What is the old saying?I wonder as the prison’s rear gate grinds open.A friend will help you move, but a real friend will help you move a body?
It’s a lot less funny once it’s real.
Glenn and Travis are obviously not an option. If I couldn’t get them to come visit Lance at the hospital, there’s no way they’d help me with this. Lance would have been the one to call — he sure as hell owed me enough favors.
Lance, remember that time I kept you from getting your ass kicked at the bar?
Yeah, he mutters.I guess.
And that time with Alicia Kor-
I get it, man. What, you need something?
How could I break this gently?
Yeah. It’s kinda important.
He’d probably exaggerate a sigh, maybe take out his phone.You know I got plans tonight man. Can it wait?
Bullshit. His plan is to go out and get shitfaced, the same he does every other night.
It’ll only take a couple hours. When we’re done, drinks will be on me.
This gets Lance’s attention. Doesn’t matter how rich your dad is — free drinks is free drinks.Oh yeah? So what’s the job?
Here goes.Burying a body.
Lance snorts and lets out a hyena laugh.No, seriously.
Seriously.
He looks at me like I’m a psycho. Admittedly, I’m sure that’s how I sound.Fuck, no way man. I can’t get involved in something like that. Are you out of your mind?
Yeah, that’s how he’d react. Just as I know my own name or how to tie my shoes, I know what Lance’s answer would be.
Crickets’ chirping and birdsong carry over the lake’s still waters. Corbin’s feet rustle through the grass as I wheel him out to a small dock. There’s a green rowboat tied to one of the posts, so I pull it up onto the ground, then gather as many rocks as I can to stuff Corbin’s loose-fitting clothes. Then I load everything into the boat, get in and use an oar to shove off.
No, there’s no fucking way Lance would ever do any of this. Maybe that’s a good thing, because right now I feel like letting Corbin drag me down with him, but it pisses me off that Lance wouldn’t help me. Whether or not it’s wrong is irrelevant — Lance was my friend. How many times did I ask him for something, only for him to make up an excuse? There was the time I needed a ride home after getting my wisdom teeth out, and when my Jeep broke down on the side of Route 80. We once blew hundreds of dollars at the roulette table together at Mohegan Sun, my whole paycheck for the month; when I asked to borrow a little cash to help make rent he said no, even though I worked for his fucking dad.
Thinking about it all gets me good and pissed while I row out to the lake’s center. I untie Corbin’s shoelaces and use them to tie off his pant legs after filling them with the rocks. Opening his mouth to get in a few more stones makes me retch, but it will hopefully be enough to keep his body below the water. Still furious by the time I finish, I use the anger to help lift. After a few big heaves, Corbin plunges below the surface and sinks. I hold the sides of the boat until it stops rocking, watching air bubbles rise and pop.
As I watch the ripples expand out across the lake, the breeze picks up and a chill creeps into my chest. What would have happened if the situation went down differently, and Quinn accidentally killed me? Corbin would be the one out here dumping my corpse. He’d probably be happy to, knowing Quinn would be waiting for him when he finished.
The thought makes me feel better about Corbin’s death, but if Byron’s willing to dispose of one of us so easily, what else is he capable of? For her safety and mine, I’ve got to get Quinn to behave, or we’ll end up keeping Corbin company. It’s a big lake.
Chapter 20
For a long time, I find myself looking at the empty imprint Corbin made in his own blood. I can’t help thinking it’s kinda funny, I can see the lines of his arms, legs and head, like a snow angel. Only, it’s blood.
I killed him. I killed one of the men determined to hurt me. It’s not the first time I tried, but the first I succeeded. No matter what happens next, to me or anyone else, Corbin will never hurt another woman again.
Just like Lance.
I understand Reed’s anger. There will be consequences for us both, but Corbin’s death means one less person who can get in our way. Will Byron recruit a replacement? Maybe, but it’ll take time. Will it place Reed under greater scrutiny? Probably, but they trust him. Will he have to make my life pretty miserable for the sake of keeping that trust? Definitely, but I can handle it.
Though I have no regrets about what I did, I do worry what Reed will think of me. He’s seen a side of me I never would have thought existed before coming here. Even after Lance’s fall, I still never imagined I could purposefully take a life. What if he no longer sees in me the person he fell for? What if he starts to see me as the person he assumed I was, back when we first met? What if he thinks I’m becoming the person he used to hate?
What if Iambecoming that person?