Page 97 of Lights Out

“Uh, how do I put this lightly?” Tyler said, tapping his chin. “His dad stirred one of his victims into hamburger patties and fed her to our entire neighborhood at a block party.”

I gagged. “What?!.”

“Yeah. That kind of thing sticks with most six-year-olds.”

I held up a hand. “Yup, I get it. No more details, please. Wait.” I narrowed my gaze at him. “How can you still eat meat?”

“I ate a hot dog instead of a burger that day.”

“Yeah, but you still smelled her being cooked.” Was a sentence I never thought would come out of my mouth.

Tyler shrugged. “Fair. But smelling and tasting are two different things.”

“Ew. Enough,” I said. Even for me, this conversation was too much, especially after I’d made that offhand comment about burning Brad’s body parts. Poor Josh. He must have been retraumatized when I said it.

I felt like such an asshole for my momentary freakout after Vern’s call. Thank fuck I’d always been a logical person and was able to come to my senses, even after all the shit I’d been through over the past 24 hours. Imagine if I’d stormed out of there without giving Josh a chance and let a misunderstanding potentially ruin our relationship. Unforgivable.

Josh and I were alike in so many ways, and the more I learned about his past, the more I was beginning to see that. Things were clicking into place about why Josh was the way he was and why he’d started his social media account. I just hoped hewould listen to what I had to say about all this when he finally got home. I hated the idea that he still questioned himself, and if there was anything I could do to set his mind at ease once and for all, I would do it.

As if I’d summoned him, the front door opened, and Josh walked in. He was beautiful, even pale and exhausted, and wearing a stranger’s clothes that were obviously too small for him. The stubble on his chin was growing out, lending him a rough edge that wasn’t there when he was freshly shaven. I liked it. A lot.

All my earlier worries disappeared at seeing him unharmed, and I threw myself off the barstool to go to him. He scooped me up in his big arms and lifted me right off my feet, hugging me close.

“You’re safe,” we said at the same time.

“Glad you’re back, man,” Tyler said. “Oh, and Aly knows about your dad.” Josh went stiff in my arms. “I’ll kindly see myself out and let you two deal with this alone.”

I pulled back enough to glare at Tyler as he strolled past us with a shit-eating grin. “Turn me toward him.”

“Why?” Josh asked.

“So I can kick him,” I said, lashing out and missing by more than two feet.

Tyler’s chuckle echoed through the exterior hall before he shut the door behind himself.

Josh set me back on my feet, his expression guarded as he stared down at me. “He told you?”

I shook my head. “The lab tech I gave your samples to did more digging than she should have, and DNA matched you to your dad.”

Josh swore. “I knew I should have broken in and stolen them.”

“Don’t worry, she promised to keep her mouth shut.”

“And you trust her to?” he asked.

“Yes. She’s my friend, and her job depends on it.”

The words did nothing to stem his open worry. “Are you…?” He ran a hand over his face. “Fuck, this isn’t how I wanted things to go.”

“It’s okay,” I said, gripping his biceps. “I’m not freaking out.”

He eyed me.

“Anymore,” I added. “Tyler cleared things up for me.”

“Then I should really be worried,” Josh said.

I shook my head. “He’s a good friend.”

---