Chapter 2

"Are you sure? White lab coat, gold-rimmed glasses?"

Summer grabbed my collar, nearly choking me.

"Let go! I read bodies. I don't identify people!"

I slapped her hand away. "For five grand, there's no after-sales service."

"The department's new chief medical examiner, Stella, dresses exactly like that!"

Summer slammed a fist against the sink.

"Shit! She signed the victim’s death report!"

"What does that have to do with me?"

I yawned. "Take the body and get out. I'm off the clock."

The steel door clicked softly as it opened from the outside.

"Captain Hill, discussing a colleague behind her back in the middle of the night isn't exactly professional, is it?"

The woman's voice was gentle, carrying a hint of amusement.

I looked up.

A woman in a spotless white lab coat had strolled into the room.

Summer's entire body tensed. Her hand moved toward her holster. "Stella."

Stella didn't even look at her.

Instead, she walked straight toward me, her gaze sweeping over the pocket where I'd stashed the Rolex.

"Mark Hill?"

"Yeah," I met her eyes without backing down.

"I’ve heard so much about you. They say you have a very special pair of hands."

Stella smiled.

"The kind that can uncover secrets the dead can't tell?

"Half the department's cold cases were solved because of you."

"All just rumors. I stitch up corpses for a living.”

I took a step back, putting some distance between us.

Stella set a cup of coffee on the steel table.

"Two weeks ago, there was that traffic accident. You discovered that the brake line had been cut.

"And today, you found the gold hidden inside the wheelchair."

She leaned closer and lowered her voice.

"Being blinded by money can get you killed."

I looked at her and smiled.

"Maybe. But the people who get in the way of my money tend to die pretty miserably.

"What brings you here so late, Dr. McPhee?”

"Money."

Stella pulled out a check and slid it across the table. "One million dollars. No name attached."

Summer exploded. "Stella! You've got some nerve trying to bribe a witness right in front of me!"

Stella didn't even bat an eyelid.

"Captain Hill, accusations require evidence.

"I'm paying Mr. Thompson out of my own pocket to serve as a funeral consultant. Making an advance appointment isn't illegal, is it?"

She leaned closer to me, lowering her voice even further.

"Take the money and forget about that 'hallucination' you saw on Amelia Fernandez.

"Can you do that?"

I looked down at the check.

Six zeros, and the handwriting was clear.

"Mark! Don't you dare take it!"

Summer drew her gun and disengaged the safety.

I picked up the check between two fingers. Then, right in front of Summer, I folded it twice and tucked it into my collar.

"Dr. McPhee, now that's generous."

I grinned. "What was it I saw again?

"Oh yeah, it was a suicide. The victim stabbed herself with the ice pick.

"There was no one else at the scene.

"Captain Hill, don't accuse innocent people."

Summer trembled with rage, her gun still pointed at me.

"Mark, have you completely lost your mind over money? She's a murderer!"

"Shut up, broke girl."

I rolled my eyes. "One million buys half a lifetime's worth of integrity. If you can come up with two million, I'll be your witness right now."

Stella adjusted her glasses.

Though her smile was gentle, her eyes were cold.

"Mr. Thompson, you are every bit as smart as they say. Pleasure doing business with you."

She turned and headed for the door.

At the doorway, she paused.

"Oh, and Mr. Thompson, since your hands are worth a lot of money, take good care of them.

"If they get broken, or if you go blind, they won't be worth much anymore."

When the steel door closed, Summer kicked over a trash can.

"Mark! Do you have any idea what you're doing?

"That woman is insane! She's testing you!

"She kills people without blinking! Sooner or later, it'll be your turn!"

"I know."

I touched the check tucked inside my collar. The smile disappeared from my face, and my eyes turned cold.

"One million bought my silence. But all she bought was silence about this one corpse.

"Summer, want to arrest her?"

Summer's head snapped up. "What are you planning?"

"Bring me two million, and I'll help you nail her."

I stared at Summer. "Otherwise, I'll keep taking her money.

"When you're making deals with the devil, you stand with whoever pays more.”

"Goddamn it, Mark! One day, money's going to get you killed!"