Chapter 76
Chelsea and Sam had shifted outside Mark's house, donning the clothes they'd left in the SUV and sparing Chloe the intrusion of their nudity, at least for now. They sat around the kitchen table, trying to make sense out of the episode. They were all shocked by what they'd seen, their brains trying to assimilate it all.
Mark called the sheriff as soon as he was in the house to tell him they'd chased a creature away and where it had been, urging him to warn the homeowners.
"I don't know if this...thing will come back there, Leon," he said. "We may have frightened it off. But let's not take any chances. See if they have someone they can stay with at least for a few nights."
"I'll handle it," Torres told him, his voice sounding tired.
"It's a shifter of some kind," Chelsea said, accepting the coffee Chloe handed her. "It has to be. Did you see how the air around it shimmered and spun?"