Hominid by R.D. Brady Read Free Book Online Page A

walk.”

CHAPTER 11
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    M adge and Shelby were waiting on the porch when Sasha and Tess drove up. Madge invited them both to dinner. Sasha accepted, but Tess declined. She needed to get home and get caught up. She wanted to get everything set up, check emails, grab a shower, and have an early night so she’d be ready to face tomorrow. Plus, after Abby’s review of the contract, she wasn’t really in the mood for company.
    When Tess pulled up to her cabin just before dusk, she smiled. Just the sight of her place lifted her spirits. Some people loved the hustle and bustle of the city, but Tess would take a little cabin in the woods any time.
    She stepped out and breathed deep. Yup—this was home. She looked around, feeling the quiet. “Come on, girl.”
    Shelby was still in the truck. And instead of hopping out and running around like she usually did, she whined and cowered on the floor.
    Tess whirled around, looking for what was wrong. But she couldn’t see anything. She reached into the back of the truck and pulled out her shotgun. Whenever she traveled, she left her weapons with Madge—the shotgun, a rifle, and her Browning handgun. Teenagers had broken into empty cabins a few times, and Tess didn’t want to take a chance on them finding her weapons.
    “Stay there, girl,” Tess said, closing the door with Shelby inside.
    She walked slowly toward the cabin, straining to hear anything out of the ordinary. But she didn’t see or hear anything out of place until she walked around the side of the cabin and saw some broken tree branches scattered on the ground.
    She frowned. How’d these get here? Windstorm? No, her herb garden and flowerpots sat undisturbed on the porch. And Madge hadn’t said anything about bad weather.
    She walked to the back of the cabin and froze. Beside the window that looked in over the kitchen sink, a giant footprint was clearly outlined on the ground.
    Tess whirled around, her heart pounding. She brought her shotgun to her shoulder. But there was nothing. The forest hummed back at her, giving no indication that a predator was nearby.
    Tess began to shake. She’d never had one come this far out before. Had it somehow tracked her? But why?
    Slowly she continued to make her way around the cabin. She found another print, a heel print, at the window on the other side. She moved away from the cabin, studying the ground a bit farther out. At about twenty feet from the building, just inside the tree line, she found another print.
    Tess looked around, goose bumps breaking out along her skin. There was no smell that she could make out, but she had no doubt that a faint smell was what had scared Shelby. And Tess couldn’t help be a little freaked out as well.
    Still, whoever had visited seemed to be gone now. Tess forced the scientist part of her mind to the forefront. Okay, get some casts and let’s see who we’ve got.
    She headed back to the cabin, cautious of her surroundings. Nothing set off any alarm bells.
    She stopped at the truck and opened the door. “All right, you big chicken, let’s go.”
    Shelby just peered up at her from the floor on the passenger side.
    Tess adopted a gentler tone. “It’s okay, Shelby. I won’t let anything hurt you. Come.”
    Shelby slowly crawled out from her spot. Tess rubbed her back. She hated how hard Shelby was shaking. And she knew that inside, she was shaking just as hard.

CHAPTER 12
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    T ess headed down the path, her thoughts still on the footprints outside her cabin. She had slept little last night, jumping at every sound. But getting back into her routine energized her. As she rounded a mountain maple, her mind ran over everything she’d learned for the millionth time.
    The feet, of course, were fascinating. They truly were amazing—more similar to primitive humans’ feet than gorillas’ or modern humans’. Gorillas had a divergent big toe, but there was none on the casts she’d