Chapter 7 #3
Chloe tightened her grip on Hayes’s hand and pointed with her other. A man sat slumped in a rusted metal chair on the sagging porch ahead, barely visible through the foliage.
Hayes tapped Fletcher’s shoulder, signaling toward the shack.
Fletcher nodded and fell in beside him.
Chloe bent down, hand hovering near her gun.
Hayes gave a quick shake of his head.
She narrowed her eyes, whispering, “Why not?”
“We can’t go in hot,” he murmured. “Not with a guy like Cole. He’ll bolt—or worse.”
They moved forward, slow and steady, the heat pressing in from all sides, the swamp around them silent except for the low buzz of insects and the crunch of their boots in the undergrowth.
Fletcher cleared his throat loudly.
Cole jerked. He immediately snagged his rifle, which was leaning against his chair. “What the fuck do you want?” He jumped to his feet, gripping his weapon, but thankfully, not pointing it at anyone.
Fletcher held up his hands. “Hi, Cole. I’m Fletcher Dane. Do you remember me?”
Cole nodded. “You’re friends with the police chief.”
“I’m also with Parks and Rec, and I’m out here checking on things.” He waved his hand toward the shack. “Are you living in that?”
“For now.” Cole lifted his chin. “But that ain’t illegal.
I checked with the locals. The Seminoles built that shack like a hundred years ago.
Before permits and all that crap was needed.
” He ran his fingers across his unshaven, dirty face.
“I lost my job at the gas station in Copeland. My car kept breaking down, and I didn’t have the money to fix it, so I was constantly late. ” Cole lowered his gaze.
Chloe’s heart dropped to her toes. She’d never seen a man so broken before.
“Nahele Pompey hired me to do some woodworking.” Cole set the gun down against the side of the shack.
He raised his hands and wiggled his cut-up and bloody fingers.
“I’ve always been good with my hands. He can’t pay much, but I’m saving my money.
Once I have enough, I’ll move on. I promise.
I don’t bother anyone.” He exhaled sharply.
“Except that one time, but I swear, I didn’t start it.
They got in my face. I know I’m not always right in the head, but I try not to cause trouble. ”
Hayes inched closer. “Retired Marine, right?”
Cole nodded.
“My buddies and I are ex-Navy SEALs,” Fletcher said.
“I knew that.” Cole gave him a weak smile. “You seem to have gotten out unscathed.”
“Not really.” Hayes lifted his shirt, revealing his numerous scars.
“Our team was captured right before we all decided we’d had enough.
” He tapped one of the circular deformities.
“We were all tortured. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how that goes.
I don’t know what’s worse—the fact that the four of us got out alive, or that our buddy Ken died. ”
A few tears fell from Cole’s eyes and landed on his muddy cheek. He swiped the back of his hand across his face. “Sometimes, I think death might be better than what I’m doing.”
Hayes dug into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He handed Cole a wad of cash and his business card.
“I can’t take this.” Cole’s eyes turned to fire, and he shook his head. “I don’t want your charity.”
“Then pay me back when you get on your feet.” Hayes arched a brow. “There’s a VA not far from here. I’d like it if you’d come with me to one of the support groups. I find it helps.”
“You go?” Cole questioned with a harsh tone.
Chloe took the opportunity to step up on the old, half-rotted porch and peer into the grimy window. She couldn’t see anything inside the tiny one-room hut.
“We’ve all gone,” Fletcher added, eyeing her suspiciously, as if to say, Stop that, you’re going to set him off .
“It’s the only way to survive out here. No one knows what we’ve been through, what we’ve seen, what we’ve had to bring back and bury so deep inside ourselves and pretend that it doesn’t exist. That beast is in all of us.
” Fletcher rested his hand on Cole’s shoulder. “You’re not alone.”
“Ha.” Cole laughed. “I’ve heard that bullshit before.” He shoved the cash back at Hayes. “I won’t take pity money.”
“How about an advance on a paycheck?” Hayes pushed Cole’s hand away.
Chloe continued to explore, not that there was much to look at, but she peered around the other side of the hut. There was a table with maps, a couple of large knives, two large pieces of wood that resembled owls, and a folder containing a photograph of something protruding from it.
