Easier.
“Where were you?” I asked.
“Florida. Spring break. Pretty sure the timing wasn’t a coincidence.”
Lights from distant neighborhoods twinkled on the horizon. No light shone from the windows of the campus buildings. The college was deserted and creepy with all the students gone. I walked a little closer to Michael.
“No wonder everybody heads to the beach instead of staying in the mountains over spring vacation. Why didn’t we think of bringing a scraper?” He ran his hand across the layer of ice on the windshield before opening the car door for me. I put on my seat belt as he slid in and started the engine, jumping when alternative rock poured from the speakers.
He turned the radio down and scanned the parking lot to see if we had drawn attention to ourselves. It appeared as empty and desolate as it was two minutes ago. And as spooky.
Five minutes later Michael parked behind the science department.
“I’m going to go get John Doe. Sit tight.” He opened his car door before I could protest.
I followed him to the back entrance. We hadn’t talked about this part of the trip. “Hold on,” I argued in a whisper. “There’s no way you can get the body out of the building and into the car by yourself.”
“Sure I can.” He frowned at me as he sorted through the keys in his hand. “I know how freaked out you were when you heard about the cadaver. I’m not going to ask you to help me carry it.”
“No, because you don’t have to ask. We’re a team, right?” I held up my hand for a fist bump.
“Em—”
“Right?” I said, knowing we didn’t have time to fight about it. Michael knew it, too.
He gave me a fist bump back and we headed into the building.
Fifteen minutes after we retrieved the cadaver—Michael wrapped it up before I could see anything, and then assigned me the feet end to carry—he stopped the car in front of the gate to the Hourglass. It was closed.
“That gate’s never closed. This means we’re going to have to approach from a little farther away than I wanted.” He pulled off onto the side of the road before killing the headlights and enveloping us in darkness. I started to open my car door, but he stopped me. “I want you to stay here.”
My mouth dropped open. “What?”
“I think it would be a good idea if you stayed with the car.”
I turned to face him, even though it was pitch-black. “You’ve lost your mind.”
“I’ve been thinking about this. You did what I needed you to do by getting me back here. You could just wait, leave the car running—”
“Shut up. I’m serious, Michael.” I would not back down. “Shut your mouth. Why do you keep leaving me out of the equation? If you think for one second I’m going to let you go to that lab by yourself, you’re as crazy as I am. Sorry, as crazy as I thought I was. No way.”
He tried again. “But—”
“No. You can’t make me stay here. Do you want me to lie to you and tell you I will? Knowing I’ll just follow you? All by myself? Alone and unprotected?”
He sighed in defeat. “Why won’t you let me keep you safe?”
“I don’t need a hero, Michael. I thought you recognized that I can handle myself.”
“It’s different this time. The stakes are life and death. I got you into this, and the least I can do is make sure you get out of it in one piece.”
“I made the decision to help you all by myself. I know you have my back. And I have yours.”
Michael reached out, wrapping his hand around the back of my neck and pulling me fiercely to his chest. “I’m scared to death. If I were by myself, I think I’d be fearless. But not with you beside me.”
“Good. Because fearless is stupid.”
“I’d retract that statement. You’re one of the most fearless humans I’ve ever met.”
I grunted. “Get out of the damn car.”
We shut our doors quietly, and he tossed me the keys. I tucked them into my jacket pocket and zipped it up. The trees were covered in ice, making the grounds look like some kind of magical forest, entirely too enchanting to be the scene of a murder. I shuddered.
“Cold?” Michael whispered, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.
“No.”
He gave me a little squeeze. “We’ll go around back. I want to see which cars are in the parking lot.”
“Why?”
“I just want to know if Landers is on site. I won’t do anything about it.”
Like I believed that. I looked at him, knowing my eyes were full of doubt.
“I’ll try not to do anything?”
At least he was honest.
“What about John Doe?” I jerked my thumb in the direction of the trunk.
“The fire started around midnight. We’ll have time to come back and get him. It’s not a good idea to drag a dead guy across the lawn until we know what’s going on anyway.”
My nostrils flared. “Gross.”
“Sorry.” He stomped his feet and put his hands in his pockets. “We need to move.”
Frozen grass crunched beneath our feet as we walked, the sound echoing into the clear night air. We crossed the stretch of lawn quickly, our footsteps quieting when we reached the cover of the trees and the pine needles beneath them. I watched Michael scan over the cars in the parking area, as if he were looking for one in particular.
“Any clues?” I asked.
“It’s there.”
We continued, practically retracing the steps I made when I visited the Hourglass the first time. After watching from the woods for a few moments, we scrambled across the lawn toward the house to press ourselves against the bricks.
Michael put his hand on my shoulder and whispered, “Last chance. Are you sure?”
I gave him an inappropriate finger gesture, and he swallowed a laugh.
We dropped to the ground, crawling along the side of the house and then scampering across the patio where Michael and Kaleb had talked about me. Steam rose from the pool, creating a mist above us.
Once we rounded the back corner of the house, I was in unfamiliar territory. It was darker than it had been the night when I spied on Kaleb and Michael, and the patio porch lights weren’t on. The only light came from the pool.
I put my faith in Michael, dropping back to follow him as he darted from outbuilding to outbuilding. The terror that someone would see us—ruin our plan to save Liam or keep us from traveling back to the present—made my knees weak and my throat dry. By the time we reached the last outbuilding I was breathless, and not from running.
This building was the only one that showed any sign of occupation. It greatly resembled a horse barn and was stained what looked to be a dark red. A rooster weather vane creaked on the top, straining against the slight wind.
I didn’t remember seeing it when I was here before. I realized I hadn’t, because it hadn’t been there.
The lab.
Chapter 43
I’m going in first,” Michael whispered. “Liam doesn’t know you, and I’m not taking any chances on freaking him out. Duck down by that tree to the left. The little building beside it is an old storage shed, but it’s empty. No one ever goes in because the floor is rotted through, so no one will be inside to see you. You should be fine until I call for you. Can you do any nature sounds, birdcalls?”