Page 55 of Monsters in the Dark

“This is my home, Declan.”

“What about the apartment?”

“That’s just where I live,” I replied evenly.

“Baby-”

“Declan, I have to show you something,” I said, interrupting him. Though I still didn’t trust him, he wasn’t going to leave me alone, so I had to show him why I couldn’t leave the cabin abandoned completely. “Then you’ll see why I can’t just leave.”

Just then, Noah walked back into the cabin, saying, “They’re going to have Morocco look deeper into Klive Simpson to see if there’s anything there.”

“You’re just in time,” Declan drawled out as he stood up from the couch. “Keavy’s about to show us something.”

“Oh, this ought ta be good,” Noah snorted.

“I’m not sure if I even want to know,” Lochlan muttered, and he wasn’t wrong.

Chapter 33

Declan~

“Should she even be walking?” I asked Lochlan, though I could admit to being curious about whatever Keavy wanted to show me. “She’s lost a lot of blood.”

“No, she shouldn’t be walking,” Lochlan answered. “She shouldn’t be doing anything but resting, but I have a feeling that she’s not agreeable to that kind of direction.”

“I just need to show you something, and then I’ll rest,” she lied.

“We need to get back to town,” I repeated. “The longer that we’re not available for questioning on Cooper Donaldson, the more that the police are going to look into us.”

“Then let’s get to it,” Keavy snapped. “I’m not happy about any of this, either.”

“Baby-”

“Look, let’s just humor her while she’s too incapacitated to murder us all where we stand,” Noah said. “Because I agree that we need to get back to town.”

“Fuck it,” I sighed. “Fine.”

Reaching for Keavy, I helped her to sit, then I pulled her into my arms bride-style. I made sure that her injured shoulder was nestled up against my body for support, and it was a good thing that the woman didn’t weigh anything.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

Keavy jerked her chin towards the floor. “Pull up the rug.”

“Awe, man,” Lochlan whined. “Don’t fucking tell me that you have a goddamn tomb of dead bodies down there.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Keavy sighed tiredly.

“Oh, I’m being ridiculous?” Lochlan scoffed. “I’m not the person murdering motherfuckers left and right, Ms. Collins.”

“Okay, that’s enough,” I ordered. “That’s a topic for another time.”

“Yeah, because the topic of taking a woman back home that holds no affection for any of us and has no problem pumping bullets into anyone that gets in her way can be tabled for later,” Lochlan huffed as he moved the coffee table out of the way.

“I need a feckin’ drink,” Noah drawled out as he removed the area rug that Keavy had pointed to.

When Noah pulled back the rug, a trapdoor appeared, and with the pattern of the rug, you never would have noticed the small handle that stuck out. Granted, you wouldn’t have been able to see anything with the coffee table in the way, but that was a fucking trapdoor if ever I saw one.

“There’s no lock,” Noah observed.

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