Chapter Three
Riddick watched as John T Chance and Chancey road out of town together. The two were trying to learn about each other. A father and daughter seperated, now reunited wanting to learn everything they had missed and build that relationship. Some where in the back of his mind he understood that longing. He understood the need to know where you come from. To have a place where you belong. A place where no matter what you did you were accepted . . . and loved.
Love, he'd believed to be a joke. He'd helped Jack and Imam, but love didn't factor into that. He'd helped, rescued them from that planet because he was their only hope for survival. Carolyn's willingness to die for them had touched him in a place he'd thought was dead. It had touched his heart.
He'd known when he'd left Jack with Imam on Helion Prime, in New Mecca that if he didn't they would use her to get to him. Merks would use her to draw him out, and he'd been right. Though they hadn't succeeded in the way they'd wanted, they'd still succeeded.
She'd signed up with them and they had tortured her, sent her to prison, and when he found out, he went to rescue her. And though he'd saved her from Crematoria, he'd failed in keeping her alive. He'd cared what happened to her, and now he'd been hurt that she was gone. He'd never admit it to anyone, but he'd actually loved someone. He wasn't as cold as he liked people to believe.
He couldn't reveal that weakness to the Necromongers, they would use it to destroy him. They would do their best to get rid of him any way. He wasn't one of them. He wasn't leading them to their faith. Not that it mattered now. He wasn't going back. He was starting over, again.
He sat on a bench outside the hotel sharpening his weapons of choice. A set of solid silver knives, perfectly balanced.
"I noticed you don't carry a gun? Why?"
Riddick glanced at Colorado who stood leaning against the porch post. The guy was a kid with a badge. He walked around with two guns strapped to his waist. He was at ease, but not cocky about the weapons he carried. Maybe he could take his job.
"You never have to reload."
"Are you any good with those?"
Now he had Riddick's attention. He cracked a half grin. "Are you?"
Colorado glanced down at his gun belt. "I get by."
Riddick's smile widened. "I don't just get by."
Chance led his daughter to one of his favorite spots, where they stopped and watched the water. He didn't know where to begin, what to say or ask. He was still trying to grasp that she was his child.
"Did you love my mother?"
Chance looked at her. That was not a question he'd expected to be asked, but one he could answer honestly.
"Yes."
"Why didn't you marry her?"
"Because I was young and stupid. Your mother was a good woman. Even though she was young, she was very strongwilled and she knew what she wanted. She wanted to be a mother. To have a husband, live on a ranch. She wanted to raise horses they were . . ."
"-her favorite animal, I know. They're mine too. You talk about her like it was only yesterday."
"That's because I could never forget her. When she left, I followed the stage, but she'd bought a ticket at the next stop and kept going. I had no money, I had to come back. I thought about her many times, even wrote her letters."
"But you didn't send them?"
"I had no where to send them. If I had known things would have been different."
Chancey nodded. "That's what Mom always said. I'd like to go back now."
"Sure."
Riddick found himself out behind the sheriff's office teaching the kid how to be a silent killer. Colorado was eager to learn, and Riddick taught. He never would have thought he'd be doing this. But there was something about the innocence of youth that caused him to let his guard down. He'd let Colorado think he was teaching him about guns. It made the situation a little less uncomfortable.
He heard the footsteps on the woodplanks and turned. Before him stood a shinning Chancey. Her long red hair hung loose about her shoulders. The copper colors seemed to crack with a life of their own and set her eyes alight. Green eyes stared back at him.
"Beautiful," the whisper escaped his lips before he thought.
She didn't seem to notice, as she walked down the steps. "Hey, Colorado. Riddick. You don't mind if I join you, do you?"
"Nope," Colorado said. "I thought you and Chance were riding."
"We did. He had some business to take care of and I don't have anything to do."
Colorado turned to Riddick. "Chancey and I grew up in Denver together. I better check back in."
Colorado walked into the sheriff's office. He had to make rounds with Dude.
Riddick inhaled the scent of roses as she moved closer to him. There was a playfulness about her he hadn't seen before. It was written all over her face, in her emerald green eyes, and the way the sunlight played through her hair. In that instance, he decided that she was a vixen.
