Hominid

by R. D. Brady

  “And I also hear you brought Melissa Hargrove back with you.”

  “Yes. I found her a few days ago.”

  “Well, how about we go see her?” Hank said.

  Tess stepped in front of the door, blocking Hank’s way. He raised an impressively bushy eyebrow at her.

  Tess gestured to the Adirondack chairs to the right. “I was thinking we could speak out here first. She’s been through a lot, and I’d like to keep her interactions to a minimum.”

  Hank eyed her for a minute before sighing. “All right.” He took a seat in one of the chairs. Tess took the other, and Dev leaned against the railing across from them.

  “So, where exactly did you find her?” Hank asked.

  “Out by Willow’s Bluff. She was down by the creek.”

  Hank narrowed his eyes. “That’s tough country out there. She was alone?”

  “I didn’t see anyone with her, or any evidence of anyone with her.”

  “And what were you doing that far out?”

  Tess shrugged. “I was scouting out to see if there were any spots that I might be able to stake out with my cameras.”

  “That’s state park land. You wouldn’t be able to just put up cameras,” Hank said.

  “I know. But with my grant, I could petition the parks and see if they’d grant me access.”

  “The grants through Carter Hayes,” Dev cut in. “He tends to get doors opened.”

  “So he does,” Hank mumbled. “Now, how come you stayed away so long? From what I hear, you tend not to disappear that long.”

  “No, usually I don’t. But the weather was good, and I didn’t have anywhere to be or research to do. So I thought I’d just scope everything out so I could form a plan and get the cameras out as quickly as possible.”

  “And you didn’t think to let anyone know you’d be away for so long?”

  Tess cast her eyes down, hoping she looked ashamed of herself. “I should have, I know. But my sat phone was dead, and I just really wanted to get finished. And seeing as I found Missy, I’m glad I did.”

  Hank grunted. “Suppose so. Have you asked her if she was with anybody? If anybody hurt her?”

  “Yes. But she’s a little fragile, and to be honest, I don’t think she’s spoken much for the last year. So it’s taking her a little time to get used to speaking again.”

  Hank rubbed a hand over his head. “Well, her reappearance has us in a bit of a pickle. That father of hers was put away for her disappearance.”

  “Will he get out?”

  Hank shook his head. “No, at least not right away. The child abuse charges were pretty steep. In fact, he may even be up for more charges now that Missy’s back.”

  Tess cringed at the thought of Missy having to face a courtroom full of people. “She’s not up for testifying.”

  “Well, maybe not today, but in the future,” Hank said.

  Tess felt lightheaded at the thought.

  “Dev here says you want to take the girl in,” Hank said.

  “Yes—I feel responsible for her. And she feels safe around me, Pax, and Shawn,” Tess said.

  Hank got to his feet. “Well, I guess we’ll see what the court thinks about that. But now I think it’s time for me to speak with her.”

  Tess opened her mouth, but Hank put up a hand. “Tess, I know you’re worried about the girl. But I have ten grandchildren. I promise I’ll treat her like I’d want someone to treat them in this situation. All right?”

  Tess nodded reluctantly. “Okay.”

  From the blog Bigfoot Among Us by Dr. Tess Brannick

  This will be my last blog. For various reasons, I’ve decided to take down my website. Thank you for all your support and interest. So here’s one last question. This week’s question comes from Fiona Hamilton from Phoenix, Arizona. Fiona writes:

  I want to believe bigfoot exists. But I just cant get past the fact that no one has caught one. Why do you think that is?

  Well, that’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it? One of the things you have to remember is that bigfoot seems to stay in areas that are completely isolated from humans. Take for example where I am—Northern California. Here, there are four state parks: two in California and two in Oregon. They’re all connected and cover five million acres.

  To put that in perspective, New York City covers an area of twenty-one thousand acres. These four state parks cover an area twenty-five thousand times larger—an area that is densely packed with trees and no humans. If we’re talking about an intelligent being, which we are, who knows the land much better than we do, it’s really not that surprising that when we go stomping into the woods, we don’t catch sight of them, much less actually physically catch one.

