“You in there?” she asked.

  Alex stared down into the mist, the churning whitewater cascading over the talus, the Coast Guard boat spinning in the fall’s wash.

  The creature’s corpse was nowhere to be seen.

  The officers on the platform shook hands, clapped each other on the back, but Alex’s stomach went cold. “I wouldn’t mind seeing the corpse,” he said.

  Carelines creased Katelyn’s forehead, her eyes narrow slits. “My thoughts exactly. Come on.”

  “Where?”

  “You’ll see.”

  28

  Alex and Katelyn left Agent Dixon and the rest to their self-congratulations and headed for the walkway at the edge of the river. Ahead, a tangle of emergency response and law enforcement vehicles blocked the way, lights spinning, doors open. Officers in blue, white, gray, and brown stood around talking, some reporting back to superiors, others enjoying a much-needed rest as they recounted a story that would grow in the telling and become so large nobody in the future would believe it without reviewing the videos. Alex chuckled. He’d become his father.

  Katelyn’s radio squawked, but it was a request for all stations to stand down.

  “You going to tell me what the hell we’re doing?” Alex said, sweat dripping down his back despite the cool mist rolling over the path. Gulls cried, and the relaxing rumble of the falls almost made Alex feel like things had returned to normal, yet something pricked at him, like a splinter just below the surface of his skin that he couldn’t see.

  “Seeing it through.”

  “Could you be a bit more specific?”

  Katelyn said nothing as she slowed to a fast walk, scanning the crowd and the vehicles ahead. When they were in the center of a knot of people and vehicles she stopped, put her hands on her hips, and looked around.

  “Come with me and be quiet,” she said. She turned to look him in the eye and lifted her eyebrows. “Quiet. Got it?”

  Alex rolled his shoulders, cracked his neck, and nodded.

  “Say it.”

  Alex waited.

  “Say it!”

  “I’ll stay quiet.”

  Katelyn knifed through the crowd toward a white Ford Explorer with deep green stripes and the New York State Parks Department logo on its doors. Two park police officers leaned against the hood of the car engaged in animated conversation. One of the men was middle-aged, maybe fifty, the other younger. The younger guy had good radar, and he sensed Katelyn’s approach and pushed off the hood and touched the brim of his hat like a cowboy as she approached.

  “Hey, Katelyn,” the young guy said. He wore a name tag that read Jasper Reedy.

  “Hi, Jasper,” Katelyn said. She nodded at the other officer and said, “Kelly, that your vehicle?”

  The older cop nodded.

  “Did you see all that?” Officer Reedy asked.

  “Sure did. The chief asked me to take this gentleman over to the main office on the Goat,” she said. No introduction, no city worker excuse.

  “I didn’t hear anything?” Officer Kelly said.

  “Well, that’s not surprising, you weren’t standing there.”

  “Who is he?” Officer Reedy asked.

  Katelyn pointed at the rank insignia on her lapel. “Do I look like I need to know?”

  Kelly laughed. “I hear that.”

  “Let me use your vehicle,” Katelyn said, holding out a hand.

  Officer Kelly stared at the appendage like it was a bear paw.

  “To bring this guy to Goat Island?” Officer Reedy asked.

  She nodded.

  “We can come with. Give you a hand,” Officer Reedy said.

  “No can do,” Katelyn said. “Need to know and all that.”

  “Well, I’m not giving you my truck,” Officer Kelly said. “How the hell will we get back to the station?”

  “Walk,” Alex said. He stepped around Katelyn and planted his feet. So much for promising to stay quiet. He heard Katelyn sigh and mutter a curse.

  “Look, I don’t give a water rat’s ass who you think you are,” Officer Kelly said, taking a step forward.

  “Well, then you’re a dumbass, aren’t you,” Alex said. “I’m FBI. Undercover with those guys right there.” He pointed at Agents Dixon and Perry in the distance, the only two people not in uniform. He thought the undercover part was a nice touch given his jeans and Mists Edge River Tours t-shirt.

