Page 12 of Grave Stone

Johnny studied the image for a moment. “No. Never seen her before. Why?”

“Did you verify the body before you delivered it?”

“Yes, of course I did.”

“How?”

“How? I looked at it,” Johnny said incredulously.

“Tell us what you saw.”

Johnny’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. “I saw a man who matched the description I’d been given. Why? Was there a problem?”

“Stone found the woman in that picture inside the casket you delivered.”

Johnny shook his head as his eyes widened in shock. “There’s no way. I checked. I wouldn’t do some shit like that to y’all.”

“Tell me about the pickup,” Sin said.

“It was last minute, and they didn’t have the money ready when I got there. That’s why I was late. I told Stone about it,” he explained.

“He did,” I confirmed.

“Did they bring him out to you, or did you go inside and get him?” Sin asked.

“I pulled up behind the shop, and they brought him out to my van.”

“Just him?”

“Yeah. I didn’t check the body bag until I got back, but yeah, it was just him,” Johnny said.

“Then where the fuck did she come from?”

“When you say you checked the body bag, what do you mean?” Juice asked.

“I unzipped it and looked at his face.”

“Just his face?”

“His face and torso.”

I knew it before Juice said it.

“She was at the bottom of the bag.”

“Boss,” Johnny pleaded. “I’m sorry. I was in a hurry because it was a rush job. I should’ve checked better or noticed the extra weight. How can I make this right?”

“So you think she was in the bag when they put it in your van?” Sin asked.

“She had to be. I only stopped at the funeral home to put the bag in a casket and pick up the paperwork in case I got pulled over before I drove here. I swear, Boss, I had no idea.”

“Relax,” Sin said. “You’ve been working for us for years, and we’ve never had a problem. But this is the first time we’ve done business with them.”

Johnny closed his eyes as his shoulders sagged.

“We’ll have one of the prospects drive you back,” Sin said.

“Thank you.” Johnny got to his feet and walked toward the door, seemingly eager to leave. He paused and turned back. “Sorry, Boss. Do I need to do anything regarding … whatever-the-fuck this is?”