Cry Wolf (26 page)

Novotny didn’t seem to like the idea, but really, how could he argue with such a reasonable request?

“Fine.” He shrugged. “But no real bullets. All too often it’s someone in the hunting party itself that gets shot when weapons are allowed on expeditions such as this.”

“Let me get a tranq gun from my truck.” Charlie nodded and gave a reassuring smile in Andrea’s direction.

“We’ll split into two parties.” Novotny put his backpack on. “Brittney will stay here and watch the monitors from the van. The rest of us will have walkie-talkies.” He handed them each a headphone and receiver. “Keep it turned low and only speak if absolutely necessary. Even then, speak as low as you can and still be audible. Miss Lockhart, you can come with me. Mr. Browder, are you comfortable going alone?”

Charlie patted the tranquilizer gun and nodded. “Done it plenty of times before.”

Andrea almost argued that she wanted to go with the man with the gun. Unfortunately, Jared Novotny was the expert in the situation and would provide the better angle for her story.

They tested the walkie-talkies, then spread out a map of the area and made note of where the most recent sightings had been. Novotny instructed Charlie where to find a spot, and wait. He explained to Andrea that they would be doing the same, setting up camp atop an old hunter’s perch he’d found earlier when he’d planted remote-control night-vision cameras throughout the woods. As Charlie set off in one direction, the researcher grabbed a cylinder device. “Ready?”

She took a deep breath and sent up a silent prayer for Sean’s nephew.

“As I’ll ever be.”

Sean had searched everywhere for Andrea.

She was gone.

Sean didn’t think his heart could stand searching for another missing person in the same day. At least Andi’s stuff was still at his house, along with the cat. She hadn’t left town yet, which was something, he supposed.

He caught up with Reed, who was dressed in costume and ready for his night’s work at Werewolf Woods. The teenager was grabbing a bite to eat with some friends at a burger joint. Sean spotted Reed’s car in the parking lot and pulled in.

“Hey, Sean, I was so glad they found Jason. He’s okay, right?” Reed asked in greeting.

Sean nodded. “He’s going to be fine. Have you seen Andi lately?”

“No, why?”

“She’s not answering her phone. It goes straight to voicemail.”

“Oh, probably ’cause she’s out past Highway 10 and reception is terrible. She called earlier to see if I’d heard anything about Jason, but that was before we knew he’d been found.”

Finally, some useful information!
“What’s she doing out there?”

“She’s with that cryptozoologist guy. Didn’t she tell you?” Sean shook his head, so Reed left his group of friends and pulled Sean aside. “That fur she had tested? The results came back, and it proves there’s some unknown animal right here in Woodbine. Can you believe it? Dr. Novotny arrived this afternoon, so they’re out looking for the creature’s den. I wanted to tag along, but Andrea wanted me to stick to looking for Jason. Then when I tried calling her back, I just got her voicemail.”

Sean bit back a groan of dismay. He had a bad feeling about this. Damned woman. Didn’t she have any sense?

“Thanks, kid.”

He was halfway out the door when Reed called out, “Hey, where are you going?”

Sean stopped only long enough to answer. “Where do you think? To make sure the crazy woman doesn’t get herself killed.”

The moon had started to rise in the darkening sky.

Andrea heard Dr. Novotny say something through the earpiece she wore, so she pulled her attention away from the eerie glow above the trees and hurried to catch up with him. “Sorry? I missed that.”

“There’s our station.” He pointed to a tree perch about fifty feet ahead of them. “Brittney, are you recording yet?”

“Everything’s recording fine. Be careful out there,” Brittney said.

Novotny approached the perch. “Let’s be as quiet as we can now, people.”

Andrea pointed the handheld gadget in front of her as she walked slowly beside the researcher. She saw a small reddish blob dart between some trees ahead and gasped.

Novotny looked over her shoulder to see for himself. “Rabbit,” he whispered and pointed his flashlight beam in that direction, only to highlight the small animal in the fading daylight as it darted past.

