A Tangle With Sasquatch

By Reese Currie

As Creigh and Natalia travel home, Natalia wants to know the story of Creigh's first mission for Jack, the shadowy government figure who uses Creigh and others to keep the paranormal a closely guarded secret. Creigh tells her this story from the past, about scientists coming once again to a lonely cottage in Ontario seeking evidence of sasquatch. Creigh's mission was to make sure, one way or another, that they did not return home with the evidence they seek. How far can Creigh's conscience allow him to go in keeping Jacks' secrets--and his own life?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Reese Currie
• Release date: Jan 14, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311275820

Reese Currie

Reese Currie has had the creative writing bug in his soul from a very young age. Now in his middle age, he is finally releasing the floodgates on his passions, including his passion for fiction writing.

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A Tangle with Sasquatch

By Reese Currie

Copyright 2014 by Reese Currie

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Chapter One

My name is Creighton Zee. My wife Natalia and I were flying back to Toronto, Canada after having dealt with a vampire in Serbia. It had been a difficult case for her, because she had been bitten, but fortunately we knew the appropriate remedies and she had been verified clear with a sprinkling of holy water.

We had just barely taken off when Natalia turned to me and said, So, tell me this story about sasquatch, and the first job you did for Jack.

I looked around at the passengers flying with us, seeing if there was anyone who could overhear. I don't know if it's a good idea to talk about that on an airplane.

We have this row to ourselves, and nobody can hear us, Natalia said. Please?

It's a really long story, I muttered.

She looked at our surroundings and said, We've got nothing but time.

I'll tell you on the drive home, I said. We've got a long drive from Ottawa.

She looked a tad disappointed.

I shook my head. Don't want to talk about it where there's the slightest chance of being overheard.

Natalia sighed. Fine, she said.

We sat in silence for a few moments.

That's the first time you've ever used 'fine' on me, I commented.

Natalia chuckled. Sorry about that.

We'll find other ways to pass the time on the plane ride, I said. I looked around a bit, and took a long look at the bathroom door. We could join the mile-high club, I suggested.

Natalia looked at me with her best unimpressed look. Let's see what movies there are instead, she said.

So we passed the time watching in-flight movies on little screens built into the seats ahead of us. It was harder than usual to find a good one in English, since we were flying Air France.

Hours later, we landed in Toronto and then had the short hop to Ottawa. We caught a cab to the storage facility where I had left the car. I took three credit cards out of my pocket and formed a triangle with them, and peered through the triangular hole to examine the car in detail, to make sure it hadn't been booby-trapped. The thing with the credit cards was a trick I had learned from reading private investigator Jay J. Armes' autobiography. The idea of it is to remove visual noise, so you can focus on what you're looking at without distractions.

I found nothing amiss under the car. After a careful inspection around the trunk lid, I opened the trunk, moved our luggage out, and checked on the rifle and the 1911. Both were there, the 1911 locked in a case in the spare tire compartment. I opened the case to be positively sure a clever thief hadn't gotten it. As I looked at the 1911, I remembered the first 1911 I had used, and thought a bit about the story Natalia wanted me to tell.

I closed it back up in its case and replaced it in the spare tire compartment. Then we took the luggage and examined it, checking it carefully for any booby-traps. Again finding nothing, we put the luggage back in the trunk. I opened the car doors and checked the interior of the car carefully. Again, there was nothing.

Okay, we're clear, I said. I'm feeling beat. Do you want to drive, or go back to the Chateau Laurier for the night?

Big spender, Natalia commented.

We've got six hundred and sixty six thousand dollars, between the two of us, I said, reminding her of the big payoff we had gotten for the case in Serbia. I don't want to stop in Quebec, not knowing the language, so our next stop is Edmundston, New Brunswick. Almost a ten hour drive. It's about thirteen hours to my house, so we might be able to make it straight through. If we don't, though, I promise we'll go back to cheap motels after we're over the New Brunswick border.

Natalia sighed. I guess I can live with another night at the Laurier, she said with a smile.

Of course, there are three Fairmonts in Quebec, I said. The Chateau Montebello, the Chateau Frontenac, and the Tremblant.

You're forgetting The Queen Elizabeth in Montreal, Natalia said.

Oh, yeah, I said. I didn't think of that one. I try to avoid Montreal on the way home.

That's possible?

Sure, you turn off at Route 30, I said. The off-ramp says you're going to Toronto, but that's because there's a turn-off almost immediately on Route 30 to go to Toronto. Keep it straight and you rejoin Route 20 on the other side of Montreal.

Why do you avoid Montreal? Natalia asked.

Fighting werewolves and vampires is bad enough, I said. Dealing with Montreal's drivers is too much.

She laughed, and we got in the car and went straight to the Chateau Laurier. We enjoyed a meal at Wilfrid's, and a couple of drinks at Zoe's, then went up to our room and crashed.

We were lying there in dark when Natalia's hushed voice came.

You are going to tell me about the sasquatch case tomorrow, she said.

I am, I said.

We were out of the hotel by nine o'clock the next morning and on the road, with me driving. We had barely gotten out of town when Natalia said, Okay, I've been waiting two days to hear this story. Spill.

I sighed heavily, trying to think of where to begin. Well, I told you about how I had confronted a man who had assaulted one of my friends and made him apologize.

Yes, I remember. You confronted him at gunpoint.

Well, I said, it turned out to be a very effective way to make an arrogant man apologize. Nothing else was going to happen to him because the RCMP had dragged their feet and hadn't collected any evidence. Even though there was video evidence, they waited until after the evidence was gone, after the tape had been overwritten, before they went to collect it.

I remember.

That guy was a lawyer and lobbyist with lots of political connections, I said. He knew he was an untouchable, and couldn't imagine that anyone could hurt him for what he did to my friend.

I thought hard for a moment, trying to remember his name, then it came to me. Guy's name was Quigley. If Jack can be believed, things didn't work out very well for Quigley in the end.

After that, you went to the woods to chill out and rethink things, and ended up shooting a sasquatch, Natalia added.

Yeah. You know, I thought I was actually shooting over the head of a bear. I had hoped to scare the bear away, but it hit the sasquatch. I sighed. I should have verified my target.

You would probably have had to shoot him anyway, Natalia said, trying to be helpful.

Probably not, actually, I replied. "Sasquatch are actually pretty meek and timid creatures, normally. Much more timid than a bear. People see bears. People see sasquatch so rarely that anybody reporting a sighting is considered crazy. So you know they must be much more timid, and generally keep away from people. If I'd just gone to take a