Soul Mates 04: Secrets(28)

He met my gaze, his expression nothing less than angry. I walked to him and shielded myself completely from everyone else. Nikolas looked like he wanted to haul off and drag me back through the crowd and beat me for being a pain in his ass.



"We need to take the body."



"What the fuck do you mean 'take the body'? Damn it, Peter! You were just going to look around, not play Mr. Investigator."



"I fed from him tonight."



"So? You didn't do this." He growled and shook his head when I just stared back at him. "Son of a bitch! This night just keeps getting better and better."



"I'll grab the coroner's van and the body, since I can screw with the driver's head. I'll ditch the van a few blocks from here, behind the 7-11. You be waiting for me?"



Nikolas nodded. "I'll be there. You just hurry the fuck up and don't get caught."





Chapter Six



Getting the body was easier than I thought it would be. Some people weren't as receptive to mind games as others were. Luckily, the driver of the coroner's van was easy. One of the easiest I'd ever done. Poor sap would go in the store and take a quick piss and when he came out, he'd be short one body in the back of his van.



Nikolas walked around the back of the van. "Took you long enough."



"Not like I wanted to start breaking traffic laws to draw more attention."



He rolled his eyes. "Why are we doing this again?"



"Because I fed from him tonight and now he's dead." I shook my head. "That doesn't compute at all?"



"I'm just being a pain." He grabbed the body bag and tugged it toward us. "You know, I didn't get in near as much trouble before you came along."



I slugged him in the shoulder. "Oh, I bet."



"I don't think I've ever stolen a body from a crime scene."



"It's not like this is a habit of mine!"



"Right." He lifted the body and handed it to me. "Whatever you do, don't drop him on the way home. I do not want to be scouring the highway for body parts."



Ugh. Poor Ricky had only been dead a short time, but the stench of death and decay had already started to appear and was hard to ignore. I waited until Nikolas was back on his bike and awkwardly climbed on behind him, settling Ricky between us. Nikolas looked back and scratched his head.



"He's not stiff yet, is he?"



I felt of the body through the bag. "Nope."



"Damn."



"Why?"



"Bastard's going to flop around."



"I'll try to hold him still."



"Unzip him so it doesn't look like we're carting a body around."



"Uh, Nikolas? We are carting a body around." I started unzipping the body bag anyway. "Want me to just take him out of the bag?"



"Fuck no!" Nikolas nearly fell off the bike trying to stand and move away from me, as if I'd already done it. "I don't want him leaking all over me or my fucking bike."



"What the hell are you talking about?"



"Haven't you been with Lucien when he brings the new vamps over?"



"Well&no. If you remember, it was a touchy subject between us for a while. And now that you mention it, he hasn't brought anyone over since me."



"Hmm. All righty, princess. Pay attention and I'll tell you all about it." He sat back down and started the bike, but glared back at me. "You unzip that fucker all the way, though, you're walking home."



"Okay, okay!" I held on to the body, situating it between us so that none of his parts dragged along the pavement. "Just drive, Nikolas."



He took off, heading for home, and I soon realized that one should never use a motorcycle to haul around two people plus a dead body. Ricky was awkward to hold onto effectively . and I was sure the sight of us hauling ass down the highway drew unwanted attention. I attempted to make us a little harder to spot by calling up shadows to hide us, but it took so much effort that I wasn't sure I was doing it effectively.



After a few miles of driving, Nikolas glanced back at me. "Your little friend still zipped?"



I was tempted to tell him that I'd unzipped him and we were now both riding bitch, but considering how adamant Nikolas had been that Ricky stay zipped up, I was afraid that even a slight joke about it would cause Nikolas to wreck.



"Jesus, Nikolas, what's your deal with keeping him zipped?"



"You can't tell me you don't smell him."



"So?"



"So? Everything that was inside his body at the time he died is now outside his body." Nikolas shook his head. "And probably all over the inside of that bag by now."