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Helen drove us to a diner not far from the hotel. Once we were seated and had our drinks, I asked her how she and Harry met. She told me some wonderful stories.
"You're the only female cryptid hunter Chance could name. How did you get interested?"
"My folks loved the outdoors. They took us hiking and camping all the time. When I was about five, I wandered away from camp. I wasn't afraid because I was used to the forest. You may not believe me, but I remember it to this day. I found a group of children playing so I joined in. They just seemed like kids to me. After playing for a while, their mom came. She took my hand and led me back to my family.
"My parents freaked out and screamed and the mom ran back into the forest. I wasn't hurt, and I didn't see what my folks were so upset about, until I was old enough for them to tell me that it was a female bigfoot that led me back to them. After that I was hooked."
"Did you go back and try to find your bigfoot friends after you were grown up?"
"I did. I've never seen them in the area we'd been camping in when the event occurred, but I've seen others. I sense you're still skeptical. Your Uncle Harry hoped you'd come to visit so he could convince you. I'm sorry he didn't get to do that. Should I assume since you're here with Chance that he might be educating you on cryptid hunting?"
"He's trying. When I was little, Uncle Harry would come to visit and tell me stories about hunting, but I didn't realize what he was hunting until I got the message that he left me Hairy's Cryptid Cafe."
Helen seemed very nervous, looking over her shoulder repeatedly. "Helen, why do you think Jerry is following you?"
"I don't know. He's just always around. He's creepy." I got the feeling there was more to the story.
"Have you been in Wilkins’ Gap long enough to sort through all of Harry's books and papers? I know he did a lot of research," Helen said as we were walking back to the car.
Helen had parallel parked on the street about a block from the diner. When we got to the car, she unlocked the passenger door, so I could get in, then walked around the car to open the driver's side door. When I reached for my seatbelt, I turned my head and saw a truck headed straight for Helen. "Helen, get in the car," I yelled while I let go of my seatbelt and reached over to pull her into the car. I pulled her as far inside as I could. I pushed my door open, and Helen ended up with her head sticking out the passenger side of the vehicle and her feet out the driver's side door. "Bend your knees," I yelled just as the truck hit. The driver's side door went flying and Helen screamed. The truck took out a parking meter as it pulled back onto the street and sped off. I tried to get a license plate, but there wasn't one. "Helen, are you hurt?"
"I'm fine, I think," she said, crawling across me to stand on the sidewalk. "Are you injured?"
"I'm fine. What the fudge just happened?" I pulled out my phone to call 911. "I'm calling the police."
"Please don't," Helen said.
I looked at her like she must be crazy. "Helen, someone just tried to kill you. Your car door is over there, and the parking meter's gone. I think they'll notice. We've already attracted a crowd."
"Dammit. I don't need this," she said. "No need to call the police, they're already here."
A city police car pulled up beside Helen's car. "Let me talk to them." Helen grabbed her purse out of the car and walked over to talk to the officer. I sat in the passenger seat and watched. A few minutes later, the officer walked back to the car with Helen.
"Hello, Ms. Mason. Ms. Kepler gave me your information. Are you injured? Do you want to go to the hospital?"
"I'm fine. I wasn't injured. The truck didn't have a license plate. I couldn't see the driver. I'm sorry."
"That's fine, miss." He handed me a business card. "Please contact our office if you remember anything else. Come on. I'll drive you back to your hotel."
"What about your car, Helen?"
"I can't drive it without a door. I'll call the rental agency."
Helen seemed more angry than frightened. I wasn't sure if that was the appropriate response or not. To me, it looked like someone tried to kill her. I was anxious to get back to the hotel and talk to Chance.