“The reporter who gave you shit earlier. Looks like it.”
“Well, isn’t that just grand?”
Francis laughed. “Maybe the governor should hire her as our babysitter instead. She did a hell of a better job tracking us down than Zeist’s guys.”
♦ ♦ ♦
There was no way to avoid the confrontation, so the two men simply walked toward their vehicle. This wouldn’t be the first time, Derek noted, that they’d had to give someone the runaround. Albeit people in the press could be a lot harder to shake loose once they set their minds to something.
As they approached, the woman stood away from their SUV and smiled in their direction. “Dr. Jenner, Mr. LaCroix.”
Derek returned the smile. At least she’d gotten his title right this time. “Ms...”
“Wilhelm. Julia, please.” She held out a hand which both men shook in turn.
“A pleasure to see you again,” Derek replied neutrally. “Although I have to admit, I am a bit surprised.”
“Let me guess. You thought I just popped by your press conference to harass you so I could return home and write a story about conspiracies and cover-ups?”
Francis snorted laughter. “If I was a betting man, that’s where my money would be.”
Derek glanced sidelong at him before turning toward Julia again. “I’m forced to agree. No offense, but usually the only people who bother stalking us are overeager fans. I mean, if this is all for an autograph...”
“I can stop you right there, Dr. Jenner.”
“Derek.”
“Thank you, Derek. But up until a few months ago, I’d never even heard of your show. I mostly stick to network television.”
“Mind-numbing sitcoms and teen angst, quite the combo,” Francis said.
Derek folded his arms in front of him. “And yet you had some wild claims back there at the press conference. Pretty damning for someone who has no idea who we are.”
“Had,” she corrected. “I did my research, brought myself up to speed ... particularly about the rumors surrounding your show. Then, when I heard you were coming here at Governor Yarlberg’s request, I had to wonder whether it was just a coincidence.”
“Rumors?” Derek asked, despite being well aware they existed. Even with all the threats and signed affidavits in the world, some people just couldn’t keep their mouths shut. Fortunately for them, chatter like this was mostly confined to half-baked websites run by conspiracy nuts.
“Yes. Taken by themselves, they’re easily dismissed. But when you begin to look at the bigger picture, it fits together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.”
“I hear they sell those at Target,” Francis replied. “Although theirs tend to come with a lot less crazy.”
“Be that as it may,” Derek said, ignoring his teammate’s barb, “such ridiculous hearsay doesn’t strike me as something that would make for a front page story, even on a slow news day. Except for maybe the tabloids. And I wouldn’t expect one of their reporters to bother stalking us.”
“I’m not stalking you.”
“Oh, so you just happened to turn up here in the middle of nowhere, same as us?”
“It’s called research. That, and this truck ... not the most inconspicuous thing on the road.”
“She has a point there, Derek.”
“Next time,” she said with a smile, “consider renting something a bit more low key, or just call Uber.”
Derek let out a sigh and turned to Francis. “Mind stowing the equipment? We need to get back on the road.”
“You got it, boss.” He walked to the other side of the SUV where he opened the rear passenger door to put his camera away.
“Got something in there you don’t want me to see?” Julia asked.
Derek smirked at her. “Just a couple of bigfoot corpses. At least, according to your sources.”
The assuredness dropped off Julia’s face after a moment. Derek assumed her next move would be to walk off angrily, shouting back at them that they couldn’t hide forever from the free press or some other such bullshit.
Instead, she took a deep breath and said, “My apologies. This isn’t going how I envisioned it.”
“I’m not really sure what you envisioned. Some tearful confession that we’re part of a global conspiracy, perhaps?”
“No. That’s not what I meant. When I first heard about you guys, what some people say you do, I thought it was crazy, too. But the more I dug, the more it started to make sense. Then, when I heard you were coming here, after what’s happened, I thought it had to be related. But the truth is, it was probably more wishful thinking on my part than anything.”
Derek found himself intrigued. Though his better judgment told him they should get in the car and drive off without any further comment, he found himself asking, “So why the sudden interest in us? What happened to turn me and my crew from non-entities to this?” He waved his hand to indicate the area. “Off the record, of course.”
She appeared to consider this for a moment before looking around, as if making sure nobody else was within earshot. “Fine. I guess if the rumors aren’t true, then the worst I’ll be doing is making a fool of myself.”
