Temptation, The Complete Serial Series 1-4 (The Temptation Serial Series) (10 page)

She laid her hands on my shoulders and smiled fakely into the mirror. “So, how much do you want off?”

I considered going shorter and bolder, more edgy. I missed my shoulder-length bob, but this chick was emo. Conservative was best. A quick trim and I’d be out of this joint. “Just a trim, please.”

“Sure, honey.” She didn’t even bother to shampoo it first, just doused me with spritzes of cool water from her spray bottle. I looked like a drowned rat when she was through pumping. She combed my hair, parted it in the middle, and then grabbed her scissors. “So,” she began, positioning her first cut. “How do you know Colt?”

“Colt?”

She scoffed. “Don’t play dumb with me, honey. I might talk slow but my brain works real fast.”

“I know Willy and Rose but no Colt, Lynn.”

In true bitch fashion, she rolled her eyes and stared me down. “You were just flirting with him out there,” she yelled, stabbing her scissors toward the big glass window of the store. She was a lefty. An angry, hair-cutting lefty.

“Officer Stone?”

“Yes,” she huffed. “Colt Stone.”

I giggled and she dug the too long fingernails of her right hand into my shoulder. “Sounds like that ice cream chain, Cold Stone Creamery.” I chuckled again, unable to hold it back, and then apologized. Sort of.

She smiled and stood up straight, releasing my flesh from her talons. “It’s no problem. Just telling you he’s unavailable, is all.”

Then she proceeded to take a huge hunk of hair off my head. “Oops,” she snarled.

“Oh, hell no!” I jumped up, ripping the backwards superman cape off. This bitch did
not
just cut me bald!

The two middle-aged women came and stood behind Lynn, who just smiled sweetly. “I accidently cut it too short. Damn my left hand.” My, she was a slick one. And if I didn’t think the Colt Stone Creamery would take me to jail, I’d have throat punched her and launched those scissors into the wall like a damn ninja star.

Mustering every bit of pride left in my body, I hurled the cape at the three of them and marched out of the salon with my head held high. Crossing the street, I felt for the enormous chunk of hair, or the spot where my hair once was, and a high, keening noise came from my throat. I might not get revenge on her now, but she’d better watch her back. I might just tie her to that chair and shave her eyebrows off.

Willy was out front watering the freshly-sodded yards when I came back. We only watered stuff in the evenings in Vegas. He was gonna kill it. But I held my tongue.

“Thought you were getting a haircut,” he yelled.

I just turned around.

He turned the hose off with a squeak and was at my side in an instant. “Oh, no! Who did this to you?”

“Lynn,” I said, hating that my voice wavered. It was my hair! If she’d have cut it short enough to salvage, curving it into a makeshift bob, I wouldn’t have cared. But this four-inch section, where my hair used to be, was up against my scalp.

“Why would she do a thing like that?” he pondered.

“She’s a hateful bitch?” I offered with a sniffle.

Willy put his arm around me and led me to my condo, promising to be right back. Whatever he had to do didn’t take but a couple of minutes. When he knocked and I let him in, I saw that he’d come with scissors and a pair of clippers. “I ain’t used to women’s hair, but I cut hair in the Navy. I can fix it, I think. I’ve seen that Miley Cyrus.”

I stiffened. “Willy, I swear to all that’s holy that if you make me look like Miley, I’ll turn those clippers against you in the worst imaginable way.”

He shrugged my comment off, but I didn’t miss the way his hands shook a bit when he began cutting away at my hair; huge chunks of blond falling onto the floor.

Later that night, I walked to the Piggly Wiggly. They had four hair colors to choose from, so I chose a dark brown with auburn highlights. No more blond. It reminded me of Lynn and youth and all the things I was growing to hate. Most of it was gone now anyway; my hair shaved except for a long section on the right that did curl into an asymmetrical bob. In all honesty, it was cute and a bit sassy. I wasn’t in love with it, but the meh feeling I’d had lately made sure I wasn’t in love with anything. Maybe I needed Prozac.

Me, my new hair, and my box of Lucky Charms curled up on the furnished, light gray couch and watched the furnished flat screen TV, wishing that the owner had also furnished a new life, or at least a set of paints and brushes.

A loud crash pulled me from my pity party and over toward the window. A built guy with cargo shorts and a t-shirt that fit snugly over taut biceps and loosely over his abs cursed at the tailgate of an old, red pickup truck. I couldn’t see his face since he wore a ball cap, but I could read his body language. Some pieces of plywood had fallen out of the bed of his truck as he drove it.

He could probably use another pair of hands. I glanced at my pair. One held the curtain back and parted the blinds.
Damn it, I’d become Flo
. The other clutched the box of Lucky Charms like she was keeping the wee leprechaun inside the box.

