Chapter 11

Chapter

Eleven

KEIR

Shirlene Nelson hada beautiful spirit who watched everything that happened in the mortuary as I settled her inside the casket in front of me. Lake was preparing her for the viewing the next day instead of me, and truth be told? I was a little nervous.

My new guest was the first of three funerals we were hosting over the next few days. It was the beginning of a busy week.

Shirlene’s body had been ravaged by multiple forms of cancer, the worst of which had been bone. She was so frail that I’d had to use an entire box of safety pins to tailor the dress her family had brought for her funeral. I could see every bone as I dressed her, and it made me so sad.

Lake was in the supply closet where we’d set up a worktable to house the tools of her trade and allow her to have her own space. She was working on the new wig the family had brought for Shirlene to be styled the way the woman had worn her hair before she’d lost it due to the treatments she’d endured while fighting the disgusting disease.

The family had also supplied a photo of Shirlene pre-cancer, and Lake was doing her damnedest to replicate the woman’s look from back then.

“It’s amazing how much abuse the body can take before it gives up, isn’t it?”

I turned to my right where the healthy and smiling spirit of Shirlene sat at my desk chair. I was relieved she was embracing her new reality without the animosity many spirits who had suffered from similar diseases showed.

“Yes, Shirlene. It truly is a miracle. I’m Keir. Are you okay?”

She giggled a bit. “I am now. How do you do this every day?” She pointed toward where I was settling her body into the box, and the compassion on her face was beautiful.

I stopped tucking the blanket into the casket and turned to address her. “I hope to make everyone’s final appearance as beautiful as possible. Your family seeing you with a small smile will help them accept that you’re finally at peace. Your struggle and all your pain are over. Now, you can rest. If it lessens their grief for even a moment, then I’ve done my job.” It was the best answer I had to give.

“That’s really beautiful, Keir. I’m glad I don’t remember the pain. I suppose that’s the gift given to the dead. May I stick around and watch my funeral?”

“Yes, of course. Many do. I just ask that you don’t scare my assistant. Lake’s new to all of this. Her daughter is in remission from cancer, so helping prepare you for your funeral is hard on her.” Unlike Dash, I couldn’t see spirits’ auras to know if they were good or evil. My gut told me she wasn’t bad, but I’d been fooled before.

My phone chimed in my pocket, so I pulled it out to see a text from an unknown number.

Your husband is going to die. I’ll be there with a comforting shoulder, don’t you worry, beautiful.

What the hell?

“What’s wrong, Keir? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” I glanced at Shirlene to see a smile on her face, but not a maniacal one, thank goodness.

“Yeah, I get that a lot.”

We both laughed, but the fact remained. Shirlene hadn’t sent me that message as a joke. Someone was threatening my husband and, in turn, me.

I had to do whatever was necessary to stop them.

Lake wasin the mortuary applying Shirlene’s makeup with an expert hand. Since I wasn’t needed, I stepped out of the stainless door into the receiving bay to call Dean Lester about the threats. “This is Lieutenant Dean Lester of Sacramento PD CSI. Leave me a message. If this is an emergency, call 9-1-1 or dispatch.”

I felt foolish saying that someone was threatening us because I had no idea who it might be or why. Hell, for that matter, were we really even being threatened? Just because I’d gotten a text from an unknown number or because someone had played a prank with an order form for a casket company, did that mean we were in danger? Not necessarily.

I quickly ended the call and returned to the embalming suite to continue creating the program for Shirlene’s funeral. I focused all my attention on giving Shirlene a beautiful sendoff.

“Keir, can you come take a look?”

I glanced up to see Lake standing back from the casket. “Will you come take a look so I know if I did this right?”

Lake had bought theatrical makeup which provided better coverage for our guests than regular foundation. She’d explained to her instructor at the cosmetology school what her job entailed at the funeral home, and the woman had been kind enough to give her some private instruction on contouring and blending to give a more lifelike appearance to those who were definitely not.

I stood and walked to the casket, stopping beside Lake. Shirlene looked like the picture we’d been given. The eyeshadow was a soft pink that complemented the dress her grown daughter had dropped off and the small pearl earrings highlighted the look. Shirlene looked as if she was ready to go to lunch with some of her friends.

“She looks very good, Lake. You did a great job.”

I glanced at Shirlene’s spirit to see her pointing to her lips and shaking her head. “Maybe the lipstick needs to be toned down a bit?”

It was a bright berry color I was sure Shirlene had never worn a day in her life. I sorted through the lipstick shades, finally finding a subtle rose color and handing it to Lake.

“You are truly a nice man. I was testing your willingness to critique my work, and I am proud to say you passed with flying colors. Thank you.”

I turned to her. “You were testing me?”

Lake smiled. “I want to learn the right way, and if you tell me she looks fine and then change the lipstick behind my back, how will I ever learn? I truly want to be an asset to Dearly & Son, Keir.” She went about changing the lipstick, and then I helped her by lifting Shirlene’s torso so she could secure the wig.

