Page 102 of Kylo
Like she said.
That meant that, yeah, there was probably a body in the tub.
“Well move inside, would you? Can’t let the whole building in on our business,” she demanded, waving until Kylo shook out of his shock, moved us inward, and closed and locked the door.
“Whose body is in the tub?” he asked, making a weird, hysterical laugh escape me.
He went ahead and ignored me as he tucked his gun away and reached for his phone instead.
“Well, I’m afraid I didn’t ask for his name when I clocked him, my dear,” my grandmother said.
I wasn’t sure it was possible for my eyes to go any wider.
On the flip side, Kylo seemed as calm as could be.
“Are we going to move this body, or,” another voice joined our little party, coming down from the short hallway. Then there was Barbie with Loretta in tow, both wearing purple crafting smocks and elbow-high neon pink rubber gloves. “Oh, hello again,” Barbie said to Kylo, smile going flirty.
“Get yourself together, woman,” my grandmother demanded, all business. “You can flirt with someone of an inappropriate age some other time. We need to get that body out of here before the rigor kicks in.”
“Rigor?” I hadn’t even been aware I’d said it out loud until everyone’s gaze slid to me.
“Rigor mortis, my dear,” my grandmother said. “When a body goes stiff.”
“No. No, I know what rigor is. Why… why do you?”
“Oh, sweet girl, this isn’t our first body.”
“It’s not… I think I need to sit down,” I declared, actually feeling like the ground had shifted suddenly off its axis.
Kylo’s arm went quickly around me, hauling me up against him.
“Oh, swoon,” Barbie said.
“Crack a window,” Katherine suggested. “The fumes might be getting to her.”
“Come on, darlin’,” Kylo said, half pulling me over to the dining table and pushing me into a chair. “You’re gonna be alright. Just breathe.”
Fresh, muggy air filled the space as Loretta opened a window. Katherine moved into the kitchen to flick on the exhaust fan.
“My dear, why don’t you get her some cold water out of the refrigerator?”
Kylo gave my shoulder a squeeze before doing what he was told to. Only after I took a careful sip did he turn to look at my grandmother again, but he kept a hand placed on my shoulder.
“Claudia, I’m gonna need you to start at the beginning.”
“Well, we were having our book club,” my grandmother started. “A hot biker romance,” she added, making me squeeze my eyes shut and suppress an embarrassed groan. “And we were just describing our favorite steamy scenes when there was a knock on the door.”
“And there was a man at the door, saying he was looking for Claudia,” Loretta supplied.
“And you let him in?” I asked.
“Well, how were we supposed to know he wasn’t one of her gentleman callers?” Barbie asked.
I bit back the urge to ask her how many men around my age she was sleeping with. First, because ew to that mental image. Second, because, well… there was a dead man in the bathtub. The sex stuff could wait.
“He clearly wasn’t expecting all of us,” Katherine supplied. “He looked very uncomfortable when he saw us at the table.”
“He zeroed in on Claudia,” Loretta continued the story. “She was in the kitchen putting the kettle on again.”
