Chapter 17

Detective Jack Cooper was in the middle of signing out from his shift when he received a call from a distraught patrol guard on his walkie-talkie. He had listened with rapt attention to what the man had said, but it made very little sense to him. Someone attacked by a wild animal? In the middle of nowhere? At this time of the night? How?

The patrol guard had left a description on the phone. It was left to him to either retire home for the night like he deserved or follow what his conscience wanted and go have a look at the crime scene the patrol guard had just described. If what he’d said on the phone was true, then Detective Cooper was sure that it was going to cause a lot of tension in the city when it got out.

As he clicked the walkie-talkie off and returned it to his waist strap, he went over the man’s words over and over again in his mind, each time shaking his head in disbelief.

At last, his conscience won the war in his heart and spurred him to action. He gr