A Justified Kill (20 page)

“Well, I wouldn’t call it being fired if I quit. Technically
, you are not firing me any way. You
are laying me off for lack of work
due to
slow
business
.”

Ryan threw his hands up and leaned against the bar and glowered at her.

Amber was in a
good
mood and nothing was going to faze her. She had truly
done some good
. No matter how hard it had been
to hear at first, she had brought closure to
many
families
in the area
. 

Catherine
came through the door and saw
Amber’s
apron in
Ryan
’s hand. “What’s going on here?” She
scowled and
stomped towards the two of them standing at the bar. “You are not allowed to let her go, and you,” she turned towards Amber, “are not allowed to leave
me here by myself
.”

“I have to go
Catherine
.” Amber shook her head.
She knew
Catherine
liked her, but she was very self-centered
,
everythi
ng was always about her and this
was very evident when
Catherine
continued speaking without acknowledging her comment.

“Everything is all mess
ed
up
around here
. H
ave you heard what’s going on?” She looked from Amber to Ryan but
didn’t give t
hem time to answer and kept going
.
“My sister is dating
Hunter’s brother,
Trigger Michaels. You know the one you saw in her
e
the other night with Sue Ann.” She
glanced at Amber. “He told her
there
was an anonymous
call that came in reporting the fire.” She took a quick breath, her eyes wide in excitement. “
You know, the girls who
have been reported missing over the past five years?”

Ryan
nodded and Amber shrugged.
This time
Catherine
paused
, blinking at her,
waiti
ng for
an
answer
this time
. “I wouldn’t know
I’
ve only been here three weeks
.”

“Yeah, but everyone knows everyone here and people talk, you have probably heard of all the girls
who had been
reported as runaways. Well, seven of those girls were found.”

For someone
who was
so self-centered,
Catherine
noticed things about other people, and if they were acting any different
, she would call them on it
.
Amber
wanted to make sure
she didn’t act out of character because she
felt as if
‘KILLER’ and “LIAR’ was stamped on her forehead
. So she f
eigned surprise
.
Catherine
could not suspect
anything
or she would
be in deep trouble.
The woman
was like
a bloodhound tracking a wolf
, l
iterally.
She wondered if maybe she had made a mistake by coming here and not just leaving like she normally did.

No
one was in th
e bar
and there was no sign of anyone coming in any time soon
. Amber noticed Ryan cross his arms over his chest and watch Catherine with a frown. Obviously he wante
d to know what was going on. She leaned her back against the bar and rested on her elbow
s
,
she was curious to find out what she knew too
.
Glancing at one another they both gave a shrug and smiled. Listening to her rambling, she would eventually get to the point.

“You know, all those
other
girls who
did escape
from this God forsaken town probably went down to Hollywood and
are
trying to make it big.”
Catherine was popping her gum, one hand on her hip, the other waving in the air.

Amber couldn’t help but think
to herself
,
show
’
s how much you know.
“N
ot everyone
ru
n
s
to California to make it big.
” She
wanted to conti
nue, but didn’t want to say t
o
o much
and
make
Catherine
start questioning her, so she kept her thoughts to herself.
Hanna was running from her Hollywood life
. Sadly she found a
different kind of
nightmare waiting for her here. For
supposedly knowing everyone’s business, the people in this town are
totally clueless
. 

Catherine
ignored her
spoken
comment
and didn’t notice that Amber wasn’t really paying close attention
.
“
They are saying the seven girls were found near the
burnt
campsite
. You know, there’s
this
girl in the hospital
claiming
that
Gerald held her hostage and raped her.
She claimed that
some girl came in and rescued her and took her to the hospital.
The hospital said the girl was just passing through and they can’t find her now. The sheriff
found her
clothes, ripped to shreds
out in the woods
.
She
’
s lucky to be alive f
rom what Sue Ann told me
. The others, you know his t
hree friends
,
are being investigated for knowing what Gerald was doing, possibly even part
icipating.
And Ryan, they are going to talk to you too.
”
Catherine
was full of
information on the story
. S
ince it
had made the front page headline
,
she knew all the right people to call and ask about it.

Ryan ran a frustrated hand through his hair.
“Yeah, it’s the reason
why
everyone
’
s avoiding the bar.
I already heard the
police
think be
cause people come
here to drink
, I should
know everything they are doing
. O
nce the
y
leave my bar
,
I could care less
.
”

Catherine continued like he had not even spoken.
“
Trigger said they found
large wolf prints
throughout the campsite and in the woods
where the other girls were buried
.
He told me
if the wolf hadn’
t dug up the remains, they would have never been able to find the other bodies. They are broadening the
search to see if there are more even checking out where Gerald used to live.
From what they could tell, t
hey said the bodies
were buried a couple years and as recent as a couple months. Forensics is being called in to do the dating. But the strange thing is
how
the
wolf didn’t eat the bodies. I though
t wolves were scavengers and would eat
anything
and everything
.
”
Catherine
continued talking while
Amber started for the door.

Amber’s back was to
Catherine
and
Ryan
.
The remark about wolves being scavengers irritated her and she wanted to tell her just how ignorant she was,
because she knew for a fact that her wolf liked fresh meat
she killed herself. Not someone else’s left overs. S
he let it go
, because
as she thought on it,
most people considered
wolves
scavengers, but they weren’t, they were actually beneficial to the ecological system by killing old, young or sick animals, not scavenging. In fact, they often left food for the vultures and
scroungers.
She wanted to share her
version of the nature channels lesson of the day,
but that would get her talking that much more. The way Catherine had sneered the word wolf rankled.
She had to remind herself
she was a werewolf, not the typical wolf
.
Really not even a typical
werewolf.
She had to
let it go.

Through her thoughts
Catherine
continued talking. “
Amber, you know you served Gerald
his last drink that night.
”

Her back to them, they didn’t see the smile slip
across her lips
and
her eyes fla
sh
yellow. “Yeah, I hear
the alcohol really had a bite to it
.
.
.”
She waved without looking back.
With her
parting rema
rk, she walked out the door.
Digging the jeep key out of her pocket while walking across the
parking
lot, s
he thought of the
attack
. I
t
had been less than graceful, but it in
the end
it still served its purpose.
Amber had
left her mark on the small town without them
even knowing it.
She had made a justified kill.