Perversion (Perversion Trilogy #1)(58)

“I’m a strange kid?” I shout after him.

I sigh, and my thoughts turn to what happened yesterday.

About her.

I talk under my breath, so Preppy can’t hear me. “You have no fucking idea.”

Bo comes running into the house and crashes into me. His watermelon of a head feels even bigger when it connects directly to my balls. “Bo, what’s up buddy?” I grit out through the pain.

He looks up at me with his dark hair and pale face wearing the same bow-tie and suspenders set that Preppy has on. He smiles, and it’s downright Adams Family creepy. “I see dead people,” he whispers.

“You got to start going to sleep earlier and stop watching all those late night movies you know you’re not supposed to be watching.”

Bo shakes his head and drags me to the sliding glass doors. He points to the backyard. “No, seriously. There’s a body in the backyard.”

I look out to see a mangled clump of naked man directly in the center of the yard.

“Holy shit. You’re right.” My jaw is still on the ground. My mind racing and in full alert mode. I try to follow the protocol Preppy’s been teaching me, but all I can think of is questions. Who? When? Why this fucking body is in the backyard? Who the fuck put it here?

“Told you,” Bo says, skipping off to the kitchen. “You want a cookie, Uncle Kevin?”

“Uh, I’ll be right back. Save one for me. And can you go ask your dad to come out here? Like, right the fuck now?”

“Sure thing,” he says around a mouthful of chocolate chip cookie as he strolls leisurely down the hall. “Dad, Uncle Kevin wants to talk to you about the dead guy in the yard!”

I approach the body slowly, swatting away the flies colliding into my face. I notice a tattoo on the body. No, it’s spray paint. It’s not until I’m up close when I can make out what it says. When I do, I stop. Stop walking. Stop breathing. My heart stops fucking beating.

It’s a number. And not just any number.

It’s the number nine.