by Bonnie Gill
River pulled out the map and spread it out on the desk. He took three color markers, red, blue, and black. “The red marks represent where people spotted the Gnome, and the blue is the Jersey Devil. We can mark with the black marker where we already searched. Hopefully they stay in the same area.”
“Cryptids are territorial, mate.”
“Maybe the Gnome killed the Jersey Devil and that’s why we can’t find it.” River only hoped.
“Could be? Once we catch that squirrely bugger, we’ll have to find out who brought it over.”
“I’ve been thinking about that. Most of our evidence points to the widow. I think we should install the cameras over at her house.”
“Those two witches are my bet. Your decisions are tainted by your infatuation with Abby, and you’re gonna get us both killed. We saw them casting spells. They could have brought it over with magic.”
River ran his hand through his hair. “You saw how they botched up their spell. I don’t think they could have done it even if they wanted.”
“They could have fouled up their spell and brought the Gnome over by accident.” Well shit, River hadn’t thought of that. Maybe that’s why they were casting the banishment spell. He wished he would have questioned Abby more about it. His insides began to warm when he thought about them dancing naked in the yard.
Ottar rubbed his hands together and grinned as big as Australia. “I think we should re-watch last night’s escapade. We could have missed something.”
Watching last night’s events appealed, and Ottar did have a point. They could have missed something. While the thought of Ottar watching Abby naked wasn’t high on his comfort list, he noticed the big guy seemed absorbed with Pepper. “Okay. Let’s watch the footage this afternoon and hunt at dusk.”
Ottar slapped River on the back. “That sounds more like the River I know and love.”
True. The River Ottar knew and loved wouldn’t be obsessing over a woman. He would have caught both Cryptids by now and he’d have moved on to another assignment. Thank heavens no more people had suffered, but he suspected that was only a matter of time. Every second counted.
One lone deer hunter out in the woods at the right time and the Gnome or Jersey Devil would have its next meal. Reporting more casualties would be unacceptable, especially with two Cryptid hunters on the case.
This should have been an easy bag and ship assignment but the Gnome was a smart opponent and the Jersey Devil was elusive.
“Let’s start rolling the surveillance footage.” Ottar sat down in front of the laptops with a bowl of popcorn on his lap and clicked around with the mouse.
“Did you put up the cameras at Charlotte’s house?”
“I plan to do it sometime after we watch these.” Ottar’s expression was giddy.
The scene played out just how River remembered it. Abby drew her circle around the fire, placed the candle in the pot, and lit it. The girls stripped bare and danced.
“Wait a minute. Back up a little,” River said.
Ottar clicked on the mouse and rewound the footage.
River pointed to the top of the screen. “Can you zoom in on the left corner?”
Ottar zoomed in and played the footage in slow motion. Abby’s foot stepped on the salt circle, breaking the barrier.
“See that?” He leaned into the screen for a better look.
“Yep. They broke the circle. And look, there’s a mist crossing into it where she stepped.”
River unbuttoned the top button on his uniform. “No wonder the spell went bad. I hope those two don’t try anything else.”
“We’ll have to keep a close eye on them tonight.” Ottar smiled a devious grin. “I’m sort of hoping they do.”
“You just want to see Pepper naked.”
“Sure, why wouldn’t I? She’s smoking hot. But don’t worry, I’m not going to fall for her like you did with Abby. Even if the woman cast a spell on me, it won’t work.”
“She didn’t spell you. You can see they aren’t really witches.” He pointed again at the screen.
“You never know. They could have known we were watching them?” Ottar’s tone rose in synch with his eyebrow.
Yes, they could have. But if they did, why didn’t they stop what they were doing instead of messing up the spell? “Time for you to set up the camera at Charlotte’s house. I have some calls to make. We’ll meet back here this evening and can check Pepper’s house before we hunt.”
“Crikey! Who passed the boss baton to you?”
River’s deep laugh didn’t carry over in a smile. “This is still my case, so I’m still in charge, boss.”
Ottar jumped up from his chair. “Let’s catch us some monsters.”
Chapter 20
You behaved like a good boy at our picnic, Kazoo.” While playing with Kazoo in her bed, Abby replayed the lunch she shared with River in her mind. The soft touches of River’s fingers when he wiped egg salad off her face brought tingles throughout her body. The way he’d brought his finger up to his plump lips and sucked on them in that seductive way drew a smile. She couldn’t believe all the preparation he went through to make the picnic perfect.
Ha. Until he forgot to bring condoms. He’d probably suffered all day.
Abby could have relieved him a couple of different ways, but the more she thought about having a relationship with him, the more she knew how bad of an idea it was. Her head said no but her heart wanted to take that chance. She frowned and tugged her pillow underneath her head. Pepper’s comment about keeping your enemies close rang true, but the genius who made up that line probably wasn’t thinking intercourse-close.
