Page 119 of Tactically Acquired

“That’s my cue,” he grinned. “We’ll finish this later.”

My jaw dropped as FNG got out of his seat and rushed up to the front, leaving me and everyone else with a story that not only hadn’t been finished, but was also at the worst possible place to leave us hanging.

“But…what happened?” I shouted, really pissed that he didn’t tell us the ending.

“Typical FNG,” Fox huffed. “You know, he hasn’t finished a single story since his return. And I think out of everyone, I deserve to hear how it ends. I was the only one who believed he was alive. I had that whole campaign going. Hell, I even slapped his face on milk bottles,” he said as he pulled out a bag of Funyuns. “Want some?”

“No thanks.”

“Good. I don’t like sharing.”

I ran my fingers over the parachute, wondering if I’d ever get the chance to use it. After hearing FNG’s story—well, most of it—I was more determined than ever to live to the fullest while I still could.

“Would you stop already?” Spencer groaned.

“I’m just saying it would have been nice to hit a bird or something. Why couldn’t that happen when I was on the plane? I was ready to go!”

“Do you really want to risk death just so you can jump out of a plane?”

“It’s called an adrenaline rush for a reason,” I argued. “And people do it all the time.”

“Would you two stop it?” Baldy snapped. “We’re just about to arrive at the Markham estate. I would think you’d be moreinterested in speaking with your stepfather than arguing over whether or not you got to jump out of a plane.”

I kept my mouth shut as I burned a hole in the back of his skull with my eyes. Yes, I was giving him leeway because he was freaking out, but that would only go so far. I had no desire for him to resort to his old ways of treating me like he did when he first met me.

“I know everything I need to know about stepfather number five. Thank you very much.”

“What’s his name again?” Spencer asked, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. He never did care for meeting Ginger’s husbands.

“Carl or Clement. Something like that,” I mumbled.

Baldy turned around, quirking an eyebrow at me. “It’s Clint.”

I rolled my eyes at him. God, he was being annoying. “Sure. It’s Clint.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Spencer asked again. “Won’t it be painful?”

I’d already dredged up all the pain the night I found out Ginger was dead. Now I was ready to put this behind me. I had too many other things on my mind. I had to move on.

“What’s painful is having to meet yet another stepfather in person. Unfortunately, she didn’t divorce this one before she died. It would have saved me the meeting.”

“That’s a little harsh,” Baldy muttered. “She might have loved him.”

“She might have loved the previous four or even my father, but somehow, I highly doubt it. The only thing she ever really cared about was their money.”

“She’s rich on her own,” Rae said beside me. “She didn’t need their money. She was probably lonely.”

I really hated it when people tried to justify Ginger’s actions to me. They didn’t have to live with her growing up. I was thereevery time she fell in love and brought a new man home. I saw her date hundreds of men and flash that smile for the camera, hoping to make the cover of every magazine just so she could be in the spotlight again.

As we pulled to a stop, Rae filled us in on how this would go. “We’ll go ahead of you and make sure the area is clear. Only once we’re satisfied will we allow you to enter the premises.”

“You think Clint is somehow involved in our kidnapping?” I said incredulously.

“Not really, but it’s not something we can discount,” Rae said.

“So, we just wait here.”

She nodded. “It won’t take long.”

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