One post at a time

[Birdie]

Jack walked into the Sheriff's office and introduced himself. "Glad to meet you," the Sheriff said, "but what's this about you being Jack Adams, Jr.? Got any ID?" Jack produced his driver's license and Sheriff Wolf eyed him over his glasses. "Welll, the Sheriff began slowly, "it seems we have a problem." "What's that?" Jack replied.

[Occupant]

"The man in the morgue's dental records say he's Jack Adams, Jr. So let's try this again son. Who are you, and how did you come to have Mr. Adam's ID?" the sheriff said leaning forward and fixing Jack with a steely gaze.

[Birdie]

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to hold you for questioning," the Sheriff continued. "Whoa! Wait just a minute there, Sheriff," Jack protested. "You think I had something to do with this guy's death? Why would I have come in here voluntarily to talk to you if I were guilty of something?"

[Occupant]

"Fair enough, but since we're playing twenty questions, why would you suggest Mr. Adam's death was a homicide when it was ruled an accident twelve years ago?" the sheriff countered. Before Jack could respond, the Sheriff picked up the phone and told the desk clerk to send his Deputy in.

[Birdie]

The Deputy came in and said, "Yes sir, what's up?" "Pull the Adams file and bring it in, will you?" the Sheriff told the Deputy.

Jack wanted to find out what the Sheriff was getting at, and also ask about his brother, but he thought it best to wait and see what the Sheriff had in mind. He had been suspicious about his father's sudden death, but so many things had happened that he just wanted to forget it all.

[Occupant]

Jack fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat while the Sheriff made some notes on a pad. When the Deputy returned, he placed the file on the desk. Sheriff Wolf put his pen down, tore out the page he was writing on and handed it to the Deputy. The Deputy silently read the note, nodded to the Sheriff and quickly left closing the door behind him.

[Birdie]

The Sheriff turned to Jack and leaned back in his chair. "So, Mr.-you-say-Adams, I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt for now. I see in my file that the investigation of Adams, Sr.'s death, and the disappearance of young Jules Adams came up a dead end." Jack impatiently interrupted and said, "Please, Sheriff, take a DNA sample from me and see if it matches any of the bodies of those kids I heard you discovered. Maybe you can identify Jules. I swear on my mother's and father's graves I am who I say I am." The Sheriff kept a steady gaze on Jack and Jack stared right back without flinching. At last Sheriff Wolf said, "All right, go by the clinic and let them take a sample, and in the meantime, I'm running a background check on you.  And don't leave town, I'm watching you."

[Occupant]

The Sheriff thumbed through his rollodex, found what he was looking for and dialed a number. "This is Sheriff Wolf, who am I speaking to?... Hi Shirley, tell Dr. Reynolds I'm sending over a young fellow, out of towner goes by the name of Jack Adams, Jr....yeah, that's what I said. Now you tell the Doc I want him to get a sample of this fellow's DNA...yes...I want the results ASAP...no, I want it personally, I'll send my Deputy over when the results come in...got it? Good. Take it easy, bye." He hung up and scribbled the address to the clinic on his pad and handed it to Jack.

[Birdie]

In the morgue, the remains of the bodies discovered by the hikers were laid out on the examining tables. The coroner collected tissue samples and set about analyzing the data and looking for signs of trauma. Due to the length of time involved before the bodies had been discovered, a forensics specialist had been called in. A criminal investigation had begun, but this clearly would require a great deal of research before identification of the bodies could be made.

[Occupant]

Jack felt sick to his stomach. Thoughts of his parents untimely deaths, their final resting places being disturbed, the possibility that those bones may indeed be his brother's remains and, not to mention the cherry on top of this moldy turd sundae - a cadaver they claim is him, matching dental records and all, swirled in his mind. The town was quickly taking on the feel of an alternate universe. But that in itself wasn't a foreign feeling as he remembered how he felt as he shook the dust of this weird place from his boots when he left town more than a decade ago.

