Page 31 of Immortal by Morning (Argeneau #37)

Abril woke up to the smell of something delicious in the air. Nose twitching, she sat up on the couch, her gaze automatically

Crispin had spread over her earlier and got to her feet.

It was almost time to feed Lilith. Actually, by the time she got the dog’s meal ready it would be dinnertime for the Labrador,

and then she’d need to take her outside for a potty break. A quick one though, because whatever was cooking smelled heavenly

and was making her hungry.

Wondering who among the men was cooking, she headed for the kitchen, petting Lilith’s head when the dog got up from where

she’d been sleeping on the carpet beside the couch and walked at her side.

Abril expected to find at least a couple of the men in the kitchen, so was surprised when she entered to find it empty.

Wondering where they’d got to, she moved immediately to the Keurig, sure that some caffeine would help her shake off the last of the sleepiness clinging to her.

It was as she waited for the machine to spit out her chosen coffee that she happened to glance outside and saw that was where the men were.

Well, at least five of them. Lucian, Bricker, Decker, Crispin, and Cassius were all out there working diligently away, digging up bones and placing them in large brown paper bags.

They weren’t doing it slowly and cautiously as the forensics team had worked.

They were actually moving incredibly quickly.

Almost unnaturally so, she thought with a small frown.

Biting her lip, she watched them for a moment, wondering where Roberts and the newcomer named Anders were, and then turned

to doctor her coffee as the machine finished spitting it out. Once done, she carried it with her as she walked to the sliding

glass doors.

“What’s happening?” she asked after opening the door.

Her question had all five men pausing to peer her way.

After a brief silence, Lucian turned to spear Crispin with a look. Abril suspected it was a silent order to answer her question.

It was unnecessary, Crispin was already straightening and heading toward the open door.

She thought he was just coming to speak to her through the opening.

It had never occurred to her that he would come inside.

The base of the hole they were all working in was more than five feet below the level of the door.

It would have been impossible for her to get up and in through the entrance.

However, he did so effortlessly, leaping up to step inside as if it was no more than a foot or so up.

Skittering back out of the way with surprise, Abril gaped at him as he closed the door.

“Wow,” she breathed when he finished the task and turned to her. “That was hella impressive.”

Crispin looked at first surprised, then chagrinned, and waved away her compliment as he muttered, “I used to do high jump

in school.”

“Oh. Right,” Abril murmured and then her gaze slid to the men working in the tent and she asked, “What happened to the forensics

team? Bill and those guys?”

“It was decided they were unnecessary. That it would save time if we collected the bones ourselves and sent them in for analysis

and DNA testing. Hopefully we can identify them without forensics,” he explained.

“But what about clues in the dirt and stuff? The forensics team was collecting the dirt around them in drums, in case there

was something there to—”

“They got what was needed,” he interrupted reassuringly.

Abril frowned. It didn’t sound right to her, but then, what did she know?

The only knowledge she had in this area was what she’d seen on TV shows.

These guys were the police, so should know better what had to be done.

Besides, the men would have the skeletons out in no time at the rate they were going.

While the forensics people had used small soft brushes to sweep the dirt away and gather it in little increments, Crispin’s coworkers were using large stiff bristle brooms to remove the dirt, then grabbing the bones and the tattered remains of their clothes as they were partially revealed and putting each set into a large paper bag.

They appeared to be using one bag per body and were labeling them, although only with numbers.

But then, what else could they label them with?

“Have they any idea yet how the victims died?” she asked as she noted that Cassius was writing a 4 or 9 on the bag he’d just finished filling and closed. Four, obviously, she told herself.

“How they died?” Crispin turned to peer out the window as if yearning to be out there with the men rather than inside answering

her questions. But this was important to her, so she persisted.

“I mean, I know they’re just bones, but I think I read somewhere that strangling someone crushes the hiatal or hyoid bone

or something. Then too, broken bones would show if they were beaten, as would gouges or nicks in the bones that could be signs

of stabbing or gunshot wounds,” she pointed out.

By the time she finished, Crispin was staring at her with a faint smile, and said, “You are very intelligent.”

Abril blushed at the compliment, and then waved it away. “No. I just watch a lot of crime shows on TV while doing paperwork

at night.”

“You take work home and do it on your own time?” Crispin’s voice was heavy with disapproval.

“Now you sound like Barb,” she said, smiling faintly as she thought of the restaurant owner who had pretty much adopted her

after she’d run away from home at almost sixteen. Smile widening, she told him, “She’s constantly giving me hell for working

long hours past what I’m being paid for. She says I’m letting Gina take advantage of me.”

“I agree with her,” Crispin said firmly. “Everyone needs time to themselves to relax. It is important for your health. Gina should not be taking advantage of you that way.”

