Zoology 101

by Larsen, Patti

  (FADE IN:)

  EXT. – THE FOREST – NIGHT

  Her feet moved on their own, legs pumping. The need for flight took over everything in her subconscious though her mind struggled to regain control. She fled, darkness devouring her. She stumbled into trees and underbrush, toes catching on roots and debris. Somehow, she kept moving, kept running.

  Somehow.

  The snarling only made things worse, feeding her flight response when she should have been able to regain control. She looked back over her shoulder. The whites of her eyes lit by the setting moon, mouth gaping, stitch in her side crippling her. And missed the fallen log that took her at the shins.

  She crashed to the ground, face first, the agonizing crack of bone stealing her ability to scream. Her hands barely raised in time to catch her as she hurtled forward over the rotting deadfall. Something sharp gouged her cheek, tore a scream from her at last. Hot wetness flooded from the wound. Moonlight reflected on the rectangle that flew from her pocket and stuttered to a halt under a pile of leaves, just out of reach. Panting, meeping in terror, she scrambled toward it. Fingers twitching, hands trying to retrieve the cell phone, another scream tore from her chest as the shattered bone of her right leg ground against the surface of her flesh.

  She rolled over on her side, tears blurring her vision. Another growl punctured her panic, driving her backward. Her one useful foot pushed her through the leaves, hands scrabbling for purchase.

  A shadow detached from the dark and lunged toward her. It blocked what little light the moon offered. With one final, Herculean effort, she pushed out with her foot, shoved hard with both hands as her attacker dove forward, just out of reach.

  And felt the world give way beneath her.

  One last scream. One last howl into the night.

  Her cell phone rang. And rang. And rang.

  ***

  Episode Nine: Zoology 101

  (Smashwords Edition)

  Copyright 2014 by Patti Larsen

  Purely Paranormal Press

  www.purelyparanormalpress.com

  Find out more about Patti Larsen at http://www.pattilarsen.com/

  Sign up for new releases http://bit.ly/pattilarsenemail

  ***

  Smashwords Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Director Annetta Ribken www.wordwebbing.com

  Production Designer Valerie Bellamy www.dog-earbookdesign.com

  Editor Jessica Bufkin

  Producer Anne Chaconas www.badassmktg.com

  Series Created and Written by Patti Larsen

  ***

  EXT. – THE FOREST – MORNING

  “For fuck’s sake.” Gerri half turned, glanced down and to her left, grinning at the sight of her asshole partner staring at the sole of his expensive leather shoe. A sole coated in what looked like dog shit. He shook his foot with a snarl, swiping at the halo of mosquitoes hovering around him, landing from time to time, tiny welts already dotting the back of his neck and the arch of one cheek. “I fucking hate fucking nature.”

  “Looks like the feeling is mutual.” Gerri left him to gripe, her cowboy boots eating up the ground in long strides, gripping easily through the brambles and fallen branches of the woods. Jackson Pierce might have an issue with the great outdoors, but Gerri lived for it.

  In fact, she realized as she left the car behind on the highway and followed the markers into the forest, she’d been missing out on some spectacular opportunities to go hiking, apparently. She had no idea this amazing park even existed. The only one she’d been in was puny, city central. The one she didn’t even want to jog through. Not when her run would take her past the artificial lake where the green, scaled creature she couldn’t get out of her head dragged her first partner’s dead body into the water.

  But this place… this felt like real nature, tall growth of trees towering above, the scent of earth and fresh air washing over her, through her, making her smile despite her destination. Definite hike in order. ASAP.

  As it was, she had to walk about five minutes deep into the brush until she found the bottom of the ravine, the faint hum of water splashing alerting her she was almost there moments before she broke through the tree line. The white-outfitted forms of the CSI team moved around like ghosts in the low light. The sun’s rays made it through the canopy in patches that danced and flowed like a river of light, matching the sparkle of the water gushing past as the narrow stream gurgled its happy way over the rocks.

