Chapter Fourteen
Bob
I opened my eyes and stared at the empty spot beside me. The sheets were twisted, one of the pillows was on the floor, and Ramona’s shirt from last night was hanging halfway off the end of the bed.
I smiled. Last night had been fucking good.
I hadn’t known exactly how things were going to go when I’d suggested we go to bed. I’d known what I wanted. Ramona had figured it out about ten seconds after I said it, and the look on her face had been worth every second of waiting for her to catch up.
Then she’d asked me if I was okay. And asked me again. And again.
I understood why, but that didn’t mean I hadn’t been ready to prove my point by the third time.
I stretched my legs beneath the blankets.
Nothing hurt.
My muscles felt a little tired, but that was normal now. Every day, I pushed a little further, and every day, my body reminded me I’d spent weeks lying in a hospital bed.
But I was getting stronger.
Yesterday I’d gone through Ron’s office, spent the rest of the day at the clubhouse, and then spent a good portion of last night proving to Ramona that I wasn’t going to drop dead if she touched me.
I’d call that progress.
The shower shut off.
I rolled out of bed and stood.
No waiting for the room to stop moving. No grabbing the edge of the mattress.
I just stood. That felt almost as fucking good as last night.
Almost.
I grabbed my boxers from the floor and pulled them on. By the time the bathroom door opened, I was standing beside the dresser looking for a clean shirt.
Ramona stepped out wearing nothing but a towel. Her hair was wet, and little drops of water ran down her shoulders. The towel was wrapped around her chest and ended high enough on her thighs that I immediately forgot what the fuck I’d been doing.
She stopped.
Her eyes moved over me. “Morning.”
“Morning,” I replied.
Neither one of us moved.
Ramona tightened the towel slightly. “Why are you staring at me?”
“You’re wearing a towel.”
“You’ve seen me naked.”
“Yeah.”
“Very recently.”
“Yeah.”
“So the towel shouldn’t be that exciting.”
“It is.”
She laughed and walked toward her bag.
I watched her.
“You know,” she said, “most people try to pretend they’re not staring.”
“Why?”
“Politeness?”
“Seems like a waste of time.”
She bent over to dig through her bag, giving me a view of her perfect ass.
Jesus fucking Christ.
Ramona straightened and looked over her shoulder. “You are not subtle.”
“Never said I was.”
She pulled out a pair of underwear, jeans, and a shirt, then looked at me standing beside the dresser. Her eyes narrowed. “Feel good?”
“Good.”
Ramona’s eyes moved over me again.
I smiled. “Checking me out?”
“Checking to see if you’re about to fall over.”
“Think I’m past that, doll.”
“And maybe checking you out,” she confessed.
“That’s better.” I would stand here until I fell over if she wanted me to.
She rolled her eyes and headed toward the bathroom to get dressed.
“Must’ve been the sex,” I called.
She stopped in the doorway. “What?”
“I’m cured.”
Ramona slowly turned around, and I kept a straight face.
She stared at me for two seconds before looking down at herself. “My vagina has healing powers?”
“Apparently. Should probably be studied,” I chuckled.
She shook her head but couldn’t help but smile. “You’re an idiot.” She slammed the bathroom door.
I laughed. That pulled at my throat enough to make me stop.
Worth it.
By the time we walked into the common room, Ramona had informed me three times that her vagina was no longer available for medical purposes.
Piney was behind the bar cooking breakfast. Anchor and Pearl sat at one of the tables, and Skull was standing near the back doors with a mug in his hand.
Anchor looked up when we walked in. “Morning.”
“Morning.”
Ramona pulled out a chair and I sat beside her. Piney put a plate in front of me and one in front of Ramona.
Eggs. Toast. Bacon.
A shitload of bacon for me.
I looked up at him.
“What?” he asked.
“You trying to kill me with bacon?”
“You almost died. You need protein,” he explained.
Ramona snagged a piece and popped it into her mouth. “And I need protein after last night.”
Piney let out a loud belly laugh and pointed at Ramona. “I really like her.”
Today was already shaping up to be pretty fucking good.
Anchor waited until Piney walked away before leaning forward. “Skull and I are heading over to the haunted house after breakfast.”
That killed some of my good mood. “Why?”
“After yesterday, I want everything checked again.”
Ramona stopped chewing.
Anchor continued. “Doors. Windows. Cameras. Any place somebody could be getting in without us knowing.”
“Ron had access,” I said.
“Yeah.”
“So checking whether he left something there?”
“Checking everything.”
I nodded. “I’m coming.”
Anchor looked at me.
“What?”
“Didn’t say you couldn’t.”
“Your face did.”
“My face said I figured you’d want to.”
“Good.”
Ramona put down her bacon. “I’m coming too.”
“No.”
Her head turned slowly toward me.
Pearl suddenly became very interested in her coffee.
“What did you say?”
“No.”
