Page 23 of Homebody (The Long Road Home #21)

Chapter Twenty-Two

“ Y ou okay there, Tess?”

Tessa swallowed hard and nodded, hoping Liam didn’t notice as she braced one hand against the metal table behind her to remain upright. “Yeah. Fine.”

“Need the trash can?” Liam watched her closely. On alert. Looking poised to grab the receptacle at the first sight of vomit or catch her should she faint.

“I…I’m good. It’s just…” She swallowed again. “…not what I was expecting.”

He smiled. “What were you expecting?”

“Books. Desks. Computers. Monitors. Not… bodies.”

“That’s what I study. Cadavers.”

“Yes. But I thought any hands-on research you might be doing would just involve… brains.”

“Oh. Brains are in the fridge.” Liam hooked a thumb toward the back of the lab.

“And this? H-him?” Tessa asked, torn between staring and looking away as the complete cadaver of a man was laid out in front of her.

He was covered in clear plastic but he was visible enough to freak her out a bit. Make that more than a bit.

“Ah. Yeah. That’s Gabe. He was one of my first when I opened the lab a couple of years ago. I returned the other cadavers when I was through with them, but I keep him around.”

“Why?” she asked, horrified and fascinated at the same time.

Liam bobbed his head to the side. “Eh, he’s special.”

Again the question of why echoed through her mind but she didn’t voice it. Just nodded.

“So, what do you think? Are you able to handle this? You still want the job? Cadavers, brains and all?” Liam asked.

“Yes,” she rushed to say.

“Don’t want to think about it?”

“No.”

“It can get pretty intense around here sometimes,” Liam warned.

“I can handle it.”

“All right.” Liam smiled. “The job is yours. When can you start?”

“Is right now too soon?” she asked.

Liam laughed. “I like the enthusiasm, but I actually have plans with Natalie later so I can’t stay here long.

I’ll tell you what… I can set you up with your own log-in to the servers.

That’ll give you access to the research if you want to hang around here and get familiar with it.

It’s air-gapped though, meaning you’ll have to access the files from here only.

You can’t log in from your internet at home. ”

“Not a problem.” Definitely not a problem since she didn’t have internet in her apartment anyway.

“I know that level of security might sound excessive but…” Liam began.

“Not at all. You have to protect your research. I totally understand.”

He smiled again. “You do, don’t you? What exactly is your field of study?”

“Oh, I almost forgot.” Tessa reached into her bag and pulled out the copy of the resumé she’d printed out at the library. “Here.”

Liam took it and read over the bullet points on her CV. He let out a long low whistle.

“You’ve already got the job but if you hadn’t yet, you would now. This is impressive. I wish I’d gotten grades like yours when I was in school.” He glanced up at her now. “Which begs the question, what are you doing sweeping hair at Ruby’s?”

“Trying to pay my bills while finishing my thesis for my master’s degree,” she answered honestly.

“Understood. All righty. Well, let me get you that log in and you can get started.” Liam moved to sit in the desk chair in front of the nearest computer.

She moved to stand behind him, watching the screen anxiously. “Is your work with psilocybin on here?”

He twisted to glance at her. “Ah. So your interest is magic mushrooms, is it?”

Her eyes flashed wide in horror. Did he think she was only here for the free drugs? “Oh, no. Not for me. I mean I don’t take them… or any drugs. Legal or illegal. I’m just fascinated with the application for treating?—”

Liam held up one hand to stop her.

“Relax. I’m just teasing you. And yes. My research in psychedelics is on the server.

” After another few keystrokes and the quick scribble of a pen on a post-it note, Liam pushed the chair back and stood.

“There. You’re all set. I wrote your log-in info down.

You’re welcome to have at it. Stay as long as you want.

The door will lock behind you when you leave. ”

“Really? I can stay?” She hesitated, still not believing her luck.

“Yes, really.” He smiled.

Complete access to all his research. Amazing! And he trusted her in the lab alone.

Alone, except for the cadaver named Gabe.

A little shiver went down her spine. Was it colder in there or was she just freaked out?

In reality it was probably a little bit of both.

She’d get used to it. The brains in the fridge. The body by the front door. It would just take time.

With research like Liam’s she’d have plenty of distractions to keep her busy so she didn’t think about the dead body just feet away.

Her fingers were itching to get on that keyboard and log in. She sat in the chair he’d just vacated but paused to glance over her shoulder at him.

“Do you want me to text you when I leave later?” she asked. Probably much later if the treasure trove of information she suspected to find was there.

He shook his head. “Nah. I’ll know when you leave.”

“Oh. Okay. Thanks.”

Of course. He must have this place wired with cameras in addition to having his computers air gapped. She didn’t blame him. Groundbreaking discoveries were a hot commodity in the research field.

Liam glanced at his watch. “So I need to head out. You sure you’re going to be okay here alone?”

“Yup. Happy as a clam. Just me and the ghost of Gabe over there.” She giggled.

Liam froze. Like didn’t move a muscle, not even to breathe. Finally, one dark brow cocked up. He cleared his throat and said, “Ghost?”

Oh no. Now he thought she was a nut who believed in ghosts.

She forced out a short fake laugh and hoped he didn’t notice. “Just a little joke because, you know, I’m going to be here alone with your favorite cadaver over there. But you don’t have to worry. I don’t actually believe in ghosts. Just science.”

He laughed. A deep laugh that seemed to start in his belly and end at the crinkles around his eyes. “Yeah. I remember a time when I might have said those very words myself. All right. Text if you need me.”

With that, he made his way out the big heavy metal door. It slammed with a finality that reinforced that, joking aside, she really was locked in a room with a body. One that hopefully did not actually come with its own ghost.

But with Liam’s research literally at her fingertips, she honestly didn’t care if good old Gabe was a ghost standing behind her right now.

Drawing in a deep breath she laid her fingers on the keyboard and dove in.