fuck I’ve gotten myself into. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so keen on joining Havoc, after all?
“Not so many as it seems,” Callum says with a shrug, pausing to rest his hands on the end of his shovel. He could hit me with it, knock me into this hole and bury me alive. But for whatever stupid reason, I feel certain that he won’t. “We have other things buried out here, not just bodies.”
“Like money?” I ask, and Vic smiles, moving close to stand beside me. Meanwhile, Hael moves the body to a fresh tarp and ties it up with a bit of rope into a mummy-like shape.
“Money, weapons, drugs, you name it.” Victor shrugs and sighs, peeling off his gloves so he can press a warm hand to the side of my face. I just hope he doesn’t try to kiss me; I’d probably upchuck yet again. Shit, maybe I am pregnant? I think, fear slicing through me like a knife. I can’t remember when I had my period last, but that’s nothing unusual. My period’s been irregular since I started when I was twelve. I’d go to the doctor, but we can’t really afford it, and it’s not like Pamela has health insurance for us. Fucking laughable.
“Who owns this land?” I ask, and Cal grins at me from across Danny’s empty grave.
“Vic’s mother’s boyfriend,” he says, and I lift both brows.
“It’s a timber investment property,” Victor explains, scowling. “But he’ll never sell it. Not the trees, either. Not even if he’s destitute.”
“Why do you say that?” I ask, and Vic gives me a look.
“Because he killed his best friend and buried him here,” he explains, and I have serious trouble keeping my feelings to myself.
“He … what?” I manage to choke out and Vic frowns.
“My mother cheated on him with his best friend. Tom killed him and buried him out here. I know because I saw the whole thing and followed him. The guy is buried about a quarter mile north of here, close enough that even if Tom were to break the land into parcels and sell it, this area should be safe.”
“But far enough away that we shouldn’t run into him,” Callum adds as Hael mutters curses under his breath and deadlifts the body into the back of the Armada. Impressive. “Tom has enough connections that it’d be hard to nail him with the murder anyway, so we figured we’d rather use it to our advantage.”
“The dead guy was a total prick anyway,” Vic explains, lighting up a cigarette, like this is business as usual for him. Well, not like it’s usual. It is usual. Jesus. What I’ve experienced with Havoc thus far, that was like, baby bootcamp or something. His face tells me nothing, cigarette hanging from between his lips as he talks. “His death is serving the world far better than he ever did with his life. Now, when we take out the trash, we have somewhere to put it.” Vic turns to me. I should probably be scared of him. Instead, my body ripples beneath his stare, soaking up the attention. Be very, very careful, Bern, I tell myself. If I’ve figured out that I have his balls in a vise, it’s only a matter of time before Victor realizes he holds me by the ovaries.
“And Danny …?” I start, exhaling sharply. Part of me recognizes that I’m not as tough as I thought I was. This is a lot to take in. And yet … I’m a lot happier than I should be, standing beside a teenager’s early grave.
Havoc, spilling its secrets out and into me.
Almost literally, if you consider Aaron, and Hael, and Vic …
“Mitch asked for him back, so we’re going to make a special delivery.” Vic smirks at me and winks before heading over and grabbing a pair of shovels that are leaning against a tree. He tosses one over to me and I catch it in my gloved hands. “Start digging, your majesty,” he says smiling with too much teeth around the cigarette.
Oddly enough, he doesn’t sound like he’s being mocking. Glancing over in Oscar’s direction, I see him frowning and that, that makes me smile.
Aaron looks up at me from across the grave and gives a smile of his own, but his is tinged at the edges with melancholy. It says, I’m sorry, Bernie, I told you, and I was right.
“Nantucket,” I murmur, swallowing and pushing the end of the shovel into the pile of dirt. “I