She scratched Kazoo behind the ears, and he made a squeak noise. “Come on, buddy. Let’s go outside for a potty break.” Kazoo zoomed to the door and thumped his tail eagerly while waiting for his leash to be attached.
The exhilarating warmth outside brought a peaceful smile to her face and even though darkness settled around them the deep breaths of fresh air filled Abby’s lungs giving her a bounce with every step. She walked around the property patiently waiting for Kazoo to lift his leg.
She thought about River again. He really was her enemy. How could she have let this go so far? She’d have to end it now, or at least postpone things until the curse was lifted. Knowing her luck, that could take years.
They walked down the gravel driveway and behind the brown barn. Kazoo liked privacy when he did his business.
Something machine-like moved nearby, and Abby noticed a red blinking light on top of it. She walked closer, careful not to trip over any stones hidden in the taller grass.
It moved again.
She inched closer to the cylinder shaped device. “What the heck . . .?” She realized it was a camera pointed at Pepper’s house.
Since it was so dark out, Abby pulled her miniature flashlight out of her pocket and shined the beam on the device. There was a switch on the back and she turned it to the off position. The red light went out.
“What do you bet River and Ottar had something to do with this, Kazoo.” How long had the camera been there? A rampage of fury ran down her spine through her legs, which ended up making her big toenails ache. She hated that feeling, and wiggled her toes around in her shoes.
Kazoo lifted his leg while half squatting in the taller grass. After he finished they walked back through the yard to the house.
“Pepper,” Abby called out after she walked through the door.
“Right here.” Pepper walked into the room, her bright blue eyes curious with Abby’s call. “What’s up?”
She let out a deep breath. “I found a camera outside by the barn aimed at the house.” Her words came out covered in pissed off, which mimicked how she felt.
“You’re kidding me.”
Whi
le making a hurry-up motion, she held the door open. “No I’m not. Grab a flashlight and come with me.”
They walked outside through the damp grass with their lights and examined the camera.
“It looks expensive. I’ll be right back.” Pepper ran into the barn.
She came back holding a couple of tools. “I’m pulling this off.” She took out a wrench and unscrewed the nut to pop the camera off the post.
She scratched the invisible cooties nipping at the back of her head. “I wonder if there’s any more out here.”
They searched around the property and spotted another one. Promptly, they turned it off and removed the camera.
“That’s pretty sneaky of those guys.” How could River even think about having a relationship with someone he’s spying on? Wouldn’t that be considered unethical?
Pepper held up one of the cameras and examined it. “Yeah. It is sneaky. What do you want to do about it?”
“Want to go over there and throw their cameras at them?”
Pepper let out a grin showing she was up for the adventure. “Sounds good to me.”
They grabbed up the two cameras and hopped into the car to head over to the Sheriff’s house.
River and Ottar were camped out in front of the laptops. One of the screens flickered off to a snowy white static.
“Hey? What happened to camera number two?” River’s fingers flew over the keyboard tapping keys.
“Looks like Abby found one of the cameras,” Ottar said pointing to the other screen.
They watched Abby stalk with long strides, her arms swinging by her sides into the house with her dog from another camera screen.
River rose from his chair and ran bent fingers through his hair. “Shoot. This isn’t good.” His stomach tilt-a-whirled.
“Here, wait. She’s coming out again. Uh oh. Pepper’s with her. It looks like they’re walking over to the camera. Oh, hell, I can’t see them anymore,” Ottar reported.
“Just when I was starting to break through her barriers. Now she’s going to be majorly pissed.” His voice leaked a tad of panic to his words.
Both guys stared at the other screens waiting for any indication to what was happening. The way the other cameras were pointed they couldn’t see a thing.
“Oops, looks like Pepper has it in her hand and they’re looking around.” Ottar laughed and smacked his hand on his thigh. He seemed to be enjoying this a little too much.
He looked over Ottar’s shoulder. “Hopefully they won’t find the other ones.”
“Nope. They just found the one on the east side.”
“Great.” This was definitely not River’s day.
“Oh, hell—they’re getting in the car with the cameras as evidence. They only found two.”
“I assume they’ll be on their way over. Put some pants on.” He threw Ottar’s cargo shorts at him. For some reason Ottar loved to sit around in his boxers.
“Do you think they suspect us?”
“Who knows? I’m the Sheriff so I would assume they will want to report it to me.” He shut down the laptops and closed the lids and turned on the television. Not long after he finished the doorbell rang. Hercules bolted in the room and jumped on the door, leaving behind paw prints.
“Here it goes.” River opened the door.
Abby carried both the cameras in her arms, frowning. “We found these. I think they’re yours.”
Pepper stood next to her with her hands on her hips while blowing out a breath causing her blond bangs to fly up from her face. Their expressions said not happy. They had every right to be pissed.
“Why don’t you come in?” He opened the door wider and looked over to Ottar sitting on the couch, who finally had his pants on. Ottar gave them a devious smile and a finger wave to the women.
Abby shoved the cameras at River. “No, we don’t want to come in. Here. I believe these are yours.” Her lips did this pucker then straightening thing over and over.
