Secrets of Ugly Creek

by Cheryel Hutton

  “What do you do for excitement around here?” He leaned closer. “I’ll be glad to get back to civilization. Won’t you, Maddie?”

  “Not really.” I was trying to play nice, really I was. Still, the condescending expression on his face had me wanting to slug him. It was the word I kept hearing around me that got my attention away from violence. Dog.

  I looked around, and there was Jo holding Gizmo and talking to him. “You’re a cute little thing, but you don’t belong in here.”

  I grabbed my bag and rushed toward them. “I’ll take him.”

  She handed him over. “He’s yours then?”

  “Not really.” I gave his cute head a scratch. “He’s just kind of attached himself to me.”

  “He’s chosen you for his owner. His companion. Be honored.” She gave me a wink. “And get him on outta here.”

  “No problem, Jo.”

  I headed out with Gizmo. As soon as we were alone, he started talking. “We’ve got problems.”

  “That’s what I was afraid of. What’s up?”

  “She did it. Kate Stone got the mayor to take her to see Bigfoot. They’re out there right now.”

  “Oh crap!”

  “Maddie, I wondered where you went.”

  Groaning hard, I turned to Greg. “I have to take my dog home. Sorry.” I turned toward Liza’s car, wondering what I was going to do, since I didn’t have the keys to it, and certainly didn’t want to leave my friend here.

  That particular problem was eliminated when Liza came rushing out of Jo’s Place. “I have to take Gizmo home,” I told her as soon as she was within hearing range, while giving her a look that I hoped conveyed the seriousness of my thoughts.

  “Sure.” She headed toward her car.

  “See you later, Greg,” I said, hoping he’d take the hint. He stood there, looking at us with a sad little expression, but at least he didn’t try to get into the car with us.

  Liza pulled out onto the road. “So, what’s wrong?”

  “Mayor Stump is showing Mac’s assistant the Bigfoot area as we speak.”

  She shook her head. “You didn’t have your phone out, and nobody was near you, except Greg. You can’t possibly know what the mayor is doing.”

  I looked at the furball in my arms. “There’s something you should know.”

  She pulled the car over and gave me a narrow-eyed glare. “Don’t try to tell me you’re psychic. I’ve known you since we were both in diapers, and you’ve never shown any sign of psychic ability.”

  “I’m not psychic.”

  “Well, what then? How do you know the whereabouts of our mayor?”

  “Gizmo talks to me.”

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  I looked her right in her still narrowed eyes. “No. I’m serious. The dog talks to me.”

  “Just to you?” She did sarcasm well.

  “Yes.” Gizmo gave me a look, and I sighed. “Okay, he says he can also talk to my soul mate.”

  “That’s not Greg, I hope.”

  “No.”

  Liza shifted so she could scratch the top of Gizmo’s head. “Maybe he’ll talk to me.”

  “I don’t think he can.”

  Gizmo shook his head, and Liza pulled her hand back. “Oh my God, you’re telling the truth.”

  I let out my breath in a big wave of relief. “Now let’s go save the Dyami.”

  Liza pulled out her phone and called Steve while she drove toward the forest at a serious rate of speed.

  As I hung on for my life, I could tell from her end of the conversation that convincing her husband was going to be harder than convincing her had been. She didn’t end the call until we were almost at our destination. “I’m not sure he believed me, but he knows we can’t take a chance on not checking out any information we get.”

  Liza grabbed a flashlight out of her glove compartment. “Let’s get a couple of scooters.”

  She headed toward the camouflaged area where a small building stood waiting. “Don’t we need a key?”

  She held up her keyring. “My husband is a member of the committee. I have a key.”

  “Why am I not surprised.”

  She ignored me and went toward the hidden building.

  “Got anything else to tell me?” I asked Gizmo.

  “I could use a scratch on my back. There’s an itchy spot I can’t get to.”

  “Somebody broke the lock on here,” Liza yelled, and I headed toward her as fast as my inappropriate shoes would let me.

