Amicia was in the Walland police department. She was sitting in a chair, waiting for Wyatt to retrieve her duffel bag. It had all of the items Amicia had brung along for this trip. The most important of which was the crossbow and bolts. The bolts with ash blessed tips would be crucial for her fight with the variant.
As she escaped the Romero house, she’d seen the variant ripping off the face of the cultists and escaping to the sky. It was a frightening sight. It also meant her knife wouldn’t be of much help if the variant took to the air. Her crossbow would come in handy however. That was why Amicia was sitting in the detective’s chair, waiting for her return.
There were a handful of other officers. Amicia pretended to not notice how they stared at the bruises on her face. In return, they pretended not to see her rummaging through Wyatt’s files on the skinwalker case. Amicia flipped through a file on Jeff Lennart. The cops didn’t have much on Jeff besides him being a noted reporter and his connection to Keith Duggar.
Speaking of Keith, Wyatt had a file on him too. He was raised by a single mother. He married his current wife straight out of high school. He got a teaching license. She got a degree in civil engineering. The two of them moved back to Walland and Keith took a job at the high school. Eventually he got promoted to principal. The two of them never had any kids. Maybe his job as principal of the high school discouraged him from having children. A report on his credit card had him paying a lot of money to a marriage counselor. They billed him for multiple sessions a week. Guess the counseling didn’t go anywhere.
“What are you doing Danvers?” The question came from above her. Amicia casually closed the file she’d been perusing and sat up in her chair.
“Oh, you know. Just getting comfortable.”
“Uh-huh. Out of my chair.”
Amicia rolled her eyes as she stood. The detective flopped into the plush leather seat after placing a duffle bag on the table. “Your things.”
Amicia rummaged through the contents. Her crossbow, a few sets of clothes, and some snacks. Yep. It was all here. Amicia pulled out a packet of gum, ripped open a strip, and popped it into her mouth. The minty sweet taste permeated her senses.
“Thanks. Welp. Guess I’ll get going now.”
“Danvers.”
Amicia turned back. “Yeah?”
“I’ll give you the name of the janitor if you tell me who your source is for the people who went missing in the 60s.”
Amicia considered the offer. Then she noticed something in the corner of her eye. A smirk came to her face as she realized what it was. “I could do that. Or I could just look over to that pinboard with his face and name.”
“What!” Wyatt looked over her shoulder. In one of the conference rooms, there was a board with a photo and name written on a post it note. The name read Travis McCloud. Next to him on the board was the face of Keith Duggar, also labeled with a name. Clearly they’d left the victims’ faces up there for quick reference.
Wyatt was pissed. She searched the room before finding her target. A pudgy man in his 60s was snoring in a cubicle. The detective marched over to him and shook his shoulder to wake him. The man snorted as he woke from his slumber.
“Wha-hey! What’s the big idea? I was having a good nap.”
“Jeffries! How many times have I told you to not leave those blinds open?”
Amicia chuckled lightly as the pair bickered. She bid the detective farewell, “See you around Wyatt.”
She heard them still arguing as she walked out of the room. She needed to get another ride around town. So she ordered a car to be delivered to the station. The app said it’d be around 40 minutes until it actually got here. In the meanwhile, Amicia had some spare time.
She walked out to the parking lot of the station. She could fiddle with her phone until her new rental got here. On the other hand, she could get some information about the janitor. Amicia saw someone walking into the station. He wore grey overalls and a grey cap. A name tag hung from his right breast pocket. Drew, it read. She approached the man.
“Hey!”
“Huh? Uh, hey. Did you need something?”
“Hi, I’m Alicia. I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about a former co-worker of yours?
“Is this about Travis? I’m not sure if I can really talk about that.”
“Drew,right?” He nodded. “Look Drew. I just wanna find out what really happened to Travis. I think he deserves some justice don’t you?”
“I mean yeah, but won’t the cops figure out who did it?”
“C’mon Drew. The cops haven’t even let the press know about Travis’ death. Isn’t that weird? Why keep his death quiet unless they were covering something up.”
