Chapter 4 God Help Me, I Might Actually Be Starting To Like Her
God Help Me, I Might Actually Be Starting To Like Her
Carina to Kai: I think you’d be good for each other. [unsent]
Kai
You’d think that having a decomposing body in the car with you would make it hard to focus on anything but the stench of decay. But Tess is acting like she doesn’t even notice it.
We’ve been on the road for forty minutes and Tess has been speaking for at least thirty-nine of them. She barely even stops to take a breath.
It’s like a thought pops into her head and she just says it.
So far, I’ve learnt that she once dyed her hair blonde, but it turned green after a chlorine mishap, and she had to use ketchup to remove it.
The relevance of that was that the smell was apparently “dire” and “the worst thing ever.” I almost rolled my eyes at that.
The girl has been in the same room as a dead body, but ketchup in her hair is the worst thing.
She’s terrified of spiders but thinks tarantulas are “kind of cute” and she has a weirdly strong opinion about meat feast pizza. Apparently, it’s “an abomination,” and I’m “a monster” for not agreeing.
She’s also mentioned that she once got locked in a bathroom cubicle and instead of calling for help she attempted to climb over the top but instead landed with her head in the toilet bowl.
I didn’t ask.
She just volunteers this stuff like it’s perfectly normal to share with someone you barely know.
The thing is, as much as her chatter should annoy me—and it does—I can’t help but find it…adorable.
“...and that’s why you should never mix tequila with karaoke,” she finishes, finally taking a breath. Her story was something about being kicked out of a theatre because she got too drunk at karaoke. I’m not entirely sure how the two relate but she seems to think it makes perfect sense.
“Noted,” I say dryly, keeping my gaze on the road.
Tess grins at me from the passenger seat, oblivious to the fact that her relentless commentary is both maddening and strangely entertaining.
“You’re welcome,” she says, as if she’s just imparted some profound wisdom.
I roll my eyes but can’t fight the small tug at the corner of my lips. God help me, I might actually be starting to like her.
To be honest, she kind of reminds me of Nate. Like an overly energetic labrador puppy with zero filter. She might even be worse than him, if that’s even possible.
Perhaps that’s what has me intrigued. Only problem? She has the personality of my best friend, but it’s wrapped up in a sinfully tempting package. That’s a recipe for disaster.
We’re heading towards an old pig farm I discovered months ago that’s become my go-to for efficient disposal. I used to use the Thames, but after one body floated back up—Nate’s dad, of all people—I had to find a better method.
The farm is eerily quiet at night, practically deserted, making it the perfect spot for disposing of bodies.
The best part? No more hacking them into little pieces.
It’s just a matter of playing contortionist and stuffing them into a bag.
Well, as long as I get to them before rigor mortis sets in. That’s a different story altogether.
I park my car in my usual spot, hidden under the cover of trees, then make my way to the back to grab the body. Hauling the bag over my shoulder, I grunt at the weight. Turning around, I find Tess staring at me, slack jawed.
“What?”
“You’re like…freakishly strong.”
“Uh? Thanks?”
“No. Seriously. How are you carrying a whole human like it’s nothing?”
“It’s not nothing. It’s fucking heavy. Now let’s move,” I grunt, eager to get this over with. I’m not about to get caught because someone doesn’t know how to handle this cleanly.
The two of us head toward the pig pen, their grunting and squealing growing louder with excitement. I swear they’re starting to recognise me as the guy who brings them the good stuff.
“This is so creepy,” Tess mutters from a step behind me, her voice tinged with a tremor that’s the only hint of her nerves.
When we reach the pen, I crouch down and start unpacking the bag, peeling back the layers around the body. “This would go a lot faster if you helped,” I say, glancing up at her.
“Right. Yep. Totally.”
She drops to her knees beside me, hesitating for a moment before helping me get the body unwrapped. I’d stripped the clothes off before stuffing him in the bag, so those and anything else the pigs won’t eat can be burned later.
I lift the corpse and dump it into the pen. The pigs are ravenous, tearing through flesh and bone; it’s brutal, but effective. In less than ten minutes the entire body is devoured.
“That is… fucking scary.” Tess stares at the place the body used to be as the pigs retreat with bellies full of her dead boyfriend.
I start to climb over the fence and Tess squeaks. “What are you doing?”
“Collecting his teeth and hair.”
My feet drop down onto the wet mud. I squelch my way over to the centre where I find the few parts of him that the pigs refused. They pay me no mind now, too full to care about me.
A floodlight suddenly blazes to life, flooding the area in harsh, white light. We freeze like deer caught in the beam, our breath suspended. Then, the unmistakable crunch of footsteps heading toward us from the barn shatters the silence.
