Hominid (21 page)

CHAPTER 67

T
ess stared at Dev in disbelief. “Whose murder?”

Dev nudged his chin toward Missy. He spoke quietly. “Hers.”

Shawn opened his mouth to ask something more, but they were interrupted by a shout. Pax was running toward them, Abby and Sasha on his heels. The three of them swamped Tess, hugging her as if the world were ending.

“I’m okay, guys,” Tess said.

Pax wiped at the tears in the corner of his eyes. “You never do that again, do you hear me? Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been? We’ve all been?”

“What he said,” Sasha said. She pulled Tess in for another hug.

“I know, I know. I’m sorry. I really am,” Tess said.

Abby hung back and watched Tess. “Are you really okay?”

Guilt crashed over Tess. She had never thought that Shawn and Pax would be here and that everyone else would be so worried. “I am. But we need to get her back to the cabin.”

They all looked over at Missy with surprise. “Who is she?” Pax asked.

Tess opened her mouth, then shut it. “Let’s head back to the cabin and then we can all sit down and talk—
after
I’ve had a really long shower.”

Tess could tell by the looks on everyone’s faces that they wanted to argue, but thankfully they all kept their tongues. “You need me to take her?” Dev asked Shawn.

“No, it’s okay. I’ve got her. She doesn’t weigh anything,” Shawn said.

They headed back to the cabin. Tess had never seen anything so beautiful. Shelby caught sight of her and let out a howl from the front porch, then hobbled down the stairs. Tess broke into a run and met her halfway, dropping to the ground. Shelby whined and barked, letting Tess know exactly how unhappy she was at her for being away so long.

“I know, I know. I’m sorry. I won’t do it again, okay?” Tess said before standing.

Missy began to stir, and Tess quickly made her way over to her. She put her hand on Missy’s back as the girl’s eyelids fluttered open.

Missy’s head swung from side to side as she took everyone in.

“It’s okay, Missy. These are my friends,” Tess said.

“Let’s all back away and give Missy a little time to adjust, okay?” Pax said.

Everyone headed to the front porch, leaving Tess alone with Shawn and Missy.

Missy’s breaths came out in little pants.

“It’s okay,” Tess said calmly. “They won’t hurt you. They’re my family. They’re all my family.”

Missy’s gaze latched on to Tess’s and wouldn’t let go.

Tess took her hand. “I promise.” She gestured to Shawn. “This is my brother-in law, Shawn.”

Missy looked up at him.

“Hey there, beautiful,” Shawn said softly. And Tess had the distinct impression that Shawn’s size put Missy at ease.

Tess indicated the cabin. “That’s my home. Would you like to see it?”

Missy looked at the cabin, then at Shelby, then back at Tess, a question in her eyes.

“Shelby’s my friend. Would you like to meet her first?”

Shelby was staring up at Missy, her tail wagging. Finally Missy nodded.

Shawn knelt down slowly. Shelby walked up, her tail still wagging, her head held low. Missy reached out tentatively. Her hand came to rest on Shelby’s back. Shelby wagged harder and licked Missy’s face. Missy smiled. And Tess let out a breath.

Okay. It’s going to be okay.
But then she remembered Missy’s scars and caught Shawn’s concerned look.

Well, at least for the moment it is.

CHAPTER 68

A
n hour later, Tess had gotten in a quick shower and had managed to get everybody out except for Dev and Shawn. Tess was worried that too many people would make Missy nervous.

She had originally intended for only her and Dev to stay, but when Shawn started to leave, Missy’s fear had been apparent. Something about him made her feel safe. So Shawn had agreed to stay too.

The only way Tess had managed to get Sasha and Abby to leave was to send them on a shopping trip to pick up some things for Missy. Pax was making a food run. Although Tess appreciated everyone’s concern, to be honest,
she
needed less of a crowd as well.

Tess threw on her most comfortable sweats and did a quick blow-dry of her hair before pulling it back in a ponytail. As she looked at herself in the mirror, she could hear Shawn and Dev talking low in the other room. She thought about everything that had happened over the last two weeks.
What am I going to tell them?

She had puzzled over that ever since she’d realized Missy would be coming with her. Her original plan had been to tell everyone that she had been on the trail of a family of bigfoot for the last two weeks but had lost them. But now that she had Missy with her, that story wouldn’t hold water. How was she supposed to explain finding a little girl?
A girl Dev knows something about
.

Well, she’d put it off as long as she could. She stepped out of the bedroom. The first thing she saw was Missy asleep on the couch. Tess had given her a bath and tried to wash her hair as best she could. But it was so matted she knew she would either need professional help to untangle it or a good pair of scissors. That could wait until tomorrow.

