Page 2 of Immortal by Morning (Argeneau #37)

A long pause followed. Abril knew her boss was hoping that guilt would move her to fill that silence with an offer to continue the weekend waterings, but that wasn’t happening.

She’d already done that for Gina for over six months now and it had been a pain in the ass.

An unpaid pain in the ass too, she thought with irritation.

She hadn’t minded at first because it was only supposed to be for a month or so before the renos started.

Unfortunately, the start date for that had got pushed back, and then got pushed back again, and then again.

Six months later they had finally started, but she was thoroughly over it.

House and dog sitting for Gina during the last of the renos, which her boss had escaped by flying off to warmer climes, was

the last of the favors she would do, and she was only doing that because she was being paid well for it. But after this she

was only working normal hours. There would be no more coming in on weekends to water the plants and oh-while-you’re-here-can-you

walk Lilith/run out and grab me groceries/pick up my dry cleaning, or anything else. Abril liked her boss, but that liking

would only stretch so far.

“Right, so the original plan of removing it stands,” Gina said when Abril remained silent. Not letting her respond, her boss

added, “I guess I should get off the phone. We’re going to do a little shopping before dinner.”

“Okay. Have fun,” Abril said.

“Will do,” Gina assured her. “You have my number if there are any more problems. Call if you need me, Abby.”

“I’m sure everything will go fine.”

“Famous last words,” Gina said with a laugh.

“Yeah, I’ll knock on wood,” Abril told her grimly.

“You do that. And call me if they find bodies or buried treasure in the indoor garden when they dig it up.”

“Bodies?” Abril asked with a disbelieving laugh.

“Yeah. Well, I’m still trying to figure out where William went. Months of dating and he just disappeared into thin air. Maybe

he fell into the garden and the ground swallowed him up.”

Abril hesitated, unsure what to say. She knew Gina had fallen hard and quickly for William.

And he’d seemed to be just as enamored. After months of dating, and another month of practically living at the house, the man had gone out for milk and never returned.

His sudden disappearing act had hit Gina hard.

It was why she’d arranged this trip with a couple of girlfriends, to get away, relax, and get over William.

It seemed that the getting over him part wasn’t working out so well. Not yet anyway.

“It’s a joke, Abs,” Gina said quietly, drawing Abril from her thoughts. “William can go hang for all I care.”

“He wasn’t good enough for you,” Abril blurted. “I mean he was cute and fit, but the guy was dumb as a stump.”

“Yeah,” Gina murmured wearily. “Anyway, I should get going. Make sure you send those contracts to Rutherford. I’ve already

started to work on ideas for those ads he wants and am eager to discuss them with him, but won’t do so until he signs on the

dotted line.”

“Already gone,” Abril assured her. “I sent them by courier last night. I’ll let you know as soon as he signs and sends them

back.”

“Thanks. You’re a star,” Gina said, some energy returning to her voice now that the subject was changed.

“That’s why you pay me the big bucks,” Abril teased.

“Yeah. Remind me to give you a raise when I get back.”

“Yeah, yeah. Go have fun,” Abby responded on a chuckle.

“I plan to,” Gina assured her, and then added, “Ciao.”

“Ciao,” Abril said with a smile and had started to pull the phone away from her ear when Gina suddenly cried out, “Oh, wait! I almost forgot what I was calling for in the first place.”

Eyebrows rising, Abril paused and said, “Yes?”

“I was calling to check on Lilith.”

“Ah.” Abril smiled, not at all surprised to hear that Gina was concerned about her baby. The woman doted on her pup like most

people did on their children.

“Is she okay? Is she eating well? Is she missing me?” Gina asked and Abril didn’t miss the note of hope in her voice.

“Yes, of course she’s missing you,” she said, glancing around now for the dog in question. “She starts barking and jumps up

to run to the door every time she hears a vehicle in the driveway, only to drag her butt back and flop down onto her bed when

it isn’t you but a courier, or the construction guys.”

“Aww,” Gina said, a smile in her voice. “Well, give her a cuddle from me and tell her Mommy loves her.”

“Will do,” Abril said absently, turning to peer around the empty front yard of the three-acre property when she didn’t spot

the Lab by the pond or anywhere else to the side of the hole and excavator.

“Have a good day. Talk to you tomorrow.”

“Mm-hmm,” Abril murmured and slid the phone into her pocket when the dial tone sounded telling her that Gina had hung up.

Fretting over whether she really had turned on the collar for the wireless fence as she’d meant to do, or had somehow done

it wrong leaving Lilith free to run off, Abril started toward the back of the house. She intended to check there for her before

panicking and widening her search to the neighborhood.

Rather than going all the way around the huge excavator, Abril took the lazy route, walking between it and the hole.

The path got narrow where the vehicle sat, and she reached for the large bucket to hold on to it as she made her way past, but her hand never made contact with the cool metal.

