Page 51 of Lucifer's Revenge
“How can you say that?”
“One, the crime unit has to come in and dust for fingerprints. Two, you’re going to have to contact your insurance company, and they’re going to have to come in and assess the situation before they can pay out on any claim you make.”
“Shit, I didn’t think about that.”
“I know, then once that’s done, then I’m going to ask the ladies of the club to come with us to help clean up.” He shook his head when she started to say anything. “Lilith, think about it, there’s going to be nothing salvageable in that house. It might be days or weeks before the insurance company will close on a claim. I’m not telling you that you have to do this, but I would highly suggest that we get a dumpster, one of the construction ones, and we all get in there and throw everything away. I only have one question right now.”
“What’s that?”
“Do you rent or own?”
“Own. Actually, I inherited it from my grandmother, and no one knew that before she died, she put my name on the deed so that I didn’t have to pay any inheritance tax. She and grandpa paid it off over the years, so I don’t have a mortgage either. It was grandma that suggest I beef up my insurance coverage to get the maximum of what I was eligible for.”
“That was smart.”
“It was. The house was in extremely rough shape when I got it. I mean like I had to replace the roof, the windows, and put siding on. The garage was falling down, and I had that one ripped out and the new one constructed. It took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get it where it is now.”
“And those assholes ruined it. I know you can’t answer this question now, but you might want to sell it if you can’t go back inside after it’s cleaned out.”
“I’m sorry, but no, Irefuseto allow those three cowards to push me out of my own home.”
“Good for you. In the meantime, I’m expecting, but maybe I should ask you if you’ll stay here with me until everything is done.”
“I can do that, just don’t get mad at my working hours.”
“I wouldn’t, I work weird hours also.” They sat there in each other’s arms, then Lilith leaned back and smiled at him.
“What?”
“Call Starr.”
“Shit.” He sighed heavily, but grabbed his phone from the side table and dialed.
Chapter 22
“Are we ready?” Professor Tiggs asked as he walked into the room and stopped in his tracks. “Holy shit,” he said as he looked at the men standing there in the makeup his students had created. “Damn,” he said as he shook his head and walked around all the ghoulie characters. He stopped before Lucius and shook his head.
“What?” Luc growled.
“Have you seen yourself yet?”
“No, Starr wouldn’t let any of us see ourselves.”
“Well, it’s extremely impressive. Let’s get down there to see if you can fit into the coffin like that.” They followed him out, with Luc bringing up the rear. He looked at the wall clock and breathed easier when he realized that Lilith should be there any minute, since she had to go over to her house after work to meet with the insurance adjuster. She had reassured him several times that she would be there by a certain time. Since they’d been together, she’d never let him down. He reached up and rubbed his sternum and jerked when his hand was slapped.
“What the hell, Starr?”
“Stop messing with my paint job. It’s bad enough you wouldn’t shave your chest for this, but with you constantly rubbing that spot it will wear away. Do you need an antacid or something?”
“No, it’s just that something doesn’t feel right.” He shrugged when the men stopped and stared at him, then he waved them forward. “Let’s get this shit over with. I need a beer.” He shook his head to dispel his misgivings. “It should work out.”
*****
Prospect Joey, what he was known by the club, swore as he saw the clock on the dash of his truck and pushed the gas pedal harder, propelling him to go ten miles over the posted speed limit. His entire day had been a shit storm. I guess he could call it Murphy’s Law, because if something could have happened, it did.
It started with his truck getting a flat tire on the way to work, thankfully he had a good spare and was able to change it in under twenty minutes. Once he got to work, his boss yelled at him for being late. When Joey only rolled the tire to him, he shook his head and walked away. Then a customer screamed at him for taking too long to do an oil change. After that, whenever he picked up a tool, he dropped it. His lunch was never delivered with the rest of the orders, and the final straw was when his boss told him to go get a tow, and he didn’t even make it out of the parking lot when it ran out of gas.
Frustrated beyond measure, he went to the person who had parked the vehicle not an hour before, and screamed at him. When Chad had laughed in his face, Joey lost it and pushed him. By the time their boss broke them up, they were rolling on the ground with fists flying.