Freaking cereal.
I deposited the box on the kitchen table, put on my tennis shoes, and went out to help him. But not before grabbing the cereal and taking it with me. Sure, it was dinner time and I was eating only the marshmallows from the box, but don’t judge me. It had been a freakishly bad day.

“Hey,” I said, so I didn’t scare the crap out of him, “You need some help?”

When he stood up and turned around, he was as surprised as I was. “Officer Stone?”

“Brooklyn?”

I hugged the box of Lucky Charms to my chest like a shield. “What are
you
doing here?” we both asked at the same time. Willy popped up from the bushes like a total creeper.

“Hey, boss! This is your new tenant,” he beamed.

A sly smile slowly spread across Stone’s face. “Really?”

“Really,” Willy confirmed.

Inwardly, I festered.
Damn it, Willy. Why didn’t you tell me Stone was the Boss Man you kept talking about?

My stink eye found Willy, who was somehow unaffected by its powers. He chuckled and then the two men proceeded to stack the giant plywood squares into the back of the trunk one at a time. I should’ve stayed inside. It would have been safer than seeing Stone’s biceps ripple and the way sweat droplets clung to the short hairs near his neck.

“If you want a show, pull up a chair, sweetheart,” he teased.

I smiled sweetly and thanked him, pulling an Adirondack chair over and sinking into it. Lucky Charms marshmallows never tasted so good.

Four-thirty couldn’t have come sooner. The city was packed and finding a parking space had been tragic. Luckily, the rental was tiny and I was able to squeeze it into what seemed like one of the last available spaces in a garage only a few blocks away. That was after I’d already driven up, down, and around four other parking garages, who swore they had available spaces. Liars. Dirty Liars.

As I meandered at the feet of Abe Lincoln, two strong arms wrapped around me from behind. “Shane!” I squeaked and turned around to snake my arms around his neck. I breathed in deeply and reveled in the feel of him.

“I’ve missed you, Sin.”

“Missed you, too,” I murmured into his neck.

“Is your dad meeting us for dinner?”

I nodded. “Yeah. He made reservations at a quiet restaurant named Shay’s. We should have some privacy there, he said.”

Shane nodded. “What time’s dinner?”

“Not until six.”

“Thank fuck. Let’s go. Now.”

Shane almost jerked my arm out of its socket. “Where are we going? We just got here!”

He stopped with a growl and pressed his face so close to mine I could smell his sweet breath fan over me. “I haven’t had you for over a week. I want dessert before dinner, baby.”

Well, okay then.

***

It was awkward seeing my father, um, dad. It was weird calling him dad, much less trying to hug or accept hugs from him. We spoke on occasion, but a certain amount of damage had been done. Too many scars, I guessed. So I was happy when Shane took the reins as we sat down across from him at dinner.

“You know Brooklyn’s situation?” Shane started without preamble.

My father adjusted the napkin on his lap and looked up. “If you’re speaking of the reports of a stalker, then yes. If you’re referring to the vandalism charge, then yes, as well.”

“We’re talking about the freak who’s hunting her, leaving weird shit everywhere and stealing panties from her apartment,” I intervened.

My father’s eyes grew wide. “When you called and mentioned that you might need my help in regards to Brooklyn, I had a friend check it out.”

Of course he did.

“It’s a very disturbing situation. I trust that she’s safe since you left town with her and haven’t returned?” I nodded and he continued. “That was smart on your behalf. The situation was escalating and getting dangerous. Above all, I’m glad you aren’t in harm’s way.”

Shane cleared his throat when the server approached with our drinks and took our orders. When she turned her attention to the table behind us, we continued our conversation.

“Riley is trying to help and has a friend who is very good with computers and data,” Shane began. “He found a similar pattern with two other female victims in Arizona. Those cases are closed at the moment because no further evidence was found. They couldn’t proceed with the investigations and they went cold.”

Father perked up, weaving his fingers together. “I’m listening.”

“The guy even followed the girls to New York, but they lost him there. He’s left her all sorts of things, but one thing stood out: a tie tack, engraved with a very unique symbol.”

“What symbol?” Father asked, his eyes narrowing.

Shane leaned forward, his forearms on the table. “It’s old. Some sort of Scottish family crest for Hunter. It looks like this.” He pulled a small piece of paper from his pocket. On it was a crudely drawn, upside-down broadsword, with a sun and its rays at the bottom near the tip. A snake curled its way up the blade, its mouth swallowing the hilt. “The tack itself was worn, so Riley had a friend make an imprint and reverse-manufacture a new one. It should be finished any day.”

My father stared at the image. “His last
name
is Hunter, or he
is
a hunter?”

Chills spread down my spine. Shane shook his head. “We aren’t sure.”