Page 89 of Boneyard HEA

I crouch over my folded hands on the table, thinking. Maybe. “We can do that, but you must hide it all somewhere unfindable. In a fucking tree stump, if necessary. And we look into how to do that very carefully. Okay?” I look at him from under my brow.

“Sure.”

Georgia appears fascinated—not the reaction I expected. “You’re going to tell the police?”

I pop up a finger. “Nope. No police.”

“No police,” Aaron says. “Because I vote we end Karsten.”

“Same.” Juniper drops back into her chair. “It’s doable. It’s right. Even if the cops do chase him, it would be years to bring him to a trial, more years to get a guilty verdict. And he would surely tell on us. I mean on you and Rafael.”

“Yes. He also knows you killed Nathan.” I sigh. “I vote we end him, too, but what the hell do we do with the house and everything I said before?” I open my hands. “Thoughts?”

“We burn the place, thoroughly, using a timed device—there must be something like that—after removing the bodies and anything that might ID us, and walk away.” He meets my gaze.

Everyone seems to be waiting for my answer.

“That means we take the chance they will discover them dead and gone long before we are ready. Everyone at the CNC Frat will be interviewed, if they figure out who owned this place. Aaron?”

“I’m a genius, but not at this. Not at following whatever odd clues the cops might follow. I still say end him and risk the consequences.”

Everyone, including Georgia, nods.

The consequences could be devastating.

Slowly, I shove back my chair and pick up the Glock on the table that was Shawn’s. “I’ll go do it. Then we clean up.”

“I…” Juniper frowns. “I was going to volunteer to help but⁠—”

“No. This is my job.”

“You’re sure you don’t need help?” Aaron asks.

“No. I’m good at my job.” That echoes what I told Karsten.

So, I’m standing there about to go kill a man, when my headset buzzes from where I laid it on the table.

I hear Rafael’s voice. Hesitantly I pick it up, holding up a finger so everyone is quiet. “Problem?”

“There’s a woman out here claiming to be from an agency connected to your CNC Fraternity. She just appeared round the corner of the house.”

“Meaning she sneaked up minus a vehicle?”

“I don’t know. She says to call her Judy, but I don’t think that’s her name. She wants to talk to whoever is in charge. Says, they’ve been following Karsten and…not to shoot him yet.”

“I’ll be out.”

“Copy. Over.”

Fuck. “You didn’t hear all that, but we have a visitor who knows something about Karsten, knows we aim to kill him, and wants to speak to the man in charge.”

And they’re bugging this house, somehow. I eye the window above the sink. It’s curtained but still, might be possible to catch the echo? A bug could be anywhere.

A montage of curses passes back and forth from Juniper to Aaron. Georgia just looks stunned and worried.

“Me, then.” Aaron pushes back his chair and stands, straightens the wrinkled T-shirt he found somewhere, combs back his hair with his hand. “Please say it’s not cops.”

“No. Someone calling themselves Judy, who claims to be from some agency of the CNC Frat. We can both go. You’re not quite back to normal.”