  Hard not to be in a great mood out here. Even at the sight of Dr. Rachel Hunter bent over a body, one hand pushing back at her long, dark ponytail, swatting at the same kind of bugs giving Jackson a hard time.

  Funny, they seemed to ignore Gerri.

  Gerri’s gaze swept the scene, taking in the pair of young hikers in designer gear talking with Officer Candace Mills and her partner, Blake Purcell. A grisly discovery for a Sunday morning. Gerri wondered if they’d ever pull out their brand-new hiking boots ever again.

  As she turned to change direction, to join Mills and have a chat with the pair, Gerri’s gut growled. Without her consent, her instincts pulled her to an abrupt halt, her head going up, nostrils expanding. That scent. What was that smell?

  It clung to the back of her throat with a musky depth she couldn’t ignore, teased the inside of her nose, made her blood hum, her body tense and vibrate slightly in response. She’d never smelled anything like it. A devouring, encompassing aroma she couldn’t get enough of.

  The bheast inside her, the paranormal creature she shared her life with, seemed to know. But, if that was true, it wasn’t telling her anything.

  “Gerri.”

  She spun around, startled, the scent still with her but fading, the influence of it losing control. Gerri looked back and forth between Ray’s curious face and CSI Tommy Binks’s faint frown of concern, realizing then it was probable they’d been trying to gain her attention for some time.

  How long? Did it matter? From the look the pair exchanged, it was long enough.

  Gerri coughed, cleared her throat, the last of the taste gone as she swallowed. “Stupid mosquitoes,” she said. Weak attempt at humor, but Binks swatted right then and the pair nodded, smiled.

  “Thought you’d want to see this.” Binks handed her a plastic baggie with a wallet inside, already open to the ID. “Our victim’s name was Diane Lane, 34, resident of Silver City.” His rabbit nose wiggled. “Dressed a little too well for a hike, unless a skirt suit is the new uniform.”

  Gerri jotted the info into her notebook. “What killed her?”

  Ray shrugged under her dark blue medical examiner jacket. “The fall, I’m guessing.” She turned and looked up, all three of them observing the fifty foot drop from the edge of the cliff to the ravine below. “Blunt force trauma to the head, fractured ribs, a few bite marks that look canine.” Why did that trouble Gerri? “She’s a mess.” Ray turned back, met Gerri’s eyes. “Liver temp suggests time of death at about 10PM last night. I’ll have to get her on my table for a full autopsy to list her injuries. But, from what I can tell, she only has wounds consistent with a fall.”

  In Rayspeak, that meant she couldn’t see the woman’s death. Her ability only seemed to work with humans, not paranormals. At least, according to their anthropologist friend, Kinsey. Gerri nodded.

  Ray left her to return to the body, Binks nodding and returning to h
is team. Mills gestured the detective closer. Gerri joined her, introducing herself to the hikers who were still rather shaken, though the young man seemed almost excited about seeing a dead body.

  His girlfriend, on the other hand, looked like she’d been crying for hours. “I know her,” Gail Morris said, prodding her boyfriend when he peered around Gerri’s shoulder at Ray and the paramedics loading the body onto a stretcher to carry it out to the highway. “That’s Dr. Lane. She works at the Paramount Zoo.”

  “The zoo?” Gerri frowned at Mills who leaned in, voice low.

  “Head zookeeper,” she said. “Specialty was lupines.” Mills wiggled her eyebrows. “Wolves.”

  Gerri almost laughed. “I know what lupines are.” She turned her attention back to the couple. Boyfriend had finally put his arm around Gail’s shoulder, though his gaze followed the body out. He seemed disappointed when the paramedics disappeared through the trees.

  “Mr. Scott?” Daniel Scott looked like a million other young yuppie guys who should have stayed in the city, with his expensive hiking shorts and brand-name, moisture wicking shirt that looked like he’d just pulled the tag off ten minutes ago. He bobbed his head to Gerri. “You know Dr. Lane as well?”

