Chapter 22

Brice immediately reached for his gun, but Grace stilled his movements, laying his hand on Brice's arm.

"Josh Haskins, what the hell are you doing here?" Grace asked of the sandy-haired teenager sitting at the small table.

On seeing Brice's action, and the sheriff's stilling him from pulling his weapon, the teenager, approximately sixteen or so, stilled his hand in the bag of chips he'd had it buried in as he stuttered out, "Didn't mean no harm, Sheriff. Ryan Clifton bet me his .22 rifle earlier this week I wouldn't stay the night out here. You know the rumors, Sheriff, of the creature, of the Hanover's. And now, with what happened to the lady out here…." Josh shrugged. "Figured it was as good a time as any to have him come good on his bet, and after he told me the agents were in town, and that I'd be too chicken to come tonight in case they came out here, I bet him I would. He tossed in a box of bullets for the rifle, betting I wouldn't. Couldn't turn that kind of thing down."

The sheriff shook his head. "Boy, you do realize you are invading a crime scene, right? I could arrest you for this."

Jerking to his feet and scattering chips all over the table and floor, Josh stammered, "But Sheriff, I ain't touched nothin'. I covered my hand with the edge of my shirt to open the doors, and I didn't go into any of the other rooms. I just checked the bedrooms out from the hall, not entering any of them. After seeing this was the only one that has a window to the roof, in case I needed a quick get away, I came in here. I ain't gone anywhere since."

Brice stepped forward, his voice taking on a stern edge. "Look kid, we'll let it slide this time if you clear out of here right now. So far, no harm has been done, but don't ever enter an active crime scene again, you hear me?"

With a quick nod, Josh muttered, "I sure wanted that rifle!" then hightailed his butt from the room.

Grace shook his head, following the teen with his eyes as the lanky youth fled through the doorway. "This place has been a hot spot for dares and the curious ever since the Hanover incident," he muttered.

"If you don't mind my asking, what exactly was supposed to have happened here with the Hanovers' and the creature?" Ashley asked, stepping forward until she stood next to Brice. Both Ashley and I had hung back as the two men had talked with the teen, however, as Ashley entered the room, I quickly followed. I was now overly curious about the incident, and wondered if any of it might somehow have bearing on why the voyeur had chosen this place. He had specifically stated, 'Bigfoot, was here'."

Grace's lips pursed, before relaxing them, he remarked. "It's actually quite a story. Of course, we investigated, and couldn't disapprove what the Hanover's declared happened, or if there were any further incidents in the days following before they disappeared. What I do know is what I saw, and what I heard young Jenny say the night it happened!"

As Grace had been speaking, Ethan and Rick had entered the room as well, and glancing toward them, Brice questioned, "How's it look?"

"Honestly, I can't see we need to do anything. Looks like the Sheriff and his men did an excellent job," Rick returned.

"You're word is good enough for me," Brice stated. Then returning his attention to Grace, he murmured, "Carry on, Sheriff."

Grace, glancing at Ashley, asked, "You sure you're comfortable hearing this here, Miss, after…everything?"

Ashley smiled at the sheriff's concern, stating, "I'm fine, Sheriff, but thank you."

With a nod, Grace began. "It was January, and we had recently had a snowstorm. The Hanover's had gone to bed for the night, each bedding down in the living room as the forecast that night had called for below zero temperatures. Sometime around one in the morning, Charles, the dad, had awakened, feeling the chill in the air. Climbing from the pallet he had made on the floor, he had noticed the strong scent of a skunk and figured one must have been spooked by a coyote or some other type of wild animal. Shrugging the scent off, as it wasn't that unusual to smell a skunk around the place, he went over to restock the wood in the wood stove. As he was placing the wood in the stove, he heard a noise coming from the kitchen. Glancing at his children, he noted that the youngest, Jenny, wasn't in her bed. Figuring she had gone into the kitchen for a drink, and knowing she had a tendency to swipe sweets at night, he made his way to the kitchen."

Pausing, the sheriff rubbed his chin, then continued. "What happened next is unexplainable, as well, a parents worst nightmare. As Charles entered the kitchen, he noted the scent of skunk was nearly overpowering, as if a family had come in and sprayed the whole room. Almost gagging on the smell, and eyes watering, he glanced around, but didn't see Jenny anywhere in the room, however, the refrigerator stood wide open and the milk container was laying on its side on the floor, as well as a cup that had contained some milk. With a quick glance at the back door, he realized it, also, stood wide open. Running to the door, calling Jenny's name, Charles had hurried outside, but instead of the small footprints of five-year-old Jenny, as he had expected to see, he found huge footprints of a very large man leading from the house and into the woods. When we arrived on scene, the whole family was in an uproar, naturally. As several of my deputies searched the house, me and Duset began following the tracks. We hadn't been in the woods long when we heard young Jenny crying. The story she told us still makes the hair stand on the back of my head, and has since made me question the things that are possible in this world. She said she had awoken thirsty and went to the kitchen to get some milk. She had just poured some in a cup when, what she claimed was a big hairy man, who stunk to high heaven, had grabbed her and ran out the door. She said he took her to his home made of sticks and when he brought her inside, the hairy woman already there had begun what to her, as she couldn't actually make out the words, had sounded like scolding toward the hairy man. She said the hairy man then said something in return to the hairy woman, before turning he left the stick house and headed back the same direction they had come from. But when they got close to her house, they could hear sirens and see all the pretty red and blue lights, so the hairy man had stopped by a tree, continuing to hold her and keep her warm until they heard voices nearby, then setting her on the ground, the creature began pinching her, making her cry before disappearing back into the trees. Now, I can't say for sure what had Jenny that night, but I do know we followed those darn footprints until they just suddenly disappeared. We never found anything other than those dang prints that led to nowhere."

For matter of moments, no one said a word, then Ethan exclaimed, "Fuck that shit. It wouldn't have taken me a week. I'd been outta here that night!"

Brice, his face thoughtful, asked, "You said nothing came of the investigation after the family disappeared?"

Grace nodded. "Not a damn thing. However, just yesterday, we may have gotten our first lead as there was a hit on Charles' social security number."

As the sheriff's words ended, Ashley asked, "The house I saw from the window, they didn't know anything?"

Shaking his head, Grace answered, "Funny you should see a house there, Agent Rowland. You aren't the first. But there isn't a house there any longer. Hasn't been for over fifteen years now—it caught fire and burned—if ever there was a house of evil though, in my opinion, that was it."

"What happened to the family living there? Did they get out?" Rick asked.

Grace shook his head. "No. Afterward, we tried to find family, but couldn't for either James or Naomi. Not, for that matter, was there any kind of trail that they had ever existed to begin with. No birth records, old utility bills. Nothing."

The sudden onslaught of pain in my head sent me to my knees and gripping it between my hands, I moaned, "Nooo…"

As the pain intensified, the voice I had quickly become familiar with asked, "Did you know you are adopted Agent…Cody?"