Page 22 of Down and Dirty

Keaton

Chapter 9

She slept for hours while he kept watch. He timed the screams, which happened once every twenty minutes. They were few and far between, but the changing pitch told him that the screams were from more than one woman.

Keaton climbed into Faith’s tent. She was sleeping peacefully. It almost pained him to have to wake her up. She was beautiful, even more so than when she’d breached his dreams. He swallowed hard around the lump in his throat. In his dreams, he’d failed to keep her alive. He could never tell her. Only wait to see if he did things right this time.

He pressed a tender kiss to her temple. “Faith, it’s time to wake up.”

She moaned and snuggled further into the sleeping bag.

“Faith,” he said a little louder. “It’s time, baby. If you want to help me get to Mary, you have to get up.”

Her eyes shot open, and her breath quickened as she glanced around as if it took a second for her to remember where she was and why he’d been looking down at her.

“What time is it?” she asked, wiping the sleep from her eyes.

“Almost two. The water level is receding,” he said.

“How is that possible in a pond?” she asked, wiping the sleep from her eyes.

“The pond overflowed and created a breach into a stream nearby where there is a runoff.”

“Seriously?” Her pretty lips formed a perfectO

“Living in the woods, it’s possible your friend Mary knows about the breach. It’s possible it happens every night between two and three. I don’t know why it happens or care, but it’s happening now,” he said climbing out of her tent, giving her a few minutes to wake up.

Keaton made her a cup of coffee. He was working on his seventh cup since she’d fallen asleep. He was going to need it. Keaton handed it to her before climbing into the waders and putting the additional pair by her legs.

Grabbing the shovel and the panels, he watched the water recede until a body protruded from the water. First the long grey hair on the head and then the rest.

Keaton had just reached the body as Faith struggled to get into the waders.

Jimbo’s voice had them both looking up at the tree line, where he emerged with a forensic team following behind him.

Jimbo would believe anything Faith told him. Proving it to others, however, was his only impediment. Keaton could only imagine what Jimbo had told them to get them to hike out this way without even a missing person’s report.

Keaton dug into the mud surrounding the body, giving it a wide berth, trying as best he could not to damage any evidence that was left behind. He had one panel secured when Faith and the rest of the forensic team began to help.

Jimbo stayed on the shoreline, talking on his phone while he paced.

They barricaded the body, and Keaton took a step back, giving the geeks room to work.

“Faith…” he glanced around, looking for her, only to spot her following a spirit, which glided beneath the waterfall.

Keaton waded over to her and climbed over the rocks. The water pressure coming over the ridge soaked him as he followed her into the dark cavernous place.

“Faith,” he called out.

A flashlight lit his face before she lowered it to the ground. “Sorry.”

“What are you doing?”

“Following a spirit,” she said as if it were an everyday normal response.

They began to move in tandem. Their movement sloshed the water at their feet. The sound of the water from above hitting the rocks made it difficult to hear. The cave grew narrower as he followed behind her, helping her so she didn’t slip on the rocks. Her flashlight was dancing off the walls.

She stopped abruptly, and Keaton almost plowed into her, catching her around the waist so she didn’t topple over.

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