Cadaver Lab, page 7
“He’s already halfway there. Wait, he stopped to talk to train track dude. Okay, they’re done now. He’s inside.”
Hot doc shot her a sideways glance.
“Stop looking at me like I’m crazy.”
He drew in a breath then let it out. “That’s the problem. If you’re crazy, then so am I, because I believe you.”
twelve
The doctor’s dark brows drew low as he stared at the wine glass filled with yellow liquid she’d set in front of him.
“Don’t worry. It’s not wine.”
He pulled his mouth to the side and picked up the glass that looked tiny in his large hands. He knocked back the contents then coughed. Frowning deeper he said, “Christ. What the hell was that?”
“Limoncello. My friend Harper brought me a bottle as a welcome. She and her aunt make it. Isn’t that amazing?”
“Yeah. Great.” He set the glass down and leaned back against the sofa cushion.
Natalie sat in the upholstered chair opposite. It seemed she’d found another use for the meeting space. It functioned nicely as a living room for when she entertained.
Maybe she’d host a party.
She imagined decorating the space, which of course turned her mind to Christmas. Unlike her old apartment in the city, she’d be able to have a huge tree in here. Ooo, maybe she’d decorate it with bookish ornaments…
Hot doc had been silent for so long she put her mental Christmas planning on hold and turned her attention to him. Even with him looking kind of in shock and still scowling from the limoncello, he was still easily one of the best-looking men she’d ever met.
“Stop drooling over him and ask him some questions,” Gabe prodded.
Annoyed at the disturbance in her admiring the man she was entertaining, Natalie asked, “You okay there, doc?”
“Liam.”
“Excuse me?”
“My name. It’s Liam.”
She frowned. “That’s not what I heard.”
His brows rose. “I don’t know what you heard, but that’s my name.”
She pawed her memory for everything Bethany and Harper had said. She was sure she would have remembered if they’d said a romance novel worthy name like Liam.
“It’s short for William,” he continued.
“Ah. Yeah. That’s right. Doctor William Walsh. Okay. So, are you okay, Liam?” she asked again.
“That wasn’t the question I was thinking of you asking him. How about where’d you get the body, Liam? How many more pieces are you going to hack it into, Liam? What the hell are you looking for inside Gabe’s brain anyway, Liam?” Gabe listed his snarky questions with a scowl.
She ignored the nagging ghost and worked to focus on lusting over Liam, who was much less rude now that he was in shock about his cadavers being able to talk.
Sawing them into pieces was going to be ruined for him now, although she couldn’t say she was disappointed by that. Maybe he’d stop that part. The whole process sounded barbaric.
“I’ll be fine as long as I don’t have any more of that stuff.” He eyed the bottle of yellow liquid on the table. “So you only started seeing them after you were electrocuted?”
She nodded.
“What would have caused that?” Since he seemed to be talking more to himself than to her and since she didn’t have an answer either way she remained quiet as he continued, “Maybe the electricity activated a part of your brain that’s normally inactive for most people. And if that’s true, then perhaps some of those psychics who claim a connection to the deceased aren’t faking, but also have the same brain center activated.”
“Told you. His jonesing to saw into that pretty little head of yours.”
She twisted to look at Gabe. “Aw, you think I’m pretty?”
Gabe rolled his eyes. “Not the point.”
“Well, thank you anyway.”
“You’re welcome,” Gabe answered flatly.
She glanced back and saw Liam staring at her.
“You really are talking to him,” he said.
“I am. He thinks you’re dying to get a look at my brain. To see what the shock did.”
Liam bobbed his head to one side. “He’s not wrong.”
Gabe let out a humph while Natalie was back to wondering if a man who enjoyed cutting up bodies so much was really a good choice for her first Mudville crush.
“Are there any more symptoms?” he asked, leaning forward and pinning her with that emerald gaze.
“Not really. I was pretty wired last night after the book club meeting, when usually I’m exhausted at the end of the day.”
