that’s when she heard it. The unmistakable squawk of a pissed-off man-hating rooster.
Mack yanked on his jeans and raced down the stairs. Liv, of course, refused to stay inside.
“Help!” The cries of a desperate man were drowned out only by Randy’s vicious screech. Mack leaped off the bottom step and ran into the driveway, where a shapeless form lay on his back, arms raised to ward off the talons.
“Who the hell are you?”
“Help,” the man cried again, hands now over his face.
The man suddenly swung his arm wide and knocked Randy away just far enough to roll and dodge another attack. With his butt to them, he rose on all fours. “It’s me,” the man bellowed.
“I don’t know who you are.”
He stood and turned around, and by now Liv had joined Mack’s side. She let out a surprised scream.
“Geoff.”
“Christ,” the man barked, covering his ears.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Mack boomed.
“Livvie!” Another man’s voice. Hop. This time from the house.
Liv turned. Mack turned. Geoff turned. And all three let out a collective scream because—
“OH MY GOD, WHY ARE YOU NAKED?” Liv covered her eyes.
Mack understood her reaction. Jesus God, Hop was naked. Running. Naked.
And then Geoff let out another startled grunt because Hop was flying in slow motion through the air in a tackle that would’ve made the NFL proud. Dust rose in a cloud around them as they hit the ground, Hop on top. Bare-ass naked.
“Oh God,” Liv groaned. “I’m never going to recover from this.”
Hop had an arm to the guy’s throat. “You have five seconds to tell me who you are and why you’re here.”
Geoff grunted and gasped for air. Hop lessened his hold.
“It’s one of Royce’s goons,” Liv said.
The back door to the house banged open again. Rosie ran out wrapped in a robe, her hair flying wildly around her shoulders. She carried a pair of men’s jeans and a flannel shirt in her hands. She handed them both to Hop and gave him eyes.
Liv’s mouth dropped open. “Oh my God.”
“We can talk about that later,” Rosie admonished. “What the hell is going on?”
Hop quickly filled her in with the slim details they had. Rosie clutched her robe.
Hop hauled Geoff to his feet. “What the hell do you want?”
“To help,” Geoff panted.
“Bullshit,” Mack barked.
“I swear.” Geoff wiped his face with dirty hands. “I don’t want any part of Royce’s bullshit anymore.”
Hop was unmoved. “How do we know we can trust him? This could be some kind of trap.”
“It’s not a trap,” Geoff said. “I swear. Just listen to me. Please.”
“Talk.”
Geoff pressed the ice pack Rosie had given him to his cheek and kept a wary gaze trained on Hop, who—thank fucking God—had put on his jeans.
“I want to help.”
“So you said,” Mack said, arms crossed. “Help with what?”
“I know you guys are trying to expose what Royce is really like.”
“No idea what you’re talking about,” Hop said.
He’d gone into full cop mode, and Mack had to admire the act. Geoff actually blinked for a moment as if he’d been wrong maybe. But then Geoff got wise. “Jesus, I’m not recording this or anything.”
“We’re supposed to just trust you?”
“Want me to fucking strip?”
Hop smacked him upside the head. “Watch your fucking mouth.”
“Please don’t strip,” Liv said. “I’ve been subjected to enough unsolicited balls lately to last a lifetime.”
Mack hoped his weren’t among them.
“I swear to God, I’m here to help you,” Geoff said. “I didn’t sign up for this crap. I thought I was going to be a bodyguard! But he’s lost it, I swear.”
“What does that mean?”
“He’s paranoid!”
“Slow down. What does he have you doing instead of being a bodyguard and intimidating my future employers?”
“You know about that?”
Liv nodded. “We know about that.”
He shrugged. “At first it was just, you know, watching your Facebook accounts and shit to see if you talked about him.”
“And then?”
“Then, when Jessica told him you guys came to her campus, he lost his shit. He . . .” A deep swallow revealed either shame or trepidation at whatever he planned to say next.
“He what?” Mack growled.
“He made us start following her everywhere. And you.”
The last two words rang the loudest.
Mack cursed, and Hop pointed. “See. This is what I was talking about. You guys went and messed around in shit you had no business—”
Rosie rested a gentle hand on his arm, and miraculously, Hop quieted.
“He’s gone crazy, though. Even worse since Jessica quit,” Geoff said. “I don’t want to be part of it anymore.”
“So why don’t you just quit?”