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Authors: David Warren

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BOOK: FROSTBITE
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Chapter Six
 

I heard someone yelling as I neared the entrance to the police station. I opened the door and walked in. Sheriff Jones sat behind his desk while Larry Wallace hovered over him, his face as red as Rudolph’s nose.

 

“You have to do something sheriff!” Larry exclaimed.

 

“I already told you,” Jones said, obviously annoyed. “I got two missing people, Larry.
People
, okay? I’m not overly concerned about a runaway dog.”

 

“He didn’t run away! My Spike would never run away!” Larry retorted.

 

“Hi there,” I said, stepping in between them. “What’s going on?”

 

“Somebody dog napped my Spike!” Larry said. “And the sheriff won’t do anything about it!”

 

“Are you sure he didn’t just wonder off somewhere?” I asked. “You don’t have a fence in your yard, if I recall correctly.”

 

“No I don’t have a fence,” Larry said, trying to remain calm. “But for the past five years he has never left the yard-never!”

 

“Mr. Wallace here cares more about his pooch than he does about humans,” Alex said.

 

“That’s not true!” Larry shouted.

 

“The sheriff is a little overwhelmed Larry,” I said. “What evidence do you have of Spike being taken?”

 

“Evidence?” he echoed.

 

“Yeah,” I continued. “You claim he didn’t run away. How do you know?”

 

“Well,” he stammered. “I just know. “

 

“And you expect the sheriff to spend his valuable time searching for Spike when we have a little girl missing?”

 

Larry lowered his eyes. “No,” he sighed. “I guess not. It’s just that Spike is…you know, all I have.” He looked on the verge of tears.

 

I felt sorry for him. Larry had lived alone ever since he came to town almost a decade ago. An overweight man with a Rottweiler just wasn’t a turn on to any of the available women in Parker Hills, I supposed. “If it’s okay with you sheriff,” I said, turning to Alex. “I’ll run over to Larry’s place and take a look around.”

 

“You will?” Larry’s face perked up a bit.

 

“I don’t think that’d be necessary,” Alex said, standing up. “I appreciate the gesture…”

 

“No really,” I countered. “I want to. Just a quick peek, okay?”

 

Alex studied me for a minute. “Alright,” he said slowly. “But only to Larry’s.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“No adventures into the woods again.”

 

“I promise,” I said.

 

“Okay.”

 

“All right Larry,” I said, turning to him. “I’ll follow you over.”

 

“Thanks,” Larry said. “At least
somebody
cares.” Before Alex could reply, Larry hurried out the door.

 

Alex looked at me quizzically. “What are you doing?”

 

“Me?” I said. “I am just being helpful. You keep focused on the task at hand. Where’s John?”

 

“Where we’ve all been for days now,” he said. “In the woods.”

 

“He’s a good deputy.”

 

“He is,” Alex agreed. “He and a couple other guys actually camped out in the north woods last night.”

 

“A very dedicated group,” I said and then paused for a moment. “I wish I could have been with them.”

 

“I know you do,” Jones replied, coming around the desk. “Please don’t take offense to my restrictions on you. I am just trying to look after you.”

 

“I know that I’m not a spring chicken,” I interrupted. “I understand. So let me do this one thing with Larry.”

 

“Okay,” Alex smiled. “Keep me posted on the big case.”

 

I returned his smile. “I will,” I said and left the station.

 

***

 

I pulled along the side curb as Larry turned into his small driveway. He had a blue little rancher, just the right size for a bachelor. He waited for me as I made my up the driveway. “Okay,” I said, extending my arm. “Lead the way.”

 

Larry led me alongside his house, the snow coming almost up to our knees. “The snow is deep back here,” Larry said. “Poor Spike has had an awful time trying to go potty out here.”

 

“I’m sure,” I said. “And to think, we have a blizzard on the way.”

 

“Don’t remind me,” Larry replied. “I’m not gonna be able to get to work once that happens.”

 

“I wouldn’t worry about it. I don’t think anybody will be able to,” I said as we reached the beginning of the backyard. “I’m sure the governor will declare a state of emergency anyway.”

 

“Probably,” Larry agreed. “Well, here we are.”

 

I scanned the large backyard. Just like most of the town, Larry’s yard went for quite a distance, eventually connecting to his neighbor’s property. I didn’t realize until then how many people in Parker Hills didn’t have a fenced-in yard. “Where was he?”

 

“I dunno,” Larry muttered. “I wasn’t watching him. I just let him out and when he’s ready, he just scratches at the back door.”

 

I took several steps into the yard. The snow actually crept past my knees. I turned to see Larry scurrying up onto his deck. “Aren’t you coming?” I asked.

 

“Ah,” Larry stuttered. “No. Aren’t you like some deputized citizen on official duty?”

 

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Not really.”

