Cadaver Lab 2, page 12
“I’ll go and see if they’re at the bar just to appease you. I will not spy on what they’re talking about. And I will not go poking through his things at the warehouse. There’s a bro code, you know.”
A bro code which apparently spanned into the afterlife, even for guys who until recently had never spoken and couldn’t stand each other… but she would take what she could get.
“Okay, deal,” she said.
“Deal,” Gabe echoed with less enthusiasm.
Natalie glanced at the clock and then back to Gabe. “You’d better get going. He said they’re meeting at four-thirty.”
“Fine.” Gabe let out a breath and pinned Natalie with a glare. “You are a lot of work.”
“Right back at you, bro,” Natalie said, heavy on the attitude.
Now all she had to do was manage to not hyperventilate until Gabe returned with his report.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Waiting was not her strong suit. Waiting on an afternoon when the shop was abnormally slow and she was just an hour from closing had proved impossible.
With the door locked, the lights out and the Closed sign visible, Natalie pretended it wasn’t five rather than six and crept outside through the back door.
Like a thief, she waited for the car coming down the side street to pass then took off at a run across the train tracks to the door of the warehouse-turned-cadaver-lab.
It was ridiculous that Gabe wouldn’t search the lab for her. She knew he’d gone poking in Liam’s stuff before. But after his reluctance today she had to be grateful he even agreed to go to the bar.
Not only because Gabe was being less than cooperative but also because he wouldn’t have been able to snoop as thoroughly as she could anyway, she’d decided to take on the job of searching Liam’s lab and living space herself.
She could get in. No problem. She’d seen Liam punch in the code on the door lock at least a dozen times.
Natalie enjoyed the romance of having the old original skeleton keys to the train depot, but she had to admit this modern keypad was super convenient for breaking and entering to spy on one’s boyfriend.
Once inside she punched in the code to turn off the alarm system which she’d seen Liam do, as well. Not to mention it was the same code as the front door lock. That was his bad for not being more creative.
She avoided the table with Gabe’s body on it, even though it was covered in plastic. It was just too creepy seeing him cut open on a table after having watched him walk around Mudville whole, dressed and seemingly alive—in ghost form at least—for so many months.
Keeping her eyes focused on anything but Gabe’s earthly remains, she focused on the two doors that led to the non-cadaver filled areas of the building.
One room was used as an office. The other, as Liam’s bedroom-slash-living space. She went there first. If he were hiding anything from her—such as another woman’s panties or love notes—that was the most likely place.
The door was closed but the knob turned easily in her hand.
Inside the room, where she’d been before but not often because—ick, cadaver lab—she glanced around.
The man was nearly inhuman. Who made their bed so neatly? Like seriously, she could probably bounce a quarter on the bedding it was tucked in so tightly.
There wasn’t a closet but that didn’t seem to matter. His clothes were folded on the open shelving as neatly as a Gap store with too many employees on a slow night.
Below, lined up on the floor in perfect formation were a pair of running shoes next to the rubber-soled clog-like monstrosities he had said were from his med school days when she’d questioned him about them.
There was one side table next to the bed that had three drawers. Excited this could yield something, she tried the top drawer and found hand cream, tissues, pain killers, nail clippers, assorted pens, a pad of paper, and the Valentine’s Day card she had given him. Nothing exciting and actually, pretty sparce offerings as far as junk drawers went.
The next two drawers were even more disappointing. One contained underwear, rolled up tightly like multicolored cotton sausages and stored in rows. In the other drawer pairs of socks had been given the same treatment as the underwear above them.
She shook her head, wondering which one of them was normal. Her with overstuffed messy drawers she could barely close, or him with his psychopathic level of organization.
That led to her next thought and it was a horrifying one. How in the world could two people who were so different hope to survive for the long term? Either her messiness would get to him or his neatness would get to her. Then, when it was too much to bear, then what?
She didn’t have much time to fully go down that rabbit hole because she heard the knob jiggle on the front door.
Oh, no!
Was Liam back already? And so fast? It wasn’t even five-thirty. He’d barely been gone an hour.
Turning back to slide the drawer closed as quietly as possible, she weighed her options.
The window in the room was old. Opening it would cause a racket, if she could even get it open and it hadn’t been painted shut long ago.
There was no other way out but the door, which was in clear sight of the entrance.
She was trapped. Unless she was super lucky and he went directly into the office. Then maybe she could slip out of the bedroom and then outside. He might hear the front door but she could duck behind the building and hide. Then make a run for the shop and pretend she’d never been there.
It was a good plan until the room’s door flung wide and the man standing there looked as surprised to see her as she was to see him and that was because he was not Liam.
Chapter Twenty-Five
When the hell had Liam installed a freezer in the lab?
Natalie didn’t remember it being there before, but she was sure aware of it now that she was inside it.
Lucky her. Liam had chosen a nice big one so the intruder had no problem flinging aside the empty shelves, shoving her in, and then slamming the door.
The door she couldn’t open.
