Chapter 29


Bernie looked at the man and said "Just that the sheriff thinks it was a guy by the name of Connor Ford. But the body was very badly burned." He used the rag that was hanging from his back pocket to wipe up a small spill on the counter.

Hearing that the body had been burned caused loud gasps from the bar patrons. Someone even managed to say, "Holy shit!"

"Don't think I remember anyone around here by that name. Was he just passing through?" the man asked.

The bar tender cocked his head to the side a little, "Duke, you have heard of him. He's the drunk that I cut off about three weeks ago. Remember, you and Earl had to accompany him back to his motel room because he was too drunk to walk upright."

From the corner of Riddick's eye he could see Duke nod in remembrance. "Did Earl and I tell you what his room looked like? Man it was a pig sty," he said and raised his hand in the air to represent his next thought. "The man had a beer can tower built this tall in there."

Riddick couldn't help but to glance over towards Duke, just to see how high it was.

Bernie chuckled and shook his head. "Was probably saving them in order to pay for the room. Connie, the owner of the motel, said that he had been staying there for almost a month now. But the last two weeks he had been late on payments."

What could have happened two weeks ago? Riddick thought to himself and tried not to smile. That's about the time when he came around my place; glad to hear I'm still able to distract people that badly.

It was then that a man sitting directly to Riddick's left got in the conversation. "Tim, over at the truck shop said the bastard took a rental truck over the edge of that cliff with him." The whole time he spoke he was shaking his head. "Poor Tim is out a truck and money," he said, before taking a sip of his beer.

Riddick took a swallow from his whiskey. "Did Tim get any information from the guy? Maybe he can send a bill to the asshole's family," Riddick suggested as he held up his empty glass, letting Bernie know he wanted another drink.

Riddick tried not to tense up as the guy clapped him on the back. "That's a great idea. I'll have to suggest that to Tim," the man beside Riddick said before removing his hand from Riddick's shoulder.

"Well, either way we won't have to worry about his drunk self around here anymore," Bernie said as he sat Riddick's filled glass back in front of him. "The sheriff said there were beer cans scattered up where he thinks the guy was parking. Probably got so loaded again that he forgot which pedal was for the brake and which was for the gas."

Riddick knew Jack would be happy when he told her that Connor was known around town as a drunk. He hoped that with that knowledge Jack would be able to relax a little more.

Soon the conversation around Riddick changed to other topics. He drank the rest of the whiskey, paid his tab and headed out the door to get some stuff from his ship.

"That guy doesn't come in here very often, but when he does he sure does leave a good tip," Bernie said as he held up the extra fifteen creds that Riddick left with his other money.

Duke nodded his head, "Seems like a pretty decent guy, even though he doesn't say much." He shrugged and went back to nursing his drink.


Since the shipyard wasn't too far from the bar, Riddick left his truck locked where it was and turned down the alley that would get him to the shipyard faster. Up ahead he could see an older lady behind the motel struggling to get a heavy bag into the dumpster.

"Why is it that I always get to clean up the rooms that belong to the people who skip out on their fees?" the older lady asked as she tried to lift a black suitcase into the trash.

Riddick could only guess she was muttering to the cat that meowed at her feet. What would be the likelihood that that suitcase belonged to Ford? he thought to himself. He didn't want the lady to see him so he did his best to stay perfectly still in the shadow of a building. With the dark clouds looming overhead, it was as if it were past sunset; Riddick knew it wasn't later then seven though.

Once the lady took her cat back inside, Riddick waited a moment before quickly looking into the dumpster. Thankfully it was almost full so the suitcase was near the top. Popping the latches, Riddick slowly opened it and stopped himself from growling at what he saw inside. Quickly he latched the suitcase closed and sat it on the ground by his feet. Ripping open the garbage bag the woman had also thrown in, he searched for anything that might link him to Connor Ford. After not finding anything else, Riddick picked up the suitcase, glanced around for a moment and started towards the ship yard again.

Once locked securely in his ship, Riddick made a point to take out everything that had his face or name on it from Connor's suitcase, then hid the cheaply made case, making a mental note to ditch it the next time he was off on business.

Picking up his computer, he stuffed it into the bag that now held Connor's things and headed out of the ship. Relocking it, he walked in front of the closed businesses and down the street to where he was parked at the bar.


When Riddick left to see what information he could learn in town, Jack went around the house making sure that every window and door was locked tightly. Once she was sure that the house was secure, she spent the next twenty or so minutes rehanging the living room and kitchen curtains; even though Riddick said he didn't see any blood on them, Jack insisted on washing them just in case.

Once the curtains were hung, Jack checked for her shiv in her waist band before opening the front door to let Cole outside.

Standing on the porch steps, she lifted her face towards the gloomy looking clouds and frowned. "I'm really getting sick of this rainy season," she said out loud. "Only a few more weeks and we should start getting more sunshine," she sighed, wishing it would come sooner.