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
“You’ve heard of the disappearances?”
Derek wasn’t about to take the bait so easily. “It might have been mentioned in talks with our producer. Makes for good drama.”
“Not for all of us. My sister Sophie and her husband John, they disappeared a couple of months back. No trace of them. John worked for the AEP. That’s the Agency of...”
“I know who they are,” Derek replied, indicating she go on.
“They were supposed to be heading down to Atlantic City for the weekend, but John had to make a stop in those damned woods first.”
“And you know this how?”
“My sister. She and I talked the day before. It was all she could complain about, how his boss was taking advantage of him. Well, they never arrived. I called the hotel. They never checked in.”
Derek raised an eyebrow, but was careful not to say anything. This had to be the same John that Donald Krychech had told them about, the one whose body had been found and whose wife was still missing. He couldn’t tip his hand, though, as much as he wanted to. Julia was the missing woman’s sister, but she was also a reporter. There was no way he could confide in her and feel confident she wouldn’t try to blow things wide open. All the signed affidavits in the world wouldn’t mean shit if she was on a mission.
He considered this for the briefest of moments. Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing in this case. The cover-up by Yarlberg left a bad taste in his mouth. Seeing the governor dragged out in front of the press to explain not only the environmental issues, but also why he’d taken the law into his own hands, would be immensely satisfying. But there would be ramifications for his team. Though he sometimes hated the secrecy that their dealings with the government required, there was one major aspect that kept him focused: they helped people, saved lives. He wasn’t about to jeopardize that for something as petty as shoving Yarlberg’s crap back in his own face.
He forced his voice to maintain a careful measure of neutrality as he asked, “Have you tried the police?”
She narrowed her eyes as if she wanted to scream at him, but remained calm. “Of course I did. I filed a missing person’s report as soon as I could.”
“And?”
“And nothing! It’s like they couldn’t have cared less. All they do is keep giving me the runaround.”
Francis had stowed the camera and was looking over the top of the SUV toward Derek. He saw the anger in the big man’s eyes and felt it himself. The AEP’s people had found John. Krychech had said so himself. And yet this poor woman had apparently been told nothing.
He was well aware that certain facts surrounding a death sometimes needed to be kept under wraps – had been forced to do so himself more than he wanted to admit. The truth wouldn’t bring
the dead back, but that didn’t mean families didn’t deserve a body to bury or a memory to mourn. That was one line he refused to cross – leaving people with the torture of never knowing.
That Yarlberg and his lackeys were doing so, and all for something so petty as political gain, was almost impossible to believe.
“And I don’t think it stops there,” Julia continued, caught up in her tale. “I have friends in this business. Hell, my editor and I went to school together. At first, they were all happy to help spread the story. Promised me that Sophie and John’s pictures would be plastered everywhere. But then something changed. They all went from supporting me to nothing but excuses. Whenever I ask anyone about it, they’re quick to change the subject. Someone doesn’t want this getting out and I don’t know why.” She looked at the two men. “I know how I sound – probably like some crazed conspiracy nut – but all I want is to find my sister. She’s a good person. She doesn’t deserve this.”
Derek placed a hand on her shoulder. “Believe me, I understand. I really do. Listen, we’re going to be conducting our night investigation in the woods. Despite what you might think of our show, my people are well-trained and know what they’re doing. I can’t promise you that we’ll find anything, but I will promise that if we do, we’ll tell you. You have my word on that.”
Julia’s expression softened. “Thank you. And, sorry if I came across as a nut.”
Derek smiled at her. “In this business we run into a lot of them. Believe me, you really don’t fit the mold.”
CHAPTER 14
Following Derek’s promise to do what they could in the course of filming their show, Julia offered him her personal cell number. He accepted on the condition that she refrain from tailing them throughout the state.
Finally, he climbed into the SUV with Francis and they drove out of Shilough.
“Slick.”
“What?” Derek asked.
“Got yourself a fine lady’s digits. Is it high five time yet?” Francis let out a laugh as he guided the vehicle back through the narrow road they’d used to enter the town.
“It’s not like that and you know it.”
After a few moments, Francis said, “I can’t believe those assholes haven’t told her they’ve found that poor guy’s body.”
