Hominid (17 page)

CHAPTER 51

T
he paperwork on Pax’s desk had shrunk significantly in the last two hours, and he thought he’d done a pretty good job of burying himself in it and pretending he wasn’t completely terrified that something had happened to Tess.

He picked up the printout showing the results of her sample. He’d left her a message as soon as he’d gotten it, and she still hadn’t called him back. At first he’d told himself she was just in the field; then he’d called her late last night and he’d told himself she had decided to stay overnight. But in his heart, he knew something was wrong. Shawn had tried to reassure him, but Pax had seen the worry behind Shawn’s words. He was just as concerned.

For now, Pax was letting himself be convinced that Tess’s sat phone was out of range—even though they’d bought it precisely because it wasn’t supposed to be
able
to go out of range.

His phone rang and he glanced down.
Finally
.

“Hey, Pax,” Tess said.

“Tess. Thank God.”

Static answered him.

Pax frowned. “Tess? Tess? Are you there?”

More static, plus small bits of words. “—out—day—but—”

Then the phone went dead. Pax stared at it. He quickly dialed her back, but the call went straight to voicemail.

With trembling hands he dialed Dev. “Pick up. Please pick up.”

“Hello?”

Pax’s words rushed out. “Dev, have you spoken with Tess?”

“Uh, no, not since yesterday. Why? What’s wrong?”

“I just got a call from her, but it was all static. I haven’t heard from her since yesterday. Something’s wrong.”

“Pax, calm down, you don’t know—”

“Dev, please, just go by her cabin and make sure everything’s all right, okay?”

There was a pause. “I’ll head there right now.”

Pax grasped the phone. “Good, great, thanks.” He disconnected the call and immediately called Shawn. It went to voicemail.
Why is no one picking up their phones?
He left a message explaining what was going on. Then he paced his office waiting for Dev to call back, praying he was overreacting.

CHAPTER 52

D
ev had just pulled into his parking spot at the police station when Pax called. He had been expecting Tess to call. He had the early shift, which is why he hadn’t stayed at Tess’s last night. He’d tried to call her last night but she hadn’t answered. Now Pax couldn’t reach her either.

He pulled out of the parking lot and headed for Tess’s, telling himself everything was fine. But he still pressed down on the accelerator a little heavier than usual. Twenty minutes later, he pulled up at her front porch. Even from the car, he could hear Shelby’s howl.

Fear prickled his skin as he sprinted up the porch stairs and opened the door. Shelby barreled out of the door and down the stairs, relieving herself as soon as she stepped off the last step.

Dev’s fear grew. He stepped into the cabin. “Tess?”

No answer. He made a quick search of the cabin, but Tess wasn’t there. Her answering machine light blinked at him. He hit play and heard Pax’s message, as well as one from Sasha. Both were from yesterday. His pulse picked up. She hadn’t checked her machine last night. And she always checked her machine.

He didn’t want to worry Pax, but right now
he
was starting to worry. He called Tess’s cell and her sat phone—no answer. He called Sasha, Abby, Madge, and Eric. None of them had heard from her, and all Dev had accomplished was worrying them as well. He assured each of them he’d call as soon as he found her.

He stood in her living room, looking around, trying to come up with any other possibility. Then he pulled out his phone, telling himself that he would be reasonable and calm with Pax. But he couldn’t help but notice the shake in his hand as he dialed.

CHAPTER 53

P
ax looked again at the results on Tess’s sample. They were not what he’d been expecting. But he had the sneaking suspicion Tess wouldn’t be nearly as surprised. Her behavior around this whole thing was weird—not rushing to get the results, keeping the information from Hayes.
What’s going on with you, Tess?

He placed the results back in the manila folder and slumped into his chair. He turned so he faced the giant wall clock behind him. It would take Dev at least twenty minutes to get to Tess’s cabin from his place. Time seemed to crawl by. By the time twenty minutes had passed, he could barely keep himself in his chair.

“Hey.”

Pax whirled around. Shawn stood in the doorway, holding a bag of takeout and two coffees.

Pax was so happy to see him he wanted to cry. Shawn placed the bag and drinks on the desk. Pax got up and hugged him. “I left my phone in the car when I picked up the coffee,” Shawn said. “I only got your message just now. I was already on the way over.”

Pax stepped back. “How’d you manage that? Don’t you have grunts to beat into submission?”

Shawn smiled, and Pax’s heart gave a little leap, like it always did. “I just told them to keep running until I get back.”

Pax nodded and then his head jerked up. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Sort of. But I did send them on a ten-mile run. I thought you might want a little company. I guess you haven’t heard from Dev yet?”

“No, I thought—” Pax’s phone rang, and he pounced on it. “Dev?”

Dev’s voice was even, measured. “Now, Pax, I need you to stay calm.”

Pax slumped into his seat on shaky legs as he put the call on speaker. Shawn came and stood behind him, his hand on his shoulder. “What happened?” Shawn asked.

“Tess isn’t here. It doesn’t look like she’s been here since yesterday. Shelby obviously hadn’t been out in a while.”

“Shelby’s there?” Pax felt lightheaded. He knew that whenever Tess was planning on staying out, she dropped Shelby at Madge’s. There was no way she’d leave Shelby alone overnight.

