Chapter 4
Smoke swirls in loops and gets caught in the midnight wind from the end of my burning cigarette, and just as I’m about to take another drag, Albert steps outside.
“We’ve got a job.” He states, pushing up his glasses. I take the drag I was supposed to take, inhaling the toxic fumes into my lungs then I blow it out before turning to face him. “Oh yeah? Where at?”
Albert tucks his hands into his jacket pockets as one of the cleaning crew pulls up the van. “She’s a somewhat regular client.”
She? It’s a woman?
All the other jobs we go to, we’re always met by a man. Either some dude that’s fucked up big time– usually some weasel that hasn’t gotten his own way when he’s brought a woman home or, it’s a planned kill and they need us to do the dirty work.
Planned kills I can work with, dipshits who get too handsy with women, not so much.
“It’s not very often a woman calls us.” I say before finishing the rest of my cigarette then flicking it away.
Albert nods at the side of me, agreeing with my statement.
“True. Cherry doesn’t call up often, she usually takes care of shit herself but on the odd occasion, she requires our assistance. ”
Cherry? That can’t be her real name. Maybe she’s a porn star or a stripper?
Just as I’m about to dig for more information on this Cherry, Albert tells me it’s time to head out.
There’s only three of us who work for Albert.
Me, Jay and Kyro. We’re a pretty tight-knit group and Albert is almost like a father figure to us.
At first I wasn’t sure about being hired as a private cleaner for ‘crime scenes’ but I couldn’t pass up the money it brings in, plus there’s a darker side to me.
A secret that I can’t share with anyone, not even Albert and going to these clean ups, feeds that monster that dwells inside of me.
My name is Kincaid Myers, and I’m a necrophiliac.
Don’t ask me how I found out that’s what I was, it’s a hard subject for me but turns out slipping your dick into a dead cavern is pretty nice and they don’t talk back either, or scream or abuse you. It’s a win-win in my eyes.
The drive to the job only takes around twenty minutes and before I know it, we’re outside a boujee as fuck penthouse. There’s a winding gravel pathway with warm lights dotted around the perimeter that leads up to a huge front door.
“Christ,” Jay says in awe as he looks out of the windscreen. “This is some nice shit.” He whistles as Albert drives up the gravel path then comes to a stop just outside of the garage door. Just as we’re about to hop out of the van, Albert stops us.
“Just because this place is fancy, doesn’t mean Cherry is the one to be messed with. She’s dangerous.”
Kryo keeps silent but Jay laughs, rolling his eyes. “A woman? Dangerous? Albert c’mon.”
Jay has always been the joker of the group and a bit of a ladies man, he’ll try and hump anything that’s got a pulse. Me on the other hand, I like 'em cold.
Maybe this Cherry is a little freaky too? The thought hits me out of nowhere. Since when was I interested in anyone? Especially someone with a pumping heart.
Albert sighs heavily as he pinches the bridge of his nose just under his glasses. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you, Jay.”
Kyro is the first to climb out of the van, then me and Jay along with Albert following behind him. We make our way to the back of the van to suit up whilst Albert heads to the front door. I hear him ring the bell, it’s silent for a moment then he speaks.
“Cherry, nice to see you again.” His tone is warm as he speaks, like talking to an old friend and whilst I’m pulling up the black overalls, I try to get a peek at the mystery woman but from where I’m standing, all I can see is Albert’s back but I can hear her.
“Albert,” she greets him with a voice as smooth as wine, the sound causes a chill to run up my spine and has absolutely nothing to do with the cold weather of the early hour.
No way. Believe me.
“You ready or what?” Kyro asks, knocking his shoulder into mine. “Miss fuzzy pussy is waiting for me at home, and I’d rather get this job done as quickly as possible.”
My brows furrow in confusion. “Please don’t tell me that’s what you call your missus?”
Kyro looks at me like I’m the one who's saying weird shit. “Fuck no, that’s my cat.”
Jay pipes up. “You call your cat Miss fuzzy pussy?”
“Yeah?” Kyro shrugs his bulky shoulders. “She’s a pussycat and she’s fuzzy? Makes sense to me.”
I don’t know whether to be amazed or grossed out, either way I’m not going to argue with a man who, despite my size, could probably squish my head with his hand.
“That’s weird, man.” Jay says, shaking his head as he grabs one of the holdalls, then I pick up my own and leave Kyro to lock up the van. Once we have everything in hand, we make our way over to Albert who's still chatting to Cherry.
