Hominid (37 page)

CHAPTER 132

“T
ess? Tess, wake up.”

Tess pushed away the hand that shook her shoulder. “Go away.”

Dev laughed. “You’re not getting rid of me that easy.”

Dev?
Tess pushed her hair out of her eyes and looked up into his laughing face. “What’s going on?”

He leaned down and kissed her. “Happy to see you too.”

Tess smiled. “Sorry. It’s always good to see you. But what’s going on? Where’s Missy?”

“She’s fine. She’s outside with Pax and Shelby.”

“Okay. Good.” Tess was still half asleep.

Dev stood up and offered her his hand. “There’s something you need to see.”

Tess took his hand. “What is it?”

“It’s about Hayes.”

Dread settled in a pit in her stomach. After the whole thing with the private army, Hayes had been quiet, but they all knew it was only a matter of time before he tried something new. “What happened?”

Dev didn’t say anything; he just tugged her out into the living room, where Shawn sat with the TV remote in hand. The clock read 12:30. She’d slept through the morning. Of course, seeing as she’d slept only an hour or two a night for the whole last week, that was understandable. Her insomnia was all due to Carter Hayes. She kept worrying about what he was going to do next, and how they were going to keep him away from the bigfoot.

As soon as Tess and Dev settled on the couch, Shawn hit play.

“The business world is stunned today at the arrest of Carter Hayes,” a newscaster’s voiceover said. Tess’s eyes grew large as she watched a group of FBI agents escorting Carter from his headquarters in cuffs. “Hayes is being charged with crimes ranging from racketeering, to unlawful restraint of trade, to half a dozen counts of murder. All Hayes’s accounts have been frozen while the FBI discerns just how far Hayes’s alleged illegal business practices extend. Sources inside the agency report that Hayes will be just one among many big names that will be arrested as part of this operation.”

Shawn muted the TV. Tess stared between him and Dev. “What on earth happened?”

“It seems that Hayes had a man in his employ who kept very detailed notes,” Shawn said.

Tess looked up at him, her eyes going large. “Abe?”

Shawn nodded. She had told them all about Abe’s death, but seeing as his body had never been found and they had no proof besides Tess’s testimony, they decided to keep it to themselves. Nothing good would come from that revelation.

“He kept all his emails and even recorded his phone conversations,” Dev said.

“But why would he release that information?” Tess asked.

“Apparently to protect himself against any harm from his employers, he arranged that in the event of his disappearance, information would be released on all his illegal dealings with Hayes, among others,” Shawn said.

“And what was that about murder charges?”

“It seems that Hayes used Abe Cascione as his hit man,” Shawn said. “Those recordings went to the FBI as well.”

“And one of the murders was Tyler Haven and his cameraman,” Dev added.

Tess felt disbelief followed by joy. “Hayes is incapacitated. He can’t go after them now.”

Shawn smiled. “He’s going to be battling legal attacks for years, if he can scrape together enough for a defense.”

“And with Hayes out of the picture, the bigfoot are a lot safer now,” Dev said.

Tess’s good feelings began to fade as she thought of the hunters who had descended on Beauford ever since the governor’s announcement. It seemed like more and more popped up each day. None of them had found anything, but with the number of them out there, Tess worried it was only a matter of time. “They’re
safer
but not
safe
. We still have all those bigfoot hunters out there.”

“Well, they know about Hayes’s test results. They know there’s a bigfoot in the woods.”

“And I’ve been blogging about them for a year, further fanning the flames,” Tess said. She had taken down her website, but nothing could ever be truly erased on the internet. Many of her blog entries had already reappeared on other sites.

“I don’t know if there’s any way to completely put that fire out,” Shawn said.

Tess looked between the two of them. The reason she had finally been able to sleep last night was because she
had
thought of a way to throw some cold water on the blazing bigfoot fire raging across the country. She knew that if she took this route, though, her life would never be the same.

Her eyes drifted to the picture Missy had drawn of her bigfoot family. Tess remembered Charlie’s kind brown eyes and all that he’d risked to protect Missy. Could she risk any less to protect them all?

