Chapter 3
Chapter three
Paul
"I'm surprised a town without cell reception has rooms like this." I look around with appreciation at the two-bedroom suite, courtesy of the Eveningstar Hotel at the Falls.
"Yeah, not bad," Hunter agrees, already setting up his computer at the small dining table in the main area. "Wi-Fi is slow, though."
Mark brushes past me, carrying his suitcase.
He drops it in the second bedroom with the double beds before coming back out to join us.
"They have good tourism during the summer, including a big music festival, so I imagine rooms like this get rented out to the artists.
Although this was the only place open until May.
" Mark rubs his hands together, glancing from me to Hunter. "Where do we start?"
The energy rolling off all three of us since we crossed the town limits is making us a little manic.
We were finally cleared for takeoff early this morning. It was a five-hour drive from the airport to Fox Falls. We’re amped up, knowing how close we are to finding Skylar. We're antsy to get our hands on our girl.
Hunter slams his laptop closed and stands. "Technology is not going to be our friend in Fox Falls. Damn it."
"Did you notice the woman at the front desk called it Foxy Falls?" I ask.
Mark nods. "I figured it was a slip of the tongue."
Hunter and Mark follow me as I grab my suitcase and bring it into the main bedroom with the king-size bed. As I search for the luggage rack, Hunter throws himself onto the middle of the bed.
"I was picturing someone else right there," Mark growls.
He's been quiet since we got in the rental car at the airport. I know he's thinking of everything he'd like to do to Skylar to remind her what she's missing.
"Yeah, me too." Hunter grabs a pillow and whispers to it like he has Skylar next to him. Eventually, even Mark chuckles.
We've been irritable since we woke up on Christmas Eve to find our girl missing. The note she left us read like a brush-off message, but we have absolutely no intention of letting her leave us.
Hunter spent Christmas Eve at his mom's house, and Mark and I showed up for dinner the next day.
We had exhausted all possible routes to Fox Falls.
With nowhere else to go, Mrs. Price demanded we join them.
She let us wallow in self-pity for precisely one hour before she clapped her hands to call us to attention.
As a retired kindergarten teacher with 33 years of experience, the clapping method remained effective.
"Enough. Skylar sounds like an incredible woman. She must be a little scared of taking on three of you full-time, God save her poor soul. Or, the family emergency was legitimate. In which case, she's going through something."
We all stared at Hunter's mom, who looked pointedly at each of us. "You have a plan. If you can't get into the town, that also means she can't get out. So rest up, boys. You'll have your girl by New Year's. And I expect grandchildren immediately."
Then, Mrs. Price handed out presents, and we all decided to trust in her wisdom and embrace the Christmas spirit.
If we’d known it would take five days, we might have whined and moped a little more.
Now, we can only hope that Skylar hasn't left town, and our paths will cross in some kind of rom-com hijinks situation. Although if she’s not here, our flight crew is on standby indefinitely, so we can bounce to the next location.
We plan to hunt our woman around the world until we convince her to spend a lifetime with all three of us.
"Is that a new one?" Mark nods at a purple silicone vibrator as I unpack.
“Yeah,” I admit sheepishly. I purchased a plethora of sex toys over the last few days to occupy my obsessive thoughts. Preparation for Skylar's imminent pleasure soothed my soul.
"Holy hell." Hunter grabs the dildo called Thor's Thunder and tries to put his hand around it. His fingers barely meet. "We'll never measure up. Hide it."
"I will. In her glorious pussy when we find her," I reply.
All three of us groan as we picture our girl riding this monster cock for us. I continue arranging the toys on a towel in one of the dresser drawers.
Mark picks up the butt plug we used during our first night together. "Is this still connected to your phone?"
I nod, and Mark slips it into his coat pocket. He hasn’t taken the damn thing off because he wants to be ready to go the second we have a plan.
My anxiety is turning into excitement as I anticipate our next night with Skylar. Hunter and Mark’s energy has shifted as well. She's here somewhere. We can all feel it.
"All right." I close the drawer. "Let's check with the woman at the front desk, then we'll visit some of the stores on Main Street and see if anybody knows where she is."
Mark is already out the door as Hunter bounces off the bed like an excited puppy.
When we reach the lobby, the young woman glances up curiously from her computer.
"How can I help you, gentlemen?" she asks with a big smile.
Hunter grins. "Hi, Nora, is it?" He gestures toward her name tag.
The young woman nods, flicking her eyes to Mark and me before glancing back at Hunter. She seems curious about us, and I wonder how often they get tourists at this time of year.
"Do you happen to know Skylar Miller?" Hunter asks, flashing her his mega-watt movie star smile.
Nora narrows her eyes at us. She suddenly seems less pleasant and more suspicious. "Not sure that I have. What would you need from Sky—uh, this Ms. Miller?"
Mark chuckles beside me, and I reassess Nora with fresh eyes. Seems she’ll protect Skylar if necessary, which pleases me.
I step forward, wanting to manage the situation without causing any embarrassment for Skylar should this conversation get back to her. "We’re Skylar's bosses. She let us know she had a family emergency, so we’ve come to help."
Nora gives me a tight smile and blinks twice before responding. "You came to Foxy Falls during the holidays to help your employee with a family emergency?"
I’m unsure how to respond as she calls me out like I'm a dumbass.
Hunter chuckles and elbows me out of the way. "She's important to us."
Nora's gaze bounces between us, and her eyes narrow. "Still doesn't answer my question. What do you need from this woman?"
"We just want to talk to her," Mark says from behind us.
I roll my eyes. That's exactly what someone who wanted to hurt her would say.
Nora gives him another forced smile. "Look here, fellas. We’re a hunting town, which means we always have weapons at hand and we look out for one another.
If anyone in Foxy Falls finds out you're here for the wrong reasons, I'll ask you to drive right back out of town so you don't get yourselves hurt, or worse. "
Mark chuckles. Hunter pulls back in surprise, clearly not expecting Nora to have such fire. As for me, that was the most professional death threat I've ever heard.
Hunter leans forward, his grin back in place. "Nora, we’re all in love with Skylar and would like to make her our wife."
I smack Hunter’s chest, furious that he's revealed personal information to a stranger.
Nora assesses all three of us for a moment. I’m pretty sure she’s about to tell us all where to go, but her next words surprise me.
"Well, in that case, check across the street at The Wet Whistle."
My heart pounds in my chest.
She's still here.
"Does she stop by there often?" Hunter asks.
"No, she's running it. It's a long story, which I'm sure she'll share with you. If she so chooses," Nora says with more of the fire from earlier. It’s clear she still doesn’t fully trust us, but at least she’s willing to give us a lead.
Hunter beams. "Thank you."
"We'll see," Nora snips, then turns and disappears into the office behind her.
"She's giving Skylar a heads up," Mark whispers.
We all look at each other. Then we race out onto the street.
Ready or not, Skylar, here we come.