Hero’s mouth curved, sharp with amusement. “Come on. It’s a bonding activity. Nothing brings a group together like murder clean-up.”
“Remind me never to join your team-building exercises at the shop,” I muttered, crouching down by the body. “And why the hell am I always here for cleaning up these messes? How do I get out of this group activity?”
“Because you’re the responsible one,” Mason said as he passed me the duct tape. “And because you’re already here with the psycho girl. Honestly, I’m surprised we aren’t doing this more often with her around. She should keep tape and a roll of plastic in her trunk.”
Zack walked over, his eyebrows furrowed as he looked around the empty parking garage. “What were you two doing here, anyway?”
Evie was off to the side now, silently stewing about Rook scolding her.
“I wasn’t. Evie came out tonight and I was nearby trying to keep an eye on her.”
“And you didn’t think to call us when you were already on your way? We could have got here sooner,” Zack said.
I hid my eye roll—I knew Zack wanted my position. He wanted Rook to trust him and put him in charge of Evie. He wasn’t exactly quiet about it to Rook, but Rook would never let him. He would never trust anyone to get that close to Evie until they had been with us for years.
“I was right around the corner.” I glared at him now. I didn’tknow what he was digging for, but wasn’t happy he was digging at all. “I wasn’t going to pause to give you a call when I wasn’t sure if she was in trouble or not.”
“I think you could have done both.” Zack crouched down to help, and I ignored him, not willing to waste my energy on his pathetic attempt to take my position.
The body was slumped at an awkward angle, making it a three-man job to wrap him up. Hero grabbed the other end, staring at the holes where the knife had gone in. “I’m nearly impressed. What all’d this guy do to piss you two off so bad?”
I gritted my teeth. “He didn’t piss me off first—he pissed off Evie. Then he pissed me offbecausehe pissed off Evie.”
“Oh, well, that explains it. Psycho girl strikes again,” Mason said.
“Don’t call her that,” I snapped before I could stop myself, which, of course, only made Hero laugh harder.
Mason grinned. “Touchy today, aren’t we?”
“I had to come save Evie from being killed by this guy and we have no idea why he is coming after her, or us. So yes, I’m fucking touchy.”
Harper walked over, looking over Hero’s shoulder as he moved body parts to better fit in the plastic. He noticed immediately, scowling as she leaned closer.
“Do you have a problem?” he asked. He already had his methodical way of wrapping bodies, and I’m sure he didn’t want Harper bothering him now.
“Wouldn’t the body break down faster if you left holes in the plastic for the water to work?” she asked.
“What would be the point of that if they are at the bottom of the river either way?”
She shrugged. “There would be less of a chance of them being ID’d or found later on if the body broke down faster.”
Hero froze, and I could see the way his jaw tightened, already pissed. He stood, towering over her. “You want to do it then? You think you can wrap up a body better and cleaner? Please do, you little freak, because I’ll have a new person to give to the police when you fuck up and they find the body.”
“Shut up,both of you, and help me roll this guy,” I snapped. I knew Hero wouldn’t actually let her take the blame or wrap the body, but we didn’t have time to let this play out longer.
Hero grinned, the creepy smile more threatening than happy, but he did as I asked, the two of us getting the body halfway wrapped in plastic before Mason chimed in again.
“So, what exactly happened? Did she stab him first? Or did you get here and do all this?”
“She handled it,” I snapped, not wanting to go into details. Evie had handled it all right—handled it in a way that made my chest tighten and my head spin. She didn’t need to be saved completely, but she made me want to keep saving her, anyway. “ThenI handled it.”
Rook walked over, looking between the body and the rest of us. “More cars are coming into the parking garage now. It won’t be long before they start coming up here. Are we good to go?”
“Don’t rush perfection.” Hero straightened up, his head tilting to look at the body. “We’re crafting a masterpiece that will never be seen again.”
“If by masterpiece you mean a sloppy mess, then yeah, you’re doing great.” Rook crossed his arms, matching Hero’s head tilt.
“Hey, it’s not like I’m the one who cut this body up in the first place,” Hero said. “I can do it a hell of a lot cleaner than that.”
