Shaking his head, Jeff let out a sigh. “Okay, you win. We’ll call the cops. Of course, they’ll probably haul our asses in for questioning…”
Pete suddenly felt squirmy in his bowels.
“Might even charge us with her rape and murder,” Jeff added. “But we’ll do it your way.”
“I think we have to. Really. Otherwise, we might get in deep trouble. They’ll know we didn’t do this.”
“Oh, we probably won’t get convicted. Not me, anyway. I know she hasn’t got my semen in her. Has she got yours?”
Pete scowled at his friend. “What do you think?”
“I don’t know, man, we found her behind your house. You had the place all to yourself last night. Who’s to say you’re not the guy that did all this to her?”
“Up yours.”
“Well, then, long as you’re innocent, we’ll both be in the clear once they’ve run some tests. DNA tests only take a couple of months.”
“You’re not talking me out of this, Jeff. We’re gonna call the cops right now.”
“Fine. If you insist.”
“I do.”
“But we’d better not leave her alone. Somebody has to stay behind and make sure she’s okay.”
“She’s not okay. She’s very un-okay. She can’t get more unokay than she is right now.”
“Don’t count on it. We could go off to make that call of yours and come back and find her getting chewed on by a coyote. Or some stray dogs or something.”
“We’ll only be gone a couple of minutes.”
“Longer than that, man. The wind, the fires. Not to mention the phones were dead all night. Nobody could even call the cops till a couple of hours ago. You could be on hold for half an hour before they even let you talk to someone. A lot could happen to a stiff in half an hour. Vultures…”
“You just want to be left alone with her,” Pete said.
“I know that’s not gonna happen. But I still don’t think we should leave her by herself. Seriously. So maybe you should stay here and I’ll go call the cops.”
The suggestion took Pete by surprise.
Alone with her!
“Okay,” he said. “I guess that’ll be all right. But hurry.”
Jeff rushed down the slope and climbed the wall. Standing on top, he turned around and grinned. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” he called.
“You’re a riot.”
Jeff laughed, turned his back, and leaped.
Chapter Thirty-three
Alone on the hillside with the body, Pete scanned the area again. He saw no one. Nor did he see any roaming coyotes or dogs.
He didn’t suppose the body was actually in danger of being eaten by such animals. Especially in daylight. The risk would’ve been much greater last night. If she’d made it through the darkness…
Who says she did?
Pete didn’t think he’d seen any bites.
Doesn’t mean there aren’t any.
He stepped closer to the body. Staring down at it, he searched for bite marks.
The breasts were bloody, dirty, abraded and scratched. Bits of skin were rucked up here and there, but no chunks were missing. Neither breast looked as if it had been ripped by teeth.
To Pete, they looked wonderful in spite of the mess.
He wanted to touch them, put his hands on them and squeeze them gently.
What if Jeff sees me?
He looked over his shoulder at the wall.
Then he stared down at the woman’s breasts.
I’d get blood on my hands. And she’d end up with my hand prints on her. How would I explain that to Jeff? Or to the cops?
He didn’t care. They were tattered and filthy but lovely and he ached to feel them. They glistened with drops of sweat or dew that slid down them through the blood. They would be warm and slippery.
But she’s dead! You can’t feel up a corpse! Talk about perverted!
I shouldn’t even be staring at her like this, he told himself. It’s sick.
Maybe I oughta check out the rest.
Excited by the idea, he looked back at the wall again. Then he hurried alongside the body and crouched between its feet.
If Jeff catches me…
I’m only looking for bite marks, he reminded himself. To see if a coyote or something got to her last night.
Is it supposed to look like this?
Pretty much, he thought. It resembled drawings and photos he’d seen, but…
Something hissed.
A snake?
Pete started to turn his head, yelped as an icy blast of water struck him, then saw Jeff standing on the wall, a huge grin on his face, a wild gleam in his eyes, and the garden hose in his right hand.
Breathless, Pete scurried away from the girl. The water, shooting out of the nozzle