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The hunt was really fun for me. I enjoyed seeing Chance in his element. He's really good at what he does, and his clients get the personal attention they pay for. I was cautious about sharing much about my wilderness experience, but Chance didn't have that problem. He was happy to sing my praises while omitting the parts of my story that we didn't want to share. Once Chance and I turned in for the night, we'd talk in hushed tones about the BITES issue before falling asleep. We only had to get through five nights, then we'd have a couple of nights on our own at the hotel to work on the plan. It was probably good that we had this forced waiting period before we could take any action on the problems back in Wilkins' Gap. It gave me a lot of time to mull things over.
On the last night of the trip, I started a new to-do list of things we needed to do as soon as we left the clients at the airport. The first part of a plan was forming in my head, and I was anxious to work out the details with Chance.
We stopped for a final lunch on our way to the airport. "I'm sorry we didn't find bigfoot," I said, as we waited for our meals.
"Chance tells us you've already seen the big hairy guy. What was it like?"
"To be honest, scary. I enjoyed finding the evidence. We've found hairs and prints. That was exciting and not scary but seeing a creature that large was scary. I was just happy I didn't scream at the sight of it."
"Seems like you've found the perfect partner, Chance," one of the men said.
"I think so," Chance said, putting his arm around my shoulders. "We're thinking of offering some his and hers trips, so if you're wives are interested in seeing what you get up to on these trips you might keep that in mind for next time."
After leaving the clients at the airport, we drove back to the hotel we stayed at before they arrived. "How do you think it went?" I asked once we were in our room.
Chanced pulled me into a hug. "It was great to have you with me. We need to figure out how to make this a regular thing, Babe. You were great with the clients."
"Why does it seem like we always have too much stuff to figure out?"
"Because we do, but we're doing it together."
By the time we went to dinner, we had a plan for the BITES issue. By the time we went to bed we had a to-do list.
XXX
After eating breakfast at the hotel, we headed back to our room to put our plan into action. I flipped to the right page in my pad, pulled out my phone, and dialed the number for Jared Dickenson. "Hello, my name is Maggie Jarvis."
"Hello, Ms. Jarvis. What can I do for you?"
"I'm a reporter working on a story about a former BITES employee, Dr. Renee Bellamy. I was hoping maybe you'd be willing to answer some questions."
"I'd be happy to help, if I can. What's your interest in Dr. Bellamy?"
I realized our planning had overlooked the possibility that most people in the BITES organization wouldn't know about Dr. Bellamy's death. "I'm sorry, Mr. Dickenson. I'm not sure how well you knew Dr. Bellamy, but she died recently." I waited a minute for him to adjust to that. "I'm doing a bio piece on her as one of the few women involved in cryptid hunting."
"I'm sorry, Ms. Jarvis. I wasn't aware of Dr. Bellamy's passing. I'd be happy to talk with you once I've gotten approval from my management. If you're interested in women involved in cryptid hunting, you should really speak with my wife, Cassie."
"Oh. My. God. That wouldn't be Cassie Carter, would it?"
"Yeah. Now it's Cassie Carter Dickenson."
"I read the book her BLM partner wrote on discovering the Thunderbirds. I'd love to speak with her."
"I'll email you her contact information. What's your email?"
I was glad Chance had thought to set up an email address for Maggie Jarvis before I made the call. I recited the address.
"I probably should warn you," Mr. Dickenson said.
"Warn me?"
"She'll probably try to recruit you. She’s made it her mission to recruit more females for BITES."
"I look forward to speaking with her and thank you for your willingness to help. I appreciate it."
After I ended the call, I explain the parts that Chance hadn't been able to hear. "If you do a search for female cryptid hunters, Cassie Carter's name comes up at the top of the list. She’s legendary. I'm thinking we can use this to our advantage."
"What are you thinking?"
"I'm wondering if Maggie could get herself a job at BITES."
"Whoa. I think that's too dangerous. Even if we wanted to do it, it's DHS. They'll run a background check. Maggie Jarvis doesn't have a background seeing as she's not real."
We bounced ideas around and talked about whether anyone we knew could create a fake dossier for Maggie Jarvis that would pass muster with DHS. "Maybe Jim knows someone," I suggested.
"He's not a criminal attorney. I don't think he associates with people who have the skills we're looking for."
"What about Tom?"
"OK. I'm game. Why Tom?"
"Do you know what he did when he was in the Coast Guard?"
"Not really. I know he went into it for the search and rescue experience but that's not where he ended up. Why?"
"I don't know any details, but he was on a drug interdiction team. I gather they dealt with some pretty big players in the drug trade."
"And you think he might be able to contact one of them and ask for a favor? I'm sorry, Babe. I'm not understanding where this is going."
"Yeah. Me either. It just seemed like a good opportunity to get inside the organization that's caused us so much grief."
"Why didn't you suggest this with Gracie? We could encourage her to accept the job at least temporarily to see if she could get any information."
"First, I'm not willing to put my sister at risk. Second, it would take months for her to work herself into a position where she could access anything classified."
"But you're willing to put yourself in a dangerous situation."
"I'm trained."
"Yes, and so are DHS agents."