CAPE CORAL, Fla.- A Cape Coral woman is talking about the day an accused killer took her for a ride while the body of his ex-girlfriend was in the trunk.

Now, that susect is behind bars, in Polk County between Tampa and Orlando.   

Homicide detectives say Patrick Wilkey strangled his ex-girlfriend Laura Hunt in Polk County, put her body in the trunk and drove to Cape Coral. We're told while in Cape Coral, Wilkey asked acquaintance Ivy Sweet to join him for a night on the town. Little did she know, she wasn't the only passenger.

"I was inches away from a decaying corpse."

Ivy Sweet is still in shock after learning the night she took a trip with Patrick Wilkey, the body of his ex-girlfriend Laura Hunt was also along for the ride.

"He rolls down the windows and turns on the ac. And says 'hey, sorry about the smell in the car, my buddy puked in the back seat,'" she explained.  

Homicide detectives say 21-year old Wilkey confessed to choking Hunt to death on July 9th in Polk County. Then drove her car to Cape Coral to visit his mother with the 20-year old's body in the trunk.  

During his stay here Sweet says Wilkey invited took her out on a date.

"He was in such an upbeat mood about it," she said.   Sweet tells WINK the couple drove around in that car all night, hopping from place to place getting drinks.

When she lost her lip ring ball, Wilkey found another for her. Sweet believes that ball belonged to Hunt.  

"He murdered her and her dead body was in the trunk the entire time we were hanging out," she said.  

Detectives say Wilkey drove back to Polk County and dumped Hunt's body in a wooded area.   They arrested Wilkey on July 11th.

Sweet says the trip has left its scars but her heart goes out to the family. 

"I can't possibly imagine what they're going through," she said.  

She's now in the process of writing a novel about the experience, titling it "The Silent Third Party." If published, she wants a portion of the proceeds to go directly to the Hunt family.