The Ripple by J.J. Belding

Author:J.J. Belding [Belding, J.J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-11-12T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

Wyatt sat on the balcony outside his room staring at the activity across the street. Spotlights lit up the area like daylight as police and other emergency personnel scoured the grisly scene for clues. Except the clues weren't there. They were on the other side of the balustrade and no one was going near that.

Probably because they knew what he'd so recently discovered. That there was something evil there. Some sort of monster that went about ripping heads off unsuspecting victims – like his wife. The thought made the chill that settled over him even colder and he pulled the quilt Mrs. Hunter had wrapped around him earlier a little tighter.

It didn't help, not any more than the hot cup of tea that had cooled on the table. Or the others she'd set beside it. He wished they'd stop hovering. Leave him alone with his guilt. But they didn't. One or the other was always there. Sometimes both of them.

He stared at the chalk outline someone had drawn around her before they'd zipped her body in a black bag and carted it off to the morgue. First, they'd taken samples of something around her neck while the others continued to search the area.

It was like a comedic scene in a macabre comedy. Everyone knew where the creature was hiding so they studiously avoided the area, tripping over one another in their efforts to avoid solving a crime that would bring them face-to-face with what they feared most. Cowards.

They hadn't let him see his wife either. Not that he could have gone near her, he admitted, staring out across the water. When he'd finally pulled free of the Hunters', he'd made it as far as the front gate but couldn't force himself to cross the road. Couldn't force himself to look too closely at her mutilated body.

Eventually, everyone at the inn had given their statements to the detective who came to the house but, like the Hunters had done earlier, he'd also hedged when Wyatt wanted to know what killed Tessa. Some kind of animal. Maybe a bear. Only Wyatt knew it was a lie. So did the officer because he wouldn't meet his eyes when he said it.

As he headed back to the crime scene to help complete the investigation, Wyatt heard him snapping at the Hunters. Hadn't they warned them to stay in after sunset? Had they given them the visitors packet? 'This' hadn't happened in a long time and it shouldn't have this time either. Did they have any idea the amount of paperwork he was going to have to deal with now?

Periodically, there were more questions but he just zoned it all out. It was too much. His wife was dead. And it was his fault. Apparently, he'd brought her to vacation in a town with murderous monsters and other secrets the town kept hidden. Everything he'd seen online – from the two and a half weeklong tribute to monsters to the city ordinance urging guests to get off the streets by dark – should have been a big red flag.

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