“I don’t even know if Lionel attended the breakfast.”
Liam grunted out a short laugh. “Just from what you’ve told me about him, I’m guessing the man doesn’t willingly miss any opportunity to have fans fawn over him. Or a free meal.”
“You’re probably not wrong. I could ask him, but where even is Lionel? He’ll be gone soon.” She wouldn’t be able to ask him anything once they took him to Morris.
“Then you’ll ask him later. Remember, he’ll be back when the coroner is done and returns the body.”
She cringed that this was the kind of conversations she had with the man she loved. That’s what she got for dating a doctor who ran a cadaver lab. It’s also what she got for being a person of interest in a murder.
Speaking of bodies and her being a suspect…
“I can only hope the coroner will return him to us. We don’t know that, do we? The New Haven Police could come up with another excuse to keep him.”
“Then we can drive to Morris for a visit if you really want to talk to Graves. Or to New Haven or Albany or wherever else he might end up,” Liam suggested with a shrug.
“Thank you. That’s a good idea. Let’s see how it goes.”
She imagined asking the coroner’s office permission to visit the corpse. She wasn’t sure that would go well. Though getting caught by the Morris police while sneaking around their town hunting for Lionel’s ghost wouldn’t be much better. She probably had a police file now.
Natalie stood and moved to where Liam sat in the wooden chair at her tiny kitchen table. They were almost eye level with him sitting and her standing.
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m sorry dating me is so weird.”
He pulled her closer with a hand on each of her hips and a dimple-revealing smile on his lips. “Baby, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
She leaned in until her lips touched his.
Taking full advantage, he hauled her tighter against him with a groan.
Natalie pulled back. “We only have twenty minutes.”
He tipped his head to one side, mischief in his eyes. “You know I can work with that.”
She was tempted when her cell phone rang.
Liam leaned back with a sigh. “Go on. Get it.”
She glanced longingly at the cell, face down on the table. “I don’t have to.”
“Yes, you do. Answer. It’s okay.”
“If you’re sure?—”
He cocked up a brow. “Natalie…”
“Okay. I’ll just peek at who it is…” She barely completed the thought when she saw the screen and her eyes widened. “It’s Lionel’s publisher.”
“Then you’d better get it.”
“Oh no.” She laid the cell down, ever so gently, like any motion might spontaneously connect the call.
He frowned. “Why not?”
“What if they heard I’m a murder suspect and they’re calling to cancel the book? Besides that, they talked to Harper when she was pretending to be me. I can’t answer.” She shook her head and stared at the phone like it was a bomb that could go off at any moment. “They can just leave a message.”
It felt like an eternity but finally the alert for a new voicemail sounded. Still, she hesitated.
“There’s your voicemail,” Liam said. “Aren’t you going to listen?”