Right now, Missy looked like any other kid. She lay curled up in one of Tess’s t-shirts. Shelby lay next to her, and Missy’s arm was flung over the dog’s back.

Dev and Shawn were talking quietly at the kitchen island, a coffee mug in front of each of them. Tess nodded at the mugs. “Any chance there’s more of that?”

Shawn stood up and kissed her on the forehead. “Absolutely, sweetheart.” He headed for the counter to pour her a cup.

“You all right?” Dev asked, curling his hand around hers.

Tess enjoyed the feel of his hand in hers and gave his hand a squeeze. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Really. I’m sorry I worried everybody.”

Shawn put the mug in front of her. “You ready to tell us how you came across Missy?”

Tess hesitated. She turned to Dev. “You said you knew her. Who is she?”

Dev glanced over at the couch and then dropped his voice a little lower. Shawn and Tess leaned in. “She’s Melissa Hargrove. She went missing from east of Crescent City over a year ago.”

His words stirred the embers of a memory. “I remember that case. Her dad was some sort of criminal, right?”

Dev grimaced. “In and out since he was a teenager for a string of low-level offenses.”

“Wait,” Shawn said. “Crescent City? That’s over a hundred miles from here. You’re telling me that little girl walked that distance?”

Tess focused on her mug, thinking how easy that distance would be for a bigfoot to cover, even with a little girl perched on their shoulder. “Are you sure it’s her?”

Dev nodded. “Trust me, that little girl’s face haunted my dreams and the dreams of a lot of other people for a long time. We searched for weeks, but we never saw any signs of her. She was just gone.”

Shawn frowned. “How does a little girl end up in the woods alone? Where were her parents?”

“Her mom died of an overdose almost four years ago. Her dad moved them to a place on the edge of the national park. And he was a piece of work.”

Tess pictured the old scars on Missy’s body. “Was there a record of abuse?”

“Not when she disappeared—just a lot of suspicion,” Dev said. “She’d just started kindergarten. The law had to get involved just to get her to school. Her father got warnings half a dozen times about attendance. And some of the teachers were concerned about the girl’s mental state.”

“Her mental state?” Tess asked.

“She was withdrawn, didn’t interact with other kids. As one put it, she was scared.”

Tess’s heart broke as she thought about Missy’s tortured childhood. And then she’d somehow found peace with a new family, only to have that pulled away from her as well.

But another thought pulled Tess up short. “She won’t have to go back to him, will she?”

“I don’t know. It’s a little complicated,” Dev said.

“But he’s in prison for her murder, right?” Shawn asked.

“No. Without a body, they couldn’t make that stick. But he
was
found guilty of a slew of child abuse charges. They had pictures of old scars, so they were able to make a case.”

“That poor kid,” Shawn mumbled.

“Before her disappearance, Missy had been meeting with the school psychologist. She drew some pictures that raised a lot of red flags. In fact, they were about to bring a case of child abuse against her father when Missy went missing. It was widely believed he killed her and then hid the body—hence the murder charge.”

Tess gasped. “That’s horrible.”

“What will happen now?” Shawn asked.

“I don’t know. But I’m going to have to notify people that she’s back.” Dev looked at Tess. “You know that, right?”

“Yeah,” Tess said.

“So, now it’s your turn to talk. How did you come across her?” Dev asked.

Tess looked away. “It was two days ago. I heard a noise I didn’t recognize. When I investigated, I found Missy. Her foot had gotten stuck under a rock. She cried out.”

“Did you see anyone else around her? Did she say anything?” Dev asked.

Tess shook her head. “No. It was just the two of us. It took two days to hike back out because I needed to slow down for her. And then you guys found us.”

Shawn caught her gaze and then looked away. He gave an abrupt nod. “Good thing you found her.”

“Yeah,” Tess said.

Dev watched her before standing. “Well, I’m going to go call in and let them know she’s been found. Do you want me to call Dr. Avery and see if she can come out and look her over?”

Tess shook her head. “No, not until tomorrow. Let’s let her adjust a little bit first.”

Dev turned to Shawn. “You staying here tonight?”

“Yeah. Pax and I will,” Shawn said.

“Okay, good. I’ll head back then. I think there’s going to be a lot to do.” He turned to Tess. “Walk me out?”

Tess nodded, and together they stepped out onto the porch. Tess closed the door behind them.

Dev pulled her into his arms. “I am so glad you’re back. I can stay tonight, if you want.”

She shook her head. “I’d like you to, but I need to focus on Missy. Make sure she’s okay.”

“I figured that. But I’ll be back after I touch base with Sheriff Cowley.”

“Okay.” Tess hesitated. “How much of big deal to you think this is going to be?”

“It’s going to be a circus,” Dev said.