She took a deep breath and released it. “Actually, I think I know how to get them all to go home.”

CHAPTER 133

T
he next morning, Tess stood in the little room next to the city hall conference room. She had arranged for a press conference that would begin in about five minutes. She had fixed her hair, carefully applied her makeup, and even wore her conference suit. She ran her hands down the navy blue jacket, knowing this might be the last time she ever had occasion to wear it.

Pax linked his arm through hers. “You’re sure you want to do this? We could still beat a hasty retreat.”

Tess patted his hand as butterflies danced through her stomach. “If you have an idea that would achieve the same result, I’m all ears.”

Pax frowned and shook his head. “I hate this. You’ve worked so hard.”

She kissed his cheek. “It’ll be okay. I have you guys, Missy, Dev. The rest doesn’t matter.”

“You sure you’ll be able to live with this decision?”

Tess thought about everything she had been through. The thrill at every discovery, her absolute shock, joy, and fear at meeting Charlie—and everything that had resulted from his trust in her.

He had taken a leap of faith. He had trusted her with the people most important to him—and all to save the life of a child from a different species. A child Tess now loved with all her heart.

“I can live with it,” she said.

The door opened, sending Tess’s heart racing. Dev and Shawn stepped in.

Dev’s hazel eyes searched hers before he nodded. “They’re ready.”

“You’re sure you don’t want us up there with you?” Shawn asked.

Tess shook her head. “No. This is on me.”

Shawn leaned over and kissed her cheek. “We’ll be in the front row. Madge saved us seats.”

Tess nearly cried at those words. Even Madge had left the farm to come support her. “Okay.”

Pax wrapped her in a hug. “I am so proud of you.”

Tess clung to him, then pushed him away. “Go. I need to not be an emotional mess when I do this.”

Shawn took Pax by the shoulders and steered him out of the room. Now it was only her and Dev.

“So… you want to grab some lunch after this?” Dev asked.

Tess laughed. “Sure, but you’ll have to buy. I’m kind of out of a job.”

“I suppose I can manage that.” He paused. “You ready?”

Tess straightened her shoulders. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

Dev led her to the door to the conference room and opened it. Immediately the noise level ratcheted up tremendously. Flashbulbs exploded. Tess ignored all of it, her focus only on the podium with the microphone attached to it. Dev escorted her there. With his back to the room, he smiled.
You’ve got this
, he mouthed.

Tess nodded. Reporters were already shouting questions at her, but she stood silently until everyone quieted down. Feeling shaky, she looked at her support group in the front row: Shawn, Pax, Madge, and Abby. And she knew Sasha was supporting her at home while she kept an eye on Missy.

She took a deep breath and expelled it.
Showtime
. “I am here today to rectify a grievous hoax perpetuated on my part. Due to the injuries sustained in the last few weeks, and…” She swallowed, her mouth felt dry. “I can no longer in good conscience stay silent.”

She paused. “All of the evidence I have gathered on the bigfoot has been falsified. None of it was real.”

The reporters stirred. Tess continued on. “I did it because while I have been searching for bigfoot, there have been absolutely no signs of the creature. Therefore, in order to continue my search, I manufactured evidence to support myself. And while I continue to believe and hope that the creature exists, I have not personally seen any verifiable proof of the existence of a bipedal hominid living in North America.”

A reporter in the second row called out, “Dr. Brannick, what about the report on the hair sample you provided to Carter Hayes?”

Tess knew she was on tricky ground here. So far all she’d done was implicate herself. “I can’t speak to that directly. But I will tell you that the hair I provided came from a black bear. I don’t know how the results turned up the way they did. You’ll have to speak with Mr. Hayes about that.”

Questions flew at Tess fast and furious after that. Tess answered them for twenty minutes, wanting the assembled reporters to have no doubt that her life’s work was entirely fraudulent. Finally, though, she could take no more. She put up her hand. “Thank you for your time. I will not answer any more questions on this subject at any point again.” She stepped from the podium as flashbulbs exploded.

