Page 5

Chapter 5

Hayleigh lived in a modest ranch-style home with an attached garage adjoining a forested part of town. Her nearest neighbours were hidden by trees, so I could see how she might easily feel lonely and isolated.

When Sidnee and I knocked on her front door, she opened it with so much enthusiasm that she startled me. ‘I’m so glad you are here!’ She was almost bouncing on the balls of her feet as she motioned for us to enter, all the while scanning the area. Once we were inside, she shut the door so hurriedly that Fluffy almost lost his tail.

‘If you could show us…’ I started, but Hayleigh didn’t wait for me to finish my sentence

‘If you look out here, you’ll see where I keep seeing the bigfoot.’ She paused. ‘Well, eyes watching me. I haven’t actually seen it, per se.’

Now she tells us! I thought, but we were there now so we might as well check out the place.

We followed her to a large family room at the rear of the house with picture windows that framed the forest like a living portrait. ‘My ex-husband liked to look at the woods,’ she said, as though she needed to explain the view. ‘I’ve ordered blinds so he won’t watch me.’

I looked at Sidnee then back at Hayleigh. ‘How about we search your house – make sure there aren’t any intruders – and then look into the woods out back?’ I suggested. ‘Does that sound okay?’

She looked relieved. ‘Yes, that would be good.’

‘Great. Is there anything else you’re concerned about?’

Hayleigh seemed to shrink into herself. ‘No, that’s all.’

I felt bad for her. Apparently her husband had left her and she was scared and alone. Life was tough sometimes.

‘Do you want to show us around, or just have us search? We’re happy to do whichever will make you the most comfortable,’ Sidnee said gently.

‘You go on ahead. I’ll wait here.’

‘Fluffy can stay with you, if you want,’ I offered.

Fluffy walked over to her and leaned against her legs as she lowered herself into a comfortable chair. She started to pat him. Hayleigh totally needed a big dog of her own; maybe it would help with the fear and the loneliness.

The house was spacious, though it wasn’t huge like Connor’s place, with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. It was tidy but cluttered with furniture. The first bedroom was obviously for guests, and its mustiness suggested it was seldom used. We checked the closet and under the bed then moved on.

The next room was an office, but it looked like it had recently been stripped of its furniture. Dents in the carpet showed where a larger desk had once stood; now an old table and kitchen chair occupied the space. Maybe it had been her husband’s workspace.

I noticed a framed ‘Employee of the Month’ certificate on the wall from the Chrome Mine. ‘Hey,’ I said to Sidnee. ‘Look. I wonder if Hayleigh met Helmud.’

She raised her eyebrows. ‘Maybe she can shed some light on your dead guy.’

‘It might be worth asking her when we’ve dealt with her nantinaq issue,’ I agreed.

We checked the closet but nothing seemed out of place. The last room we checked was Hayleigh’s bedroom. Half the cupboards had been cleared out and she hadn’t moved anything into them yet. Sidnee and I shared a sympathetic glance. Poor woman: perhaps on some level she still hoped her husband would return.

Looking at her side of the bedroom quickly showed us why she was bigfoot obsessed. Her reading material took up her bedside table, the space next to and under the bed. She must have had the largest collection of bigfoot romance books ever.

Sidnee pointed to a book, Banged by Bigfoot, and flipped it open. She read for a few moments then fanned herself. ‘Okay, that’s surprisingly hot. This bigfoot has a big—’

I held up a hand. ‘I don’t need you to finish that sentence. I’m more of a fade-to-black girl – you know, leave it to my imagination.’

Sidnee shook her head. ‘Nah, I like it painted out for me.’ She flashed me a mischievous smile. ‘For some reason, I’ve been reading a tonne of military based age-gap contemporary fiction.’

I laughed. ‘How much older than you is Thomas?’

‘Old enough,’ she said dreamily.

We grinned at each other, then hurried down to Hayleigh who was still happily stroking Fluffy. ‘The house is clear,’ I announced. ‘No one is here.’ I paused. ‘We’ll check in the woods in a minute, but I wondered if you could answer a few questions about the Chrome Mine.’

