Twice Lost: (Forest Wardens: Book 2) by Justin Herzog

Author:Justin Herzog [Herzog, Justin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Creative Writing Mastery
Published: 2021-05-26T16:00:00+00:00

19

“Maybe you’d better start at the beginning,” I said.

Hobart gave a little sniffle and straightened, reaching up to adjust his glasses. He looked haggard, like he’d been fretting away every minute of every hour since I’d seen him last, and was worn down by sheer exhaustion.

“Officer Lache,” he started.

“Call me Gwen,” I said.

“Gwen,” he said. “I have good reason to believe that Carlton Bronie wasn’t killed by a bear. I believe he was murdered, possibly by Benson and his thugs.”

“Okay,” I said, drawing the word out. “What makes you think that?”

“I read the official report,” he said. “It stated that Carlton’s remains were found just outside of the Whitney Commons Park, roughly a quarter mile from his hotel.”

“So what?”

“It doesn’t fit with what I know of Carlton,” Hobart said. “He was, how should I put this? Not the outdoorsman type.”

“You don’t have to be an avid outdoorsman to go for a walk in the park,” I said. “And bears have been known to prowl around the outskirts of Sheridan, especially in the winter if they get desperate for food.”

“Maybe I’m not explaining this well,” Hobart said. “It wasn’t that Carlton had anything against the outdoors. It’s just, he was addicted to Heroes of HackQuest.”

“Is that supposed to mean something to me?”

“It’s a game,” he said. “An online, fantasy role-playing game. A lot of the corporate guys at McGrew play, those of us that don’t have wives or kids. We even formed an all-minotaur guild. We call ourselves the Holy Cows.”

“That’s just wrong,” I said. “But I don’t see how it correlates to the bear attack.”

“For most of us, the game was just a hobby, a fun way to kill time on the road, but not Carlton. He lived for the game. Every dime he didn’t spend on rent or food went into his character. There was even a rumor going around that he took out a second mortgage on his house to afford a custom set of armor.”

“Okay,” I said. “So, he’s some sort of uber nerd?”

“Definitely,” Hobart said. “At the company picnic retreat two years ago, Carlton showed up wearing a personal power pack and his own password-protected hotspot so he could play. Believe me, the only way Carlton would have run afoul of a bear is if it came barreling straight into his hotel room.”

“Let’s say you’re right,” I said. “Someone offed Carlton and dressed it up to look like a bear attack.” I paused and glanced over to Sam. “Could someone do that?”

“I honestly don’t know,” Sam said. “I mean, theoretically, it’s possible. Especially if the investigators weren’t looking too hard, but, my God, it would be messy.”

Neither of us mentioned the other option, that maybe it hadn’t been a bear at all. That maybe something had come through his hotel room, something like the Bloodhoof, and he’d managed to make it outside and a quarter mile before it finally caught up with him.

I glanced back toward Hobart. “None of this explains why you think Benson wants you dead.

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