  He looked down at Gail, arm dropping from her as if he suddenly wondered if knowing her was a good idea. Douchebag. “Not me,” he said. “I’m a lawyer.”

  Of course he was. “And you, Ms. Morris?”

  “I work for Jay and Bernice Pendleton,” she said, voice shaking but composed at last. “The owners of the zoo.” She hesitated. “This is terrible. I need to call them and tell them Dr. Lane is dead.”

  “We’ll take care of that, Ms. Morris,” Gerri said. “Can you tell me if Dr. Lane would have a reason to be out here last night?”

  Gail shook her head, snuffling, wiping her nose on the cuff of her shirt. Danny boy looked revolted by the move. Chances are, if they were dating, it wouldn’t last much past today.

  “The last time I saw Dr. Lane was at the office,” Gail said. “About 6PM, as I was leaving. She was talking with Dr. Prescott, the zoo veterinarian.” Fresh tears trickled down her cheeks. “This is terrible. Poor Dr. Lane.”

  “Do you know if anyone would want to hurt her? Any grudges against her?” Long shot, but the employees usually knew things the bosses didn’t hear about.

  Gail’s denial seemed stunned. “Everyone loved her. She just came to work with us, to run the zoo, by invitation. She was rehabilitating a small pack of wolves for the Paramount. Without her, I have no idea what will happen to them.”

  Gerri released the pair, Mills and Purcell escorting them out of the woods toward the highway. She found her gaze drawn upward, to the edge of the cliff.

  Diane Lane had been up there last night. And that meant Gerri needed to find a way up.

  ***

  EXT. – THE FOREST – MORNING

  Gerri’s tour of the area uncovered a rough stone staircase up the side of the ravine, someone’s idea of a trail. She took the challenge eagerly, pushing herself up the cliff’s cut out steps, hands grasping at the stone above her, toes digging into the hacked off holds deep enough for her worn cowboy boots. Exhilaration rushed through her veins, engulfed her in joy as she climbed faster and faster, pushing her tall body as she wasn’t able to in the gym. By the time she reached the top, she was just barely out of breath, shoulders aching pleasantly, thighs burning a little. She brushed at the dirt and debris on the legs of her jeans, the front of her jacket, looking around at the top of the cliff.

  More tall trees here, thicker shrubbery. And the scent, the one that caught her earlier, it was here, too. But its hold over her was broken, allowing Gerri to focus, to open her sense of smell and follow the trail of the odor while her eyes tracked the damage in the foliage.

  She found the place where Dr. Lane fell, the cut in the growth of shrubbery a clear demarcation. Gerri leaned carefully over the edge, avoiding the scene, and called down to the ground below. “Want me to take pictures while I’m up here?”

  Binks blinked up at her, as if surprised she'd made it up the cliff so fast. “Just let my people handle it, D-Detective,” he said, his stutter less pronounced at volume.

  She shrugged, took a few images for her own purposes, but knew better than to trample Binks’s evidence. He’d kick her ass and she’d deserve it.

  Speaking of kicking, as she turned to leave the scene, the toe of her boot bumped something that flashed in a sunbeam. Gerri crouched, reaching for a twig to flip over the item.

  Cell phone. She winced, realizing she’d done what she swore she wouldn’t, messing up Binks’s evidence. She pulled out a glove, tied it to the twig and embedded the end into the ground, a small, latex flag fluttering its blue disregard in the soft breeze.

  It rained last night, a little. The cell might be useless. But Binks and his team would handle that. Gerri wanted to know where Dr. Lane came from.

  The doctor’s trail wasn’t hard to follow. Not only was she dressed inappropriately, it seemed the woman knew little about moving around in the woods at night, leaving a path two- people wide for Gerri to follow. She kept her eyes open, scanning the area around the thrashing, messy trail, to make sure she didn’t disturb the passing of whoever chased the victim.

  Because it was quickly apparent Dr. Lane’s disastrous journey had to be the result of running for her life with no thought to anything but survival. Why else would there be such a giant path through the underbrush? Unless whoever was chasing her was Bigfoot.

