Chapter 38
Ezra
Ezra stabbed and stabbed, sending hot spurts of blood in every direction.
Xan groaned and gurgled as his will to fight faded.
His muscles twitched beneath him as he attempted to lift his head, until finally, he went still.
His eyes stared out at nothing, and the last gasp of breath shuddered from his body.
This was the first time he’d been happy to kill someone.
He dropped the blade and rose to his feet, still amped up from the adrenaline of getting here in time. Once Willow and Ryker had left, Xan ordered his guards to bind him to the chair. Then, Xan had him gagged and called Davidiuk to hash out their fucked up deal.
Ezra couldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t let Willow get forced into working for the sharks.
His breath came out in short bursts as he took in the room. Xan had been holding someone at gunpoint, and now he was sitting on the floor with his head between his knees.
A tiny body slammed into him, and arms encircled his middle. Willow.
He squeezed her back, but then he remembered he was covered in blood.
“Sweetheart,” he rasped, “You gotta let go. We need to clean this up, and I don’t want to get blood on you.”
“I don’t give a fuck,” she replied, face buried in his chest. “I thought we were all going to die.”
Finally, Willow let go and backed away. A smudge of red was on her cheek, so he wiped at it with his sleeve.
“What do we do now?” she asked, grimacing at the body surrounded by a dark pool at their feet.
The man seated on the floor spoke. “Pin this on the other guy. Dump the body in the river where he does his other jobs.” He stood and started gathering the laptops.
Willow rushed over to help, shoving a few devices into her bag. “That’s a good idea. He’s all stabbed up, so they probably wouldn’t question it. The water will probably ruin any evidence, too.”
Ezra looked down and yanked off his coat and bundled it up. His jeans had managed to avoid any of the blood, and his t-shirt was a dark enough color that he couldn’t see any stains. “Van is around the corner,” Ezra said to Ryker. “I have a new cleanup kit in the back.”
With a stiff nod, he practically ran out the door to gather their things used for disposing of bodies when they couldn’t do it in a secluded area. The kit could be used for things like oil and chemical spills, so it wasn’t exactly suspicious to carry around since he was a mechanic.
Willow was staring at the body again, her gorgeous face so pale. “Go home and wait to hear from us, sweetheart. You shouldn’t be here, just in case.”
A protest was on her lips, but her friend cut her off. “He’s right, let’s go and let them do their thing.”
She bounced on her heels and clenched her jaw. “Fine.”
Before she could get by, he pressed a kiss to her lips, careful not to get anything else on her. “Rinse your coat when you get home and then dump it. I’ll buy you a new one.”
With a final nod, they left, right as Ryker was making his way back in with their kit.
Silently, they worked. They rolled the body onto a sheet of plastic, and Ryker spread the absorbent powder on the ground to soak up the pool of blood.
At least the floor wasn’t carpet. That would have been a much bigger job.
While they waited for the powder to work, Ezra said, “What do you think of that friend of hers?”
He shrugged. “A nerd just like her. Not a threat. You, on the other hand…”
Ezra cocked an eyebrow. “What? You want to fight over her?”
Ryker let out a long breath. “No. I don’t know. It didn’t sound like she would be interested in just one of us anyway. What do you think?”
The thought of not having her at all was worse than having to deal with him.
“We’ve managed to kill people together without fucking things up, so why not?”
“Might be a little awkward when I bring you both around to see my parents,” Ryker teased.
He shoved him with an elbow before continuing with the cleanup. “Fuck yourself, Ry.”
Ryker spread disinfectant on the floor to continue removing evidence. After a final sweep, they would be able to leave and finish this morbid job. The entire room smelled horrible, but it didn’t look like anyone had been here in a long time. So, the chances of anyone showing up were probably slim.
Hopefully, this is the last body.
“Let’s get this over with,” Ezra said as he grabbed one end of their former boss’s body, while Ryker took hold of the other.
***
The drive to the dumping spot was tense. Every car they passed set his nerves on edge, wondering if it was a cop. He’d never been so worried about getting caught before.
Maybe it was because he had someone to care about again. He cared about his aunt Patty, but she had cut him out after Rick died. He couldn’t blame her.
“Do something with your life, Ezzy. For your uncle’s sake.”
The words had come too soon after, and he’d disappeared for days.
When he showed back up on her doorstep, she told him he had seventy-two hours to find a new place to live.
He’d been crashing with them for so long, and he could tell she only tolerated him to keep Rick happy.
So, he left—aimless and finding odd jobs while crashing with friends.
Eventually, he landed a job in a garage putting the skills his uncle had taught him to work.
But then he fucked up. He stole from one of Xan’s dealers, and the rest was history.
Ezra stopped the van and killed the engine. The area was deserted. It was all dark trees swaying in a light spring breeze and the sounds of rushing water. “Think this is our last body?”
He hoped it was. There was no telling what the future held with their former boss being dead. They had to frame it so it looked like Davidiuk had done it.
His friend let out a sigh. “If we do everything right, then I think so.”
Ezra nodded, then hopped out of the van, meeting Ryker by the door as he opened it. Xan’s body was wrapped tightly in the tarp.
They lifted the limp corpse and hurried toward the water’s edge. Ryker cut open the tarp, and they tugged on the end, rolling the body out. The incline was fairly steep, so it tumbled quickly down before they heard the splash against the bank.
“I hate to say it,” Ezra said, “but I think he needs to be fucked up a little more to be believable. A few stab wounds aren’t enough.”
Ryker groaned, but pulled out his knife. They quickly cut the body in a few places, including his face. Davidiuk loved cutting faces.
“I think that’s good,” Ryker observed. “Chances are some fish will chew on him, too.”
Together, they used the tarp to finish the job of pushing him into the water. The more water damage to the corpse, the less likely there would be any traces of DNA.
“You call Thompson,” Ryker said, “Let him know that Xan went missing when you left. Sure, you escaped, but you can plant some seeds since he heard when Xan was talking to Davidiuk. It won’t take long for this to be found.”
Ezra offered a curt nod and rinsed his bloody knife before pocketing it. They would need to destroy everything they were wearing.
This better be the last.