“Did you have coffee late in the day?” Now he was starting to sound like an actual doctor.
She flashed back to the little old doctor she’d gotten her vaccines from back in the city. That made it feel extra icky that she’d been imagining Liam shirtless because she definitely hadn’t wanted to see her old doctor shirtless.
He was looking at her expectantly. Why? Oh, right. He’d asked about coffee. “I only had some iced tea during the meeting.”
“That’s got caffeine.”
“Fine. That’s not a symptom. So no. No other ill effects from being electrocuted and dying except now every ghost in Mudville can talk to me. I think that’s symptoms enough. Don’t you?”
“I’m just trying to figure this out.” He was so calm and logical. Cold, almost.
She might have liked it better when he’d been rude. She didn’t like this new unfeeling analytical research-mode.
“How about figuring out who killed me!” Gabe interjected.
Right. Gabe.
“While you’re working on why I can suddenly see ghosts, can I ask you a few questions about Gabe?” When he looked at her with a blank expression, she added, “Your male cadaver. I promised I’d try and help figure out who murdered him.”
His eyes shifted around the room again. “Is he, uh, here?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Standing next to me.”
“Tell him I’m sorry I cut his brain in half.” Liam looked a little sick as he said it.
“He says he forgives you,” she said.
Gabe’s eyes flew wide. “I did not say that. Ooo. You are such a liar.”
She resisted the urge to shush Gabe and concentrated on what information she needed from Liam. “You said he was a John Doe. Do you know where he was murdered?”
“He came through the anatomical donation program at Albany Medical College.”
“So maybe you were killed somewhere near there,” she directed to Gabe. “It makes sense that if the local police couldn’t identify you they’d donate your body to the nearest… whatever he said.”
“Body donor program,” Liam supplied.
“That,” she said tipping her head toward Liam. “Were you near Albany before you died?”
“Kind of. I was all over the Hudson Valley looking for the treasure. Ulster, Dutchess.”
“There you go with the treasure again.” She rolled her eyes.
“I’m not making it up. Dutch Schultz is supposed to have buried a box filled with gold and diamonds in that area. He was mostly in the Bronx but his illegal business dealings extended upstate. The largest moonshine producer in New York State was in Dutchess County. Dutch was murdered in 1935, I believe before retrieving the treasure.”
She frowned. “I’ve heard of Dutch Schultz. Why didn’t you lead with the fact this treasure belonged to a famous bootlegger?”
“Uh, what now?” Liam asked.
Natalie hooked a thumb toward Gabe. “He’s been talking about buried treasure all day. I was picturing like a big pirate chest and Black Beard. But this seems a little more believable. Like it could be real.”
“I spent the last ten years of my life looking for it. Of course it’s real.” Gabe scowled.
“Anyway, he was in that area looking for Dutch Schultz’s gold and diamonds so it’s possible that’s where he was murdered. If I can give the police his name, it might help.”
Liam had taken out his cell phone and typed something as he asked, “And how are you going to do that? Tell them you know their murdered John Doe’s name because his ghost told you?”
Liam had obviously recovered from the shock. He was getting snarky again.
“No. Maybe I could leave an anonymous tip. There are tip lines just for that sort of thing.” Although she should probably try to find a pay phone to make the call so it couldn’t be tracked to her.
Were there still pay phones? Maybe there was an online tip line. She could log in to the computer at the library…
“The police will probably think it’s a mugging if they don’t know that he was looking for a century-year old treasure. That detail seems like the biggest clue to whom might have killed him.”
“Yes! That’s what I’ve been saying. I like him. You have my permission to keep seeing him.”
She sent Gabe a glare then turned back to Liam. “He agrees with you that the treasure and the murder was connected. So should my anonymous tip include what Gabe knows about the treasure?”
Gabe covered his face with his hands in frustration. “No! Then the cops will just go find it and keep it for themselves. If whoever murdered me didn’t find it already. You need to look for it. I’m telling you I was so close to finding it. That’s why I was killed.”