“Yeah I guess that is strange. I asked about what happened to Travis a few times, but the cops just blew me off. Told me to go sweep something. It wasn’t very kind of them. I mean, I might not be a cop but I’ve worked with them for years. You’d think they’d at least make a little time to talk to me.”
“Shows a lack of respect doesn’t it? I respect you Drew. I bet you work long hard hours to support your family right?”
“Yeah. I do. Not that the hours add up to much.”
“Well, I’d be glad to pay you for your time. How’s $200 sound?”
The man looked like he might’ve asked for more. Then he rethought it after looking at how battered Amicia looked. “Yeah, ok. What do you want to know?”
“Great! Can you tell me if you noticed anything strange about Travis’ behavior lately?”
“Not really. I know he and his wife were having trouble. Made him kinda grumpy.”
“Any reason why?”
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“They were having trouble conceiving. Travis always wanted kids. He grew up in the foster system. Guy was obsessed with the idea of a white picket fence. Wife, 3 kids. The works. He had a big blowup with his wife and she made him move out.”
“Any idea where?”
“Some motel off Lamar. Tremont something. I’m not sure.”
“Did you tell the police about his new place?”
“I wanted to, but like I said, everyone blew me off.”
“Hm. Well thanks Drew. I appreciated your time.”
Amicia paid the man and waved him goodbye. As she sat in the driver’s seat of a KIA, Amicia pulled up Travis’ profile on her phone. His photos were all of himself and a woman Amicia believed to be his wife. There hadn’t been any posts the past year. Eventually Amicia stopped scrolling and pulled up someone else’ profile. Keith Duggar.
Keith’s profile was filled with himself, his wife, and his school. Dozens of pictures of Keith featuring him at various school events. Sports days. Football games. After school programs. As Amicia considered Keith’s pictures, she felt something click in her head. There was a certain feature that both Keith and Travis had. A widow’s peak. As she went over their photos side by side, Amicia started to notice more and more features that the two men shared. Same eye color. Similar chins. Keith’s was slightly wider, but it was too much of a coincidence to ignore.
Was it possible that these two men were related? On a genetic level at least. They had nothing in common in their social lives. There was no evidence that the two had ever even met before. It was pretty odd considering how small Walland was as a town. She should look into this. First though, she’d go to Travis’ bachelor pad.
The drive down highway 321 was pleasant enough. The road to Travis’ hideaway actually led her a good 20-30 minutes out of Walland. It was one of those long stretches of roads that had everything littered on both sides. Golf courses, hotels, fast food. Turning either left or right got you any of those.
She pulled up to a small motel. There seemed to be a pool in the back. There were faux rocks used for decorations. A small bridge that crossed over land, leading to a gazebo 50 feet away from the lodge itself. Amicia parked her vehicle out in front and walked into the building.
There was a man in his 40s at the reception desk. She approached him.
“Good morning.”
He acknowledged her presence with a professional smile. “Good morning ma’am. Would you like a room?”
“Actually, I’m looking for one of your guests. Travis McCloud. Could you direct me to his room?”
The man straightened up at her request. With a frown, he responded “I’m sorry ma’am. We can’t give out that information. It goes against our policies.”
“Oh, I see. Well, would it be possible for you to give him these documents?” Amicia pulled out an envelope full of blank paper. She’d stopped by an office store to prepare everything.
“I’m a part of his legal representation in an upcoming divorce. It’s very important that he receives these as soon as possible.”
“I can see to that. Who should I say gave a visit?”
“Hannah Wooten from White & Wooten Associates.” Amicia pulled out a $100 dollar bill. She slipped it on the counter in front of the man. “I want to reiterate that it is very important that he gets these papers. The custody of his children might be on the line. Slip it under the door if you have to.”
The man glanced around the room to check if there was anyone else around. When he was satisfied, he palmed the bill and nodded. “I’ll personally make sure it reaches Mr McCloud.”
Amicia smiled at the man. She walked out of the building and hopped back into her car. She drove off, making sure the receptionist heard her doing so. Then she quietly drove to the back parking lot of the motel and waited.
It took an hour but eventually the man out front came out. Amicia spied on him as he walked to a room on the first floor with an envelope in hand. The number on the room said 112. The man knocked on the door at first, waiting for a response. When he didn’t get one, he simply swiped a keycard into the door and chucked the documents into the room. Amicia waited until he was gone and 10 minutes after.
