Hominid (30 page)

CHAPTER 100

D
awn was just breaking when Abe tossed the duffel in the back of his truck. He stretched out his back.
A rewarding night.

He drove for an hour to the site he’d picked out earlier and then carried his bag over to the fire pit he’d set up. Pulling some lighter fluid out of the bag, he doused the wood, struck a match, and set it aflame. The wood caught quickly. He pulled out his cell phone as he began tossing everything from the bag into the fire.

Thaddeus answered quickly. “Yes?”

“Good morning, Thaddeus. How are you?”

Abe could practically feel the glare through the phone. “Is it done?”

“Is what done?” Abe pulled out the sixteen-inch carved wooden foot molds he’d had made. They strapped to the bottoms of his boots—and he had to admit, they had done a pretty good job. He tossed them in the fire as well.

“Is—Have you—The situation Mr. Hayes wanted addressed, has it been addressed?”

“You mean is that tool from the reality show dead? Yeah.”

Thaddeus’s spluttering came through loud and clear. “You can’t talk that way!”

“Relax. No one will be overhearing this conversation. And I don’t really see how you guys can order violent acts and then get all squeamish when I talk about them.”

“Fine. But it was arranged as planned? No one will know you did it?”

“Of course not. But more importantly, it won’t even look like a human did it. You’ve got your situation. Now I expect to be compensated for my part.”

“Of course. I’m wiring the remainder of the fee to your account as we speak.”

“Great. Well, that’s my part of this little situation concluded.”

“Very well. I’ll let Mr. Hayes know.”

“Tell him I’ll be out of touch for a few days.”

“You’ve got another job?”

“No, just taking a little vacation. Think I’ll get in a spot of hunting.”

CHAPTER 101

D
ev hiked through the woods, his distaste for the task ahead of him growing with each step. According to the ex-producer of
Bigfoot Must Die,
two members of the crew had gone out in the woods two nights ago to do a shoot, and they hadn’t returned.

From the quick chat Dev had had with the two crewmembers he’d arrested at Tess’s cabin, he knew the group was not as woods-savvy as they tried to appear. It was likely they had simply gotten lost. And he wasn’t exactly thrilled about being part of the search party that had to go out looking for them.
Like I don’t have better things to do. Serves them right for trying to capitalize on Missy’s situation.

And in fact, Dev had
plenty
of better things to do. And at the top of that list were Tess and Missy. Tess was stressing herself into exhaustion trying to come up with a way to thwart Hayes, and the last thing she needed was this reality show headache adding to her already sizeable worries.

Generally, Dev wasn’t responsible for searching for every idiot that got lost in the park, but missing celebrity idiots were apparently a special case. Fortunately, he had a good idea where to start looking. He’d gotten into Haven’s RV and seen the storyboard—he knew they intended to go to the spot where Tess and Missy had first been found.

He curled his fists remembering the rest of the storyboard, including the notes about getting shots of Missy and Tess.

A shadow passed overhead, and Dev looked up to see a large black bird with fingerlike tips on its wing—a turkey vulture. It joined another three turkey vultures flying in wobbly circles farther ahead.

Dev’s stomach dropped.
Oh, shit.
Turkey vultures were carrion birds—they fed on fresh carcasses. He picked up his pace.

He heard the snarl before he reached the spot. When he arrived, four coyotes were already feasting on what was left of the bodies. Dev aimed his shotgun in the air and pulled the trigger twice. The coyotes backed away, but didn’t run. He hoped he didn’t have to kill them. One made a move for the bodies again.

Damn it.
Dev aimed and pulled the trigger. The buckshot caught the animal in the rib cage. It let out a yelp and fell to the ground, its back legs running but not going anywhere.

The other coyotes scattered. Dev approached the wounded coyote. It would not survive. “I’m sorry,” he said. He put the poor beast out of its misery.

Then he turned from that carnage to the human carnage. He blanched at the condition of the bodies. Chunks of skin and muscle were gone. One person’s arm had been tugged off and dragged several feet away. The other body was missing a hand and leg. And the faces… It was hard to tell
what
they were, never mind
who
they were.

No, proper IDs would require much more than a visual. All he could tell was that one guy was white and the other was most likely Latino—or really tan. But he knew all he needed to know from the television camera that lay not far from one of the bodies. The words
Bigfoot Must Die
were stamped on its side.

Dev pulled out his radio, hoping he could get a signal from here. He knew he should feel some sympathy, but the image of Missy’s terrified face wouldn’t let him.
Dead out-of-towners. This is going to be a nightmare.

