Crimson Falls (The Depravity Chronicles) Read Online Free PDF Page B

story.
    “This is all
confidential, Father.”
    “Of course,
Jacob.”
    “I mean it. Just
like confession.”
    “I understand.”
    “If you say a
word to anyone, I will arrest…” but Father Matthew cut him off by raising a
large hand at him, a little too close for Jake’s comfort.
    “I get it,” he
pushed back. “I am aware of the parameters of confidentiality.” He walked
toward the door, indicating to Jake that he was done with the conversation.
Although Jake admired the priest’s fortitude, he was irritated with his
presumptive attitude.
    “I’m not
finished yet!” Jake insisted.
    “I didn’t say
you were,” Father Matthew said as he continued through the door and into the
general office where his secretary, 78-year-old Martha Miller, was busy working
on Sunday’s bulletin.
    “What else can I
do for you?” Father Matthew said as he turned to face Jake again. “I have a
meeting in a half hour and I need to crunch some numbers. If you like, I can
come to the station in a few hours and we can talk in more detail.”
    Jake shifted
uncomfortably. He knew Anna would be able to tell if the priest knew any
information he shouldn’t have known.
    “No, Father,
that won’t be necessary. If I think of anything else I will be sure to stop by
and see you.” Jake put his thumbs in his belt, grazing his gun as he did so.
Intimidation always worked. Well, almost always. Father Matthew watched him and
observed his stance. A wry smile formed on the priest’s wise face. He
straightened his Roman collar with his thumbs. His point was clear to Jake.
Both men nodded to each other as Jake brushed past him to leave.
    “Oh, and
Father?” Jake said as he paused in the doorway.
    “Yes, Jacob?”
    “My name is
Jake.” Jake sniffed and walked through the office. Martha Miller stared at him,
shaking her head.
    As he stepped
into his cruiser, Jake took one last look at St. Mark’s. He considered visiting
his mother, confident that the damned priest would tell her he had been there.
    Something about
that priest pissed him off. Believing that most priests were always hiding
something sinister, he decided he would keep an eye on him.
       
    * * * * * *
    2
     
    Father Matthew
watched through the window of the office as Jake pulled away in his cruiser. He
had never liked Jake very much. In fact, Jake had made the first sixteen years
of his life pretty miserable.
    “Matthew is ten
feet tall and can’t even play basketball!” Jake had taunted in junior high.
“You look like a Sasquatch! Do you know what that is, retard?” And all the kids
had laughed.
    “I’ll be here
all week!” Matthew
chortled in disgust.
    He continued to
look out the window, scanning the sky and feeling a chill. Winter was coming,
and Matthew knew it was starting again. He remembered being sixteen, finding
his hermit father dead in the backyard. Sheriff Kelly had told the family that
he drank himself to death. Truth be told, it could have happened. His father
had left them and lived on the old Brickton estate in a shack about a half-mile
into the woods. The sheriff said he must have wandered around town drunk and
ended up in their yard, trying to find shelter in a snowstorm.
    But Matthew had
known better. He was the one who found his body only moments after he died. He
also saw that the back of his father’s neck had been gnawed by some massive
animal. When he told Sheriff Kelly about it, the sheriff said he had struck it
on a rock or something after he had collapsed. Matthew also told the sheriff
about the large footprints in the snow, but since they had been covered by
additional snowfall by the time the cops arrived, no one believed him.
    For days after
his father’s death, he would stare out his window and into the trees that lined
the back of his yard. Several times he was absolutely sure someone was watching
him. Desperate to find the answers the cops couldn’t seem to find, he put a
motion sensor spotlight on the garage that stood in