Page 20 of Tarnished Hands (Chained Hearts Duet #7)

Chapter Twenty

EZRA

D ays go by, and it’s easy to get lost in which day it is when you love your job. However, finding a dead body again is not what I call fun.

The days blur together—oil, metal, machines. I live for it. But the stench in this one? Not motor oil. Not grease. Just a dead man.

I step back from the open trunk and slam it shut.

Fucking hell.

I sent Keir a coded message, and he told me he’d see me soon. Whomever it is, better get here soon. I want this thing out of my shop before it stinks up the place.

Ten minutes later, a knock comes from the reception area, and I almost fucking forgot I’m doing interviews this afternoon. Now that I don’t have Lydia to man the front, it’s becoming harder and harder for me to handle everything. So I put an ad out, and hopefully, I can find someone to replace her.

Walking into the office, I grab my rag and wipe my hands before I pull open the door to find a man standing on the other side.

I invite him in, and he tells me all about his love for cars.

He’s young and seems eager to work. The interview went well, but I still have one more person to interview.

He thanks me and tells me he can start any time.

I wait for a good half an hour before another knock comes on the door. When I open it, it’s a woman this time. She’s wearing a red dress, and her lips are painted bright red. She smiles and offers me her hand.

“Hi, I’m Aqua. Yes, like water and the color. Weird, I know. I’m here for the interview.”

“Ezra,” I say, and pull my hand away. Inviting her in, I watch as she scans everything before her gaze returns to land on me.

“Is this the office?” She waves a hand around the area. She looks too put-together to want to work here. This place is neither clean nor the type of working environment I am sure she is used to.

“Yes.”

“Could use a woman’s touch. It’s a bit dirty.” She walks to the window, which overlooks the garage. She points to the car with the dead body in it. “Is that a Cadillac?” she asks, looking over her shoulder at me. “1961,” she adds.

Color me impressed. This woman knows her cars.

“It is.”

“Can I see it?”

“No,” I say quickly. “I like to work alone in my garage when the staff go home. I need someone to work in here and handle the calls and customers.”

“I can do that. My father was a mechanic, and he taught me a thing or two,” Aqua says with a smile. Weird name, but somehow, it strangely suits her. “So, when do I start?”

“Why would you want to work here?” I ask. Clearly, she is a woman of better taste. I have a feeling that the bag she’s holding is the expensive type, not a knock-off. I don’t know much about designers, but the two Cs indicate the branding.

“My husband died a few years back and left me with a lot of money, and now I’m bored.

I’ve done all my traveling, bought a house, tried a few jobs.

” She shrugs. “Nothing interested me until I saw your ad. And I smiled when I did…” The smile she gives me lights up her face. “It made me think of my father.”

“This is a lonely job. You’ll be by yourself most of the time. I tend to stay in the garage and don’t move around that much.”

“That’s fine,” she says. And I feel like she means it.

“Can you start tomorrow?” I ask.

She nods her head with excitement. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. I don’t mean to be rude, but I have to lock up and finish a job. Let me walk you to your car. It’s getting late.” I open the front door.

“Any type of uniform?” she questions.

“Just nothing too revealing, please. It’s mostly men who come into the shop.”

“Can do.” She nods, and I see her BMW sitting out front. “It was my husband’s car. I can’t seem to part with it.”

I look at her again. “You don’t seem old enough to be a widow.”

“Does anyone, though?”

“Point made.”

“I’m thirty. Though some mornings, I feel older.

” I don’t want to comment on her looks again, so I shut my mouth.

As she opens her car door, I see Piper’s car pull up in the driveway.

“Tomorrow at nine?” I nod as she slides behind the wheel.

Aqua glances at the car that pulled up, but drives off anyway.

I wait until she’s gone before I roll open the garage door.

Lucas nods to me as Piper walks in behind him.

“Another body, huh?” Lucas laughs. “My bad.” He winks.

He goes straight for the car as Piper rolls open a black tarp.

Both of them put gloves on before they reach in to grab the body, lifting and placing it on the tarp before they roll it up.

I watch as they heft the body between them, then take it to her car and stuff it into the trunk.

When she closes the trunk’s lid, she snaps her gloves off, and Lucas climbs straight into the car.

“Who was the woman?” she asks, nodding in the direction Aqua left.

“Who was the man?” I retort.

Her nose scrunches up, and Lucas yells her name. She gets in without another word. Lucas smirks at me and waves as they leave, and she doesn’t look back.

Entering the garage again, I think the car should be burned because the smell is still there, and it’s overpowering. Getting my own gloves, I pry the carpet up and carry it outside to burn it.

The stench clings—to the metal, to my skin, and the back of my throat.

I haul the carpet out and toss it onto the flames.

Let the bastard burn.

Hopefully, that will rid the car of the damn rotten smell.