She was dangerous. She could have no idea just how dangerous she was to a man. The way her scent hung in the air, soft and sweet. The way she looked at him through thick lashes. The way she walked, and the sweet way words rolled off her tongue in that softly raspy voice.
"My mother gave me a knife like that, said to carry it in my boot."
He leaned closer. "How interesting."
His voice sent a strange feeling running through her body. A soft word growled out in a way that made her bones weak. She smiled up into his face.
"You're pretty handy with those. Can I see one?"
Riddick's half grin was his response. Chancey reached over and took the knife from his hand. She studied it.
"It's a beautiful weapon. Perfectly balanced, meant to throw."
Could this moment get any better? Her soft velvety fingers touched his rough calloused hand as she returned the knife.
"You would have died the other night."
She cocked her head as she looked at him. "But I didn't. You saved me."
"I'm an animal, Chancey. You can't trust me," he growled.
"We're all animals, Riddick. What kind . . . that's what makes the difference." With that she turned and left.
Chancey sat down to dinner with Wade, and Colorado. Chance was waiting for Feathers to have his meal. Wade hadn't had much to say since they'd gotten into town. He'd been nothing but supportive in her quest. She looked at him, wishing she knew what to say. Wishing she could understand him.
Chance walked into the hotel. He walked over to their table with a handful of papers.
"Chancey, I told you about these, and I thought it was only right that you have them."
She took the letters. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"What's that," Wade asked.
"Letters that were written to my mother years ago."
Chancey couldn't understand the look on Wade's face but she knew that she didn't like it.
"We're all animals, Riddick. What kind, that's what makes the difference." Her words seemed to echo through his mind. She wasn't afraid of him, but she didn't idolize him the way that Jack had. She wasn't what he had been expecting from a girl her age.
Riddick found himself stunned with his own behavior, even his own reactions. He looked up just in time to see Chance walk over to his table. The man was intimidating, or would have been to most people.
"Can I join you?"
Riddick stopped. He'd been just about to take a drink of the whiskey that set on the table in front of him. He gestured to the empty chair.
"The black smith is looking for help. If you're interested," Chance said.
Riddick turned over the second glass and poured Chance some whiskey.
Chance smiled and took the glass. "We haven't had many like you around here."
Riddick's gaze turned on him. "You don't know the first thing about me. I'm an animal, and I'll kill every person in this town! Don't even attempt to think that you know me."
"I didn't realize that you were sure a bare faced liar."
Riddick's gaze turned dark.
"An animal doesn't save other people from certain death or even a worse fate. Animals turn on their own."
"Animals survive," Riddick responded.
"Animals care only for themselves. They kill to survive, not to protect their own kind. When their young are grown they don't protect them any more. Animals are out for themselves. If you're an animal, you have a funny way of showing it." Chance finished his drink, then stood. "Thanks for the drink."
Riddick watched then as Chance walked away. He had to get out of here. These people were driving him nuts! He hated civilization and light, and this town was just that. When everyone seemed to be leaving him alone, either Chance, Chancey or Colorado was bothering him.
He almost wished that he hadn't left the UV planet. He would have lived on that frozen heap for another several years without a problem. There was enough life there for him to survive on. Then there was the realization that he wasn't going anywhere. He couldn't get off this planet. He couldn't even get out of this time.
He growled as he sat there. There was no escape for him. This was just like being in a slam. Crematoria. Just like that. There was no escape. No skiff to use to get away, and there was no other escape from that place. It was a hell hole and he was stuck.
He stood and walked outside. The dark night was almost a comfort. As he rounded the corner of the hotel, he sensed someone move up behind him. He turned and the man threw his hands up in the air.
"I didn't mean to startle you, friend."
"I ain't your friend!"
"I have an offer for you."
Riddick studied the man. "I'm listening."
"Nathan Burdette wants to rid this town of Sheriff John T. Chance, Deputies Dude, and Colorado. We've been watching you. Mr. Burdette thinks that you'd be up to the job. What do you say?"
Riddick laughed at him. "Me?"
