Chapter 19 Aiden
The sight of Evie’s blonde bun through the back window was a comfort now.
She hadn’t moved or said a word to us since I had shut her inside.
Rook had shown up first, riding to the second story of the parking garage and not saying a word to me as he stalked over to the car to throw the door open.
He said a few words before he leaned inside, pulling Evie into a hug as she grumbled something.
He helped her out, throwing an arm around her.
Jealousy burned in my chest—I wanted so badly to be the one to comfort her, but I couldn’t, not like that, not without raising suspicion.
Hero and Mason had shown up on their bikes next, Zack and Kane not far behind them in another car.
“You sure you’re fine?” Rook asked as they got closer to me.
“For the millionth time, yes, I’m fine.”
He shook his head, glancing at me once before he stopped to face her. “Great, then tell me what the hell you were doing here?”
Now it was her turn to look at me. “I was here to learn more about Anderson. One of our informants thought he had more on him and I didn’t want to bother any of you in case it was useless information.”
My eyes narrowed. What a perfect little liar.
“We can talk about why that pisses me off later. How is Aiden here to call us if you were alone?”
I raised an eyebrow at her, but she seemed speechless.
“I’m taking my bodyguard role seriously lately,” I said, the casual tone not matching the way I felt.
“I’ve been trying to stay on top of her and her antics, and while I didn’t come out with her tonight, I was trying to stay close.
I got lucky tonight. Not lucky enough, but I got here as fast as I could. ”
Rook’s eyes narrowed, but he nodded. “I want to agree with the not fast enough, but she’s here and alive so it will have to do tonight.”
“Rook, don’t even act like Aiden was slow about it,” Evie said. Pride filled my chest—I loved when she stood up for me. “He came and finished the guy off.”
“And don’t even act like I won’t put someone on your ass every second of the day. We’ve already had threats, Evie, and you think meeting random fucking people in garages is a good choice?”
“No, but the only way to stop the threats is to figure out who is sending them. I can’t sit behind a computer all the time.”
“No, but you can also have someone go with you anytime you need to go investigate. That’s not even a suggestion—that’s a fucking command—because there is no way I am losing you to this asshole who is trying to scare us.”
Evie glared up at him, but I knew there would be no comeback. She would never fight Rook about safety. After they lost their parents, they only had each other. It was the main reason she didn’t fight Rook about having me watch over her.
Hero swung off his bike, nearly hitting Harper, who sat behind him. Harper slid to the side, swinging off seconds after him.
“She’s going to make me wreck. I’m done riding with her.”
“I didn’t make you almost wreck,” Harper shot back, hands on her hips. “You were trying to show off with your dumb tricks, and I reacted like any sane person would—by not dying.”
“Aww, you can ride with me, baby,” Mason said with a grin. “I’m a better rider. Nothing you could do could make me wreck.”
“Good fucking luck. I swear she’s a damn curse.”
I shook my head. Ever since Hero had met Harper and she hit him with a bat by accident, he swears he’s always getting hurt around her.
The track record wasn’t exactly in her favor because Hero was always getting hurt when she was around, but I was beginning to think it was Hero being a little more distracted when she was around, more than Harper being some type of curse.
“Maybe that’s the universe trying to tell you that you’re an ass,” Harper said, a grin spreading across her face as she crossed her arms and stepped away from him.
“Or maybe you’re cursed and trying to kill me.”
Harper shrugged, bringing out her most innocent smile. “When you say it like that, it’s not that far-fetched.”
“Can you two knock it off? We are kind of in the middle of something.” I waved to the body.
Hero glanced over at me, rolling his eyes and pulling an apron from his pocket.
“An apron? Seriously?” I asked. “Are we baking or cleaning up a body?”
“I’m good at both, so whichever you prefer, but yes, an apron, I like this shirt,” Hero said, looking down at a black button-up shirt and black jeans.
“That and I have to go out after this and would like to not be covered in blood this time. Are you gonna stand there all night staring, or are we gonna wrap this body up and get out of here?”
I sighed, grabbing the roll of plastic from Mason.
“Definitely the body one.” Mason grabbed one side of the plastic, laying it out. “Because that’s obviously what I’ve been dreaming of doing tonight—wrapping up a corpse.”
Hero’s mouth curved, sharp with amusement. “Come on. It’s a bonding activity. Nothing brings a group together like murder clean-up.”
