The Beast of 1977 (Book 1)

Without looking back, Linus shut the door to the empty, grey bricked interrogation room before sitting himself down behind the small desk that was placed directly in the middle of the cement floor. Besides the bathrooms, it was the only place in the entire police station where an officer could grab a piece of momentary privacy.

On the desk sat a tan telephone that was layered from top to bottom with multicolored transfer buttons. The man loosened his blue spotted tie for more neck room.Linus sat and stared blankly at the phone on the table in the interrogation room as though it were a bomb ready to go off at any second. His stiff right hand wanted more than anything to pick up the receiver, but the circuitry in his brain wasn't exactly prepared to register such a strenuous task yet.

He looked up at the blurry window ahead of him in the door to see large silhouettes pass by in the hallway. Back and forth his eyes zoomed, from the door to the phone, until at last his hand managed to disobey the ongoing orders that his brain had been receiving.

Slowly, he punched the number nine and seven more numbers after that one. As if he could sense a slap coming right at his face, Linus clinched his body in anticipation for an answer.

"Hello?" A young, female's voice eagerly spoke.

"Hey there, kiddo, how are you?" Linus cleared his dry throat, just grateful to hear the girl's playful voice.

"I'm find, dad." The girl giddily replied. "How are you doing?"

"Not bad, I just called to see how everything was going with you ladies."

"It's going pretty good, I guess." She sighed.

"You guess?"

"Well...I guess I'd better get it out in the open before mom tells you. I got a D in algebra."

Linus gladly exhaled before asking, "What are you doing getting a D, Tabitha? You're a smart girl. And just what are you doing home from school today anyways?"

"I know, dad, it's just...algebra is so damn hard, and our teacher is such a witch. The teachers are having their conferences, by the way."

"Does your mother know that you're using that king of language, young lady?"

"Sorry. So darn hard," Tabitha groaned.

Smiling, Linus said, "You just have to keep working at it. You may not realize it now, but that witch of a teacher could be the best thing to ever happen to you."

"I suppose so. So, uh...we all heard about what happened up there in Cuyahoga. How you caught that kidnapper and all."

"I didn't catch anyone; something else beat us to the punch."

"Yeah, well at least it's all over now."

"For now, or until the next perv comes crawling out of the sewer." Linus sighed before taking a long breath. "How's your sister doing?"

Tabitha hesitated at first before replying, "She's okay. She still won't eat much. Mom says she eats like grandma used to when she was still alive."

"Like a bird?" Linus' smile shrank.

"Something like that."

"Listen, uh, is your mom around by any chance?"

"Yeah, she's in the kitchen. Do you want me to go and get her?"

"Would you please, honey?" Linus held his breath and tightened his fists. In the background he could hear Tabitha's mother speaking. He could tell just by her distant tenor that he was the last person she wanted to talk to.

"Hello?" The woman answered in a melancholy nature as though she were being inconvenienced.

"Hi there," Linus perked up. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, Linus. How are you?" She defensively replied.

"Not bad, not bad. I just called to see how everything was."

"Everything is going just fine." The woman sarcastically said.

"Tabi tells me that Liz is still...still not eating."

The woman sighed, "Well, after what she went through, eating is probably the last thing on her mind. I'm glad that you were able to catch your kidnapper, though. Were you able to find whatever it was that killed him?"

"No, not yet," Linus rolled his eyes. "But I didn't call to talk about that."

"What did you call about then, Linus?"

"Actually, I was wondering if it...if I could come down this weekend and see you guys."

There was an inflated pause over the phone at that instant. Linus held his breath and shut his eyes.

"Linus...I don't think that would be a very good idea; at least not yet."

Sitting back in his seat, Linus asked, "And why not, Alice? I haven't seen the girls since Thanksgiving, for Christ's sake."

"Linus, you just got off of a case that you've been working on since last September."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"You know full well how you get too involved in your cases. You bring them home with you. I don't think it would be wise to bring this particular one all the way down to Xenia."

Linus dropped his head to the table and rubbed his blushing face in anguish. "I only wish you could have seen the girl we found in that madman's basement, Alice. The look on that child's face," Linus gulped. "She looked just like—

"Stoppit, Linus! Just stoppit!" Alice furiously screamed into the phone. "Do you see what I mean? I don't want to know what happened down in some murderer's basement, and I surely don't want our daughters to know! Elizabeth is a vegetable, and you want to come all the way here with that hanging over your head?"

"I need to see them!" Linus suddenly roared into the phone.

There sat another stretch of silence before Alice calmly uttered in a condescending tone, "And you wonder why we left."

Linus pulled the phone away from his ear and began to massage his pulsating temples as though they were ready to explode.

