Beauty and the Bigfoot Hunter

by Wynter Daniels

  Ember returned with two extendable metal skewers and handed one to Dean along with the bag of marshmallows. “For the professional s’mores maker.” She scooted her chair next to his and for the next hour, they made s’mores, talked, and shared a few amazing kisses under a blanket of stars. Dean felt as if he’d known her forever. He hadn’t been so relaxed or comfortable with anyone since…well, ever.

  Ember tipped her chin toward the forest beyond the stables. “You really think Bigfoot lives somewhere out there, huh?”

  “I do. With any luck, I’ll get a picture of it.”

  She didn’t laugh or appear doubtful, reactions he was used to from people when he told them about his work. Adele Stephens had snickered and suggested he rethink his goals.

  He pressed a kiss to Ember’s lips and inhaled her sweet scent. Maybe she could be supportive, unlike the women he’d dated in the past. But would she still feel that way when he told her his plans to study the locals? He cleared his throat. “We need to talk about something. You carried me to your car after Jordan phoned.”

  Her complexion paled, but she remained mute.

  “And you said that we’d discuss it later.” He waited for her to respond but she merely fidgeted with a lock of her hair.

  Finally, she rolled her eyes. “Must that discussion happen tonight? I’m having such a nice time with you.” She lowered her gaze to his mouth.

  Sure, he was a scientist, but he was a man first. Moving aside the silky strands of her hair, he raked his teeth over her earlobe. Her shiver of pleasure only turned him on more. He trailed his tongue down her long neck, kissed the hollow of her throat as he ran his hand up and down her side. When he felt the uneven skin below her clavicle, he traced the line with his finger. “What’s this?”

  Stiffening, she backed away.

  Was the scar part of some painful memory? “Ember—”

  “It’s fine.” She bolted out of the chair. “Um…I should go and check on Lycia.”

  Dean grabbed his crutches. “I’ll go with you.” It was getting late, but he didn’t want their time together to end, not yet. He only hoped he hadn’t unwittingly screwed things up between them.

  She turned off the fire. “We can drive over if you want.”

  He shook his head. “I’d rather walk.”

  The cool mountain air felt good, way better than the stifling summer heat and humidity he was used to in Florida. “I like it here,” he said.

  “Me too.” She didn’t say anything about what had happened between them at the firepit, and he didn’t want to push her by asking. When they arrived at the stable, she let him into the mare’s stall.

  The bandage was still clean. “The bleeding’s stopped,” he pointed out.

  Ember rubbed the mare’s neck. “Feeling better, girl?”

  The horse neighed in response.

  She let out a relieved sigh as they left the stall and sat on the bench outside. “It’s been a long day.” She hugged her arms around her body.

  Moving closer, he pressed a kiss to her cheek and was about to reel her in closer when his phone rang. He quickly checked the display, and seeing Dr. Vargas’s name, he frowned. “I’ve got to take this, sorry. It’s my boss.”

  “Of course.” She headed back into the stable as Dean answered the call.

  “Good evening, Dr. Vargas. How are you?”

  “Fine, but I hear you’re not. William told me you broke your ankle.”

  Tension stretched between his shoulders like a rubber band. “I did. It hasn’t hindered my work, though.”

  “Mm-hmm,” Dr. Vargas muttered. “Sometimes the universe steps in and things happen for a reason.”

  Dean’s jaw tightened.

  “The department’s been generous in giving you some latitude with your research topic, which most of us feel is a bit…frivilous.”

  His gut constricted. “Frivolous,” Dean repeated.

  “I understand that your father was also fixated on Bigfoot and that he lost a lot of his work in a fire. Look, we’re not heartless. With your injury and all, I’m prepared to give you two weeks to wrap it up there.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  “Now listen, Dean, there’s no call for sarcasm. Unless you come up with compelling evidence of Bigfoot’s existence in the next two weeks, you’ll have to come back and work under Adele Stephens. Her turtle project is garnering lots of attention. And that means money for this department. We’ve got to be realistic. Understand?”

  Bile burned the back of his throat. “Perfectly.” He hung up without waiting for his boss to respond.

  Ember came out and sat down next to him. “That didn’t sound good. Not that I was eavesdropping.”

  The idea of giving up his project was bad enough. Working under one of his colleagues—particularly one he didn’t care for—was even worse. And with Ember insisting he remove his cameras in the next few days, he had almost no chance of capturing the video evidence he sought.

  He had no choice but to pursue the strange goings-on in the town. But he’d keep Ember out of it and preserve her privacy.

  She set a gentle hand on his arm. “I hope you know that you’re welcome to stay here for now.”

  “I appreciate that.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Something strange happened when I ran into Jordan here.”

  “Strange?”

  “She talked to the animals—the cats and Lycia.”

  Swallowing, Ember dropped his gaze. “I do that all the time. Most people speak to their pets, don’t they?”

  “Sure,” she said. “But this was different. She repeated bits of conversations you and I had and things I said when no one else was around. Heck, she even mentioned what you and I had eaten for breakfast.”

  She stood up and started pacing. “Did you ever consider that I told Jordan those things?”

