His finger slid along her racing pulse. “And I will find out your secrets.”
She tugged her wrist free. Kept her spine straight and walked away. With every step, Chloe tried to ignore the fact that his words had sounded like a threat.
Chapter Nine
Ruben fanned his hand near Joel’s face.
Why the hell was the man doing that?
“Hot, isn’t it?” Ruben nodded. “Lots of tension there. Lots and lots.”
“Screw off.” He shoved open the exam room door.
“That seems like the response you’d give. You do have that whole I’m-intense-and-dangerous vibe going on. It also does seem to mesh with the type of man that Chloe usually attracts.”
“You do not know me well enough for this conversation.”
“True.” Ruben did an about-face and headed for the exam table. “Opened up the bag a bit more while you were trying not to kiss Chloe.”
“I wasn’t—”
“You can see the body a lot better now. Is there something in particular that you’re looking for?”
He had no freaking clue what he was looking for. “I’ll know it when I see it.”
Ruben laughed.
Joel frowned at him.
“Oh.” Ruben pursed his lips. “You were serious. That’s…um, not funny. Not a joke. I see.”
“Shouldn’t you have an assistant? Other staff members?”
“There are other staff members. They’ve gone for the day. It’s Friday, you know. Some people like to head out early and enjoy the weekend.” Voice lower, he said, “Some people…people like me, but, no, instead of being out there living my best life, here I am, being a good friend to Chloe. And hanging with the dead.”
Joel reached for the file that rested near the exam table. He thumbed through the notes.
“So…what kind of doctor are you?”
Joel glanced up.
“Were you,” Ruben corrected. “What kind of doctor were you?”
“A surgeon.”
“Ohhh…Someone must be good with his hands.” Ruben smirked.
Joel’s gaze flickered to his own hands. He was gripping the file, but for just a moment he could almost see—
The handle of a shovel. His hands tight around it—
“Shit,” he snapped and slammed down the file. This was not good.
“You think my work is shit?” Now Ruben’s voice was tight. All signs of amusement were gone from his face. “You’re wrong. I am the best medical examiner in the parish. If I wasn’t, do you think for one moment that Chloe would trust me? She sizes people up within five minutes of meeting them. She knows if you’ve got a drug addiction. A sex addiction. She knows if you cheat on your significant other or on taxes. She knows—”
Joel held up one hand. “You like to talk a lot, don’t you, Ruben?”
“I work with the dead. When new living people come by to visit, I get chatty. Sue me.”
Joel went back to scanning the file. “He suffered severe spinal cord injuries.”
“What kind of surgeon were you?” Ruben pushed.
He kept scanning. “Blunt trauma.”
“You were a blunt trauma surgeon? Can’t say I even knew one of those existed. Seems like a new specialty—” He broke off when Joel glanced up at him. “Right. Not funny. You’re not the joking type. Got it.” He coughed. “The blunt trauma the vic suffered was probably from a baseball bat. I’ll turn the body over, and you can take a look at the marks yourself. Though there are plenty of pictures in the files.”
He was looking at the pictures right then. “The injuries were centered in the upper spine, near the high cervical nerves?”
“Right. C1 to C8 took a battering. The worst of it was C1 to C4.”
Jesus. Based on what he was reading… “Paralysis.”
“Yes. If Mr. Adams had somehow survived the attack, he would have been paralyzed. Arms, hands, trunk, and legs. Based on the severity of his injuries, he would not have been able to control his own bowel or bladder movements.”
“He wouldn’t have even been able to breathe on his own,” Joel said, voice roughening. He slapped the file back down on the tray. Quickly pulled on gloves before he reached for Donnie’s left hand.
“What do you think happened to the ring?” Ruben leaned over the body. “Think the killer took it? I bet that’s what Chloe suspects. A souvenir.”
“You didn’t recover any tissue beneath the nails.”
“There was only dirt and grime beneath the victim’s nails. No DNA.”
Joel looked at the left arm. Then the right. “There are no defensive signs here. A guy this big, and he didn’t fight back? No. No, I don’t buy that.” He studied the bruises on the body. Scanned the notes again. “You note a skull