Once I laid Shirlene back and adjusted the blanket, I glanced at her spirit and she winked. We closed the lid, and I wheeled Shirlene into the walk-in. The compressor cover wasn’t glowing, which was a relief.

I closed the door as the bell rang in the receiving bay. I took off my gloves and walked out the stainless door, opening the garage door to see Dean Lester standing there.

“You called? You didn’t leave a message.”

My face flushed. “Sorry. I hung up. I think I’m being paranoid.”

Dean chuckled. “We’re all a little paranoid sometimes, so tell me what’s going on. I’ve been meaning to call you guys. Jay’s been too busy on the job to go out for a beer, and I wondered how you were getting along.”

I chuckled. Jay wasn’t on the job—it was Beelzebub who was doing the job, and I was still worried about how that was going.

“Come on in. Let’s go grab something to drink.” He followed me through the receiving bay and into the mortuary. I noticed he didn’t look around much, which made me grin. He could face a person with a gun aimed at him, but the idea of accidentally seeing a dead body had him freaked out.

“Keir, I’m going to— Oh, hi.” I glanced toward the sound of her voice to see Lake standing in the doorway of the supply room, staring at the handsome guy next to me. She had taken her hair down from her usual piled-on-top-of-her-head style and put on some bright red lipstick, her signature color. She was a beautiful woman and a temptation to any straight man.

Lester stuck out his hand awkwardly. “Dean Lester.”

Lake blushed and glanced at me, tilting her head in his direction to signal for me to do the introductions. “Dean, this is my assistant, Lake Griner. Lake, Lieutenant Lester works for Sacramento PD’s Crime Scene Investigations Unit. Were you about to take off?”

“Oh, a crime scene investigator? That must be interesting work. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She shook the man’s hand, and for a moment, they both seemed to quit breathing.

Lester continued pumping her hand as he stared at her, and she didn’t take her eyes off him. I was a little stunned, as well.

“Uh, yeah. So, can you come in the morning about eight to give our guest a touch-up? The family viewing is at ten, and then it’s open to the public at eleven. Service is at one.”

Lake snapped out of whatever trance she was in, and Lester released her hand with a grin. He quickly reached into the pocket of his leather jacket and produced a business card, extending it to Lake.

“If you’d like to hear about some of the cases I’ve worked on, give me a call. Maybe I can take you out for dinner. I’m sure you have a few stories of your own.” I couldn’t miss the lust in his eyes, and as I was about to say something to him, Lake laughed.

“I’m not sure a police lieutenant would want to tarnish his reputation by being seen in public with a former stripper. Have a great day. Keir, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Without waiting for a response from either of us, Lake left through the receiving bay door.

“Let’s go upstairs to the office,” I suggested to Dean. He glanced at me as though he had forgotten I was there and then followed me to the stairs leading up to the funeral home.

“She married?”

“No, but she has a daughter who is a cancer survivor.”

“Dad in the picture?”

I opened the door to the funeral home and stepped inside, preparing myself for Lester to barrage me with a million questions. I was going to shut that down fast.

“I’m not sure. She doesn’t discuss her personal life with me. I guess if she calls you, you’ll get the chance to ask her those questions yourself.”

Dean was probably twenty-five years older than Lake, but it wasn’t my business to discourage him from pursuing her. If she was interested in him, who was I to poo-poo it?

“Yes, well, one can hope. So, what were you calling about?”

I sighed. “I had this crazy notion we were being threatened.” I went on to explain the stupid order form I found on my computer and the text I received from the unknown number.

“May I see your phone?”

I retrieved it from the pocket of my scrubs and unlocked it, handing it to Dean. He pushed a couple of buttons and took a picture of the screen before handing it back to me.

“I’ll get my guys on this immediately. You want me to have a crew come in and look around? See if we can get any random prints that don’t belong?”

I wanted to say there was no need, but with Lake coming into the mortuary more often, perhaps it wasn’t a bad idea. “If you don’t mind. I have a few funerals this week, but if they’d only be downstairs, I think it would help me worry less.”

“If you can’t be there with them, have Dash there to show us around. I’ll set it up for tomorrow afternoon after that funeral. We’d like to fingerprint anyone who might go down there in the course of their jobs, just so we can eliminate them. It’s just routine.” Dean sent off a message to someone, and then looked up. “Okay?”

“Yes, that’s great. I’m sure nothing will come of it, but I’d feel better knowing nobody broke in while we were on our honeymoon.”

Dean nodded. “Dash can show us the areas to concentrate our resources on, but hopefully, we won’t find anything. Did you happen to save the form you found on your computer?”

“No. I panicked and deleted it before anyone else saw it. I don’t want to scare my staff. Lake is new and still uncomfortable being in the mortuary alone. Seeing that form on the computer wouldn’t have helped at all.”

“I get it. I’ll have a computer tech come along. Those guys can find needles in haystacks.” Dean stood, so I did as well, walking around the desk to shake his hand.

“Thanks for following up, anyway, Dean. I appreciate it.”

The lieutenant studied me for a moment. “Encourage Lake to call me. She seems fascinating.”

Chuckling, I said, “Horn dog.”

Eh? Maybe I could put in a word?