Page 11 of Diamonds

Why hasn’t this woman turned the other way and run as far as she can?

Could it be because she has feelings for me?The same kind of feelings that I have for her?

I shake the thought out of my head.If there were evernota time for this conversation, it’s right now.

I shovel the last small pile of dirt back into the hole under the rosebush.Without the volume of the hatbox, the rosebush is a little lower than it was before, but it’s probably not noticeable.I’ve scraped together a little extra soil from around the other bushes to make up for it.

“Maddox?”

I look back at Alissa.“Yeah?”

“Shouldn’t we take the hatbox to the police?Not the coroner?Surely it will end up with the coroner anyway if we take it to them first.And then they can get an investigation underway.”

I sigh and rub at my forehead.“And that would be a great idea if the chief of police weren’t a dues-paying member of Aces Underground.I’m afraid Rouge has him wrapped around her little finger.”

She widens her eyes.“So if we go to the cops…”

“Then Rouge will know for sure that we were the ones who discovered May’s head.”I swallow.“And if she knows that, then there’s no telling what she’ll do tous.”

4

ALISSA

My heart starts thrumming again.

Maddox is right.We’re in danger.

And we can’t go to the police.

We could bury May’s head back under the rosebush, forget any of this ever happened.

But that wouldn’t be the right thing to do.Now that we’ve started this awful quest, we have to see it through.

I rub at the goosebumps on my arms.“Are you sure you can trust the coroner?If Rouge has bought the police, who’s to say she hasn’t paid him off as well?”

Maddox shakes his head.“No.This guy is an old family friend.He personally did my father’s autopsy when he died.I trust him with my life.Bill’s his name.Bill Lassard.”

“Okay.If you’re sure.”

“I’d trust this man with my lifeandmy death, Alissa.And believe me when I say I would never doanythingthat might compromise your safety.”

A warmth fills me despite the chill of the Chicago night.I want to kiss Maddox right here, but he’s right.We have to get moving.I break my hands away from his and cross over to the hatbox.

I don’t know why, but I lift the lid and look inside again.Maybe this was all a bad dream.The shock of seeing May’s head will force me awake, and I’ll look over and see Maddox next to me, snuggle up to him until he wakes up and makes me breakfast.

But this isn’t a dream.May’s head looks right back up at me from inside the box.

I gulp back the nausea and force myself to keep looking as I hold my breath to keep the stench of rotting flesh at bay.

This poor girl.She put her entire life on the line, moved to a foreign country, and worked her arse off at Aces Underground, just to end up like this.

She really was—is—a beautiful girl.There’s even still a hint of rose to her cheeks, despite her deteriorating skin.Even in death, her lips are full and her eyelashes long.I bring my fingers over her eyelids and close them as a few tears roll down my cheeks.

Dirty martini, she called me.The one time we spoke.

It’s what I had ordered from her the night before.She had no way of knowing my name.

I lean down and whisper to her.“Dirty martini is going to figure out what happened to you, May.And the person or people who extinguished your light will go to prison for a long, long time.”