She was going to ignore Gabe until Liam said, “No. I don’t think you should tell the police about the treasure. I think we should look for it ourselves. You and me. Together.”
“Um, what?” That was from Gabe because Natalie was temporarily speechless.
thirteen
“Yes. Yes. Yes!”
Harper had squealed with such enthusiasm Natalie took a step backward, pinning her against the front window.
“Jules?” Harper asked.
Julia shrugged. “Sure. I love it here and I didn’t have any other plans for the summer.”
“I might be gone for a few days. And with the book clubs, you’ll have to stay open late a couple of nights. Are you sure you can handle the shop plus all the meetings that are scheduled?” Natalie asked.
A part of her wanted them to say no. That she couldn’t go on this hairbrained treasure hunting excursion with hot doc Liam.
Harper waved away her concern. “No problem. And if I get in the weeds, I can call Agnes or Stone to come help me.”
“Now I feel bad. I didn’t mean to rope your aunt and your fiancé into helping me out too. I can just put up a sign and close for a few day—”
“Stop. There’s no reason to close. You have us. Besides, you deserve to have a life outside of this shop. And your mother will be disappointed if you don’t come,” Harper pointed out.
The stab of guilt over that lie cut right through her chest. But what could she do? Tell them she was taking two or three days off to look for the buried treasure Gabe the ghost had told her about?
“Yeah, I guess. But seriously. Thank you both so much.”
“It’s going to be fun. Can I play my own music?” Jules asked.
She considered Jules’s age compared to that of the average customer and hid a cringe. “Um, yeah. Sure. Just not too loud, okay?”
“Not too loud. I promise. Can I bring Taco to work?”
“Taco?” Natalie smiled when realization hit. “Is that what you named the dog?”
Julia nodded. “It seemed to fit. You know?”
“One hundred percent. Yes, you can bring Taco to work.”
“Jules, remember to post pics of him on the socials. Dogs and cats are social media gold,” Harper reminded.
As if on cue, Mr. Darcy hopped up on the windowsill and stretched luxuriously beneath the sun streaming in.
“Of course.” Jules nodded, whipping out her phone and lining up a shot of him.
It seemed the store was going to be in good hands, although the idea of being so easily replaced in her own shop was kind of hard to swallow.
The tinkling of the bell above the door had all of their heads turning, even Mr. Darcy’s, as in walked Liam, followed closely by Gabe.
They represented the totality of the men currently in her life. One was dead. The other an ass. And they both only wanted her for her ability to help look for the treasure. How sad was that?
“How early can you be ready to go tomorrow?” Liam asked, right there in front of Harper and Jules.
And by their wide-eyed expressions they were as surprised by his bursting in as she was, but she was sure for different reasons.
“Um, Liam, this is Harper and Julia. And this is Liam. He runs The Human Institute in the warehouse next door. It’s a research facility. And he’s going downstate with me because he has an appointment in Albany. I drive right past there on the way to visit my mother, so we figured we’d carpool.”
There, that was a pretty good excuse if she did say so herself.
But she still had to make sure Liam was onboard with it. She turned to face him and widened her eyes in a way she hoped communicated what lies she’d told. Lies she needed him to back up.
Gabe literally doubled over laughing. When he came up for a breath, he said, “Oh, man. You are the worst liar.”
She sent him a glare then focused back on Liam.
He looked as if he was barely restraining himself from rolling his eyes at her.
Too bad. He wasn’t the one who would be judged for saying he could talk to ghosts. She was.
“And I can be ready to leave as early as you need me to be,” she continued in answer to his original question.
“Then I’ll be over at zero-seven hundred. They open at ten.” His gaze shot to Harper and Jules. “The, uh, place… in Albany…where I have my appointment.” One brow cocked up as his eyes shifted to Natalie. “Good?”
