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."

daughters' faces, as well as the smug manner in which his wife carried on during their conversation. He wanted to

rang. The red button on the bottom repeatedly flashed. Linus reluctantly picked up

buddy, the old man wants

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

sounds of ringing telephones, arguing hookers and every day, garden 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

called out while

back with a morose glaze on his face and asked, "How did

Alan

"Same as

sure," Alan

"Yeah," Linus kept

both men just happened to stop right in the middle

as usual," Alan asked with a hard stare into Linus'

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

glum appearance on his chunky face, looking as if the words that he wanted to say

"Oh darn, you mean to tell me that you missed 'Rerun'

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

captain is waiting." Officer

captain's office. The second Linus

captain ordered as he put out his cigarette in the glass

build suggested that life on the force had taken its toll

and Hutch, in the flesh." The captain coughed while

TV show."

you'd quit that, especially since you're carrying a cold." Linus said as he sat

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 sooner or

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

"Perhaps not, but quite frankly, 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

Everyone gathered listened to the beast's roars and snarls all over again. Linus sulked in his seat like a five year

the captain offhandedly mumbled while pushing the off button. "He barely got a word out before getting

"Yeah, poor baby," Alan arrogantly

in the hills of Montana, and in all my years I've never heard a wolf sound anything like that. And believe me,

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

as he opened the captain's

"Come on in,

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

"Whaddya got?" The captain asked while

animal's recording through the voice analyzer. Believe it or

son." The captain motioned. "Just

"Wait a minute." Linus stepped in. "You mean to stand there and say that our so called

"Hold on, Linus, there's

"There always

every single

warm faces; not a single hint of emotion could be seen. They possessed the appearance of someone who could sense that the world as they knew it would end the very next

by the door, waiting to see or hear what was going to take place

the door,

Brice did as commanded before standing straight and still in

The captain then eyeballed the nervous young man while slipping his frail fingers into the other before asking in 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

All Linus could do was sit and watch Brice, who was still stuck in

you to do. I want you to strike everything you just mentioned about that saliva off

hot spotlight were glaring down upon him, "you're not just gonna ignore

looked dead into the

most innocent and

say that you got the animal's saliva mixed up with

contained, Brice opened his mouth and said, "But, captain,

"Shh." The captain nodded. "We're gonna say

"Yes, sir," Brice hesitantly recoiled. "We'll say

fact, let's all say that. Let's pretend this is 'Sesame Street' and we'll say it together. There was no saliva sample to speak of. Alan?"

As if he had a choice in the

"Linus," the captain dead-eyed the man.

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

"Good. Now, what

it's one hundred percent wolf fur alright. No

it is, said that it wasn't a

make the thing, I just operate

all wolves. Something that's super big and running free

added. "It seemed pretty damn big to

this thing's strides in the snow. It has a...foot size of at least sixteen. Just on all fours, it measured up to six and a

again leaned back in his seat and glanced over at the gloomy sky outside his

we. We've got entirely too much to handle here in the big city to be chasing after some overgrown...whatever. But

Linus spoke up, "Brice mentioned that yesterday. Something just broke into that house

"Wilson." The captain answered. "Both he and his wife finally took that vacation to Hawaii. I

Linus, Alan and Brice all sniggered

do remember Wilson saying something about some hair being left behind." Brice pondered. "I sure wish

"So that means either we have two of these

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

"Well, what do we do, hire an old time

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

"Yes, sir," Alan said, promptly wiping the cheesy

see if you can dig up something more on this

with a dower expression on his face,

that he was attached to. For a few

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

A forced grin graced Linus' face at that second. He was

"Finally," he apprehensively muttered. "I'm just

captain sat and stared unceasingly at Linus in humble adoration before saying, "I know how