Leaving Knight and Raina behind, the two of us entered the garage. Fuck me, it smelled awful. I almost choked on the stench in the air. The fucker that let Jenna get this nasty was a sick piece of shit. Worse than even Gage.
His usual sarcastic dark humor was absent while we picked up the tarp wrapped body and shoved it into the trunk of my car. I’d backed the car into the garage earlier. We both knew how serious this was and how dead we’d be if we got caught with what was left of Jenna. My father would probably kill us himself for drawing such attention and heat to him. Or he may just let us rot in prison.
My father and I had never been all that close. It was always business with him. He communicated by giving orders, and he had no patience for idiots or mistakes. Sometimes I suspected he thought that I was both.
He sure did adore my sister though. Star was a seventeen year old princess. Spoiled as hell. Daddy’s little girl. It made me want to vomit more than the stench of Jenna’s carcass.
I pulled out of the garage and carefully backed out of the driveway. We’d argued over whether or not to wait until later. It was dark already but still early. Gage had wanted to wait until after midnight. I’d opted for earlier, believing it was easier to blend into traffic when the streets weren’t empty.
“Can’t help but notice you didn’t bring a shovel or anything,” Gage remarked. He leaned against the passenger door, angled to face me. “What are you planning to do with her?”
I kept a close watch on my mirrors, making sure we weren’t followed. Raina’s stalker was out there somewhere. He knew she was with us now. Why else would he dump Jenna on our patio?
“The incinerator,” I said with a shrug. “Seems like the safest way to make sure she can’t be found.”
Gage nodded, his platinum blond head bobbing in the darkness. “Solid idea. A little risky though.”
The incinerator was in the basement of an old building my father owned. He and his people used it to destroy plenty of evidence, including the occasional body. That meant getting in and out without running into someone would be difficult. He also had cameras watching the place.
“Whatever. He basically told me to clean up my own mess when we thought Raina was dead. Too late for him to start caring what I do now.” Keeping an eye on my speed, I drove like a senior citizen on Sunday. Nothing to see here, Officer.
Gage tapped his fingers on the dash, beating out a rhythm that only made sense to him. “Fair enough. Speaking of Raina, how long do you think you can keep Maverick from finding out you’ve staked a claim on her?”
I slid him a sidelong glance. “Me? Hey, I wasn’t the one who inked her and snuck into her room alone to finger her with my own blood. Don’t try to put this all on me, dude.”
“Answer the question.” Gage’s tone was hard.
I chuckled. Transparent fucker. “Hell if I know. Why does it matter? It has nothing to do with him.”
“That’s not how he’ll feel about his son fucking the daughter of his rival.” Gage’s laugh was low and devious. “He’s going to lose it.”
Part of me didn’t give a shit what my father thought about us claiming Raina. It had nothing to do with her father or mine. I didn’t owe anyone an explanation.
What would I even say? That Raina had gotten under my skin the moment I saw her sitting there on the grass at that party? That I couldn’t stop myself from antagonizing her, needing to know what she was made of.
Fire and brimstone, that’s what. God, I loved Raina’s wild spirit. I’d wanted to break her, to see how far I could push her. I still did. I had a feeling she would keep surprising me.
We made it to the east side of town where the incinerator dwelled. The building was an old stone structure. It had been used as a storage facility as long as my father owned it. He used the basement to store shipments of drugs, guns, and other sordid items while they were awaiting transport to their final destination. The upstairs was filled with legal shit. Mostly electronics and other items he sold legally online using various business names. None of which were associated with his real business of course. He ran several legal businesses to help hide his illegal activity.
I backed up to the rear door, the entry closest to the basement. Killing the engine and the lights, I scoped out the area. Nobody else was currently here. Perfect. We had to move fast.
“I’ll unlock the door and disarm the alarm. Then we’ll take her straight in and down to the basement.” I pulled the key card for the door from my wallet and got out of the car. My hand strayed to the gun inside my jacket. If Raina’s stalker somehow followed us, I wanted to be prepared.
I unlocked the back door and disabled the alarm. Thankfully, my dad hadn’t changed the code without telling me. That had happened before. Damp musty air hit me in the face. Still smelled better than Jenna.
We worked quickly, taking the tarp wrapped body out of the trunk and quickly down the stairs, avoiding all but one camera. It was our lucky day. The incinerator door stood open. It was empty. We tossed the body inside and closed the door. In moments, I ignited a fire inside. Then we waited.
I knew better than to walk away and leave anything unattended here. Never knew when the wrong person might come along. Or the cops. This building had never been raided, but there was a first time for everything.
“You know we’re going to have to kill this guy,” Gage said, pulling a joint from his jeans pocket. “The asshole who’s stalking Raina. He killed Jenna. He wants to kill Raina. Right now the only thing standing in his way is us.”
I leaned against the stone wall, my gaze sweeping the dusty gray basement. Other than a furnace and a pallet filled with perfectly precise packages of cocaine, there wasn’t much down here.
“I know. We’ll kill him. We just have to find out who he is first.” I shook my head when Gage offered me the joint.
He sucked in a large toke and chuckled. When he spoke, smoke spewed from between his lips. “We could just use Cherry Pie as bait. It’s the easiest way to draw him out.”
I frowned, not liking that idea. “It’s too soon for that. After the move he just made against us, I say we wait. See if he does something else.”