Page 18 of Grave Danger

Getting to his feet, Cody unlocked the padlock and opened the latch. He walked back to the truck and leaned against the front, arms crossed as he watched. The raccoon pushed the door open and peered around, nose twitching as it scented the air. After a few sniffs, it waddled out of the cage and headed right for him. Cody straightened up, alert and worried about a possible attack. But the raccoon trundled past him without a second look, disappearing along the passenger side of the truck. Cody stepped out and watched as the raccoon jumped up, scrambling onto the tailgate and then into the bed of the truck.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Cody walked to the back of the truck and, hands on hips, gave the raccoon a stern look. It sat in the back corner where the cage had been secured, wringing its front paws and blinking at him. “No, no way. We’re not keeping you as a pet. Come on.” He pointed to the ground. The raccoon blinked and wrung its paws some more. “Absolutely not. This is not happening.” Cody took a step back and spread his arms. “Look at this place. Trees for miles and miles. I know you like trees. Lots of dirt for you to dig into and find rocks to fondle and bugs and insects and gross things you like to eat. Come on, I’ve got stuff to do, so stop screwing around and get out of my truck.”

The raccoon stayed put.

Cody banged on the side of the truck but only managed to scare a creepy and intense growl and irritated chatter from the thing as it shifted to the opposite corner.

“Fine. You wanna dance? Let’s dance.”

He got the net off the hooks across the back window of the cab and, after numerous near misses and quick escapes, finally snagged the raccoon. The handle of the net bowed under the weight of his captive as Cody carried the wriggling, irritated critter away from the truck and deeper into the trees. He grunted and huffed with exertion as he power walked farther into the woods. After a short struggle to turn the thing out of the net, he finally managed it, then sprinted back to the truck, grabbing the cage as he went and tossing it and the net into the back end. He jumped into the cab and started the engine, but before he could back out, the raccoon had clambered into the bed and settled in the back corner once again.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. Come on!”

Leaving the truck running, Cody grabbed the net and repeated the catch and release. This time he had backed out onto the trail before the raccoon’s claws scrabbled along the side while it climbed into the back.

“This is fucking nuts! No one’s ever gone through this much to stay with me.”

Well, that wasn’t exactly true. Demmy had gone through a lot before they’d become a couple. A lot.

Cody sighed. He kept the truck on the trail and shifted into park. Leaving the engine running, he got out and once again picked up the net.

“This is the last fucking time we’re doing this, got it?”

The raccoon squeaked and chittered at him, dark eyes watching him closely.

“I’m serious.”

More squeaks and chirps, along with some faster paw wringing.

It took longer for him to snag the damn thing this time. He ran side to side, swiping and swooping and cursing a blue streak. When he had finally caught the fucking thing, Cody grunted and perspired and swore some more as he hefted the heavy beast even deeper into the trees. He dropped the net on the ground at the base of a big tree and, leaving it and the raccoon behind, ran full tilt back to the truck and jumped inside. He kicked up a rooster tail of dirt and gravel as he sped toward the road. Once, he thought he caught a glimpse of a gray and black bowling ball-sized bundle of fur loping through the dust after him, but he couldn’t be certain.

With that task done, he made a mental note to go back in a day or two and retrieve the net, then turned toward town. It was midafternoon, and the sidewalks were busy with shoppers and people who worked in the small businesses lining Main Street. But Cody didn’t stop anywhere. He continued through town along the rough asphalt of Main Street that soon switched back to Route 118. Trees replaced the businesses on either side of him, and he passed a billboard advertising the Hollow Leg bar, “just up the road a piece,” as well as a sign that let him know it was eight miles to get to Harriettville.

But he wasn’t headed for either of those places. A couple of miles out of Parson’s Hollow’s business district, he slowed and sat up taller, inspecting the opposite lane. There wasn’t much traffic, just a few pickup trucks headed into Parson’s Hollow, and nobody behind him, so he was able to slow down quite a bit.

Then he saw it. His stomach did a slow roll, threatening to send Amelia’s pot roast sandwich back up on him. He slowed to a stop and stared down at the dark smear across the asphalt near the opposite gravel shoulder.

He’d hit someone last night, all right.

He did a three point turn and slowly approached the spot, angling off onto the shoulder. His tires on the gravel sounded like bones snapping. With the truck in park, he shut off the engine and sat with his hands on top of the wheel, looking at the stain and trying to slow his pounding heart.

A semi sped past, the wind rocking the truck and making his heart race even faster.

“This is a bad fucking idea,” Cody told himself, even as he got out and approached the spot.

The mayor. He’d hit the mayor last night, not just any man.

With slow, careful steps, Cody walked up and down the gravel. He kept his eyes cast down, looking for something, anything, that would help prove he wasn’t crazy. Or at least hadn’t imagined everything that had happened the night before. The stain on the road was one thing, but some other kind of physical evidence he could touch and hold in his palm would add even more weight to his findings. The sun was hot on the back of his neck, igniting a headache as it paired with the stagnant smell of the water and muck in the bottom of the drainage ditch.

He found nothing but gravel, a plastic bag from Parson’s Pharmacy, and the glitter of glass fragments from past accidents. Cody looked across the drainage ditch into the woods. Where the hell had the mayor staggered off to last night once deputy Zellmer had arrived?

Even as he told himself he was going to regret it, Cody stepped across the ditch and walked back and forth along the side farthest from the road. He dropped into a crouch and shifted some leaves aside to reveal the imprint of a shoe. Whoever had stepped into the mud had been wearing what looked to be smooth-soled dress shoes. The kind of shoe someone might wear with a suit. Or be buried in.

“Goddamn idiot,” Cody grumbled at himself, then moved off into the woods.

The footprints faded out quickly, so Cody moved as quietly as possible through the trees in the same general direction, swiveling his head back and forth, senses on high alert. He walked far enough to lose sight of the road before he stopped and looked all around. No half-eaten animal carcass or bloody hand print on the trunk of a tree to give any indication the mayor had passed this way.

Now that he thought about it, Cody wondered if the mayor had snacked on an animal and left part of it behind, would that animal come back to life as long as the brain was intact? He thought about calling Demmy and asking him that question, then decided to save it for when he saw him again. Cody really wanted to see the expression on Demmy’s face as he considered the possibility.