Silvery cobwebs winked at Thea in the dappled light, as though they knew something she didn’t. She glanced back over her shoulder to make sure John and Heidi were still inside before inching towards the shed and clearing the curling ivy out of the fogged window to peer inside. All she saw were shadows and a few rusted gardening tools that must’ve been left by the previous owner.
Ugh. Thea hated it when Bryce was right.
“Thea,” called Bryce, but Thea ignored her to round the shed. The soil was more damp here, the stench mossy and a little too much like wild animal urine for her tastes. There were no disturbed patches of grass, though, and not even the dandelions had been trampled on by anyone — but her, now.
“Okay.” She accepted defeat, trudging her way back around the shed and trying not to clothesline herself on the clawing tree branches in the process. “Maybe not such serial killer vibes after all. Maybe they have, like, an attic or something where they keep people’s head — oh!”
Thea came to an abrupt standstill, heart racing until she had to press her hand to her chest to steady it. A middle-aged, dark-haired man waited for her by the door of the shed wearing an amused, lopsided grin. “I assure you there are no heads in our shedorour attic. There are no body parts at all, for that matter — and if there are, it’ll be time to sue the estate agent who sold us the place.”
“Oh, good!” John exclaimed, lemonade brimming across the rim of a large pitcher as he made his way back into the yard. “You’ve met our guests. This is my husband, Aiden.”
Husband? So not only had Thea made a fool of herself and accused the new neighbors of hiding body parts, but her usually perfectly functioning gaydar was faulty. Behind Aiden, Bryce’s cheeks were swollen with a trapped peal of laughter.
Face flaming, Thea pasted a sheepish smile on her face and wiggled her fingers. “Hi. I’m Thea. I was just, er, checking for termites. I thought I heard one down here.”
“Yes, Thea freelances in termite extermination,” Bryce said. “She’s pestobsessed,actually, and has very sharp hearing.”
“Oh, I see,” nodded Aiden, biting down on his lower lip as he aided Thea out of the bramble and back onto the grass. “I thought you were just looking for some fresh corpses.”
“No.” Thea shook her head as though the idea was absolutely ridiculous, working hard not to meet John’s puzzled gaze. “Nope, I was just… y’know, looking for termites, but it looks like you’re all good here.”
“Well that’s a relief,” John said, setting down plates on the patio table.
Thea returned to Bryce and elbowed her forcefully in her ample stomach. “You know, I don’t think we can stay for dinner after all. I just remembered I’m covering my mom’s shift at the bookstore later. Enjoy the lasagna, though!”
“Oh,” frowned John, watching as Thea dragged Bryce out of the garden. Her face was still burning hot, palms sweaty, and Bryce was hissing out suppressed laughs that only made Thea feel worse.
“I hate you,” she said through gritted teeth, as they marched down the street and away from the Godfrey residence.
“Just be glad your new crush wasn’t there to witness it.”
Though Thea refused to acknowledge talk of a ‘crush’ — as though they were twelve again and giggling over the school sports teams — shewasglad that Heidi hadn’t been there to witness it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sure.Still think they killed Isaac? Because they don’t really seem like the ‘dump a body in the sewers’ type to me, is all.”
Thea ground her molars together, and without turning back, replied, “I’m not ruling any suspects out yet.”
Bryce only let out another strained chuckle — and the sound followed Thea all the way back to the bookstore.