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He was going to be sick.
Michael caught him and jerked him back. “Don’t,” he said. “You can’t touch her. You can’t have this traced back to you.”
Hunter shoved him in the chest, throwing all his strength into it. His voice was raw and edged with pain. “You made me wait! We could have saved her.”
“No, Hunter—”
He hit him again. “We could have—she’s—”
“It was too late. He’d stabbed her through the chest. Hunter, it was too late.”
“Damn you!” Another shove. “We could have—she’s—she’s—”
And then he was sobbing and Michael caught him, holding him tight.
“I’m sorry,” Michael was saying. “I’m sorry.”
Hunter let himself have about fifteen seconds of pity. Then he shoved free of Michael’s hands and swiped the tears off his face.
He didn’t want pity. He didn’t want anything.
His fists were clenched at his sides, and he suspected he’d completely lose control if he let go.
“We need to move,” Michael said quietly.
“I’m not just leaving her here.”
“Hunter—”
“I’m not just leaving her to get eaten by insects and wild animals.” His voice was shaking with fury. “Do you understand me? So either get a shovel out of your truck or I’ll dig by hand.”
“No shovel,” said Michael.
“Fine.” Hunter took a step forward.
Michael caught his arm. “I’ll take care of it. Just give me a minute.”
Then he knelt in the dirt and put a hand against the ground.
He was right: it only took a minute. The earth just swallowed her up, gradually at first, her body sinking into the dirt as if the ground was simply giving way. But then the hole began to fill in over her, grass and foliage growing back into place.
As if nothing had happened.
Hunter stared. He’d thought this would be better—but it was worse. He needed the action, the physicality of digging a hole. He needed the closure.
ially when she looked up at him and blushed.
“Hey,” he said gently. He bent down to kiss her on the neck.
“Hey.” She leaned into him. He let her.
“What are you doing?”
“My phone was dead. I plugged into your charger. Is that okay?”
“Sure.” He could see she had the browser open. “Anything interesting?”
“I was looking for tunnels.” She glanced up. “Did you know there are two highway tunnels that lead into Baltimore?”
