“Gabriel, do what you do best and look handsome. Degrade us a bit too, if you want. I’m up for anything,” I tell him.
“How am I going to degrade you? You’re doing such a good job.”
“One of us is,” I say as I see Matthew struggling over there.
I dig for a while before Gabriel gives me a head tilt, telling me he wants to talk to me in private. I climb out of the shallow hole and follow him as he wanders out of earshot of the others. “Liam… I’m not a fool. I know you could figure out how to get us to legally look into Whitaker through the department without having to dig him up. You just want to do this so the police aren’t looking into him.”
For a quiet moment, I just gaze at him before smiling. “I’ve always thought it was irritating when I read books where the main character gushes over the love interest whose cheeks are all rosy from the cold, but it looks extremely sexy on you,” I say as I kiss one.
“Liam, focus, please.”
I watch him closely. “What do you want me to say?”
“I want you to tell me that you switched out the medical records. I want you to tell me that you’re using those two to dig a hole and then are going to pull out medical records, knowing that the man in that grave isn’t Whitaker but you’re going to fool them into thinking it is. And then you’re going to lead them on a wild goose chase to find out who the killer is while you go out and hunt Whitaker down yourself.”
I hesitate as I realize how right Gabriel was. I'd looked up the state the body had been in and had carefully found some medical records that depicted what I'd want them to see. It would have simply been a mind game. Matthew would have believed anything I had to say. Jesse would have been trickier, but after the whole diner confession, I feel like he would have accepted it. And then I would have merely set his fears to rest and hunted Whitaker down myself.
As simple as that.
But nothing is ever simple when my sweet Gabriel is involved and trying to make me into a better person.
“If you already know everything I’m going to do, why do I need to tell you?” I ask.
Gabriel doesn’t seem to be in a joking mood as he goes, “Liam.”
I lean against a tree while I watch the other two dig. “I can find this man.”
“I’m sure you can. But you know who can find him faster?” Gabriel asks. “A group of talented detectives and a medical examiner.”
My desire to kill Whitaker is too strong. The idea of him smugly rotting away in prison is enough to make me want to end this whole stunt, go home and figure everything out myself. Why would this man deserve anything akin to freedom? He deserves death. He deserves to die for what he’s done.
But lives are at risk and this isn’t a situation where the otherscan’tgo any further, or where the police are incapable of doing anything, as is the case with many of the monsters I kill.
No, this is simply me being selfish.
While lives are in danger.
“Hey! I hit something!” Matthew announces.
“Don’t ding the top of the casket,” I warn as I head over to it, glad the grave isn’t too deep. I drop down into the hole and help them uncover the casket. It takes longer than I feel like it should before we’ve uncovered enough to open it.
“Did you know that doctors and medical schools used to pay grave robbers to dig up bodies so they could practice on them?” Jesse asks. “I’m glad I didn’t have to dig up any bodies for my education because this is a pain in the fucking ass. I think I have blisters. The dirt is rock solid. I might have given up if I’d had to dig up all of the bodies I was taught on.”
I say, “The medical schools paying for bodies became a real problem when the grave robbers realized that it was easier to just murder people than dig them up from the graves.”
“Oh right, right! I forgot about that. History is fascinating. Would you guys like to hear about the history of using cadavers for medical research? Or bugs being used in medical research?” Jesse asks.
“No, I’d actually like to be able to sleep at some point in my life,” Matthew says with a shiver that has nothing to do with the cold.
“Bugs are so fascinating… and cute with their little legs and eyes.”
Matthew is staring at Jesse like he’s unsure what language he’s speaking.
“Let’s keep moving,” Gabriel encourages since they seem to have forgotten we’re involved in something highly illegal at the moment.
The problem now is opening it while really having nowhere but on the lid of the casket to stand unless we dig a person-shaped hole. We quickly decide against that and have Matthew straddle the casket. I’d made sure to look up whether it was a sealed or unsealed casket before venturing out here and wasn’t at all surprised to see that his mother picked all of the cheapest options even though she isn’t hurting for money. So the lid opens with ease.
“Don’t fall on the body, Matthew, or you’re fired,” I say.
