The Awakening by Jana DeLeon Read Free Book Online Page B

People probably wouldn’t have to dig very deep to find out just how hard up she was.
    If that information got back around to Tanner, she’d be mortified, although she had no idea why. In theory, it seemed stupid to care what a stranger, a hired one at that, cared about her. But for some reason, the idea of him knowing she was broke and making deals with the bank to keep her family home wasn’t something she wanted to think about.
    Enough people had already guessed the truth. She was going to do the best she could to change her situation before everyone had proof.
    * * *
    T ANNER STRODE DOWN THE path in the swamp to where the crew was working on the fencing. With all the construction noise, it wasn’t hard to find them, despite the many branches and forks of the swamp trails.
    The men froze as he came through the brush, and Tanner could tell they were ready to flee if necessary. “Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
    An older man, probably mid-fifties, stepped toward him. “You didn’t. You have to be aware working in the swamp, and with the trouble lately, we’re paying extra attention.”
    “Sounds like a good plan,” Tanner said. He extended his hand to the man, who he guessed was the crew leader. “I’m Tanner LeDoux.”
    “Ray Melancon. I run this crew. Are you a new foreman, Mr. LeDoux?”
    “Please call me Tanner, and no, that job is still Emmett Vernon’s. I was hoping to talk to him. Is he around?”
    Ray looked mildly disgusted. “He shows up for a minute or two. Then he’s gone. All day, I worry and wait on equipment and guidance, but he’s nowhere to be found. This morning was no different.”
    Tanner frowned. “I just came from the house, and I didn’t see him anywhere around the grounds.”
    “He walked that way,” he said, and pointed deeper into the swamp. “About an hour ago.”
    Tanner scanned the foliage where Ray was pointing. What could he possibly want out there?
    “If you’re not a new foreman,” Ray said, “can I ask what you’re here for?”
    Tanner smiled. “I’m here to track down a monster.”
    Ray’s eyes widened and he took a step back from Tanner. “You shouldn’t joke about such things. The creatures that haunt these swamps don’t like to be the butt of jokes.”
    “Then it’s a good thing I wasn’t joking. I’m a professional tracker. Ms. Bettencourt hired me to see that the vandalism stops. That means catching the vandal.”
    “You can’t catch the Tainted Keitre. No one can.”
    “You’re probably right, as it doesn’t exist, but I can catch a man trying to make you believe he’s a monster.”
    Ray shook his head. “You young people don’t understand the swamp like the elders. My great-grandfather taught me everything about this swamp, including the legends.”
    “And what legend covers vandalism?”
    “It’s an awakening.” Ray looked back at the crew, who’d stopped working to listen. Some of the men nodded. Most just looked at him with fearful expressions.
    “You think the creature was awakened? By what?”
    “Maybe the construction. He seems to target the repairs,” Ray said, but his voice lacked conviction.
    “But that’s not what you think.”
    Ray shook his head. “I think the creature appeared because a greater evil is present in the swamp. Something that wasn’t here before. It’s out of balance. Can’t you feel it?”
    Because Tanner had always felt the Honey Island Swamp was out of balance, he wasn’t sure how to reply. Of all the places he’d lived, the swamps in Mystere Parish had been the only place that he’d never relaxed. All those years in the Atchafalaya Basin and he’d never felt the unease that settled over him after only five minutes of standing in the Honey Island Swamp.
    “You do feel it,” Ray said. “I see it in your eyes.”
    “Look, the truth is, the swamps in Mystere Parish have always felt uncomfortable, especially the Honey Island Swamp.”
    “Ah, then you are a man in