Bree saw something in Kelsi’s face. Was it curiosity? Disgust? Fear? A little bit of each? But before Bree could ask her about it, Kelsi turned and headed off across the bog.
Chapter Ten
Although they had covered a decent area, it was slow going. Portable spotlights threw confusing shadows. They finally removed the hand from the bog. Then they sifted peat for bits of clothing or other pieces of bone or anything else they could find that would help identify the remains.
Bree bagged a small piece of fabric. It was woven, probably part of a shirt.
Then she turned to her dad, who had become more energized the longer they worked. “How are you not tired? We’ve been at it all day.”
“How can you be? This is so exciting.”
Before Bree could respond, the rechargeable spotlights dimmed. One shut off; the other followed.
“I hope we can squeeze a little more juice out of the lights,” Conor said.
Guided by a faint glimmer of moonlight peeking from behind the clouds, Bree climbed out of the hole. Within seconds, the cloud obscured the moon, plunging her into total darkness. Despite the fact that her dad and Conor were nearby—she had heard them scramble out of the hole—Bree felt all alone.
And that feeling scared her more than anything.
Bree heard the noise before she caught the movement. It came at her from the left—a slow and steady swishing sound, low and at the ground, measured and deliberate. Definitely something bigger than an Irish hare or an otter. Much bigger. And faster. It closed the distance between them and the swishing became louder and louder. The noise seemed to magnify in the dark.
“What is that?” Bree said with a cracked voice. “What do we do?” She banged the side of the spotlight next to her, tried to get it to turn back on. But it didn’t even flicker.
“Stop making noise,” her dad said. “And stay still.”
A hand caught Bree’s arm. She stifled a scream.
“Take it easy. It’s me.” Her dad pulled Bree close and wrapped his arms around her, and she could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He was just as scared as she was.
Her dad lowered his voice to a whisper. “Get down. Now.”
They listened to its approach. Through the dark it came closer and closer to their position, as if it knew exactly where they were. As if it stalked them.
“I found my flashlight,” Conor said. “I’m going to try to scare it away.”
“Wait a minute,” Bree’s dad said softly. “I see it.”
Bree scanned the bog, and a light appeared against the night, hovering above the ground. It disappeared just as quickly. The bog went dark again. Bree assumed another cloud blocked the moonlight, but she didn’t dare look away to check. Not when that thing was coming at them.
A light returned, penetrating the space directly ahead of where Bree had last seen it. The light bobbed repeatedly as it moved across the bog.
“That’s a headlamp,” her dad said.
Bree blew out a deep breath, and her muscles started to relax, relieving the cramp that had formed in her thighs.
Whoever it was, they moved quickly, swishing through the knee-high grass. Conor turned on the flashlight and popped to his feet just as the person ran wide of their position and sprinted to the unattended hand. Bree caught a glimpse of the person’s face.
A woman.
Bree jumped up and gave chase without thinking about the danger of the bog.
Despite the bog’s uneven surface, the woman reached the hand quickly. When she bent down to scoop it up into the bag that hung around her neck, Bree took a flying leap and tackled the woman. They both went down hard and landed on the hand. The hand snapped.
In one fast move, the woman threw Bree off her back and rolled away. The impact shifted the headlight so it aimed away from Bree’s face.
Bree froze for an instant.
She couldn’t believe it.
“Kelsi?”
Kelsi sprung up. Bree reached for Kelsi’s ankle, but missed. Scrambling to get to Kelsi, Bree looked up just in time to see Conor making a move, so she scooted out of the way.
Like a linebacker, Conor threw himself at Kelsi. Kelsi sidestepped and brought her knee up into Conor’s groin. Conor dropped to his knees, groaning; the flashlight fell on the ground next to him.
Bree’s dad got down on elbows and knees to protect the hand, bending his body over it like a turtle’s shell.
A quick step to her right put Kelsi behind him. Bree grabbed Conor’s flashlight and jumped between her dad and Kelsi. “Get away from him,” she said with her arm cocked back.
Kelsi stepped forward, but Bree tightened her grip on the flashlight and adjusted her stance. “I swear,” Bree said. “One more step and I’ll bash your head in.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” Kelsi said.
“Try me.”
Kelsi glanced behind her and said in a menacing voice: “Stay away from the hand or you’ll be real sorry. And I’m not the only one you’ve got to worry about.”
She turned and fled across the bog.
Chapter Eleven
Bree swept the flashlight beam across the bog. “She’s gone.”
“You sure?” her dad said.
“Yeah, I’m sure.” She lowered her shaking arm. “I can’t believe Kelsi tried to take the hand. What does she want with it?”
“I wish I knew.”
Bree helped her dad so he could get up without touching the hand.
“Are you alright Conor?” her dad said as he rose.
Still bent over, Conor spoke through clenched teeth. “Never been better. What about the hand? I heard a loud snap.”
Bree’s dad examined the hand quickly. “It looks like it’s only a broken finger or two. Thankfully, everything else seems intact.” He picked up the hand and cradled it like a baby. “If you can walk, let’s get out of here. I’ve had enough of this bog for one night.”
