Critter Catchers Book Five
A Christmas spent far from home. Cody’s father gone missing. Clues that point to another monster case.
Demetrius accompanies Cody on a trip to visit his parents in Colorado for Christmas. The house is packed with Cody’s four brothers and their extended families, which is something close to chaos and means Cody and Demmy are sleeping on the living room floor of Grant, his oldest brother. Soon after their arrival, they learn Cody’s father’s truck has been found in a ditch with no sign of his father and are out the door.
Everything going crazy around them makes Cody appreciate what he and Demmy have found together, and he opens up to his family about the true depth of their relationship. There are mixed reactions, but Cody's honesty with his family proves to Demetrius just how important he's become to Cody, and he realizes he couldn't ask for a better Christmas gift.
Between Greg Bower’s disappearance, Grant's cannabis greenhouse, and a trip to the mall with Cody’s nieces and nephews, the guys also manage to find themselves smack dab in the middle of another monster case when a sasquatch makes a terrifying appearance. As they high-step for their lives through the deep Colorado snow, they’ll end up saving a movie stuntman with a terrible sense of direction and writing Cody’s nephew an IOU for a brand new drone.
Cody stopped and leaned against a hardwood tree to catch his breath and looked back. Demmy had paused as well, propping himself against a different tree as he panted. His face was red, and sweat stood out on his forehead just beneath his hat.
"This deep snow is hard to walk through," Demmy said.
"This may not have been my best idea."
"Better than trying to skateboard down my road by holding onto the back fender of my bike."
Cody chuckled and flexed his knee. "I still have the scars from those scrapes."
"I'm very aware of every one of your scars." Demmy grinned and waggled his eyebrows.
"If I weren't afraid of passing out trying to peel off all your layers, I'd be all over you right now."
"You say the sweetest things."
READ MOREBefore Cody could suggest they turn back, he heard a sound. From Demmy's expression, he'd heard it too. Cody looked into the trees ahead of them. The sun was sinking fast, and the light played tricks with his eyes, making shadows seem to move. He held up a hand for Demmy to stay where he was and took three long, careful steps.
Something moved behind a tree about ten feet in front of him. It was tall and broad and looked like it was covered in hair.
Fucking hell. It could be a bear. Or Demmy might have been right about that footprint.
Cody started to look back at Demmy and motion for him to retreat, but the tall, broad, hairy figure moved. It faced away from them, shifting position as the muscles in its back flexed. It lifted its leg, pulling a massive foot out of the snow and planting it behind for better support.
And then it turned and looked over its shoulder right at him.
"Run!" Cody shouted.
He turned away from the thing and took off running. Demmy wasted no time asking what he'd seen. He had already turned and started running back the way they'd come.
Cody heard the thing rumble some kind of growl, and the sound urged him to move faster. Demmy was a few feet in front of him, high-stepping to clear the snow, both of them grunting and panting.
A mix of growls and snorts from behind sent shivers through him. He expected to feel a big hand grab his shoulder and spin him around, and then the thing would choke him until it crushed his neck.
How far had they walked away from the wider animal run? It felt like they had been trying to escape forever.
He risked a glance back, and his heart hammered even faster.
The thing was bounding after them, the fur around its face dusted with snow, highlighting the simian appearance. It reached out for him, but Cody was a few feet out of its reach.
"Faster!" Cody shouted.
Demmy looked back, his eyes big and his mouth a dark O of shock and exertion.
"What the fuck?" Demmy managed to shout between gasps.
"Just go!"
They burst out of the trees onto the animal run. Free of the thigh-deep snow, Demmy sprinted through the more widely-spaced pine trees and out into the open field. Cody was just a few feet behind him, and he could see people standing around the police cruisers in the gas station parking lot on the other side of the field.
He looked back and gasped with relief. The thing had not pursued them across the animal run. Cody could barely see its outline, glaring at him from behind a couple of trees.
Cody slowed a bit and managed to say, "Demmy… It's okay… It stopped."
Demmy looked back and then tripped over his own feet and went down on the snow. He reached Demmy and dropped to his knees beside him. They were both out of breath as they looked at each other.
"You okay?" Cody asked.
Demmy nodded. "Was it…?"
"Bigfoot? Most likely." Cody looked back, but the thing had moved back into the trees out of sight. "Fucking monsters."
COLLAPSE