“Wait, no. Come on.” Tom stood up. “You just got home from work, and you had way too many deliveries today. I can go. I’ll be fine. I went back the other day to fix Mr. Lundy and didn’t have any problems.”
“Yeah, and that was also during normal business hours with a full staff,” Cypress pointed out. “I’m not letting you go up there alone.”
Tom’s heart grew heavy. “You still think someone else is out there, don’t you?”
“Last I checked, they’ve made no matches to the fingerprints found over at your place,” Cypress replied. “Which means it was not Junior since they already have his, and I’m sure he’s the first person they checked.”
Tom didn’t feel as confident as he did a few seconds ago. “Well, even so, this is important.”
“And I totally respect your decision. But I’m still coming with you.”
“I can’t technically let you into the prep room while I’m working,” Tom said carefully, “but I guess you could hang out in the garage if you’re insisting?”
“I am.” Cypress smirked. “I’ll bring a book.”
Mister Doodles got a quick walk before they left, and Tom was thankful for Cypress holding his hand the whole drive over without complaining about his sweaty palms.
It was dark by the time they got there, and the parking lot was deserted except for a few of the funeral home’s vans. Tom and Cypress entered through the flower door, and Tom opened the garage door that led into the hallway.
“If I prop this and the prep room door open, we can… well, I guess we can yell at each other?” Tom grinned sheepishly.
“You’re fine,” Cypress said. “I’ll hang out here.”
“Hang on a second.” Tom went into the hallway and grabbed a stretcher, rolling it into the garage. He lowered each end down until it was about knee high and pushed it up against the wall, explaining, “All the extra chairs are in the chapel, but now you have a spot to sit!”
“Thanks.” Cypress grinned as he took a seat. “Go on. Sooner you finish, the sooner we can leave.”
“Got it.” Tom kissed Cypress. “Mmm, pray she’s a one point.”
“I still don’t completely understand what that means, but I got you.”
Tom hurried to the prep room, and he smiled when he saw who he presumed to be Mr. Crosby’s sister already on a table waiting for him and covered up with a sheet. He propped open the door and got changed into his personal protective equipment, double-checking the paperwork and her ID tag before he got started.
He was getting ready to turn on the machine for his arterial injection when he heard Cypress calling out to him.
“Everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine!” Tom shouted back, flipping the machine on. “Shouldn’t be too long. I hope.” He thought he could hear Cypress laughing, but it was hard to hear over the machine running.
The embalming went well, and Tom was finishing up when he heard the back door open and shut. He paused when he heard voices, and he tried to listen in.
It sounded like Cypress was talking to someone, but then the door that led into the garage slammed shut.
Footsteps were fast approaching, and Tom couldn’t explain why his heart began to pound so quickly. He looked around in a panic and hastily grabbed a scalpel to protect himself.
“Hey,” Aaron said, poking his head around the open prep room door. He laughed when he saw the scalpel in Tom’s hand. “Expecting to stab somebody?”
“Oh, shit.” Tom sighed in relief, dropping the scalpel down. “You scared the crap out of me.”
“Feeling jumpy, huh?”
“Yeah, a bit.” Tom feigned a smile. “Cypress okay?”
“Oh, he’s fine,” Aaron replied. “I just told him we can’t keep that door open.”
“Right.” Tom cleared his throat, awkwardly stripping off his gown and the rest of his personal protection equipment to throw away. “So… uh…”
The air suddenly felt tense, and there was something about the way Aaron was staring at him that was making his skin crawl. There were a million alarms going off in Tom’s head, and all he wanted to do was leave as quickly as possible.