She’d been trying since she’d heard the door to the outside slam—how long ago? She didn’t know.
Time was beginning to have no meaning in the cold dark interior of the freezer.
It was so dark. So cold. What her body was doing could barely be called shivering anymore. She’d surpassed shiver a while ago. The extreme level of vibration of her body now deserved a whole other level of description.
Trying not to cry and waste what little oxygen might remain in there with her she resorted to repeating silently in her mind over and over again I will not die, I will not die, I will not die.
The refrain cut off when her brain went rogue and threw in a different variation.
I’m going to die.
There. Inside this freezer. All because she didn’t trust Liam.
Death by foolishness—
“Natalie? You here?”
The sound was muffled by the appliance—of course, Liam had bought the best freezer he could with thick walls and a nice tight seal—but she heard well enough to know that voice anywhere.
It was Gabe. He was here. She was saved.
“Gabe!” She kicked with her foot and pounded with the fist pinned against her in the tight space.
“Where are you?” he asked.
“Inside the freezer.”
“What the hell? Why?” His voice was louder now. He had to be right against the door.
“There was a burglar. He put me in here. I can’t get out. I tried.”
“Shit. There’s a built-in hasp in the handle to put a padlock. It looks like he jammed like a four-inch carpentry nail in there and then bent it. It’s keeping the door from opening,” Gabe told her.
That was it then. She was back to knowing she was going to die.
Gabe wouldn’t be able to open the freezer door. He couldn’t unbend a big bent nail, even with his new ghost power.
Resigned to her fate, she decided to make the best of it and said, “Gabe?”
“Yeah?”
“Quick, tell me before I die. Was Liam really at the bar with Stone?”
“Oh my God. Yes, you ridiculous woman. He was there with Stone. He’s not cheating on you. Now, hang tight. I’ll be right back with help. I promise. And once you’re free I’m going to insist that you seriously reevaluate your priorities.”
The silence that followed Gabe’s departure surrounded her like a shroud. She should have told him to stay. At least she would have had company until the end…
Time passed, though she had no idea how long. It was enough that she began to doubt she was truly going to be rescued at all in spite of Gabe’s promise.
The part of her brain still functioning went back to wondering how long she’d been in there. Then turned to wishing she knew as much about the human body as Liam did. If she did then she might be able to estimate how much longer she could survive in there.
Long enough for Gabe to return with help? She didn’t know.
She turned to a subject she did know at least a little bit though not enough about—ghosts.
Would she become a ghost too, destined to spend the rest of eternity haunting the warehouse?
That might not be so bad. She could hang out with Gabe and the others. But it would suck watching Liam date other women.
Would Liam be able to hear her ghost because they’d been in love? Or would Gabe and Millie—in an ironic twist of fate—have to act as the go-between for her and Liam?
Sleep called to her. She closed her eyes since it was too dark to see anyway and absently noted that she’d stopped shivering.
That was good. It would be easier to sleep…
The sound of a door slamming against the wall startled her mostly awake.
“Natalie! I’m coming, baby!” Hearing the voice of the man she loved had her straining to focus.
“Liam?” She couldn’t yell—she didn’t seem to have the air in her lungs to—but that was okay. He was here. She was rescued.
“What the hell? Okay. Don’t talk, baby. I’ll have you out in a second… Shit! There’s something jamming the door handle. Just hang on, baby!”
It was quiet again. The disappointment would have brought tears to her eyes but she didn’t seem to have any tears left. Maybe they were frozen.
Her thoughts, fuzzy though they were, were interrupted by the overwhelming amount of loud banging and cursing going on outside the box that had become her world for the past—however long.
One extra loud clang vibrated her and everything around her before the door swung wide letting warm air and blinding light flood inside.
Squinting against the painful glare, her eyes finally adjusted enough she could see. And there stood Liam wielding a sledgehammer like an avenging angel. Parts of the freezer’s mangled handle littered the floor at his feet.
Gabe, looking equal parts concerned and relieved, stood next to him.
It was the most wonderful sight she’d ever seen.
She tried to move and found not only that it hurt, but that her limbs refused to cooperate.
It took Liam’s strength to get her out of the freezer as Gabe stood by helpless. Only with Liam’s help did she make it to the chair in his office.
Squatting down to be eye level with her, he rubbed her arms and then her hands with his own to warm her.
His gaze never wavering as he studied her, Liam asked, “Are you all right?”
She realized his single-minded focus was less love inspired and more the doctor in him coming out as he checked her pupils then laid a thumb against the pulse at her wrist.
Doctor William Walsh and all his medical training, useful though it was, wasn’t what she needed right now. She needed her boyfriend Liam and his warm strong arms to protect her and make her believe everything was all right.
“W-w-when did you get a freezer?” she asked, teeth chattering as her whole body began to vibrate once again.
“I’m going to start getting some fresh brains—” Liam began.
She drew back, cringing. Even half frozen she couldn’t deal with talking about that.
