Read The Dying Breath: A Forensic Mystery for Free Online

her internal gears shifting as she flipped into her scientific mode. “Do you know the manner of death?”
    “No idea. These guys keeled over and dropped dead in some restaurant. Boom—they were gone. Moore told me to tell you that this case is ‘sensitive.’ That translates to: keep it under the radar for now.”
    Lyric pulled at the edge of Cameryn’s sleeve. “Cammie, what’s going on?” she asked, at the same time as Justin fired his next question.
    “So, are you in?”
    “Of course I’m in.” Then, to Lyric, she whispered, “It’s forensic stuff. I’ve got to go.”
    “I’m sorry, Cammie,” Justin apologized. “I was hoping to keep you away from the stressful stuff and this is definitely not what I had in mind.”
    “No worries.” She tried to ignore the way her stomach wobbled when she thought about spending time alone with Justin. It was better this way, having a focus. It made her less nervous.
    The last of the departing students whirled past like confetti, blurring in the edge of her periphery. “I’ll go to the front office and check myself out. Where are you now?” Cameryn asked. She slid out of her chair and onto her feet, stacking her tray neatly on top of Lyric’s.
    “I’m out in front. Hurry, Cameryn. I’m already waiting.”

Chapter Four

    “YOU READY FOR this?” Justin asked.
    “Yeah. Are you?” Cameryn replied. The two of them climbed the cement steps of the Durango Medical Examiner’s Building. She’d never entered by the front before. Instead she and her father, in their station wagon hearse, had always arrived via the garage. Now as she and Justin stood side by side she studied their reflection shimmering in the glass door. With a start she realized how much he towered over her—a good eleven inches separated the top of her head from his.
    I look so young, she thought. Her dark hair, which hung past her mid back, made her look every bit the teenager she was. The blue Land’s End parka and faded jeans didn’t help. Instinctively she rocked slightly onto her toes, adding a modicum of height, which made her feel better somehow.
    “Just how short are you, anyway?”
    He must have seen her stretching. “Tall enough to cut up a body,” she replied.
    “Point taken.” Smiling, he pushed open the door and ushered her inside. That was how it had been the entire drive down—they’d kept it light, talking about the case and the urgency of Dr. Moore’s call. They both knew they had sailed into new waters, and yet Justin, thankfully, was giving her space . Still, there was an unspoken tide moving just beneath the surface. She could feel it in the way his gaze lingered on hers a beat longer than before, the way he let his hand graze against hers, his fingers light against her skin. He was holding back, waiting, watching for her “yes.”
    “You know, no matter how hard they scrub it, this place still reeks of death,” Justin whispered into the top of her head. “I’d rather smell your hair.”
    “You mean my dandruff shampoo.”
    “Ah, is that what it is?” He took in a deep whiff. “Nice.”
    “You like the smell of salicylic acid and selenium sulfide?”
    “You’re showing off, Cammie.”
    “Well, you did call me short.”
    “A mistake I will never make again,” he said. “You know too many big words.”
    “Right. Okay, Justin, you need to be serious. Two people are dead and we’re on duty. Focus.”
    “You want me to be serious?” Thrusting out his chin, he said, “I wish it was Kyle on that autopsy table. He’s the one who should be dead. But the universe isn’t always fair, is it?”
    “You worry too much about me,” she answered. Without thinking she laced her fingers through his, and she noticed the corner of his mouth bend up as he squeezed her hand, then released it. Without a word they walked on.
    The foyer had a ficus tree propped in a corner; the tips of its branches brushed her as she walked past. Justin was right—there was a smell, a