Page 36 of Tarnished Hands

She nods her head with excitement. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. I don’t mean to be rude, but I have to lock up and finish a job. Let me walk you to your car. It’s getting late.” I open the front door.

“Any type of uniform?” she questions.

“Just nothing too revealing, please. It’s mostly men who come into the shop.”

“Can do.” She nods, and I see her BMW sitting out front. “It was my husband’s car. I can’t seem to part with it.”

I look at her again. “You don’t seem old enough to be a widow.”

“Does anyone, though?”

“Point made.”

“I’m thirty. Though some mornings, I feel older.” I don’t want to comment on her looks again, so I shut my mouth. As she opens her car door, I see Piper’s car pull up in the driveway. “Tomorrow at nine?” I nod as she slides behind the wheel. Aqua glances at the car that pulled up, but drives off anyway. I wait until she’s gone before I roll open the garage door. Lucas nods to me as Piper walks in behind him.

“Another body, huh?” Lucas laughs. “My bad.” He winks. He goes straight for the car as Piper rolls open a black tarp. Both of them put gloves on before they reach in to grab the body, lifting and placing it on the tarp before they roll it up. I watch as they heft the body between them, then take it to her car and stuff it into the trunk.

When she closes the trunk’s lid, she snaps her gloves off, and Lucas climbs straight into the car.

“Who was the woman?” she asks, nodding in the direction Aqua left.

“Who was the man?” I retort.

Her nose scrunches up, and Lucas yells her name. She gets in without another word. Lucas smirks at me and waves as they leave, and she doesn’t look back.

Entering the garage again, I think the car should be burned because the smell is still there, and it’s overpowering. Getting my own gloves, I pry the carpet up and carry it outside to burn it.

The stench clings—to the metal, to my skin, and the back of my throat.

I haul the carpet out and toss it onto the flames.

Let the bastard burn.

Hopefully, that will rid the car of the damn rotten smell.

Chapter Twenty-One

PIPER

“He’s mad at you again? Honestly, this is so much fun to witness,” Lucas says. “It probably has something to do with you and that guy rubbing all up on each other the other night. Let’s be honest, Ezra could have killed the guy. I would have.”

“What? Ezra shot him,” Lucas says too casually. “Middle of the dance floor. Blood all over the goddamn floorboards. Took me two hours to mop up—I should send him the bill.”

“Ezra shot who?”

“Are you dumb?” Lucas raises a brow.

“What are you talking about?” I question.

“Oh, interesting. Do you not remember?”

“I was drinking and dancing at your bar and then woke up in his bed.”

Lucas starts to laugh and shakes his head.

“Sometimes I wish I could shoot you again,” I grumble.

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