Page 12 of The Trick

“No,” Cam clips, dropping the shovel to the ground and securing the chain in her pocket, moving past me and toward the truck. The passenger door whines as it opens. Hoisting herself up on the running board, she reaches over to where I have Byron buckled. “I have that taken care of,” she says, clicking the buckle of the seat belt, causing his corpse to topple onto the barren ground of the quarry with a thud.

Cam’s breath echoes beneath the mask, sounding like a satisfied huff. Tonight, has been a long time coming and seeing Byron’s dead flesh on the ground feels euphoric.

“I’ll be in touch tomorrow for the next assignment.”

“You got it. Who’s next?” I ask with excitement.

“The son.”

Ah, Ethan Campbell.

Heir to the Campbell legacy and, not to mention, an assignment I’ve been waiting for. Not only because he would have to be next to ensure the corrupt handling of the Campbell name doesn’t continue past Byron’s death. Oh no, as crucial as that kill is, the otherreason I’ve been dying to get my hands around that douchebag’s neck runs much deeper than the corruption that lays dormant in his bloodline.

The moment he tricked Blair,myBlair, into fucking him, he earned himself a top spot on my list of enemies. I was so relieved when she dumped him, but I know how fragile rich fuck boys like him are when they lose something as precious as Blair. They become incessant in their pursuit to patch their ego and, in turn become a nuisance that needs to be eliminated…permanently.

“I can’t fucking wait,” I clap with glee, already brainstorming how I will kill him.

“Good, now get the tarp out of your truck and bring it over to where I dug his new home,” Cam instructs, tilting her head in the direction of the unearthed dirt just past where we stand.

I quickly and efficiently gather the tarp before placing it on the ground where Cam has the shovel in hand. I glance down at where the rusted metal edge of the shovel is resting on Byron’s lifeless skin. Cam’s booted foot hovering a step above the cutting blade.

“Remember, Maddox,” Cam begins as I peel my gaze up to her masked face. My eyes focus on the headline from a newspaper that was cut and placed on the left cheekbone.

“Sleepy Hollow man found beheaded after drug deal gone bad…”

“Maddox,” she repeats, breaking my trance.

“Yeah?”

“Clean up,” Cam reminds me.

“I know, I know. We don’t want a repeat of what happened last time.” I wave Cam off, already pivoting my stance to where my truck is parked.

“That’s not what I meant,” she shouts. Even with the mask on, I can feel the stern expression on her face.

“Clean up before you go to seeher.” Cam motions to where I still have remnants of Byron’s blood splattered on me.

A devious grin spreads past my lips contorting my face to something wicked.

“You don’t know who I am going to see,” I boast, trying to deflect Cam’s accusatory and wildly accurate glare.

“Bullshit. You have been obsessed with that Van Tassel girl since the moment you laid eyes on her,” she scoffs. “Shit, more like from the moment you found out she belonged to Ethan.”

Rage begins to flow through my veins, so much so I wouldn’t be surprised if plumes of it are radiating past my skin, painting my aura red.

“She was never his,” I seethe.

Cam shakes her head, “I know, but I have news for you, Maddox. She isn’t yours either.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” I grin, slowly loosening my clenched fist, sliding it in my pocket. I take out my phone, eyeing the Instant Messenger conversation I left up from when I was driving Byron’s corpse over here. I wave the phone towards where Cam is now applying all her weight against Byron’s thick neck. The bone and cartilage begin to make a crunching sound with the added pressure. “She wants to see me tonight,” I boast.

Cam laughs, a grating and cruel sounding cackle, “Who does she think she’s going to meet?” she asks, taking a brief break from chopping off Byron’s head. “You or Boogeyman, huh?”

I suck in my bottom lip, ignoring Cam’s rhetorical question because she already knows the answer.

Cam releases a huffed sigh, ripping the mask off her face to expose flushed and dampened skin.

“That’s what I thought,” she deadpans, tossing the mask my way. “Take it, you’ll need it.”

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