She casually strolled up to the door. Amicia considered how to get into the room. She didn’t have the keycard. She considered just breaking off the handle. Unless. What the hell. Couldn’t hurt to give it a shot. Amicia pulled out a random credit card from her pocket. She shoved it into the key slot. Nothing. Guess she couldn’t be that lucky. The old fashion way?
Amicia slid her card into the little gap between the door and the door frame. She moved the card down until the card was next to the handle. She wiggled both the card and the handle until, click, the door opened. She pushed it open and crept inside.
Travis McCloud’s new home was a single bed motel set up. A TV in front of the bed. No desk. Some kind of air condition machine in the corner. His clothes were littered here and there on the furniture. The sheets were crumpled on the bed. It looked like Travis wasn’t making much of an effort to keep his new home well kept.
Amicia stepped past the envelope with the blank pieces of paper. She started searching for any kind of electronics. A laptop, smartphone. That kind of thing. She looked in his dresser. Beyond crinkly clothes, nothing of note was inside. She searched the dresser underneath the T.V. There she found some kind of game station. It wasn’t until she looked under the bed itself, that Amicia finally got something.
She pulled out several boxes and bags. She went through several personal items. Travis had all of his personal documents and even some of his high school yearbooks. Some time later, Amicia finally got something. It was in the middle of some medical documents detailing why Travis and his wife were having trouble conceiving.
Travis had a case of Klinefelter Syndrome. It meant he had an extra x chromosome leading to low sperm count. This must’ve been why Travis and his wife never had children. It might’ve also been why Travis started to have an affair. The deluded man thought his wife was the issue until the doctor’s told him it was his fault. There was something else too.
After Travis realized his condition, he had an ancestry DNA test done. Based on his handwritten notes accompanying the files, he wanted to find a sperm donor. Someone he shared blood with. Did he actually think his wife would not only take him back after his affair, but also agree to be inseminated by a stranger? Amicia shook his head. God what a skeevy man. She looked over a family tree he’d received and printed off.
Travis, like many others, had more family than he thought. Amicia recognized a few names on the pages. His grandfather was William Buckner. Amicia had heard that name before. He was one of the people that went missing in the 60s. The same time that Daphne’s husband also died.
Amicia’s eyes widened at another revelation in this family tree. Keith Duggar, the skinless man who she’d confronted at Jeff Lennarts home. He was a distant cousin to Travis McCloud. Two men in the same family tree. So far they were the only two to be attacked by the variant.
Amicia had thought that the variant was expanding out and taking new victims. Instead, it was doing exactly what Carrion typed variants did. It was choosing its victims related to people who’d died in the 60s.
Amicia had dismissed the other people in the 60s too quickly. William Buckner had multiple affair partners, leaving behind a multitude of children. Amicia smacked her palm into her face. Why didn’t she check further into this guy? Of course adulterers could have multiple partners. Come on, Ami.
Amicia looked over the information again. There were others related to Buckner in the tree. Amicia started crossing out names. If they weren’t ultimately the result of Buckner’s affairs, she eliminated them from the list. Once she was done, the number of names went down by 66%.
Then she started checking the remaining people online to see where they lived. She got down to just 4 people. 2 of them were Travis and Keith. She crossed them out. The third was a man named Billy Buckner. He was in his 60s and he was a widower. While his wife was alive, they seemed to be perfectly happy. He got crossed off the list too.
Eventually Amicia only had 1 person left. A woman in her 30s named Felicia Henley. Felicia was the only one who fitted into the pattern the variant had established. She was a descendant of William Buckner. She lived right here in Walland. She had 2 children. Her relationship status online was “It’s complicated”. She was Amicia’s best shot at the variant.
Amicia couldn’t find Felicia’s address, but she did find a few photos of Felicia online. The woman was pictured with some kids at a library. Apparently, Felicia Henley worked as a librarian out in Maryville. The Blount county library was only 20ish minutes away. Amicia took all of Travis’ files with her as she rushed out. She had a librarian to check out.