“Well, in that case,” Jacob starts going along with this. “I’ll have to be very careful in how I kill you. There are actually many diseases humans can get from animals that are fatal, you know. No one would be the wiser if you contracted something that slowly killed you over time.”
“Are you speaking from experience again?”
“I might have experience with said diseases, but I've yet to use them to slowly murder someone. Though, the fact that I'm alive kind of shows I have yet to catch a fatal disease either.”
“Valid point,” I say with a chuckle. “I always thought burying a body under horse stalls would be a good way to dispose of it. If the police dogs go sniffing around a dirty horse stall, no one would be suspicious. Not sure if I should have admitted that to someone who has a federal agent in the family.”
“Under horse stalls could be a good place for a body but, as it decomposes, you could risk the ground becoming uneven, even with stall mats. All I see is a stifle joint injury waiting to happen.”
We both laugh.
“And, come on, you should know that the best way to dispose of a body is to have something eat it,” he says.
“Unless you can point me in the direction of a meat grinder and a few tigers, I’m not sure how to get rid of my ex-husband.”
“Pigs,” Jacob says simply. “They eat anything—even bone. Though, to be really thorough, you have to make sure to dispose of their manure after they passed the body parts. I can’t promise you this is true or just something Mason bullshitted us on but, supposedly, you could still DNA test pig poop and see if there are any human remains inside.”
I make a face. “How demoralizing would it be to have your body discovered through traces of DNA in pig poop?”
“Probably not any more demoralizing than the fact that you were murdered, chopped up, and fed to pigs in the first place.”
We both laugh again and Jacob turns onto the road that takes us to Aunt Kim‘s farm. It’s familiar, seeing the landscape coming to view under the illumination of the headlights. But it’s still surreal thinking that I’m not going to visit Aunt Kim anymore. I’m going home.
Living on a horse rescue like this is a dream come true for me. Of course, I wish it was under different circumstances. My heart still aches when I know I’ll walk through the door and never see Aunt Kim again.
Jacob parks in front of the house, and I unbuckle my seatbelt thinking I’ll just jump out real quick and hurry up to the front porch. But I’m surprised when he turns the engine off and opens his door.
“I’ll walk you up,” he offers. He’s either being a gentleman or is— no. There’s no way he's hoping I invite him inside, is there?
“I’m sure I can make it from the truck to the front door,” I tell him, pulling my keys from my purse. But Jacob is already out of the truck by the time my feet hit the ground. He comes around, walking with me to the gate. I fumble with the latch in the dark. The metal is rusty, and the gate isn't level with the latch. It's just one more thing on my list to fix, and the reason why this gate is rarely closed.
“I’ll get it.” Jacob steps forward, reaching over and helping me with the latch. He’s right behind me, and again I find myself wanting him to get closer. Right as he opens the gate, something rustles through the overgrown lawn.
We both turn, and a large animal comes sprinting out of the underbrush right at us.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
JOSIE
I jump, bumping into Jacob. He quickly opens the gate and ushers me inside, holding me close to him with one arm and swinging the gate closed with the other.
The little picket fence that surrounds the house is only about three and a half feet tall and won’t keep any wild predators out. The chances of a wolf coming down from Northern Michigan are slim, but not zero. I go from worrying about myself to being convinced that the llamas are dead now— consumed and partially digested inside this thing’s stomach.
The wolf catches up to us and lunges, his paws land on top of the fence, his tail wagging.
Wait, what….?
I let out the breath I was holding as I now realize it’s not a bloodthirsty wolf. It’s a dog, happily wagging his tail in greeting. It looks like the large stray dog from a few days ago.
“Gunther!” Jacob exclaims. He’s still protectively holding me close to him, and it’s only then that I realize he put himself between me and the fence, going in the line of fire. His hand slips from my waist and he opens the gate. “Hey buddy, I haven’t seen you in a while.”