  Katelyn’s hand drifted to the butt of her Glock. “You want to go talk with them?” she said.

  Officers Kelly and Reedy had reached one of those moments in life where the negatives of a given decision far outweighed the positives, and as they stared at each other unsure what to do, Katelyn pushed them over the edge.

  “Come on,” Katelyn said. “You guys know me.”

  Two minutes later Alex and Katelyn were driving along the access road that ended at the pedestrian walkway that led over the river to Goat Island. With the park shut down, there were no people on the bridge, and the gatehouse was closed. Several officers walked along the bridge, but they stepped aside and let the Ford pass. The radio was tuned to the emergency channel, which had nothing but static. Alex went through the other channels, listening for anything new, but it was all stand down and pullback orders.

  The creature’s corpse still hadn’t washed out of the falls.

  Alex’s aha moment came as the truck bumped down off Goat Island Road onto the pathway that ran around Goat Island. The island is part of Niagara Falls State Park, and it sits at the confluence of Niagara Falls. Katelyn had full access to the area and all the resources of the Parks Department. He said, “The Cave of Winds?”

  Katelyn nodded, but didn’t take her eyes off the narrow pathway as she maneuvered the Ford around garbage cans, benches, and signs.

  “You can get down there? I thought the old caves were totally blocked off?” Alex said.

  “They are, unless you know where to look.”

  “And you do?”

  “I’ve heard stories.”

  The Ford crunched to a stop on the stone walkway that led to the Cave of Winds visitor’s center, concrete stanchions blocking the Ford’s path. The place was deserted, but there was a single light shining like a beacon from the stone building’s main lobby.

  Katelyn’s keys jangled as she jumped from the Explorer, and Alex’s question fell dead on his lips. She walked around to the rear of the truck and popped the hatch. “Bingo,” she said.

  In addition to the four spare clips for her standard-issue Glock, there was a Berretta tactical shotgun with a box of shells.

  Katelyn reloaded her Glock, and put two spare clips into her Batman belt. She picked up the Berretta and said, “You know how to use this?”

  He accepted the weapon. “Anything different than the Mossberg I should know about?”

  “Takes five in the mag and one in the firing chamber,” she said as she handed him the box of shells. “I don’t think you’ll need it, but you never know.”

  As Alex loaded the gun he nodded at the building. “We just going to stroll in there?”

  “O ye of little faith,” she said. She holstered her Glock, grabbed two flashlights, and handed one to Alex. “We’re going straight in. Hopefully, Tina or Ricky is at the desk. If we have an issue… stay quiet,” she said sheepishly.

  The pair saw nobody as they crossed the plaza, the thunder of the falls like a hurricane, gulls shrieking, the air thick with moisture. The front door to the main building that contained the elevator was locked, and as Alex peered through the front window, he didn’t see anyone sitting behind the greeting station, though the lights were on.

  Katelyn cycled through her keys until she found the appropriate master and unlocked the door. As she pushed it open, she called, “Ricky? Tina?”

  No response.

  “Probably out on the observation deck watching the action,” Katelyn said.

  The original Cave of Winds collapsed in 1955, and the attraction was closed, but a newer, more exciting attraction took its place. The duo crossed the lobby to the reception desk. The four monitors that showed camera views of the main observation decks revealed two park personnel leaning against the railing between Horseshoe Falls and the American Falls. Katelyn snagged the spare round key from the desk’s main drawer and headed for the elevator that would take them a hundred and twenty feet below the surface to the base of the falls.

  Alex waited before the elevator.

  “One minute,” she said, as she disappeared around a corner.

  Alex stood in the silence, heart pounding.

  Katelyn reemerged holding a long flathead screwdriver. “From the janitor’s closet.”

  “Planning on doing some repairs?”

  She said nothing.

  A sign with yellow hazard tape affixed to it said the attraction was closed, and Alex pushed it aside as Katelyn fit the elevator key into its slot and the elevator chimed.

  The partners rode in silence, Alex massaging the Berretta, Katelyn shifting on her feet and scanning her phone, her radio silent.