“I heard you. I was giving you an opportunity to correct yourself.”
I leaned back in my chair. “You’ve never been through the haunted house.”
“Exactly. I would like a tour.”
“We’re not going for a tour.”
“It can be a tour while you look things over. Two birds, one stone,” she flitted her hand. “Or whatever else I can say that convinces you to let me come with.”
“We’re checking it because someone might’ve been inside, not to check the painting Pearl did.”
“I know that, Bob. I’m tired of sitting here while everyone else goes places and comes back telling me someone wants to kill them.”
Fair.
Didn’t mean I liked it.
“Ramona—”
“Don’t Ramona me.”
“You’re staying here.”
Pearl laughed and I looked at her.
She held up her hands. “I’m staying out of it.”
“Smart.”
“I want to go too, though,” she confessed.
Anchor’s head snapped toward her. Pearl smiled. “Goddammit,” he grunted.
I pointed at her. “You just said you were staying out of it.”
“I am. My wanting to go has nothing to do with your argument. I would like to show Ramona everything I did in the haunted house. That is my last masterpiece.”
She hitched her thumb toward Anchor. “My creative outlet of painting houses is on hold, according to him, until the psycho on the loose is caught.”
“Pearl,” Anchor growled. “We have talked about this, and you agreed with me.”
She shrugged. “I did, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t be a little annoyed.” She batted her eyes at Anchor. “It won’t hurt for Ramona and me to come with. I can be her tour guide while you do… things.”
Shay walked into the common room with Prime behind her. “Where are we going?”
“No fucking where,” Anchor and I answered together.
Shay stopped. Prime walked around her and headed for the coffee.
“What’d I miss?” Shay asked.
“Anchor, Skull, and Bob are going through the haunted house,” Pearl explained. “Ramona and me, too.”
Shay’s face lit up. “I want to go.”
“No,” Prime called.
She glared at him. “Why?”
“Because they’re checking security. They are not going to play,” Prime explained. He grabbed a cup and poured it full.
“I can check security,” Shay shrugged.
Prime snorted.
Shay turned on him. “I can.”
“I’m sure you can, baby.”
“That sounded sarcastic.”
He shrugged and took a sip of his coffee. “It absolutely was.”
McKayla wandered in from the hallway. “What are we doing?”
I dropped my head. This was getting worse by the fucking second.
“Haunted house,” Shay announced.
McKayla looked toward Anchor. “Can I come?”
Anchor closed his eyes.
Skull hadn’t said a fucking word through any of this. I looked at him. He was drinking his coffee and watching the whole thing.
“You enjoying yourself?” I asked.
“A little bit.” He took a sip. “It’s kind of nice not having an ol’ lady, and just watching you guys get wrapped around their fingers.”
“Asshole. Just wait until you find a woman who can stand you longer than a night.”
He shrugged. “I can wait.”
Anchor opened his eyes and looked at Pearl. Then Shay. Then McKayla. Then Ramona. “Nobody wanders off.”
Shay smiled.
“Nobody touches anything,” Anchor continued.
Her smile got bigger.
“And if Skull, Prime, or Bob tells you to stop, you fucking stop.”
Pearl leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Love you.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Anchor grunted. “I’m going to stay here with Piney and Push to go over the stack of papers we took from Ron’s office.”
Shay clapped her hands once. “Field trip.”
Prime added more coffee to his cup. “You know it’s literally right outside.”
“Still a field trip,” Shay shrugged. “It’s going to be fun. It’ll be nice to get some fresh air.”
I looked at Ramona, and she smiled sweetly. “I promise to behave.”
I leaned closer. “You stay with me.”
Her smile softened. “I was planning on it.”
*
The haunted house looked a hell of a lot different with all the lights on.
I’d spent enough time inside the place that none of it bothered me. I knew where every fake body dropped, where the air cannons blasted, and which walls moved.
Ramona didn’t.
Skull unlocked the front door and stepped inside first.
“Lights?” Ramona asked.
“No,” Shay said immediately.
Skull looked back at her. “We’re checking security,” he reminded her.
“We can check security in the dark.”
“No.” He shook his head.
“Why?” Shay whined. “This place isn’t near as scary with the lights on.”
“Because I don’t feel like scraping you off the floor when you trip over something,” Prime droned from behind us.
Shay crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t trip.”
Skull flipped the lights on.
Ramona stepped inside beside me. Pearl, Prime, and Shay moved ahead with McKayla while Skull locked the door behind us.
I stayed beside Ramona. We moved through the first section slowly.
Skull checked the emergency exit while I looked at one of the cameras mounted near the ceiling.
Nothing looked wrong. No damaged locks. No wires cut. No obvious sign someone had been here, but that didn’t mean shit anymore.
The killer knew our cameras. Knew our routines. Knew when we were standing in his fucking office.
I didn’t trust anything.
“That’s disgusting.”
I looked over.