 

“Oh.” He did not attempt to leave his deck.

 

“Okay, I’ll come get you after I had a look,” I told him. Turning, I slowly made my way into the snow. I was glad to be doing this assignment. For one, it was helping Alex out and the good Lord knew that Alex could use all the help he could get right then. Second, I wanted to prove to myself that I wasn’t a loony old man who was afraid of the snow.

 

I scanned the area closely as I made my through the large yard. I wasn’t expecting to find anything though. I was sure old Spike just got a hankering to see other parts of the town and, at any minute, would return home to his loving master.

 

I could see, however, where Spike had been. The yard was scattered with dog droppings. Some were on top of the snow, some buried slightly farther down. There were also holes in the snow where he had obviously peed. After about ten minutes, I started to figure that my time could be better spent helping Alex in a more productive way and started to head back.

 

As I turned my head to start back, something did catch my eye. It wasn’t much, really, but I decided to take a quick glance. I walked over to the spot and scowled. Spike had been at this spot recently. The dog crap was soft, so it hadn’t had time to freeze yet. But it was beyond the poop that got my attention.

 

Spike’s paw prints stretched out a significant distance. That’s when my heart started to pound. It looked roughly the same as what I had seen at the school. It appeared as though Spike had been in the middle of going to the bathroom when he was suddenly yanked backward into the deep snow.

 

There looked to be a semi-large burrow just beyond where the drag marks ended. Taking a quick glance around, I kneeled down the best that I could and started to dig down into it. Even with my gloves on, the temperature of the snow was stunningly cold. I dug down well over a foot and then suddenly stopped. I found Spike…Or rather, his head.

 
Chapter Seven
 

The closest thing we had to an animal expert in Parker Hills was the town veterinarian, Dr. Timothy Kline. He was a tall man with blond hair who always dressed in a suit with his white lab coat on top. I leaned against the wall as he studied what was left of Spike.

 

After my find, I had used Larry’s phone to call Sheriff Jones. He came right over and we headed straight to Dr. Kline. Poor Larry practically fainted. We had to physically help him onto his couch.

 

Kline mumbled from time to time as he poked and prodded the remains. “This was all you found?” He asked over the rim of his glasses.

 

“Yes,” I answered.

 

“Interesting,” he said.

 

“Could it have been a bear?” Alex inquired.

 

“Doubtful,” Dr. Kline responded without looking up. “The markings don’t seem to match a bear. Besides, this time of year they’re all in hibernation.”

 

“How about a saw?” I asked as thoughts of little Alice Saunders ran through my mind.

 

“I don’t think so either,” he replied. “There is some leftover saliva in the wound.”

 

“So it was an animal,” Alex said.

 

“Offhand I’d say so,” Kline replied. “But I can’t say what kind exactly.”

 

“Well we don’t have that many options in this area,” Alex retorted.

 

“You’d be surprised what these mountains are home to, sheriff,” Kline replied. “New species are still being discovered to this day.”

 

“Is that so?” I asked.

 

“Absolutely. Just last month two new spider species were discovered by a graduate student in Australia. And this past summer four new species of rodents called Tuco-Tucos were discovered in Bolivia.”

 

“How did they stay undiscovered for so long?”

 

“Simple,” Dr. Kline replied. “They just live where people don’t.”

 

“Makes sense,” I confessed.

 

“Yes it does. Now let’s switch gears for a moment,” he continued. “Not only are new species being discovered almost daily, but older, even prehistoric creatures thought to be long extinct have been making recent appearances as well.”

 

“Like dinosaurs?” I asked.

 

“Well, not quite. But last year an underwater camera filming at the bottom of an oil rig picked up the outline of a shark that swam by just out of the reach of the camera. The dorsal and tail fins were fairly visible and with that information scientists were able to judge its length fairly accurately.”

 

“How big was it?”

 

“Sixty-two feet long,” Dr. Kline answered.

 

I whistled. “That’s a big fish.”

 

“Quite. But, back to the topic at hand. It would not be out of the realm of possibility that a rare animal lives up in those mountains that human eyes haven’t spied for a very long time.”

 

“Really?” I asked. “Could something have come down from the mountains and staked a claim here in Parker Hills?”

 

“Fred?” Alex looked at me as though I had lobsters coming out of my ears. “What are you talking about?”

 

“I’m just trying to see if there’s a connection,” I answered.

 

“A connection?”

 

“Yes, to the disappearances of Alice and Norm,” I said.

 

“What?” Alex looked stunned. “Alice was kidnapped. Norm too…if he wasn’t the kidnapper that is.”

 

“That’s ridiculous and you know it,” I responded to Alex. “Norm is no kidnapper.”

 

“I don’t know anything right now,” Alex said, shaking his head. “But I don’t believe for a second that some animal is responsible for the disappearances.”

