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Across the street was a strip mall, and by the looks of it, it had fallen on hard times. The bad economy had hit King George pretty hard since most of our businesses were small and locally owned. Three of the four stores had For Rent signs in the windows. Only the Laundromat had survived. Nothing much else on the street had changed.
The funeral home brought in just enough income to keep the creditors at bay. There’d been a short time where I thought the FBI was going to shut it down for good, but they’d been satisfied to confiscate the funds they’d found in different offshore accounts once they’d cleared my name and decided I’d had no idea what my parents had been up to. They’d let me keep the funeral home, my family home and the cabin in the Poconos, since those were inherited properties left by my grandparents. I personally would’ve preferred they’d taken the ramshackle house and left me with the millions, but I hadn’t gotten a say in the matter.
Despite the name, Bloody Mary wasn’t overrun with deaths—violent or otherwise. So I spent more time doing crossword puzzles and watching reruns ofLaw and Orderthan I cared to admit.
Daylight was in full swing by the time I made my way into the Bloody Mary city limits. King George County was set up in a triangular grid that backed up to the Potomac River on one side and was hemmed in by the Rappahannock on the other. It was divided into four towns. Bloody Mary and King George Proper sat along the Potomac shoreline, and Newcastle and Nottingham were down below. The Square sat in the middle so parts of it were in each different city. There were only 19,000 people that made up the population, but sometimes it seemed awfully crowded.
I ignored the stares from those who were out early or heading into work. An empty school bus passed me, and I realized I’d completely lost track of what time of the year it was. I’d been living on autopilot, from one day to the next, going through my parents’ belongings and the documents I’d discovered. I hadn’t really been living these past months at all. Just trying to get through to the next day.
There was still too much winter left for spring to have made an appearance, but the weather would turn to warmer temperatures in the next week or two. I’d be glad for it. It seemed like I’d been cold for too long.
Jack’s cruiser was parked in the circular drive in front of the funeral home, and the ambulance had pulled underneath the metal portico attached to the side of the building. I’d learned from experience it wasn’t a good idea to traipse fresh corpses through the main lobby, so we always used the side door.
The door was larger than average and had a ramp that led directly into the private kitchen. And inside the kitchen was the reinforced steel door that led to the lab. The side door was propped open and they’d already wheeled the body inside by the time I got out of the Suburban.
Jack knew the code to get down to the lab, so I decided to stay out of the way for the moment—or maybe I was stalling—and instead went in through the front entrance. The temperature wasn’t much warmer on the inside. I’d had the electricity turned off before I’d left, but someone had turned it back on, and I could hear the low hum of the heater. That would have been Jack’s doing. The dark wood floors had been polished to a shine and the front foyer smelled of lemons and beeswax.
The first floor consisted of a chapel, two small family rooms and a large kitchen. A wide staircase sat in the middle of the foyer and led up to an open loft and balcony that was used to serve refreshments or light meals if the family requested them. Three private viewing rooms surrounded the loft, and then another set of stairs was hidden off a small hallway where the bathrooms were located. I hadn’t been up to the third floor in years, but if it was going to be my new home I’d have to get over the fact that sleeping in the same house with the dead had always creeped me out a little. Though the thought of sleeping in my old house creeped me out even more, so it was the lesser of two evils in this case.
“Thanks for opening it up for me and having it cleaned,” I said as I heard Jack’s footsteps come up behind me. “It makes it easier.”
“Yeah, well, if I’m being honest, it was Vaughn’s idea.”
I’d dated Vaughn for a few weeks in high school, but it was short-lived since he also discovered he was gay during the same few weeks. I’d already decided he made a much better friend thanboyfriend, but that was mostly just for my ego since it sounded better than me having the ability to turn men gay. He was just one of the gang now—me, Jack, Eddie, Dickie and Vaughn—the Five Musketeers. Jack and Eddie were the only two in the group who weren’t completely dysfunctional, but we didn’t hold it against them too much.
Jack cleared his throat. “You know he always thinks of that kind of stuff before the rest of us. Me and Eddie and Dickie just did what we were told. Vaughn thought it would be nice for you to come back to a place without dust and mice.”
“Mice?” I asked, whirling around to face him.
“Only a couple of little ones,” he said, holding up his thumb and forefinger to demonstrate. “The exterminator has already been out, and you should be vermin free. Even the third floor.”
“Oh,” I said, thinking of what else might be waiting for me on the third floor. “Thanks. To all of you.” The silence was only awkward for a moment.
“Come on,” Jack said, holding out his hand and waiting patiently for me to take it. I stared at it a few seconds and then reached out to take hold. I reminded myself it was only Jack and it kept the panic at bay.
“Come where?” I asked.
“Let’s go up and check it out.”
“You mean the third floor?”
“Yep.”
“The same third floor where my great-grandmother was pushed to her death?”
“The one and only. She probably won’t even haunt you, since you’re family and all.”
“Maybe it’s not such a good idea. Have I told you that none of the women in my family have lived past the age of fifty? My great-grandmother was only thirty-six.”
“Then you’ve got a few years in you yet. Besides, I’m not going to let anything happen to you. This is called facing your fears. You won’t lose all that tension in your shoulders until you do.”
“I’m pretty sure I won’t lose the tension in my shoulders until I’m six feet under,” I said, dragging my feet a little. “I need to get started on the body. There’s no need to do this now.”
“What are you, chicken?” Jack asked, makingbwakkingsounds until I felt the challenge of facing a dare surge through my blood. My feet took the stairs two at a time as Jack came up behind me. I’dneverbeen able to resist a dare.
“You’re so juvenile,” I said. “You making those ridiculous sounds is not the reason I’m doing this.”
“Sure it’s not,” he agreed.