  “Really? How could you know what I said when you weren’t even there?”

  “Mental telepathy is a scientific fact, isn’t it?”

  He’d give her that. “There have been a few studies. None have been done on people communicating with animals, though. And what about a man being able to heal someone else’s wound instantly? I saw that in town while you were getting your hair done.”

  She grabbed a push broom and started sweeping away bits of hay and dirt from the doorway. “That must have been your imagination.”

  “I thought so at first. Until I checked the notes I took on my phone.”

  “Oh?”

  “And then there’s the fact that you lifted me up and carried me to your car. I weigh almost two hundred pounds.”

  “We decided that we didn’t have to discuss this tonight.”

  He nodded. “We can do it now or in the morning, but we will talk about it.”

  Her lips compressed. She remained silent for a long moment. Finally, she huffed. “Okay, fine. I’m an Amazon.”

  “Like…Wonder Woman?” God, his heart pounded.

  “Not quite. I do have superhuman strength and speed. Plus a few other…powers.”

  He gripped the edge of the bench. Ember’s admission had his brain spinning in a hundred different directions. “How’d you get those powers?”

  “I inherited them from my mother, as she did from her mother.”

  His pulse raced. “And the residents of Nocturne Falls? They’re…unusual, too, right?”

  She nodded. “Lots of them are.”

  Taking her arm, he pulled her onto the seat next to him. “This could be the greatest scientific discovery of all time.”

  She met his stare with fear in those dark eyes. “It can’t be, Dean.”

  His chest constricted. He didn’t want her to feel cornered. “I’d never tell anyone where you are. Or what.”

  Her frightened expression shifted to hurt.

  God, this was coming out all wrong. “Ember, I didn’t mean that as—”

  “A threat?” Her lips flattened to a thin
line.

  “No. I was going to say as a judgment.” He scrubbed his hand over his chin. “The university is backing me into a corner. If I don’t give them something very soon, they’ll pull the plug on my funding.

  He cradled her face in his hands. “Your secrets are safe with me.”

  She backed out of his touch. “But not my friends’ secrets.”

  If only he could learn the source of their gifts and the scope of their powers. He didn’t want to hurt Ember, but the anguish on her face assured him that he already had. “Scientific study has been my life. Put yourself in my position.”

  “Put yourself in mine.” She fixed him with a determined stare. “You should remove both of your cameras. First thing tomorrow.”

  Two? God, he’d told her that the first night they’d met. He should have told her that there were three cameras left, but now that seemed like a moot point. “Can’t we talk about this? You have to understand what’s at stake here, how important it is.”

  “It’s crystal clear that what you think is important is very different from what I think. I value friends and loyalty and…” She shook her head and started away. “Why bother? We’re never going to see eye to eye.”

  His heart sank as she disappeared into the night. But maybe she was right. Science had always come first in his life, just as it had in his father’s. No, it was more than that for his dad—it had been everyhing. It hadn’t mattered to his father that his marriage was falling apart, or that they’d lost their home to foreclosure.

  Although he’d hardly had a chance to get to know Ember, something inside him told him that with more time, they could have been great together. He was more like his dad than he cared to admit. All he had left now was his career, so he sure as heck needed to resurect it. And that meant delving into the source of the residents’ gifts.

  Chapter Eight

  Ember paced the floor in her living room before sunrise. She hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep after her conversation with Dean last night. Rod and Mika would be coming over in an hour to clean the house and work in the yard. She didn’t have it in her to speak to anyone at the moment. All she could think about was Dean.

  He was the first guy in a long time with whom she’d felt safe. If only his purpose hadn’t been to stalk a creature that may or may not even exist, she might have been able to open her heart to him. But the very reason she loved the Nocturne Falls area, was the problem.

  How could she expect a scientist to understand anything about magic? He’d want to tell the whole world about her friends and neighbors. All sorts of scientists and looky-loos would descend upon the town, and treat the locals like rats in a laboratory.

  There had to be a solution, a way to keep everyone from being exposed. She needed to clear her head, and the best place she knew to do that was at the falls.

  The two-mile jaunt took her ten minutes. When she got there, she sat on her favorite rock and took in the view of the falls. She hugged her arms around her knees and grounded herself. Despite being almost six-feet tall, she always felt tiny here. A few feet in front of her, the cliff dropped away. The water tumbled over jagged rocks and then spilled into the creek that wended through the valley below. Every muscle in her body relaxed at the sights, sounds, and smells.

  She closed her eyes and saw Dean’s handsome face—those turquiose eyes and his crooked grin. No, she had to move on.

  A strange screechy sound drew her attention to the bottom of the rock face. She went to the edge of the cliff and scanned the area. Down below, she caught a quick glimpse of an animal. It was big—very big—and brown or black. It disappeared behind the falls in the blink of an eye. She waited for it to show up again, but after several minutes, she gave up and headed back down the trail.

  What could it have been? From the size and shape, it might have been an ape or a gorilla; only there weren’t any such animals in the wild in the entire United States. Dean had said so, and she’d checked on the internet. Not that she hadn’t believed him, but she’d wanted to be sure.

