Asa and Avi took Ever in, almost like it was the first time they’d noticed him. With those two, it was possible.
Asa snickered. “He really is adorable. Like a kitten…or a teletubby.”
“Teletubby?” Ever echoed.
Zane glared at his husband. “They’re these creepy little alien-like creatures who babble in gibberish that my husband is eerily obsessed with. You donotlook like a teletubby.”
Asa rolled his eyes. “I didn’t say he looked like a teletubby. I said he was as adorable as one.”
Avi shook his head. “You don’t look like a teletubby,” he assured him.
“He’s more like Toothless fromHow to Train your Dragon,” Zane said.
“Oh, or that super cute animated spider from that short with the fuzzy legs and big eyes,” Felix added. “Or Totoro or Eevee from Pokémon. So squishable.”
Arsen rolled his eyes, dropping his chin onto Ever’s head right between his cat ears. “He’s not a teletubby or a Pokémon or Totoro. He’s just Ever. And Ever is cuter than all of them.”
“Someone is in love,” Felix said under his breath in a sing-song voice.
Arsen didn’t care. He was in love. He’d tell Ever that to his face. He’d tell all of them. He’d skywrite it if he had to. He just needed Ever to know he meant it. He was the only thing that mattered to Arsen.
“Alright, enough fucking around,” Jericho said. “Let’s get to work. August is bringing the van to the alley in…” He looked at his cell phone. “Forty-five minutes.”
“What is he going to do with it?” Ever asked, glancing at the body.
“Disarticulate it and dissolve it in lye most likely,” Avi said like he was discussing the weather.”
“Sometimes, he just dumps it in a bucket of acid until it’s soup,” Asa added. “Either way, we need to tarp it up so we can bleach the floors.”
“Won’t that be a dead giveaway if the cops are stupid enough to tell someone this is the last known whereabouts of the detective? I mean, bleach lights up under luminol, too. It’s going to look like a crime scene,” Nico said, frowning.
“It is a crime scene, but there’s a big difference between suspecting someone was murdered because of bleach stains and knowing someone was murdered because their DNA is still detectable everywhere,” Zane said.
“Yeah, one is circumstantial evidence,” Atticus said. “The other is a death sentence after a long stay in a federal prison.”
“Besides, the cops on this side of town are on our side,” Jericho said.
“But these aren’t our cops,” Levi reminded. “They’re Jamesville. We have no control over Jamesville PD.”
“This conversation is irrelevant,” Felix said. “If this guy was working for a human trafficking ring, they’ll never send the cops here to look for him, and if the cops are running the trafficking ring, they’re not going to show their hand by accusing us of a crime when they have no body. Let’s just clean up and go home. I’m tired and I do not miss the smell of diesel.”
Jericho nodded, then looked from Ever to Arsen. “Why don’t you take Ever upstairs and shower. We’ll be out of here before you know it.”
“I should help,” Arsen said. “This is my mess to clean up.”
Jericho shook his head. “You did your part by keeping Ever alive. We’ll take care of the rest.” He pointed to the stairs. “Go.”
Arsen knew better than to argue with Jericho, so he sighed and pushed Ever towards the stairs. Ever seemed as reluctant to leave as he was but allowed himself to be led out of the garage. Once in the apartment, Arsen told Ever to take a shower, then watched the others below as they worked.
If there was one thing the Mulvaneys and Jericho’s boys had in common, it was crime scene clean-up.
They were practically experts by now.
* * *
When Arsen exited the shower, Ever was waiting for him on the bed, perched on his knees in nothing but a pair of barely-there striped sleep shorts and Arsen’s slit-side black tank top that left little to the imagination. Arsen’s dick took notice immediately.
Ever sat back, tilting his head. Arsen once more had the feeling he was being stalked…by a kitten. “What are you up to,malen'kiy hischnik?” he asked suspiciously.