CHAPTER 102

D
ev paused outside Tess’s cabin door. He really didn’t want to bring her this news. But she needed to know.

Taking a breath, he opened the door and stepped inside.

When Tess caught sight of him, her whole face lit up. Dev would never tire of seeing that expression on her face, and he really hoped she never tired of providing it. She got up and hugged him. “Hey. I tried you earlier but couldn’t reach you.”

“Yeah. It’s been a little crazy.”

“Everything all right?”

“We need to talk. Something’s happened.” He looked around. “Where is everybody?”

She led him over to the couch. “Pax and Shawn went for a walk with Shelby and Missy. What’s going on?”

Dev sat down next to her. “Tyler Haven and one of his crew were killed two nights ago.”

Tess’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh, that’s awful! What happened?”

Dev recounted coming across the bodies in the woods. Tess paled, and Dev knew she was recalling her father’s death.

Her voice was a little shaky when she spoke. “You know I didn’t like the guy, but no one should go out like that.”

Dev pulled the pictures out of his pocket and handed them to her. “These were found near the bodies.”

Tess’s eyes grew wide. “Bigfoot prints? That’s not possible.”

“Tess, these prints, found right near two dead bodies… It’s getting people pretty worked up.”

“But bigfoot aren’t violent.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.” There was no doubt in her voice.

“Then how did these prints come to be there?”

Tess took the photos to the kitchen island and turned the lights on above it. She pulled her magnifying glass from the utensil drawer. “Did you cast these?”

Dev came over and stood beside her. “Yeah, but I had to leave the casts back at the station.”

She squinted at the pictures and frowned.

“What is it?” Dev asked.

“How far apart are these?” Tess pointed to two footprints in one photo.

“About three, maybe four feet.”

“That’s too small a stride.” She flipped through the other photos, and her frown increased. “And look at this.”

Dev leaned forward. It was a close-up of one the footprints. “What about it?”

“The toes—they’re wrong. They’re not long enough. The foot’s too narrow as well. And look.” She placed three photos down, right next to each other.

“What? They all look the same to me.”

“They do, and that’s the problem. There should be a little difference between them. All feet bend, dip, and shift a little. These don’t.” She glanced up at him. “How damp was the ground?”

“Not too bad, but we got that rain the night before these guys disappeared.”

“How deep were the imprints?”

“Maybe a half inch?”

Tess shook her head. “They’re forgeries.”

“What?”

“These prints are, what—sixteen inches long? And the ground was damp? A bigfoot should have sunk into the ground at least two or three inches. That’s one of the ways to spot hoaxers—they can’t get the prints deep enough. Humans can’t simulate the weight distribution.”

Dev grabbed the photos and flipped through them.

“Hold on.” Tess ran into her office and returned a few seconds later carrying her own photos and a cast. “Compare them to these.”

Dev noticed right away that the cast Tess held was thicker than the one he’d made earlier. The foot was much wider, and she was right—the toes were longer too. “I don’t know that this will make much of a difference. You say they’re not bigfoot prints, but you can’t explain why you’re sure of that.”

“There are other experts. You could call them in—”

“I don’t think we have time for that. The mayor is in a frenzy. These deaths, following the return of Missy… Beauford just became bigfoot central.”

Tess closed her eyes. “Oh, no.”

“The mayor scheduled a press conference for tomorrow morning. I think you should be there.”

“What do you think she’s going to say?”

“I don’t know, but I know it’s not going to be good.”

CHAPTER 103

C
arter sat at his lunch table, a white linen napkin draped across his legs, a twenty-four-hour business channel playing in the background. He glanced up from the financial report he was reading to glare at the TV screen. It had been two days.
Two damn days, and nothing.

Everything was set up, at least everything that could be set up without raising suspicions. They just needed to get the word.

Thaddeus walked in from the front office and picked up the remote. “I think you’ll want to see this.” He switched to a news channel.

An African-American anchor faced the camera, her perfectly made-up face serious. “A grisly discovery in Northern California has rocked the reality TV world. TV personality Tyler Haven was found dead in Klamath National Forest along with his cameraman, Oscar Frankel. A cause of death has not been released, although one source at the medical examiner’s office stated that the bodies had to be identified through dental records.

“Haven was the host of the popular reality show
Bigfoot Must Die
, which chronicled humans’ experiences with bigfoot in the wild. Fans of the show have bombarded the show’s website and the governor of California’s office with demands that the truth of the attacks be released. Many are stating their belief that a bigfoot, a legendary half-man/half-ape creature, is responsible for the killings. Governor Edwards’s office has not released a statement yet but is expected to later this afternoon. We now go live to the town of Beauford, California, where—”

Carter hit the mute button on the console on his desk. On screen, a reporter interviewed a man who held two fishing poles over his rather large shoulder. Carter barely registered the image, though; his mind was churning. Finally he turned to Thaddeus. “Make the call.”

