Page 109 of Lights Out

Junior’s expression shut down. “Nope. That’s the one piece of information we don’t get to have.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

Junior shrugged. “Dad has two guys who deal with this stuff that he trusts with his life.”

“You mean those goons who came and got Brad while the car was cleaned?” I asked, remembering the men who’d grabbed the body-filled bag out of Josh’s trunk and disappeared without so much as a hello. They’d been middle-aged, trim, and dressed in nondescript clothes. Nothing about them stood out – to the point that I didn’t think I could pick them out of a lineup, which was probably their aim. Get in, get out, be forgotten.

“Those are the ones,” Junior said. “Only they know what happened to Brad, but I can tell you from experience that you don’t need to worry. No one has ever found someone after those two disappeared them.”

I shifted in my seat and shared a glance with Josh. His amusement had faded, and he didn’t look pleased with this news either.

“Isn’t it better we know what happened?” I asked.

Junior shook his head. “No. This way, if the worst does come to pass, you can’t tell the cops where the body is. No body, no evidence of a murder. Pretty hard to convict on circumstantial evidence alone when you have mob lawyers representing you. They’ve gotten some of our people out of much worse charges.”

“I still don’t like it,” I said.

Junior huffed out a laugh. “You’ll get used to it.”

I highly doubted that.

He twirled his coffee absentmindedly and glanced past me, his gaze turning troubled and distant like he wasn’t seeing my houseanymore but some buried memory. “And trust me when I say that sometimes you’re better off not knowing things.”

I grimaced. God only knew what he’d seen with a dad like his. As far as I knew, Nico wasn’t as bad as Josh’s, but it had to be close. Nico’s outward eccentricities and charm didn’t fool me because I’d never forget the haunted looks my parents and grandparents shared when someone brought him up. Family didn’t fear family for no reason, especially not someone like my mom, who’d feared almost nothing in life.

“Oh,” Junior said. “I almost forgot. Dad wants you to come over for dinner.”

I stiffened in my seat. “Um…no thank you?”

Junior shook his head. “You don’t have a choice, kid.”

“I absolutely do,” I told him. “And I’m not a kid.”

His expression turned to pity. “You owe him a favor, remember? His payment for all this is dinner once a month with the family.”

I turned to Josh, wide-eyed. “Am I being Gilmored right now?”

He nodded. “Yup. He’s going full Emily on you.”

Junior looked back and forth between us, confused. “The fuck are you talking about?”

I didn’t bother explaining, and I didn’t attempt another argument. If Lorelei could get through a few hours with her mother for Rory’s sake, I could get through dinner with Nico and his spawn. My uncle was bad, but Emily Gilmore made him look like a peach in comparison.

“I’ll go,” I said.

Josh cleared his throat and sent me a pointed look.

I shook my head. “Oh, no. I’m not forcing you to join my misery.”

He gripped my knee beneath the table and turned to Junior. “We’ll be there.”

I tried to tamp down my small, pleased smile and probably failed miserably.

Junior clapped his hands. “Good. If that’s settled, we need to go.”

I glanced at the clock. “It’s barely one.”

He nodded. “Yeah, but the sun sets in a few hours, and the plan is to pretend Brad’s place is the last service call of the day. We need to be there by 5:30, and now that you two are coming, we have to change some stuff around.”

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