Read Depths: Southern Watch #2 for Free Online

say anything, but they were women’s sunglasses. This was normal for Duncan.
    Lerner looked back at the open door, thought about what was inside, what was probably waiting in the next two houses as well. “This is a fucking disaster,” he said under his breath. He saw Duncan nod, those big-ass sunglasses bobbing along. “It’s gonna blow this town wide open.”
    “Yep,” Duncan said.
    “Why couldn’t they have stayed in a city?” Lerner said under his breath. He knew why not, of course. Because this was the place. The lights were on, the welcoming committee had rolled out the red carpet. There’d be more like this, more crazy shit unfurling in this small town than it could possibly handle.
    “Nature of the business,” Duncan said as he put the car in gear and pulled away from the curb. The nearest streetlight winked on, then off, cutting through the black night with intermittent illumination.
    “Yeah.” Lerner nodded then tapped his finger along the leather just below his window. He liked the feel of the town car interior. “You remember that town in Alaska we were at in … what, 1965?” He sniffed at the air-conditioned air blowing out at him. He saw Duncan nod out of the corner of his eye. “I get that same vibe here. Like it’s gonna get out of control.” Lerner put his hand over his head, pushing his comb over back in place. “How long did it take for them to tear that place apart?”
    “Six weeks,” Duncan said.
    “I bet you it takes less time than that here,” Lerner said as they turned back onto a major thoroughfare. There was a traffic light ahead, blinking a yellow warning, like it had been shut off for the night. “I give it a month.”
    Duncan grunted. “Maybe less.”
    “Yeah, maybe,” Lerner said. “If someone gets fucking ambitious. Imagine the hell we’ll catch if that happens again.” He let out a ripping sigh. “Maybe it’ll just dissipate. Back to business as usual.” Duncan’s grunt was less committal this time. “Yeah, fucking unlikely, I know. But I can hope.”
    They were passing through the town square now, full of boarded up windows and old shop fronts that probably hadn’t changed since the fifties. It was kind of homey, Lerner had to admit. Too bad it’d be gone soon, in all probability. Even a couple officers couldn’t hold back the tide rushing into this place and he knew it. Duncan too. He’d been around long enough to be pragmatic.
    “Yeah,” Lerner said, shaking his head as they rolled onto an old highway and Duncan gunned the car up to fifty-five. “I give this place—Midian, isn’t it?” Yeah, that was it. “I give Midian, Tennessee, about four weeks before it’s a fucking crater. Tops. There’ll be nothing left but a bunch of body parts and wreckage.”

 
     
Chapter 3
     
    Arch waited to unload on Hendricks until they were back in the deputy’s squad car, for which Hendricks was grateful. His nose hurt like hell, his head was still spinning, and he felt like his rib cage had been used as a piñata for a demon birthday party.
    Other than that, though, he felt fine.
    “You were supposed to identify them and then come get me,” Arch was saying, his rich baritone still operating at a pitch that bothered Hendricks's aching head. “Not start World War D in a bar!”
    “World War D?” Hendricks asked, leaning his head against the window. It felt oddly cool given how hot it was outside.
    “Like the movie … never mind,” Arch said. The deputy was steering with his right hand at the top of the wheel, turning his body away from Hendricks. Hendricks wondered if there was some passive-aggressive shit going on with the man, but his head hurt too much to muster any give-a-fuck about it.
    “I would have gotten you,” Hendricks said, “but by the time I had them out in the open, shit was already going down. I couldn’t just leave those guys in there to face down three demons while I ran for help.”
    “So instead you got two of the civilians