My heart slams against my ribs, adrenaline surging. “Run. To the trees,” I whisper, barely loud enough to be heard.
I scale back over the fence. Equal parts incredibly grateful that I put on my shoes that are two sizes too big for me and incredibly annoyed because running is now a nightmare.
Grabbing the bag and swinging it over my shoulder, we bolt.
Tess’s trainers slap against the dirt, the sound echoing in my ears as I sprint beside her. The pounding of our feet matches the frantic rhythm of my heart. The floodlight stretches our shadows into warped figures on the ground, trailing us like ghosts.
I can hear Tess’s laboured breathing, sharp and uneven, but she doesn’t slow.
Neither do I.
The footsteps behind us grow louder, and I risk a glance back. A figure moves near the barn, their flashlight cutting through the night, scanning the area.
“Faster,” I hiss, pushing myself harder, even as the muscles in my legs scream in protest.
The tree line looms ahead, and we dive into it, the branches scraping at our skin and snagging our clothes. Tess stifles a yelp as she stumbles but catches herself, clinging to a low-hanging branch for balance.
We each duck behind a tree, pressing our backs against the rough bark. My chest heaves as I try to steady my breathing. I dare to peek around the trunk, the bark biting into my palms. The farmer’s flashlight beam dances over the pig pen, then sweeps across the ground.
He lingers for a moment, inspecting the area. My pulse pounds in my ears, drowning out everything else. Tess’s breathing is a faint rasp nearby, and I hold up a hand to signal her to stay put.
The farmer mutters something I can’t make out, then turns and starts walking back toward the house, his flashlight bobbing with each step.
I exhale slowly, my hands trembling as I press them against my thighs. Holy shit. That was way too close.
Tess
I can’t hear anything other than the roaring of my heartbeat in my ears.
That was absolutely terrifying.
“Alright, I think the coast is clear. Let’s get out of here.” Kai motions for me to follow him. We stick to the treeline, walking silently back to the car while my mind is a cacophony of thoughts.
That could have ended so badly. If that farmer had been even a couple minutes earlier, I would be in the back of a police car now ready to go down for murder. And Kai would have been dragged down with me as an accessory.
We make it to the car and we both settle into the seats, but Kai doesn’t start the car straight away.
I start laughing, the sheer craziness of the situation hitting me. Despite the absolute terror racing through me at the thought that we could have been caught, this was one of the most exciting things to ever happen to me.
Everything about this weekend has been exhilarating, despite the circumstances.
My laughter dies when I realise Kai still hasn’t started the car and he’s sitting stock still, staring out of the window. He holds the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white from the force, and he’s sucking in gasps of air.
“Are you good?”
He doesn’t answer, just continues to stare vacantly out of the windscreen.
“Kai?”
He starts the engine, puts the car in gear, then starts driving.
Still nothing.
“You’re scaring me.”
He releases a breath, then finally the haze seems to clear from his mind. “Sorry. I… haven’t had a close call like that in a long time.”
“But you have had close calls?”
He laughs bitterly. “Of course. It’s part of the job.”
“When was the last one?”
Kai looks at me from the corner of his eye before turning his attention back to the road. “A dog walker found parts of a body that had floated back up in the Thames.”
“Oh my god,” I gasp, hand flying to my throat.
“Yeah. Luckily the rest of my trail led them far enough away from us we got away with it still.”
The rest of the journey is quiet; I don’t even try to fill on the silence. Instead, I take the time to admire Kai’s side profile. In the early morning light, his tanned skin looks even darker, and I want to run my hands all over every perfect inch.
How is someone so grouchy wrapped in such a perfect exterior?
By the time we make it back to Kai’s it’s almost four in the morning and I’m exhausted. The events of the past twenty-four hours are finally catching up to me.
“I’ll take you home tomorrow and fit the new carpet,” Kai says as we trudge up the stairs.
“Thank you. You’re a good guy, Kai.”
We stop outside my room, neither of us making any effort to separate.
Tension hangs heavy in the air, a silent acknowledgment of everything we’ve just been through. Kai’s eyes meet mine and for a moment I swear I see a flicker of something—conflict? Curiosity?
“You didn’t have to help me—with any of this. But you did. And I really appreciate that.”
Kai scrapes his palm over his jaw. “It’s what I do.”
“Still,” I say, not backing down. “You could have said no. I just… thank you.”
“Go to bed, Tess.”
“Goodnight, Kai,” I whisper, stepping closer to him. The exhaustion making me bolder than normal, I press a kiss to his cheek before retreating to my room and slumping against the door.
I don’t know what it is about him, but I want to break down his tough shell and find out who Kai is underneath.