Flesh and Bone by Joseph Nassise

Author:Joseph Nassise [Nassise, Joseph]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harbinger Books
Published: 2018-10-15T04:00:00+00:00

"Where do you want them sent?" the ME's assistant asked, tapping his clipboard with his pen multiple times in the process.

Riley did his best to ignore the tapping as he fought to understand what the man was saying through the fog that was overwhelming him. "I'm sorry?" he finally asked, not sure he'd heard him correctly.

The other man sighed, as if all this was some big inconvenience, and Riley found himself clenching his fists to keep from ripping the clipboard out of the man's hands and beating him about the head with it. First it had been DiClementi, now the man's assistant. Was being an asshole a requirement for working here?

Easy Matt, he told himself.

"What funeral home do you want us to release the bodies to?"

Oh. Right. Funeral home. "Ah...I have no idea."

And he didn't. They'd only just moved here, after all. It wasn't like one went out and decided on a funeral parlor the same way you selected a doctor or dentist. Who they hell ever expected to need a funeral home?

Henderson must have seen the stricken look on Riley's face, for he took a step closer and said gently, "Charles Ladeaux, over on Fifth Street, is a good choice. He will treat your family properly and won't charge you an arm and a leg for it."

Riley glanced at him, nodded his thanks, and then turned back at the guy with the clipboard. "That's the one."

"Ladeaux and Sons?"

"Yeah."

"All right." He wrote something on his clipboard and then handed it to Riley. "Need your signature at the bottom."

Riley scrawled his name in the appropriate spot, not even looking at what he was signing, and then passed the clipboard back to the other man.

And with that, the formal identification process was over.

Henderson led him back through the warren of hallways to the stairs and up to street level. Standing outside in the afternoon sunlight, Riley felt more lost and alone than he'd ever felt before.

Henderson said something to him, but Riley missed it.

"Sorry?"

"I have a few minutes before I have to get back to the station. Do you need a ride over to the funeral home?"

No sense putting things off, he thought to himself.

"Yeah. Yeah, that'd be good, thanks."

Henderson drove him over to the funeral home and then left him to deal with the plethora of decisions that accompany the final deportment of a loved one.

The questions seemed endless - Burial or cremation? Type and color of the casket? How ornate did he want the interior decoration to be? Would there be a service? IF so, who would preside over it? Had an internment property already been purchased? If not, would he like help selecting one? Who would be handling the guest list for the funeral? The obituary notices? – and it didn't take long for Riley to become overwhelmed by it all. He opted for the simplest version of everything, knowing his loved ones were far from this world and seeing no need to spend money he didn't have on extravagances that no one, including him, would appreciate.

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