Casual, direct, and accepted. We were even discussing it in front of Emersyn, Liam and his twin. Then again, Liam knew us and Emersyn…
The horror radiating off of her when she’d seen Karagiani had pissed me off instantly. The horror was gone, replaced by a kind of rough sympathy.
“That’s what family does,” she told me. “They help us face our demons and when we need it, they take those demons out.”
Take the demons out.
I tugged Lainey a little closer and she went pliant against me as I wrapped her up in my arms. “I like having you for a cousin, Em.”
Her grin was wide and accepting. “You’re not so bad, but cousins doesn’t mean you get to be bossy.”
“He’s already bossy,” Lainey muttered and a weird feeling broke in my chest, it crackled and popped. It was as though I’d been drowning from pneumonia, the pressure unbearable, yet now I could breathe again.
“You like us bossy,” I murmured and Lainey pinched me even as she held me tight. I was still shaking, and I wasn’t a fan of it. But every breath seemed to fill me more, bolstering me.
“That leaves really only one question,” Milo said.
“Not it,” Rome and Liam said in a single breath and Milo just snorted.
“Not it, for what…?”
“For cleanup,” Bodhi said in a droll tone, then rolled his head from side to side.
“I can help,” Lainey offered. “Body disposal is not something I’ve really done before.”
I pulled back and stared at her.
“What?” She swung a glance around the room. “I haven’t.”
Fuck, was it any wonder I loved her?
Chapter
Five
LAINEY
Body disposal was not fun. Then again, I hadn’t expected it to be. The boys didn’t object to my helping. Though Bodhi offered up the best descriptions of each step of the process.
Em made a face when he got a little graphic and the twins took her back to the hotel. For all that she’d held up, this had to be bringing up some really bad memories for her. We could go over her plans after this was done. The whole Karagiani reveal had derailed all of us.
Step one in the process involved getting rid of the clothes we were wearing, as well as washing up. Everyone had to scrub off any blood spatter that had gotten on their skin. I was a little sad about my outfit and shoes. But clothing could be replaced.
After, we put on some really terrible plastic outfits over our fresh clothes that reminded me of hazmat suits you see in the movies.
Step two, bag up the body. Despite the fact he’d been on plastic sheeting, the blood was everywhere.
“Keep the gloves on,” Bodhi instructed. “The blood will clean up but it’s going to be messy at first.”
Milo returned with sand then. They used sand to help soak up the blood.
“Do I want to know where you learned to do that?” I kind of did want to know, but it was more curiosity than anything else.
“CSI,” Bodhi deadpanned and a laugh escaped Ezra. A real one.
“I almost believe you,” he quipped with a slow head shake at Bodhi.
The laugh was a good thing. Ezra had been a mess and he was blaming himself for everything. Wrapping the body took time and effort. Karagiani was also heavy. The guys didn’t let me help with that part.
Once he was completely sealed up, we had to get him out of the apartment building. Bodhi and Milo debated whether to put him in a deep freeze for now, then we could dismember the body and it would be easier for transport.
What amazed me even more was how clear their understanding of the process was. Adam and Ezra added their own thoughts on what would work better. The biggest time constraint was getting the body into something before rigor set in. Eventually, the freezer was decided on. Bodhi had one here, but it was actually packed with food and supplies.
It meant offloading a big portion of it and trashing more. Couldn’t be helped, but we got it down. They managed to get him into the freezer. It wasn’t pretty and I was pretty sure bodies weren’t supposed to fold the way they bent him.
Then again, he was dead, so it could hardly hurt the corpse. An hour after we packed him away and dealt with the debris, we finished cleaning up the little torture room and the contents, along with the plastic coveralls were ready for an incinerator.
“Food,” Bodhi said and I frowned at him. “You’re pale and this has been a long day. We also need to plan.” Then he flicked a brief look at Ezra.
I would have argued about my so-called pallor, but one glance at the dejection and weariness on Ezra’s face decided me. “I’m starving,” I admitted. “Though, I don’t know that I’ll be able to eat without smelling all of this.”
Ezra’s throat convulsed once as he swallowed, then he lifted his eyes and locked his gaze on me. He gave me a small smile. “We’ll find something, Kotyonok. But I know one thing that will work pretty fast.”
“What’s that?” I could play my part. Adam brushed his fingers down my arm and Milo touched my shoulder as I accepted Ezra’s outstretched hand.
“Follow me.” The flatness in his voice betrayed his continued discomfort. Still, he guided me downstairs with Bodhi, Adam, and Pretty Boy following. They were giving me the lead on this.
