Voracious - Alice Henderson [81]
She looked at Noah, who was listening intently to the ranger. “What happened then?” he asked.
Steve shrugged. “An EMT fixed my leg. I got stitches and some codeine. Went back to my cabin.” He regarded Madeline intently. “And regretted not doing more to help you,” he added.
“You were plenty of help,” she said, leaning even more toward believing him.
“Why didn’t you get the hell away from here?” Steve asked.
She stared at Noah. “I thought I could help,” she said finally. Reaching across the table, she squeezed Noah’s hand. He seemed surprised, but then he squeezed her hand back.
She suddenly thought of a way she could know for sure. She looked uncertainly across the table at the naturalist. “Could I see where it scratched you?” she asked.
Steve raised his eyebrows in shock. “Well, I wouldn’t call it ‘scratched,’ more like ‘took a chunk out of my leg.’ What, are you into the gory stuff? Shark victims, bear attacks, that kind of thing?”
She shook her head. “It would just put my mind to rest about something.” If this was actually Steve, then the wound would still look fresh.
Steve shrugged. “Okay,” he said finally. “But you probably want to finish your dinner first.”
Just then the waitress approached and set a steaming cup of coffee in front of Steve. “Just want to sit here, hon?”
“Sure,” he said, then looked at Noah and Madeline. “If that’s okay with you two.”
“Oh, perfectly,” Noah said, trying to make him feel at ease.
Madeline found she couldn’t eat another bite of omelet until she knew for sure if the person at their table was her new friend or her relentless pursuer.
At her insistence, the three of them went out to the parking lot. Steve wore the kind of pants that zipped off into shorts, and he zipped off the bottom half of the left pant leg. Pulling the leg up, he revealed a blood-soaked bandage covering his thigh. Gently he peeled away the white first aid tape on one side and revealed a hideously long gash in his thigh. Brown stitches, over thirty total, ran the course of the wound, which seeped blood at the edges.
Gasping, Madeline took in the severity of the wound, sucking in breath and wincing.
Noah gave a long, low whistle.
“Satisfied?” Steve asked, grimacing as he replaced the bandage.
Noah nodded.
Madeline still wasn’t sure. She guessed it could fake a wound, too. She said, “Now give me something personal.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Like your watch or a piece of jewelry.”
“What, are you robbing me now, too?”
“Seriously.”
After a pause, during which he scrutinized her, he said, “Okay.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a half dollar. “My grandpa gave it to me. Good luck charm.”
She grasped the coin tightly and let images come to her.
An older man with a kind face sitting in a blanket-covered chair telling a story …
Steve and the woman she’d seen before in the vision from his couch, kissing passionately …
Steve hiking along a road in the dark, leg in agony …
Steve arriving back at the scene of the fire with backup …
This was Steve. She handed the coin back.
“Mind telling me why that was necessary?”
“The creature can—” Madeline began, but was cut off by Noah.
“The creature’s scratches can be poisonous. But it doesn’t look like he infected you.”
Madeline looked at Noah in bewilderment.
Steve sighed. “Well, big thanks for small miracles.” Then he looked at Madeline with concern. “But that thing—twelve rounds right into his chest and head. No effect but to stun him. You need to get away from here, Madeline. Get in your car right now and get the hell away.”
His words chilled her as the three stood out in the shadowed parking lot. Once again she felt vulnerable, uncertain. Ironically, thinking the creature was right there in the diner with them had almost been preferable to having no idea where it actually was. It could be waiting anywhere, hoping to catch her alone. She shuddered against the chill of the evening.
“Let’s get back inside,” she said.
The other two nodded, and they turned their backs to the night, returning to the diner and