Page 5 of Collect the Pieces

Her chin tilts up, her eyes brimming with a mix of defiance and vulnerability. It’s possible I’m the only person she’s ever told about her murderous hobby.

“I mean exactlythat.” She crosses her arms over her chest.

I force a smirk onto my face that probably looks deranged as fuck. “I’m still gonna need more details, sweetheart.”

She shoots me a glare that could freeze blood.

Fucking hell, she’s hot.

Have I found my Harley Quinn?

“Are you sure you want those details, Jensen?” The grave way she uses my given name snaps me back to our discussion.

“Every fucking word.”

She nods once and pulls her robe tighter around her body. “Let’s go out there.” She tilts her head toward the living room.

Yeah, this isn’t a bedroom conversation. I nod and hold the door open for her.

Gretel scurries out ahead of us, leading the way.

When Margot and I are seated at the counter, she swivels her stool to face me. Gretel bats her little paws at Margot’s legs until Margot leans over and settles the cat in her lap.

“What?” I reach over and rub behind Gretel’s ears. “My lap’s no good anymore?”

She purrs and rubs her cheek against my fingers but stays right where she is.

Margot absently strokes her hand over the cat’s shiny black fur. “When I was about eight years old, a friend from the neighborhood—a boy my age—was…” She swallows hard as if it’s too painful to share. “Murdered.”

The word lands between us like a cement block. Whatever explanation I expected, it didn’t start with the death of a kid.

“He was m…murdered by a…a…a predator in the neighborhood.” She stutters through the words, then takes a deep breath.

“Jesus. I’m sorry. That must’ve been awful for you.”

Margot nods, her face pale, fingers still stroking Gretel’s fur even as her gaze turns distant. “I…I saw him. His body.” She tilts her head slightly toward the front door of her apartment. “Downstairs. I…used to sneak around the house at night when I was little.” She lets out a soft laugh. “Aaron, one of my brothers, thought it was funny to teach me all the ways to avoid getting caught. That night started out no different than many others. I heard a noise downstairs and trotted off to investigate.”

Dread curls in my stomach. This story isn’t going anywhere wholesome.

I lean forward, resting my elbows on my thighs and slide my fingers around one of her hands. “Take your time.”

She squeezes my hand briefly. “I wasn’t supposed to go in there. I knew what we did—the family business. But Mom always told me we helped families give their loved ones a proper goodbye. I didn’t really understand what that meant. Like, the behind-the-scenes stuff.”

“Yeah, eight seems young to explain the nitty gritty of funeral prep.” That sounds stupid to say to someone who grew up in a funeral home. When death is literally her family’s business. What do I know about what’s appropriate or not?

“So, I peeked. And I saw him on the table. Heard my mother talking about what they needed to do…” She swallows hard. “To cover all his bruises.” She chokes on a sob and shakes her head.

I wait while she gathers her composure. “My mother sent me back to bed. We had the funeral here. It was…surreal. All of my classmates were here. Some didn’t understand and made horrible jokes…”

“Kids can be fucking awful.”

She nods once. “After that, my parents were different. They’d always given me these really intense stranger danger speeches. But now they kept reminding me that sometimes the people you know—neighbors, teachers, friends of the family—weren’t safe either.”

Smart move.I remain silent so she doesn’t stop talking.

“At the time, I didn’t understand what had happened. But later, when I learned the truth…” She clears her throat before continuing. “It wasn’t until I was in high school that I looked up all the information I could find about what happened to Hoyt. That’s when I finally realized how bad it had been,” she finishes on a whisper. “How much he suffered.”

My stomach tightens. I don’t thinkIwant the details, and I didn’t even know the kid. I can’t imagine Margot as a teenager piecing it all together.

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