  But I think the best explanation may come from David Rains Wallace in his book, The Klamath Knot: Exploration of Myths and Evolution:

  “What if another hominid species had emotionally outgrown Homo sapiens, had not evolved the greed, cruelty, vanity and other ‘childishness’ that seems to arise with our neotenic nature? What if that animal had come to understand the world well enough that it did not need to construct civilization, a cultural sieve through which to strain perception? Such a creature would understand the forest in a way we cannot.”

  And maybe, we should just leave them on their own to live that life.

  CHAPTER 76

  Two days later, Missy sat on the couch next to Pax with her eyes glued to his phone. Hank had been by again, but he had gleaned no additional information. Each of his questions made Tess’s heart beat faster, but Missy had said nothing about her other family.

  Tess leaned over the back of the couch to get a better look at the screen in Missy’s hands. “Uh, what are you doing?”

  Pax looked up with a grin. “Showing her how to use the phone.”

  Missy swiped at the screen and brought up a kids’ game.

  “She’s a natural,” Pax said.

  Tess shook her head. “I wouldn’t have thought that was a priority.”

  “Hey, in this technologically advanced society, learning technology is as important as learning your ABCs. Speaking of which, I’ve downloaded an app to help her with that as well.”

  Tess sighed, but she knew it was probably a good thing. Missy was going to have to get used to technology again. So far, Missy’s assimilation had gone well. Of course, it had all happened in Tess’s cabin and the woods around it. Tess hadn’t taken Missy into town, and the only person who had come by the cabin besides Tess’s immediate friends, family, and the sheriff was the pediatrician. The doc had visited yesterday and she said Missy was in good health, although she was going to need some shots.

  The pediatrician also agreed to keep quiet about Missy, but Tess knew it was only a matter of time before the world knew that Melissa Hargrove had been found. Tess worried what would happen when news got out.

  Abby had managed to get Tess immediate temporary custody, and she had a court date scheduled for a week away, at which time Tess would have to demonstrate her plan for Missy. Which meant school, friends, counseling. Tess felt overwhelmed by everything she needed to do. But it was good to have the deadline, as she needed to get things into place sooner rather than later anyway. She’d set up a meeting with the school principal today, followed by a meeting with the school psychologist.

  And if she didn’t get moving, she’d be late. She picked up her bag and glanced at Shawn. “You’re okay with her?”

  Shawn smiled. “We’ve got this. And you’ll only be gone for a little bit.”

  Tess nodded but made no move to leave. She wasn’t really worried about whether Shawn and Pax could handle it. She was worried about whether she could handle it. She hated leaving Missy. She stepped over to the couch and sat next to Missy.

  Missy glanced up at her with bright eyes. “I won.”

  The screen in Missy’s hand showed fireworks exploding, with the words “Well Done!” splashed across them.

  Tess wrapped her arm around Missy. “That’s gre
at.”

  Missy turned back to the phone, and Tess pulled it gently from her hands. “I need to speak with you for a second.”

  Missy looked up at her expectantly.

  “I have to go out for a little while.”

  An expression of fear crossed Missy’s face. “You’re leaving?”

  “Only for a short time. I need to speak with some teachers at a school, and then I’ll be right back.”

  Missy’s eyes looked troubled. Tess would have given anything to know what she was thinking. When Missy spoke, her voice was small. “But you will come back?”

  “Oh, honey, I will always come back. We’re family. Families stick together.”

  Missy shook her head. “Not always.”

  Tess had no answer for that, because it was true. “Maybe. But we will. It’s you and me kid, okay?”

  “Okay,” Missy said softly, but Tess got the distinct feeling she didn’t believe her.

  Tess turned to Shelby. “Come here, girl.”

