Spivey had never mourned the dead. He saw people as necessary inconveniences. The tribe mentality had never appealed to him. He lived among the humans because they were convenient vehicles to the basic necessities in life. Food, water, clothing, shelter, they were acquired at the expense of interactions with members of his own species.
Mac was a different story. She was the one person he didn’t just tolerate. He wanted her in his life. He felt just the slightest bit more at ease knowing that there would be days, hours, moments ahead when he would get to spend time with her, giving her shit, laughing with her, counseling her. Spivey had one friend in this life, and she now lay lifeless in a patch of tall grass behind a rusted-out johnboat. As much as he hated to admit it, until he’d looked at her bloated body full of bullet holes, he’d let himself hold on to a modicum of hope that he’d find her alive. Hope was not something he usually allowed himself. Hope was for suckers and chumps. He was neither of those things. Hope invariably led to disappointment, and he’d had enough of that in his life.
He tried to speak, but quickly held back when he realized he wasn’t just disappointed, he was sad. He didn’t get sad. Sad was a waste of energy. The feeling was so foreign to him he didn’t know how to proceed. He dug deep and kept his composure. “You find anything on the body?” His gut flipped inside out when he heard himself refer to Mac as “the body.”
“Nothing,” Dani said, feeling the grief that was slowly strangling the oxygen out of the atmosphere.
He pointed at a number of bullet holes. “This was done at close range.” He drew Dani’s and Nola’s attention to the purple discoloration that circled the wrists. “She was bound. For a while. Days maybe.” He counted the gunshot wounds. “She took eight bullets, not counting the head shot.” He felt himself waver, but quickly brought himself back. “Placement of the wounds suggests they were trying to get her to talk. Either that or they’re sadistic motherfuckers that just wanted to torture her.” He balled his hands into fists. “Either way, I’m going to end them.” He turned to Dani. “Is that gonna cause a problem between you and me?”
She considered his question before answering, “No.”