He turns away from her, but I still can’t see what she looks like. Albert’s body, even for an old man, covers her form completely.
“What took you so long?” He says, looking at the three of us.
“Nothing,” I start, “just grabbing our stuff that’s all. Ready to start?”
Just as Albert goes to speak, that smooth red-wine voice tingles through the air. “Got yourself a new crew?”
Albert steps to the side and I’m pretty sure my stomach has just fallen out of my ass, so much so that I’m half tempted to check to see if it’s fell through the leg of my overalls.
Cherry is nothing like I’ve ever seen before, living or dead.
I think I’d let this woman step on me and I’d be the one to say thank you.
Where the fuck did that thought come from?
I get the sense that I’m staring at her because Albert’s rough cough brings me out of my trance. “Yep, new crew. These boys are the best of the best.”
Cherry’s heated gaze skims over each of us before landing on me. I can feel the way she practically devours me from head to toe— almost like she wants to eat me.
“I bet they are,” she says with a teasing tone.
“Come on in.” Cherry moves to the side, allowing Albert to enter first. Kyro steps into the house next, keeping his head down as per usual, then after that is Jay, and I don’t miss the way he takes his time walking past her, making sure she really has the chance to get a good look at him, then he sends her a flirtatious wink.
I understand that people sometimes fantasise about bashing their colleagues brains in and that’s how it usually stays— just a fantasy but the way Jay looked at Cherry, how he fucking winked at her makes me wanna crush his skull in a vice until it pops like a balloon.
I’ve never been jealous of anything in my life, and I’ve never experienced this kind of visceral reaction to such a simple gesture before, but that wasn’t simple.
Jay is trying to make his move on her, trying to claim her for his own and I won’t allow it.
I couldn’t give a fuck if this woman is a complete stranger or that this is simply just a job, I’m having my cherry pie, and I’ll be eating it too.
Cherry doesn’t react to Jay the way I thought she would, instead her eyes lower and she dips her head whilst making the most room she can to allow him to pass over the threshold, making sure he doesn’t have the chance to touch her.
Why isn’t she flirting back?
Why does she feel the need to step so far back?
Jay lets out an annoyed huff when he doesn’t get the reaction back that he’s looking for, and that pleases me to no end, but that doesn’t mean that he won’t try again. He’s persistent as fuck and won’t call it quits until he gets what he wants.
I guess two can play at that game, but I’ll be the one who claims her in the end, she just doesn’t know it yet.
Grabbing my bag tighter I follow behind the rest of my crew, keeping my eyes forward, refusing to give myself the chance to get a better look at her but I also can’t stop myself from taking a peek either, she’s just too beautiful to deny.
My gaze flicks to the side and I just about catch her looking up at me through her thick lashes.
She seems nervous but not enough to shy away from me like she did with Jay, and all of a sudden, I don’t want to be the one to break the contact between us but I can feel the way everyone’s eyes are lingering on us.
Jay pipes up. “Stop eye-fucking her and lets get a move on.” His tone isn’t the usual sarcastic one that I’m used to, it’s harsher and I can tell that he’s pissed at me.
Like I give a fuck.
“Get fucked Jay.” I snap back, causing a slight smirk to form on Cherry’s face, her cheeks glowing pink.
See that, bitch? I made her smile and blush.
Albert sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “I thought we were here to do a job, not a fucking pissing contest,” he turns to Cherry with an apologetic face. “I’m so sorry about these two.” She breaks her gaze from me and smiles, revealing her pearly white teeth.
“They’re fine, Albert. Shall I show you to the job?”
“Please, lead the way.” He says with a warm tone, even though he’s scolding us with his eyes. Warning us to be on our best behaviour.
Cherry quickly closes the door behind me and begins to lead us through the penthouse.
The space is clean and warm, a truly stunning place but I couldn’t give a fuck about that— I’m more interested in her.
In the way her hair sits perfectly just underneath her sharp jaw, how her bare shoulders underneath that flimsy pyjama top she’s wearing, flow effortlessly into her back and down to her wide, voluptuous hips.
I can imagine her laying there before me, cold and blue, but for the first time the thought doesn’t bring the excitement that it usually does. Any other time I’d already be planning on the best way to kill her so that I could have my way with her but something within me is fighting that idea.
I want to feel her warmth beneath my cold, rough hands. I want to hear her voice as she begs to play dead for me.
Wait a fucking minute.