Ignition (William Hawk Book 1)
Page 20
Julia and I quietly slunk through the trees until we caught sight of the men. They were on Cy’s porch, smoking cigars.
It was Sheriff Winters and two deputies. My eyes almost bugged out of my head. He looked perfectly fine and was even laughing at a joke that one of the men had just told.
“Dad!” shouted Julia, leaping up from next to me.
“Stop, no!” I said, but it was too late. The three police officers heard her, whirled around, and drew their weapons. Julia was running across the pine needles to her father.
“Oh, brother,” I said, then turned and ran through the shadows back to Cy and Arthur.
It wasn’t happening. My legs were like pipes filled with concrete. I hadn’t taken five steps when the deputies were on me, slamming me to the ground, my hands pinned behind me.
“It’s the runaway killer, boss,” said one of them.
The other walked ahead of me a few paces. “We got two more over here. The other kid and the old man.”
The deputy turned me toward Sheriff Winters. He was sauntering toward me.
“At last, Mister William Hawk. At last.”
I lifted my face to his, trying to contain my hundreds of conflicting emotions. “How did you survive, Sheriff?”
“Survive what?” he said, but his expression told me that he knew.
“The mauling.”
The deputy looked at me quizzically. “What mauling?”
“Roivas mauled the sheriff. I saw it happen. A man nine feet tall, covered in horns, slashed him right across the chest.”
“Who-vias? You been smoking crack, son?”
By now Cy and Arthur had given up and were being dragged over to the group by the other deputy.
“More lies?” he asked, his arm around Julia. “The prosecutor’s going to have a field day with you, son.”
But I was determined to find out for myself. “Would you mind opening your shirt, sir?”
The sheriff’s eyes went wide and confused. “You want me to open my shirt? You turn gay on us, too?”
Idiot, I thought, but I said, “I want to see the injury on your chest.”
Grinning egotistically, the sheriff said, “It’s been a long time since anyone asked me to flash the six pack, but what the heck.”
He unbuttoned the snaps of his uniform and lifted his T-shirt. My eyes couldn’t believe what they were seeing, or weren’t seeing. His chest was completely normal, no injuries, no scars. But I’d seen him get horribly injured just four days earlier.
Suddenly I knew that the sheriff was part of the mystery, part of the other worlds I was learning about, and that my part in solving it would just continue to deepen. Why hadn’t he shown me who he was? Was he tied to Roivas?
“Who are you really?” I said, well aware that I’d get no answer.
His eyes grew serious, and I thought I detected a flash of green in them. “I was about to ask you the same thing. Who are you, William?”
“I’m the one who’s going to save humanity,” I said. Then I nodded to Arthur and Cy, “With their help.”
The deputies laughed at that, but the sheriff didn’t. I knew I’d hit upon something with him, but it wasn’t clear exactly what.
“Come on, let’s take you back to the city,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of questions for you.”
I was still thinking about him as they loaded the four of us into two different county-sheriff vehicles. Then, as the deputies started the vehicles, I looked out the window at the valley, wondering where Grace could be—and wished her luck.
We were both going to need it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
THE WILLIAM HAWK SERIES is the brainchild of an accomplished inventor, machinist and CEO writing under the pen name William Hawk. A life-changing accident and spiritual awakening sparked the author’s inspiration for this story of humanity, hope and redemption.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Back Cover