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“Not for another couple of hours.”
“Someone might come looking for those two before then.” He jerked his head toward the bodies. I noticed he had a graze across his forehead, which I assumed he must have gotten when he’d fallen. “You haven’t even searched their bodies yet.”
I knew I needed to.
Could I smell the two bodies now? The slightly sweet tang to the air, like over-ripe fruit about to spoil. The idea of touching them again turned my stomach, but I needed to get hold of myself and deal with it.
“Fine,” I said, “but first, I can’t have you bleeding all over the place again.”
Perhaps I was just delaying the inevitable, but I took a moment to patch up the wounds I’d give him, laying another folded piece of gauze on top of the cut and sticking it down with a fresh strip of tape.
“Thanks,” he said, but I only gave him a scowl in return.
Then I left him to stride over to the pile under the dust sheets.
Taking a shallow breath, hoping I wouldn’t be able to taste death across the back of my throat, I yanked back the sheet.
The men were exactly as I’d found them, sprawled across each other like dolls discarded and forgotten by children who had been playing with them and been called for dinner. The smell I’d hoped I’d imagined flooded over me, making me turn my head away.
“Check their pockets,” X called out, making me jump, “and also look for any straps around their upper arms or ankles which might be holding a cell phone.”
“I know,” I shot back.
I didn’t like being told what to do, especially not by him.
Gritting my teeth and holding my breath, I stepped forward and quickly rifled through the pockets of the guy on top. I didn’t find anything, so I patted down the tops of his arms and then his legs, and checked inside the boots he wore. I didn’t find anything, and I didn’t know if I should be relieved or disappointed. At least if I’d found something, I wouldn’t need to check the next body.
Turning my face to take a gulp of moderately fresher air, I caught sight of X watching me. I didn’t like the way he looked at me, or perhaps I didn’t like the way him looking at me made me feel. I had to keep reminding myself that he wanted me dead, even if he did constantly look at me as though I was already naked.
What would he be like in bed? Rough and forceful, I’d bet, and knowing exactly what he was doing.
A shiver ran through me and condensed deep between my thighs.
I was a sick puppy. How could I be thinking about sex when I had two dead guys beside me? Although, admittedly, it had been a while. I guessed I was just desperate.
I had to move the top man to get to the one underneath, rolling his body to one side. Holding my breath once more, I shoved my hands into his pockets, searching. My fingers closed around cool, slim metal and I grabbed it, quickly stepping away.
In delight, I lifted the phone in the air to show X in a moment of triumph.
He looked back at me, that same triumph reflected in his cool gaze. “What did I tell you?”
I checked the screen. The phone still had battery charge, but wasn’t showing any texts or missed calls. Of course, there wasn’t any cell coverage down here, so someone might have been trying to get in touch, but had only been reaching voice mail.
“I need to take it upstairs,” I told X. “It’s the only way I’ll see if any missed calls or texts come through.”
I didn’t know why I was telling him, as though I was asking for permission for some stupid reason.
He nodded. “Okay, come straight back down. I want to know.”
Again, he was telling me what to do, but I found myself wanting to tell him. I couldn’t remember the last time I had someone I could confide in or bounce ideas off of.
Nope, don’t go there. He’s a killer. Don’t forget that!
I had no idea why my mind kept trying to turn him into an ally. Was I so starved of friendship I would take someone who had only come here to murder me?
Keeping the gun with me, and making sure there weren’t any sharp implements anywhere near where X sat, I hurried back up the stairs. I stood in the open doorway, so I could still keep an eye on my captive, and held the phone in the air. For a moment, nothing happened and a sense of relief flooded through me, but then the phone began to vibrate.
Fuck.