“Abby, it’s not what you think?”
“No? Because I’m thinking you’re spying on us. How long has this been going on? Did you film our lunch today?”
“What? No! How could you think that?” He would never have filmed their picnic, although it would have been fun to film, if she consented. He squashed the smile the thought wanted to plaster on his face.
“Consider us over.” Abby’s face colored a vibrant pink, and her eyes flipped him off. Accusation and wariness shaded her expression.
The delicate shreds of trust he’d worked so hard to build lay in crumpled shards and scattered debris, like a building dynamited for destruction. Her last look was the fist to his gut, the never-contact-me-again look. She turned, almost in suspended slow motion before she stormed away.
“Make sure he fixes my dinosaur.” Pepper pointed to Ottar and then double-stepped to catch up with Abby.
“Wait, Abby. I can explain.” River followed her out to her car and ran behind the vehicle while they hopped inside.
She rolled down her window. “Get out of the way, River. I will run over you.” Abby’s voice didn’t reveal any emotion, just hard, cold facts. The engine revved, blowing plumes of exhaust from the tailpipe. He jumped aside and his mouth fell open while she zoomed out of the driveway.
He had to fix this. How could he have let this happen? The one woman he could really care for and he’d betrayed her. He fisted his hands and stormed inside. He was a total dumbass.
Ottar never moved from the safety and tranquility of the couch. “Sorry. You know deep down it’s for the best. She’s throwing you off your game.”
Okay. He did have a job to do, but man, he was falling for Abby big-time. “We shouldn’t have put them under surveillance.”
Ottar leaned back and crossed his arms. “They are suspects, and we still have a camera over there.”
River paced. “We should take it down tomorrow while they’re at work.”
“Not happening. Besides, they’ll never find it. I hid it in the trees.” Ottar opened the laptop and turned on the feed.
River walked over to the computer and watched the women get out of their car and stride into the house. Just before Abby entered, she turned, lifted her middle finger, and twisted panoramic style, jutting the gesture all over the yard. She was keen to their game, and he knew it.
“Damn.” He never felt like such a jerk in his whole entire life. This sucked, royal noble knobs.
Ottar laughed a fully belly laugh. “She flipped you the bird, mate.”
“I saw it.” River sulked out of the room to his bedroom. He wished the night would end.
“What a freaking jerk! And to think I almost had sex with that creep today.” Abby threw her purse on the counter and plopped on the couch like a boneless chicken.
“What? Wait. Did I hear you right?” Pepper sat next to her with one leg crossed under her bottom. An expression of tell-me-more wallpapered her face.
“Yes. We enjoyed a nice picnic lunch, then one thing led to another and we both were hot and—you know. Then we stopped because he didn’t think to bring protection. What if he filmed our afternoon?”
Pepper smiled out support. “First of all, I don’t think he would have filmed your outing. Second, maybe he had a good reason for watching the house? Don’t you think maybe he could have been worried about us?”
She shook her head, her curls bounced wild. “Nope. I think he suspects we have something to do either with the Gnome or the Jersey Devil. Which makes him right. Which is why I’m never going out with him again.” She turned her hand over and inspected her short un-manicured nails.
Abby let out a defeated sigh. Maybe this was for the best. At least she wouldn’t have to worry about changing into the Jersey Devil on a date with him or anything.
Hopefully, her mom’s neighbor would find her grandmother’s journal and something would lie inside those pages to remove the curse.
Chapter 21
River wanted to bang his head against the office wall. It had been almost a week since the night Abby found the cameras. She refused to answer any of his phone calls and every time he’d visit the pet store, which had been every day since that awful night, she darted into the back room.
He studied Pepper’s pet store, made up his mind, and got out of his squad car. Time for his daily visit.
River pulled the heavy glass door open and walked inside. “Hey, Pepper.”
She looked up from the counter, her long blond hair pulled up high in a ponytail. “Howdy Sheriff. When is Ottar going to fix my dinosaur?” She tilted her head to the side and her ponytail swished back and forth.
River looked around the store for Abby and let out a long deep breath when he didn’t see her. “He’s waiting on supplies. Is Abby here?”
“No. Sorry, you just missed her. Tell Ottar he better hurry up. He’s running out of time.”
“Damn. Where did she go?”
Pepper shook her head. “Nope. I’m not telling. She’d kill me. You know you really screwed up with that whole camera fiasco. So when do you think his supplies will arrive?”
Her obsession over that stupid statue boggled his mind. He wished Ottar would hustle and repair the damn thing. He’d have to remind him. Again. “I don’t know. Do you want his number so you can call and ask him?”
Her lip curled with repulsion. “No. I have no interest in speaking to that overgrown Outback ape.”
“Do you think Abby will ever forgive me?”
“Probably not. You were spying on her for Pete’s sake.”
River looked down at his shoes. Yep, he blew it. “Can you tell her I’m sorry?”
