The Demon Trappers: Foretold (23 page)

Riley broke open the first-aid kit. While she dealt with the wound, Beck pointed to the rifle near his duffle bag. ‘Got somethin’ for you, Donovan,’ he said. ‘It’s
Nate’s. I recognized it right off.’

The sheriff inspected it. ‘Where’d you find it?’

‘Over near that other tree,’ Beck said, angling with his head. ‘McGovern was headed this way before the demon caught up with him. I think Nate and Brad are here
somewheres.’

‘You didn’t tell me that,’ Riley protested.

‘I didn’t want to spook you,’ he replied.

Donovan crossed the space and then began to sweep away the leaves and debris with the tip of the rifle.

With Beck’s foot properly bandaged, Riley carefully eased the sock back on, then his boot. He laced it loosely, watching Donovan out of the corner of his eye. The sheriff knelt, dug around
in the dirt and unearthed something white. He studied for the object a moment, then held it up. It was a bone, possibly a rib.

‘Sweet Jesus,’ Beck murmured.
The demon was right.

Simon crossed himself.

‘I wonder which one of the boys it is,’ Donovan said as he returned the bone to where he’d found it, then covered it over with leaves. ‘I’ll call the forensic team.
They’re going to love this location.’

Beck limped to his feet with Riley’s help. ‘Get me out of here,’ he said, suddenly more emotional than he cared to be. Nate and Brad hadn’t been good to him, but they
deserved better than to die out in the middle of nowhere.

As Ray helped him down the path, Beck paused long enough to look back.

Rest in peace, guys. Sorry I wasn’t there for ya.

Though Riley really wanted a nap on the way back, she was treated to a euphoric Beck who was surfing the
I can’t believe I’m alive!
wave.

‘This is the third time this swamp has tried to kill me,’ he announced, triumphant. ‘Still it’s a glorious place, isn’t it?’ He pointed towards the far bank.
‘I mean, look at those yellow flowers. They’re so pretty.’

They were pretty now that Riley wasn’t fearing for his life.

‘You know, maybe someday I’ll come back here and take a canoe through the place. Stay overnight at one of the shelters. You could come with me. Just the two of us.’

Riley wisely didn’t reply.

When the boat abruptly slowed, Riley woke to find herself covered in a blanket, her head on Beck’s lap. He was sound asleep and she nudged him awake.

She slowly sat up and then stretched, her muscles weighing in one by one. In the distance she could see the dock along with news vans and one familiar redhead.
Justine.
Somehow the
alligators hadn’t eaten her.

Donovan and Simon’s boat docked first and quickly unloaded. Once Ray had pulled their boat up to the shore, the sheriff offered Beck a hand to help him out.

‘Best not to say what happened out there,’ he said in a lowered tone. ‘Don’t worry, your story will be heard.’

‘Just as long as it is.’ Beck hobbled up the concrete ramp, then stopped, eyeing the ambulance. ‘I’m guessin’ that’s for me.’

‘Sure is,’ the sheriff said. ‘Once you’re done at the hospital we’ll take your statement at the office.’ He looked back at Riley. ‘You can pick him up
there in a few hours.’

‘Will do.’ That’d give her time to have a shower and maybe a longer nap. Then it’d just be the two of them. She wanted nothing more than for her and Beck to curl up
together and the rest of the world to leave them alone.

‘Where ya been, Denny?’ someone called out. ‘Been playing with those dead boys’ bones?’

Beck bunched his fists but kept walking, the sheriff by his side.

A reporter got in their way. ‘Is he under arrest? Mr Beck, tell us what happened out there.’

Donovan pushed him aside. ‘No comment.’

By the time Riley reached the top of the ramp, the centre of everyone’s attention was in the back of the ambulance. Beck gave her a nod, then lay on the stretcher. The doors swung
closed.

As if on cue, the crowd’s attention turned towards Riley. Two reporters were in her face and there was the constant click of camera shutters. To her surprise, Justine wasn’t in the
fray, but stood some distance away, as if she was above such juvenile drama.

