Page 101 of Nave
“What?”
“On his face and Lolly’s hand. Compost. Literally mud, rot, bugs, and crap. What’s with the all-white outfit? He looks like he’s in a cult.”
“He’s a germaphobe.”
“Oooh. Go Loll,” Kit said with a little smile.
“I’m sorry you had to do this, Kit,” I said, looking at Ben’s body.
“Eh. He had it coming.”
“He did. But, still. If you need to talk about it…”
“I’ll keep that in mind. But I’m good.”
She was shockingly calm, actually. It was almost a little off-putting.
What the hell had she been through in the past to make her this calm in the face of chaos?
That was something I would need to ponder another day, though.
“Sooo,” Dezi said, wiggling Ben’s shoe with the tip of his own. “Any chance you’d let us bury him here? Got lots of room.”
“Yeah, that’s fine. Back behind the orchard would be good. The ground is pretty soft back there.”
“Spades and shovels over here?” Dezi asked, but he was already sauntering off toward the small toolshed.
“This is the ex, right?” Kit asked.
“Yeah. He kept Lolly prisoner for years. She got lucky to escape and come here.”
“He’s the reason she’s, like, terrified of tech, right?”
“Yeah. He’s a hacker. Among other things.”
“Well, she’s fully free of him now.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Thanks to you.”
“I accept gratitude in the form of chocolate. Or coffee.”
Dezi casually strolled back, a shovel and spade dragging behind him.
But he dropped it down on the ground, then dropped into a squat beside Ben’s body.
Reaching down, he pulled off the rubber glove of his right hand. Then he reached into his pocket, producing a pair of gardening shears.
And cut off his thumb.
“What the hell?” Kit asked.
But then Dezi was turning toward me. “Here,” he said, tossing the digit.
I automatically went to catch it, but my disgust had me playing hot potato with it for a second before I grabbed it.
“The fuck?” I asked.
“Gonna need it if you wanna get back into the glass house,” Dezi said.