She wanted to look at that photograph and inside that folder. She also wanted to know what kind of knives those were, because one of them didn’t seem like it was used for woodworking.
“What do you mean by an advance?” Cole asked, his voice still carrying an angry edge. “What kind of work?”
“Two different projects, but the same kind of work,” Hayes said. “We’re looking at clearing debris and stuff off a property. Construction work. Stuff like that.”
“You’re being real with me?” Cole asked.
“I am.” Hayes nodded.
While Chole appreciated the kindness that Hayes offered, which also gave her the time to snoop, she worried they were extending softness where it wasn’t deserved.
This man could be a cold-blooded killer, and that was something she couldn’t get past. Not when a photograph of…
something…peeked out from a folder next to maps and knives.
This could all be a ruse. She took a step—a wrong step—and the wood crackled and swayed under her feet.
“What are you doing?” Cole rushed forward, shoving her to the side.
She slammed into the house, her shoulder taking the brunt of the blow.
Hayes was at her side in seconds, wrapping his arm around her in a protective gesture.
“Leave my things alone.” Cole adjusted the folder, tucking it under the maps.
Chloe found that odd. “I’m sorry,” Chloe said softly. “I thought those wood carvings looked beautiful, and I wanted to get a closer look.”
Fletcher stood at the edge of the porch, glancing between her and Cole.
“Are you carving owls? Because if you are, I’d love to buy one,” she said.
Fletcher narrowed his stare, giving her a perplexed glare.
“My friend used to get teased all the time as a little girl about being a Stigini, but as an adult, she’s embraced the whole owl-witch thing. She’d love one of those.” Chloe smiled.
“Oh. I see.” Cole lifted the wood into his hands, running his long fingers over the edges.
“Nahele has me making all sorts of swamp creatures.” Cole let out a quick chuckle.
“I could have one ready in a couple of days. I’ll be heading into town for a few supplies then. I could drop it off at the marina.”
“How much?” Chloe asked.
“I think Nahele sells them in the shop for thirty bucks.” Cole lifted his gaze.
She patted her pockets and grimaced.
“I gotcha covered.” Fletcher laughed, pulling out his wallet. “Think about what we said about the VA.”
“I don’t know,” Cole said. “Not sure anyone can fix what’s wrong with me.”
“Nothing’s wrong with you, man.” Hayes stuck out his hand, taking Cole’s in a firm shake. “We’ve all got demons. You just haven’t figured out how to put yours in the right box. But you can, if you accept the right kind of help from the right people.”
“And you think you’re those people?” Cole asked.
“No.” Fletcher jumped from the porch.
Hayes followed, offering his hand to Chloe. Always the gentleman.
“We’re no experts,” Hayes added. “But we’re here if you ever need anything.” He waved his hand over his head. “Semper Fi.”
“Semper Fi,” Cole said somberly.
Chloe focused on the mucky ground as she put one foot in front of the other, careful not to put her toes in a snake or gator’s mouth. She panned back and forth for anything that looked slimy or had eyes.
Thankfully, she saw nothing, but she knew they were out there.
Once back at the boat and safely tucked in the seat next to Hayes, she allowed the thoughts that had bothered her back at Cole’s shack to creep into her brain. “Did either of you see what was on that table?”
“Yeah, we saw it,” Hayes said. “Not sure what to make of it, though.”
“He was hiding a picture of something,” she said. “What are we going to do about it?”
“Find a way to get him away from that shack so we can search it.” Fletcher plopped himself down in the bow of the boat. “I’m hoping we’ll hear back from the boys at the Aegis Network in the next day or two regarding Cole’s whereabouts during the time of the murders we know about.”
“Based on what I know about serial killers, he certainly could be one, but I have my reservations Cole could be an organized one. The few things we have to go on about this murderer tell me that our man is methodical,” Chloe said.
“He picks his victims carefully, and while he’s not killing the same person, they have a specific meaning for him.
Cole doesn’t fit that bill, but something about him has my hackles up. ”
“Like what?” Hayes leaned in and kissed her cheek.
“Either I don’t know who I’m looking for, or that man isn’t who he seems.” She dropped her head to the console and groaned.
“Perhaps it’s a bit of both,” Fletcher offered, but it didn’t make her feel any better.
The truth of the matter was that in thirteen years, she was no closer to finding her sister’s killer.