Dev quickly escorted her out of the room and closed the door behind them, shutting out the questions still being hurled at her by reporters.

Tess began to shake. “I did it. I just ruined my career. No one will ever believe me again.”

Dev pulled her into his arms. “And you just saved a population—an entire species. That was one of the bravest things I’ve ever seen anyone do.”

Tess wrapped her arms around him and held him tight. “Thank you for standing by me.”

He looked down into her face. “I have been waiting forever to have the chance to stand with you. Bigfoot, journalists, hit men, heck, you can throw in UFOs, and I’ll still be standing here. By your side is where I always want to be.”

“Same goes.” Tess leaned up and kissed him, feeling a peace that only comes from doing the right thing.

EPILOGUE

Two Years Later

Rogue River National Park, Oregon

T
ess walked along the path in Rogue River Park. Her park ranger uniform was getting a little tight. She’d have to get a new one soon.

Sunlight glinted off her wedding ring, and she ran her thumb over it. Even though she had worn it for over a year, she still loved looking at it. It wasn’t fancy, it wasn’t expensive, but it was a part of Dev. And that’s all she wanted.

She approached a campsite where a group had been camped out for the last week. She noted with approval that they had policed their own garbage. She loved when people respected the park. She wanted people to enjoy the outdoors, but in a way that allowed others to do the same after them.

Tess pulled her radio off her belt. “Brannick to base.”

Eric’s voice came over the line. “How’s it looking out there, Tess?”

“It’s good. They cleaned up great. I’ll be heading back in.”

“Good. Dev said he’ll be here at three to pick you up.”

“Okay, great.”

“Oh, and Jeanne wanted to ask if it’s okay if she brings flowers tonight.”

Tess smiled. Missy had her first dance recital tonight, and everyone was coming to see her: Pax, Shawn, their son Dylan, Sasha and her latest boyfriend, Abby and her husband, Madge, Eric and his wife Jeanne. It was going to be a packed house.

“Tell Jeanne that would be great.”

“Will do. See you in a little bit.”

Tess keyed off the radio. Missy now had a full-fledged extended family—her own little tribe.

Tess felt eyes on her, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Very carefully, she unsnapped her holster and placed her hand on the Browning there. But the fear she felt disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. It was replaced by an overwhelming feeling of trust.

Tess looked around, trying to find the source. And then a seven-foot bigfoot stepped out from the woods. Tess recognized her immediately, even though she was now fully grown. As Sugar approached, Tess’s initial happiness turned to surprise and then joy. She gently placed her hand on Sugar’s protruding belly. “Congratulations.”

Since she’d become a ranger at Rogue River almost two years ago, she’d seen her friends every few months, sometimes more often. She and Dev had brought Missy out camping a few times, and inevitably their friends found them. The last time she’d seen Sugar had been two months ago, and there’d been no sign of the pregnancy. She wasn’t sure how long bigfoot pregnancies lasted, but she really hoped she got to see this little one.

Tess never would have believed after everything they had all been through that this would be the end result. After the press conference, Tess had been raked over the coals in the media. It hadn’t been easy, but the fact that everyone thought she was an unscrupulous liar at least meant that people had lost interest in investigating the areas where she’d said bigfoot were—and that in turn meant the bigfoot were at least as safe as they were back before any of this happened.

Sugar tilted her head and then sniffed. Her eyes grew large. Gently, Sugar placed her hand on Tess’s stomach. Tess laughed. “Yup, me too.”

Tess took a seat on a downed tree. Sugar sat next to her and looked at her expectantly. Tess pulled the Twinkies from her bag. Carefully unwrapping them, she handed one to Sugar.

Then she took a bite of the other one, listening to the sounds of life in the forest scurry by. She knew she should probably head back to the station.

Sugar sat next to her, already having finished her Twinkie, her head tilted back, her eyes closed as she enjoyed the feel of the sun on her face.

Tess smiled and did the same.
But there’s no rush. I’ve got time.