  “The door was slightly ajar and you can see where the lock was forced.”

  I nodded. It was obvious somebody had opened the lock by force. She opened the door and groaned. “There were six scooters in here, there are only three now.”

  “Stump and Kate took two. So there’s an extra person out there.” This bit of news had my thoughts going in several directions, none of them good.

  She eyed Gizmo at my feet. “Assuming the information you got from the dog is correct.”

  He barked sharply then stood glaring up at her. She sighed. “Okay, okay. I guess it’s no crazier than anything else that happens in this place.”

  We got a couple of the electric scooters out and I put Gizmo in a little storage area behind the seat. “Don’t jump out,” I told him, and he gave me a “well, duh!” look. I ignored the dog and got on the scooter.

  So there we went, into the woods. This was not at all what either of us had in mind for our girls’ night out, but we both knew that protecting the non-humans had to come before anything else. We’d been raised to believe they were as important to us as our families.

  We headed toward the area we knew the Dyami, the Bigfoot tribe, used caves as their homes. It was a huge area, though. The likelihood of actually finding the mayor, Kate, and the unknown thief of the missing scooter was very small.

  The scooters were almost silent and designed to travel the rugged terrain. Still, without some knowledge of where we were going, we’d never have been able to traverse the area. And without the built-in GPS and compass, we’d have been lost almost immediately.

  I saw the log just before I hit it. Luckily, the scooter wasn’t going very fast, or Gizmo and I would have been in deep trouble.

  Liza circled back to me. “You okay?”

  “Fine,” I told her. I pulled the scooter around the log, made sure Gizmo was safe in his compartment, and headed out once again.

  We rode miles and miles into the dark woods. We barely missed trees, rocks, streams, and deer. Personally, I was about ready to turn around and head back. Riding a miniature motorcycle through the dark woods in a miniskirt and heels was not even close to anything I wanted to do.

  “Turn toward the right,” a familiar doggie voice said.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Are you kidding?” Gizmo asked.

  Shaking my head, I pulled closer to Liza. “We need to go toward the right.”

  She looked at me, then Gizmo, then nodded. We headed in the direction Gizmo indicated, and ten minutes later I caught a glimpse of a light ahead of us. Liza must have seen something too, because she indicated we go around the side.

  We parked the scooters and walked toward the lights. Liza kept her flashlight pointed downward, and we moved quietly from tree to tree until we heard Mayor Stump say, “Come on out, Nootau. I have a friend with me who wants to meet you.”

  I heard Liza gasp, as a big, hairy guy walked into the small clearing, Stump’s flashlight beam spotlighting his bulk.

  “I can’t believe this is happening,” Liza whispered.

  Our biggest secret, the thing we all worked so hard to protect was standing in front of an outsider who likely meant them harm. What should we do?

  While I was thinking, Gizmo rushed, barking loudly, into the mix. Liza and I looked at each other and simultaneously rushed after him.

  Mayor Stump’s flashlight beam was suddenly right in our eyes. “What are you two doing here?”

  “The real quest
ion is why are you here?” I said.

  He lowered the light. “I’m here to introduce my friend to a big guy. Kate, this is Nootau. Nootau, this is Kate Stone.”

  “It is nice to meet you,” Nootau said.

  Kate gasped. “Bigfoot can talk?”

  “I told you they were very human-like.” Even in the dim light, I could see the thrill in his expression.

  “Incredible,” Kate whispered.

  Okay, she was impressed. Hot dog.

  “You had no right to bring her here,” Liza told him, the light from her flashlight trembling against the ground in rhythm with her hand.

  Stump pulled himself up and raised his chin. “You have no right to question me. I’m the mayor of this town.”

  “Not for long,” I told him.

  A noise from Kate’s direction caught my attention, and I saw her raised arm—pointed straight at Nootau.

  “No!” I rushed toward her, but before I could get there I heard a pop. I looked toward the Dyami and saw a dart sticking out of his chest. He swayed for a moment before he hit the ground.