As Riley and Simon climbed into the pickup, questions flew, along with catcalls and ribald comments about what she and the wounded trapper had been doing in the swamp.

‘How can they say things like that?’ she demanded, slamming the passenger door.

‘Because they’re idiots.’ Simon made sure the truck spun sand and gravel out of the parking lot, raising a cloud of dust that swirled around the knot of reporters, causing them
to cough and shield their eyes.

Riley grinned and gave her fellow trapper a double thumbs up. ‘That was awesome!’

‘I didn’t do anything,’ he said, but there was rare mischief in his eyes. ‘I’m not used to driving a truck.’

Riiight . . .

As they neared town, Simon updated her on the phone call he’d made to Atlanta on the way back to Kingfisher Landing.

‘Since we found Beck, Harper wants me back home tonight. I called Sam and she can take me to the bus station after I grab my stuff at the motel.’

Maybe he wasn’t finding Donovan’s niece too much of a flirt after all.

‘Why do they want you back so soon?’
Please tell me there are no more zombie demons.

‘Harper needs every trapper he can find what with all the calls coming in. The hunters left yesterday so it’s all on the Guild now and there aren’t that many of us
left.’

Riley felt a twinge of regret. Though she held mixed feelings about the Vatican’s team, she had wanted to say goodbye to a couple of them.

‘I don’t get it,’ she said. ‘Why didn’t Rome just tell everyone what really happened at the cemetery? How close we came to the end? Maybe then we’d all get a
clue and start doing things right.’

‘Because not everyone is happy that the world didn’t end.’

‘What? It would be a horrific thing. Zillions of people would die. Who would want that?’

‘It depends on what you believe. If you’re looking forward to the Rapture and being summoned to Heaven, then you’d be disappointed when it didn’t happen and may be angry
at the one who stopped it.’

That would be me.
‘Are you . . . angry?’ she asked.

A frown creased Simon’s brow. ‘I’m not sure,’ he admitted. ‘A month ago I would have been. Now?’ He gave a half shrug. ‘I’ve learned that nothing
is that clear cut. The End of the World I believe in might not be the one that actually happens.’

Amen.

By the time Riley had finished her shower and dressed in fresh clothes, Simon was packed and waiting to say goodbye. In the past she would have given him a kiss, but
she’d not forgiven him enough for that intimacy. She could still could feel the Holy Water soaking into her clothes, hear his furious accusations, and that betrayal had cut deep.

Hell had drawn first blood from both of them.

Still she owed him something. ‘Thank you, Simon. You saved my life the other night.’

He seemed troubled at Riley’s gratitude, which confused her.

‘It’s not that simple,’ he replied.

He crossed to Sam’s car and hopped in like he was eager to escape. With a wave Sam drove away.

Now you’re weird again. What is it with this guy?

Riley’s plan to swoop in and collect Beck from the sheriff’s office was foiled by the one woman she’d hoped she’d never see again: Justine. Sitting at
one of the deputy’s desks, the stick chick was in full reporter mode, notebook and digital recorder in full view. Beck sat nearby, a cup of coffee in his hand, his sore leg propped up in the
seat of another chair. Someone had found him some clean clothes, as he was in a pair of sweat pants and a white cotton T-shirt now. Above all, he appeared at ease, as if Justine no longer posed a
threat.

Riley’s resentment immediately stirred from its fitful slumber. What was it about this woman that pushed every single one of her buttons? Though she worked hard to keep her expression
neutral, when Beck caught her eye he smiled, as if he knew what was going on inside her head.

Yeah, I’m jealous. Just deal.

Riley noted that his tone wasn’t friendly, but measured, and he answered Justine’s questions crisply and without any extra words, like he was testifying in court.

Grudgingly, she shoved the Jealousy beast back into its cage and slammed the door, denying it the power it craved to ruin her life.

‘I’ll wait outside until you’re done,’ she said.

Justine’s emerald eyes appraised her. ‘This will take some time. I’ll drive him to wherever he wishes to go once we’ve finished our interview.’

