” Mina throws her hands out. “Were you actually going to open the door?”

I shrug, avoiding her gaze.

“Have you never seen any movie ever?”

And while I receive the blunt end of a fifteen-minute lecture by Mina, getting everything from “What happened to all your street smarts, roomie?” and “Of course you had to live in one of those high-security buildings. Otherwise apparently you would’ve gotten yourself killed,” Jax, Kevin, and even Zaiah stand around her, lips clamped shut as they try not to smile.

After my toes are almost certain they are going to fall off, she exhales, finally running out of steam. She looks at me. Gives one more shake of her head. Points to the door. “C’mon. Let’s get you some tea and tuck you into bed.”

The group begins to disperse, and I’m halfway up the steps when I pause. Turn. “Wait. So how did you know to come so quickly, Zaiah? Did someone call you?” I flick my eyes down the road. “And Terry?”

Something was oddly suspicious about all this.

Zaiah, who is locking the rifle back into his vehicle, hesitates. Then he points up to the closest tree. Then the second.

I squint at the blinking red lights.

“Terry said they were for the eagle cam,” I say. “For their nests.”

In the distance, Jax explodes with laughter.

Zaiah grins. “Yeah. Well. Have you seen any eagles?”

“Wait.” I hold up a finger, whirling around to confront each face. “So . . . wait.”

“It’s for you, you beautiful nitwit,” Jax says, a comforter over his shoulders as he stands shivering on his porch. “He wanted to take some extra precautions for you.”

“And you all just . . . decided to come over if something happened?” I look, stunned, to Zaiah, seeking clarification with my eyes.

But Zaiah just shrugs. “We’re rangers, Cat. You may have had some good security in the city, but here? Here you’ve got a team who’s got your back.”

Chapter 13

The Supportive Niece

When I said that I would do anything for Uncle Terry, I meant I really would happily do anything.

Except this.

And yet . . . here I am.

I grit my teeth as I stand beside the black Jeep, then swig another bit of Pepto.

“Hi, Brody. Yeah. Long time.” My voice rings with the smoothest, happiest tone it possibly can. So much so I find I’m standing on tiptoes as I try to keep up the ethereal tone. A tone that coos, No, I have not been all but hung up on by creators trying to distance themselves from me as much as possible the past five calls. No, I am not getting more scarred by the moment putting myself out there and getting doors slammed in my face.

Brody has 7.2 million followers among his accounts. Smaller than me by a few million, but then, he doesn’t have several million at the moment trying to knife him in the back.