Cadaver Lab, page 6
“Maybe you should sit down.” Gabe reached for the stool behind the counter, which his ghost hand passed right through. “Shit. I keep forgetting I’m not corporeal anymore.”
“Corporeal. Good word, my brother.” A man with what looked like two gunshot wounds to the chest hooked a thumb toward Natalie. “I assume she can still see us since she looks like she’s going to pass out.”
“Oh, God. Please. Not more of you,” she begged on a breath.
“Maybe you should keep the others outside and give her some space?” Gabe suggested.
Others. She remembered the crowd at the interview. If they all came inside… She couldn’t even face the thought of it.
That was it. It was settled. She’d have to sell. Move. Hide. Possibly in a hospital. In the psych ward. But there were probably ghosts in the hospital too. Lots of them…
With one more glance at her, the newcomer said, “Sure. We’ll be in the graveyard if you want to join later. That chick who moved into the house next door doesn’t close her curtains.”
The ghost, dressed in a bowling shirt, waggled his eyebrows then walked through the door. As in through the door.
“Is he…” She swallowed and tried again. “Is his body in the warehouse too?”
“Oh, no. He’s actually buried in the graveyard. Got shot in the parking lot of a bar after a card game back in the eighties.”
She blew out a breath. Okay. She could deal with this.
Step one, call the authorities. She wouldn’t have to tell the sheriff she could see ghosts. Just that he needed to search the warehouse because she’d noticed something suspicious.
Then they would find the body… Body or bodies, plural.
She raised her gaze to Gabe. “Are there more? More than you. Over there?”
“More bodies?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Oh, yeah. There are a few of us.”
She flattened her palms against the counter then leaned her forehead on the cool wooden surface in an attempt to remain on her feet and not vomit.
“I think she wants to check out. I’d help you but…” Gabe’s voice brought her head back up and there stood the woman with her book selection in one hand and a distinctly judgmental expression on her pinched face.
This was insane. Besides talking to a murdered ghost and finding out her neighbor was both a killer and a dismember-er, she was running on only a few hours’ sleep and no food. And through it all, she had to run this shop.
But the customers came first. Natalie forced a smile. “Ready?”
“I’ve been ready.” The old lady scowled.
Her smile wavered but held. “Of course.”
With shaking hands she dispatched with the woman as fast as possible, but she did not give her a free Once Upon a Vine bookmark like she always did with a book purchase. Rudeness had consequences.
When she and Gabe were finally alone again—and while she considered how her relief about being alone with a ghost had to be proof of brain damage or psychosis—Natalie reached for her phone.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Calling the sheriff about your body.”
“Thank you!” He flung his arms up in the air. “It’s about damn time.”
Looking satisfied, Gabe folded his arms, leaned back against a bookcase, and promptly fell backwards all the way through it.
Shaking her head at him and the string of cuss words she could hear coming from the other side of the shelving unit, she pressed the phone to her ear and waited.
“Mudville Sheriff’s Department.”
“Um, hi. I’d like to report a…” A what?
Murder? No. She couldn’t explain that. How would she know that there had been a murder if she hadn’t talked to Gabe?
“Report a what?” the man on the other end of the call asked. “Ma’am?”
Bracing herself, she said, “I’d like to report a dead body.”
She had to give credit to the Mudville Sheriff’s Department. One very handsome and prompt Deputy Carson Bekker arrived in less than ten minutes.
Ten minutes during which she’d paced and gnawed on her fingernails while Gabe watched and told her to relax.
The deputy, alluring in his small-town khaki uniform, had the required tiny notebook like she’d seen on plenty of shows but never in real life. The pen and pad were out, ready for her statement.
They’d already covered who she was and how long she’d been the owner of the shop. Now came the touchy part. He raised his gaze to her and said, “You said something about a dead body?”
“Yes. It’s in the warehouse next door.”
“And you know this how?”
“I, uh, saw it being carried in.”
“You saw the actual body being carried in?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“When?”
Shit. She shot a sideways look at Gabe who answered, “Last week.”
“Last week,” she repeated.
“Do you remember which day?”
Gabe shook his head.
“No. I’m so sorry. I don’t. I’ve been so busy with the shop, all the days blend together.” She delivered that with a self-deprecating smile.
“That’s good. Flirt with him. That’ll throw him off.” Gabe nodded.
Natalie frowned, hoping it told him she didn’t need his commentary distracting her. She was nervous enough.
“And did you see an actual body?” the deputy asked.
She glanced at Gabe who said, “I was wrapped in plastic.”
“It was um, wrapped in plastic,” she repeated.
The deputy lowered the pad and pen. “So you saw something in plastic. Not a body.”
Shit-shit-shit. She should have thought this through better.
She scrambled to salvage the situation. “It was body sized.”
He flipped the notebook closed. In her mind he might as well have said case closed.
“I saw the body too,” she lied.
He raised sandy-colored brows. “You did?”
“Yes. I didn’t want to tell you because, well, I was peeking in the warehouse windows after I saw the body being carried in. I didn’t tell you right away because I was afraid that was a crime.”
