Then again.
Maybe that kiss meant more to me than I thought? My eyes linger on her back, and an uncomfortable longing for more swells inside me.
“Alright, let’s get rid of this asshole’s car, and then we can head back to my house for the night,” Santi declares as we all dump everything into the bed of the truck.
“Your house?” Blair repeats.
Santi nods eagerly. “Yeah, it’s closer than Gnarly Pines. We can clean up and collapse there.”
“Santi,” I start with a sigh. “We have work tomorrow, remember?”
“I promise I’ll get up early enough that we make it back on time,” he promises.
Blair shrugs. “I don’t mind. What are we going to do with the car?”
“We’ll take it to the quarry and dump—” I start to say, but am immediately cut off.
“NO!” They yell at once, causing me to flinch.
They shoot each other a worrying look before Santi adds quickly. “We’ll just drive it out of town and burn it.”
Shame causes my face to heat as I realize what they’re both thinking. I open my mouth to assure them that I’m not going to do anything stupid, but Blair beats me to the punch.
“I’m sure the quarry is your typical spot but let’s avoid that place for a bit, okay?” she suggests.
Our eyes meet and she pleads with me to understand. I get it, I do. Now that I’ve said the words out loud, I don’t even thinkIwant to return to the quarry. What I tried to do is inexcusable. I owe her an apology for what I put her through. I just… Haven’t found the right words yet. For now, I concede with a shallow nod.
“Great.” She gives me a tight-lipped smile. “I’ll drive the car and follow you two to wherever you think is best to dump it.”
I dig into my pocket for the keys to our victim’s vehicle that I stole before we threw his remains into the fire and toss them to her. She catches them and starts to walk away but I step in front of her, blocking her exit.
“One second.” I dig into my other pocket and give her my phone. “Just in case we need to change plans or something, you should have some sort of communication on you.”
She takes it from me with a nod. “Thanks.”
Trotting off, Blair leaves me and Santi to head for the car blocking our exit out of here.
“Thanks for inviting her tonight. You are doing great at this ‘being better’ thing,” Santi says as he nudges me with his shoulder. He plants a kiss on my cheek before heading for the passenger door.
My face warms under his appreciation. Clearing my throat, I head for the driver side and turn the truck on. As I back out, Santi pulls out his phone.
“No calls from the others,” he says. “So I’m guessing it’s a quiet night for them at the cabin—oh… Huh.”
My eyes are on the rearview mirror as I watch as Blair carefully backs up the little sedan the soccer coach had pulled up in. I follow her, backing down the trail away from the cabin. She backs out onto the dark road far enough so that when I pull out, I have room to get out and take the lead. I check the mirror to make sure she’s following me before hitting the gas. We’ll go north tonight to dump the car. It’s far but still closer to Caddawalk and Santi’s house than it would be to go east or west.
Santi stares at his phone. Our truck barrels down the dark, wooded, two-lane road in silence for a while. When his stillness starts feeling off, I look over to find him frowning.
“What’s wrong?” I ask him.
“My decryption software that I’ve been using to analyze the encrypted shit on Ledger’s computer found something. I’m getting notifications from my laptop,” he mutters, clearly distracted as he scrolls through the information on his phone.
Some of my fatigue vanishes as curiosity gets the best of me. “Oh yeah? Any good news?”
Santi doesn’t say anything for a bit. He simply scrolls, reading whatever must’ve been translated. The longer he goes without talking, the more anxious I get. Santi is a talker. No matter what mood he’s in, he’ll talk your ear off.
His silence right now is worrisome.
So is the tension radiating from his stiff frame.
