Mystery Noir

Mawaska Part 2

The town of Mawaska did not have a paper, or much else of a 'news' machine, other than what appeared to be a small-town word of mouth. The library was stocked with more books than I had expected to find, from reference to romance and everything in between. It was one of the largest buildings in the town limits, other than the feed store, and though it had computers, it did not have reference systems.

When I asked for a town history, the librarian had given me a curious look and shook her head. Apparently no one had bothered to write down a town history, and the public records department appeared to be closed for a couple weeks, as the only person working the government building other than councillors and mayor, appeared to be on vacation.

Mawaska's internet footprint was relatively small, a tourist website that listed the restaurants, hotels and emergency services, along with one or two mentions on social media, by way of 'check ins' at the local diner.

I spent all day doing a background check on a town that I wouldn't believe existed, if I wasn't inside of it as I completed it.

Weird.

I hopped on my bike while the sun was still up and road through the town and down every back road I could find, looking for a dump site, a back road that people would have disappeared down, some creepy farm with a junk yard filled with missing people's cars.

Anything.

I found nothing but nice-looking farmsteads, plenty of trailheads for hiking, that looked well used by the locals, judging from the vehicles in the parking lots. I drove down every street in and around Mawaska and only noticed nice, well off housing and perfectly adjusted looking people.

They didn't even give off the stepford, robot, vibe that you would expect from such a perfect place to live. The only odd thing was, that there was a pretty even population of humans and nonhumans intermingling together.

If my sixth sense was anything to go by, anyways.

I was driving back into town along one of the back roads, when I saw the truck of tweedle dee and tweedle dumb parked alone in a parking lot of one of the trailheads that had been more popular earlier. Due to supernatural preference for nighttime, I had thought that there would be more vehicles around, for those non-humans who wanted to run free under the stars away from town.

But it appeared that I had been wrong. Or people had sensed the presence of the assholes and vacated the area. I pulled in my bike across the lot, watching the empty truck with a growing pit of concern, playing with my keys as I debated stalking them for the night. I knew they were up to nothing good and didn't want anyone to get hurt, but even I wasn't dumb enough to think that if push came to shove, I could chase after them on my own.

And what if, hidden under this mystery and seemingly perfect example of a community of inclusivity, there was something nefarious going on? Should I really get distracted by whatever these two idiots were up to?

I had not yet decided on what I should do, when a sleek black SUV pulled into the parking lot, bright white letters proclaiming "Sheriff" on the side as it circled past the truck then slowly rolled up toward me. The windows were mostly tinted, and those that weren't, reflected the sunshine enough that it was only when they had pulled beside me and unrolled the passenger window, I noticed that it was Enzo and Ver, both watching me from behind dark sunglasses.

I flipped up my helmet visor and raised a brow. "Evening."

"Found what you're looking for yet, Doctor?" Ver was watching me with a curious calculation in his expression and I could only guess that they had run my name, probably off my plates as I was wandering around town and figured out who I was.

"No, actually." I shook my head and frowned. "Not at all."

Without responding to me, both of their gazes turned back toward the trailhead and the windows rolled up. Then the SUV pulled toward where the truck was parked, effectively blocking what was happening from my view.

And blocking the view of me from whomever was coming out of the woods. I heard Luke's voice not long after. "Evening Sheriff!"

"Evening gentlemen." Ver called out from the driver's side." Good hike?"

"Beautiful hike!" Todd returned. "Have a great night, Sheriff!"

I heard the slam of car doors, then the grumble of the engine before the truck roared out of the parking lot. I watched the SUV sit in place for several moments, before it slowly pulled out and turned to follow the two idiots.

I told myself that they were just being cops, and that they were more concerned about those two more than the curiosity about what I was doing in the area. But a small, growling voice in the back of my mind grumbled that they better not be thinking that they were protecting me, or any misogynistic bullshit like that.

With a shake of my head, I started up my bike then frowned when I saw a flash of movement in the trees by the trailhead. I sat, waiting for the movement to happen again. When I was convinced there was nothing there anymore, I left my bike running, but walked across the parking lot to the trail head.

It didn't take long for me to find a large feline track in the mud leading deeper into the ever-darkening forest. I crouched down in front of it and stared at the print, about twice the size of any that would naturally be in the area. Then, noticing that the forest was now pitch black, I stood and made my way back to the parking lot, hand slipping to rest over the knife hilt on my belt.

I knew logically that in a fight with a shapeshifter, I would be hard pressed to defend myself with only a knife, but it still gave me comfort until I was on my bike and pulling away from the place.

I took the long way back into town, partially to avoid trailing after Luke and Todd and also to give myself time to think. A full day's work and I had found nothing tangible. The town had supernaturals in it and was remarkably hidden from the rest of the world, but I could not find a trace of anything nefarious.

I would have to dig a little deeper and start really looking into the missing persons cases, to see how they all intersected here, for some reason.