Thaddeus picked up the phone on Carter’s desk and dialed a number from memory. “Carter Hayes for Governor Edwards.”

Only a few seconds later, Thaddeus spoke again. “Good morning, Governor. Please hold for Mr. Hayes.” He handed the phone over to Carter.

Carter took it, forcing a jovial tone to his voice. “Harrison, it’s been too long.”

CHAPTER 104

T
ess and Pax entered the town hall meeting room just before ten a.m. and took positions along the back wall. Tess had worried that people might pay them too much attention, but as she looked at the chaos in front of her, she realized that was not going to be an issue. Everyone was too busy yelling and talking to their neighbors to notice Pax and Tess.

There were a lot of faces here that Tess didn’t recognize. Missy’s father’s story had drawn a lot of attention, and bigfoot enthusiasts had been descending on Beauford ever since, traipsing through the woods and hoping for a sighting.

And then there was all the media that had descended on the town. There were so many TV vans parked along the road from Tess’s house, hoping to get a glimpse of Missy or even of Tess, that Sasha had had to sneak Tess and Pax underneath a blanket in her back seat. Tess couldn’t believe this was all happening. It was surreal.

Pax reached over and took Tess’s hand. She squeezed it, glad he was with her.

The door off to the side of the podium at the front of the room opened. Dev walked out, followed by Hank and a fifty-five-year-old heavyset blond woman—Mayor Catherine Sonner.

Catherine had been the mayor for the last seven years, and everyone agreed she’d done a good job. Although everyone also agreed there wasn’t much to do besides make sure the winter and summer festivals ran smoothly.

Catherine stepped up to the podium, and Hank stood to the right and slightly behind her. Dev stood on her other side. His jaw was taut, his body tense. He was not happy. Tess’s anxiety rose.

The mayor waved for quiet, but a few people still murmured in the audience. She frowned and placed two fingers in her mouth. With the aid of the microphone in front of her, she let out an eardrum-shattering whistle. Silence reigned, with more than a few people placing their hands over their ears and wincing.

Catherine gave them a grim smile. In addition to being mayor, she ran the biggest lumberyard in the county. She was used to dealing with tough men. If half the stories Tess had heard about her were right, a group of cranky townsfolk and excited out-of-towners was nothing to this woman.

“Thank you,” Catherine said, the evidence of a two pack a day habit clear in her throaty voice. “By now, you have all heard about the deaths of Tyler Haven and Oscar Frankel out in the state park.”

A murmur passed through the audience; Catherine glared, and it silenced. “The medical examiner has concluded the autopsies, but the bodies were in such bad shape due to the coyotes that he can’t conclusively say what killed them. Although he did say the likelihood of them both dropping dead of natural causes at the same time was unlikely.”

Some people tittered at Catherine’s attempt at a joke.

“As a result, we have had to use other means to ascertain what happened,” Catherine said.

Tess’s gaze flew to Dev. He curled his fist and stared straight ahead. Whatever Catherine had determined, Dev did not agree with it. Hank, however, seemed to have no such reservations. A smile ghosted across his face before he covered it with a small cough.

The mayor continued. “The crew was filming a scene for
Bigfoot Must Di
e, a reality show based on the search for bigfoot. Well, I think it’s safe to say, they found him.”

Tess’s jaw dropped.
What the hell?

“On the taped segment, the crew heard a bigfoot in the area. They were preparing to leave due to fears for their safety. And that’s when the tape ended. In addition, we found some extremely large footprints in the area. I think it is safe to assume that the two unfortunate members of this show did indeed find the object of their search, and that they paid the ultimate price for it.”

Tess couldn’t even think beyond the stupidity of that statement.

The mayor paused and eyed the room before continuing. “The town of Beauford has issued a twenty-thousand-dollar reward for the person who can find and kill the monster responsible for this attack.”

The crowd began to murmur excitedly. Catherine didn’t seem to mind this time.

“What about hunting permits?” someone yelled.

“For the immediate future, hunting permits will not be required. This reward is open to anyone—be they a resident of Beauford or not. That is all. No questions.”

Tess could not believe what she had just heard. The mayor had just put a death warrant out on the bigfoot.

She turned to Pax, whose eyes were huge. “What are you going to do?” he asked.

Tess shook her head, feeling numb. “I have no idea.”