Declan
"Malachi no!" I screamed as he confidently walked to the door, turned the handle and pulled it open as I quickly switched off the safety to my gun ready to handle any threat that came into the house.
"Hey Riley," Malachi smiled as the hooded man from the forest lowered the hood to his raincoat and smiled. The light of the porch finally revealed his face to me as he warmly looked at Mal. He was as tall as Mal and up close you could see he was much leaner than us both.
His skin was pale with dark shoulder length choppy hair and dark circles under his eyes as if someone who had been deprived of decent sleep for a good week. He had a scar running along the bridge of his nose onto his left cheek. However, besides that there was nothing threatening about him.
"Hey Mal, I was just checking in. I met someone in the forest who was running this way and I just wanted to make sure you were alright," his eyes tore away from Malachi and settled onto me. His smile disappeared to instantly display a frown filled with concern.
"Oh, this is Declan, the new detective for the police. Sorry, I think you might have spooked him," Mal laughed.
The man whose name I had now found out was Riley slapped his hand to his forehead and laughed. "I'm sorry, we know everyone in this town and with the killings I worried you were some crazed killer."
My shoulders slumped forward and I felt ridiculously stupid for causing such a major fuss as I switched off the safety of my gun and took out the ammunition. "Apologies. I've been on high alert."
"I can understand why," he ran his fingers through his hair.
"Would you like to come in for tea? I'm sure you've been out for a long time. Good to warm you up before you go on your way," Mal offered as he moved from the hallway and allowed Riley to step in.
"Thank you. The rain earlier really put a chill in my bones," he took off his wet boots and left them outside so that they didn't make the wooden floors damp. It seemed he was used to coming over as he went over to the guest slippers and put his feet in.
"Let me go out on some clothes. Declan would you mind switching on the fireplace please. You can give me your coat so I can put it in the dryer for you as well." Riley was quick to shrug it off and give it to him before Mal left for upstairs.
"No problem," I nodded as I went into the living room with Riley trailing behind me.
Even though I could tell Malachi and he were well accustomed I was still on high alert. What kind of man walked through the forest at four in the morning?
Okay yes, I was walking through the forest at that time but I had a good reason to be there. I was a police officer, there could have been a thousand and one reasons for why I was in the forest.
Riley sat down on the couch closest to the fireplace as I put a few logs of wood then flipped the switch which instantly made it catch fire. One of the benefits of staying in Malachi's house. He had fancy accessories.
Once I was done I turned back to look at Riley and took in more of his profile. Relaxed back in the chair, hands rested on top of his thighs in a casual way and his shoulders pushed back showing he had nothing to hide. His eyes met mine and a small smile graced his face.
He was open to conversation which meant there was less of a possibility of being one of my suspects but I was still open to the idea. He would have been a master of hiding his expressions or nerves.
"I'm a tracker," he said, popping me out of my analysis.
"Excuse me?"
"I'm a tracker. One of the few who help track animals and help the police with the bodies. We've been spread out throughout the forest these past few days because of the missing report of the teenage girl from a week ago. I was trailing what I believed was a wounded deer when I came across you. That was the second rustling behind you."
The sound I thought was the second person. I sucked on my front teeth and looked away from him, the dots connecting. The sound behind didn't sound like footsteps the harder I thought about it therefore I knew he was telling the truth.
When I looked at the silver object resting on the chair next to him it was a walking stick. Not the blade I had thought it would be. Jason had mentioned the trackers were out in the forest helping them keep an eye on things and looking for anything unusual.
"You said you were Riley right?"
"Riley Newman," he confirmed, "I live at the reserve where Gedaliah was chief."
"Ah," I nodded as I sat down on the couch. "I see. Condolences."
"He was a good man. Sharp. You two would have gotten along," he smiled. "You move fast through the forest and you sensed me before I could present myself. I was worried you might have been a danger.
"No, no, it never occurred to me that I might come along trackers in the forest. It would do me some good to introduce myself to you all so that I can be familiar with your faces."
His eyebrows went up as if something clicked in his head. "We're having dinner today, more of a meeting actually. You're welcome to join. Maybe if you can meet the others they could be of more help. Some have recovered bodies. They're recollection of events will be far better than mine. Zion will be there. He will be eager to get to know you."
"Zion?" The name was unique.
"Zion Zephaniah, he is our new chief, Gedaliah's son. He's hard to get a reach off but I can let him know that you wish to meet him. He'll be happy to help."