Page 121 of Lights Out

Josh nodded beside me. “I figured that when they didn’t recognize the smell of the bodies. They thought the housekeeper had forgotten to take the trash out.”

Junior’s gaze sharpened on him. “And how didyourecognize it?”

Josh opened his mouth, but I cut him off. “None of your business. And what do you mean, his parents didn’t know? They were in that house going after Brad’s computer.”

Reluctantly, Junior pulled his eyes from my boyfriend and resettled them on me. “They claimed they were trying to find him. Their assumption is that he left the area after the arrest warrant was approved.”

I leaned back in my seat. “That’s good for us, right?”

Junior nodded. “We might not have found his phone, but one of our guys snagged his wallet. We’re going to have someone about his height and build use his debit card up north near the border to make it look like he fled into Canada. That should keep the cops and his family busy for a while.”

Josh and I shared a relieved look. This felt like a best-case scenario. Brad’s crimes were about to come to light. His family didn’t seem likely to impede an investigation into them. The cops were going to think that he’d fled the country, which meant they wouldn’t have any reason to look for a body.

Holy shit. Were we actually going to get away with what we’d done? It felt like we might, but I didn’t want to jinx myself by thinking about it too much.

Instead, I sidled closer to Josh while my cousin turned back around in his seat and continued his phone call. Josh wrapped an arm around my shoulders and resettled his blanket so wewere both covered by it. He leaned down and nuzzled his nose into my hair just above my ear. I closed my eyes and was starting to relax when he spoke, low enough so only I would hear his words.

“That’s twice now that you’ve broken a promise to me, Aly. I hope you can handle the consequences.”

My eyes flashed wide. Shit. I’d told him I’d stay behind and failed to keep my word. Again. But in my defense, there were extenuating circumstances in both situations. He had to realize that, right?

I wanted to mention it, plead my case, but this wasn’t the time. Josh was a rational guy – for the most part. Maybe I could convince him to see reason once I got him alone. Anyone in my place would have done the same. Most importantly,hewould have, but I could already hear his counterpoint of, “Yeah, but then I wouldn’t have promised to stay put in the first place.”

You think I would have learned after the first breach of trust, butnooo, I just had to do it a second time. Honestly, I couldn’t even blame Josh for being angry about that. Trust was the foundation of any good relationship, and I’d drilled holes in ours right after it had been laid. Maybe I could find some way to make it better by apologizing. By telling him I wouldn’t do it again.

But, god help me, a large part of me was too excited by the idea of him punishing me to say anything. Unlike me, he’d done nothing to break my trust so far, and I had a feeling that anything he doled out would be as pleasurable as it was torturous.

The next twenty minutes passed in a blur as I dreamt up all the sinful ways my boyfriend could correct my bad behavior. I had visions of whips and chains, hand necklaces and nipple clamps. Before Josh, my sex life had been the epitome of vanilla, but between social media, the salacious books I’d read, and the kink-specific porn I’d watched, it was easy to imagine all the deliciouspunishments in my future, and thinking about them was much better than thinking of the night we’d just had.

I must not have been the only one lost to their thoughts because the drive back to the warehouse passed in near silence. As soon as we pulled up to the rear of the building where we’d started the night, Josh told me to stay put and then slipped out of the SUV to preheat his car so I wouldn’t get cold again. On the surface, the gesture was sweet as hell, but there was a wolfish gleam in his eyes when he looked at me that made me feel like I was being hunted.

“Hey,” Junior said.

I turned from watching Josh’s shadowy form stride through the night and looked at my cousin. Judging by Junior’s expression, he’d been trying to get my attention for a while. “Yeah?”

“You remember what to do if the cops ever show up asking questions?”

“Tell them I don’t know anything,” I said.

“And if they keep asking?”

“Demand to speak to a lawyer.”

Junior nodded. “Good. I’ll have our guy call you tomorrow so you know who’s representing you.”

“Thank you for everything,” I said. After all, if not for my family’s help, Josh and I probably would have gotten caught. When I thought about it that way, having dinner with them once a month felt like a small price to pay.

Junior shrugged. “You’re family. It’s what we do.”

Was it really so uncomplicated to him? “Still, thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he said, starting to look uncomfortable. He glanced out his window at Josh’s idling car. “How’d he know what a dead body smells like?”

Josh’s story wasn’t mine to tell, but this was Junior’s second time asking the question, and I had a feeling that if I didn’ttell him something, he’d start digging into my boyfriend’s past. I’d do whatever I could to avoid that, for both mine and Josh’s sakes.

Lying wasn’t my forte, but I gave it my best shot. “He found a deer rotting in the woods when he was a kid, and it traumatized him. Said he’d never forget the smell.”

Junior grimaced. “I bet.”

---