Before it could, the ground she was walking on suddenly gave way beneath her.

Fortunately, they hadn’t got far in digging out the foundation before the machine had broken down that morning. The hole was

about ten feet long and twenty feet wide, but only three or four feet deep. This was a good thing, Abril decided when she

came to a halt at the bottom of the pit. While the sudden fall was a shock and knocked the breath out of her, she wasn’t hurt

as far as she could tell.

Abril took a moment to regain her breath, and then blinked her eyes open when a bark preceded a wet tongue scraping across

her cheek. She’d found Lilith. Abril put out a hand to the eager dog to keep her from licking her again.

“Thank you. I’m okay, sweetie,” she murmured, petting the animal with one hand while urging her away with the other. “Let

me get up.”

Whether Lilith understood her words was debatable, but at least the Lab gave up trying to lick her to death.

Turning away, the dog trotted to the far side of the partially excavated area that was closest to the house.

Breathing out a sigh of relief, Abril struggled to her feet on the soft, uneven ground and tried to brush off the dirt now covering her coat and jeans.

Unfortunately, while the rain earlier had been brief, it had still managed to drop a lot of water.

It had turned the dirt to mud that was not brushing off.

Instead, it was smearing on her beige wool coat and faded blue jeans.

Cursing, Abril gave up trying to remove the muck and glanced around for Lilith. She relaxed when she saw that the dog was

busily digging in the dirt close to the wall.

“Helping the construction crew, Lilith?” Abril asked, looking around to try to find the best way to get out of the hole without

bringing more dirt down on herself. Where she’d fallen seemed like the best place to get out. The rest of the sides to the

hole were pretty straight up and down and closer to five feet than the three or four she’d first thought. Where the ground

had given way, however, the side was now sloped. It was also made up of soft, loose dirt. She could get out that way, but

suspected she’d have to basically crawl to do it.

Grimacing at the thought, Abril glanced to where the Lab was still digging. Slapping the side of her leg, she called, “Lilith,

come!”

Lilith did not come. She didn’t even glance around at the call. Abril scowled at the dog’s lack of obedience. The pup was

usually pretty good about listening and happy to follow her about, but right now she was ignoring her completely and continuing

to dig almost feverishly, something she had apparently been doing for some time. Her golden fur was drenched in dark earth;

on her paws, lower legs, and face. There were even a couple of splotches of it on her back.

Muttering under her breath about having to bathe disobedient pups, Abril slid her now cold hands into the pockets of her coat

to keep them warm, and headed over to collect the dog.

The construction had been planned to start last fall, the end of September to be exact.

The renos hadn’t started until the end of March.

Now it was the last week of April when the days fluctuated between warmish and cold and back.

Today was really cold, but not cold enough to freeze the muddy earth she was presently squelching through.

“Lilith! Stop and get over here!” Abril ordered more firmly, retrieving the leash from her pocket when she felt it in there.

When her latest command had no more effect than her others, Abril’s muttering changed to complaining about unruly puppies

who didn’t listen and made their humans traipse through nasty mud that was ruining their shoes. That carried her across the

remaining distance to Lilith.

“Bad puppy,” Abril growled as she bent to latch the leash to her collar. She’d tried to put a firm note into her voice, but

it obviously didn’t fool the dog into thinking she was no longer the pushover she usually was for the furball. When Abril

straightened and tried to tug the Lab away, Lilith resisted.

“For heaven’s sake, Lilith!” Abril said with exasperation, and yanked on the leash. “Come on. Let’s go inside. It’s cold out

here.” Not above bribery at this point, she tacked on, “I’ll give you a treat. Two treats even if—Holy shit,” Abril breathed

when Lilith suddenly stopped her digging to move closer to her, apparently ready to give up in exchange for the promised treats.

Now it was Abril who wasn’t leaving. She simply stood there, gaping with disbelief for several minutes.

It was the cold assaulting her feet as they sank into the mud far enough to allow the frigid slush to cover and seep into her shoes that finally drew her from her shock.

Breath leaving her on a gasp, Abril snatched the phone out of her pocket with a suddenly shaky hand.

She punched in 911 as she backed toward the edge of the hole, pulling Lilith with her.

The moment her call was answered and the operator asked what her emergency was, Abril cleared her throat and said, “There’s

a body in my boss’s garden.”

“Ma’am, did you say there’s a body in your boss’s garden?” the operator asked sounding shocked.

Abril couldn’t blame her. This was a small town on the outskirts of London in Ontario, Canada. Things like this just didn’t

happen here.

But apparently, they do after all , her mind pointed out as she stared at the skull now half-exposed in the dirt. Letting her breath out on a resigned gust

of air, she said, “I’m afraid so. Or a skeleton, I guess. At least the dog dug up a skull. Can you send someone out, please?”