Abril clucked her tongue with irritation and shook her head. “Gina doesn’t order me to work after hours. In fact, if anything

she’s constantly trying to send me home early to go chill when we aren’t busy,” she assured him, and then added, “But in return,

when we are busy and I don’t get everything that I need to get done during work hours, I do take work home and do it there.

But it’s my choice.”

Crispin didn’t look pleased, but didn’t argue the matter further, and instead said, “We will be able to identify most of them.

Several had wallets or purses nearby with IDs. Many who did not bore past injuries that might help give them names. One of

the skeletons had an obviously broken, but healed, ankle. One had their arm broken in the past, but it too was healed. There

are screws in the hip of one victim, which will definitely ID them, but there was not really anything on any of them to tell

us how they died.”

Abril’s lips pursed with dissatisfaction. It would’ve been nice for them to have been able to tell how the people died, but

she supposed that was a lot to hope for. Sighing, she pointed out, “So, they could have been shot or stabbed in spots that

would damage organs, but not bones. Or they could have been suffocated instead of choked. Or they could have been poisoned

or drowned...” She shook her head helplessly, her mind coming up blank on any other ways a person could be murdered without

leaving signs on their bones. There were probably a ton of them, though.

Crispin nodded agreement, but his gaze was wandering to the sliding glass doors again, and she wasn’t surprised when he said, “We should not need more than another twenty minutes or so to get the rest of the bodies out of the ground.” Turning back, he offered her a smile and continued, “Supper should be ready by then. In the meantime, you just sit down, relax, and enjoy your coffee.”

Before Abril could ask him what dinner was, he was pressing a quick kiss to her forehead and saying, “I should get back out

there to help. We have bagged nine bodies so far, but every time we remove one, we seem to uncover another beneath it.”

“Nine?” Abril asked with horror. It had been bad enough at three or four, but nine? That was the size of a bloody baseball

team. Gina was not going to be happy when she found out about this. In fact, she might very well decide she wasn’t living

in a house where mass murder had taken place, and sell.

Abril almost groaned at the thought, because it would mean she would be the one getting the Realtor in, preparing the house

for sale, going through tons of new houses to get a short list of ones Gina would like, then touring them herself, before

Gina went out with her to see the best of the best and waiting forever for the woman to choose a house to move to. It had

been a nightmare buying this place last summer. She was not happy at the prospect of having to go through it again.

The sound of the door closing caught her attention, and she glanced out to see Crispin crossing back to where he’d been when

she’d first seen him out there.

And she hadn’t got to ask what was for dinner, Abril thought with a cross between annoyance and amusement.

Deciding she’d find out for herself, she walked back to the built-in double ovens in the wall across from the far end of the island.

She had felt the heat coming from them as she’d passed on the way to the coffee machine earlier, so knew that was where the smell was coming from.

The dials for both the upper and the lower ovens were on. She started with the lower oven, inhaling deeply of the lovely scents

that immediately poured out at her along with the heat when she tugged the door open.

“Oh my,” she murmured with pleasure as she peered in at the contents. Three nine- by thirteen-inch ceramic baking dishes were

inside. Each of them was filled to the brim with lasagna, the cheese on top bubbling, and beginning to turn golden.

Smiling, Abril closed that oven and next opened the upper oven door. She’d expected foil-wrapped loaves of garlic bread to

go with the lasagna, so her eyes widened incredulously when she found two more large baking dishes of lasagna there.

Good Lord, had they invited the entire neighborhood for dinner? Probably not, she acknowledged as she closed the door. But

they must be expecting some company for dinner. There was no way they could imagine that seven men and one woman would eat five large lasagnas in one

sitting. That was just crazy.

Shaking her head at the thought, Abril carried her coffee over to the island and sat down. She was debating turning on the

TV to pass the time while she waited when her gaze fell on the digital clock that sat on the shelf below the TV. It was 5:50.

Lilith’s dinnertime was always six o’clock.

This thought had her glancing around for the dog.

She would’ve expected the Lab to be sitting, staring out the sliding doors at the men digging up her treasured bones.

She had been lying on the living room floor next to her when she woke up from her nap.

Abril knew the dog had started to follow her when she’d headed into the kitchen, but wasn’t sure where she’d got to since then.

Deciding it would be a good idea to find that out, she stood and headed out of the kitchen to search for Lilith.

Abril took a sip of coffee, her eyes sliding to the remote control by her hand. She briefly considered turning the television

on to fill the silence in the house, which made her glance at the clock to see what would be available on the idiot box. It

was 5:58. So, mostly just news. Which they should really call bad news, she thought, because they never had anything good

to say on the news shows. Other than that, there would only be reruns of old sitcoms. None of which interested her. Besides

she would have to feed Lilith soon.

The thought made her glance around for the Lab, wondering where she had got to. She was pretty sure Lilith had come into the

kitchen with her after her nap, but the dog was now nowhere to be seen. Afraid of what she might be chewing on or getting

into on her own, Abril stood and headed out of the kitchen to search for her.