Jane, how do you feel about doing something slightly illegal and definitely distasteful?” Gansey asked.
Ronan’s back was already sticky with the heat. The bird man’s corpse was in the BMW’s trunk, and undoubtedly a dreadful scientific process was happening to it. Ronan was certain it was a process that was going to only get more odiferous as the day grew warmer.
“It depends on if it involves a helicopter,” Blue replied, standing in the doorway of 300 Fox Way. She scratched her calf with her bare foot. She wore a dress Ronan thought looked like a lampshade. Whatever sort of lamp it belonged on, Gansey clearly wished he had one.
Ronan wasn’t a fan of lamps.
And he had other things on his mind. Nerves tingled in his fingers.
Gansey shrugged. “No helicopters. This time.”
“Is this about Cabeswater?”
“No,” Gansey said sadly.
She looked past them to the BMW. “Why is there a bungee cord around the trunk?”
Although Ronan reckoned the Pig deserved it, Gansey had refused to put the corpse in the Camaro. “It’s a long story. Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I guess I’ve never seen you in a T-shirt before. Or jeans.”
Because Blue had been staring at Gansey in a way that was more conspicuous for the fact that she was trying to be inconspicuous about it. It was equal parts startled and impressed. It was true that Gansey rarely wore jeans and a T-shirt, preferring collared shirts and cargo pants if he wasn’t in a tie. And it was true he wore them well; the T-shirt hung on his shoulders in a way that revealed all kinds of pleasant nooks and corners that a button-down usually hid. But Ronan suspected that Blue was most shocked by how it made Gansey look like a boy, for once, something like one of them.
“It’s for the distasteful thing,” Gansey said. He plucked at the T-shirt with deprecating fingers. “I’m rather slovenly at the moment, I know.”
Blue concurred, “Yes, slovenly, that’s exactly what I was thinking. Ronan, I see that you’re dressed slovenly as well.”
This was meant to be mocking, as Ronan was in a fairly typical Ronan getup of jeans and black tank.
“Shall I get into something more slovenly, too?” she asked.
“At least put shoes on,” Gansey replied somberly. “And a hat, if you must. It looks like rain.”
“Tut tut,” Blue said, glancing up to verify. But the sky was hidden by the leafy trees of her neighborhood. “Where’s Adam?”
“Picking him up next.”
“Where’s Noah?”
Ronan said, “Same place Cabeswater is.”
Gansey winced.
“Nice, Ronan,” Blue said, annoyed. She left the door hanging open as she retreated into the house, calling, “Mom! I’m going with the boys to … do … something!”
As they waited, Gansey turned to Ronan. “Let me be very clear: If there was any other place we could bury this thing without fear of it being discovered, we’d be going there instead. I don’t think it’s a good idea to go to the Barns, and I wish you wouldn’t come with us in any case. I want it to be on record.”
“WHAT SORT OF SOMETHING?” This was Maura, from inside the house.
“Great, man,” Ronan replied. Even the admonishment was electrifying. Proof that this was indeed happening. “I’m glad you got it out.”
There was never a chance Ronan wasn’t coming with.
“SOMETHING DISTASTEFUL!” Blue roared back. She reappeared at the door, her wardrobe essentially unchanged but for the addition of crochet tights and green rubber boots. “What are we doing, by the way?”
Home, Ronan thought. I’m going home.
“Well,” Gansey said slowly, as thunder rumbled once more, “the illegal part is that we’re going to Ronan’s family’s property, which he’s not allowed to do.”
Ronan flashed his teeth at her. “And the distasteful part is that we’re burying a body.”