The beast howled in torment, rattling the cage’s steel bars, wanting to rend and maim.

‘That work for you, Beck?’ Riley asked, her jaw so tight it was difficult to speak. When he nodded, she left the pair of them behind before she did something stupid.

The instant she was in his truck, she pounded the steering wheel much like he often did, and then glowered at the building.

I go all the way into the damned swamp and save his butt, and then she swoops in . . .

How long would the interview take? When it was done, would they go for drinks and then . . .

The jealous howls in her mind grew frantic and only tapered to a petulant whine when she finally reached the motel.

Ninety-eight minutes later Justine delivered Beck to the motel. Not that Riley was counting or anything. There was some brief conversation outside Beck’s room, which
Riley couldn’t really hear. Instead her caged beast helpfully filled in the details.

Beck: Let me ditch the kid. Then we’ll knock boots until dawn, baby.

Justine: Oh, Beck, you’re such a stud.

Riley thumped her forehead with the palm of her hand to stop the jealousy soundtrack. In reality it was probably more like:

Beck: Ya’ve had yer damned interview, now we’re done. Hit the road.

Justine: (Pouts) . . .

The door to Beck’s room opened and then closed. The first stop was the bathroom, then he hobbled into her room, aided by a cane.

‘Washing off her lipstick?’ Riley asked before she could stop herself.

‘Yup. Didn’t want you to get jealous or anythin’,’ he shot back. Then he sank on the end of the bed. The medicine they’d used on his bug bites bled through the
cotton T-shirt in little blue splotches.

‘Donovan found another undertaker willin’ to handle Sadie’s funeral. It’ll be two days from now.’

Which meant Riley needed to finish cleaning the house and get all that fingerprint dust out of the truck before then.

Beck continued, oblivious to her mental list-making. ‘Donovan’s having a press conference tonight. He’s gonna lay it all out so folks know who’s to blame.’ Beck
cleared his throat like he was going to say something more, then shook his head. ‘I need some sleep.’

‘Beck . . . about Justine . . .’

‘Don’t go there.’

A few moments later he was in his own bed. She couldn’t leave it like that, so she made her way into his room and sat next to him. His eyes opened and then his hand trailed over to touch
hers.

‘Sorry,’ he said.

‘I was good for it,’ she said. ‘The skank makes me crazy sometimes.’

‘Only sometimes?’ he asked.

‘All right, every time I see her I want to tear her head off. Are you happy?’

She got a lopsided grin for that admission.

‘Now you know how I feel when I think of that damned angel.’ His hand left hers to pull back the covers. ‘Stay with me until I go to sleep. Just behave yerself, you
hear?’ he said, a smile lightly gracing his face.

‘Are you kidding? You’ve got a bad leg, you’re a mass of bug bites and you look like a Smurf. None of that makes me hot, Beck.’

‘Figured.’

She kicked off her shoes and curled in next to him. He laid his arm around her. ‘That’s better,’ Beck murmured. Less than a minute later he was sound asleep.

As Riley listened to the beat of his heart under her ear, she knew that things would never be the same between them. For the first time in her life, she was eager to see what the future would
bring.

The next day was a blur of activity. As per Beck’s instructions, Riley had donated Sadie’s clothes, the kitchenware and most of the furniture. His request that she
leave the sofa in the house didn’t make much sense, but she did as he asked. Sam had insisting on washing the windows while Riley scrubbed the floors. As they raced through the final few
tasks, her new friend had traded texts with a certain apprentice trapper in Atlanta.

By nightfall everything had been completed and to celebrate Riley picked up a pizza and took it to the motel. This time the restaurant owner didn’t give her any grief. In fact, he threw in
a free six-pack of soda and asked how Beck was getting along.

After supper, Beck was unnaturally quiet, but she didn’t push him to talk. He was trying to read his book, but she could tell his head wasn’t into it. Finally he set it down.

‘I want to stay down here a few more days.’

That was unexpected. Riley had figured he’d want to be out of this place the instant the funeral was over.