After two hours of trying to keep herself busy, Jack sat on the floor in their bedroom with her back against the freshly made bed and her knees drawn up. Her head was in her hands as she did her best to wait patiently for Riddick to get back. Cole lay quietly beside his master; he was tuckered out from playing fetch with her in the room and now he didn't want to leave her side.

Right as Jack was about to get up to lay on the bed she heard Riddick's voice downstairs. "Jack? I'm home!" he called out.

Jack quickly stood and headed for the hallway. "I'm up here," she said to him, already seeing him coming up the stairs. "Well? Were you able to find anything out?" she asked with hopeful eyes.

Riddick smiled and engulfed her in a hug as she hurried to him. The bag from the ship dangled from his hand that also carried a pizza. "I found out some interesting things," he mentioned before he kissed the top of her head. "Where do you want to sit and eat while I fill you in?" he asked, leaning his head down a little to see her face.

Looking up at him she tilted her head back towards the bedroom. "On the bed okay?" she asked and took a step back from him.

He nodded as he started to speak, "Perfect, why don't you take the pizza while I'll get us some plates and drinks." He could tell that she was worried, but he hoped his upbeat attitude would help calm her nerves.

She took the pizza box and bag from him. "Napkins too," she suggested, kissing his lips and turning on her heels to head back to the room she had come from.

Riddick watched her walk down the hallway and disappear into their room. He sighed before going downstairs again.

Within a few minutes Riddick walked into their bedroom and smiled seeing Jack already eating a slice of pizza. "I knew you were probably starving since you didn't eat much today," he said as he handed her a glass of juice and a napkin.

"My stomach is still flip flopping, but I know if I don't eat you might hog tie me and force feed me," she managed to say around a mouthful of pizza.

He chuckled and sat down next to her. "Yeah, well I don't need to be taking you into the doctor because you are starving to death," he said with a grin.

Jack tilted her head in his direction and raised an eyebrow, "Like I'm really going to wilt away in only a day or two."

Shrugging, he handed her a clean paper plate before putting two slices of pizza onto his own plate. Jack leaned over a little and sniffed his scent. "You sure do smell like alcohol and cigarette smoke," she said before sitting up straight again.

"You try sitting in a small bar with at least fifteen tired factory workers and see if you smell like roses," he teased with a chuckle.

Jack watched him devour two whole slices of pizza while she was still on her first slice. "So what did you find out? Hopefully good news, right?" she finally asked; tearing a piece of her crust off to give to Cole who was laying patiently at the end of the bed.

Riddick nodded. "It seems that our drunk friend, Connor, had been in town for about a month. The guys in the bar said that he had been staying at the motel. I do think he was really looking for a place to live around here," he said before taking a long drink from his glass.

"Okay, and?" she questioned, feeling as if she was going to need to pester the important information out of him.

He sat his glass back down, "And about two weeks ago he started being late on his payments for renting the room," he took another bite, chewed and then continued. "From what Bernie said, the sheriff thinks Connor was out drinking at the spot where his truck went over the cliff..."

Jack stopped him, "Who's Bernie?" she asked, not knowing anyone by that name.

"He's the bar tender. So anyway, the sheriff found the beer cans I had thrown around near where the truck was parked. Thankfully others had seen Connor's beer can collection in his motel room," Riddick said with a grin.

Wiping her mouth and fingers with her napkin, she waited for Riddick to go on. When he didn't she sighed, "What else? Did Bernie say if the Sheriff thought foul play was involved?"

Riddick looked at her and shook his head, "No. Seems lots of people thought he was an alcoholic and figure it was a freak accident."

Her eyes searched his face for a moment, "We are good to go then? I mean, do you really believe what they were saying?" she asked as her mind was racing again like it had done on the walk back through the woods.

He nodded while he stated to speak, "I do believe it. The way those guys were talking, Connor's body was badly burned. I don't think there is any way for them to say stab wounds are what killed him." He leaned over and cupped her cheek with his hand. "It's going to be okay, Jack. I promised you that, didn't I?" he asked her in a hushed, but sincere voice.

It was Jack's turn to nod as she leaned into his hand. Riddick took her silence as an opportunity to glance over at the bag that she had laid on the bed by her feet. "There's stuff from Connor's motel room in the bag, along with the computer from the ship," he mentioned.

Jack lifted her head from his hand and looked at him with wide eyes. "How the hell did you get stuff from his motel room?" she inquired while reaching for the bag.

He chuckled, picking up another piece of pizza. "I just happened to be walking down the alley behind the motel when the woman was throwing a suitcase into the trash," he said as if it was an every day thing for him to go through dumpsters.

"And you just happened to know it was Connor's stuff," she commented, pulling the two computers from the bag. "Two computers?" she asked puzzled for a moment. "You mean to tell me that that motel doesn't go through left behind belongings? Or the sheriff didn't go through it and take evidence?"

Riddick looked at her, "It's not like it's one of those fancy hotels on other planets, baby. As small as that motel is, they just want to clean the room so the next person can rent it out. And since they think the asshole drove himself over the cliff they won't look for evidence in the motel," he rattled off the information as if he had worked with the police or in a motel before.