  The elevator doors slid open, and Alex and Katelyn were met with a cacophony of screeching gulls and the roar of the falls. Mist rolled over the observation platform, the guest services booth empty. Everything was covered in a coating of gull crap, and the trash bin was filled with discarded blue rain ponchos. The pathway headed east toward Bridal Falls, and Alex was always amazed at the awesome sight.

  The wooden walkways wedged into the scree pile at the base of the falls reminded Alex of a pile of discarded wood, random supports protruding from the walkway at odd angles. The decking was removed each year, and though certain patterns were maintained, the stairs that led to the base of Bridal Falls changed from year to year.

  The Niagara River ran beneath Alex’s feet as he trailed after Katelyn, the cries of gulls rising above the static of cascading water that splashed onto the decking. When they’d reached the bottom Alex was drenched through. He spared a thought for the shells in the Beretta, then said, “What now?”

  Above, two lone figures stood on the observation platform between Bridal Falls and the American Falls, the white arc of Bridal Falls a hundred feet away.

  “Give me a minute,” Katelyn said as she scanned the rock pile along the path with her flashlight.

  Seconds dripped away, minutes, and the Coast Guard cutter sitting in the wash of the falls sounded its horn and started downriver.

  “Come on,” she said. “I need to backtrack.”

  Katelyn made her way slowly along the slippery wood, her gaze never drifting from the talus, water running over the rock pile and spraying the partners as they walked.

  Alex was starting to despair when Katelyn yelled, “There!” She pointed at an outcrop of stone, but Alex didn’t see what she was so excited about. She mounted the railing and climbed over onto the scree pile that made up the base of Bridal Falls, water rushing around her ankles.

  “Kat, are you nuts?”

  “Come on,” she said. “Trust me.”

  Alex sighed as he hopped over the railing and followed.

  The pair went slow, using the walkway’s support beams, the rocks slick. Behind the outcropping, a dark crag in the side of the falls disappeared into darkness. The pair inched their way into the shallow cave as they panned around their flashlights. The gray stone walls glistened with tiny rivulets of water, and there was a set of double doors in the distance.

  The ceaseless pounding of water echoed through the cave as the partners inched their way forward. The doorframe was bent and rusted, and a warning of No Admittance was stenciled on the black metal in red paint.

  Katelyn fumbled through her keyring, but nothing worked in the rusted lock, so she pulled the screwdriver. She’d barely wedged the tool in when the lock cracked, and the door came open.

  The scent of musty rot floated from the open door, and inside a narrow cave cut into the bedrock of the falls. The crack in the falls extended far into the Earth, and the old tour covered only a small portion of its length. Large boulders lined the sides of the cave, and their feet crunched on the pebble floor. Katelyn shined her light on the ceiling. Several outcroppings of stone jutted out over the narrow path.

  “I see why they don’t let people in here anymore,” Alex said.

  “Yeah,” she said. “It all starts with your father’s project, right? The dense layers above the softer ones. At one point everything collapsed.”

  Alex gripped the shotgun, a low hum echoing up the tunnel.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Katelyn said as she drew her Glock.

  The pair walked on for ten minutes, the constant sound of dripping water accompanied by the distant rumble of the falls. Their flashlight beams bounced around in the blackness, the hum of the creature faltering as if its battery was dying.

  The sea scorpion screeched when Alex’s flashlight beam found its face. The creature was wedged into a crack, its one remaining eye glowing under the harsh light. It squealed and mewed, and Alex flicked off the light.

  The beast stopped buzzing, and a low gurgle, as if the creature was swallowing sludge, filled the cavern.

  “Doesn’t like light in its eyes,” Katelyn said. “Remember what Dr. Silverfish said? About how horseshoe crabs have extremely sensitive eyes?”

  The beast’s remaining eye was locked on the pair, but it hadn’t made any move to leave its hole.

  Alex shined his light on the ceiling and eased back as he tugged on Katelyn’s arm.

  “What?” she said.