She picked up similar small creatures as they walked, but nothing werewolf-sized.

“I’m going to send out a mating call now to see if we get a response,” Novotny whispered into his headset.

He pressed a button on the cylinder gadget, and Andrea heard a strange screaming sound similar to the screech of a woman in pain echo through the woods. He explained that it was the sound of a primate.
Why the blazes would he send out a primate call? Oh wait. Bigfoot again.
Andrea mumbled something derogatory beneath her breath and prayed for patience. They walked for about a minute before he pressed the button once more. This time the sound of a wolf howl echoed through the woods.

Andrea saw nothing on her viewfinder. Neither did she hear anything return the call.

They reached the hunter’s stand. Andrea eyed the rickety ladder leading to the platform and secured her equipment in her backpack. She climbed up behind the taller, heavier researcher. If that ladder could hold him, it sure as hell better hold her.

Settled safely in a corner of the stand, Andrea glanced around. It was dark now, but she could still see their surroundings.

“Wow.” She gazed upward. “
Full
moon. How about that?”

Novotny smiled and glanced up to the sky. He pulled out of his backpack a small notepad and pen. He wrote something and then passed it to her. She had to squint to see it.
Hunters Moon
, it read.

Just great.

She couldn’t have scripted this night any better if she’d tried.

For the next half hour, they sat in silence, scanning the woods surrounding them for signs of any unusual wildlife. After about the third deer, Andrea put the thingamajig aside and stopped counting.

She couldn’t help but wonder if they had found Jason. Had Sean called her yet? Her cell phone had no signal here.

“Andrea?” Sean’s voice spoke in her head. Novotny jumped at the unexpected sound too, so she knew it was real. The voice came through her earpiece. “I found Charlie. Where are you and Novotny?”

“Sean.” She felt a wave of relief wash over her. “Where are you? What about Jason? Is he—”

“Jason is home, safe and sound. I’ll explain later. I’m standing here with Charlie, in the middle of the woods, and wondering why we aren’t somewhere else.”

Andrea explained her location as well as she knew it. “Dr. Novotny suspects the creature’s den could be near here, so we’re lying in wait for it.”

“Which would have a better chance of success with silence on our parts,” Novotny complained into his headset. “I’m sure Mr. Browder will be glad to have the company if you wish to join us,” he told Sean.

“Oh, I’m joining you, all right,” Sean said. “Andrea?”

“Yeah?”

“As soon as we’re done here, you and I have some things to discuss.”

Andrea felt her heart skip a beat. Would that be a good thing or a bad thing? “All right.”

Novotny sent her a stern look of reproach. “Shhh,” he said into his mouthpiece, effectively silencing further conversation. He wrote something on his notepad and handed it to her.

No more talking unless you see something. It could hear us and get spooked.

Andrea leaned back against the rail and sighed. She wondered what Sean and Charlie were doing. She just hoped they weren’t as bored as she was.

Sean drew an X on the ground and smiled at Charlie, who made a groaning sound and threw up his hands in defeat.

This was their fourth game of Tic-Tac-Toe in the dirt, which they had no trouble seeing thanks to the full moon overhead. Sean had won three of those four, including this one. It was sad really. Who didn’t know how to play Tic-Tac-Toe—aside from Charlie, apparently?

“I’m going to send out another call in a few minutes,” Novotny’s voice whispered in Sean’s ear. He’d taken control of the device in case Andrea decided she wanted to overrule the researcher and talk to him.

It had become apparent about ten minutes after Sean had found Charlie that the animal control officer felt this was a pointless venture. Still, he’d humored Sean by not demanding they leave, even though Sean was itching to find Andi and go home so they could set things straight between them.

This is important to her. Give it a little longer.