"Linus, just give yourself some time. Give us all some time; perhaps around spring, when all of this has finally died down. When Liz is better, then...then maybe you can come."

aching head in his hands while sitting at the desk and brooding over his daughters' faces, as well as the smug manner in which his wife carried on during their conversation. He wanted to tear right through the phone. Not once did the thought of saying goodbye even enter

red button on the bottom repeatedly

"Hey, buddy, the old man wants to see

"Okay," Linus sighed, "I'm on my way." The detective hung up the

variety thugs being carried in from off the cold streets for whatever crimes that had committed. He secured his gun belt around his shoulder and began down a long, grubby hallway that led to an

while rounding the

alarmed, Linus looked back with a morose glaze on his face and asked, "How did you know

to put two and two together." Alan said

"Same as

sure," Alan

"Yeah," Linus kept his eyes to

reached the third floor, both men just happened to stop right in the middle

as usual," Alan asked with a hard

as to not allow his partner to see his misty eyes; he then looked back up and asked,

glum appearance on his chunky face, looking as if the words that he wanted to say were still trapped inside his head.

mean to tell

only thing on TV that Peggy and I actually enjoy together, if you

is waiting." Officer

Linus and Alan carried on to the captain's office. The second Linus opened

"C'mon in, you two," the gruff, country speaking captain ordered as he put out his cigarette in the glass ashtray that sat on the

spots while his thin build suggested that life on the force had taken its toll on his body. His

Starsky and Hutch, in the flesh." The captain coughed while gesturing for the detectives to take a seat in the two chairs in front of

"Damn TV show." Alan griped,

especially since you're carrying a cold." Linus said

nothing to do with this cold I have." The captain hacked again. "When you have a wife that teaches second graders, she's bound to bring home some of their germs

but I wasn't the one who ended it all." Linus

it's all over now. But, speaking of the one who ended it all, I was just listening to this tape right before you two stepped in." The captain said before pressing the play button

the beast's roars and snarls all over again. Linus sulked in his seat like a five year old, still not believing that it was only a day removed from

pushing the off button. "He barely got

"Yeah, poor baby," Alan

feedback about this thing being a wolf, or something of that nature. But what everyone around this place seems to forget is that I was born and raised out in the hills of Montana, and in all my years I've never heard a wolf sound anything like that. And believe me, I know exactly what a wolf sounds like. Hearing a

Alan shrugged, "we have reason to believe that we may be dealing with

as he opened the captain's door ever so

"Come on in, Patrick." The captain

to barge in like this." The young man humbly panted as if he had been running while holding two green folders underneath his right armpit. "I was told that you three would be here, so I just thought I'd go ahead

"Whaddya got?" The captain asked while leaning back in

one of the folders, the young forensic examiner said, "Well, three things. First off, I ran the animal's recording through the voice analyzer. Believe it or not, this is not a wolf, or even a

down, son." The captain motioned. "Just slow down and

in. "You mean to stand there and say that our so

"Hold on, Linus, there's more." Brice continued to

"There always

the fur follicles we found. It's all wolf hair, every single strand. But on top of that, and you're not gonna believe this. The saliva I found

Brice with sour expressions on their warm faces; not a single hint of emotion could be seen.

to see or hear what was

the door, son."

completely pale face, Brice did as commanded before standing straight

a composed and dignified demeanor, "Son...just what do you suppose we do with that bit of information? Do you think it's wise that we just allow you, or anyone else for that matter, to leak that out to

All Linus could do was sit and watch Brice, who was still stuck in statue mode, stare at the captain as if he were a

I want you to do. I want you to strike everything

as though a searing hot spotlight were glaring down upon

captain looked dead into the man's eyes and simply asked, "What do you

Brice all looked back at the captain with the most innocent and confused poses

"Let's just say that you got the animal's saliva mixed

too wound up to be contained, Brice opened his mouth and said, "But, captain, that's

The captain

"Yes, sir," Brice

pretend this is 'Sesame Street' and we'll say it together. There was no saliva sample to speak of. Alan?" He pointed with his

he had a choice in the matter, Fitzpatrick simply uttered,

"Linus," the captain dead-eyed the man. "No saliva

"No sample, Captain." The young man blushed while grudgingly stuffing his all-important data back into

"Good. Now,

"Well, it's one hundred percent

whatever it is, said that it wasn't a wolf. How do

"Captain, I didn't make the thing, I just

"Not unless we're talking about the quote, unquote, Jaws of all wolves. Something that's super big and running free and loose out

added. "It seemed pretty damn

the snow. It has a...foot size of at least sixteen. Just on all fours, it measured up to six and a half feet long. Assuming this thing is capable of standing, like a bipedal, I'd say it was

once again leaned back in his

city to be chasing after some overgrown...whatever. But I was thinking, right before you fellas came

up, "Brice mentioned that yesterday. Something just broke into that house and tore

"Wilson." The captain answered. "Both he and his wife finally took that vacation to Hawaii. I guess they watched that Brady Bunch episode with Vincent Price one too many

Brice all sniggered while

Wilson saying something about some hair being left behind."

"So that means either we have two of these things

it's gonna go." The captain said, placing his hands on his desk and leaning forward with a serious presence behind his mustache. "Cummins is dead. That now leaves us with something that is possibly even more dangerous. So, it killed three drug dealers and a sicko car salesman. Big fucking deal. As far as I'm concerned, we're all better off. But two nights ago, it managed to break into a house and kill four little girls and their parents. Inside

"Well, what do we do, hire an old

at least." The captain remarked. "I want you to put a task force together by the end of the day. No more than four men. Hook up with Cuyahoga Falls and the highway patrol. We all seemed to work pretty well with each other these past few months; I don't see why

said, promptly wiping the cheesy

retrieve Wilson's file and see if you can dig up something more on this thing. As I

on it, Captain." Brice, with a dower expression on his face,

into the wooden chair that he was attached to. For a few brief moments there melted a quaint silence between

took you six months, but you finally did it." The captain smirked

Linus' face at that second. He was visibly weary of all the attention that was

he apprehensively muttered. "I'm

stared unceasingly at Linus in humble adoration before