Trouble Afoot (Shepard & Kelly Mysteries Book 2)

by Benjamin Bradley

  “The dots request coffee before speaking further. I agree with the dots.”

  “Before coffee, I need to ask you something,” Casper said. He spoke quickly, afraid to run out of steam or courage in the moment. “What does Raven Rock mean?”

  Delaney’s face flushed red. She dropped the files and closed her eyes. After a deep breath, she faked a smile. “Where did you hear that?”

  “Somebody mentioned it.”

  “Well, that somebody was sticking their nose where it didn’t belong.” She glared at him. “Did you go digging into my past, Casper?”

  He shook his head. “No, I swear. I came home to a random note on my door in Brewster. It told me to ask you about Raven Rock.”

  She let out a half-laugh that bordered on a whimper. “Figures. Can’t escape my past even if I moved across the world.”

  “So?”

  Delaney sighed. “I don’t think I’m ready to talk about this with you. I… well, it’s complicated and for the moment, we’re on vacation. Can we pretend we never had this chat?”

  “I can try.”

  She met his eyes. “I know you’re stubborn, so I’ll give you this much. It’s an old case from a millennium before I met you or Hoag or moved to Brewster. It belongs in the past, so I try to keep it there as much as possible.”

  He nodded. “So, coffee?” She faked a smile and then marched out of the door. Alone with his misery and doubts, Casper got dressed. Delaney stood in the kitchen, arms crossed like she was angry at the sun. She poured beans into the grinder and created the magical aroma that Casper associated with his old loft in Brewster.

  “Nice to see Zoe sleeping in a bit. Unless she’s out looking for Gil,” Casper said, desperate for a change of subject that would ease the tension of the room.

  “No, I’m up.” Zoe entered the kitchen in full uniform. “You’re not the only early birds in the house, ya know.”

  “How’s your head?” Delaney asked with a grin.

  “Just fine, Laney. Do you think I’ve become a lightweight in my old age or something? I could still drink you under the table. Just be happy that I didn’t bust out the moonshine.”

  “Moonshine? Embracing your southern home, eh?”

  “Sam Jordan keeps me stocked up. Just a friendly guy who loves to fish at the park, but damnit if the muscadine moonshine is not poison in a glass. That’ll knock your socks off.”

  “Any word from Gil?” Casper asked.

  “Not a thing. I was thinking, Delaney… do you know anybody in law enforcement that would do me a favor and track his phone?”

  Delaney pressed the start button on the coffeemaker and turned back to face her cousin. “I know you’re worried when you call me by my full name. But no need to involve law enforcement. I can do you one better.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “I’ll work some magic later and let you know what I find.”

  Zoe smiled. “Thanks, Del.”

  “But I can assure you, he’s okay. Probably shacked up in a hotel watching old footage of Bigfoot sightings and crying for being such a fool.”

  “That… is not a sight I needed this early in the morning. It’ll be a long day, so I’ll need extra coffee.”

  “What’s the plan today?” Casper asked.

  “I was about to ask you the same thing.”

  Casper mulled it over. “In my eyes, we’ve been reactive so far. Working off the clues left behind. Maybe it’s time we make a move of our own.”

  “As in?”

  “You said the spot where the camera caught our friend on film is dense, right? Let’s set up camp there tonight.”

  “Like a trap?”

  “More or less,” Casper said. “Do you think you could get Mathias to go for that?”

  Zoe grinned. “Much like my little cousin there, I believe I can be mighty persuasive when I need to be.”

  “Can we join?” Delaney asked.

  “I’ll ask. I don’t see why he’d say no to bringing another LEO as some backup. Casper will be the harder sell. He asked that I bring you over to the Visitor’s Center with me this morning so you two can touch base. Mind if I steal him, Laney?”

  “With pleasure. I need some time to myself, anyway. Mind if I take Hoagie and run the trails while you two save the world?”

  “Only if you’re extra careful. I hear some dangerous creatures are roaming around the park these days,” Zoe said. Nobody laughed.