She blinked. ‘Sure, but I don’t know how much help I’ll be. I’m just HR.’

‘Did you meet Helmud Henderson?’

Her expression clouded. ‘I did, actually – I did his induction paperwork before he went into the mine. He seemed very nice.’ She touched a hand to her heart. ‘He had a fiancée. I keep thinking about that poor woman.’

I frowned; that was interesting because we had Helmud’s father down as his next of kin. I’d have to see if Gunnar had a number for the fiancée.

‘He got real emotional talking about her,’ Hayleigh admitted. ‘It was so romantic.’ She sighed. ‘Poor Helmud. He got the days muddled up – he turned up at the mine a day early. I didn’t have the heart to send him away after he’d travelled in from Anchorage, so I just let him get on with his job. And now I keep thinking that if I hadn’t, he might have been around people when he had his heart attack…’

‘You can’t blame yourself,’ Sidnee soothed. ‘You couldn’t have foreseen that.’

‘Absolutely,’ I chimed in. ‘And it was his fault for getting muddled up.’ I patted Hayleigh’s shoulder. ‘We’ll go and check the woods now.’

Hayleigh smiled gratefully, her hands still tangled in Fluffy’s fur; he was valiantly putting up with belly scratches and a side order of baby talk. ‘Have you thought of getting a dog?’ I asked gently.

She gazed at Fluffy, her eyes contemplative. ‘No, but having him here like this sure is comforting.’

‘You never know, the animal shelter might have a large dog. Maybe it would be nice to have company.’

‘Perhaps I’ll go look,’ she said noncommittally.

Sidnee and I went through the back door. ‘You know there is no bigfoot or nantinaq here, right?’ Sidnee rolled her eyes. ‘Besides the ones in her monster-porn books.’

I wagged my finger at her. ‘Don’t kink-shame! Don’t yuck someone’s else’s yum. Each to their own and all that.’

‘Is this your way of telling me you read space romance? Aliens with all sorts of tentacles covered with suckers…’

I snorted but my cheeks warmed. ‘Not yet, but the day is young.’ I tried to get into a businesslike mindset. ‘I’m going to grab Shadow from the car. Worst case scenario, he gets a nice walk.’

‘I think that's the best case scenario,’ Sidnee pointed out.

‘Good point.’

I opened the car door and Shadow jumped down with a judgemental yowl to show he hadn’t liked being left behind, but he trotted after us obediently enough – for a cat. We crossed into the back garden and Shadow continued to follow us with only one essential detour to swat at a raven that had been cheeky enough to land and watch us. The raven evaded him with ease, then returned to his perch on an old stump with a vibe that said, ‘ nah nah nah nah nah nah’. Shadow ignored him.

We scanned the backyard but it was typical for the area: mostly overgrown and untended. Other than an overturned wheelbarrow and a stack of wood under a roof built to protect it from the weather, it was empty.

As we walked towards the edge of the woods, Shadow bounded ahead to chase a squirrel. He didn’t appear concerned or cautious, and I counted that as a good sign; previously he’d reacted when the beast was around.

I put my finger to my lips in a ‘shush’ sign and signalled to Sidnee that we should spread out a little. We melted into the woods.

This patch of forest was thick and spooky. The bright lights from the house faded from view as I scanned the surrounding area. Nothing. A broken branch sounded like a shot to my left and I jumped. A whispered ‘Sorry’ from Sidnee made me smile and calmed my heart, which had felt like it wanted to give an extra beat.

When I heard rustling up ahead, I unsnapped my holster and drew my service weapon. I kept it down, pressed against my leg.

‘I don’t see anything,’ Sidnee muttered.

I rolled my eyes; so much for being quiet and sneaking up on anything.

Suddenly Shadow yowled and backed up so that his short tail was touching me. He was staring into the woods. ‘Sidnee!’ I called. She was only a few meters away from me but she heard the panic in my voice and started to run to me – just as the woods in front of me exploded into a mass of thick brown fur.

Fuck!