A Justified Kill (19 page)

Amber stood in the brightly lit hallway for a moment before leaning against the wall by the door. She was too late, the parents were already there.
The doo
r to Hanna’s room was closed but
she could
still
hear the soft murmur of a
man and woman’s
voice coming from
inside the room
. She heard
who she assumed was
Mrs. Barton
, blow her nose.
Shaking her head, she
hated being around crying people, even if it was for a good reason.

The scene
in the room was very emotional. Hanna’s parents were sobbing,
telling her h
ow much they loved her and
they were not m
ad at her for running away,
they were just happy to have her back.
Through their tears, they told her t
hat everything was going to be ok. Deep down, Amber knew the girl would never be
the same again. Things like what happened to Hanna
change
s
a person and
more than likely
would
affect her for the rest of her life.
Depending on how strong the girl would be in the upcoming months would determine what kind of life she was going to lead.
From the feelings Amber got from being around her, she thought Hanna was probably going to be ok. She seemed to be pretty strong and on the positive side, at
least she wasn’t pregnant,
which
was a good thing.

Inhaling deeply, Amber smiled sadly for the girl
’
s lost innocence
. She
was happy her parents were there by her side
when she heard the
rustle of the bed shifting.
Hanna’s parents hugged their daughter to them.
She
was going to need their understanding in the coming months, maybe even years.
From the sounds of it, Amber was sure they would be by her side through it all.

Standing alone in the
sterile bright hallway,
Amber
for once
felt at peace with herself. She had made a difference in this girl
’
s life and she hoped
Hanna would r
ealize,
with her at that very moment
were
loving parents
. No
matter what either of them
said or did,
they wer
e still a family
and had one another
.
She felt the urge to open the door, to tell Hanna
to hold on to her family as long as she could and to tell her goodbye,
but it was better this way.
Looking down at the purse in her hand, Amber
confirmed that the charger and
phone was inside and hung it on the hospital door handle
. Taking a deep breath, she released it in a
heartfelt
sigh
, then
turned and walked away.

T
he
local news reporter was all over the story of the “Camp
Fire Disaster”, reporting the details on how the
Forestry Service
had
responded to the fire
. T
he
rangers
had called in the sheriff and fire de
partment once they realized
there was a body in the tent at the campsite.
There were no questions asked because
everyone
knew
Gerald
was a drunk, there were witnesses stating
that he had bought several bottles of whiskey
a couple days earlier
.
This made the
count
y
c
oroner
’s
job easy and they reported that
Gerald had
passed out
while smoking.
There had been debate
about
ruling it suicide
since the
whiskey
had been spilled on
to
the bed in his drunken stupor
and
had served as an ignition source
. The reporter had gone on and on about the
years of obsessive drinking
. She paint
ed
a very ugly picture of an alcoholic’s abuse to his own body which resulted in an alcohol blood
level so high causing it to
actually
seep
out his pours
.
His body was completely burned with only his charred skeletal remains
left
behind
. The only way of identifying hi
m was from the three teeth which
had been found in his jaw bone.
The newspaper report noted that
e
ven if he had
awoken during the fire,
he would not have stood a chance.
With everything conside
red, the c
oroner’s report ruled it as a
case of an
accidental
death.

Only
Amber knew different and smiled when she read the
story in the
local newspaper.
The news reporter dug i
nto Gerald’s past and found
his family had left town long ago and had since
passed
away. The old shack he had lived in
years earlier
had fallen down so he
’d
set up camp in
the
National Park. Normally they didn’t allow year round camping, but somehow he had gotten away with it. It was unknown how he earned money, since he didn’t work. He had no bank account
,
even drove on an expired driver’s license. Amber sho
ok her head at the thought of
everyone
in town
, even the authorities knowing
about him, but had left him alone.
She had an idea that he probably stole from all his victims and as she had suspected, she did find that Hanna’s earrings, necklace and watch had been pawned.
The people of the town only saw him when he went to the bar or made a quick
shopping trip, then he would disappear into the woods again. His van always parked in the same spot on the side of the road.

Shaking her head at how he could be so far off the grid
and still
stay in one place for so long
amazed her
. If he had been werewolf, the pack would have been all over him. Eithe
r way, he had no one to call fou
l on his death
and insist on a detailed investigation. She
was able to breathe easier that
her screw up had actua
lly turned out for the better.
But she wasn’t quite happy. She knew Gerald had to have had more victims. S
o, she s
pent
the next couple of days
scouring the wooded areas surrounding the camp
. S
taying in
the m
otel, she was close to the forest when her wolf decided to emerge.
With the full moon phase lasting five days, she would have enough time to come up with something.
She had to find something t
o set her mind at ease so she could move on. The feeling that she was pushing her luck was always at the back of her mind. She was staying longer than she had in any other place.
The only way she had avoided being found by the Council
was
by
staying
on the move.
But she couldn’t leave just yet. She
knew there was
unfinished business here.

****

Over the next couple of days
Amber’s changes were uncontrollable and she started changing at will. She never knew when it was going to happen, but she did know
the signs of it starting
and several times had to leave work. She was surprised that Ryan hadn’t fired her. Of course Catherine still insisted that they were sleeping together and she was pregnant
, Amber just waved her off
.

W
hile out chasing a rabbit,
the wolf
smelled smoke and knew she was near the campsite
. Suddenly the
small furry creature
she had been chasing
was completely forgotten. Nose to the ground, several th
ousand yards from the area which
was still corded off by yellow police tape, the scent of death hit her. Sniffing, and blowing dirt from her nose, Amber sniffed once more and drew back, kn
owledge lit her yellow eyes,
she growled deep in her throat and started digging.

****

Amber
walked into the bar with a smirk
and was met by a scowling look on
Ryan
’s face. “The town is all in an uproar
and business sucks right now, s
o I’m going to have to let you go.”

Her
smirk turned into a smile
. “Well, that works out for us both then, I was coming to tell you I quit. I’m heading out of town.” A
mber handed him the black apron
he
had given her the day she had walked in off the street and asked for a job.
She didn’t normally give notice
when leaving a job. She
usually just walked out the night before and never came back.
For some reason she wanted
closure with Ryan.

Ryan
took the scrap of material and
stared at her
,
his frown deepened. “
You are the first person I have ever seen smile about being fired.”