Beast Hunter

Chapter Twenty-Four

We took Slater's panel truck and drove it back to Grey's place.

Luckily, he'd left keys in it. And that's not all. Rummaging through the cab, we found a bag that contained not only our phones, but one of his as well, a cheap flip phone that was most likely a burner. We also found a receipt for a hotel in Jeromesville. I remembered that he was going to send one of his cronies there to retrieve the girl, Samantha Cross, to use as bait before I'd intervened and offered myself up instead.

We quickly concluded that this must have been their base of operation and was likely the same place where she was being held. Using Slater's phone, we looked up the number for the Sheriff's Department near there and called in an anonymous tip.

I could hear the dispatcher say, "Wait. Who is this? Stay on the line..." before Stu snapped the phone in two and tossed it out the window.

We didn't like having to be secretive about it. But we all agreed that there was no way we were going to be able to explain any of this to the authorities and it was best not to even try.

Grey was still sedated and out of it. There was enough room in the cab for all of us so we brought him up front and laid him down in the back seat while I sat up front with Stu and Sky.

I can't tell you how nice it was to feel the warmth of the heater once it finally got humming after having felt nothing but the cold January chill ever since leaving Grey's place earlier that night.

We soon discovered that we were in a rural area of southwestern New York state. The internet was spotty, but we soon found an area where our GPS could get a signal and help lead us back to Grey's home.

We all remained silent for the first leg of the trip, each of us looking ahead and doing our best to process the craziness we'd just been through. I can't tell you what Stu and Sky were thinking, but I'm pretty sure, like me, they were all just happy to be alive.

For myself, I couldn't help but feel sorry for Slater and his followers. It was true they'd brought it on themselves, but I hadn't been there for the moments that had warped them and allowed them to justify their choices. And I couldn't help but think that maybe if they'd had a better road in life, they wouldn't have ended up Kraken chow.

I did my best to put it out of my mind as we continued on.

We still had things to do before we could finally go home.

It was almost dawn by the time we made it back to Grey's place.

By now, Grey began to stir awake and was even able to shamble through his front door when we arrived. Aside from the broken lock chain and his smashed laptop and phone, his place was relatively unscathed.

We laid him down on the couch.

He was groggy, but still alert to politely ask us to leave and never come back. It was pretty clear that he'd had enough and was done with this whole affair. With his footage of the Sasquatch destroyed, there was really no point in him getting involved any further. Since he knew nothing about what happened at the amusement park, we figured it was best to assure him that Slater wouldn't be bothering him anymore and just leave him in peace.

We didn't know where the panel truck had come from, whether it was a rental or Slater's personal property, so we decided to ditch it along the side a country road a few miles away. With any luck, the local police would find it after we were long gone and tow it to the nearest impound lot.

Stu drove the truck while Sky drove the rental car. We found a nice gravel road with a wide berm and Stu pulled over. After a quick look to see that no one was watching, Stu was out of the truck, in the car, and we were on our way. It felt strange to be sneaking around like this. But it was clear to us that we were in a different world here. There was a reality before Slater and another one after Slater. And it was clear to me now that there was no going back.