The Death Thief

Epiphany

"Now you look here," she said, closing the gap between us while wagging one long finger in my face. "You seem to think you've got us all figured out because you heard one conversation between me and Matias, but you know nothing."

"I think there's a chance, I know more than you think," I said, craning my neck back to avoid her accusatory finger. "One way or another, I definitely know more than I should."

"Then, perhaps you shouldn't be digging around in things that don't pertain to you."

"Perhaps," I mumbled, thinking of Everett searching for what was surely a dead end in the security footage.

"Look, just drop this, okay? Matias may have done it — I don't know — but if he did, it wasn't out of his own free will. That bitch Bernadette would have made him do it." She huffed as she crossed her arms and turned to look out over the quiet road with her bottom lip jutting out in a surly pout.

"I...I mean, you're right," I said, trying to gather the fragments of my thoughts. "From what I've heard of her, I could believe Bernadette is calling the shots."

"Then, why are we having this conversation?" she asked with a growl.

"Because, I'm not talking about Matias. I mean maybe I am. I just mean..." I took a breath and turned my eyes to the tall, fearsome woman. She may have towered over me and she may have snarled a little bit, but she still watched me with interested eyes. Her patience was waning, but she was willing to listen. "We're talking hearsay and speculation right now, but you may have facts. We think that I'm your replacement and based on when I started to show signs of being called by the spell, well Sheriff Hathaway and I think you may have been effectively killed hours before you died."

"Come again?" The curl in her lip softened and her arms dropped from across her chest.

"You may not remember the couple hours before you died, but we think you were killed by something like poison during a time period that you may still have memories of."

"Poison?"

"Yeah, something slow that would have taken awhile to go into effect. Someone probably tampered with your food or drink. Surely you must remember the last thing you ate that day."

To my surprise, her initial response was a hardy laugh.

"You are on a wild goose chase," she said as the giggles settled. "I didn't even eat or drink anything that day. Today though, I would like to have lunch and even though it may be chicken necks, I really should grab a bite before getting back to work. Thanks for trying, you really should just let Kyra and Everett handle it though."

She turned away with a wave and headed for the door, but I just couldn't let her leave, I refused to believe my trek out there was in vain.

"How are you so certain?" I asked, throwing my hands up as a sigh of exasperation tore through me. "You must have at least had a glass of water."

"I eventually had some water, but it was straight from the tap, okay?" She stopped and turned on her heel, a patronizing smile twisting her lips. "Let it go. I can tell you with complete certainty I didn't eat or drink anything."

"The whole day?"

"Yes, the whole day," she said with a roll of her eyes. "That's what you have to do when you're..."

Then she stopped, snapping her jaw shut and trapping the words that weren't intended for my ears.

"Look it's none of your business why I did or didn't do anything."

"Maybe not, but you are hiding something, aren't you?" I took a few steps forward and this time it was she who cowered beneath my gaze. "You should at least tell Everett. Whatever it is you're keeping to yourself, it's likely Lady Derosiers was counting on your silence. It must have something to do with..."

"No, okay?" she said, stamping her booted foot upon the sidewalk. "She didn't have anything to do with this. I-I was in good hands. She couldn't have... Yet, she also shouldn't have known about Matias, we were so careful..." She drew her thumb to her lips, nibbling on the tip while she looked back over the fields.

For a moment only the sound of the tall grass swaying in the spring breeze broke her concentration. After a few minutes, her voice cut through the silence though it sounded ragged and frail.

"Are you certain it was poison?" she asked, not turning to face me.

"Well, something internal. Poison certainly seemed the easiest, but I suppose anything that could have done internal harm is a possibility. The point is that it would have gone unnoticed and had a delayed reaction."

Again, she stood silent and steady, only a few fluttering wisps of her hair broke her statuesque form. Then, she snapped.

"That son of a bitch!" she screeched, her hands balled into fists and her arms pumping through the air as rage ripped from her lungs. "That bastard!"

The door to the warehouse whipped open and her two zombie companions stuck their heads out. Doc with his eyes wide with concern and Mercedes with her lips gaping with surprise.

"River, what's..." started Doc, but Calista waved him away before he could finish.

"I'm leaving for the day," she proclaimed, spinning around before marching past me and towards the center of town. "Tell Raid that if Killian has a problem, I'll work double shifts for a week. I'm going to need a good way to burn off some anger."

"All right," he answered with a sad bend to his brow. "You just take care of yourself."

"Don't worry about me," she hissed. "Worry about the backstabbing little shit I'm about to stomp into the curb."

"Guess she really does hate bull snout," muttered Mercedes. "Well, more for me then!" And with that the two zombies disappeared and I was left alone to chase after Calista.