Page 66 of Cadaver Lab: Mind Over Murder

Natalie scrubbed two hands over her face to chase away the remains of sleep. “It’s okay. I slept like crap anyway. And Gabe’s right. We need to get going on the plan... as soon as I drink that coffee and we come up with a plan, which we haven’t been able to do yet.”

Thinking this hard this early was exhausting. She flopped back against the pillow.

“Nope. No time to lounge. Get up,” Gabe demanded.

Natalie groaned. “So tired.”

“This will wake you up.” A rush of icy cold filled her head. She sat up again and pressed her warm palms to the freezing skin of her face. “Jeezus, what did you do to me?”

“Just a couple of gentle wake up slaps to the cheeks. Nothing you won’t recover from. But now that you’re up, the distance the ghosts can travel from their body’s resting place is exactly three and a half miles.”

She frowned. “How do you know exactly?”

“Alice helped us. She was able to determine the number of miles with her trike’s odometer… which she told us is a device that measures distance,” Millie explained adorably as if Natalie wouldn’t know what the was for.

“It was a long night. By the time we located and tested all the Mudville ghosts, it was like five in the morning. But it was worth it. Now we have our answer and you two can get moving on getting that thing out of Mudville,” Gabe said.

Ninety-year-old Alice, who’d just been released from the hospital herself, was out all night, while Natalie couldn’t even get out of bed. Apparently Alice had much more energy than Natalie.

“Gabe’s right. Coffee then get dressed,” Liam instructed when he returned from the kitchen. “We should get moving ASAP.”

Natalie stared at Liam in shock. “You’re agreeing with Gabe? Things are serious.”

“This is no time for jokes, Nat. Things really are serious. Like Code Red,” Gabe said.

Liam nodded in agreement.

Natalie let out a breath. “All right. I’ll get dressed.” She paused and glanced back at the approximate spot she guessed Gabe would be standing. She sent the empty place a glare. “No ghosts in the bathroom.”

“Jeez. I’m not some kind of perv,” Gabe said sounding insulted.

“Thank God for that,” Liam mumbled.

In nothing but the cotton shorts he’d taken to wearing to bed since ghost visits happened whether they wanted them to or not, Liam reached for his pants draped on the room’s chair.

“Millie, hide your eyes. I’m changing right here.”

“That’s it. We’re leaving,” Gabe said. Then there was silence.

Natalie assumed she and Liam were alone again. All she could do was assume now she was ghost blind.

The sad ache of the loss of her power twisted her gut again until she felt sick to her stomach. After what Letisha had told them, Natalie figured it was a feeling she was going to have to get used to.

Glancing up, she realized Liam was not only dressed but moving like a man on a mission. She frowned wondering what that mission was since he hadn’t shared anything with her.

He noticed her watching him as he stood from putting on his shoes. “You going to get dressed?”

“Yes. Are you going to tell me what the plan is? Where are we rushing to get to at the crack of dawn?”

Liam pressed his lips together then shook his head. “Not here.”

“Not here? Liam⁠—”

“Natalie. Please. Trust me. Just pull on some clothes. I’ll put your coffee in a travel mug.”

That begged the question, once again, where they were traveling to, which Liam was still refusing to answer.

“Will I be back in time to open the store?” she asked, glancing at the clock on the nightstand.