Chapter 2 – Stone
STONE
“Where the fuck is he?” I grumbled to myself as I paced in front of the bay door.
Johnny was late with the delivery. I didn’t like it when things didn’t go according to plan, but the feeling I had was different, like something wasn’t right.
Johnny had worked for us for many years, and he’d never been late with a special delivery.
“Finally,” I breathed when I saw Johnny’s minivan on the security camera.
I raised the door so he could pull into the receiving area. “Took you long enough,” I said when he got out to unload the casket.
“They didn’t have the money ready when I got there.”
“Fucking amateurs.” We hadn’t done business with the Wood brothers before. They had only been in town a few years, but they seemed to bring in some decent change with the loans they extended in the back of their pawn shop.
“You got that right,” Johnny agreed. “Might want to decline next time or charge more.”
“I’ll let Sin know.” Opening the casket, I unzipped the body bag to verify who was inside and took the envelope of money tucked inside the liner. “Thanks, man.”
“Until next time.”
After Johnny left, I closed the casket and wheeled it to the holding area before going to the office to count the money and wait for the all-clear from Sin, which was another thing I didn’t like.
Usually, the background check had already been done because we knew who we were cremating ahead of time.
Thump.
I froze and listened. No one else was in the building except me and Glenn, and only one of us was alive. After several moments of silence, I returned to counting the money.
Thump.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
“What the fuck?” I whispered, shoving the cash into the desk drawer. Then I pulled my gun from its holster and moved to the door.
I waited for another sound. When I heard nothing, I peeked around the corner and scanned the area. I didn’t see any movement, and nothing appeared to be out of place.
Stepping back into the office, I grabbed my phone and checked the cameras. No one was outside, and I didn’t see anything that could have caused the random thumping. Then I cleared the building and didn’t find a damn thing.
I’d almost convinced myself that it was my imagination when I heard it again, followed by a moan.
No fucking way.
I knew I had to be hearing things. I checked the casket and saw the body with my own eyes. He was dead as fuck. But it was the only place I hadn’t checked.
With shaking hands, I took a deep breath and opened the casket.
Kim’s face flashed in front of me.
No.
Bright blue eyes opened.
What the fuck?
Something hard slammed into my face, causing pain to erupt from my nose. Stumbling back, I lost my footing and fell, hitting my head on the wall as I went down.