Page 64 of The Woman in the Hollow
“No. We have occasional moments of tension, but one of ours getting murdered? That never happens. Not in this generation anyway.”
“That’s why all the men have been around.”
“Yes. I want my people to be safe. You should have been safe.”
“I probably would have been if I hadn’t been here on the off hours.”
“Why were you looking for the body?”
“Because I knew you were lying to me about it being a prop. I spent hours looking up horror props. Nothing was even close. And then I looked up the Grassi family and then, well…”
“You needed to see for yourself.”
“Yes.”
“And then?”
“I was going to call the police.”
To that, I nodded.
“You could have called the police when you got in here,” I said, waving a hand around. “But you called me.”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you planning on calling the police about Ed’s body?”
“I… I don’t know anymore,” she admitted.
“If I offered to take you back to my house to clean you up, would you be comfortable with that? I’d offer to take you to your place but your first aid kit is awful and you need some real care.” She shuffled her feet. “You can keep the gun on you if you want,” I offered.
“Really?” she asked, brows pinching.
“Whatever makes you most comfortable. But I assure you, we don’t hurt women.”
“Even if they are going to turn you into the police.”
“Even then.”
“Do you have anything strong to drink at home?”
“Depends.”
“On?”
“If you’ve hit your head tonight or not.”
“No.”
“Then you can have all the drinks you want. And a meal prepared by my mom.”
“I guess I’m sold then.”
“Okay,” I agreed. “Grab your gun.”
