Chapter 38 Whip #2
We’d already checked the dump site once, when we’d made sure Lynx hadn’t left his calling card on those bodies.
But there was a gap in the timeline. A couple of days where we’d been in the city, and Travis could have dragged Nyah’s body out there.
None of us had been there since then, even though we’d talked about it.
But looking at those bodies, and the things he’d done to them, wasn’t easy, even for those of us who could take a life without blinking.
It had been easy to talk ourselves into doing it later.
We had the kids to settle. New jobs to go to.
Cooking and shopping and exercise and anything else we could think of to avoid it.
X frowned, clearly also following the silent conversation between me and Levi. “It’s not smart to keep going out there. The cops could be watching it.”
It was another of our excuses, but one that also rang true.
We didn’t know who Travis had told about the spot.
He had to have followed one of us out there, so others could have too.
He could have anonymously reported it to the cops, and they could be biding their time there, just waiting for us to come back and add to the body count.
I knew Trig, Ace, and Torch had gotten rid of Travis and Violet’s foster parents’ bodies at a new site, one well away from where those poor women lay, exposed and decomposing in the elements.
We’d gotten lucky twice. My gut said we may not be as lucky a third time.
But the agony on Dax’s face ate away at me. And all I could think was how I would feel if it were Violet.
I picked up my keys. “Come on then. We’ve only got a few hours until school pickup. We need to go now if we’re going.”
Levi put his hand to the back of my neck and squeezed it, a silent thank you. X didn’t seem as keen, but in typical X fashion, he shrugged it off quickly. “I call shotgun.”
Levi and Dax sat in the back of my car, and X filled the silence by yammering about the pros and cons of baby-led weaning, a new term we’d all learned today, courtesy of his Pinterest surfing.
But I didn’t miss the worried tapping of his fingers on the center console, and I knew none of us were very happy about where we were going. It felt like beating a dead horse. Like we’d been here, done that. We were all only here for Dax.
Otherwise, I was pretty sure we would have avoided this place forever. Always saying we should, but finding an excuse.
Seeing dead bodies of people who were inherently evil was entirely different from seeing the dead bodies of women who had been beaten and abused and mutilated. But if Nyah had been a late addition to the pile of women Travis had left here, then Dax needed to know, even if it hurt.
Travis had said she was dead.
My gut said he wasn’t lying.
We got there as the sun was high. The flies buzzed, and birds and other small animals scattered as we approached.
Dax choked on the horrific stench, but it was nowhere near as bad as that house we’d pulled Ari and Will from. The dead body smell had permeated the walls and the carpets there, and I doubted that would ever be removed. At least out here, there was a breeze to carry the scent of death away.
“Fucking hell.” Dax turned away to puke.
He retched, and we let him, knowing he needed it. Even X, with his hate of all bodily functions, didn’t complain. Just patted Dax gingerly on the back.
“You okay?” Levi asked eventually.
Dax straightened and nodded, a determination coming over his eyes. “I need to know.”
I led the way to the pile of bodies, but nothing seemed different from the last time we’d been here.
“Sick fucking bastard.” Levi clenched his fists, staring at the horrific acts these women had endured.
We’d seen it before, but it didn’t get any easier to bear.
Last time, I’d looked at their bodies, searching for Lynx’s mark. This time, I concentrated on their faces. Their unseeing eyes, their noses, cheeks, mouths. Anything that would identify one of them as Nyah.
I stepped away from the main pile, and my stomach turned. “Fuck.”
Levi’s head snapped up. His gaze met mine, a silent question hanging in the air between us.
Nyah?
“It’s not her. But I know this woman.”
Levi and X moved to flank me, and all of us stared down at the body. Her hair had probably been blonde once, but now it was dark, matted with dry blood and dirt. Her dark eyes stared up at the sky, her skin ravaged by the sun and birds and decay.
But I still recognized her face.
X shook his head. “I don’t know her.”
“Me neither,” Levi added.
I couldn’t place how I knew her either. But I was sure I did.
Dax picked his way over to us and covered his mouth.
“Fuck,” he moaned, like he was in physical pain.
“I know her too. Her photo is on the wall at Clean Sweep. She was employee of the month. I saw the photos one day when I was early picking Nyah up and she wasn’t back from a job yet. Francine let me wait for her.”
The jolt of recognition hit me hard. “I saw that photo this morning.” My voice dropped to a whisper. “Right next to Nyah’s and Violet’s.”
Levi looked at me sharply. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
My brain couldn’t quite catch on quick enough to put the pieces together. “It’s their Employee of the Month wall. This woman was on it. Then Nyah’s. Then Violet’s…”
A sick, churning feeling that was maybe more instinct than anything else clawed its way up my spine. It wrapped around my heart, squeezing it so tight I couldn’t breathe.
“This woman. Nyah. Violet. What do they all have in common?” Levi asked quietly.
I swallowed hard. “They all worked for Clean Sweep.”
X stared at me. “Where is Violet right now?”
But he already knew the answer. We all did.
“She’s with Francine.”