  Mathias Wittles had his jet-black hair combed so neatly it looked like it was hand drawn. His icy stare had followed Casper from the second he entered, fierce light blue eyes that exuded confidence and skepticism. He waved Zoe in and she ushered Casper along. They plopped themselves into two old chairs with worn cushions. The room smelled like mulch and stale coffee.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir. I’m Casper Kelly.”

  Mathias nodded. “Welcome to our park, Mr. Kelly.”

  Zoe cleared her throat. “I know I didn’t sell you on his services yesterday but…”

  “You thought maybe a good night’s sleep knocked some sense into me?” He grinned.

  Zoe shrugged. “To be honest, sometimes I feel like I’m the only one trying to solve this case.”

  Mathias grinned. “That is because this is not a case, Zoe. Particularly not one of ours. You can submit whatever information you’d like to Detective Russo, who is in charge of the assault. I’d imagine she’d even sit down and walk you through what they have so far. It would take all of thirty seconds.”

  “So the police don’t have anything either,” Casper said.

  Mathias glared at him. “Look, I appreciate that you are here and in town. Explore the park. Hike around. I’m sorry if you’ve been misinformed, but we have no interest in outside resources. I thought I made that clear enough to Zoe. Additionally, we will not expend any additional internal resources on this either.”

  “Mathias, we have to figure out what’s going on. We—”

  He raised his hand. “Mr. Kelly. Can you give us a minute?”

  Casper nodded and ducked out of the room. Through the closed door, he could hear the raised voice of Mathias scolding Zoe for her lack of respect for authority and her over-earnest nature. When Zoe slinked out, she looked like a high schooler that just got a week-long detention from the principal. He followed her out front where she stood with her hands on her hips.

  “I’m sorry, Casper,” she said. “I shouldn’t have lied to you. I thought once Mathias saw you and met you… well, I’m sorry.”

  Casper nodded. “It was worth a try. I’ve seen many men like Mathias. They’re set in their ways. The ‘this is how we’ve always done it’ crowd. It’s frustrating during a case; I can’t even imagine working with him every day.”

  “It sucks, but that’s nothing new. But I just know that he’s wrong.”

  Casper raised a brow. “Wrong?”

  “There’s something out there. And I’ll be damned if I rest while it harms another innocent person. Tell me, what would you do?”

  Casper watched a hawk dive into the thick canopies that surrounded the parking lot. Squirrels hopped around in the brush, collecting the last few nuts they’d need for a long winter ahead. He watched Zoe, who kicked rocks with her feet and kept her gaze fixed on the ground. “The only thing that will move this case forward and into the view of folks like Mathias… is proof.”

  “Proof?”

  “Verifiable proof. More than a blurry photograph.”

  “So?”

  “So, I think it’s about time we set our trap.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  A red cloudless sky followed Zoe’s truck as she and Casper drove home to prepare for the evening’s risky plan. Despite her initial confidence in the idea, she had started to waver at the prospect of capturing such a wild creature. A creature still wasn’t likely, but it was a possibility. One that she hoped they’d walk out of the woods able to eliminate.

  Delaney had wrapped up her run and driven to grab
a shower, so Casper hopped in with Zoe to hitch a ride back to the house. Her truck’s stereo belted out a familiar tune that had taken on an ominous similarity to the mess at hand. Bad Moon Rising blared through the speakers. “You a fan?” She asked Casper, who hummed along in the passenger seat.

  He nodded. “Except when I was a kid, I always thought they were saying there’s a bathroom on the right.”

  Zoe chuckled. “Like somebody giving directions?”

  “Yup. It wasn’t until high school that I actually learned the words,” Casper smiled and sang along with the chorus. “Don’t go around tonight. Well, it’s bound to take your life. There’s a bad moon on the rise.”

  Zoe smiled and made a mental note to tell Delaney she’d chosen well. But the lyrics hit differently without Gil nearby. With so much uncertainty around the park. Around her job. Around her life. There certainly was a bad moon on the rise. Zoe watched Casper picking at his fingers and cleared her throat. “Something on your mind? Not impressed with our park?”

