the men were out of sight at the far worktable, hidden from me by a large rolling pantry, but the edge of their tarp was visible on the floor.
My hands tightened on the doorjamb as I stared at the tarp and legs. Feet. Most in shoes, but one was bare. Bare and... My heart dropped. I wobbled and sucked in breath to scream, since there didn’t seem like anything else to do. It wasn’t connected to anything. The foot was there and part of a calf and then it just – ended. It just ended with a dull chunk of yellow-white bone and a lot of blood and red meaty bits sticking up.
Bile rose in my throat and I felt hot and flushed all over as panic rose up. They were cutting up a person?
Before I could scream or even think of what to do next, a hand clapped over my mouth and an arm slid around my middle, yanking me back against a hard body. A calm voice said, “Don’t move.”
Chapter 10
Dodge
Dodge waited his twenty-three minutes, and a few extra seconds, just to see whether the meathead down the street would get froggy and take a swing at him. When the big dude looked about ready to make his move, Dodge shoved upright and sauntered across the street to the apartment building. He took the stairs quickly, searching the stairwells and internal halls for signs of trouble, and tried to imagine Persephone taking the elevator to her door after a long day.
It was remarkably easy to pick the lock on her door; it was a standard tumbler, probably the original one from when the apartments were built twenty years prior. He shook his head and made a mental note to tell her to change the damn lock. There was no telling how many people still had keys to it or had made copies and handed them around. Anyone could have walked in at any time, with no warning. He closed the door and surveyed the inside of the apartment.
Of course, it wasn’t his business to advise the architect on basic security principles. She probably wouldn’t even want to hear from him after he dragged her back to Evershaw’s house so Deirdre could try to explain what happened. Dodge frowned as he studied the apartment and searched for a hint of who the architect really was.
It didn’t feel like a home or even particularly lived-in, though available records indicated she’d lived there for at least two years. The furniture looked second-hand and shabby but comfortable and well cared for. It was a two bedroom apartment, so not the smallest floorplan of the buildings that he could find, but it wasn’t the largest. He checked the fridge but didn’t find anything exciting: some frozen meals, takeaway containers, a pint of ice cream, and some sad looking vegetables.
The tour continued into the bedroom, though he stopped in the doorway and bit back a smile. She made her bed perfectly. Not the half-hearted ‘throw back the sheets’ move most people seemed to favor. She’d smoothed down the sheets and the soft pale blue comforter, stacked up the pillows, and put some decorative pillows on top for good measure. It completely fit the architect’s prim and proper outward appearance. Of course she made her bed like that.
He trailed his fingers across the comforter, even though he typically wouldn’t touch anything in someone else’s den, and figured maybe she had second-hand furniture because she paid for the really expensive shit against her skin. Dodge made a thoughtful noise and peeked into the bathroom. Again he was surprised and pleased and a little taken aback. For some reason, her efficient and business-like presence made him assume she’d have used the separate bathtub for storage and showered to save time. Instead, it was surrounded by candles and scented bubble bath containers and luxury towels and all kinds of interesting things.
Which just made him imagine Persephone after a long day, enjoying a hot soak and a good book and... Dodge shook himself as his thoughts spiraled a little too far out from reality. Just because she was exactly his type in every fucking way he’d never imagined, didn’t mean it wasn’t creepy as hell to be sneaking through her apartment.
He turned his attention to the task at hand. If he didn’t find her, she could do something crazy – like go to the police or animal control or the media. Then they would all be in a world