Liam shook his head. “Never mind. You don’t need the details.”
“Definitely d-don’t,” she managed as he pulled her close again.
She sank gratefully against him.
“Oh my God. You are absolutely freezing,” he said, rubbing her more.
She didn’t disagree as she tried to absorb the warmth from Liam’s body pressed against her and the friction of his hands.
“I thought I was going to lose my mind when Gabe and Millie came in and told me. I’m lucky I didn’t get pulled over for driving eighty down Main Street. I don’t even know what Stone thinks of me for running out on him like that. It’s not like I could explain your ghost friend was whispering in my ear that you were trapped in the freezer. If Gabe hadn’t found you. Or hadn’t been able to tell me…” Liam let the sentence trail off.
“I would have suffocated,” Natalie finished for him.
“Extreme cold slows respiration and heartrate so you probably would have frozen to death before—” When her eyes popped wide Liam cringed. “Um, never mind. But Natalie, how the hell did this happen? How did you get stuck inside the freezer? What were you even doing here?”
Skipping over the part when she’d broken in herself, Natalie began with, “A man broke into your lab. He shoved me in there.”
Liam shook his head. “So this was a robbery?”
“I don’t know. All I know is I thought I was going to die—” Her voice broke on a sob, not only because of how close she’d come to death, but also because Liam couldn’t be mad at a crying woman. Right?
“It’s okay. You’re okay. You’re safe now. I’m here.” Even as he comforted her with one arm, Liam reached for the computer keyboard on the desk with his other.
“What are you doing?” she asked when she realized she was no longer the center of his attention.
“I’m checking the security cameras.”
Uh, oh.
He was going to see her sneaking in.
She cut her gaze to Gabe whose brows rose.
He knew she’d broken in. She’d asked him to search the lab and he’d said no. He was a smart guy. He had to know exactly what she was doing inside the lab while Liam wasn’t there. It was probably why he’d come looking for her there in the first place when he didn’t find her in the shop.
Meanwhile, a view of the front door camera feed came up on Liam’s computer screen.
How could she forget he’d said he was going to get security cameras? That promise—or threat—had come after he caught the old ladies in town peeking in his windows. Back when everyone thought he was a serial killer because of all the bodies being carried into the lab.
In her defense, that had been almost a year ago and she’d never actually seen any cameras. They must be hidden well.
She was about to be caught.
Why would he bother with a security system? What was there to steal? Body parts? Although to be fair, someone had broken in.
Two people, actually. Just today if she counted herself.
She knew why she’d done it, but what had the guy who’d almost cost her life wanted?
“Mother fucker,” Liam bit out.
Oh, boy. He must have seen her during his scrolling of the feed and did he sound mad. She could only hope he would take into consideration that she almost died and forgive her snooping.
Liam leaned back and drew in an angry, nostril-flaring breath. Tipping his head toward the frozen image of a man on the screen, he said, “I know him. He’s the one applying for the same grant I am. The deadline for submission is coming up. I’ve been working like a dog trying to get it done—”
She nodded. “Which is why you were so cranky.”
Liam frowned. “I wouldn’t exactly say cranky…”
“Tomato, tomahto,” she said dismissively, feeling so much better.
Liam hadn’t been cheating. And he didn’t seem mad at her at all. He was angry at the guy on the screen.
“But why would he break in here? And then lock me in the freezer?” she asked.
“I bet that bastard came to steal my proposal. My Jeep was gone. He probably thought the lab was empty. He must have panicked when he found you in here. He couldn’t get caught—it would be a career-ender—and you could identify him. So…the freezer.”
Natalie shook her head. “That’s unbelievable.”
Gabe let out a snort. “It’s fucked up.”
“People will do a lot for half a million dollars,” Liam explained.
“I wouldn’t.” She frowned.
Half a million? That’s all? This guy was willing to kill someone for five hundred grand. That wouldn’t even buy a shoe-box sized apartment in Manhattan.
It was actually kind of insulting that her life wasn’t even worth a cool million!
Gabe raised one hand. “Um, I just remembered something I probably should have mentioned earlier.”
Natalie turned to him expectantly.
“That day I came to say goodbye to Ethel and Myra before Doctor Death shipped them out, they mentioned that some guy had been snooping around the building. He tried the door but it was locked. And he was looking in the windows. Trying to open them. Then he left.”
But this time when he tried, the door was unlocked and the alarm disabled because of her. She’d almost been the orchestrator of her own demise.
“Oh, shit,” she breathed when that realization hit.
Liam frowned. “What? What’s happening?”
“Gabe was just telling me—” Natalie began.
“Hold up a minute. Why can’t I hear him anymore?” Liam asked.
“Millie’s not here,” Natalie explained.
Gabe elaborated, “She said seeing my dismembered body again, left out on the table under plastic like I’m some piece of leftover meatloaf, is too much for her to deal with.”
Natalie rolled her eyes. “She didn’t say that.”
“She would have if they’d had plastic wrap and meatloaf while she’d been alive.”