Conor turned to him. “I’ll call the Guards.” He dug his cell out of his pocket and dialed. A moment later he finished his call. “They said they’ll check the site in the morning, but we’ll need to go down to the Garda station to file a formal report.” He held the flashlight for Bree so she could make quick work of packing up.
“It’s usually the police calling us when ancient remains are discovered,” her dad said to Bree. “Not the other way around. In the meantime, we need to make sure lab security knows to keep especially alert, just in case this isn’t over.”
Bree had a strong feeling things were far from over, and that this was just the beginning.
But of what, she didn’t know.
Chapter Twelve
Largheal, Ireland
The Woman stood in an empty alley with her back pressed hard against the wall. If she peered through the gap between the wall and a nearby dumpster, she could see the front door of the Garda station across the street. The three-story brick structure sat on a corner lot between a grocer and a pharmacy.
The Woman hit the speed dial on her cell.
“Did you get it?” said the eager female voice on the other end.
“Someone else got there first.” The Woman heard a sharp intake of breath before the female voice responded.
“Did you see who it was?”
“I couldn’t, but it was definitely a woman. She had on a headlamp and every time she turned toward me it was impossible to see much of anything.”
“Who has it now?”
“Sunderland and his team—inside the Garda station.”
The voice went quiet, and the Woman wondered if she was still there. Then the voice said, “You know what the ancestors would have said.”
The Woman nodded gravely, as if the person on the other end of the call could see her somehow.
“You’ll have to try again later,” the voice said. “And you must succeed.”
The Woman swallowed. “At what cost? There are innocents in this. They h
ave no idea what they stepped into.”
“Get the job done.”
The Woman kept her eyes fixed on the Garda station door. “I will, but it’s going to be tough with the security.”
“Just do it. We need that hand back before they test the DNA.”
Chapter Thirteen
Ireland Archeology Institute, Largheal, Ireland
After stopping by the Garda station, they headed straight for the lab. Her dad proceeded directly to his office and shut the door behind him. Conor stashed the gear and headed down the hall.
Alone with the bog body and the hand, Bree could feel their mysterious energy radiating through the room. She felt certain it would register on one of her dad’s many pieces of equipment, but all of the stubborn needles pointed to zero. Although that body and that hand were no longer alive, they still had a story to tell. What would it be? And what on earth did Kelsi have to do with it? Bree couldn’t think of one thing she knew about her. She’d never mentioned family or friends, or where she lived. And why did Kelsi always change the subject whenever she had asked her about those things? She must be hiding something. But what? What did Kelsi know about the hand? And why did she try to steal it?
Bree’s stomach twisted at the betrayal. How could Kelsi do this to them…to her?
Something squeaked in the hallway, and Bree turned toward the door. A few tense seconds later, Conor entered the room.
He wasn’t alone.
Bree’s heart fluttered when she saw Liam. She also felt dizzy, which was part Liam and part the fact that she was holding her breath. “What are you doing here?”
Conor laughed. “I’m afraid that was my doing. I sent him a text from the Garda station, but I’m pretty sure he isn’t here for me.” Conor eyed the closed door leading to her dad’s office. “It’s late and my work’s done, at least for tonight anyway. Tell your da I’ll see him in the morning.” He turned to Liam and said, “I expect you home soon.” Then he left the lab.
“That was a little awkward,” Bree said.
“Don’t worry about it. He doesn’t care.” Liam grabbed two stools, slid them next to Bree, and they sat facing one another. “So what happened? What was it like?” His voice was filled with excitement.
Trying to keep the fear out of her voice, Bree told him about discovering the hand and how Kelsi attempted to steal it.
Liam leaned his arm against Bree’s; she relaxed to his warmth. “So how’d you get the hand away from her?” he said. “And what happened to Kelsi? Where is she now? Give me all the details. Da wouldn’t say much.”
Bree hesitated. She really wanted to tell him, needed to tell him. But even she hadn’t come to terms with what she’d almost done. Before she could change her mind, she locked her eyes on his and said, “I was ready to bash Kelsi’s head with a flashlight. What kind of person does that? I could have killed her.”
Liam stood and turned his back on her, taking away the warmth she’d treasured. Maybe she shouldn’t have said anything.
“It’s not like you’re a murderer,” Liam said.
She looked up. Although she knew he was trying to make her feel better, he had punched each word and she had felt the blow.
“She was stealing from you,” Liam said.
“Or was she stealing from the bog, just like we were? I mean, I just don’t know what I would have done if I really had to do it. We hit a German shepherd once with our car. The dog ran into the street out of nowhere and my dad didn’t have time to stop. The thud it made when it hit the car…I’ll never forget that noise or what it felt like. It was awful.”
“This isn’t the same. You were in danger and had to do something.”
“I know, but I was so caught up in it all I was willing to—”
“But you didn’t.” Liam wrapped his arm around Bree and tried to pull her against him. At first she resisted—if she let go she might lose it completely—but then she eased into him and gave herself up to his embrace.