  Casper smiled. “No, it’s mighty nice. Something else. I guess with everything going on with you and Gil, I’m starting to wonder how well I know Delaney.”

  “She’s an open book for the most part.”

  “I thought so too. But I’m thinking that some pages may be missing. Specifically about Raven Rock.”

  “Raven Rock, eh?”

  “Does that mean something to you?”

  “The past was a complicated time for her. There’s a lot there that even I don’t know. But let me ask you, do you have any skeletons in your closet?”

  Casper shook his head. “None that I’m hiding.”

  Zoe sighed. “That’s great. Some of us aren’t so lucky.”

  “So, how do I get her to open up?”

  “If she’s anything like me, the more you press her, the harder she’ll buck. Give her space and earn your trust.”

  Casper chuckled. “Noted.”

  “But take my advice with a grain of salt. I might have had Gil all wrong.”

  “How so?”

  Zoe paused for a moment. “No use in dragging that lake right now. Let’s just crack this case and find some answers.”

  Between the pines that lined the entrance road, Zoe squinted then frowned. The driveway held her beat-up gray Prius with the hail damage on the roof and Delaney’s grimy Subaru hatchback. Something turned over in her stomach. For the first time, she worried about Gil’s safety.

  In past fights, Gil would often clam up and turn introspective in times that required self-examination or reflection. He wasn’t the kind of man that processed things with speed or with others. That was fine with Zoe. Not everybody could know in a split-second how to respond or feel like she could. She’d let her gut betray her in this circumstance with Mathias and feared that her relationship with Gil would never recover, so who was she to talk?

  Delaney sat on the front steps and waved to them as Zoe steered into the driveway.

  “Remember when you asked me to try and locate Gil?” Delaney asked.

  “Hello to you too, dear cousin.”

  All business, Delaney continued, “Well, I just worked my magic. I know where he is.”

  “I’m afraid to even ask. Do I want to know?”

  “A good magician does not reveal their secrets.”

  “Of course.” Zoe ran a jerky hand through her hair. “I need to know. Where is he? Is he at that motel off Hillsborough Street? He’s hunkered down there before to work on his writing. I swear—”

  “He’s here,” Delaney interrupted.

  Zoe glanced into the windows of her humble cottage. No signs of movement. “Here?”

  “Not here here. But it looks like he’s somewhere in the park. The signal isn’t exact, so there is a certain range that he could be within, but all signs point to him being somewhere inside the park boundaries.”

  Zoe plopped herself on the stairs and let her brain work over the recent information. Gil had run, but he stayed. Here. Within the park. Her heart followed her brain as they both worked at a feverish pace to sort through the details. “Delaney?” she asked, not sure if it was her heart or her brain talking.

  “What’s up?”

  “I… uh... can I share something in confidence?”

  “Always, Zo. Remember how incredible I was at keeping secrets as a kid? I’m even better now.”

  “Okay, well, uh, Gil had been staying up at all hours of the night.”

  “And…”

  “Well, I’ve been sleeping like a rock and don’t hear him come and go from the bed. I just assume he’s found a moment of inspiration for his work.”

  “Okay, so? I don’t see the reason for this level of secrecy.”

  “So, I can’t say unequivocally that Gil was next to me in bed all of Friday night and into Saturday morning.”

  “You think that—”

  “No,” Zoe waved her hand. “I don’t think it. Just putting the evidence out there. It felt wrong to hold that in with this additional evidence. He’s on the run. Missing. And now we know he’s inside the park. And like you and Casper said, he has the most to gain from any Bigfoot related news. Literally the only person with something to gain, as far as I can tell…”

  “Zoe, I—”

  “Just let me process out loud for a second.”

  Delaney nodded.

  “Gil is not an evil man. I’m certain of that much at least. He’s never shown a shred of violent tendencies or any real volatility. He’s gentle. Predictable. But he’s also desperate. I’ve watched this book deal weigh on him and the mounting pressure of his deadline cripple any enthusiasm he had left. It’s changed him. I… well… I don’t think he’s in his right mind.”

  Delaney stood. “Zo, let me ask you flat out. Do you think Gil is responsible for all of this?”

