Read Online 1 Broken Hearted Ghoul by Joyce Lavene; Jim Lavene - Free Book Online

call was over. “I guess we can’t go home yet.”
     

Chapter Nine
     
    “Where did you get that name?”
    I’d thought Abe was upset before when we’d taken Mr. Welk’s body to the mortuary. Now he was beyond upset. His face was drawn up tight and hard. It was probably good that I couldn’t see his blank eyes behind the dark glasses.
    “I told you—we got it from the paramedics who took the call.” I didn’t know what he was looking for. It seemed that the name alone, Mary Gable, was enough to make him crazy.
    He grabbed the front of my T-shirt in his big hand, and brought me close to his face. He smelled of cloves, and some other spice I didn’t recognize. His mouth was a thin line, and his chin quivered with rage.
    Debbie made a small sound—as though she was afraid even though I was the one in his grasp. She took a step back, and stopped when she hit the wall.
    Abe seemed to realize that he was frightening her. His face relaxed at the same time as his grip on my shirt. “I apologize, Skye. I haven’t heard that name in a very long time.”
    I could see Brandon’s face over Abe’s shoulder. He looked as scared as Debbie sounded. He shook his head, and turned away. He knew better than to step up and defend anyone against Abe.
    Back to his usual calm demeanor, Abe smiled at Debbie. “I’ll have someone run you home. There’s no reason for you to linger.”
    She swallowed hard, screwing up her courage. “What about Skye?” Her voice came out a little squeaky, but understandable.
    I had to give her points for even daring to voice the thought. I knew it was because she didn’t know better, as Brandon did. Still, I could see by the look on her pretty face that she was terrified. She was braver than I’d given her credit for.
    As quickly as that, there was a knock at the back door to the mortuary. Rocky peeked inside. “You want me to take Debbie home?”
    “That’s right.” Abe took Debbie’s hand in his and gently kissed it. “As soon as I finish my discussion with Skye, she’ll be going home too. Don’t worry. Neither one of you did anything wrong today.”
    Debbie took a deep breath and smiled. “Thank you.” She turned to me. “I’ll talk to you later, Skye.”
    She left meekly enough to satisfy even the zombie master. I noticed she didn’t look back. She’d probably used up her store of courage for the day.
    When she was gone, I expected Abe to get all crazy again, but it seemed that had passed.
    “Come with us.” He waited for me to follow. He and Brandon went back into the cold room where the bodies were stored.
    I didn’t say anything. I waited for him to explain. This was so far beyond any crazy thing I’d seen on the street as a cop that it was like being a Pluto.
    “This man shouldn’t be dead,” Abe finally began.
    Duh.
    “Was there any blood at all at the scene?” He turned his darkly shaded eyes to me.
    “No. Not a drop.” I wondered why he hadn’t brought Martin in too. He was at the scene first. He might know more than I did.
    I was glad he hadn’t—I wanted to know what was up.
    “Who else was at the scene?”
    “The two paramedics who pronounced him, and Martin Cummings. You know him, right?” So much for keeping myself on a short leash with Abe.
    “Yes. I know him well.” Abe ignored my impudence, and looked back at the body of Mr. Welk. “Brandon, what is your opinion?”
    Brandon shrugged. “His heart was ripped out of his chest. I don’t see any tool marks. It’s sloppy. I’d say someone used their bare hands, maybe some claws, to do it.”
    “I concur.”
    “I’m not sure about the blood,” Brandon continued. “If it was a vampire, I guess that would make sense. But they don’t usually clean up after themselves, and there are no fang marks.”
    Vampire? I moved in closer. Were there vampires too?
    “What does that suggest to you?” Abe asked again.
    Brandon flicked a glance at me. “I’m not really sure. I’ve never seen anything