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“I’m guessing Dylan still sees you as his promised wife. I don’t think he knows where you are yet, but it won’t be long before he finds out.”

“Thanks for the heads-up. I missed you and I’m sorry I had to leave like I did.”

“It’s okay,” Shelly says. “I understand.”

“How about you? Are you doing okay?” Linsey asks.

“Not really. My life in this town sucks. My family has gotten a lot more controlling since I got older. They want me to marry someone in our church and start popping out babies. You know how they are.”

“But you don’t want that, right?” Linsey guesses.

“Heck no. Who in the modern age wants that? I’m seventeen, and I’ve been working on a plan to blow this popsicle stand the day I turn eighteen. I just didn’t want to see you get sucked back into it.”

“How about everyone else? Are they doing okay?”

“Well, you probably knew your mother was pregnant when you left Billings ten years ago.”

“Yeah, she called that baby her one final late-in-life pregnancy, a gift straight from God.”

“She is a gift alright. Her name’s Ruthie and she’s sweet as can be. It’s too bad that things turned out like they did. My ma said you always wanted a sister.”

Linsey tears up a bit as she and her cousin talk for a few more minutes about her younger sister and then say their goodbyes. It’s wild that Linsey and her mother both have nine-year-olds.

When she hangs up, I tell her reassuringly, “I’ll handle this. Trust me, sweetheart.”

She sits beside me, chewing on her bottom lip while I call Tex.

He picks up his phone on the first ring. “What’s up, Sabre?”

“This situation with Linsey is growing more complex,” I tell him. “She just got a call from one of her cousins. She found her through her class sign-up webpage. She wanted to give Linsey a heads-up that her family is trying to link her up with her abusive ex. Her family knows there is a California cooking video out there. It’s probably just a matter of time before someone starts harassing her to come back to Billings. I need eyes on this place. New locks and cameras, maybe even some perimeter security.”

“Roger that. I’ll get the guys to come out first thing in the morning and see what needs to be done.”

I look out at the quiet neighborhood with kids riding their bicycles around, the neatly groomed lawns, and the pretty flower beds, and think about how vulnerable a place like this would be to a hardened ex-convict who meant to wreak havoc.

“Fucking Billings, Montana, just got a whole lot closer to this innocent neighborhood.”

Chapter 7

Linsey

My phone buzzes at seven thirty. I read the text.

Sabre: The install crew will be there at nine this morning. It’ll be me, Zen, and Talon. We’ll have the house wired by the end of the day.

I spend some time making myself look nice. It’s something I rarely do. It’s because of Sabre. I even put on a splash of makeup. Looking at myself in the mirror, I have to admit that I feel pretty.

Sabre’s install crew arrives in a big white van at nine sharp. It says LEGION SECURITY on the side of the van in big, bold capital letters.

Sabre rolls up right behind them on his Indian motorcycle, and they all start unloading equipment while I sip my coffee on the front porch.

Sabre glances up at me as he approaches my front porch with an armload of equipment. His eyes travel down and back up my body, landing on my face, and the sexy smile he gives me makes my heart beat a little faster. I feel my face grow warm under his approving gaze. After our kiss, we didn’t really talk about what happened. The phone call from Shelly kind of derailed everything.

Noah pushes past me and is out the door before I can stop him. He runs right up to Sabre and hovers beside him all the way up the sidewalk, asking tons of questions about motorcycles, the equipment he’s carrying, and whether he can help with the installation.

Sabre’s hand shoots out, and he steadies the box. “No shaking the equipment. It might damage it.”

Noah’s mouth falls open. When he hugs the box carefully to his chest, it earns him an approving smile from Sabre.