Page 26 of Grave Stone

“Yeah, I’m supposed to be having dinner with Hadley, but I think I must have gone to the wrong house because she wasn’t home and she’s not answering her phone. I could’ve sworn she said the lake house.”

“Well, honey, I can’t say for sure, but she’s usually at the beach house or the apartment in the city when she’s not at her lake house, so I’d guess she said beach house. Sounds more like lake house than apartment does.”

“Thanks, Kat. I bet you’re right.”

“Glad to help. You sure you don’t want something besides drinks? It’s a long drive to Jolly Beach.”

“I’ll be fine. Thanks, Kat.”

“Enjoy your dinner and tell Hadley I said hello.”

“I will. Thanks again,” I said and carried the drinks to the truck.

“Well?” Sin asked.

“Kat said she’s usually at her beach house or apartment in the city when she’s not here.”

“Somebody needs to tell that old lady to shut the fuck up,” Tomb said.

“Yeah,” I agreed.

“Let’s call Glitch and see if he can get those addresses for us,” Sin said.

Glitch quickly found an address for the beach house in Jolly Beach, but he said he would call us back when he found one for the apartment.

Halfway to the beach house, Danger called. “A package addressed to the Grave Prowlers was dropped off at the front gate,” he said. “Did any of you order anything?”

“No,” we said in unison. Even if we had, none of us placed orders in the club’s name. We used our own.

“Who dropped it off?” Sin asked.

“A courier in a white van.”

“We’re on our way. Don’t open it until we get there,” Sin said.

“What the fuck could this be?” Sin asked after the call ended.

I didn’t know, but I didn’t think it was going to be good.

Danger and the other officers were waiting for us in church with the package sitting on the table. Sin looked down at the box and studied it. “What is that?” he asked and pulled a piece of paper from the top of the box. He unfolded it and read it to us.

Please accept these items in exchange for forgiving any grievances your club might have with the woman in the casket.

“Stone, you got any idea what could be in here?” Sin asked.

No. No the fuck I didn’t, and I didn’t want to guess. I shook my head.

“Get your ass over here and open it. If we’re getting blown up, you’re going first.”

Well, fuck. What could I say to that? Nothing. So, I got up and opened the box. Inside, there was a slightly smaller Styrofoam cooler. I carefully took it out, set it on the table, and removed the lid.

“Holy shit,” I breathed and held up two clear plastic bags for the brothers to see.

“What the fuck are those?” Danger asked.

“The two most identifying features of Nate and Tate,” I said. One bag had a square patch of skin with Nate’s mole, and the other had Tate’s earring, still in his earlobe.

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