Page 77 of Hell In A Handbasket
Kane swings his head up and scowls. “Hey! We’ve got our own problems!”
“This is a sisterhood,” Sophia continues. “It’s a sorority of smart, capable, educated women.”
Jen pokes her thumbs back at herself. “Doctor, here. It’s a heavy load to carry, I’m sure you understand. But my father is a political tyrant, and my sister is a vet. No way I could cheap out and not be better.”
“A sisterhood of supremely smart, talented, badass women who coexist within a single friendship circle,” Sophia continues. “It’s freaky, actually, how we were born in completely different places at different times, but here we are, kicking ass and on the same road trip.” She takes another step forward, and with a wicked grin, she balls her fist. “I gotta bruise you up, Emeri. It would be terrible luck to leave you out.”
“Don’t you hit me, Sophia.” She inches backwards, dry dust pluming up to surround her shoes. “Don’t do it. You won’t like what happens.”
“What are you gonna do? Put a hex on me?Notread my mind?”
“You’re playing with fire,” I drone, pulling my lip between my teeth.It helps me concentrate. “Leave her alone, Solomon.”
“Three.” Soph winds up, spinning her arm. “Two….”
“Sophia!”
“Hit my wife, and we’ll have trouble,” Tim growls. “Don’t undo our progress, Solomon. We were just starting to get along.”
“One…”
“Sophia!”
“Go!” She takes off like a shot, cackling and swinging, so Aubree spins and sprints, squealing and pumping her arms in her escape. Dust wafts into the air, messing up what I’ve already cleaned, but Aubree dashes toward the tree line and out of sight with Soph close on her heels. Then they reemerge again and use the trees as obstacles to weave in and out of. “Stop running away, Aubree! Let me show you my love with my fist.”
“Children.” Archer lowers into a crouch in front of me. Even low, he still towers over me, blocking the harshness of the sun and rewarding me with a handsome smile. “It boggles my mind that she’s as smart and successful as she is, but she’s also one of the dumbest broads I’ve ever met.”
“She’s not dumb,” Jay rumbles. “She’s restless. She’s got all that unmedicated ADHD energy to work through, which is probably why she married me.” He flashes a pleased grin. “I’m her fidget spinner.”
“Aubree!” Soph grabs a stick, chasing her with it wielded high. “Love me!”
“She’s exhausting.” I drape my hands over Archer’s shoulders and use him to prop myself up, and because he’s so close, I pull him closer and press my forehead to his. “I don’t hate her or anything. But she’s a lot.”
“Which is an improvement from yesterday’sI’m gonna kill her.” He puckers his lips and presses a kiss to the tip of my nose. “You ready to go home?”
“Chief?!”
I startle backwards and sling my eyes toward the trees Aubree disappeared into. At her hard voice. Her serious command, which is nothing like her, ‘being chased by Soph’ shout.
“Chief!”
“Shit.” I bound to my feet and take off, just a single step before Jay, Tim, and Archer follow. “Aubree!? Where are you?”
“Here.”
I change course and angle to the right, ducking under low branches and skipping to the side to avoid a lash across my face. I search for movement. For shadows. I roll my ankle and step into a tiny ditch, and then I come around a tree and run chest-first into Aubree’s hand.
Panting, I look around her to… nothing. To other trees that look exactly like those I’ve already passed. “What?”
“There’s something… there’s…” She releases me, but extends her arms and creates a boundary. A wall. “There’s something here, Chief.”
“Oh, please.” Soph sets her hands on her knees, folding over to catch her breath. But she laughs, loud and taunting. “Really? We’re doing this?”
“I’m not kidding.” Aubree looks past me to Archer. Then, to Fletch as he steps into our clearing. “There’s a body here, Detectives.”
“Where?” Soph stabs her hand outward. “This is nothing more than a cheap sideshow. There are so many trees here,no oneis digging through the roots to bury a body. The ground is undisturbed. There’s no smell. There aren’t even signs an animal has been through here.”
“Can we get a shovel or something?” I turn back and meet Archer’s intense stare. Then I look at Fletch. “And probably set up a camera.”
