He pursed his lips as he turned back to Hannah, taking a moment to study her pale features. “You can’t fight them again,” he blurted out, taking her (and him, for that matter) by surprise.
She raised her eyes, confusion blurring the blue. “What are you talking about? There are two left.”
“I know but ... you can’t do it. You’re tired, baby.”
“I am tired.” There was no sense denying it. She was certain it was etched across her face. “I don’t see where we have a lot of options, though. If I don’t fight, we’ll die.”
He hated the fact that she was right. What he hated more, though, is that he couldn’t help her. “Let’s just get to Tyler, huh? Once we’re over there, we’ll call Boone to join us, tell him what’s happening, and go from there.”
Hannah nodded solemnly. “That sounds like a plan to me.” She forced a smile and pushed herself away from the building, her eyes catching on a glint of gold behind the dumpster.
“What are you doing?” Cooper asked as she snaked around the side of the dumpster to get a better look. “Hannah ... .”
“Oh, my ... .” Hannah choked on her words and reared back, smacking into Cooper in her haste to escape.
Confused, he gripped her around the waist and ducked his head, his eyes going wide when he caught sight of the body. “Who is that?” He honestly didn’t recognize the woman.
Hannah’s heart was doing a fluttery jig and she had to concentrate on her gag reflex. The last thing she needed was to lose the breakfast she’d eaten ... and risk dehydrating herself with another fight to come. “That’s the reporter. Portia Washington.”
It took Cooper a moment to remember where he’d heard that name before. “This is the woman who showed up questioning you the other day? The one who nobody saw leave?”
Hannah nodded as she rested her hands on her knees, briefly shutting her eyes so she wouldn’t have to look at the body.
“She’s been here a few days,” Cooper noted, his mind busy as he glanced between Hannah and the fallen woman. “I can’t see any marks on her but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t murdered.”
Hannah thought back to her interaction with the woman. “You know what’s weird?”
“The fact that we’re hiding behind a saloon while trying to avoid furies who want to kill us?”
Hannah smirked at his lame attempt at a joke. “That is definitely weird. I’m talking about her, though. I would’ve thought for sure she fit the bill for one of the furies.”
“You didn’t mention it.” He tried to keep his tone from being accusatory. “I think that’s something that should’ve been mentioned at some point.”
“I didn’t know she was a fury. I just, in the back of my head, thought there was something wrong with her, though.”
“She’s obviously not a fury. I mean ... she’s dead and she didn’t turn to dust.”
“Lorna didn’t turn to dust either. Neither did Nikki. The others did.” Hannah drew her eyebrows together. “Maybe there’s a trick to it. Maybe I did something with the others.”
“Yeah?” Cooper was intrigued despite his worry about her being so pale. “What do you think you did?”
“I don’t know.” She held out her hands, helpless. “I just ... don’t know. I reacted, Cooper. I don’t think sometimes before it happens. It’s as if there’s something inside of me that knows what to do and I just do it.”
“Well, it’s worked so far.” He moved away from the body and closer to her. “We’ll have to deal with Portia after. Just out of curiosity, which one of the sins would you have pegged her for?”
To Hannah, that was the most interesting question of all. “I don’t know. Lust or pride would be the obvious choices, right? Maybe greed. Ray was greed, though. They came right out and said it. Nikki was pride.”
“And Lorna was lust,” he mused. “We know Donny was gluttony and you’ve pegged Frank as wrath, although we have no confirmation of that.”
“It makes the most sense.” Hannah was adamant. “I know he was wrath.”
“Okay, then that leaves envy and sloth. Which one do you think she was?”
“Envy would be the only choice, although she didn’t act as if she was envious of anything when she was out here.”
“She could be a helpless victim,” Cooper pointed out. “She could’ve been out here because she was legitimately chasing the story and ran into one of our furies.”
“Yeah, but ... why throw her behind the dumpster like this?”
“I can’t answer that.” He grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the barn. “We need to check on Tyler and Jinx. We can’t worry about her now. We’ll come back and deal with her ... later.”
Hannah nodded, casting a final look over her shoulder before falling into step with Cooper. He was right. They could do nothing to help the dead. They had to focus on the living. “Okay. Let’s go.”
He squeezed her hand and then broke into a jog, gratified that she seemed to have no problem keeping up with him. He ignored the goats in the paddocks and swung straight into the barn, letting loose a relieved exhale when he found both Boone and Tyler tending the animals, Jinx resting on his bed in the corner.
“You’re okay,” Cooper said, using his forearm to wipe the sweat from this brow. “You guys have no idea how happy we are to see you.”
“Oh, that’s sweet,” Tyler intoned. “We’re happy to see you, too. Although—” He broke off, looking the newcomers up and down for the first time. “Why are you guys all sweaty? Wait, I don’t want to hear the answer to that. I’m on the dry spell to end all dry spells. I don’t need to hear the two of you brag.”
“Yeah, we’re not here to brag,”