  Shelby got tiredly to her feet, her tail wagging. She stopped at Tess’s side and put her chin on Tess’s lap.

  “Do you know Shelby and I have been together for ten years?” Tess said.

  Missy’s eyebrows shot up.

  “And Pax and I have been together since before we were born.”

  Pax sat down on Missy’s other side. “Yup, it’s true.”

  “Our family stays together,” Tess continued. “And now you are part of it. And that’s not going to change, okay?”

  Missy threw her arms around Tess. “Okay.”

  Tess hugged her back, promising herself she would do whatever was necessary to make Missy feel safe and to give her the home she deserved.

  She was heading to the door when her phone rang. She glanced at the screen before answering. “Hey, Dev. I’m just—”

  His words were rushed. “You need to turn on channel nine. It’s about Missy. I’m heading to you now.” He disconnected the call. Tess stared at her phone.

  “What’s going on?” Shawn asked.

  “That was Dev. He said there’s something on the TV we need to see.”

  Pax gestured to Missy. “Why don’t you guys go watch it in your bedroom? Missy and I will stay here.”

  Shawn and Tess hustled into the bedroom. Tess grabbed the remote and quickly tuned the TV to channel 9. A well-dressed male anchor sat behind a desk. In the corner of the screen was a cartoon figure of bigfoot, and the words “Missing Girl Found” were emblazoned across the bottom.

  The anchor smiled. “Stay tuned for our interview with the father of Melissa Hargrove, the girl who just has been found after having gone missing for over a year. And you won’t believe who he says took his daughter.”

  Tess sat heavily on the bed. Oh no.

  CHAPTER 77

  Seneca, Illinois

  Tyler flung himself onto the couch in his trailer, his hand over his face. Bigfoot Must Die was a huge hit for the cable network, but he was getting so sick of the constant travel, not to mention his idiot guests. This latest one, Cletus Hargrove, was perhaps his worst. The man obviously hadn’t bathed in a while, and his shirt—which Tyler was pretty sure was his best—had holes at the armpits and barely covered his giant stomach. Tyler curled his lip just thinking about the man. What he wouldn’t give for a well-dressed, well-spoken person to spot a bigfoot. Now that would be something different.

  A quick knock sounded on his trailer door before it flung open. Tyler didn’t open his eyes. Only his producer, Seth Hruby, would dare to do that.

  The two had grown up together, then had gone to Hollywood together to make their fortune—Seth behind the camera and Tyler in front. Tyler had the good looks and charisma; Seth had been born with a hooked nose, premature balding, and a round figure that no amount of diet or exercise had been able to change. But he was smart and always seemed to know what would draw in viewers. As much as Tyler hated to admit it, Seth was a big reason why the show was such a hit.

  Seth shoved Tyler’s feet off the couch.

  “Hey,” Tyler said.

  “Shove over. You have to see this.”

  With a grumble, Tyler sat up. “No, I don’t think I do. I think what I have to do is find a bar where my feet don’t stick to the floor and find someone soft to bury myself in for a few hours.”

  “Later,” Seth said. “First you need to see this.”

  With a heavy sigh to make sure Seth knew just how put out he was, Tyler waved him on. “Fine. Go ahead.”

  Seth put his iPad down on the table and pulled up a video clip. Tyler blew out a breath, picturing the beer he could be drinking. Seth was good, but too focused. The man just didn’t know how to cut loose.

  A video appeared on screen, paused, showing a man in a prison uniform. “Dale Hargrove was sentenced to twenty years following the disappearance of his daughter Missy, age five,” Seth said. “But Missy has just reappeared, and some reporter was lucky enough to get in and speak with the prisoner. And Dale has some interesting ideas about where his daughter has been for the last year.”

  Seth hit play.

  A haggard man in his fifties, Dale Hargrove had a beard and mustache and looked a little on the emaciated side. But when he spoke, his face was full of life and more than a little anger. “I told the police when she went missing, it was them sasquatch that took her. Missy—she kept drawing these pictures of them and she said they were her friends. And then she goes missing. And now she’s back.”

