Bailed Out (The Anna Albertini Files #2) - Rebecca Zanetti Page 0,64

Come on.” I led the way through the trees around the perimeter and the back of the funeral home building to the other side, where the back of the truck was already half in the loading dock. We crouched down again and tried to see what was happening.

Clark leaned over my shoulder. “Are those coffins?”

I ducked my head to see better. Two hefty-looking men were unloading coffins, and both Saber and Rich jumped in the truck to help. “I think so?” Why would Walker’s be accepting coffins at night? “They have a display room to buy them, but don’t you think this timing is odd?”

“Maybe not, but having Rich and Saber here is weird.” Clark brushed some leaves off his arm. “Though they might be helping their girlfriends.”

It didn’t feel right. In fact, seeing coffins unloaded by a couple of burly guys late at night felt downright creepy.

We watched for about thirty minutes, and then the truck loaded up and drove away. A little while later, the lights went off, and everyone returned to their vehicles. Rich carried a large box to place in Krissy’s trunk before jumping on his bike. Krissy followed him and shut the loading dock door.

“That’s why they brought the car,” Clark whispered.

I really wanted to see what was in that box. They all drove off, and silence descended again.

“What now?” Clark asked.

I took a deep breath and studied the person-sized door next to the loading dock one. “Now we go check out those coffins.” Swallowing rapidly, I trekked toward the building.

Chapter 23

To his credit, Clark didn’t argue. It kind of surprised me, but then again, when you saw coffins being unloaded at night, even a straitlaced guy like Clark had to be curious. I crouched at the door and twisted the knob. Locked. I sighed. Then I twisted it. It was an old lock, no doubt in place for years. “Here goes nothing. Again.” I reached for my license in my back pocket and slid it into the vertical crack between the door and the frame.

“Does that really work?” Clark whispered. His eyes glowed a light brown against his darker skin in the moonlight.

I pushed the card in further. “Yeah. I’ve done it before.”

“Great,” he muttered. “This is crazy.”

“Only if we get caught,” I said, realizing that this was crazy. Crap. We couldn’t do this. We were attorneys and officers of the court. “You’re right. Let’s get out of here.” I started to remove the license when a bang came from inside.

Clark jumped. “Oh no. Were there people in those coffins?”

Another bump and then the sound of something falling over came through the building. Panic seized me, and I bent the card toward the doorknob, slipping it under the slant-latch and forcing it back into the door. I twisted the knob, and the door opened. “Hello,” I yelled, running inside the loading area, which was empty.

Clark hurried after me. “If somebody is here, yell,” he bellowed.

Thank goodness he was with me for this.

I ran up the steps to another door, which opened easily to the display room illuminated by the moon through several windows. At the far end, several open coffins were already on display. The newly arrived ten or so coffins were stacked over to the right of the room. I hurried toward them. “They’re shrink wrapped.” I knocked loudly on the nearest one.

Nothing.

Clark went for the next one, which looked like a light hazel in the soft moonlight. He knocked gently. “Hello. Is there anybody inside? We’re here to help you.”

I held my breath, trying to listen for any sound.

He leaned over and pressed his ear to the top. “Hello?”

A bump echoed from an open door that I thought led to the reception and gathering area, and then a sleek black cat wound its way toward us.

Clark stood straight and then moved closer to me. “There’s a black cat in a fucking funeral home.”

It was the first time I’d heard him swear, and I had to bite back a laugh. The cat looked at us with bright green eyes. I shivered. So we’d heard a cat? That wasn’t justification for breaking and entering. We had to get out of there. “Um, we should probably—”

“I forgot to feed Romeo,” Krissy was saying clearly from the loading area. “Hey. I thought we locked this door.”

Clark grabbed my arm, his entire body going stiff.

I looked wildly around and jumped for a door right beyond the stacked coffins. “Here. Closet.” I opened it, dragged him inside, and