  Zoe’s mind flashed images of Wade Buchanon’s bloody torso on the trail. The trail that was less than half a mile from their house. A path Gil knew as well as anybody. Better than most. But her gut rejected the notion. Something didn’t fit. A square peg in a round hole.

  “No. I don’t think so. In my gut, I’m certain he’s innocent. But, well, he’s got some explaining to do to say the least.”

  Delaney sighed. “Look, at some point, it may be worth recusing yourself from the case. If you get too close—”

  “Laney, this park is my home. Sure, it’s a job that some days I hate and dread putting on the uniform, but I’ve lived here for most of my adult life. I’ve been too close. I am too close to this case. Every piece of it. But I’m not putting this in somebody else’s hands. Not when we have an opportunity for answers tonight.”

  Delaney hugged her cousin. “Let’s get dinner started so we can head out to the site.”

  Casper listened to their conversation through the door but kept his gaze fixed on a very sleepy Hoagie who was sprawled on the hardwood floor. Every instinct Casper had told him to help, but it was too easy to overstep in a family matter. Instead, he tried to keep his head down and find a clue to bring forth answers.

  In a moment alone, Casper nudged Delaney with his shoulder and leaned in close. “So, how’d you track Gil?”

  She smirked. “How would you have done it, Mr. Private Eye?”

  Casper thought for a second and a memory flashed in his mind. “Probably through the Find my iPhone app on Gil’s computer.”

  Delaney bit her lip, shook her head and smiled. “Maybe, maybe not.”

  After dinner, Zoe went to her room to throw on camouflage and black clothes to blend into her surroundings. She met Casper and Delaney in the living room and they kissed Hoagie goodnight. Zoe led them down the trail towards the game camera that had spotted the blurry figure. The walk was quiet and colored by the fiery sky of an early autumn sunset. After an hour, they were at the spot.

  The mist sparkled in the moonlight and settled around the leaves that had fallen from overhead branches early in the season. Shadows flickered. The slightest movement was like an orchest
ra beginning to play. Zoe could hear little else besides her heartbeat and the rhythm of her chest rising and falling with her breath. Her frigid breath fogged in a cloud in front of her in the pale light from above.

  Three hours in, little else besides a tiny four-legged critter had scampered across their path. Chipmunk. The breeze picked up and Zoe wondered if it was wind or just the hunting party breathing a collective sigh of relief. As much as they wanted answers, nobody seemed prepared for the aftermath of any possible discovery.

  Casper had split the three of them into quadrants, with the empty corner being the neighboring roadway. He helped find the best vantage point for each. Delaney sat with her back on a rotted stump facing the rest of them. Casper’s corner had a slight incline, and he parked himself at its peak with an optimal view down into the valley below. Zoe’s perch was on a pile of fallen dogwoods and loblolly pines that resembled a graveyard.

  Each of the others were invisible to Zoe when they were still. The darkness came upon them and swallowed each of them into the night. The moonlight was dim, and the stars did little to provide a spotlight into the surrounding forest. Zoe grew restless. Then the restlessness passed and the exhaustion from the weekend set in. Her eyelids grew heavy. Drooped down despite Zoe’s best fight. But as they touched down and closed out the little light that remained around her, a noise sounded. A crunch of leaves. In the distance. Her eyes shot open. Darting around but saw nothing.

  The noise sounded again. The earlier sounds of squirrels and chipmunks were pitter patters of tiny feet hopping through the woods. This sound was larger. Like an earthquake when it came. Unmistakable. It was a footstep.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  An airplane flew low over the rooftops and rattled the three ice cubes melting in Andy’s glass. His second pour of Cuervo, three fingers this time, sat undisturbed as Andy picked at his fingernails and tapped his leg on the ground, trying to keep his focus on the TV. A cell phone vibrated on the desk and snatched his full attention away from the passing aircraft and the reruns of How I Met Your Mother. He glanced at the screen. He’d hoped it would be Kyle checking in or even an angry message from Regina cursing him out for yesterday’s snafu with the kids. But none of that was in the cards. The contact name was a fox emoji.