“I vote our next purchase for the firm should be ATVs,” Alison quipped. The tire tracks were certainly from a small off-road vehicle of some sort, and looked fairly recent.
“You know what?” Veronica addressed us from less than a yard ahead. “I actually second that idea. Especially if we’re going to be doing stuff like this.” The ground was becoming marsh once more as we left the abandoned pick-up truck. Fortunately, the trail had widened, and was very easy to follow thanks to the tire-tracks.
“Actually, if we did get them we would never use them,” I countered.
“How so?”
“We didn’t plan on coming out here.” I waited for Veronica to look back. “So, even if we did have them, we wouldn’t have had them out here.” Alison was glaring at me, and Veronica turned away without a word.
“Some days I really don’t like you and your logic,” Alison muttered. “You always have to be such a downer. Take away a girl’s fun.” I shrugged.
“Ok, but how about next time we find a rental place before we go wandering off in search of Bigfoot?” Veronica looked back at us. “Can’t go wrong with rentals.”
“Next time we’re looking for Bigfoot, we’ll do that.”
“Ha! One step closer to a quad-rotor drone.” Alison smiled. “Excellent work there, Sunshine.”
“We are not getting a stupid robot,” I stated. Alison had a knack for buying costly gadgets that were seldom used. Our last investment was a hidden recorder watch that had not left its case in the equipment locker.
“A robot?” Veronica spun back to us. The motion left her off balance, and she staggered backwards. She let out a squeak as she tripped and fell. I was close enough to drop to a knee and catch her. “Thank you.” She gave a little smile.
“Yeah.” I watched her eyes. There was a comfort to having her in my arms, but there was also something else. Alison gave a disgruntled groan, breaking the moment. I carefully brought us both up to stand, and we moved away from each other. Alison’s gaze would have incinerated me if she could. I opened my mouth to say something, when a gunshot rang out.
We spun to identify the origin of the shot, as the concussion reverberated in the distance. I slowly lowered my hand from the grip of my sidearm in its holster.
“Hunters?” Veronica offered.
“Maybe.” We heard five consecutive shots ring out before the first had completely died. “Then again.”
“Then again, semi-autos aren’t really normal hunting gear.” Alison said.
“This is Unit Three, I have a ten-seventy-two with shots fired in our grid,” the radio interrupted us.
“Unit Three, what’s your twenty?” Brooks called back.
“This is Unit One,” I interrupted their chatter. “Eleven-fifty-eight. Confirm?”
“Ten-Four, Unit One.” The radio fell silent for a moment. “Active units, eleven-fifty-eight,” the Sheriff stated. I replaced the radio on my hip, and shook my head.
“What did you say to them?” Veronica stared at me.
“He told them to stop talking on the radio.” Alison started to follow the tire tracks once again.
“What? Why?”
“Someone might be listening,” I stated, coolly. “The people behind this seem a bit too organized, and we’re too far from any back-up. We don’t need to be broadcasting our position if they’re killing kids.”
“Ah.” Veronica fell silent. I squinted into the distance and looked at the sky. Veronica hopped over a large mud puddle in the path. I patted my pockets and pulled out the GPS watch. The digital compass confirmed my suspicion. I hastened my pace to catch up with Alison.
“Let me see that map again.” I gestured to her. She reached inside her jacket to retrieve the folded piece of paper that she held out to me. I took the page and unfolded it while I tried not to slip in the muddy tracks.
“What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking…” I compared the digital compass on the watch to the drawings. Our current course was heading toward the rough rectangle drawn near the swamp. While it’s never wise to make assumptions about a situation, it is possible to make an educated prediction about the connections between elements. “I think Boggs was a bit more clever than we give him credit for.”
“How so?”
“Well, I think he was out hunting and came across our attackers, and instead of ignoring it or confronting them, he started taking notes.”
“I don’t think so,” Veronica interjected.
“Of course you don’t agree.” Alison shook her head. “Why don’t you enlighten us?” Veronica made a face at her.
“He didn’t strike me as the sort to do that much planning, also he was obsessed with the demon.” She made air-quotes around the word. “So, I think he heard about the disappearances, figured it was his demon, and then took notes on where he thinks the thing has been hanging out, based on where the people were last sighted.”
“Makes sense,” I agreed. Alison gave a grunt and fell silent. I stepped over another moss-covered log between the muddy tire tracks that marred it. It would have made for a severe speed-bump if they were traveling faster than a crawl. Alison slowed her pace and stopped to look at the obstacle.
“What?” Veronica prodded us. I glanced around the immediate area, there had to be something that was thrown loose. Alison stooped down and pulled a cellphone free of the wet grasses.
“We’re on the right track,” Alison said. I stepped over the log again to check for anything else. It was then that I noticed the movement headed in our direction. A dark shape erupted from the undergrowth, and knocked Alison over. Veronica let out a startled yell, and I reached for my sidearm.
“Thor! Setzen!” A woman commanded. The big German Shepherd sat down next to Alison and tilted its head at her. She flopped back on some ferns and stared at the sky.
“Uh…” Veronica stared at the dog. Jason stepped through a hole in the thick undergrowth, with Sarah a step behind.
“Did you get lost again?” Jason asked. I ignored his comment and moved over to extend a hand to Alison. She cupped her face with her hands, but I saw fear in her eyes when she finally looked up at me. After a shaky breath, she wiped her eyes and took my hand.
“Aren’t you supposed to be finding your way to the nearest road to report in?” I asked, as I pulled Alison to her feet. I stayed close to make sure she was alright. She looked more than a little shaken. Alison nodded and waved me away.
“We are.” Sarah stooped down to scruff the fur of the wet dog.
“You’re the ones who have been walking in circles out here,” Jason grumbled with disdain. “I swear, a blind man could probably make their way better than you.”
“Wherever the evidence leads.” I turned to see Alison pick up the phone and give it a once over. She tossed the phone to me, and started following the trail again. The phone was covered in a pink glitter case, certainly a girl’s phone; most likely a teenager. Based on how the water was dripping from the phone, it was unlikely we were going to get anything more from it.
“What evidence?” Jason adjusted the weight of his rifle. I tossed him the phone, and started after Alison. “What’s this?”
“What we just found.” I said over my shoulder. Veronica fell into step beside me, and did her best carefully dodge the worst of the mud.
“Wait, where are you going?” Sarah called to us. “Where’s this go?” I spun back to face them.
“A brilliant question.” I turned back to the trail without missing a step.
“Thor, Voran!” Sarah called out and the dog loped past us and past Alison before slowing to a walk several paces ahead of her.
“Are we at least heading for a road?” Sarah asked, as Jason sputtered something about a folding map.
“All paths lead somewhere,” I said. Veronica gave a slight smile, and shook her head.
The longer we were on the trail, the worse the path was; the undergrowth thickened, the ground became marsh and the fog returned with a light drizzle. Sarah and Jason continued their questioning, but we had nothing to offer.
“Oh…” Alison’s curse trailed off as she staggered and slipped on the trail ahead of us. “Connor.” I hurried my pace to catch up to her without falling in the mud.
“What have you got?”
“A destination.” Alison pointed through the trees. In the distance I could just make out a building through the fog.