“I don’t think you need to be afraid of her right now,” he drawls just enough to make the statement even more condescending.
I roll my eyes and glance at Nix, hoping for backup. But the little traitor avoids my gaze, biting her lip like she’s fighting not to laugh.
“Bitch,” I hiss.
“Sorry,” she whines. “But you look like we might have to dig two graves.”
“Thanks,” I huff.
Not like I’m the one who left the safety of a hospital bed to help cover uphermurder or anything. But by all means, let her side with the guy who had a gun to my head an hour ago.
Jax’s chuckle rumbles low, and my teeth grind. If I had any energy left, I’d clunk this shovel over his head just to shut him up.
“Let’s just get this over with,” I grumble.
“Unwrap him,” Jax orders, nodding toward Caleb.
“What?” My voice cracks, my breath catching in my throat. “No. We’ll just bury him in the blanket.”
“Did you miss the part about burning him?” His tone drips with impatience as he shakes the canister in his hand, the faint slosh of gasoline making my stomach churn. “We need to make sure he doesn’t have anything on him that won’t burn.”
“I…” My thoughts scatter, my mind racing for a valid excuse. “I don’t think we should light him on fire.”
Finding Marshal dead was one thing—horrifying, but manageable. Dragging his body out here was another, a line I had to reluctantly cross. But setting him on fire? Turning him into a human pyre? My stomach clenches painfully, nausea creeping up my throat.
Jax doesn’t miss a beat. “Good thing what you think doesn’t matter.”
My bottom lip falls, and I quickly snap it up. “I’m sorry, but this ismybody, and I get to decide what we do with it.”
The lunacy of that statement isn’t lost on me, but I don’t back down. Gripping the shovel, I pick it up and drive it into the dirt with more force than necessary, frustration bubbling to the surface. The nerve of him to swoop in and take charge, like he’s some kind of authority on disposal methods. Not to mention I don’t want Nix to have to watch a body burn. She’s still young, still impressionable, even if she did just kill a guy. But that’s beside the point.
I barely manage a few pitiful scoops of dirt before the shovel is yanked from my hands. “Hey—”
Jax grabs me by the arm. In a blur, my back hits the rough bark of a tree, the cold snap of the night pressing into my spine. His towering frame looms over me, his voice low and edged with menace. “Have you ever killed anyone before?”
“No, but I—”
“Have you ever gotten rid of anyone before?” His eyes lock onto mine, blazing with something that should frighten me.
“No, but—”
“Do you have a master’s in forensic sciences?” His words come sharp and unyielding, slicing through my attempt to answer.
I snap my mouth shut, teeth grinding together. It’s clear he’s not interested in letting me answer. And I also don’t want him to think the rattle in my voice is from his proximity.
“Because Ihavekilled,” he says, the words calm but laced with a cold certainty that prickles down my spine. “Ihavegotten rid of bodies. And I dohavea master’s in forensic sciences. So when I tell you that unless you burn this body, you’ll spend the rest of your life rotting behind bars, I’m not fucking around.”
I wrench my arm free from his grasp, his touch more irritating than painful, and glare up at him. “I thought you studied to be a lawyer.”
The moment the words leave my lips, I realize my mistake. His smirk unfurls slowly, that infuriating dimple making an appearance as he plants a hand on the tree above me. He leans in, his cocky confidence radiating its own heat.
“So…” he tilts his head, the mocking lilt in his voice impossible to miss, “youdoremember me.”
“Ugh!” My hands find his chest, shoving him back with all the force I can muster. “Just burn the fucking thing.”
Chapter Ten
Jax