  I turned on Kate, feeling like an angry junkyard dog. “What the hell did you just do?”

  “My job,” she said, as she turned the gun on me. “Now stand back, or you’ll get one of these too.”

  “Kate,” Mac’s voice came from behind her. “Why didn’t you tell me what you were planning?”

  “I tried,” she said, never moving the gun from where it pointed at me. “You were too caught up in this ridiculous ‘see the South’ thing.” She waved the gun just slightly. “And your woman de jour.”

  I think I actually growled, or was that Gizmo beside me?

  “Kate.” Mac took a slow couple of steps toward her. “Let me help you.”

  “Help me what? So you can take the credit, or so you can protect your precious midlife crisis.” She shook her head sadly. “The great Gibson McFain lowering himself to making documentaries about boring places in the middle of nowhere. You can’t change who you are, Gib. You’ll realize you made a mistake, but by then this opportunity will be lost.” The smile was lost on her hard features. “Lost to you, anyway.”

  I heard a helicopter, and realized we were running out of time. Mac was slowly moving closer to her. Would he make it in time?

  “Let’s move,” Gizmo said.

  Mac’s gaze met mine, and I realized he’d heard the dog too. I waited for a moment, wondering what my little furry guide had in mind. Listen to your guide. That’s what Aunt Octavia told me to do. Okay, let’s do this thing.

  Gizmo ran toward Kate, barking and snarling like a dog ten times his size. Kate lowered her aim, and I rushed toward her. “Don’t you dare hurt him,” I growled.

  Mac got to her microseconds before I did. He pulled the gun up, and it now pointed at me.

  “Duck!” the dog’s voice said.

  I did better, I dove at Kate’s legs, knocking her into Mac. He jerked the tranq gun from her, then shoved her to the ground. I put a heeled foot on her chest. “I dare you,” I said.

  The sound of the helicopter was growing steadily louder.

  Mac dropped to the ground and searched Kate. “No radio, no cell,” he said.

  I shoved down on her with my foot. “How do we stop the helicopter?”

  She winced, then smiled. “You don’t.”

  I pushed down harder, but she just smiled at me. Damn, Jack Bauer I’m not.

  “What is that?” Liza asked.

  I started to say helicopter, but I realized that wasn’t what she was talking about. I’d heard that bone deep sound before. Crap, were the aliens going to be outed too?

  Suddenly the deep sound got stronger at the same time as the helicopter sound got fainter. The huge UFO appeared above us, and I heard Kate gasp.

  A window in the craft became visible, and we saw Aunt Octavia waving to us. Then the window vanished, and the UFO was gone in a flash of light.

  “This place is amazing,” Mac whispered.

  “You don’t know the half of it,” Liza muttered.

  “I could have been more famous than you,” Kate wailed.

  “Shut up,” Mac and I said simultaneously.

  I heard a noise behind me and turned. Steve, Henry, and some other guys I’d seen a few times around town came rushing in and took the now silent Kate and the apathetic soon-to-be-ex mayor away. Nootau was groaning, which I took as a good sign that he was recovering from his tranquilizer nap. A couple of guys were with him, so I knew he’d be taken care of.

  A hand touched my arm, and I looked toward Mac. He wrapped his jacket around my shoulders. “Are you all right?”

  “Fine.” I slid my hands up his chest. “Are you okay?”

  “Now I am.” He smiled at me and my heart leaped with joy.

  “You’re the one who stole the other scooter.”

  He nodded. “Sorry about that, but I had to stop her.”

  “How did you know what they were up to?”

  “You won’t believe it,” he said.

  I had a feeling I already knew. “Try me.”

  “Gizmo told me.”

  “That figures,” Liza said from a few feet away where she was apparently eavesdropping. “The two of you belong together.”

  I smiled up at Mac. “Well, if the dog thinks so.”

  “Hey!” Gizmo protested.

  Mac and I laughed, while Liza just shook her head. “I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to go home.”

  “Me too,” I said.

