Bree pulled me into her arms and hugged me. “Arabella Adams, you are by far the cutest damn thing on this planet. Don’t ever change.”
I hugged her back. When we broke apart, she gave me a wicked smile. “We need to get you to say fuck more often. It sounds so precious coming out of your mouth!”
Pushing her shoulder, I laughed. “What we need to do is find you a guy.”
“Oh no.” Bree crawled off the bed and pointed to the tests. “What we need to do is plan a romantic dinner for when Hunter gets home tomorrow, so you can tell him the good news. What do you say about going and buying some lingerie to help celebrate? Oh! And we can go and get our nails and toes done too.”
I laughed. “I think all of that sounds amazing.”
“Then let’s get this all cleaned up and put away, so we can spend the rest of the day pampering ourselves and finding you something that will knock Hunter’s socks off.”
Placing my hand over my stomach, I thought about whether the baby would be a boy or a girl. I glanced at the clock and started a mental countdown until Hunter was back tomorrow.
“I think I want something in red,” I said, placing all the tests in a bag and then in one of my dresser drawers.
“Spicy. I like it. It’ll go nicely with your blonde hair too.”
Smiling, I added, “And a garter belt. I want a garter belt.”
A wicked smile moved over Bree’s face. “We’re going to have to make a trip into Boston.”
I knew Bree was expecting me to say no, so I did the opposite. “I think you’re right.”
Her mouth fell open again, then she slammed it shut as she dug in her purse for her phone.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m calling my hairdresser. If I’m getting you to go to Boston for a spa day, we’re doing something about that hair of yours too!”
My smile slipped away, and I put my hands on my hips. “Hey.”
“Jo! Oh, thank God, you answered,” Bree said as she walked out of my bedroom. “Tell me you have something open today for a friend of mine. Yes, it’s an emergency!” She popped her head back in and motioned for me to follow. “Come on, we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
As I grabbed my purse, I mumbled, “What have I gotten myself into?”
Hunter
We parked three houses down from Colby’s house. The monster who raped Bella lived in a two-story brick home.
I stared at the perfectly manicured lawn with rose bushes and the American flag flying from one of the porch columns.
A BMW was parked in the driveway, and next to it was an Audi R8.
“Christ Almighty,” Bishop said. “What in the hell does this guy do for a living?”
“On paper he’s an engineer, but I’d say he’s doing some shady shit on the side,” Kyle replied.
“You still have time to back out of this, Hunter,” Bishop said.
I stared at the house, my anger toward the asshole growing stronger than ever. “I’m not backing out.”
Kyle cleared his throat. “Dude, I hate to ask you this, but do you have your piece?”
“What? He brought a gun?” Bishop shrieked like a girl. “I thought we were just going to kick his ass, not shoot him!”
I rolled my eyes and looked at Bishop in the backseat. “Do you think I want to go to jail? I just want to…scare him.”
Jack chose that moment to bark.
“With the dog or your gun?” Aiden asked.
Smiling, I replied, “Both. I’m not going to risk my future with Bella for this asshole, so don’t worry.” I opened the middle console and pulled out my gun. I strapped on my holster and put my piece into it. Kyle did the same. Then we both put on our Boggy Creek Valley Sheriff badges.
“Did anyone stop to think that maybe this asshole has a gun? I’m pretty sure Arabella will be just as pissed if you get shot,” Bishop said.
“I’m not going to get shot,” I replied, getting out of the truck.
“We probably should have come up with a damn plan on the drive here, but since none of us did, how are we going to do this?” Kyle asked.
“We’re going to act like we’re looking into a case, and he might be a potential witness,” I said. “The bank he uses was robbed right before he left for Europe. It’s a believable story.”
Aiden sighed. “If we’re going to do this, let’s do it.”
I got Jack out and leashed him.
“Is everything okay, officers?”
We all turned to see an older woman, maybe in her sixties, standing in a yard across the street.
“Everything’s fine, ma’am,” I responded. “Just working on a case.”
She nodded, worrying her lip.
Kyle hit my arm. “Come on, let’s go.” The four of us, along with Jack, headed toward Colby’s house.