Page 42 of Dead Pretty

Oh, Jack, by the way, there’s a dead rat lying on my hallway floor.

“No.” The lie is out of my mouth before I even truly knew I was going to say it. “Where is it?” I ask, trying to sound as innocent as possible. I walk over to where he is, stopping when the rat comes into my view. It’s even bigger than I first thought. “Oh God,” I say, feigning surprise.

“I take it, it wasn’t a pet?” he jokes before he walks over to the rat, leaning the stepladder against the wall.

But I’m really not in the mood for joking right now. I just wish he would leave, so I could get rid of the dead animal and put this whole shitty night behind me.

“No,” I answer, following behind him.

“It’s a big fucker,” he comments, crouching down beside it. “Looks like it broke its neck.”

“Maybe it fell,” I offer up.

Jack’s eyes lift to the solid plasterboard ceiling above our heads.

“Or not,” I add quietly.

“Weird that it broke its neck,” he muses.

He’s right. It is weird. Rats’ necks just don’t break of their own accord.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Someone killed it. They wrung that poor rat’s neck and left it here for me to find.

No. Stop it. Calm down.

There is a rational explanation as to how that rat ended up in my apartment with a broken neck.

There has to be.

But truthfully, I’m not feeling confident in that theory.

What I am is scared and stressed and confused.

“And you didn’t put a rat trap down or anything?” Jack asks, unaware of my internal anguish.

“No!” I snap, my anger and fear flying out of me and heading straight toward Jack. “I fucking told you that I didn’t know the damn rat was even here!”

Jack pauses, his sharp eyes trained straight on me.

Shit.

I can feel my cheeks heat with guilt and shame. I move my eyes away from his, which is damn easy to do this time. “Look … I’m sorry I snapped. I’m just …” I thrust a hand through my hair. All I ever seem to be doing around Jack is apologizing. “I really appreciate you helping me out. But I’m tired and cranky. I’ve had a long day, and I just need to get some sleep.”

“Okay,” he says in a low voice. “Do you need me to help dispose of the rat before I go?” he asks.

He’s still being kind to me after I just bit his head off. Not to mention the fact that I punched the guy in the face earlier.

God, I’m a terrible person.

Sighing at myself, I lift my eyes to look at him. I shake my head. “But I appreciate the offer all the same. And thanks again for the bulb.”

I start to move toward the front door. Jack grabs his ladder and follows me.

He stops in the hallway and turns back to me. He gives me an uneasy smile. “See you later, Audrey.”

I should just let him go. Let my bad behavior put him off me.