And she felt so secure.
“You’re upset because you’re the kind of person that cares.” He lifted Bree’s chin, gazed into her eyes, and then leaned over and kissed her gently on the cheek. “And that makes me the kind of guy who cares about you.”
His lips were like butter on Bree’s skin, and she smiled. “Thanks.”
“Any time. You know I’m here for you. You want to go down to the kitchen for a Coke or something?”
“Sure. That’d be great.”
They waited for Bree’s dad in the hallway outside the lab. Growing up as lab rats, they both knew drinks and food were prohibited.
Liam said, “What’s he doing in there anyway?”
Bree shrugged. “He always holes up when he’s trying to figure something out. Sometimes he doesn’t even come out to eat. I learned to deal with it a long time ago.”
The door latch clicked, and Bree turned to the noise behind her. Her dad had emerged from his office and now crossed the lab. When he entered the hall, he said, “Liam. What are you doing here?”
“I just dropped in to see Bree, but I’m heading out now.”
“That’s good,” her dad said, “because we have to get going. It’s late and I want to get started on the hand first thing in the morning.”
Liam raised an eyebrow. “You think there’s anything to what Bree said—that the hand could have come from an actual lycanthrope?”
Her dad crossed his arms. “Like I told Bree before, we’ll know what it is when we know it. I’m not ruling anything out at this point—human, animal, or lycanthrope. We don’t know all the facts.”
Bree bit her lip, thinking how few facts they really had right now.
Kelsi had said to stay away from the hand. Why?
Who else was after the hand?
And what would happen now?
Chapter Fourteen
Mashey Hotel, Largheal, Ireland
Bree toweled off from her shower, slipped into a pair of gray sweats and a faded tee-shirt, and knocked on the door separating her hotel room from her dad’s. “Dad? Can we talk?”
“Just a sec,” he said. A minute later he walked through the door with a glass of whiskey in hand. He sat on the edge of Bree’s bed.
“What is it, Bree?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “It’s just…I trusted Kelsi. You trusted her. How could she do that to us?”
“We can’t possibly know. So don’t let it distract us from what we need to do.”
A burst of air left Bree’s lips. He was right, but still—that wasn’t what she wanted to hear. She wanted him to get upset too, just this one time. Just so she knew he was on her side. “How can you act like it doesn’t even bother you?” she said. “I saw the way you looked at Kelsi. I know you liked her. And Mom’s been gone a long time…”
“Look, I don’t know what you think you saw, and even if I did have—oh, I don’t know—a crush on Kelsi—that’s all it was. Nothing happened between us, and I seriously doubt she even saw me that way. And as far as what happened with the hand…I feel betrayed too. She wouldn’t have known about it if I hadn’t hired her. If you hadn’t led her to it.”
Bree shrugged. “You think they’ll find her?”
Her dad swirled the ice in his drink. “I hope so. I’d love to find out what she’s so afraid of.”
Bree smiled; she couldn’t help it. Only her dad could be more curious than angry at a time like this. And now he had her wondering too.
Her dad’s cell rang from the other room. He set his drink next to the TV and went to answer it.
After a few minutes of quiet conversation, all went silent.
She peered into her dad’s room and found him with his head down and his face in his hands. “Dad, what’s wrong?”
He looked up at her with tears in his eyes. “That was General Maberry.”
Bree couldn’t breathe. “It’s Andy, isn’t it?”
He nodded. “Andy’s body is
slowly shutting down. He begged me, pleaded with me to do something, anything, to save his son…and I couldn’t. I didn’t know what to say. If only I had worked harder and figured out a way to perfect the wound repair serum, Troy and all those soldiers…they’d be…they’d still be alive.”
Bree kneeled in front of her dad. When he raised his head, she was surprised to see tears streaking his cheeks. “But Andy’s still alive. There’s still time to save him.”
He shook his head. “When Andy was first injured he was crying out from pain. Now he’s just an empty shell. He hasn’t made a sound in weeks. I don’t know which is worse: saving him on the battlefield to have him end up like this or not saving him at all.”
“How long does he have?” Bree asked.
“Weeks, maybe a few months at most.”
“You have to think, Dad. There has to be something we can do to fix the serum so the wound repair process doesn’t reverse.”
He sighed so quietly, as if he barely had the energy to simply breathe. “If I knew what it was, I would have done it already. And even if I could figure something out, it could take years before it’s ready. Andy doesn’t have that kind of time.”
“But if we don’t save Andy,” Bree said with a hitch in her voice, “then Troy will have died for nothing.”
He turned his head away from her. “You don’t think I know that, Bree? That Troy sacrificed his life to save Andy’s? I think about it every single day.”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” she said. “I miss him too, you know. A lot.”
He swallowed hard. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“We’ll figure it out, Dad. I know we will.”
He wiped his eyes with the backs of his hands, nodded, and took a deep breath. “The answer has to lie in the preservation properties of bog bodies. I just know it. But for the life of me I can’t figure out how.”
She stood. “You said the acid in the peat preserves the flesh, right?”
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