The Border Part Two by Amy Cross Read Free Book Online

I can’t see you putting handcuffs on him and taking him to jail. It’s just not going to happen.”
    “Why do you say that?”
    “Because it’s ridiculous,” he added. “Someone like you, getting hold of someone like him… It’s like someone from one world trying to catch someone from another. It’s silly. I mean, can you imagine it happening?”
    “Yes, Joe. I can.”
    “It ain’t gonna.”
    She paused, before closing her notepad and slipping it into her pocket. “If you think of anything else, Joe, you must come and speak to me. Even if it seems like something small, like something completely insignificant, it might help us. Do you promise you’ll do that?”
    “C-Caitlin shouldn’t have died.”
    “I know that.”
    “I should have saved her.”
    “You can’t blame yourself.”
    “That’s what I was trying to do while he was stabbing me,” he continued. “I was reaching out and trying to transfer my life energy into her, so that she’d survive, even if it meant I had to die. Is that stupid? I don’t believe in all that crap, but at that moment, I was trying to help her any way I could. I just…” He paused again, as a tear ran down his cheek. “If I hadn’t asked her out there that night, she’d still be around today. I could still talk to her and everything.”
    “I’m sure you did everything that was in your power,” she replied. “You need to just focus on how things are at the moment, on the things you can control. You’re rebuilding your life, and that’s great.”
    “He’ll kill again.”
    She paused. “What makes you say that?”
    “I’ve seen him, remember? He was amazing. Powerful, strong… I could just tell. Someone like him, as long as he’s alive, he’ll always kill again.” He paused, staring at her with dark, unblinking eyes. “Maybe he should kill again, if it’s what he does best.”
    “I’m not sure that’s true, Joe -”
    “You didn’t see him,” he replied, interrupting her as a faint smile crossed his lips. “It was horrible, and it hurt, but seeing him in action… It was like seeing a creature do the one thing it was put on this earth to do. He’s magnificent.”
    ***
    “What are you thinking about?”
    Turning, Alex saw his wife Ruth standing in the doorway.
    “Don’t take this the wrong way,” she continued, stepping closer, “but you’re not the kind of guy who usually stands at a window, looking out at the rain and the world, contemplating things. You’re a doer, not a brooder, so when I see you like this, I can’t help wondering what’s going on.” She paused. “Missing the cigarettes?”
    He shook his head.
    “Not tempted to go back to them?”
    “Course not,” he replied, turning back to the window. “I’m just looking out at the town and wondering where it all went wrong.”
    “Wrong?” Making her way over to join him, she looked out at the town square. “Doesn’t look like much is wrong, not to me.”
    “That’s the problem,” he replied. “I’ve spent my whole life trying to keep Bowley and its people safe, and I always thought I was doing a pretty good job. No-one complained, that’s for sure, and life just seemed to keep on going without too many problems. Now I’m starting to wonder if the bad things were just better at hiding than I realized. Like maybe there’s things going on here that I don’t know anything about.”
    “I very much doubt that,” she told him.
    “There’s obviously something,” he continued. “There’s some… force that killed Caitlin Somers nine years ago, and then laid dormant until it killed Mel Armitage the other night. And for those nine years, I thought the place was safe again, I thought the evil had moved on, but it was here all along and I just couldn’t see it. It was hiding or waiting or… laughing at me. Feeling smarter than me.”
    “Look out there,” she replied, putting her arms around him from behind. “This town is so peaceful and beautiful. Do you