Page 6 of Closer Than You Know (Vera Boyett #2)

Barrett’s Funeral Home

Washington Street, Fayetteville, 11:30 a.m.

Vera’s sister Eve was four years younger than her. She had been ecstatic when her parents brought her home. For Vera, having a little sister had been like having a real-life baby doll all her own. They had the same blond hair. Vera still wore hers long, while Eve preferred a short, spiky style. Same blue eyes. But the coloring was pretty much where the resemblances ended. Vera was taller, thinner. Bossier, Eve would say.

By the time Eve was around six years old, it had become very clear there were other differences. Eve was fascinated with the dead. Whether it was insects, animals, or humans, the child was drawn to anything no longer living. Not really in a bad way—at least not at first. Whenever they had come upon something dead—any sort of bug or bird or whatever—Eve insisted there be a proper burial, including a prayer.

Visits to funeral homes were not so different. Eve would spend more time at the deceased’s coffin than anyone else in attendance. More than once she was caught talking to the corpse. On one occasion she ended up asleep under a row of chairs in the viewing room, and a miscommunication between their parents and grandparents resulted in Eve being left at the funeral home. An attendant found her hours later, still asleep, except she was no longer on the floor under the chairs. Eve was in the coffin with the deceased.

It was no wonder, after years of failing at various jobs and a number of false starts in college, she ended up in mortuary school and then working at a funeral home.

Also not surprising that her best friend and girlfriend had the same occupation at a competing funeral home across town. Eve’s whole life, so to speak, revolved around the dead.

Vera took a breath and knocked on the door to the mortuary room. She hadn’t bothered asking in the office where her sister was. Eve spent her breaks, more often than not, right in this room where the dead were prepared.

The door opened, and Eve made a face behind the plastic shield protecting her from various types of body fluid splatter. “What’re you doing here?”

Judging by her expression and the obvious reluctance to have company, one would think something nefarious was going on in that room.

Eve sported the usual heavy-duty rubberlike apron over her scrubs, as well as plastic shoe covers over her sneakers. In addition, there were elbow-length gloves. Based on the attire Eve wore regularly, always scrubs and sneakers, black in color, she looked as if she worked at a hospital or a doctor’s office. But that was not the case at all. Eve had no desire to work with the living. Ever. She barely associated with those still breathing, including her sisters. Eve was the quintessential loner. The only breathing human she gravitated to was Suri.

Vera suppressed an eye roll. “We need to talk. Privately.” Which meant a mere phone call was out of the question. Cell phone records and transcripts were too easy to subpoena.

Eve did roll her eyes. “You need to suit up.”

Rather than argue, Vera stepped into the room and did as she was told while Eve walked back to the stainless steel table where her latest visitor waited. She didn’t like referring to the dead as corpses or using any other term generally associated with bodies. Instead, she called them visitors . She took great pride in preparing her visitors for their final soiree—the viewing and/or funeral.

Last, Vera slipped on shoe covers. While she adjusted her mask into place, she headed across the room. The female on the table was young. Painfully so. No one Vera recognized.

“What happened?” she asked as she took a position on the opposite side of the table from her sister.

“Car accident.” Eve carefully made an incision in the carotid artery and then another in the jugular vein. Once the incisions were made, an embalming fluid pump tube was placed in the artery and then a drain pump tube was placed in the jugular. While one drained the fluid from the vessels, the other pumped the disinfectant and preservative in. The whole preparation took only a short time.

“She looks”—Vera shrugged—“strangely good for an accident victim.” Beyond the bruising in the chest and abdomen area, anyway. No visible lacerations or mutilations. No twisted limbs.

“Internal injuries,” Eve said, confirming Vera’s assessment.

Once the machine was turned on and working as expected, they stepped away from the table. The distinct hum and occasional gurgling confirmed the ongoing process. Vera worked extra hard at not thinking about how those very fluids being replaced had until recently flowed freely inside this young woman, keeping her alive. A shudder quaked through her.

“What’s up?” Eve asked, her impatience showing.

Vera hesitated; her attention suddenly fixed on a tiny pinkish speck on her sister’s face mask.

Eve glared at her. “What?”

“You ...” Vera pointed to the speck. “You have something on your mask.”

“Why are you here?” Eve demanded, ignoring the speck.

“Okay.” Vera squared her shoulders and focused on her sister’s eyes, a mirror of her own. “Did you hear that Nolan Baker is the latest victim of the Time Thief?”

A line appeared between Eve’s brows. “No. I’ve been here since really early this morning.” She nodded toward the table. “She and her husband and her younger brother were all killed in the accident. The families want to have the funerals together.”

“Damn.” Vera grimaced. What a horrible tragedy for the families. “Anyway,” she explained, shaking off the thought, “Nolan was taken late last night.”

Eve barked a half laugh. “I’ll bet Boggie is all over you and Bent. You better find that guy alive and undamaged or—”

“I know,” Vera cut her off. “I’m not as worried about Nolan as I am about what I found in his apartment.”

Eve glanced at the progress across the room. “Okay, so what did you find?”

“Nolan had a voicemail on his landline from Teresa Russ.”

That line between her sister’s brows deepened. “The private investigator in Huntsville?”