Sean had his doubts about finding the animal as well, but he also knew there was a chance—maybe a small one, but still a chance—they’d see something if they stayed. Of course, if they did, he was glad he was with Charlie, who had the only weapon of the bunch. On the other hand, he worried about Andi. Would she be okay? If she did see something tonight, would she have enough sense not to provoke its attention?

He sighed, long and hard.

He had to believe she would be fine. The alternative only made him want to pull his hair out, hunt her down now and leave.

Leaning back, Sean caught a whiff of something rotting nearby and thought about asking Charlie if he wanted to move to another location away from the smell. The smell got stronger. Realization hit. Sean went tense. The creature had a foul smell to it. He glanced around, searching the surrounding trees for movement, praying he was wrong.

Did Charlie notice the smell too?

Charlie reached for the bottled water Sean had offered him from his stash. Novotny whispered, “Next one.”

The sound of a wolf howling echoed through the forest again.

Then silence.

Sean reached for the thermal imaging unit just as an answering howl rang out, so close it sounded like it was coming from on top of them. Charlie spit out his drink in surprise and jerked back.

Sean swore and backed closer to the tree behind him.

“What the hell was that?” Charlie barked.

The animal howled again, and Sean both heard and saw the rustling of brush about twenty feet away from where they sat.

“What the hell
was
that?” Charlie repeated, only this time he specified the rustle in the bush by pointing a finger in its direction.

“Sean, what’s going on?” Andi’s voice demanded. She sounded worried and scared. “Charlie?”

“That sounded like a wolf’s howl,” Novotny said, much calmer than the rest of them. “There is a wolf somewhere in these woods. Can you see it? Brittney, anything?”

Sean remembered the device he’d grabbed and looked to see it lying on the ground a few feet away. Slowly, he reached for it, even as Charlie reached for his gun.

“I’m not seeing anything from here,” said Brittney. “Wait! I think I just saw movement. It’s camera ten, Jared.”

Sean worked his way back to the tree he’d crouched behind. He lifted the thermal imaging scanner and slowly scanned the area. He saw nothing…nothing until he aimed it at Charlie.

“Charlie,” he whispered. Afraid to say anything for fear of further attracting attention to their location. “There…it’s…there’s something behind you in the woods.”

“What?” Sean could hear Charlie’s labored breathing as he looked around. “Where?”

Sean lifted his eyes from the viewfinder. He saw nothing to the naked eye, but there was a large mass of body heat slowly moving toward them, moving in a circle, slowly, as if it were moving in for a kill. “Over your left shoulder.” Sean shifted so Charlie could see the image too.

“It’s circling us,” Charlie whispered, following the large mass on the viewfinder as it slowly circled the woods surrounding their camp. Only once did it stop, and Sean felt his skin crawl as he heard that eerie, frightening wolf howl echo through the woods again. It really was some kind of wolf, and now it thought it had a potential mate somewhere lose in the woods.

“Sean?” Andi’s worried voice pleaded for a reply through his earpiece. “What’s happening?”

Sean ignored her and kept the device pointed toward the animal. “See it?”

“Yeah.” Charlie aimed the gun again.

The large blob on the screen began to change shape.

“What the—” Charlie stopped midsentence.

“It’s standing up.”

It could walk on two legs
or
four.

Now, instead of circling them, it was approaching dead-on.

And it was moving fast.

Andrea could hear Charlie and Sean yelling in the distance as well as through her earpiece. They were close.

Andrea felt pretty darn glad she was up in a tree at the moment, but Sean and Charlie were on the ground. Exposed. So, in addition to feeling pretty darn glad at the moment, she was also gripping the railing and praying the two men would be safe.

She was worried.

Charlie yelled something inaudible. An animal growled in response.

Very, very worried.

Novotny riffled through his backpack. Maybe he had a gun in there after all. When he pulled out a video camera, Andrea threw up her hands, incredulous. “What are you doing?”

“We need to document this.”

“No, we
need
to help them.”

