Page 123 of Mayhem and Minnie

She nods effusively.

“As you should,” she replies.

Okay, she’s not reacting badly to this. Perhaps she’s desensitized to violence? She didn’t seem to mind me beating the crap out of that creep at the diner or the dude abusing his dog.

But I don’t think she’s made the connection between the two quite yet.

“I get rid of them in that furnace,” I add slowly.

Her brows furrow and she bites on her lower lip as she digests my words. Realization slowly dawns on her and her entire demeanor changes.

“You mean that…”

I nod grimly.

“Oh,” she whispers.

“Here.” I open a drawer and take out a pack of wet wipes. She glances at it warily and debates what to do for a moment. Then she shakes her head.

“It’s fine,” she says with a sigh. “I want your mother to like me, and I look nice like this. It’s not as if it’s an issue, no? They’re already dead.”

My lips flatten as I stare at her. Right. She’s already wearing cow blood on her face. The ashes of a few dead people on her lids should be child’s play compared to that.

I make a mental note to keep my distance from her face, regardless of how pretty it might be.

“Right,” I mutter under my breath. “Let’s go.”

She gives me a full smile as she clutches onto her red purse and follows me to the car.

We get inside and I set the coordinates on my GPS to take us to the restaurant.

The first half of the ride, we’re both silent.

Minnie smiles to herself every now and then, distracting my attention from the road.

What is she thinking about?

For someone who just found out she’s wearing dead people on her face, she sure seems rather cheery.

“What are you thinking about?” I suddenly ask.

She fidgets in her seat and her smile grows wider.

“You,” she whispers softly. “Being your fan was the best decision I ever made.” She giggles.

She seems so pleased with herself that I don’t even know what I should reply to that.

It’s an odd thing—having a fan.

I still cannot fathom how she found me or how she became my fan. That, coupled with all the other abnormalities surrounding her, makes me wary.

But also goddamn excited.

I mean, who the hell would have thought to use cow blood and dead people’s ashes as makeup? Disgusting, yes. But as she said. Ingenious. And a little disturbing.

But would she be so intriguing to me if she weren’t a little disturbing?

Somehow, I doubt that.

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