Page 62 of Reaper and Ruin

Torch’s gaze swept the bodies. His expression didn’t change, but something in his posture shifted. “Those women weren’t on the list.”

“No shit,” Levi muttered.

Trigger’s eyes narrowed at his tone. “You accusing us?”

“That depends,” I said, immediately having Levi’s back. “Are you admitting to something?”

The tension in the air was as thick as the stench of decaying bodies. X, Levi, and I on one side, Trigger, Ace, and Torch on the other. Guns weren’t drawn yet, but the crackle between us was the kind that came right before the bloodstains.

Trig’s gaze shifted to the last woman I’d taken a photo of. Short blond hair. Staring, faded blue eyes. Tall and solid. “This isn’t us.”

“And you expect us to believe you?” Levi asked.

“No,” he said with a tinge of something that sounded a lot like sadness as he stared down at the women. “We expect you to be smart enough to realize someone’s playing all of us.”

He was right.

We’d let ourselves get distracted by not trusting each other.

That sentiment passed silently between Trig and me.

He gave a tiny nod.

I returned it, the tension breaking, a silent agreement to believe that neither of us was capable of this sort of carnage.

We weren’t good men. I wasn’t deluded enough to believe otherwise.

But we weren’t this.

“Plot twist!” X piped up. “We’rethe good guys.”

Trig pulled a pack from his back pocket and lit a cigarette, dragging deep. “God help us.”

But my gaze stayed on the bodies.

No claw marks.

No message.

And no Nyah.

That should’ve been a relief.

But it didn’t feel like one.

20

VIOLET

Xmet me outside the police station, looking like a treat for my tired, red-rimmed eyes.

He immediately put his arm around me and drew me into the warmth of his chest. “What did they say?”

I shook my head, my nose brushing against the soft fabric of his shirt. “Not much. They’ve made a missing person’s report.”

“Did you tell them about her dad having Mafia connections?”

I drew back, my mouth in a straight, unhappy line. “They don’t believe that’s true.”