Derek shrugged. “I’m not surprised. Confirms what I suspected about this bunch. Let’s make it a point to not let our guard down around any of them if we can help it.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Francis checked the rearview mirror, no doubt mindful they’d been followed once already.
“Paranoid?”
“Getting there. Think her sister is still alive?”
Derek found himself looking at the side mirror, too, finding nothing but an empty road staring back at them. “I don’t care to speculate, but it doesn’t look good. I will tell you one thing, though. That asshole can threaten us all he likes, but if we find anything concrete, I’m letting her know.”
“See. I knew you were soft for her.”
“Don’t start.”
“Come on, you have to admit your dating life hasn’t been worth dick as of late.”
“I work odd hours.”
“Trust me, I know. Shakti reminds me every chance she gets.”
Derek smiled at the mention of Francis’s wife. They couldn’t have been a bigger contrast if they tried. He was a large lumberjack-looking man, an avowed atheist, and could close down a bar with the best of them. She, on the other hand, was a petite woman of Hindi descent who came across as decisively meek – that is, until you managed to tick her off. So far as he was aware, there was nobody on the team who would have put money on Francis in a confrontation between the two. “She giving you a hard time?”
“Nothing major. She’s fine so long as the feds keep sending us to out of the way dumps. I gotta warn you, though, another Australia trip like the last one and she’s already told me you’d better be prepared to shoot her with a tranq dart to keep her from coming along.”
Both men shared a laugh until Derek said, “You know I wouldn’t actually do that, right?”
“Yeah, I figured you wanted to live.”
That set them off again.
Finally Derek said, “All right, let’s get back to Burlington. Mitch is going to be waiting.”
“So is that Zeist guy.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“Think they’ll try to tag along with us on the hunt?”
Derek looked at him out of the corner of his eye. “They can try.”
♦ ♦ ♦
“What do you think?”
Danni had to admit she’d been a bit worried about the seemingly random and excessive ingredients that had been stuffed into the fat sandwich Arthur had recommended for lunch. It wasn’t that she disliked any of it, but typically she expected to get her sides on ... well, the side, not all together on the same roll. One bite, however, had proven her wrong. “This is ... pretty awesome.”
“See? Told you not everything about Jersey sucks.” Arthur swallowed a bite of his own. “Believe me, there is no finer way to cram for a final. Throw in a couple of Red Bulls and you’re good to go until sun up.”
“I bet,” Danni said with a laugh. “Although I think the name is spot-on. Pretty sure I’d look like a beached whale after a couple of these.”
“I don’t think you have anything to worry about.” As soon as the words left Arthur’s mouth, he turned bright red. He took another bite, swallowed too quickly, and started coughing.
Danni gave his back a couple of smacks until he got it under control. She smiled to herself but decided to go easy on him.
“I’m sorry,” he said after a few moments. “I didn’t mean...”
“It’s okay. Really, it is.”
“Cool,” he said uncertainly. Then, as if to cut the ice, he reached for his back with an exaggerated wince. “Ow. Yeah, you really don’t need to worry.”
“What can I say? Derek runs a tight ship. We can’t do our jobs without staying in shape.”
“Hah. I don’t think the guys on Monster Chasers have the same philosophy.” He held up his sandwich. “Most of them look like they live on these things.”
Danni let out a bark of laughter. Monster Chasers was a series on a rival network. She’d seen a few episodes. Basically, it involved a bunch of good ol’ boys from America’s heartland, running around the forest with guns and typically making so much noise as to make their obviously edited cryptid run-ins near laughable. Even if her team’s true mission hadn’t been so very different, she wouldn’t have worried much about the competition.
“Sorry, but I have a confession to make,” Arthur said, growing solemn for a moment. “I do occasionally cheat on you guys with that other show.”
Danni blew out a sigh. “I don’t know how I’ll go on. Here we are, enjoying some time together, and now this bombshell. It might be too much for me to handle.”
“If it helps, you guys have a higher priority on my DVR.”
She took another bite and appeared to consider this. “Well, I suppose I can forgive you ... just this once. I mean, you did introduce me to these. It would be heartless of me to walk away now. Seriously, though, this is good. They didn’t have anything like this at my school.”
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