  He pointed at the ceiling.

  Jagged pieces of stone were wedged between the two slanting walls. Alex held up his gun. They could blow the ceiling apart and bring it down on the creature.

  “It could come down on us,” Katelyn said.

  “We could leave. Call Agent Dixon,” he said.

  “That what you want?”

  Alex’s mind replayed what Dixon had said about the bigwigs not wanting the creature dead. Could he trust the US government to do the right thing? He said, “You head out. I’ll take care of it.”

  “The hell you will.” She pointed her Glock at the boulders wedged between the slanted walls, using her flashlight as a sight.

  Katelyn and Alex blasted away, the shots like tiny explosions in the confined space. Rock cracked and broke, and stones fell like rain, landing in a pile before the beast's hiding hole.

  The beast shrieked, a cold, angry wail, and it struggled to push from its hiding place, but only managed to get halfway out before it got stuck.

  With an earsplitting rending of stone, two large slabs of rock broke free and came down onto the sea scorpion with a thunderous crash. Dust filled the cave, and when Alex’s gun clicked empty, he eased back down the tunnel, flashlight trained on the ceiling. Cracks ran down its length, getting wider with each heartbeat.

  “That’s enough,” Alex said, and he and Katelyn ran.

  Agents Dixon and Perry waited for the pair as they exited through the old double doors, streams of smoke and dust trailing from the cave.

  “After everything we’ve been through, you ghost us?” Agent Dixon said. The FBI man held back a crowd of cops, all of whom looked eager to talk with Alex and Katelyn.

  Alex and Katelyn said nothing.

  “What am I going to find in there?” the FBI man asked.

  “A pile of stones,” Alex said, and he turned his back on Dixon, the doors, the creature, and the falls.

  Things had settled down when Alex got the call about Wahanu. There was a good reason his father’s old friend hadn’t called him back. He was dead.

  “He died two days ago,” Jaru said. “He wanted me to invite you to his feast.”

  Alex said nothing.

  “It’s on the last day of his rites.”

  So it was that eight days after the creature was buried in its tomb beneath the falls Alex found himself standing with Lilly beneath a large oak tree in a forest on Wahanu’s family land. A crude platform had been constructed between two oaks, and Wahanu’s shrouded body lay atop it. Beneath the scaffold a fire smoldered, dark smoke filtering through the woods, beams of sunlight streaking through the tree canopy. The fire had been tended by Wahanu’s family for six days and six nights, and today it would be snuffed out, and afterward, Wahanu’s Feast of the Dead would honor his life, accomplishments, and the impact he’d had on everyone he knew.

  When it was Alex’s turn to pay his last respects, he stood silent next to the fire, staring up at the covered corpse of his father’s… his friend. At least Wahanu had lived long enough to see proof of the beast. He fingered his father’s penny in his pocket as he wrapped an arm around Lilly. “I think we should move,” he said.

  Her head jerked back like she’d been punched, but she was smiling. “Move where?” Lilly asked.

  Alex pulled the 1887 penny from his pocket, examined the Indian’s worn headdress one last time, then tossed the coin in the fire. “You choose,” he said.

  The End

  Read on for a free sample of Prehistoric Beasts And Where to Fight Them.

  Or find more great Creature Features at www.severedpress.com

  Other Severed Press novels by Edward J. McFadden III: Hell Creek, Barracuda Swarm, The Cryptid Club, Dinosaur Red, Drop Off, Jurassic Ark, Keepers of the Flame, Throwback, Sea Tremors, Primeval Valley, Shadow of the Abyss (#1 Amazon Bestseller Tag), Awake, and The Breach (#1 Amazon Bestseller Tag, Amazon #1 Hot New Audio Release Tag). His other novels include: Terror Peak, the Theo Ramage Thriller series: Quick Sands, Sandbagged, and Too Much Grit, and Dogs Get Ten Lives, The Black Death of Babylon, and HOAXERS. Ed lives on Long Island with his wife Dawn, and their daughter Samantha.

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