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We were up early so we could shower and have a good breakfast in the hotel dining room, before taking care of the calls we needed to make. When we got back to our room, I took my phone and pad into the bathroom and called Mr. Smith.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Mason. He's with a client at the moment. Would you care to leave a message?"
"I need to speak with him about the insurance on the property that Dr. Belamy left me. There was a fire on the property last night."
She said she'd get the message to him as soon as he was free. I took care of a couple other items off my list before walking back into the bedroom to check on Chance's progress. As soon as he finished his call, he pulled me into his lap. "With the information Jared sent me, I was able to reach the chief of the volunteer fire department that handled the fire at the cabin. Someone called it in when they saw the smoke. By the time the firemen got there everything was on fire. They doused the flames and stayed on site for a while to make sure there weren't any flare ups. Like the lady at the grocery said, they've been in a drought here so they're really concerned that any fire could get out of hand.
"When I asked if he remembered seeing anyone that didn't belong there while they were fighting the fire, it seemed to make him close up. I get the feeling there's more to the story. After that he asked me for my name, address, and phone number. He wanted to know my relationship to the property owner. Funny, he didn't ask any of those questions up front."
"That does seem odd. Maybe we should mention it to Mr. Meecham. I'll put it on the list."
Checking things off our to-do lists kept us busy until there was knock at the door. "Hi, y'all," I said, opening the door so Cassie and Jared could walk in. They were each carrying two cups from the coffee shop that's in the lobby of the hotel. "Figured you might need this," Cassie said, handing me a large cup of Earl Grey while Jared gave one of his cups of coffee to Chance.
We all made ourselves comfortable while Cassie called Mr. Meecham. "OK, Bertram. You're on speaker," she said. "We're doing this in a hotel room, so we're just using my cell. Let me know if you have trouble hearing anyone."
"Hello. While it's nice to talk with you all again, I'm sorry for the circumstances that require it. Agent Driscoll is joining me here in my office. Why don't you start by telling me what brought the four of you to Arkansas?"
I motioned to Cassie to explain. She told him we all wanted to review the information in Dr. Belamy’s journal about the bigfoot experiments because we thought it might help us figure out how to put an end to the situation.
Jared explained about the contents of the safe deposit box, and then I picked up the story of our trip to the cabin.
"I'm sorry for the loss of the property, Ms. Mason. I'm sure it was insured, but that can't replace Renee's journals or any cryptid evidence she might have had in her personal collection."
"Sir," Jared said, "Chance and I found some evidence behind the cabin. We aren't experts, but we think the fire wasn't accidental."
"I see," he said, before launching into a discussion of what needed to be done and who needed to be contacted. Agent Driscoll said he'd get a forensic team out to the site as quickly as possible.
"Cassie and Jared, I suspect this has started to seem a little familiar to you," Mr. Meecham said.
"Yes, sir," Cassie answered. "I didn't share any details, but I have let Em and Chance know that we've been through a similar situation. As you can imagine, we're at that point where we can't see any way to put an end to this."
There was some vague discussion about further questioning of Randerran's men and other things law enforcement might be able to do. I asked if the Argentinian government might stage a raid on the lodge. Maybe I should be happy that even with all that's happened, I'm still a little naive. Mr. Meecham assured me that he would pass along the information about what was going on at the lodge to his counterparts in the Argentinian government, but he wasn't hopeful any action would result. "I think there might be other, less formal ways to apply pressure on them to act," he said, but didn't share any details of what he was thinking.
"Mr. Meecham, my concern is Everly's safety. It's clear that the information about her medical situation has already leaked outside official channels," Chance said. "Do you have any ideas about how we can keep her safe?"
There was a lot of discussion about me, but not including me. I let it go on until it was clear there really was nothing anyone could do to ensure my safety. At least nothing that would result in my being able to lead anything resembling a normal life. "We can stop this line of discussion," I said. "I appreciate everyone's concern, but it's clear there's no way to address this short of locking me in a tower somewhere with bigfoot guards or maybe volunteering me for a mission to mars."
"Cassie and Everly, I'm sure that you can understand that the medical study you were part of needs to continue," Mr. Meecham said. "The potential for good is just too great to walk away from. I'll be working with the CDC and other agencies to determine what medical personnel will be involved. You have my word that they will be vetted to the highest degree possible, and we will put security protocols in place to protect you and your privacy at every step."
"Unless you disagree," Jared said, "Cassie and I are going to pack up the car and head for home."
"We're just waiting to hear back from the lawyer about the insurance situation," Chance said. "If there's something we need to stay and do related to that we will, otherwise we'll book a flight home tomorrow."
"I'm sure you're all anxious to get home," Mr. Meecham said. "We'll regroup once we have the forensic reports."
"Chris, do you need us to stick around for the forensic team?" I asked.
"No. I'll take care of it. Safe travels everyone."