Chapter Twelve
Crow
Iwas making a picnic. Who the fuck had I turned into, that I was making a picnic lunch so I could show Worthy some more of the property around the cabin? He was so sweet and had settled in so well. I felt bad for keeping him on such a short leash. A day after our first time together, and I wanted to show him I was beginning to trust him. Trust was so hard for me, but I’d try for him. My coworkers would never understand, but I wanted to be better for him.
When he finally woke up, I told him to dress for the woods and wear his most comfortable shoes. We weren’t hiking, really, but he needed to be prepared. The smile on his face underneath that cute-as-fuck fall of golden hair in his eyes made something in my stomach flutter.Damn.
Worthy got dressed, I fed Snow, and with the food in my backpack, we set out the back door.
“Where are we going? Can we see the stream you told me about?”
Worthy’s enthusiasm was addictive. He was bouncing up and down like a little kid who’d just heard the ice cream truck. I wanted to buy him the whole fucking truck if it would keep that smile on his face. I had said to myself I would burn a whole city down if someone hurt my Snow. Now I decided I’d burn the whole fucking world down if anyone hurt my Worthy.
“Of course we can. We’ll head past the greenhouses, and it’s down the hill.”
Worthy headed in the direction I indicated, looking all around at the sky and the woods. When we’d gotten past the greenhouses, farther than we’d ever walked before, he stopped for a second, looked closer at the tree line, then glanced over to me.
“What’s that over past the tree line?”
I knew what he’d seen and only hesitated a second before answering with the truth.
“That’s where I dispose of bodies when I have them here. It’s convenient.”
I saw no reason to elaborate.
Worthy’s eyebrows went up, and he stopped walking to look back at the barely perceptible break in the trees. He actually squinted at the area, then looked back to me. His expression wasn’t exactly what I had expected. He looked excited.
“How do you do it? It there a burial pit over there?”
Since he seemed so intent, I didn’t hesitate to answer.
“No, I dissolve the bodies and then bury the goo that’s left. Less of a chance for animals to scatter bones or drag them to areas they might be discovered. I tried a bunch of different things before one of my coworkers told me about the combination he uses.”
This time, Worthy looked genuinely shocked, eyes bulging, mouth hanging open and all.
“Wait, you have coworkers? What do you mean coworkers? Like, kidnappers you work with? Assassins you have poker night with? Explain this to me, because that’s the most fascinating shit I’ve ever heard. I always thought you guys were the loner type.”
He waved his hands up and down in my direction.
“Living in a cabin in the woods and no one knows your real name.”
Chuckling a little, I rubbed a hand over my mouth to hide the laughter.
“Well, yeah, I’m all those things, I guess, but I do have friends who I work with. We have each other’s backs whenever one of us needs help. It’s a dangerous business to be in all alone.”
“Oh, my God, you’re the hired killer cliché!”
Worthy started laughing so hard he finally had to sit down on the ground to keep from falling. The sound of his laughter echoing through the foothills was the sweetest sound I’d ever heard. I wanted some of that joy in my life. Then I realized I had it. It was all mine. Reaching a hand down to help pull him up once he got it together, I teased him.
“Are you all done making fun of the scary murderer, Worthy?”
Clasping my offered hand, he stood up, still chuckling. I wasn’t sure what was so funny, but it didn’t matter. As long as Worthy was happy, so was I.
“Yeah, sorry. I don’t know why that struck me so funny. I guess I needed to let out some emotions. But, seriously, do you have poker nights? How many are there?”
I didn’t answer him right away, just headed down the hill in the direction of the water. I wasn’t sure how much to tell him about my work. I trusted him with my situation here, in this isolated environment. However, at some point, he would want to leave the cabin. There would come a time when he would want to go down to the grocery store, go see a movie, and most definitely see his sister. He wouldn’t be isolated in this place forever, and I wouldn’t keep him hostage. He’d been a prisoner of someone for years. I refused to do that to him again.
“That’s okay, I shouldn’t have asked. I know you don’t trust me with that kind of thing. I get it. Why should you?”