“Remind me never to join your team-building exercises at the shop,” I muttered, crouching down by the body. “And why the hell am I always here for cleaning up these messes? How do I get out of this group activity?”
“Because you’re the responsible one,” Mason said as he passed me the duct tape. “And because you’re already here with the psycho girl. Honestly, I’m surprised we aren’t doing this more often with her around. She should keep tape and a roll of plastic in her trunk.”
Zack walked over, his eyebrows furrowed as he looked around the empty parking garage. “What were you two doing here, anyway?”
Evie was off to the side now, silently stewing about Rook scolding her.
“I wasn’t. Evie came out tonight and I was nearby trying to keep an eye on her.”
“And you didn’t think to call us when you were already on your way? We could have got here sooner,” Zack said.
I hid my eye roll—I knew Zack wanted my position. He wanted Rook to trust him and put him in charge of Evie. He wasn’t exactly quiet about it to Rook, but Rook would never let him. He would never trust anyone to get that close to Evie until they had been with us for years.
“I was right around the corner.” I glared at him now. I didn’t know what he was digging for, but wasn’t happy he was digging at all. “I wasn’t going to pause to give you a call when I wasn’t sure if she was in trouble or not.”
“I think you could have done both.” Zack crouched down to help, and I ignored him, not willing to waste my energy on his pathetic attempt to take my position.
The body was slumped at an awkward angle, making it a three-man job to wrap him up. Hero grabbed the other end, staring at the holes where the knife had gone in. “I’m nearly impressed. What all’d this guy do to piss you two off so bad?”
I gritted my teeth. “He didn’t piss me off first—he pissed off Evie. Then he pissed me off because he pissed off Evie.”
“Oh, well, that explains it. Psycho girl strikes again,” Mason said.
“Don’t call her that,” I snapped before I could stop myself, which, of course, only made Hero laugh harder.
Mason grinned. “Touchy today, aren’t we?”
“I had to come save Evie from being killed by this guy and we have no idea why he is coming after her, or us. So yes, I’m fucking touchy.”
Harper walked over, looking over Hero’s shoulder as he moved body parts to better fit in the plastic. He noticed immediately, scowling as she leaned closer.
“Do you have a problem?” he asked. He already had his methodical way of wrapping bodies, and I’m sure he didn’t want Harper bothering him now.
“Wouldn’t the body break down faster if you left holes in the plastic for the water to work?” she asked.
“What would be the point of that if they are at the bottom of the river either way?”
She shrugged. “There would be less of a chance of them being ID’d or found later on if the body broke down faster.”
Hero froze, and I could see the way his jaw tightened, already pissed.
He stood, towering over her. “You want to do it then? You think you can wrap up a body better and cleaner? Please do, you little freak, because I’ll have a new person to give to the police when you fuck up and they find the body. ”
“Shut up, both of you, and help me roll this guy,” I snapped. I knew Hero wouldn’t actually let her take the blame or wrap the body, but we didn’t have time to let this play out longer.
Hero grinned, the creepy smile more threatening than happy, but he did as I asked, the two of us getting the body halfway wrapped in plastic before Mason chimed in again.
“So, what exactly happened? Did she stab him first? Or did you get here and do all this?”
“She handled it,” I snapped, not wanting to go into details. Evie had handled it all right—handled it in a way that made my chest tighten and my head spin. She didn’t need to be saved completely, but she made me want to keep saving her, anyway. “Then I handled it.”
Rook walked over, looking between the body and the rest of us. “More cars are coming into the parking garage now. It won’t be long before they start coming up here. Are we good to go?”
“Don’t rush perfection.” Hero straightened up, his head tilting to look at the body. “We’re crafting a masterpiece that will never be seen again.”
“If by masterpiece you mean a sloppy mess, then yeah, you’re doing great.” Rook crossed his arms, matching Hero’s head tilt.
“Hey, it’s not like I’m the one who cut this body up in the first place,” Hero said. “I can do it a hell of a lot cleaner than that.”
I glanced toward Evie, who stood with Regan and Harper off to the side now. My stomach twisted again, the same mix of frustration and need that had been brewing all night.
I needed to stay away from her. And I needed to make her stay away from me.
But I had no idea how.
Another half hour went by before the body was wrapped up and in the trunk of the car, so we were left with trying to make it less obvious that someone had bled out here.