Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 67324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
“Without a body, they’ll have nothing to use against Dax!” I cry, throwing my hands up. “It’s a terrible plan.”
“We don’t need the body,” Cohen pipes up from his spot beside Alarick. “We just need reason for them to go out there and search him. When they do, they’re goin’ to find everything they need to make an arrest. Bennett disappearance will only add to the case. He can be charged with murder without a body. Add in everything else, and the man goes away for a long fuckin’ time.”
I shake my head, running my hands down my face and exhaling. “How are they even going to know to look at Dax in regards to Bennett?”
“Because I’m going to make sure they find something that’ll lead them out there,” Zariah says, her voice calm. “Then, they’re going to find everything they need. You stated yourself that Dax was bugging because without Bennett, there is nothing protecting him from the cops. You said he’s not clean and Bennett had enough evidence to use against him.”
I feel a little unwell.
I really do.
I mean, their plan makes sense, but it also has so many goddamned holes in it.
“We need you to be thorough in telling us every single thing you used to help Dax with that body. You need to tell us what equipment was used and where it was placed,” Alarick tells me. “Did you help him clean the house after it?”
I nod. “Yes. I washed the floors.”
“That’s good because it’ll work with our story that you were made to help him . . .”
“Why wouldn’t we just say the truth?” I point out. “If we’re going with the story that I was made to help him, we can simply say I arrived, saw Bennett was dead and then was forced to help him bury the body?”
“That could work,” Zariah says. “But I’m worried with that much involvement, it might throw too much suspicion your way, or towards me when they find out you’re my sister. I think if there’s no body, we run a much higher chance of them not finding anything at all. They’ll search, but if they don’t come up with anything, we’re a lot better off . . .”
“I still think it’s worth the risk,” I say. “It’s a lot cleaner than me trying to sneak the entire club in there. If they use dogs to search, they’re going to be led right to where Bennett’s body was, and I figure we might as well leave it there . . .”
“She has a point,” Mykel declares. “If we leave the body, and still stick with the story that she was forced to help, it’ll give us even more to get him on. Murder is a huge charge and he’ll be taken down . . .”
“If we risk that,” Zariah says, “and they don’t believe that she’s been forced to help, she’s risking everything. She’s risking them searching and seeing her phone records, her time spent with him, the fact that she hasn’t been sold, the fact that she’s my sister, the fact that she hangs with a club, and a lot of questions are going to be asked. They’ll most certainly find her DNA with a body, but without one, they are far more likely not to find a damn thing, or if they do, it’ll be minor.”
“I agree with Zariah. The less questions we can be asked, the better,” Alarick says, his voice firm. “We think they’d believe she stumbled in and helped him because she had to, but if they don’t, if they fuckin’ decide to look into it further, they’re goin’ to see a lot more and ask more questions. No, it’s too big of a risk.”
I mean, I see their point. If they do decide to inquire about me, then they’re going to come up with a lot of stuff that’s risking the club and Zariah. If we remove as much of me as we can, they might very well put my DNA down to nothing, if they find some at all. I trust that Alarick knows what he’s doing, and I have to trust that the chances of the police finding anything on me are slim to none.
I’ll cooperate with their plan, because I see that it’s the better option, but I’m still afraid of it going horribly wrong.
“You’ll have the chance to clean yourself out of that house, Waverly,” Samson says, standing. “I’ve got a tip or two for you. If you’re careful, you can remove as much as you can before the cops visit. We’ll deal with the body and the DNA that lies around the grave site . . .”
I swallow and glance to Mykel. He is staring down at his hands, his jaw tight. He doesn’t like their plan, but then, to be fair, he hasn’t liked a goddamned thing about this from the start, and I’m starting to see why.