Shep clears his throat. “It’s new. But Serena and I have known one another all of our lives. This is Lex’s little sister.”
“Oh!” Gone is the knowing smile, theI gotchaglee percolating in her eyes, replaced with aholy shit, this is reallook on her face and, I must admit, it’s rather priceless. “So, that’s it, huh?” There’s a thin veil of hurt hiding beneath her features, and a part of me feels sorry for her.
“That’s it.” Shep needles her with a look that sayswe are over and I’ve moved on. The moment feels intimate, intense, and like one that I want no part in.
“Yes, well, I’ve got an entire gaggle of hangry brides on my hands, so if you’ll excuse me…”
Shep cinches his grip over my body. “What are you doing here tonight?” he inquires of Carmella as if I had suddenly become invisible.
“I—” She glances toward the bar. “Rich is meeting up with a friend. I was just tagging along.”
“Third wheel, huh?” I couldn’t help it. This is getting old, and so are my customers. “Sort of like you are now. If you’ll excuse us, Shep was just about to help me out in the back. It’s where we shared our first kiss, and we like to recreate the memory each time I’m on a shift break.” I haul him with me toward the kitchen, linking my arm through his as if I had my own unwanted groom on my hands as we waltz down the beer-laden aisle.
“What did you do that for?”
“It was yourget out of carrying on an awkward conversation with your exfreecard, buddy, and you’re welcome,” I say, slapping my orders over the kitchen counter. I can’t help but note two huge bags of trash sitting in the hall that leads to the alley. I’m not surprised. We’re so swamped there aren’t enough hands to do what’s needed.
“Here.” I grab a bag and toss it to Shep. “Make yourself useful,” I say before snapping up the second one and kicking the back door open with my foot. I step out into the humid night and take in a lungful of sour dumpster air as I try to open the wooden gate that leads to the receptacle, but it’s stuck. “Crap. I swear, if another thing goes wrong tonight, I’m blaming the entire fiasco on you.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you,” I say, pulling and tugging at the gate until it gives, and I take a stumbling step back. “You always seem to be around when—” Just as I’m about to pin Shep for the fact the world is burning, the words get lodged in my throat and I gag.
“Go ahead and say it. I’m great, and you’re obsessed with me.” He pitches his bag over the gate and lands it neatly into the dumpster. “He shoots, he scores!”
“Shep?” My insides bounce and quiver, my muscles freeze solid as if threatening never to move again. Lying on his side, just shy of my feet, is an all too familiar greasy blond male with his face set in a scowl, his eyes staring up at me blankly, that lip print of mine still firmly planted just below his neck. “It’s him. It’s Dirty Boy.”
Shep leans in and freezes. “Holy shit. Hey, buddy. You all right?” He reaches down and gives Dirty Boy’s shoulder a quick jostle, rolling him onto his back, and we gasp in unison. The entire front of the poor man’s shirt is drenched in blood. Shep wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me back a good foot as if yanking me out of the danger zone. “He’s dead, Serena. He’s dead.”
Shepherd
There is a lot going through your mind when you’re staring at a body—a hell of a lot and not one damn thing makes sense. Serena starts in on a hyperventilating scream, and that snaps me out of my daze long enough to call 911. In seconds, sirens blare this way, an entire fleet of squad cars shows up, an ambulance, a fire truck and, yes, finally a large white van marked with the wordcoronerin small discreet letters across the side.
Bryson, one of the Black Bear’s owners, pulls Serena and me toward the building while the cops do their thing. I know both Bryson and his twin, Holt, as well as their sister, Annie. The three of them own the bar together. I’ll be teaching a summer session class at Whitney Briggs, and they’ve been nice enough to let me use the Black Bear as an interning opportunity as a part of the business course I’m instructing.
“So, you came to take out the trash and you just saw him lying there?” Bryson repeats for the third time. His eyes bulge wide as sweat beads above his lip. He’s a tough dude, muscles for days, but he looks shaken, angry, too, and I can’t say I blame him.
“That’s it.” Serena shrugs. “Oh my God, I’m not going to get fired, am I?” Her voice pitches in that little girl way it’s prone to.
I’ve known Serena for years, watched her grow from a cranky little kid to a mouthy young woman. Okay, that might be a little harsh. Serena can be a bit too much to handle, which is usually why I repel from her on a regular basis. I don’t like drama, pure and simple. But on a night like tonight, I feel the need to protect her. Serena is young, beautiful—that wild red mane and glowing green eyes are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to her beauty. She’s smart as a whip as evidenced by her scholarship to WB. And she’s alone on this end of town. I should be here for her.
“You’re not getting fired,” Bryson is quick to contest. “God no. But take the rest of the week off if you want. Take as much time as you need. No one should ever have to see what you did.”
“Serena,” one of the cops to our left barks out, and we look over to find Marlin, Serena’s older brother. In a flash, she bolts past me and into his arms. For a brief second I’m a bit forlorn. It felt good to be a shining white knight if only for a moment.
Bryson and I take a few steps closer to the bright yellow caution tape sectioning off the area. “Tell me again what happened.” He shakes his head at the body as the cops do their thing, swarming around the vicinity like moths to a deadly flame.
“I followed Serena down the hall. She asked me to help take out the trash, and I watched as she struggled with the gate. Just as I was about to help, it flew open and we both saw him at the same time. He was on his side. I thought it was just some vagrant, some drunk customer who was trying to sleep off a bender so I asked if he was all right and tried to shake him out of it. I rolled him onto his back and the rest is history.”
“I heard Serena screaming something at you when I came out. Did she say she knew him?”
I take a deep breath of Hollow Brook night air. I’ve long since become immune to the sour stench coming from the dumpster. “She said something about bumping into him earlier this evening. She kept referring to him as Dirty Boy. I didn’t get it. From what I gathered she had an unpleasant run-in with him when she arrived tonight and that was it. Something about bumping her lips to his neck. Then much later, she came out and saw something she will most likely never forget.” Neither of us will. The only other dead body I had ever seen was my sister, and I quickly usher all thoughts of my sweet sister out of my mind. She’s too sacred, too special to be mulling over next to a dumpster.
A couple of police officers step in. One asks to see the security footage, and Bryson takes off with him inside. The other takes copious notes while I give him my statement.
“I wish I could be of more help, but that’s all I’ve got.” I give him my card, the one that readsCollins and Associates at Law, and feel like an ass, like some ambulance chaser. And, believe me, I’m the farthest thing from it. I handle business law, real estate, mom and pop stores that need a helping hand. Hell, I’ve dabbled in corporate law, but homicide isn’t anywhere near my forte.
“Not a problem. I’m sure we’ll be in touch.” He takes off, and I spot Serena and Marlin near the back door so I head on over.