He tipped his head. “It is trespassing but given the circumstances…you’re not the first to report suspicious items being brought into the warehouse.”
Thank goodness for the nosy old folks of Mudville corroborating her story. Or Gabe’s story, really.
The deputy drew in a chest expanding breath then nodded. “All right. I’ll go over and check it out.”
“Thank you!” she and Gabe said at the same time. Her with gratitude. Gabe with attitude.
The deputy pulled open the door and stepped through. When he paused to turn back to her she almost crashed into him and Gabe passed through her.
With a shiver, she took a step back and said, “Sorry.”
He reached into the breast pocket of his uniform. “Here’s my card. If you remember anything else, call me.”
“Okay.”
With a nod he started walking toward the warehouse.
“Go on. Follow him,” Gabe said much too close to her ear.
She could almost feel his ghostly breath on her skin. With another shiver she took a step back from the dead guy who thought it was all right to be attached to her at the hip.
“You think I should?” she whispered.
“Yes! What if the doctor lies? I can be there to tell you. And you can tell the deputy.”
This was a risky, her knowing things she had no viable way of knowing. But Gabe was right. They couldn’t trust the hot murdering doc.
“All right.” She took off at a trot, Gabe at her side.
She covered the distance in time to hear the deputy say, “There’s been a report of a dead body here on the premises.”
“Of course there was.” Hot doc’s eyes zeroed in on Natalie where she’d stopped a couple of yards behind the deputy.
He folded his arms and stood his ground.
“He didn’t deny it,” she said mostly to Gabe although the deputy glanced over his shoulder at her before focusing back on the doctor.
“Sir. Is there a body in this building?” Deputy Bekker asked.
“Of course there’s a body in this building. More than one. It’s a cadaver lab.” He pointed to the logo embroidered on the chest of his shirt. It read The Human Institute. “We’re a research facility.”
Natalie spun to face Gabe.
“Why didn’t you say that?” she mouthed.
He shrugged in response.
Meanwhile, after a chuckle from Bekker and a few exchanged words, it looked like the deputy and hot doc were getting buddy-buddy. Apparently, Deputy Bekker was going to get a tour of the warehouse.
And when Natalie went to follow, hot doc shot her a glare and then unceremoniously slammed the door right in her face.
Fine. So he wasn’t a deranged serial killer but he was still the rudest man she’d ever met.
She spun on her heel to leave when Gabe blocked her path. “Where are you going?”
“I’m leaving.”
“You can’t leave. Even if he didn’t kill me, he has my body. He could have answers.”
“What kind of answers?”
“Where my body was found. What the police report said. Clues about the knife wound, like was the assailant right-handed or left-handed. Short or tall. Male or female.”
“You really think he could help?” she asked.
“Do you have any other leads?” Gabe countered.
“No. Okay. Fine. I’ll talk to him. But you saw how rude he was to me.”
“Yes. Very rude.” Gabe rolled his eyes. “You’ll get over it. I won’t get over this.” He turned his deadly knife wound toward her. And of course, she felt bad enough to give in.
“One day this guilt ploy of yours is going to stop working on me,” she warned and moved to lean on the building next to the door.
“No, it won’t.” Gabe smiled. He folded his arms and leaned next to her…and fell through the wall.
eleven
It was a long five minutes later when Gabe burst through the door, startling her. “Deputy’s on his way out.”
“What did they do in there for so long?” she asked.
“Talked mostly. Apparently they’re both former military. Then they had a good old look at my brain, which the doctor had conveniently sawed in half.”
She pressed a hand to her churning stomach. “Okay. We can’t talk about stuff like that or I’ll puke.”
“Wimp,” he mumbled as the door opened.
The deputy stopped in the doorway when he saw her. “Miss Chase. Was there something else?”
“No. I just wanted to talk to the doctor. To apologize,” she added, thinking that sounded legitimate.
The deputy nodded to her and the doctor and then strode off to where his official vehicle was still parked at her shop.
That left Natalie with a very unhappy looking hot doctor, but not for long she feared.
With one hand on the door and a stony expression on his unfairly attractive features, he said, “I don’t want your apology. I want you to leave me alone.”
He moved to slam the door but she was faster. She shoved her foot in the doorway and braced one palm on the door to hold it open.
Talking fast because he was definitely stronger than her, she said, “Look. I know you hate me but I had a very good reason for what I did.”
“Oh, yeah?” His laugh sounded bitter. “What’s that?”
She couldn’t see any way around it except to tell him. “Ever since I… died I’ve been seeing things.”
“Delusions.”
“No. Ghosts.” She dared to raise her gaze to his after that confession.
Dark brows shot up over ocean-colored eyes. “Ghosts.”
“Yes. One of them is one of your cadavers.”
“One of mine. And you know this how?”
“He told me.”
“He told you.”
“Are you going to just keep repeating what I say?” She scowled.
“Look. I know what happens to a body when it’s hit with the kind of voltage you were—”
“I’m not crazy!” She stomped her foot to reinforce the point.
