The Montauk Monster Read Online Free PDF Page A

turned to Dalton and said, “Do it, but be careful. If you find something, take your cues from Anita.”
    “Got it.”
    Now, if I were Anita, where would I be?
    He walked through the crowd of cops, EMS and firemen. Gallows humor was in full effect. People on the outside would be appalled if they could hear the laughter, see the smiles while two people were laid out in pieces just yards away. They’d never understand. If you let the horror creep under your skin, it could destroy you.
    Anita wasn’t among the throng.
    Of course not. Knowing her, she couldn’t stay away from the crime scene. She’d be as close as she could, determining whether or not an animal could have caused such destruction, her mind formulating a case to either protect innocent creatures from being pulled into a dragnet or to humanely put down an animal that had crossed a very hard line.
    Dalton circled back around the dune, away from the flashing lights and out of reach of the blinding brightness of the temporary crime scene lights. He found her sitting behind a stand of waist-high reeds. She’d parted them with a hand and observed the hazmat team as they took pictures.
    “Busted,” Dalton said.
    Anita fell backward, covering her mouth to suffocate a startled shout.
    When she saw Dalton, she shook her head and smiled.
    “You nearly gave me a heart attack, Gray.”
    “Better than leaving you here breathing in God-knows-what. You up to taking a ride?”
    “I was planning to wait until I got the all clear to get closer to the scene, though it seems gruesome enough from here.”
    Dalton looked over at the guys in white suits, taking great care not to step their booted feet into any remains.
    “Trust me, you’ve gotten a good enough view. Your next best bet will probably be in the ME’s office where you can check the bodies for bite marks.” He left out the part about the flesh dissolving from the bones.
    He offered a hand to help Anita to her feet. She tied her long chestnut hair in a ponytail and wiped the sand from the seat of her pants. She was in her late forties, dressed in her everyday uniform of tan slacks with a forest green polo shirt. Her soft, gray eyes could get hard as steel if the moment called for it.
    Anita said, “One thing I can tell you is that no single animal did that, unless we have a starved, half-mad lion on the loose. The closest would be at the Central Park Zoo, and I can’t see an escaped lion making it all the way out here without being spotted—or reported missing.” She took out a pack of gum and offered him a piece.
    “I want to follow up on some other animal disturbance calls that have come in since I found the bodies. I thought you might want to tag along. Maybe we can stop this thing, or things, before someone else gets hurt.”
    Anita took one last look at the crime scene and shook her head. “Lead the way, Officer. I’m all yours. I just need to stop at my van to pick up my tranquilizer gun.”
    When Dalton got to the county squad car closest to the road out of the state park, he talked to Jerry, an EMS driver, who had been driving the car.
    “I think I saw Mickey get out. He was just here talking to Jack a minute ago.”
    Dalton spied Mickey Conrad, a vet on the force, jawing with Jack Brand, a longtime EMS attendant. Dalton couldn’t wait until he was no longer the new kid. It seemed every first responder on this end of the island had been on the job forever.
    “Hey Mick, I need to use your car. Mine’s trapped.”
    Mickey rolled and cracked his neck. His normally salt-and-pepper hair flashed blue and red under the strobing lights. Strong-jawed with an aquiline nose, Conrad looked every bit the hard-line cop, even though he could goof off with the best of them. “What for?”
    “Sergeant Campos wants me to check out some animal disturbance calls, see if they’re what’s behind this.”
    Mickey shot him a long, hard look. His regular shift ended at midnight. He didn’t want to be stuck out