“That’s the one. Evidently Nolan asked her about Norton Gates. The message gave me the impression that the two of them have been looking into his case.”

“Fuck me,” Eve muttered.

“Yeah,” Vera agreed. “Fuck us both.”

For years as a deputy chief in Memphis, Vera had carefully monitored her language even around her colleagues. Not that cops didn’t swear plenty, but her job had involved far too much politics. It was important to set the right example and to present the proper image. And although politicians were some of the biggest liars on the planet, they preferred more refined language during meetings. Since coming home, Vera had regressed to saying the first thing that popped into her head when she was with her sister ... or alone, for that matter.

So much for the new Vera she’d worked so hard to build after escaping this place.

Eve blew out a breath of frustration. “Maybe we’ll get lucky, and Nolan will—”

“Eve,” Vera cut her off again, “you don’t mean whatever you were about to say. Anyway, it was difficult to determine what either of them knows, based on that one-sided message. I’m guessing Nolan is trying to dig up some big break to boost his career. Which, in my opinion, might actually be why he’s missing right now.”

Her sister’s gaze narrowed. “You think this is a fake abduction for the attention.”

“Maybe. We can’t be certain of anything at this point, but if that’s the case and it comes out, anything he does in the future would be less than credible. That said, having him poking around in the Gates case could create a snowball effect by generating interest.” Vera scrubbed at her forehead. “Frankly, the part that worries me more is the idea that Teresa Russ is involved. We both know she isn’t one to give up.”

“Good point.” Eve searched Vera’s eyes. “What do we do?”

“ We ,” Vera said with emphasis, “do nothing. Let me sort this out. And don’t tell Suri.”

“But what if Russ calls her or comes to see her? She’ll find Suri’s name on those class-registration rolls the same way you did.”

Eve was right. “Okay.” Vera set her hands on her hips. “Tell her she shouldn’t talk about what happened between her and Gates to anyone. He was her professor for a couple of classes. End of story.”

This was the same story Suri had given Bent when he reviewed the class rosters for the final semesters Gates had taught before disappearing. There were some things Bent didn’t need to know. If Vera had her way, he never would.

Eve nodded. “Who knew that cave would turn into such a nightmare all these years later.”

“No kidding.”

Eve’s mouth dropped open. “I just remembered something you need to know.”

Vera’s stomach knotted. “I swear to God, if you tell me there’s another body hidden somewhere ...”

“No,” Eve griped. “I don’t kill people. Not on purpose, anyway.”

Vera drew in a big breath. She sure hoped Eve was telling her the truth. Just because she had no social skills and spent most of her time with the dead—preparing them and talking to them—didn’t mean she was a psychopath. Maybe. Probably.

“What do I need to know, then?”

“Rumor is”—Eve glanced around, her gaze resting a moment on the corpse a few feet away before returning to Vera—“that Nolan is gay.”

Vera made an exaggerated face. “So? This is not twenty years ago, Eve. Being gay is just being who you are.”

Eve executed another eye roll. “Seriously? Like I don’t know that. I’m gay. But this is Boggie’s only child we’re talking about. His mama was captain of the cheerleading team. Prom queen three years in a row. Having high school football star Carl Baker for a daddy doesn’t help either. Nolan cannot be gay and live in this town—not because of the town but because of his parents.”

There was that. “Okay, so how did you hear about this?”

“Suri and I saw them in a club in Nashville. They didn’t see us, so Nolan has no idea I know.”

“Maybe he was just playing the field,” Vera argued. “Stretching and exploring his boundaries.”

Eve shook her head, a goofy grin on her face. “No ... this was way more than that. Trust me, I know the difference.”

She supposed her sister would. It had been so long since Vera felt anything like that for another person, she might not recognize it when she saw it. Except maybe all those little feelings Bent elicited. She chased away the thought. Apparently having forty bearing down on her was really messing with her head.

“Who was this other person?”

“A big deal attorney from Huntsville, Liam Remington. His family’s firm is like one of the biggest in the Southeast.”

Remington. Vera had heard about the firm. They had huge signs all over the place. No one wrangled bigger settlements than the Remington firm, or so the billboards boasted.

“Liam is the younger of two sons,” Eve went on. “His father is some highly decorated retired military guy. His grandfather is a war hero too. They’re all part of the firm. Seriously hard-core conservative types. Nolan isn’t the only one keeping secrets about his sexuality.”

Vera couldn’t say she blamed either one. Sometimes family could be ... difficult .

“He might know what Nolan was up to,” Vera considered out loud.

Eve walked back to the table and checked on her work. “Couldn’t hurt to talk to him.”

Vera wandered in that direction. “Nolan hasn’t talked to you or Suri about Gates or the cave, has he? Recently or back during the investigation?”

“No way.” She shot Vera a look. “I would have told you.”

Probably true. But with Eve it was difficult to ever be completely certain.

“I guess I’m heading to Huntsville, then.”

If Bent managed to set up a meeting with Nolan’s colleagues, he would just have to go without her. She could follow up if he learned anything worth the trouble.

“If Bent calls,” she said to her sister, “tell him I was here with you at lunchtime.”

Eve nodded. “Be careful,” she warned. “I don’t trust lawyers.”

Vera laughed and gave her a little wave goodbye. No one trusted lawyers. Not if they were smart.