Page 8 of Shadow of Death
“Desperation in human beings—not creatures,” Hunter said quietly. “Down here, if a park ranger wasn’t right above, you could scream forever; and no one would hear you to help.”
“Then, you think...”
“Yeah, cannibalism. I believe we’ll discover the creatures chewing on them were human. Human beings starving to death, losing their minds, and becoming both insane and desperate.”
He hunkered down by Amy where she had knelt by the living woman, the young woman she believed to be Carey Allen.
He frowned and reached for her hand to uncurl her fingers.
And produced a child’s little toy.
“The black horse didn’t just arrive—he’s been here!”
2
“Your FDLE agent, she’s...uh, pretty amazing,” Andy Mason said quietly to Hunter. He shook his head in confusion and watched as squads from forensics worked with the medical examiner’s office and a host of police and federal agents to remove the bodies they’d discovered in the pit within the cave.
Amy had traveled with the EMTs to the hospital; she wanted to be there when Carey woke up.
If she woke up, of course. But the EMTs believed she would.
Andy turned to look at Hunter. “Or you’re amazing, or you’re both amazing. You’ve found... Well, hard to tell who they are—but I think you landed and in a few hours solved more missing cases than we have inmonths.” He hesitated. “And you were both right on not waiting. That girl...another twenty-four hours and she might well have been dead from exposure. Your partner, though... Man, she was just determined. And if not for the two of you...”
“Sometimes, we’re lucky,” Hunter said. He smiled. Amy was amazing. She was a striking young woman who might have done just about anything with her life, but she had chosen law enforcement. And while her eyes were exceptionally beautiful—an emerald color with streaks of gold near the pupils—she had a way of looking at a suspect that made the suspect believe she was seeing the truth, whether the suspect was willing to share it or not. Yep. She was “all the right stuff.” And more to him. She knew and understood his past.
“This is crazy. So crazy,” Andy said.“You know I read all the reports on cult killings in the Everglades, and then the gang stuff so recently... I knew that damned black horse meant something. But Hunter, for me to have gotten that horse, someone has been following you. Physically or on paper more likely. They must know your past—at least as far as being a law enforcement agent goes. Know you worked with me, and that I would call on you and Amy.”
“At this point, we can’t be sure of anything. The problem is we can also be looking for anyone.” Hunter inhaled deeply and shrugged. “Some people are believers. You come up with the rightmessiah, and you can convince some people that just about anything is true—no matter the facts. Then again, there are people out there who are the messiahs—who know telling their lie often enough will make it truth for theirflock. They are out for themselves and no one else. They don’t care who falls by the wayside on their way up, how many broken lives and dead bodies they leave behind—because they have an agenda. I believe the person or persons behind all of this is the latter. There’s something to be gained here.”
“Wait,” Andy said, shaking his head. “How does a cult in Florida help any with all the other crazy stuff going on?”
“Power. Someone is trying to create a grid of pure power. To bring about anarchy and then seize the moment.”
“Some of these bodies...they’ve been here,” Andy said quietly. “Whoever is behind this has been luring the unwary here for some time.”
“Or kidnapping them, tossing them bound into a trunk, and then throwing them into the pit. Rather bold, too. While the rangers don’t take any kind of tours that deep into the caves, they come close enough. Whoever is behind this knows schedules.”
“You’re not suggesting that a ranger—”
“I am not. Anything is possible, of course. But it’s easy enough to observe schedules. Whoever is behind this knows when not to dump a body.”
“But we know Carey came here to enjoy the swim and the hike. You believe she was an accidental victim?”
Hunter shook his head. “Andy, I wish I had answers for you. She may have been accidental—and all of the victims, no matter how they got here, might have been random. The grisly death of human beings and an assault on the abilities of law enforcement might be the point here.”
“Not that I haven’t seen bad,” Andy muttered, “very bad. But this...” He broke off. They both watched as the forensic and medical teams worked to extract bodies and any possible clues from the tricky ground.
There were three medical examiners working the scene itself. Two appeared to be in their later thirties or early forties while one was young and probably new to the job.
He’d looked a little green entering the pit, but he also seemed to know what he was doing. And no matter how green he might be, he intended to work the scene with all professionalism.
“Kyle Ingram,” Andy murmured, indicating the young ME. “He’s only been with us about two years now. That’s Mike Adler leading things up, and Joe Vargas who has been with the ME’s office almost as long as Mike.”
“Hey, he looks miserable but determined,” Hunter said.
“Right. Courage isn’t a lack of fear, it’s doing the right thing even when you’re afraid,” Andy murmured, still distracted. “She was holding a black plastic horse, and one was sent to me. It’s as if they want us to...catch them?” he asked Hunter. “I mean, that’s kind of crazy. Wait. The whole thing is crazy. And horrible.”
“There’s always an endgame,” Hunter murmured. He grimaced and turned to his friend. “Hopefully, we’ll discover just what that is.”
