Werewolf in the North Woods Read Online Free PDF Page A

led the way to Flannigan’s and soon they were seated opposite each other in a cozy booth surrounded by gleaming mahogany paneling and jeweled light from Tiffany shades.
    The place was nearly empty at this time of day, which meant Abby could actually hear the Irish ballads on the bar’s sound system for a change. She’d been in here with Grandpa Earl and Grandma Olive on summer nights when the noise level had made conversation impossible. Both her grandparents, Irish to the core, had enjoyed sipping a pint of beer served in a publike atmosphere.
    After Grandma Olive died last year, Grandpa Earl had stopped going to Flannigan’s. But then he’d sighted the Bigfoot pair and had headed to the bar with his pictures and his story. Abby’s heart squeezed as she imagined how excited he must have been to share his discovery.
    Roarke ordered a Guinness and Abby did, too. Being in Flannigan’s always brought out the Irish in her.
    The beer, served in glass mugs, arrived quickly. Abby lifted hers in a salute. “Here’s to scientific inquiry.”
    “I’m for that.” Roarke touched his mug to hers. Then he took a sip and set the mug on its coaster. “I’m going to guess you have some ulterior motive for coming to the meeting today.”
    “Of course.” She savored the tang of the dark beer, which she drank only when she was in Flannigan’s. “Have you known the Gentrys long?”
    An emotion flickered in his green eyes. “No. My dad knows Cameron Gentry’s parents.”
    “The Gentrys have wanted Dooley land for years.”
    “I’m aware of that.”
    Damn, but he was good-looking, which made it tougher to concentrate on her mission. “You’re a smart guy, Roarke. You also must have figured out that Cameron Gentry wants to make my grandfather into a laughingstock so he’ll give up and sell.” She waited, wondering if he’d try to deny it.
    He gazed at her for a long time before sighing. “Yes, I know.”
    “That’s not very nice.”
    “You’re right, it isn’t, but there were other issues, like concerns about trespassers. Once your grandfather made a public announcement of his supposed discovery, the Gentrys had to deal with unwanted curiosity seekers. That wasn’t fair to them.”
    “Come on. Don’t tell me that was a huge problem for them. With all their money, I’m sure they have a security system to end all security systems.”
    “They have a surveillance system, but—”
    “Roarke, if I tell you something, can you promise not to take it right back to the Gentrys?”
    He hesitated, as if weighing that. “All right.”
    “I’d like to see my grandfather sell that land, too.”
    “You would?”
    “Absolutely. He’s all alone up here now that my grandmother’s gone. That little general store he runs out by the main road is a lot of work, but he doesn’t make enough to justify hiring help. The rest of his family moved to Arizona years ago, and now we want him to come down there. It would be so much better for his arthritis and we could keep an eye on him as he gets older.”
    Roarke frowned. “So why hasn’t he done that?”
    “Bigfoot. He wanted to see that creature just once.”
    “And now he thinks he has.”
    “Right. And he might have sold out after that, except the Gentrys brought you in to rain all over his parade. Now he says the only way he’ll leave is feetfirst.”
    Leaning back in the booth, Roarke scrubbed a hand over his face. Then he began to chuckle.
    “It isn’t funny.”
    “Oh, but it is.” Shaking his head, he picked up his mug and took a swallow of his beer.
    “Not to my grandfather.”
    “No, I suppose not.” Roarke returned his mug to its coaster. “Abby, I regret making your grandfather look foolish, but in a way, he left himself open to it with his flimsy case.”
    She felt compelled to defend Grandpa Earl. “If you’d searched for something all your life, and then you found it, wouldn’t you tell people? Wouldn’t you show them the picture, even if it