 

“I’m not saying that it is either,” I said, holding up my hands. “I’m just exploring every option.”

 

“Interesting,” Dr. Kline said, holding something up in his tweezers.

 

“What is it?” Jones asked.

 

“I’m not sure,” Kline replied, stepping closer to the overhead light.

 

We waited in silence for the good part of five minutes. Finally, Alex impatiently asked, “Well?”

 

“It appears to be the very tip of a tooth, sheriff,” Kline reported, still studying the object.

 

“A tooth?” I repeated.

 

“Please tell me it’s not human,” Alex muttered.

 

“No it’s not human,” he answered. “It’s an animal of some kind I would gather.”

 

“Do you have a guess as to which?” I asked, intrigued.

 

“Honestly,” Kline responded, looking away from his tweezers. “I haven’t a clue.”

 

“You don’t?” Alex exasperated.

 

“No sheriff,” Kline said in his usual mild tone of voice. “You see, I could be wrong, but I would guess that this is only five percent of the whole tooth, give or take.”

 

“What?” I found myself asking. “That would make the entire tooth about three inches long!”

 

“Precisely,” Kline agreed. “That was my calculation as well.”

 

“Three inches long,” Alex snorted. “What’s it from, a saber-toothed tiger?”

 

“I’m afraid your guess is as good as mine,” Kline admitted. “Very interesting indeed.”

 

***

 

Sheriff Jones and I left Dr. Kline’s office to retrieve my car at Larry’s house. As we neared Main Street, Alex looked over at me and said, “I want to keep this alleged tooth business undisclosed for now.”

 

“Sure Alex,” I replied. “No problem.”

 

“Okay,” he sighed. “For one, I don’t buy into the idea that it
is
a tooth to begin with.”

 

“You doubt Dr. Kline?” I asked.

 

“Even he said he wasn’t a hundred percent sure,” Alex responded. “And another thing, even it turns out to be a tooth, I don’t believe for a second that it has anything to do with Alice or Norm. That dog was decapitated, right?”

 

“Right,” I agreed.

 

“At the schoolyard, did you see any signs of violence? Even a drop of blood?”

 

“No,” I confessed.

 

“And we have torn this town apart and have not found any signs that Norm has met with foul play either,” Jones continued. “Whatever killed the dog left behind plenty of evidence of its actions.”

 

“That’s true,” I said.

 

“I’m sure whatever the animal was,” Alex continued. “Is long gone by now.”

 

“Most likely,” I concurred. Although my opinion differed from Alex, I decided to keep my thoughts to myself. I didn’t want to upset him, plus I wasn’t exactly sure
why
I felt the way that I did. Alex made all the sense in the world. I started to wonder about myself once again. Was something wrong with me?

 

“Here we are,” Alex’s voice interrupted my paranoid thoughts. We parked directly behind my Honda at the curb of Larry’s house.

 

“I think I’m going to run in and check on Larry,” I told Jones. “He was very upset about his loss.”

 

“All right but be careful,” Alex said. “Larry is a nice enough guy, but I think that he has major issues.”

 

“He’s a very lonely man,” I countered. “He seems to have a major problem with self-esteem. I just want to make sure he’s okay.”

 

“You’re a good man Fred Harrison,” Alex smiled. “But then again, I wouldn’t expect anything less. See ya.”

 

“See ya,” I said as Alex drove away. Then, I started up Larry’s walkway. Over the past couple of years, I’ve become acquainted with loneliness myself and I knew just how devastating it could be. Reaching his front door, I rang the doorbell. After a minute of waiting, I knocked on the door. There was no answer.

 

I had no doubt that he was sleeping, quite possibly still out cold from his shock and I really didn’t want to wake him. Nevertheless, I wanted to check on him so I tried the door and found it unlocked. I crept inside and slowly closed the door. As quiet as possible, I made my way over to the couch that we had laid Larry on. He wasn’t there. I turned and made my way down his hallway toward his bedroom. I felt funny about sneaking through someone else’s house, but it was with good intentions.

 

I passed the bathroom on the right hand side of the hall and did a double take. Larry was taking a bath. “Sorry Larry,” I called from the hallway. “I just wanted to make sure…” I stopped mid-sentence and looked closer.

 

Stepping inside, I spotted the electrical cord that stretched from his vanity into the tub. I walked all the way into the room. Larry was naked, save his underwear. His right hand rested on an older looking radio. His eyes were wide open, staring up at the ceiling. “Life wasn’t that bad, Larry,” I whispered, my eyes blurred with tears.

 

I turned, left the bathroom and found a telephone hanging on the kitchen wall. I dialed a number and listened to the other end ringing. “Alex?” I said. “You need to come back to Larry Wallace’s house.”

 
BOOK: FROSTBITE
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