Page 97 of Shadow of Death
Then confusion reigned again as people were arrested, taken away bit by bit. They were run across the water by canoes and airboats to walk the distance to cars that waited by the highway. Ryan Anders returned to the area of the sacrificial “altar.” He appeared perplexed.
“I had him,” he said to Mickey, Hunter, and Amy. “I had the shooter, the sniper. I yelled who I was and told him to drop his gun, and he...he didn’t kill me. He put his gun in his mouth and...his head exploded. I can’t begin to understand how...”
“The human mind is the most frightening weapon in the world,” Hunter said quietly.
“And that puts us at a dead end,” Mickey murmured. “Well, no, we have several dozen people to question—including Barrington, who must have been close to what was really going on. We can follow up on the place where Hayden had been staying. We can follow more leads, but...well, for today, the reign of the third horseman—woman—is at an end.” He looked at Hunter and Amy. “Take five. After this, well, somewhere, sometime, we know one thing for sure. The fourth horseman of the Apocalypse will appear. Until then...take some time. Shake it off. I know how deeply you two are into this, but find a way to—”
“Live,” Amy said, smiling.
“Exactly,” Mickey said.
“Don’t worry. We will,” Hunter assured him.
Amy nodded. She had done her part. There were still hours to go during which they sorted through the people arrested and those killed. Forensic teams arrived, along with Dr. Richard Carver. She watched as others made the arrests and Dr. Carver began his initial investigations on the dead.
Finally, the day began to draw to an end. Barrington, his cape and cowl having fallen off as he was being led away, started screaming. “You! You people, you horrible people—”
Then he was gone, and she looked first at Hunter and then at the place where Dr. Carver knelt by Hayden’s body.
“We were so close! She knew, she knew who was orchestrating everything—”
“Maybe she didn’t,” Hunter said. He smoothed her hair back.
“That’s why she was killed—”
“Or she was killed because she failed,” he said softly. He looked around. “Maybe, as Mickey pointed out, we’ll learn something from someone. There were a lot of arrests made. But we’re going to let others sort it out. I don’t like the way it ended, but the reign of this stygian horsewoman is over. And you were brilliant, and you’re alive and...” He smiled. “We’re both alive, ready to fight again. We have a great team behind us. But now...”
Aidan was standing near them. “I’m going to suggest showers,” he said.
Amy managed to laugh.
“We have done well, damned well,” Aidan said. “But it’s also that very special time between chaos. And guess what? Hunter has a great surprise for you. I happen to know because I’m in on it.”
She didn’t get to learn about the surprise that night.
They did shower. For a good thirty minutes.
Some serious scrubbing.
Some serious playing.
And then some more amazing time together. Because days like today, when so many innocents might live because they had stopped a charismatic murderer, were good.
And they knew to value them.
EPILOGUE
The world could be an ugly place.
And it could be almost excruciatingly beautiful.
As in now.
Amy lay by the pool on the lounge that stretched just outside the rear doors of her ground-floor room. The cascade of waterfalls could be heard, as well as the laughter of children.
She reached next to her on the white lounge for a piece of fruit from a side dish. For her main course, she had fallen in love with the tuna bowl.
There was sun, there was shade, a light breeze, and yet it was one of those days with the perfect amount of warmth to enjoy the sun and especially the water.