  Mac nodded in assent, and the three of us got on our scooters. I made sure Gizmo was comfortable in the luggage area, and we all started back toward Ugly Creek.

  Mac drove me home, and though it was after midnight, we sat together on the sofa. Mom was introduced to Mac, said hello, then hurried back to her bedroom. She sensed, I guess, that we needed time alone.

  “Your town is amazing.”

  I smiled into Mac’s warm eyes. “Yeah, it is.”

  He took my hand in his. “You’re pretty amazing yourself.”

  “Thank you.” I felt a grin pull at my face.

  “What a strange experience, following my assistant into the woods because a dog told me to.” Mac shook his head in amazement.

  “Tell me about it.”

  “Gizmo told me that we’re soul mates.”

  I nodded. “He told me he could only talk to my soul mate, and he can only talk to the two of us.”

  “So we’re meant to be together?”

  I looked across the room at one of my mom’s many potted plants. “I guess it’s up to us.”

  “All I know is that I was terrified back there.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, I was terrified the woman I love was going to get hurt.”

  Love? Love! “The important thing was to protect the Dyami.”

  “Bigfoot, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “I put them in danger by coming here.”

  “No, Kate did.” I glanced his way. “Can we go back to that thing about the woman you love?”

  He took my face in his hands and looked deep into my eyes. “Madison Clark, I’m in love with you.”

  I opened my mouth to say something pithy and brilliant, but my mind was blank. “Mac.”

  His lips touched mine, and I melted into his arms. For a few, wonderful moments, the only thing in existence was the two of us. Then he pulled back. “We’re in your mom’s living room.”

  “That could be a problem.”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, a bit.”

  He stood, pulling me to my feet as he did. “I’m going back to the B&B, and you need to get some rest.” He looked into my eyes. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  I managed a nod, he kissed me again, then headed for the door. I went to bed tingly and wide-awake. When I finally did go to sleep, my dreams were filled with one, very special, man.

  Chapter 13

  Filming was a little slow the next day. I could see the fatigue in Mac’s face
, and Kate’s absence had him stretched to the limit. I wanted to help, but I had no idea what to do.

  I was setting in my folding chair, feeling useless, when a man I really didn’t want to see strode over to me. “Maddie, I’m glad you’re here. I have some great news.”

  Me too, but I wasn’t about to share it with him. “What is it, Greg?”

  He straightened his shoulders. “I caught a felon.”

  Obviously I hadn’t had enough sleep. “You what?”

  “Caught a felon. That Haven woman was wanted for smuggling or some such.” He showed his perfectly straight white teeth. “I thought I recognized her from the one of the files that come across my desk.”

  “Haven is a criminal?”

  He nodded, his self-congratulating smile growing wider by the second. “Yes, and I caught her. Not entirely by myself, of course. Other people in the FBI were involved.”

  I leaned back against my seat and studied this man I’d known for years, but didn’t seem to know at all. He was a jerk, but would he really lie about something like that? “You work for the FBI? I thought you were some kind of consultant.”

  “I consult for the FBI. Most of what I do is behind a desk.” He smirked. “It’s always great to get out in the field and do some real work.”

  I felt a tingling up my spine at the same time I heard footsteps coming my way. I looked up and smiled at Mac.

  He stood so that his leg almost touched my chair. “You okay?”

  I smiled up into his handsome face. “I’m fine.”

  He took my hand in his. “I have some things I’d like to discuss with you later.”

  “Okay.” I understood he was letting Greg know to back off, that he was staking his claim to me. Before, that would have had my Victoria’s Secret panties in a wad. Today, though, his attitude felt good, protective. Not that I needed protection from wimpy Greg. It was the principle of the thing.

  Mac started to pull away, but I stopped him with a tug at the hand that still held mine. As I stood, I pulled him closer and pressed my lips to his. It took him about a gazillionth of a second to respond, and I promptly melted from his touch.

  “I’d better get back to work,” he finally said against my lips.

  “I know.”

  He leaned close to my ear. “Later,” he whispered. Then he turned back to his film.