Tess closed her eyes, knowing he was probably right. “Look, I don’t want her exposed to that. She’s been out there a long time. Too many people will overwhelm her.”

“I’ll try to keep it to a minimum, but she’s going to have to talk to some people.”

Tess let out a breath. “I know, I know.”

Dev kissed her on the lips. “I’m so glad you’re back.”

Tess let herself enjoy his warmth. She had missed him. Being in his arms reminded her just how important he’d become in her life.

Dev pulled back and looked down at her. “You know, I went by your camp when you went missing. I followed your trail. And I noticed there was another trail going in the same direction as yours.”

Tess’s heart pounded and her mind raced.

Dev continued. “You know, when Missy went missing, her father swore up and down that he didn’t do anything to her. He said bigfoot took her.”

Oh, no.

Dev took Tess’s face in his hands. “You don’t have to lie to me. And you don’t have to tell me today. I know you’re exhausted. But I hope you know you can trust me.”

Tess felt like crying. “I know. It’s never been about trust.”

He kissed her on the forehead. “Good. Now get some sleep. We’ll talk later.”

She watched him walk away, wishing she could tell him to stay. But she needed to talk to Missy. She needed to get their stories straight before the circus began.

CHAPTER 69

T
ess watched as Dev’s Jeep disappeared. He knew she wasn’t telling the truth. And she hated herself for keeping secrets from him. She was going to come clean, she really was—she just needed a plan first.

She leaned against one of the porch railings. But why hadn’t she just come out and told him everything already? Why hadn’t she told all of them? She’d known about the bigfoot for weeks. And now with Missy…

She sighed. What was the right thing to do here? She knew she’d need to tell people what had happened, but she had to be very careful who knew, or the tribe would be in danger.

She felt so tired. Maybe after she slept a little she’d be better able to face the decisions ahead of her. Right now, she just wasn’t capable of any rational decision-making.

She let herself back into the cabin. When she closed the door, Missy’s eyes popped open. Tess hurried over to her. “Hey. It’s okay. It’s just me.” She sat next to Missy on the couch, and the girl climbed into her lap. Tess rubbed her back. “It’s okay. You’re safe.”

Shawn sat on the other end of the couch.

“Do you remember Shawn?” Tess asked the girl.

“He carried me,” Missy said.

“That’s right, I did,” Shawn said gently. “Are you hungry?”

Missy nodded, her eyes big.

“How about I go make you something?”

“That would be great,” Tess said.

Shawn smiled. “Be right back.” He headed to the kitchen.

Tess watched him for a moment before she turned her attention back to Missy. “Missy?”

Missy looked up at her.

Tess kept her voice as gentle as possible. “Tomorrow, some people are going to ask you questions about where you’ve been.”

Missy ducked her head into Tess’s chest.

“I know. I’ll see if I can get them to limit how many people speak with you, but you
will
have to speak with some of them.” Tess paused, trying to figure out what she needed to say. The only way to protect the bigfoot was to not mention them at all. But how did she tell Missy that without putting too much pressure on her?

“For now, can you just say that you were by yourself in the woods? That you weren’t with anyone? I don’t think people will understand about your family. And we need to keep them safe.”

Missy’s bottom lip trembled.

Shoot
. Tess hugged her. “It’ll be okay. We just won’t tell anyone about them, and that way they’ll be safe, okay?”

Missy’s shoulders shook. “I kept getting hurt. I couldn’t keep up with them. So they gave me away.” Tears trailed down the girl’s cheeks.

“No, no. It’s not like that.” Tess turned Missy so she was looking right in her eyes. “They did this to protect you. They know the forest isn’t a place where you can survive without help. And they risked everything to protect you. They found me. They risked being discovered so that they could get you somewhere you could be safe.”

“But they don’t want me.”

“Oh, honey, they do. Charlie…” Tess stumbled over the word, a stab of grief robbing her voice for a moment. “He made sure I would be able to take care of you. And Mary, she made sure as well. Even Kong was making sure I would be able to take care of you. They love you. They did this
because
they love you.”

Tess hugged her tightly. “I saw how difficult it was for them to let you go. They wanted you more than anything. But they put your safety above their own. They love you.”

“Are you sure?” Missy asked, her voice both hopeful and scared.

“There is nothing in this world I am more sure of. They love you with all their hearts. And when you love someone, you put what they need ahead of what you want. They could have kept you, but they knew that one day you could get really hurt and they wouldn’t be able to save you. And they couldn’t take that chance. They care too much about you.”

Missy sniffed. “I miss them.”

Tess put her chin on the top of Tess’s head. “I know, honey. I do too.”

“Will I ever see them again?”

“I hope so, sweetheart. I really hope so.”