Chapter 81 Chapter 16 – Book 2

Kathy was starting to feel something and realized it was the fact that she was sober. Well, not entirely, but as sober as she had ever been for years. She was still handcuffed to the bed by her left arm. The mean FBI lady stayed true to her promise.

Kathy told them all she could remember, well, she left out her involvement in it all, trying to make herself look like she was taken advantage of due to her drinking problem. Something in the Agent’s eyes, though, told Kathy that she didn’t believe that she was innocent.

She also told them that she wanted immunity for her testimony. They never said that they agreed; there wasn’t an option for them, though, if they wanted evidence and a witness, they were going to have to offer up a deal.

She was feeling pretty good about her chances, as long as James or Avery didn’t find her and mess it all up. It wouldn’t matter, though, because she would be added to the pile of half-eaten corpses at the bottom of the ravine.

Still, she had Nova anyway; she would vouch for her, and if things came to the worst, she could always offer up Nova to James again. He would take the deal that left Avery. Blackmail will take care of his sorry ass. Either way, she intended to come out of this mess clean.

She was always very good at looking out for herself. Something she learned at an early age. Everyone always harping on her to quit the drinking. If she fucking wanted to drink herself to death, that was her business.

Sheriff Avery and James were sitting in the Sheriff’s truck. They had decided that it would be best if they took out the ones who had seen the most or did deals with them. That included that nosey bitch Maggi, who lived a mile from James.

Avery wanted nothing connecting him with Maggi; she was a well-respected woman in their small world, and her disappearance will be noticed. She lived alone, so at least they didn’t have to worry about witnesses.

He didn’t care one way or the other about her; she just wasn’t his type. She had too much red hair; red hair was unique, but at the same time, he thought it was creepy.

He was going to have some fun with her anyway. Scare her really good and then drag her off into the night for the kill.

They wanted to take out the hotel clerk first, but the FBI was camped out there, and so it made him untouchable for now. There were also two more in town that will have to be dealt with, a couple of losers that sold drugs for Avery. No one was going to miss them, though.

Avery was also going to put on the face of the angry Sheriff because the missing persons were now coming from his territory. James was going to do the killing from behind the scenes. Once it was done, though, he was going to hunt down Nova and make her pay. Unfortunately, he won’t be able to keep her.

She and her lover will find themselves at the bottom of the ravine with the rest of his bear’s dead toys.

Maggi Snyder’s mother raised no fool. She was fully aware that the Sheriff and his cronies were going to visit her. She had her car out front; around back, though, is her father’s old truck. She had it parked and concealed as a second escape route.

She had all her weapons in places that would be of good use to her. Her handguns were both in holsters, one in a shoulder harness and the other in the back waistband of her jeans. Even the crossbow was loaded and locked in the truck along with a shotgun.

Keys to her car and truck were ready to go in her pockets. She installed motion detectors and lights all over the place, including two in the path that went into the woods. There wasn’t a direction that they could come at her that she wouldn’t be alerted.

Maybe she was being paranoid, or her happy meal was short a fry or two, but she was convinced that the bear that had been sniffing around a while ago was somehow tied to those two assholes.

She had her cell phone with her; that was a fifty-fifty thing, though, living in the hills. She also had mace and a taser handy as well. She had go bags in the truck and the car. The doors were all locked as well as the windows; most were boarded up, leaving an intruder only a few options that she had made for them.

Holding her cell in her hand with that FBI Agent’s number on speed dial. She didn’t want to bother him till she was sure she was a target.

Turning off all the lights, she waited in the silent darkness for the attack to begin.

Nova was over the moon; she had real family, a real family that wasn’t five ways to Sunday messed up. They both had the same green eyes. She always wondered if she got them from him or some other relative. She sat back down as Jack brought her some water. She couldn’t help but smile. Then she remembered that he was also FBI. It was time to tell the whole story and get justice.

“As you know, my full name is November Jane Foster. I am 19, almost 20. I have lived a life of shit. A mother who named her daughter after the month she was born in and a second name from the nurse’s name tag.”

“I don’t remember much of the early years, but I do remember a lot of stuff as I got older.”

“Kathy would have one crummy guy after another. I was lucky that none of them took an interest in me. I did get slapped around some if I wasn’t fast enough. I didn’t always have enough to eat. I never got anything from Kathy, except her hand-me-downs.”

“Not a birthday present, nor Christmas gifts. Nothing. I am telling you this for a reason.”

“Not one of Kathy’s men ever was interested in me except for the creep she married. James Springer.”

“I don’t know his background or anything really about his past, what I do know he gives me nightmares.”

She pulled out a necklace from under her shirt and handed it to David. “That necklace was the very first and only present that Kathy has ever given me. It came off of one of James’s victims. It is a locket.”

“They didn’t even have the sense to open it and remove the picture and the engraved name before giving it to me. I made the owner of that necklace a promise that I would see that she gets justice and maybe is brought home again.”

“There is something off about James. I didn’t put it together till after I met Jack. He told me about his bear and shifters. I think James may be a shifter too. Perhaps a bear as well.”

David and Jack looked at each other. Jack had heard most of her story already, but this part was new. Hearing it all again made Jack pissed. David was looking the same way. David was blaming himself for not being there for her. He should have gone looking for Kathy. He could have made life different for his little girl. It made him and his bear Finnick angry as hell. Someone is going to pay. He didn’t care if it cost him his job.

“There is a lot more I need to tell you. I know where you can get evidence on James. I can also tell you that the local Sheriff knows everything that James does. They are hardly ever apart.”

Nova told them all about the shed and what was in it. She told them about Kathy’s new earrings and that Kathy had picked them out herself as well as the necklace for Nova. She got them off the wall of cars. Kathy may not know all the details, but she was in on it.

David was about to be sick. How the hell did Kathy become like this? Yeah, she had a few problems when he knew her, but nothing like this. He couldn’t believe that he had a relationship with her. It pissed him off, even more, to know that this is where Nova was living.

Finnick was even more pissed; he was to the point of shifting and running down that asshole and ripping him to shreds. Finnick wanted James and wasn’t going to take a back seat. Finnick always claimed his prize.

David went over and knelt before Nova, taking her hands in his.

“I am so sorry that I wasn’t there. I would have never let anything like that ever happen to you. I would have spoiled you rotten. I promise to make things right again. I will give you and the victims the justice they deserve. Nothing will stop me.”

“Dad, is it ok to call you that? Don’t worry, I was never angry at you. I knew you didn’t know I existed. It was something that Kathy had always bragged about.”

“Yes, I would love it if you called me Dad. Whatever you are comfortable with.”

David got up and was about to get another cup of coffee when his cell phone started ringing.

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