Ben nodded although by the look on his face he’d rather not.
‘Yes, on our way.’
‘I’ve sent you over the location, it’s a bit remote in Grizedale Forest. The caller is waiting in the car park. I’ve given you directions to meet patrols and show them.’
A sense of déjà vu washed over Morgan. It wasn’t that long ago that they’d found other bodies in tents in a different forest, victims who had died at the hands of the Travelling Man in Whinlatter Forest. She looked at Ben. ‘When will this ever stop?’
‘I honestly don’t know, it seems as if we’re on a huge giant hamster wheel that we can’t escape from and it’s making me sick beyond belief.’
Ben took one last look around the room, then at Lauren. ‘It’s time to get you out of here.’
The clattering of the metal trolley that the undertakers used echoed down the hall as the two men pushed it along. Morgan stepped out of the room and waved at them.
‘Would you believe the lift still works, somebody forgot to turn off the electricity but it’s a bonus for us. Save our backs that little bit more, won’t it, Jackson?’
Jackson looked a bit apprehensive. He nodded. Both Morgan and Ben stepped out of the way to let them inside.
The older guy whistled. ‘Oh man, that’s bad.’
Jackson looked as white as Lauren’s lifeless face. He faltered at the door.
‘She’s dead, Stevie.’
Stevie rolled his eyes at Morgan and Ben. ‘Yes, poor lass, but did it escape your notice, Jackson, that we are undertakers and it’s our job to deal with the dead?’
Jackson’s knees buckled and he stumbled forwards. Morgan deftly caught him with both hands, dragging him away from Lauren’s body, so he didn’t collapse onto it.
Stevie looked horrified. ‘Are you going to—?’ Before he could finish his sentence Jackson dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes, out cold, his skin clammy.
Stevie shrugged. ‘I’m sorry about him, he’s new.’ Then he bent down and began to gently slap at Jackson’s face, and at the same time he tugged his phone out and dialled someone.
‘Cara, I need a hand. I thought you said Jackson was okay with blood; he’s out cold.’
Morgan heard the swearing on the other end; Stevie tucked the phone back in his pocket.
‘Sorry, someone else is on the way.’
‘Erm, do you need an ambulance for him?’ asked Ben.
He shook his head. ‘No, he’ll come around in a bit. I told his dad he wasn’t cut out for this line of work, but he insisted he was. His dad is my cousin’s boyfriend; kind of old school; you know how it is.’
Morgan was staring at Jackson and didn’t know how it was at all. Ben looked uncomfortable. ‘I think we better call an ambulance.’
Stevie walked into the en suite bathroom, and the sound of running water filled the air. He returned with a glass, and Morgan grimaced, hoping to God he wasn’t going to make the lad drink that, because if he did, passing out would be the leastof his problems when he could be contending with typhoid or something far worse.
She need not have worried because he crouched down and threw it into Jackson’s face.
Jackson’s eyes flew open.
‘See, no need to waste the ambulance service’s time. It works; the number of guys and women who’ve passed out at their first gory removal is legendary.’
‘Ugh, what are you doing?’
Stevie bent down, took hold of Jackson’s elbow and dragged him into a sitting position.
‘Making sure you’re not as dead as our customer over there. Don’t look at her if it makes you feel all light-headed. When you’re able to stand up and leave the room, go sit on the steps outside. Cara is on her way to help.’
Morgan felt bad for Jackson. His cheeks had gone from porcelain white to burning red.
