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In my BWG life, Before Wilkins’ Gap, I never dated more than one guy at a time. I was lucky if there was one guy I found interesting who seemed to find me the same. Now, with three men appearing in my dreams, I should have known it would only be a matter of time until it turned into a rerun of the whole Dating Game show. Now, I couldn't stop thinking of them as their bachelor contestant designation—Bachelor #1, Bachelor #2, and Bachelor #3.
To prepare for my afternoon with Jim and Chance, I stayed in my apartment doing research and making a list of questions. When I'd absorbed as much as I could, I realized I would need time to question Chance before Jim showed up with the journal, so I pulled out my phone and called Chance.
"Hi. How are you feeling?"
"I've settled into a routine for now. I'll be glad when I can drive again. We still on for this afternoon with Jim?"
"Yeah, but I have some questions I want to ask you before he gets there. I'll bring you some lunch from the cafe. Do you need me to pick up anything in town for you on my way?"
Chance tried to find out what my questions were about, but I didn't want to get into it on the phone. I made a list of the supplies he needed and ended the call. I wasn't sure how long Jim would stay, but if things went the way I thought they might, it could be a long evening for the three of us, so I put in an order with the cafe that would see us through. Chance could make good use of the leftovers if things didn't take as long as I expected.
I packed up my notes and my laptop and put them in Chance's truck on my way to the cafe. "That's a lot of food you ordered," Rick said, as I checked in with him in the kitchen. "I'm not sure how many people will be there or for how long. I wanted to have options."
I took the bags of food and headed to Chance’s. I made a quick stop at the grocery store to get the supplies he asked for and the items I added to the list.
On the way, I tried to corral my thoughts into some sort of organized chaos. I wasn't at all sure what I expected to come from the afternoon, but I was excited to find out.
Before I got out of the truck, Chance was standing in the open door. It was good to see him getting around better. He looked good wearing faded blue jeans and a dark t-shirt, with a sock on his uncast foot. His hair was long and disheveled enough to hide the clump I'd cut out. He waved as I walked over with a load of bags. "I've got more in the truck," I said.
"I can take these in for you," he said, reaching for the bags. I handed them over and went back for load number two. I set things on the front porch and went back for my purse and laptop bag. I picked up what was left on the porch and headed to the kitchen.
"You look like you're feeling better," I said. "Let me put some of this away and we can eat lunch. I have some questions for you."
One of the aspects of the whole cryptid thing I didn't understand was how they validated evidence. Chance had been happy to find hair samples and the foot print, but I had no idea if it was possible to find out definitively what type of animal the hairs came from or prove what made the print we found.
"I have a connection in the biology department at Idaho State. They run DNA tests for me if I find anything promising."
"Have you done anything with the evidence we gathered?"
He looked obviously at his cast.
"Oh, sorry. You've been sort of limited. Is there anything I can do to help with that?"
We finished lunch, and I cleaned up while Chance pulled out his clothes from the accident. He sent me upstairs to get his camera. We put a sheet over the table and laid out the clothes. Chance pulled out a magnifying glass and used it to look them over. He asked me to make notes while he called out measurements. After photographing the pants and shirt, I held plastic bags open as he used tweezers to pull off hairs and deposit them in the bag. We made a separate bag for hairs from the top of his jeans. After we cleaned up, Chance pulled out the hair sample we pulled from the tree close to where we found the footprint. He packaged and labeled it for testing as well. I made a pot of coffee while Chance got all the samples ready for shipping to his friend at the university.
"I can ship it tomorrow," I said. "Listen, there's something else I need to talk to you about before Jim gets here."
"Sure."
"Are there any legal issues related to cryptid hunting? Like if you find evidence, do you do anything to protect it legally or to protect the location where you find things?"
"Maybe some guys do. I don't know. Is that what you want to ask Jim about? Maybe he did that kind of stuff for Harry or my dad."
"That's part of it. I asked Jim to bring a tape recorder. I was thinking maybe we involve him in this. Let's have him read the journal. If all three of us hear the same thing, we can decide if we need to take any action. I know you mentioned maybe there was something in the journal about your father's death. That could have legal implications. I figured maybe it was best to involve Jim from the beginning."
"If he's willing to agree to keep anything quiet that comes out of it, I'm OK with it. Listen, there's something I wanted to ask you before Jim gets here." He seemed very serious.
"Is there any possibility I can talk you into helping me with a bath after Jim leaves?"
I threw the dishtowel at him, just as we heard Jim's car in the driveway.