Kindle Edition
Category:
Mystery/Suspense
Type: Fiction
A mystery that is a toxic mix of environmental crime and murder.
Events quickly unravel as conservation officer Clare McElroy must contend with a black bear attack on her watch. Now the feds must get involved and no-nonsense McElroy is more than a little peeved that the humans are proving harder to manage than the wildlife.
Small town life is pretty predictable in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, but things will never be the same when McElroy's artist brother comes to live with her and Chicago assistant DA Pheeny Delmato comes to town to investigate the death of a former resident.
As the events become increasingly intertwined and beyond her control, McElroy realizes there's only one thing left for her to do.
Excerpt
I remember sitting in the truck and looking out on the valley. Morning light had just begun to filter through the forest; drifts of fog hung heavy in the treetops and clung to the shallows among the hills. It was peaceful, and I felt totally present; feeling the movement of my breath as I watched the trees sway in a slight breeze, dissipating the fog into the emerging light. I rested my head on the seat and closed my eyes.
A call sliced through the emptiness, and I jumped. I quickly picked up; listened, than spoke, not remembering what I had said a second before. I watched myself as if far away; becoming acutely aware that a fearful dream had begun to unwind, and there was nothing for me to do but play it out. The air had become heavy and the crickets chirping along with it, the sound reverberating in the air as my heart began racing.
Falling into fear, I stepped on the gas and clenched the steering wheel, barely keeping the truck on the road as tires skittered through gravel. My hands became wet and I quickly wiped them on my pants. Speeding towards the lake the ancient white pines flicked through my line of vision; blue water, then the red bait shop sign flashed by and the campground rolled into sight.
Turning into the drive I saw people clustered around a police car. Patrol lights splashed their frozen faces in a kaleidoscope of color.
I threw the gear in park and jumped out.
“What happened?”
Officer Kepola turned to me, his face strained. “The bear got into the girls tent sometime in the early morning. Damn thing started eating her here, in the abdomen,” He put a protective hand to his beer belly. “then started in on her buttocks. I didn’t get it. Didn’t get here in time. Poor girl is lucky to be alive.” He shook his head.
I looked over to where the paramedics were loading the girl into the ambulance. There was blood everywhere. I could smell the tang of it. She looked unconscious, head rolling off to the side. I hoped for her sake she was.
I blamed Dale for this. For all of this. She knew better. She had been through the training - animals are not human, do not get attached to them, develop any type of relationship with them. Simply observe and leave them be.
But she had grown fond of the bears in her assigned territory, naming them even. She smiled when she told me of their antics, how cute they were, she said, how sweet.
I had clenched my jaw when I listened to her rambling, explained to her how black bear were opportunists, not Disney creatures, when they came across something they could kill easily, they would, a newborn fawn for instance. Kill it then cache it for later. She had merely shrugged and pretended not to hear, content with her fuzzy wuzzy bear fantasy.
Then a bear had been spotted in the campground, hanging around, taking handouts. I told her to get rid of the animal. And waited.
She hadn’t always been so soft. So saccharine.
“So it’s out there somewhere?” My eyes scanned the trees.
He nodded. “They could hardly get it off her when she was screaming. Snarled at them, tried to drag her out of the tent. Course by that time she was passed out from shock.”
“Have you talked to any of these people?”
He motioned towards a man and a woman. “Those are the parents. And the guys over there were kind enough to give me the gruesome details,” Slight shake of the head towards a guy with a blue bandana and another with a leather vest. “Sure the parents appreciated that.”
I followed his eyes over to where they sat lounging in front of a fire.
“Hey man, why didn’t you warn us?” Bandana man had stepped forward when he caught me watching him. “People here are saying this thing has been wandering around the campground harassing people all summer.”
“Look, I don’t control the campground, that’s the park services job. They are in charge of observing and controlling antagonistic wildlife,” Kepola pushed the stray hair out of his eyes.
The woman looked over. Her face was pale and her eyes red. Shaking, she rubbed her nose on the sleeve of her blue windbreaker, leaving a wet streak on the arm.
“Is that true, should we have been warned about this animal?” Are you in charge here?” She stared at me.
“The bear was to be removed far from human contact. Unfortunately, we hadn’t been able to trap the bear to remove it.”
The man stepped forward, standing protectively by the woman’s side. “You didn’t answer my wife’s question, should we have been warned?”
“Wild animals are unpredictable, if you need a warning you shouldn’t go outside.”
The woman gasped. “I hardly think that’s the attitude…” Shaking her head, she put her hand to her mouth and walked away. My eyes followed her to a large, square shaped RV. She opened the door and went inside.
He watched the woman enter the RV, then turned to me. “My wife’s in a lot of pain and you treat us like this. I don’t need this shit from a park worker.”
“I work for wildlife division sir.”
“Who is in charge here?” His eyes shot from Kepola to me again.
Kepola looked at him. “Whoever is first to respond to the call is in charge.”
“So you mean to tell me that no one is responsible for what happened today? No one is in charge here?”
I watched his face change expression - eyes distant, face furrowed with bitterness, full of anger, then hate. I had seen it before in victims of accidents; looking for someone, or something to blame.
“I’m in charge of wildlife management in this area.”
“Now the truth comes out.’
“I’m writing up my report, Clare. You got this under control?”
“Yeah. Thanks Sam.”
Kepola walked over to his patrol car.
I studied the man a moment. His face was tan, windblown. He looked like he had been on a boat all summer, or on a golf course Probably one of the upper crusts from Chicago, I thought absently, or the suburbs of Detroit.
“Like I mentioned, sir, wild animals can be unpredictable.”
“But is it true what people have been saying about the bear harassing people?”
“What’s true is that people have been feeding the bear, and yes, we’ve known about it. There are warnings posted all over the campground about not feeding the bears.”
“Your piddley warnings didn’t help us. They don’t mention how dangerous this animal is.”
I was silent a moment then walked over to a utility pole, ripped off a notice and read from it: “A fed bear is a dangerous bear. Here.”
He looked at me; my arm outstretched, holding the notice. “That’s not what I’m talking about.”
“That’s what I’m talking about. And that’s what happened.”
“My daughter did not feed that animal, she was in her tent!”
“It doesn’t matter. The bear equated humans with food.”
He stared at the woods in front of us. The sun had risen past tree line and the hemlock and pine were now in shadow. I suddenly realized how tired I was.
He pointed an accusing finger at me. “I’m suing the park service. And you and whoever you work for.” He glared at me; walked away.
I watched him a moment, wondering if I should say something, something to explain this awful mess, when a spiteful little laugh erupted behind me. I turned and saw that the bandana guy was sitting on a log watching me, smirking. His leathered companion sat next to him with a beer in his hand.
“You are one mean lady. Don’t you have any compassion?” Bandana guy cocked his head and narrowed his eyes, blowing smoke in my direction. I opened my mouth to respond; thought better of it. I turned away from him and walked back to my truck, got in and drove away.
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