Page 20 of Never Nix Up (The Arun Nixes #2)

EPILOGUE

Marla

I don’t know how I made it home from the coroner’s deliberation. Kit must have given me a lift, because it was as if I had blinked and was now standing in front of my shop. Arun Motors.

It had been our dream, mine and Johnny’s. He’d loved messing about with cars as much as I had, and we’d planned on setting up shop here and taking over the old abandoned mechanics as soon as we were old enough.

Only one of us was ever old enough.

I did it though, I made our dream come true. He’s have been so proud of me.

I stumble past the repair bays, past my beloved Harley, and throw myself onto one of the chairs in the waiting area. I think I might have a panic attack. My hands are trembling and my breath is coming in short sharp bursts that are soon careening out of control.

No one seems to know how or why dozens of bodies have resurfaced from the depths of the River Arun, but resurfaced they have, and amongst them was my baby brother’s body. It’s his. DNA analysis confirmed it.

I rock back and forth on the spot, and finally let myself cry. I’ve never cried for Johnny before, been too numb with pain to feel even come close. It’s been too many years, too long without my brother. And with no body there was always a hope—faint but still present—that he might one day come back to us. I’m relieved for my parents, that they’re able to put his body to rest, but there’s nothing left for me but anger. Anger and angry desperate sobs.

“Fucking hell, Marla. That’s a bit dramatic.”

I freeze, my entire body going cold, and turn to where my brother is reclining on my Harley, his boots atop her handlebars. Well, not quite atop. Partially through.

Fuck.

The End