Page 69 of Cadaver Lab: Mind Over Murder

Wide-eyed, she glanced up at Liam. He nodded to her. She could see the hope peeking out from behind his usual poker face.

“So, this is going to sound crazy,” Liam began. “But what if I were to drive down to you with something. What are the chances this object could make its way into your duffle and onto that boat…and then over the side where it might sink into the Mariana Trench?”

Liam waited. So did Natalie as the silence stretched on.

Finally, Dean asked, “What might this object be?”

Liam shot Natalie a sideways glance, then said, “It’s just under twenty pounds. Metal. About the size of a funeral urn.”

After another hesitation, Dean said, “Walsh, I’m not saying no—yet. I’d just like to know. Am I disposing of a body for you?”

Liam hesitated just a beat. She understood why. This was a gray area. The brain in that lead vessel was, in fact, a body part.

She also understood the reason behind Dean’s question. Liam’s description had made it sound like it could be cremated human remains.

What she didn’t quite grasp was how calm Dean was while facing the possibility Liam might be asking him to ditch an urn filled with the ashes of a person where no one would ever find it.

This unfailing, unquestioning loyalty must be a military thing. Brothers-in-arms and all that. Or maybe Dean just thought Liam was doing a favor for a friend who’d passed and wanted to have his final resting place be the ocean.

“I didn’t murder anyone, if that’s what you’re asking,” Liam said with complete honesty even if it wasn’t the whole truth.

It was a good answer. Liam always was good at thinking on his feet. She nodded in approval.

Revealing the actual truth seemed out of the question in this situation, because what were the chances of Dean believing they had an evil brain ghost murdering the citizens of Mudville and the only way to save them all, and the rest of the world, was to ditch the brain in the deepest trench on earth? She had to guess the chances of Dean thinking Liam belonged in the psych ward were higher.

Finally after a tense couple of moments, Dean said, “All right. You get it down here, I’ll take it...and I’ll make sure it doesn’t come off the ship with me.”

She could see Liam’s relief as he let out a breath. “Thank you.”

Dean laughed. “Yeah, sure. No problem... I hope. And now you owe me one.”

Liam let out a short laugh of his own. “Buddy, I owe you more than one for this. Text me an address. I’ll let you know when I have an ETA.”

“I’ll be waiting… because I can’t wait to see this mysterious cargo I’ll be carrying.”

Dean should probably not be so anxious to get his hands on the vessel, because Natalie feared the cargo was likely to fight back.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Natalie tried, and even succeeded for a solid mile or so, before she could no longer hold it inside and blurted out, “I’m worried.”

With only one hand on the steering wheel in a relaxed pose Natalie couldn’t comprehend at a time like this, Liam glanced casually across the Jeep. “Why?”

“Why? This plan…” She shook her head. So many things could go wrong. Too many to list.

“The plan is perfect,” he countered.

Perfect wasn’t a word Natalie would use to describe anything about this situation. Obviously she was going to have to be more specific about all the ways this plan could go wrong.

“What if Dean thinks there are ashes in the vessel and opens it to like, you know, scatter them in the ocean? That’s what people do with ashes.”

“I’ll seal it with tape and put DO NOT OPEN on it.”

The cell phone, unplugged now but still sitting in the Jeep’s console, caught her gaze and her eyes widened as it raised another concern. “The cell phone batteries… Liam, we know it’s gathering energy. It drained all of our batteries at the meeting. What if the brain ghost is strong enough now to attack Dean or one of the other sailors on the ship? Or you, in the car on the drive down.”

Liam drew in a breath. “That is a valid concern. I agree. But I had an idea for that too.”

“Which is?”