Page 53 of Beneath Still Waters

“He’ll talk. He already is,” Duke said as he turned to face George.

“No one said you could stop. You’ll keep walking all the way to the edge of the dock. There’s party seating down there. For special guests only. I guess that makes you special.”

He laughed as he reached for Duke’s arm. Ferd drove her shoulder into his ribs, sending him tumbling down the embankment toward the water, then screamed for help.

Duke took off down the stairs, following George’s haphazard descent. When he landed on the dock below, George dropped to one knee, sweeping his hand across the planks.He’s searching for his gun. You have to stop this before he kills Duke.Ferd raced to catch up, but her thigh muscles seized on the stairs. Duke drove a hard right into George's jaw, sending him sprawling.

George gripped Duke’s hair, pulling his head into George’s knee. Duke stumbled, nearly losing his footing. One second. Two. Ferd took the stairs two at a time. What if I’m too late? George reached for the pistol in the sand a few feet away. She finally made it to Duke, winded and wincing as she kicked the gun out of George’s reach.

Duke launched himself to his feet and threw a wild right. His fist cracked against George's cheek, stopping Ferd cold. She gripped the rail to keep her balance.Why did punches have to sound like that?His eyes rolled back in his head.

“Nice moves. You ever play football?” He grinned at her as two officers ran down the winding steps to join them, talking into their coms on their shoulders.

“No. I guess I’ll have to try sometime.”

He looked at her for a moment too long, then looked away. “I guess that’s it. As soon as I can, I’ll drive you back home.”

He wants to be rid of me too, now that he doesn’t need me.“You’ll be here for a bit. I’ll call Connor.”

Now, she’d faced worse demons than Hunter. She might even be able to tell him why she’d chosen Wayside to heal instead of her apartment.

FORTY-ONE

Maddie strode toward Ferd in a chartreuse fitted pantsuit, her purple-streaked hair in a ‘50s style that complimented her face and her glasses, which were now electric blue. Ferd sat in the back of the viewing room, watching who would show up for Bailey’s impromptu funeral.

Duke settled in next to her and laid a messenger bag between them. “How are you feeling? You going to be okay driving all the way to Cody right after this?”

She nodded. If she didn’t talk about it, she wouldn’t cry. In the front, Maddie gently fixed the fake flower arrangements the funeral home provided for occasions where family couldn’t buy any. She then went to the casket and laid a hand over the closed top. When they’d arrived, she expressed how sorry she was that she couldn’t fix the damage the anchor had done, preventing an open-casket funeral.

“She really cares.” Ferd sniffled and dug a tissue from her pocket.

“Yeah, she does. Her family has owned this place for two generations. I don’t think she ever wanted to be anything else, not that I’ve talked to her that much about it.”

Kelly arrived and glanced all around before heading to the front. She said a few mumbled words to Bailey’s photo, displayed atop his casket, and quickly left. Heath and Kevin came next, Heath with a bandage over one eye, and took seats next to Duke.

Maddie came over and whispered to Ferd. “The officiant is running a little behind. I hope more people come, but it’s possible they won’t. Short notice.” She frowned. “I’ll go out front and make sure anyone out there comes to the right room.” She squeezed Ferd’s shoulder gently and left.

How could someone who wore such loud clothes be so quiet?

“Are you nervous about talking to your boss?” Duke leaned closer to her.

“Incredibly. I’m thankful Connor is driving.” She massaged the knot in her leg. Would the thing ever heal?

The service was over almost before it began. The officiant hadn't known Bailey, and without family or lifelong friends, there wasn't much left to say. Only Samantha, Paul, Heath, and Kevin came. Surprising. Or not. Bailey hadn’t let anyone but those few people know who he really was.

After Samantha and Paul left, Ferd went up front to have a moment with the man who’d unknowingly changed her life. “Bailey,” she whispered. “I hope you’ve found peace now.”

Duke stood at her side. “He deserved better than he got.”

“That was a lot nicer than the one for Abe,” Heath said as he came to stand behind her. “I still feel bad about that.”

Abe. The man Connor had told her owned the ranch where Heath and Kevin had been hiding. “You called in his death?” she asked.

“We had to. We scoped the place out since we needed somewhere near the lake. It looked empty, so we hoped no one would notice squatters. When we went inside, we got a surprise.”Heath grimaced. “Wasn’t our finest moment. But we called it in, then made sure he was taken care of properly.”

“You did well.” Maddie appeared behind them. Her suit seemed to almost glow in the odd yellow light. “Everyone deserves to have dignity at the end. Maybe next time you'll need a funeral director undercover.” Her eyes shone with a calm that made no sense given what she did.

“I’ll keep in mind that you’re open to that, should we ever need to,” Duke said.