Page 16 of The Hangman's Rope

“Made us something to eat and asked if she could remember if she was allergic to anything. You know how it goes. Brain is on one thing and heads down a rabbit hole.”

Synister grunted and said, “No missing persons yet that we know of. She could be local; she could be a tourist. It’s anybody’s guess right now.”

“Anything on how she landed in our mortuary in the first place?” I asked.

“Trying to trace accounts but whoever is behind ‘em knows how to cover their tracks.”

“Huh, smells like corruption. The kind of money involved in making a problem likethatdisappear means whoever’s behind it is a rich bitch motherfucker.”

“Old money or new money, it all spends the fucking same,” Synister complained.

“Shit, you really ain’t got a clue,” I said, and color me surprised. It didn’t usually take Synister long to figure out the players involved with shit like this.

“I don’t,” he grated. “And I don’t like it. Loose lips sink ships. You sure you got a handle on miss thing?”

“No fuckin’ thanks to you, threatening the shit out of her with the crypt up front.”

“Yeah, I lost my head for a minute there,” he said. “Shit pisses me off.”

“That’s not like you, man. Something else going on?”

“Shit fucking day at the office,” he said.

All that shit was way beyond my fucking pay grade. I didn’t understand heads or tails about money market accounts or investing. That was all Syn.

“How much of my ass did you lose?”

“A fair chunk,” he said. “Nothing I can’t get back at this point, but believe me, my asshole puckered with the drops today.”

“Shit,” I muttered. “I trust yah,” I said. “You trust me?”

“Fuck yeah, brother. I trust you,” he said.

“Then best believe, I’ve got this. But it wouldn’t hurt for you to apologize or be fuckin’ nicer when you see her again. You catch more flies with honey. Sides, she’s a smart girl. Knows she doesn’t have anywhere else to go, can’t remember shit. Whole fuckin’ thing is weird as hell for us. I can’t even imagine how weird it is for her.”

“Not like you to be soft,” he said.

“Fuck you,” I muttered and he laughed.

“For real, though. All we can do right now is sit tight while Requiem sorts through shit, lookin’ for that needle in a haystack.”

“How many fuckin’ people know our ways?” I asked.

“Not a lot, but enough that it’s gonna take some time.”

I sighed. “We got plenty of that.”

“Looking back on it, I’m almost starting to feel bad,” he said.

“You should. Doc’s pretty sure she was some kind of assaulted. Then, for all intents and purposes, she fuckin’diesthen wakes up with Reaper’s dick in her hand? Shit’s beyond fucked up.”

“I tell you; I don’t know what the fuck Grim sees in that guy.” Syn sighed and I sighed with him.

“He’s never let us down before. If she were dead for real, we wouldn’t even know about this particular fucked-up proclivity.”

“I think we all could have gone the rest of our lives without knowing.”

“Forreal,” I agreed.

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