Koawt’s eyes flew open. He stared at the popcorn ceiling, waiting.

There it was again.

And another.

He sighed.

Koawt took his time getting out of bed. There was no rush. If it was what he thought it was, then a few minutes wouldn’t make a difference. He got dressed—minus the tie, but he wore his suit jacket as a concession to the evening chill.

Before he left the motel room, he picked up his phone from the nightstand and slid it into his pocket.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

He stepped out from his door and walked into the middle of the dirt road that ran across the front of the motel.

Jasper, the motel owner’s cat, had been watching the swamp, the end of his thick tail twitching back and forth. But now there was a closer person of interest. He turned to the lawyer.

Koawt looked down into the cat’s malevolent glower. “Go away.”

The cat’s pupils dilated. His whole body sank until he was belly to the ground, ears out flat. He snuck away without making a sound while keeping his head low.

Koawt raised his eyes to the swamp. He could hear sounds now, in the distance—cracking and snapping.

He pulled his phone from his pocket.

“Good evening, Iset…No, I’m afraid not. You’ll have to call in your best Torr team to help handle this one, but before we get into that, I owe you an apology.” Koawt turned toward the swamp when he heard a particularly loud crash. “It seems I underestimated how much trouble that girl could get into.”