Page 1 of Cadaver Lab: Mind Over Murder

Chapter One

Despite the opinion of much of the Mudville community, Natalie Chase wasn’t delusional.

She knew that a naturally introverted, sometimes socially awkward, more plain Jane than femme fatale woman such as herself landing a man like Liam was pure luck. A fluke, at best.

However, as much as she didn’t want to complain about her tall, dark and handsome, brilliant boyfriend, he was far from perfect.

Former Army medic, current medical researcher, Doctor William Walsh was sometimes grumpy, often distracted and, when deep in his research, chronically late… such as tonight.

Which was why Natalie was, admittedly, stomping her way across the uneven ground and deadly train tracks between her apartment in the back of Once Upon a Vine Books & Wine and Liam’s research lab. Braving the chill of the autumn air and the darkness of the increasingly early sundown because he hadn’t answered her texts or her calls. All to remind her amazing, annoying, amazingly annoying boyfriend they had a social obligation tonight. And if he didn’t hurry they were going to be late. Very late.

She reached the door of the lab and punched in the key code.

As the lock beeped once and the green light illuminated, she flung the door wide.

She swept the lab with a gaze and landed on exactly the scene she’d expected—Liam along with the reason he was completely ignoring her.

Her competition for Liam’s attention was laid out bare on the metal table. Naked. Exposed. Not even covered by a sheet.

And there was Liam, rapt. Close enough for a lover’s kiss as he leaned low. Not over another woman. Oh, no. Natalie’s nemesis tonight was worse.

It was a fresh brain, because Liam’s mistress was research.

“Ah ha! I knew it,” she accused, hands on her hips.

Liam straightened and turned to frown at her. A familiar dazed expression clouded his ocean-colored eyes.

“What?” he asked, like a man who’d been startled awake from a deep sleep.

“You’re supposed to be at my place right now so we can walk over to the Rotary meeting together.”

He visibly deflated, making his six-foot-plus frame shrink, as if that would get him out of doing something she knew he didn’t want to do. For a hulk of a man—and boy oh boy, was he all man—Liam could be very childlike sometimes. Like now with his pouting about having to go to this meeting.

“Liam. You promised.”

One dark brow lifted. “No, Natalie. I believe you promised on my behalf.”

Two could play at this game.

She lifted a brow of her own. “Fine. If you don’t want the opportunity to present the importance of your research to a group that includes Mansion Bob, the local philanthropist whose foundation gives away one million dollars a year, I’m sure he can donate his money to someone else’s project.”

“With the way you and Harper keep calling the gentleman in question Mansion Bob, I’m pretty sure my chances for securing a research grant from his foundation are nil anyway.”

Natalie matched Liam’s scowl. “We would never say it to his face. And don’t change the subject.”

“I didn’t think I was…changing the subject,” he countered like a man who lived and died by the facts. Just the facts.

“Can you please just change your clothes so we can go?” Natalie begged.

She wasn’t a bastion of punctuality herself, but still, she hated walking into things late in this town. It was sure to earn her more than a few dirty looks from the locals.

“Change?” Liam glanced down at his outfit.

He wore pretty much the usual. The man had one look, with minimal variation. Jeans or khaki pants with a black Human Institute logo shirt, sized just small enough to show off the muscles that had helped win her heart…and a few other body parts.

“Why would I change?” he continued, looking perplexed.

She cringed and tried not to let her gaze stray to the disgusting organ on the table. “You’ve been handling brains in that outfit.”