  Walking along the rocky path, she heard the screech again. She gulped and stood perfectly still. Twigs snapped nearby then heavy footfalls approached. Why hadn’t she brought her bow?

  Heart hammering, she eased aside a branch and tried to see through the thicket. Whatever it had been was now gone.

  Perhaps Dean had been right about Bigfoot after all. She wasted no time in getting home.

  Rod waved to her from the riding mower as she walked up the driveway toward the house. She returned the greeting. Rather than go inside and have to make small talk with Mika, she opted for the back deck. Settling into an adirondak chair, she thought about sitting there with Dean the other night. What a difference a day can make.

  She glanced toward the stables, silently wishing Dean would appear on the path. Out of everyone she knew, he was the one person who’d appreciate what she’d seen near the falls. Or might have seen.

  Then, like magic, he emerged from the trees, frantically waving one of his crutches at her.

  She went to the railing for a better look. Yes, it was definitely Dean. Was something wrong? Was it Lycia? Or had Dean hurt himself? Did he need her?

  Heart in her throat, she leaped over the railing and ran to him as fast as she could, which took her about three seconds. “What’s going on? Are you all right?”

  He was beaming. “Better than all right. You have to see this. It’s incredible, more than I’d ever expected.”

  “What?”

  He gestured toward the stables and started that way. “Come on. It’s on my computer.”

  Ember swallowed hard as she walked with him. She’d never seen anyone go so fast on crutches. What did he want to show her? Something told her that she wouldn’t be as happy as Dean when she saw it. Her mouth grew dry as dust as they approached the stables.

  Lycia whinnied a greeting. Ember absently threw the mare a kiss then continued to the guest suite.

  Dean went inside ahead of her. He turned his laptop around so she could see. Three boxes filled the screen, each with slightly different, dark, fuzzy images. Dean pressed a few keys and then there was only one picture. With another adjustment, the video started. “There!” He froze the frame.

  Ember studied the picture, which she recognized as the area just north of the falls. In the background, there were two figures, one big and the other much smaller. “Are they…?”

  “Yes,” he exclaimed. “Two of them. Can you believe it?” He sank into the wingback chair and held his fist to his mouth for a moment. “I’ll bet the small one is a juvenile. That’s something…I’d never imagined.” His excitement was palpable, contagious.

  “It’s incredible.” She sat on the arm of the loveseat. “I think I saw one of them today, a little while ago.”

  He gasped. “What? Where?”

  “Near the waterfall.”

  “Camera four might have picked something up.” Dean hit a key on his computer, and the screen split into thirds again.

  As she watched the live video, she replayed a conversation they’d had about his cameras. He’d told her there were only two still operational. “Why are there three?”

  His brow shot higher. “Oh, I meant to tell you about that. You see—”

  She held up her palm to cut him off. “You lied to me.” Her stomach twisted into knots. She should have known that she couldn’t trust him. So much for his promise. Dean and his cronies would probably exploit the creature, and possibly the locals as well. Hoards of scientists would soon descend upon the area. She shuddered then left the suite, closing the door harder than necessary.

  “Mentiroso,” she muttered. “Liar.”

  Dean rubbed his temples. A headache had been waxing and waning most of the day, ever since Ember had stormed out of the suite, flared back to life.

  His dad had been so thrilled to hear the news about Bigfoot, but a few minutes into their phone conversation, he’d forgotten. Dean had worked
his entire career for this moment, and it had come too late for his father to appreciate. A heavy weight deflated his chest.

  When his cell buzzed, he hoped it was his dad calling back to say he remembered about Dean capturing the creature on film. Seeing William’s name on the display, his shoulders sank. “What’s up, William?”

  “Hey, Professor,” the grad student said. “How’s the ankle?”

  Surely William hadn’t called to see how he was feeling. “It’s okay. What’s on your mind?”

  “Lots of crazy stuff going on in the department. You wouldn’t believe it.”

  “Why don’t you try me?”

  William launched into a tirade about Adele Stephens. “She’s such a control freak. She’s called me a dozen times today, you know, with the news and all. I’ve made a big mistake agreeing to work with her. I found out all the other grad students quit her project. No one can deal with her.”

  Was this William’s not-so-subtle way of asking for his old job back? “What news?”

  “Oh, I forgot,” William said. “You’re out of the loop up there.” He clucked his tongue. “It broke this morning, the biggest scandal to hit the department since…well, I don’t know when.”

  Dean didn’t give a hoot about gossip. He had way more important things on his mind. Ember consumed his thoughts. He’d never wanted to hurt her, and he’d broken her trust. But if William had information that might affect his position or the school itself, he needed to find out about it. “What’s happened, William?”

  “Okay, I’ll tell you what I’ve heard.” He lowered his voice. “Dr. Vargas supposedly went to check on Dr. Stephens’s progress on her research last night. The two of them were in the mobile lab together when one of her grad students—a guy named Carl—went inside to get something. But the only thing Vargas and Stephens were studying was each other.” William laughed. “Can you believe it?”

  Yes, he could. If Dr. Stephens was having an affair with her boss—and Dean’s—that would explain why Adele got all the perks she had.