“He has a tranq gun, and he knows how to use it. They’re fine.”

“Do you not hear that yelling? I don’t think they’re yelling because they’re fine!”

“Just calm down.”

Calm down. Was he serious?

Andrea glanced around, frantic for something that would help. The only thing she saw that might be of any use was the thingamajig Novotny had been using to send out sounds. She grabbed it and pushed Novotny aside. Aiming it toward the area where she heard the yelling loudest, she pressed a button.

“Where is it?” Charlie yelled.

“Keep going!” Sean ordered as he headed toward where they’d left their vehicles. The thing was hot on their heels.

Charlie fired a shot that struck the creature on its shoulder. Sean and Charlie both ran at top speed, but the thing behind them wasn’t slowing down. How long did it take the medicine dart to take effect?
Too long.

The sound came again. The wolf’s howl Novotny had sent out earlier.

Sean slowed long enough to glance back and see the animal—
man, it’s huge
—rise to two legs again and release an answering call.

Sean didn’t waste the opportunity to pick up speed until he was beside Charlie. They got to the van and hurried inside, Sean shutting the door behind them. “Where’s Andi?”

Brittney looked frazzled. “I don’t know! I think…I think they’re still in the tower.”

He spoke into his earpiece. “Andi?”

No answer.

Sean followed Brittney’s gaze to the video setup she’d been monitoring. “Where are they?” he demanded, tempted to shake the answer out of the woman.

She gave him the coordinates. He grabbed the keys out of Charlie’s hands. Charlie had to have a live gun in his somewhere. “Call for help. I’m going after them.”

“It’s down there,” Jared Novotny told Andrea, pointing toward her left. “Do you see it?”

She did.

Andrea felt her knees almost give way when she spotted the familiar animal approaching from her left. It walked on two legs, just as it had during her first sighting. Its doglike head turned upward, and its eyes watched them.

Red, luminous eyes.

Novotny lifted his video camera and began recording. “It’s probably tuned into the sound of our heartbeats and gotten a lock on our scents. We can’t hide from it now.”

Great.
Andrea shrank bank, subconsciously seeking a safe haven. She swallowed, hard. “Can it climb?” she asked.

“We believe it climbed onto the roof of that one house, but it doesn’t seem to know how to use a ladder.” He grabbed the railing and swayed. “This is amazing. I can’t believe what I’m seeing.”

The animal responded with a sound that was a cross between a lion’s roar and a dog’s growl. A chill walked down her spine.

Had Charlie and Sean gotten away okay, or had her headset stopped working before they’d been attacked?

Please let them be okay.
She couldn’t go on if something had happened to Sean.
Please, God. I can’t bear to lose someone else I love.

The animal circled below them.

“It’s amazing.” Novotny had his video camera trained on the animal. “Isn’t it?”

“I was thinking more along the lines of ‘scary’ myself.” She took a deep breath. Why wasn’t the man panicking? Why wasn’t he doing something other than videotaping this? She glanced around, searching for an escape route. “What do we do now?”

He didn’t respond. Andrea realized he had no idea what to do next. “Wait it out. Sooner or later, it will give up and leave. Either that, or help will find us.”

Several minutes passed. The animal below continued to circle the hunter’s stand. Andrea wondered if it was still trying to think of a way to get to them when it disappeared from her line of vision again. Every few minutes it would do that.

Suddenly, the stand beneath her began to shake.

“It’s trying to shake us out of the tree,” Novotny said.

The researcher searched through his bag for something else. He pulled out a gun.

She grabbed the lapels of his coat. “You actually had a gun the whole time?”

“This won’t hurt the animal, but it will tag it for tracking if it gets away.”

“No offense, Doc, but I’d feel safer if it
did
hurt the animal.” Andrea watched warily as he aimed the handgun and fired. The dog-man jerked and reached its humanlike hand up to touch its shoulder. The shot must have hits its mark, Andrea realized. But…