“I’m not saying you are. I’m saying the physical results of a shock like that affect the brain—”
“Yeah. I bet he’s dying to cut your brain in half and see for himself. I’ve seen the saw. He could do it.” Gabe’s comment reminded her of his presence.
“I can prove it to you. His name is Gabe—”
“Miller,” Gabe interrupted.
“What?” She turned to face him.
“Gabriel Allen Miller. That’s my full name,” Gabe supplied.
She pivoted back. “His name is Gabriel Allen Miller and he’s dressed like Indiana Jones—“
“No. I’m naked,” Gabe corrected.
“Naked?” she asked, facing him again.
“Yes. Of course. You think he left me dressed to cut me into pieces. You think half my head is sitting on a shelf wearing my hat? Jesus, woman. Think a little bit.” Gabe shook his head.
“Sorry. Jeez. You’re my first cadaver. What do I know?” She turned back to hot doc and saw him watching her with brows high and eyes wide.
“Uh, who are you talking to?” he asked.
“Gabe. Your cadaver.”
“I don’t have a cadaver named Gabe,” he said with more patience than he’d ever shown with her since she’d first met him. The kind of patience people used with a deranged person they were afraid of setting off.
“Yes, you do. He says his body is inside here and in pieces. Do you have a male body? One that you cut the brain in half. Oh! Wait. I almost forgot. He was killed by a knife in the back.” She leaned back to glance behind Gabe. “A knife with what looks like a bone handle—That’s nice. Is that an antique?”
Gabe twisted to try to see the knife in his back. “Don’t know. I never saw it.”
“Didn’t you ever look in a mirror? Wait, can you see your reflection or is it a vampire kind of situation?”
He shrugged. “Don’t know. I never tried.”
“You should. I have a mirror. We’ll look later at the shop. Remind me.” She glanced back to hot doc. “So, do you have a male cadaver who died of a stab wound whose head you sawed in half or not?”
There was the briefest of pauses before he nodded slowly. “I do. But he was listed as a John Doe.”
She spun back to Gabe. “You died as a John Doe? Why didn’t you tell me that?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” He shrugged.
She turned back and saw hot doc looking about ready to flee. Or maybe to call Deputy Bekker back and have him lock her up.
Turning back to Gabe she said, “What else have you got that will convince him I’m not crazy?”
“Um. There are two other cadavers in there with me. One is an old lady with short gray hair. Smoker. Lung cancer. Named Ethel.”
She repeated that information to hot doc. When his eyes widened she knew she’d hit a nerve.
“Walk through him,” she said to Gabe.
“What? Why?”
“Because I want him to know you’re really here. Really a ghost. Otherwise he’s going to think I broke in and read his files or something.”
“Fine.” Looking unhappy, Gabe walked through the hot doc.
The man’s eyes flew wide as he gave a visible shudder. “What…the fuck?”
“That was Gabe.” She glanced to Gabe. “At least now that I know you’re a John Doe, we can contact the police who were on your case and give them your identity. Maybe they can find your killer and you can stop haunting me.”
“I’m not haunting you. I’m asking for a favor. You want to see haunting? I’ll bring over that Revolutionary War ghost in the cemetery who had his limbs rot off from gangrene before he died. That’s haunting.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Please don’t.”
Realizing hot doc had gone suspiciously quiet she focused on him. “You all right, doc?”
He was still hot as hell, but he’d gone pale beneath his tan.
“Tell me about the third cadaver inside,” he said, testing her.
She turned her gaze to Gabe as he said, “Myra. Ninety-nine years old. Died in her sleep. Put in her will she wanted her body donated to science. Nice lady.”
“Myra. Ninety-nine. Died in her sleep,” Natalie repeated.
Hot doc braced his palm high on the doorframe and leaned heavily against it.
“I think we need to talk.” He glanced around them as if looking for Gabe. “All three of us.”
“Sure. You, uh, wanna do this inside my place? There are less ghosts.”
His nostrils flared as he drew in a deep breath. “How many ghosts are here?”
“Um.” She glanced around her. “There’s a guy hanging around the train tracks. Missing a few limbs. He’s pretty haunting,” she said to Gabe.
He nodded. “Yeah. Forgot about him. He’s up there on the haunting scale.”
Natalie continued, “There’s your two ladies here, of course. They keep poking their heads through the door then disappearing. Actually, there are less hanging around than usual. Like that old guy who follows you around isn’t here. It must be that ghost party in the cemetery gunshot wound guy told you about.”
She said that last part to Gabe.
Hot doc’s eyes got wider. He swallowed. “And how many ghosts do you have in your shop?”
“Just Gabe for now. He told them all they’re not allowed inside. Thank you for that by the way.”
Gabe nodded. “You’re most welcome.”
“Let’s go.” Hot doc pushed off the doorframe, then halted. “You have any booze at your place?”
She raised a brow. “It’s a wine shop so…yeah.”
“Real booze,” he corrected.
Narrowing her gaze at him she finally nodded. “Yes. I have real booze.”
“Good. Let’s go.” He took a step then said, “Is he coming?”
