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Ares was sniffing around Rob enthusiastically, his huge nostrils flaring. He swung his head at me, his red eyes hopeful. ‘No,’ I said firmly. ‘You can’t eat him. He’s not our enemy. We’ll bury him.’
Ares huffed and pawed at the ground with his clawed forefoot.
‘I’m not arguing with you,’ I said. ‘You’re not eating him. I’ll get you a tasty snack, but not a person. How about some raw burgers?’
The unicorn whickered happily and tapped his foreclaw three times. ‘A lot of burgers,’ I agreed. ‘Noah, grab Ares a shit-tonne of burgers would you?’
He gave me a cheeky salute and strode inside to source some protein for Ares.
‘David, could you deal with the body?’ I asked. ‘I was thinking you could bury him somewhere. Maybe in the rose garden.’ Nobody would raise an eyebrow at earth disturbed around the rose bushes.
David brightened. ‘Actually, I was just going to plant some Darcey Bussell in the back row by the hedge. I bet they’d do well with a bit of … extra fertiliser.’
‘Great. Archie, Liam, help David dig, please.’
‘I’ll fetch my shovels,’ David said happily. Gardening is his happy place, with or without cadavers.
‘Manners, with me.’ I tipped my head towards the mansion to indicate we should talk in my office.
‘I’ll park the truck round back. Be with you in a minute.’ Greg climbed up into the cab and I let myself admire the way his jeans fit him. What? A girl can look.
He didn’t keep me long. He closed my office door behind him so that we’d have some privacy. ‘What’s up, Peaches?’ he asked by way of greeting.
‘Besides the dead body and the kiddie kidnappings?’ I rolled my eyes. ‘I’m wondering about the security footage. Will we be able to get anything off the cameras? You said a car was used to drop him off?’
‘A van, actually. But no, we didn’t get a plate. We should cut back the trees around the entrance to the drive so the view will be less obscured next time.’
‘I really don’t want there to be a next time. But call a tree surgeon. Make sure you plant some more trees somewhere else, though. I don’t want to be responsible for more deforestation.’
‘Two trees hardly makes deforestation,’ he pointed out with an amused smile.
‘We’ve all got to do our bit,’ I said primly. ‘A tree or two here and there adds up. Anyway, my point is, can we send the footage to Fritz and get him to zoom in on the image or something?’
Greg grinned. ‘This isn’t James Bond. We can’t zoom in on pixels we can’t see.’
‘Magic is real, but we can’t get a number plate?’ I huffed. ‘What good is magic anyway?’ I gave a huge sigh.
Greg was staring closely at me. ‘Hey,’ he said, all jokiness gone. ‘Are you okay?’
‘I don’t like dead bodies.’ Especially not ones that stared at me accusingly.
‘Do you need a hug?’
‘A hug a day keeps the psychologist away,’ I quipped. I swallowed. ‘Actually, yes. A hug would be nice.’
He wrapped me in his arms and I sighed as the yummy scent of him surrounded me. He was warm and safe. Esme made happy noises in my head.
‘It’s not your fault, you know,’ he said softly as he continued to hold me.
‘What?’ I asked, my voice muffled by his chest. I wasn’t inclined to pull away, though.
‘Rob. It’s not your fault he’s dead. Beckett Frost is a psychopath.’
‘He didn’t get enough hugs as a child,’ I said sagely.
‘Or he’s got fucked-up inbred genetics. Whatever, Rob’s death isn’t on you.’
‘It feels like it is.’
