Page 88 of Trailer Trash

“I don’t know yet.”

“Which option do you prefer?”

He hesitated. “I want to move it. But I’m not sure how you’ll handle that.”

“I want this done. I never want it to haunt me again.”

“Then we’ll move it, but I’ll need your help getting him out.”

I swallowed, feeling ill. “Okay.”

He climbed out of the hole and grabbed a tarp out of his bag. After laying it out on the ground beside the hole, he started to climb back in. He stopped to look back at me, though, and pulled down his mask. “How are you doing?”

“You’re the one doin’ all the work,” I countered.

Sympathy filled his eyes. “Neely Kate.”

I felt myself start to crumble, but I pulled it all back in and took a deep breath. “Just tell me what to do to make this go faster.”

“Okay.”

He soon had the body free, and he slid the tarp down into the hole and rolled the body on top of it before wrapping it up.

“This is when I need your help,” he said.

I sucked in a breath, still smelling the lingering rancid stench through my mask. “Okay.”

I climbed down into the hole, and we rolled the body up the incline and out onto the ground.

“I’m going to get the car and load the body and the bag into the trunk. If someone shows up and finds the hole, it’s not ideal, but we’ll make good and sure there’s nothing tying it to you.”

“I trust you, Jed.”

“Are you okay waiting here?”

The answer was a solidno. But it was stupid for both of us to go get the car. “Yeah.”

Jed took off and I waited for several seconds before curiosity got the best of me. I looked in Pearce Manchester’s bag and found the video camera. I popped open the view finder and turned on the power switch, surprised when it actually worked. I rewound the tape and turned it on, steeling myself for what I’d find.

There I was on the bed. He was standing there above me, watching my bleeding body with a little self-satisfied smile on his face. Then he turned around and sat on the bed. I knew what was coming . . .

I fast-forwarded to the moment when I got up and lunged at him. The next part was how I remembered it except for the expression on my bloodied face. I looked like a murderer. If anyone saw this tape—especially if they didn’t see the first part—they would never believe it was self-defense.

I heard Jed’s car start, then park in the ditch in front of the bushes. I closed the screen and popped the tape out. There was no way I was letting Jed or anyone else near this thing. I replaced it with a loose tape from the bag.

He walked back around the bushes as I pocketed the tape. He had a small container of lighter fluid and squirted a generous amount into the hole before striking a match and lighting the hole on fire.

I considered tossing the tape in, but I knew Jed wouldn’t be happy about it. Besides, I didn’t think the fire would be big enough to destroy it. And I wanted that sucker good and destroyed.

“I can carry the body to the car,” Jed said. “Do you want to start shoveling the dirt back in?”

“Yeah. Then what?”

“Then we rebury him.”

Chapter 23

After we leftthe site as undisturbed as possible, Jed drove us back to the motel and pulled into the parking lot. He got out his phone and checked it again, then put it back in his pocket.

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