Jack finally gave him a smile. "And you say that I watch too many crime shows on TV," she said before turning her attention back to the other things in the bag.

When she gasped, Riddick knew that she spotted his picture on the papers. "Good thing they didn't look in the suitcase, huh?" he asked before taking a large bite.

"Holy shit," she whispered, dragging the messy stack of papers out of the bag. "Oh wow. These were all in his luggage?" she asked, not believing how lucky Riddick was that he found this stuff and that someone else hadn't.

Riddick could only get out a nod before Jack was glancing through the printed pictures of Riddick, the print out of his criminal history and the printouts of the newspaper articles from when he was declared dead. "Guess someone is looking out for me," he mumbled quietly while watching Jack's facial expressions.

Flipping through the papers in her hands, Jack stopped at a piece of paper that had what looked to be handwritten notes. "Listen to this," she said and started to read Riddick some of the jotted notes that were on the paper: "First saw man at farmer's market. Bald, goggles and no facial hair. Looked to be Richard B. Riddick's height." She turned the page a little, reading the next scribbled note: "Second sighting, driving out of ship yard," she stopped reading and looked at Riddick. "You have got to be kidding! From what is on here, I think he just happened to spot you out of the blue."

"Maybe I should have grown my hair out into dreads and invested in some fancy sunglasses," he said, still trying to make this whole thing less tense.

She cocked her head to the side. "Not funny, hun." She went back to glancing at what was written, "We still don't know if he told anyone that he thought he spotted you, or that he thought it really was you."

He closed the pizza box and moved it to his side table. "I think that if he would have told others they would have been here by now," he mentioned while reaching for Connor's computer. "But that's why I made sure to grab this from the suitcase. I'm sure you will be able to see if there were any outgoing messages sent within the last two weeks."

Jack put the papers down and took the computer that Riddick was handing to her. "What about phone calls? He could have used the phone in his motel room to let others know," she said, trying to think clearly and cover all of their bases.

Riddick used his now free hand to tap on the top of their computer. "That's something else you will need to look for," he stated before he yawned.

Opening Connor's computer, she looked over at Riddick who was laying on his side watching her. "Get some sleep," she told him.

"You need to sleep too," he yawned again. He hated the fact that he was now tired from the mental and physical exertion he had went through in the last day or so.

She nodded. "I will get some sleep, just as soon as I see about any outgoing messages," her eyes were already focused on what was on the screen in front of her.

Behind Riddick's goggles, he watched Jack's fingers move as she typed in what he could only imagine was a code of some kind. "Where's your watch?" he asked, finally noticing that she didn't have it on.

Without turning her attention away from the computer, she answered him, "I didn't put it on yesterday morning, I must have forgot."

Riddick raised his hand and ran it over the wrist that her watch was normally on. "How could you have forgot to put it on when you never take it off, Jack?" he questioned, now feeling a little more awake then a few moments before.

Finally Jack brought her focus to Riddick's hand on her wrist, "I..." she started to speak, but stopped herself. She looked over at him. "No, I didn't have it on. I mean, I don't think I had it on."

He watched her look off to the side for a moment, "Gotta think, Jack. When was the last time you looked at the time or fixed the band strap?" he asked, knowing she was always fussing with the loose strap, but refused to let him buy her a new one.

Staying quiet for a minute, Jack thought back to brushing the horses. "I had it on when I was brushing the horses yesterday," she said and finally looked back to Riddick. "Did I have it on in the barn while we had sex?" Jack felt as if she was grasping at thin air trying to figure out where her watch was.

Sitting up, Riddick looked at her. "Are you asking me or telling me you had it on when we had sex?" he questioned her. "Because I don't remember seeing it, but I wasn't too worried about your wrists at that time." He knew his words sounded harsher than what he wanted them to be, but it was important that she remember.

Jack's chin trembled a little as she shook her head. "It must have fell off some place, Riddick," she said and almost jumped when Riddick stood up quickly.

"Fuck, Jack," he said, running his hands over his head. The last thing they really needed was someone out for a walk near where Connor's truck was at and finding a perfectly good watch laying there.

"Did you see it while we were cleaning?" She was already closing up Connor's computer.

Riddick turned to look at her and shook his head, "No, I didn't find it. If I had, I would have brought it to your attention."

All of a sudden Jack wasn't sure if Riddick was nervous about where her watch was or if he was mad at her. "I'll find it," she said in a quick and quivering voice as she got off the bed to go find her shoes.

Sighing, he shook his head. "It wasn't outside around the house. I searched that this afternoon when I took the trash out," he said, watching her put her shoes on. "Jack, wait. There's no use in us trying to find it in the dark."

She looked up at him. "I can at least check the barn," she said, already heading for the hallway; silently praying she would find it.

Riddick slipped his boots back on and went after her. When he got downstairs, he saw her standing on the porch looking off into the darkness. She's afraid of the dark again, he thought as he stepped outside, shutting the door behind him. "I'll go with you," he said quietly as he took her hand, slipped his goggles off and led her into the darkness.


To Be Continued...