  Gerri shivered, shook it off. That was supposed to be a private joke. But after everything she’d seen, everything she now knew, for all intents and purposes Sasquatch could be fucking real.

  The detective turned back, observed the flight path before spinning slowly around. And spotted through the trees the edge of the woods, a shining, silver car parked on the side of what looked like a road.

  Someone. Her gut usually whispered to her about cases, about truth and fiction. Not warnings. But this was one, a shot to her stomach, a hit to her nerves. Gerri’s focus tightened as she spun, hand on her gun, looking around her. She rubbed at the back of her neck where her hair stood up, breathing deeply, quietly.

  The feeling of being watched faded. But Gerri’s nerves didn’t still. Tense and on guard, she crossed the final distance to the edge of the trees and stepped out, through the shallow ditch, and to the side of the road.

  It was quiet here, far from the hustle of Silver City, and yet only a twenty-minute drive from downtown in good traffic. Gerri stopped again, breathed, listened. But the feeling of being watched didn’t return. She circled the car, noted the doors were unlocked when she tested the driver’s side with a second glove. Dr. Lane’s purse lay on its side, contents scattered over the seat, onto the floor of the passenger’s side. Keys still in the ignition, giant, designer bag gaping on the seat. Laptop in the back along with a pair of coveralls and heavy boots. Was she coming from the zoo?

  Gerri slipped into the driver’s seat, keyed up the GPS on the console, thinking about how unreliable tech could be, how a teenaged boy with a penchant for murder had almost made a fool of her not so long ago with just such a device. But Dr. Lane wasn’t Ian Moore. And her GPS told Gerri in a man’s cocky Australian accent the last place she’d been was, in fact, the zoo, before arriving here at this spot.

  SOMEONE. Gerri yelped, leaped from the car, gun out this time before she could stop herself. And spotted him, in the trees across the road on the other side, just the barest glimpse of his silhouette.

  Watching her.

  It was enough. The bheast growled low inside her even as she began to run. Hurtled over the second shallow ditch and into the forest while the man watching her spun and fled.

  Gerri ran faster than anyone she’d ever met. Had taken down perps with her skills, outrunning and outlasting even the most determined suspect with the steady, relentless thud of her cowboy boots. But, as she poured on the speed, opened fully to what she now knew wa
s the paranormal power inside her, she realized not only was she not catching him, he was pulling away from her.

  Shock and anger spurred her harder, driving her through the brush, around tree trunks with supernatural speed and precision, only to find he was just as good, just as powerful.

  And gone.

  The last sight she had of him was the flash of his jacket, the dark green catching a sunbeam as he leaped forward and out of view.

  Panting, furious, near roaring with rage and frustration, Gerri finally stopped running.

  Turned and stomped her way back to Dr. Lane’s car to call it in. While her mind churned and the bheast snarled its anger.

  ***

  INT. – PRESIDENT MICKEREL’S BOARDROOM – MORNING

  Kinsey was already uncomfortable with the idea of meeting with college President Mickerel, but when she was guided, not to his office, but to the board room on the other side of his receptionist’s desk, the blonde anthropologist’s stomach clenched into a knot of anxiety.

  Made worse by the presence of not just a handful of others, but what looked like the full board of deans for Silver City College. She knew the faces, blurring past her as President Johnathan Mickerel rose from the head of the table and gestured for her to take a seat. Right next to him.

  Staring eyes were never Kinsey’s forte, though she was surprised with herself how collected she felt after the initial shock of discovery. Silently thanking her paranormal bloodline, she embraced what she knew of the power of the Nightshades, using it inwardly to soothe herself. She’d been experimenting with such techniques, kinder and gentler than inflicting it on the watching gathering of puffed-up and self-important jackasses—

  Deep breaths required, clearly. Kinsey took her seat, wishing she’d opted for her usual jeans and t-shirt rather than dressing the part the dean expected of her, a sudden jab of rebellion so powerful she almost laughed.