“I’m going to head out for her camp and see what’s going on,” Dev said. “And I’ll put out a BOLO on her and make sure the rangers are aware. But she’s probably at her camp, maybe twisted an ankle or something.”

Pax stood up, plans running through his head. “I’ll be there first thing in the morning.”

“
We’ll
be there,” Shawn said.

Pax nodded. “We’ll be there.”

“We don’t know yet—”

Pax cut him off. “We’ll be there in the morning. Best-case scenario, I’ll make her pay our airfare for worrying me to death. Worst-case scenario…” Pax choked, his hand flying to his mouth.

Shawn reached over and took the phone out of his hand. “Thanks, Dev. We’ll see you in the morning.” He disconnected the call.

Pax slumped back in his seat, listening to Shawn arrange flights for the two of them. But all he could picture was Tess. She’d never leave Shelby unattended.

A few minutes later, Shawn knelt down in front of him. “We’ll find her, okay?”

Pax nodded, but it wasn’t because he agreed. It was because he really, really hoped Shawn was right.

CHAPTER 54

D
ev filled up Shelby’s food and water bowls, then locked her back inside Tess’s cabin. He made his way quickly to Tess’s barn and gassed up her other ATV. He turned the key and said a little prayer of thanks when it flared to life.

He followed the path Tess normally took, noting that it was relatively dry. Its elevation had caused most of the water to run off. He saw tracks from the other ATV, but he suspected they were at least a day old.

Forty minutes later, he spied Tess’s ATV parked at the end of the trail, and his stomach dropped. He quickly pulled up next to it. Not allowing any of his fears to overcome him, he took off at a fast clip for her camp. Another thirty-five minutes and he was there. He stepped into the silent camp. Nothing. He checked the lean-to. Nothing. Her bear-resistant cooler was empty except for two boxes of Twinkies.

There was no sign that Tess had been here, at least not today.

Dev studied the ground around the camp. He wasn’t an expert tracker, but he could hold his own, and he caught sight of Tess’s footprints heading north. He followed them, trying to calm his now-racing heart.

Ten minutes later he came to an abrupt halt. He stared at the print on the ground in front of him, his heart all but stopping. The print was easily sixteen inches long and eight inches wide.

Oh God, Tess, what have you gotten yourself into?

CHAPTER 55

T
ess spent the next morning watching over the little girl. Finally, around noon, the girl opened her eyes.

Tess looked down at her and spoke quietly. “Hi.”

The girl reared back, but Charlie was there, making soothing noises. The girl clutched his hand.

Tess kept her voice gentle. “My name’s Tess. Your friends brought me here to help you. You were hurt.”

The girl shook her head.

“You weren’t hurt?” Tess asked.

“Not friends,” she said, her words halting, like she hadn’t spoken in a while. She licked her lips. “Family.”

Surprise filtered through Tess. For some reason, she had assumed the girl couldn’t speak. But seeing as she spoke perfect English, it was clear that she hadn’t been out here her whole life. So when
did
she get here? And how?

As Tess looked at the pale little girl, she knew now wasn’t the time to have that discussion. “I can tell they care about you very much,” Tess said.

The girl closed her eyes again, her hand still clasped in Charlie’s. Charlie looked down at her. The affection in his gaze was undeniable. After a while, the girl’s breathing turned even. She’d fallen back to sleep.

A short time later, Mary came in and replaced Charlie, and Sugar arrived as well, curling up next to the girl. Frank stayed outside, standing at the entrance of the cave with a few other bigfoot, but he poked his head in every few minutes. Sometimes he stared at Tess, but he always checked on the little girl.

Tess watched all this in amazement. The girl hadn’t been lying. They were her family. They doted on her. They were concerned for her. They had even risked exposure to bring Tess to heal her.

Tess drew her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. Now what? The girl would heal and grow stronger. But she couldn’t live with them forever. The bigfoot were designed for the outdoor life. Their hair kept them insulated from both bugs and cold. Humans had no such insulation. And the girl’s dress was slowly turning to rags. Tess supposed she could get the girl clothes, but that would only be a stopgap.

The thought brought Tess up short. She realized the other huge difference between humans and this other group of hominids: the bigfoot had no possessions. They used what they needed from nature, but they kept nothing. Even the bed in the cave was solely for the little girl. No other family member had such a bed.

That partly accounted for why the bigfoot were so difficult to find. They brought nothing with them and left nothing behind, no evidence of their passage.

Tess’s eyes drifted to the girl.
Unless they have a little human girl with them.

Tess looked at each member of the girl’s family. She knew they could protect the girl from many of the dangers she would face, but not all of them. The cut was evidence of that.

And the girl must have a human family, too. Were they looking for her? Was there some mother walking into this little girl’s room each day, her heart breaking a little more at the sight of the unused toys and bed? Did she have a sibling who was missing a sister?

Who was the girl? Where had she come from? How long had she been with this group? The questions rolled on and on. But the biggest one blinked like a neon sign above the rest: What was Tess going to do about her?

If she left the girl here, the girl could be in danger. Did Tess have the right to deny a family a reunion with their missing child? But to get the girl home, Tess would have to almost certainly reveal the bigfoot.

And they wouldn’t want to let the girl go, either. That much was obvious. So then what? Tess wouldn’t be able to convince them. And they could most definitely stop her.

Tess ran her hand through her hair.
What the hell am I going to do?