“Good,” she echoed wishing this conversation would end.
Meanwhile, Harper and Jules looked ready to burst, probably with a dozen or so unasked questions. She was going to be in for an inquisition when Liam left. She only hoped she was up for the challenge.
“Do you need a wake-up call?” he asked.
“No. I think I can manage to set my alarm.” She scowled.
“All right. See you in the morning.”
“Mm-hm.”
As she’d predicted the door had barely closed behind him—but not Gabe who stayed to enjoy the show—when they pounced.
“Hottie doctor’s name is Liam? That’s crazy swoony.” Jules clutched her heart.
Harper’s brows rose high. “So, you and hot doc are buddies and you didn’t tell me. Which says to me that there’s something more going on between you than just friendship. You two are going away together?”
Natalie shook her head. “There’s nothing romantic. And there won’t be. I promise you. I’m giving him a ride because I owe him… because I called the sheriff on him yesterday.”
“Lies. Lies. Lies.” Gabe shook his head while looking amused.
Annoyed with the heckling from her audience, she swiped at Gabe with one hand, hoping he’d go away. When Harper frowned at the random motion Natalie said, “Bug.”
Jules’s eyes popped wide. “You called the sheriff on him?”
“I thought I saw a body being carried inside so I called the sheriff’s department and asked them to search the warehouse. Which of course pissed off hot doc because there are bodies inside. Because it’s a cadaver lab. Apparently he studies human bodies.”
“Holy cow. He works with dead people, for real?” Jules pressed her palms to her cheeks.
“Cadaver lab.” Harper’s eyes took on a faraway quality before she turned her gaze to Jules and Natalie. “Am I crazy or does this have all the makings for a great romance novel? A female book shop owner. The hot doctor next door. She thinks he’s a serial killer… because of the bodies. But he’s really doing important research in his cadaver lab.”
“That’s not a romance novel. It’s my life and no, you cannot write a book about it,” Natalie insisted.
Jules shook her head. “Yeah, she’s just gonna do it anyway.”
Harper narrowed her eyes at Jules before turning back to Natalie. “Just think about it. While on your road trip with hot doc Liam.” She broke out into a smile, which Jules mirrored.
It seemed this was the perfect time to get out of town for a few days. Maybe by the time she got back they’d have gotten over this juvenile notion of her and Liam.
“They’re never going to let up on you about him.” Next to her Gabe folded his arms and leaned back against the windowsill… and fell onto the sidewalk outside.
Good. It was what he deserved for speaking what she knew was the truth, even if she didn’t want to hear it.
fourteen
“You’re ready.” Liam made the statement with an insulting amount of surprise in his tone.
Mouth screwed up unhappily, she said, “I told you I would be.”
In fact, she’d set her alarm for dawn so she wouldn’t be late.
“I thought I’d drive.” Her gaze moved over the expanse of the big black Jeep parked right in front of her shop blocking the front window display. Of course it was his.
Her car would definitely use less gas. And if they were going to split travel expenses equally, his gas guzzler was going to break her budget.
He drew back. “I’d rather drive how ever many hours it takes us to get there than have to endure sitting in the passenger seat with you driving.”
Could the man be any ruder? Jeez. “How many miles a gallon that thing get? A whole eight?”
“What do you care? I’m paying for my own gas.”
“Fine.”
Letting him come was a bad idea. Even if the last person who’d gone looking for this treasure had ended up dead, and even though Liam’s bulk could provide protection as well as a bigger, better target for the killer, she wasn’t sure it was worth having him tag along.
She grabbed her bag off the floor then glanced back at Mr. Darcy, asleep above the non-fiction section.
He’d somehow found his way inside on his own again last night even though he’d followed Harper outside when she’d left yesterday. Natalie supposed he would keep finding his way in and out while she was gone, but just in case, she’d left him food and water and an emergency litter box, which she’d seen him using yesterday right before she saw him running around outside not five minutes later.
