To Tell An Altswood Lie (The Altswood Saga #3)

Chapter 23 - Base

Chapter 23 - Base

"That's not possible," Gabriel said, insistent. "This wasn't like Joshua. They found a body."

"A body that was never allowed to be medically examined," I replied. I stood up, wandering back inside Crystal's house. I picked up Gabriel's phone in the kitchen and tossed it to him.

"Find me, the text said," I explained. "So let's go find the body."

Despite the hour, we started our trek towards the hospital, dragging our feet when we tired of walking and stumbling when we tired of dragging our feet. Before my half-dreaming mind could stage a coup d'état on my body, we arrived in front of the imposing building, a place we seemed to always end up again and again and again.

At least this time neither one of us was being wheeled in with a life threatening wound. Maybe we were finally learning.

"I don't understand what's happening," Gabriel hissed as we passed through the doors. The receptionist looked up from her desk, but she simply peered at us warily as we hurried by.

"Neither do I," I said honestly.

We hurried along the empty hallways, whizzing past open doors and beeping machines, our steps in sync with the rise and fall of sleeping lungs within the rooms.

The elevator into the sub-level had been faulty ever since Joshua blew it up with an aerosol bomb, so we took the stairs, leaping down three at a time. We hardly cared whether or not the security cameras would pick up our faces. This time, we didn't bother sneaking.

When we came into the sub-level's hallway, there was an officer standing guard in front of the morgue. I recognised him as Officer Lubowski when we got nearer, though he hadn't seemed to notice us approach. He was too busy listening to a phone call that was dismissing him from duty, since the alleged killer had been caught and Maire Reeve's body no longer needed police protection.

That was a big joke.

"Well, hello," Officer Lubowski greeted, finally spotting us. He wrinkled his nose. "What are you doing here?"

"There's something we need to see," I answered cryptically. I typed the security code into the morgue's entry panel, and pushed open the door when it gave a click, gasping at the shock of cold air.

"How did you—"

The officer was surely about to ask how I knew the code—a code that was the same for every public area in Altswood—but his words trailed off, likely coming to a conclusion of his own.

"Which one is keeping Maire Reeve's body?" Gabriel asked, referring to the drawers.

Officer Lubowski was frowning, but he didn't look hostile. It was more like he was concerned for what he had just gotten himself involved in.

He pointed to a middle drawer on the middle wall. "That one."

My hands were shaking. I took a deep breath, though that was a rather difficult task in the icy temperature.

"Did they run any tests on the body?" I asked Officer Lubowski.

"No," he replied, seeming mystified by my questioning. "We told the doctors to leave it alone, just in case."

I stepped forward. "Can I open the drawer?"

A grimace came from Officer Lubowski then. "I would really rather you not, but if you must."

Gabriel and I exchanged a glance. He nodded in encouragement. Together, we reached for the handle, pushed down, and pulled the full length of the drawer free from the wall, not stopping until the metal cogs caught the end.