  “Why do you think she came back if she was with them?”

  “They probably got tired of her. She’s a lot of work. But make no mistake, the only persons that harmed that girl were the bigfoot.”

  “But what about the child abuse charges against you? Are you saying you’re innocent?”

  “Damn right I’m innocent. It was them—they hurt her. People better look out. If they took my child, they might take yours too.”

  Seth paused the video again and looked over at Tyler with a big smile on his face. “I think we just found our way to the big leagues.”

  CHAPTER 78

  The TV interview with Dale Hargrove had been the starting gun for a full-on race to see which reporter could get the first interview with Missy. The cabin had been besieged, as had Tess’s phones and email. Some reporters had made it all the way to the front door, but either Dev or Shawn had been there to run them off. For a week, Tess and Missy holed up in the cabin, feeling like prisoners. And any time Shawn or Pax ventured out, they were hounded, as was Dev.

  They’d had their court case yesterday, and the judge had extended Tess’s temporary custody. If all went well, it would be converted to permanent custody in six months. Tess was thrilled, and surprised at how quickly Missy had become such an important fixture in her life. It was hard to remember a time before she had Missy with her.

  The judge had been kind enough to set the court date very early in the day, so they had managed to avoid all the press—at least on the way there. They hadn’t been as lucky afterward. Outside the courthouse, Tess’s truck had been swamped. Missy was terrified, and Tess knew she needed to get the girl away from everything, if only for a little while. She decided right then and there that she was taking the girl to her campsite.

  The next day, it wasn’t even dawn yet when she, Shawn, and Missy ducked out the back of the cabin. Shawn rode one ATV and Tess rode the other with Missy sitting in front of her—with Tess’s extra helmet on, of course. Missy smiled almost the whole ride. Tess hugged her and checked on her every few hundred yards, afraid the sound of the machine might spook her. But Missy seemed to love the ride.

  At the end of the driving trail and the start of the walking trail, Tess parked in her usual spot, feeling nostalgic. For a year, coming here had been her regular daily routine. And now it felt as if she hadn’t been out here in forever. A lump formed in her throat as she realized Charlie wouldn’t be visiting her today—or any other day.

  Shawn pulled up next to her. “I see why you like it out
here. It’s beautiful.”

  Tess climbed off the ATV and helped Missy down. “It sure is. It’s really come to life since I was last here.” It was true—the leaves were now changing color.

  Tess grabbed her pack off the back of the bike and Shawn grabbed his. “It’s usually a forty-minute walk from here,” Tess said. “But it might take longer with Missy.”

  Missy grabbed Tess’s arm. “Let’s go. Let’s go.”

  “Or maybe not.” Tess knelt down to look the girl in the eyes. She had debated time and again whether to bring Missy out here. Part of her worried that Missy would try to go back with the bigfoot if they showed up, and part of her worried that her heart would break if they didn’t show up. “Remember, whatever happens, your home is with us. But your bigfoot family loves you and always will.”

  Missy’s bright eyes turned serious. “I know.”

  Tess studied the girl, looking for some sign that she really did understand. But until they saw the bigfoot again, she wouldn’t know for sure.

  Tess stood up and held her hand out to Missy. “Okay, my little friend, let’s go.”

  CHAPTER 79

  Abe stretched out in the hotel chair. The media was swarming all over the cabin, and Abe could see that not much of interest was going to happen. So, he decided he was owed a nice steak dinner and soft bed.

  The phone rang as he was finishing up his omelet on the balcony of his room. He wiped his mouth and answered. “Hello, Thaddeus.”

  “What’s going on? Mr. Hayes is not happy he’s learning the girl’s identity along with the rest of the world. And now there are all these rumors about bigfoot. Other people are getting involved.”

  Abe popped a grape in his mouth. “Nothing I could do about that. Once she found the girl, that was out of my control.”