Free Misfits, Inc. by Holly Copella Page B

Marcus, Delaney, and Talbert entered the
lounge and approached them at the bar.  Rafe followed in less of a hurry. 
Skyler saw them, appeared panic riddled, and jumped up from his bar stool.  His
eyes were so wide, they were about to bulge out of their sockets.
    “Did you see it?  What was it?” Skyler demanded.
    “We didn’t find anything,” Marcus informed him in a
low, firm tone while staring him down.  “No creature, no panther, and no dead,
half eaten girl.”
    Delaney and Talbert wore looks of annoyance on
their faces and withheld comment.  Hailey could tell they doubted her story of
the creature killing that woman.  Hailey jumped up from her seat to defend what
she saw.  Lucinda gently pulled her back down to her seat by her shoulder. 
Skyler was clearly wound enough for both of them.
    “Did you look by the ravine?” Skyler demanded while
throwing his hands around in frantic gesture.
    “We searched the entire area including several
paths and the ravine,” Marcus informed him while folding his arms across his
broad chest.  His look was cold and disbelieving.  “We didn’t find anything.”
    “We didn’t imagine this, Marcus,” Hailey firmly
insisted, despite Lucinda attempting to keep her from reacting.
    Hailey hesitated briefly and considered her
comment.  She was almost positive they hadn’t imagined it, but she knew how
ridiculous they sounded.  The strong drink was going to her head, and she was
having a difficult time collecting her thoughts.  Marcus turned his attention
on Hailey and showed more compassion than he had for Skyler.  She was grateful
that he wasn’t playing the tough guy act on her after what she’d been through
that afternoon.  Just another reason to like the hardened man.
    “I’m sure you saw something, we’re just not sure
what,” Marcus replied with a sympathetic look.
    Lucinda glared her disapproval at the imposing head
of security.  It was the first she offered an opinion of the incident, and
Hailey feared what that opinion might be.
    “If there’s something out there killing and eating my guests, you’d better damn well figure out what it is,” Lucinda growled in a
tone that surprised Hailey.
    Marcus fidgeted slightly to her comment then held
up his head proudly, not wanting to disappoint her.  Despite Lucinda being his
boss, Hailey was surprised he submitted to her.  She expected a little more
fight out of the tough man.
    “It’s too dark to see anything more tonight,” he
announced reassuringly, attempting to please the barracuda.  “We’ll go back out
when it’s light and have another look around.  If there’s something out there,
we’ll find it.”
    Lucinda remained displeased, but she accepted his
assurances.  Hailey was grateful Lucinda was at least willing to believe her
story even if she had to berate Marcus to prove it.  Marcus attempted to regain
his tough guy act then turned and indicated for Delaney to follow him.  Hailey
watched them leave and could almost hear them mocking her on their way out of
the lounge.  Hailey couldn’t believe they didn’t find the woman’s body.  They
couldn’t have looked very hard.  They had to have missed her somehow.  The dead
woman didn’t get up and walk away, considering her legs had been eaten along
with the rest of her lower body.  Could the creature have dragged her body away
to finish its meal?
    She suddenly recalled her nightmare on the
helicopter ride the day they arrived.  Something pulled a woman back into the
woods by her ankles.  Hailey could almost hear the woman in her dream
screaming.  Images of the dead woman’s face were burned into Hailey’s mind. 
Could it have been the woman from her dream?  Was that even possible?  Was her
nightmare actually a premonition?  She was starting to think she’d been hanging
around Skyler too long.  As if reading her mind, Talbert glared at Skyler and
shook his head with irritation.
    “No more scenic tours, okay?” Talbert