[Birdie]

ok can't let this pass-----

"moldy turd sundae" You outdid yourself on that one Occ!

[Birdie]

Now back to our regular programming.....

[Birdie]

This had been a week from hell, and Jack didn't see it getting any better. As he curled up in his sleeping bag for the night, he looked up toward heaven and said, "Lord, I know I haven't been very faithful to You these past few years, but please help me get through all this."

[Occupant]

As he finished his prayer, Jack heard a low rumbling growl and the snapping of twigs as something moved just beyond the light of his campfire. Must be a dog, nothing dangerous in these woods I'm sure, he reassured himself. Just to be safe, however, he reached for his hunting knife. He sat up intently listening for animal sounds. Ten minutes or so had passed and there were no further sounds so he decided there was no danger. Laying down, knife within reach, he closed his eyes and within minutes he was sleeping...and dreaming.

[Birdie]

Events of the past week began to swirl in his head, mixed with memories long past, and then something began to take shape. That dark misty figure he had seen in the church so long ago, looming over him. Suddenly he awoke and sat up straight, looking into the darkness. Was it a dream?

[Occupant]

He heard the sound of wings flapping as something took flight moving away from his campsite. A bat, perhaps an owl...no, something much larger from the sound of it. At the same time, off in the distance he heard an eerie howl. Geez, if I didn't know any better, I'd think that was a wolf, but there are no wolves in this area. That has to be a large dog, probably a husky or a Malamute, they howl like that. Yeah that's what it is, same one I heard earlier and he's probably hungry that's why he was hanging around, Jack reassured himself as he got up to answer the call of nature.

[Birdie]

He lay back down and tried to get some sleep, but it escaped him. After what seemed an eternity, morning light began to glow and Jack wearily got up and got dressed. He fired up his bike and headed toward the morgue.

[Occupant]

As he approached Main Street it occurred to him he hadn't run into a single person he knew since he arrived in town. It had only been twelve years since he left, surely he could find a few people from his past who could confirm his identity to the Sheriff. As he tried to think of people he could contact, a troubling thought occurred to him. It was a detail he failed to focus on at the time, but most definitely should have. The man in the church said there were no relatives of the missing boys left to test their DNA which was why they were exhuming bodies in the churchyard. Nine families all gone? What is going on in this town, even the entire Sheriff's department were strangers to him.

[Endo]

In town, as his thoughts consumed him, a face appeared. "What are you doing here?" The face was lost on him for a moment, but then he placed it, Scott Bauer. Jack had hated him with a passion in his younger years and just seeing his face again reminded him why.
But, this wasn't what he was here for and he remained civil.
"Just back to check out the old stomping grounds, and how have you been?" He could tell by the scowl on Bauer's face exactly how he'd been. Just as miserable and mean as he was when Jack was a young man still living here. Bauer thought the world owed him everything, and he was pissed that he hadn't gotten it.

[Occupant]

"You're supposed to be dead." Scott said with a look that could only be described as disappointment. "Yeah, so I've been told. Hey, listen man, you can identify me to Sheriff Wolf. He thinks I'm..." Jack started to say, but Scott cut him off and said "Yeah, sure I'll help you, just as soon as Ed McMahon rolls his dead carcass out of the grave and gives me my Publishers Clearinghouse Check. Screw you Adams and the horse you road in on." With that, he flipped Jack the bird and walked away. "Great seeing you too...you miserable dog turd." Jack finished under his breath.

[Endo]

It became apparent to Jack that he was on his own. That was fine, it had been that way most of his life. It was just that, back here, he felt...vulnerable... was the word that came to him.
Like he was exposed and open, and he hated it.

Oh well, he told himself, I've been through worse...but had he?

[Occupant]

The rumbling in his empty stomach and the fact that he had run out of food made him think about whether he should go to the grocery store and replenish his supplies, or recklessly blow a wad of his dwindling cash and get a hot meal at the local diner. He walked across the street and looked at the chalkboard sign on the sidewalk in front of Suzie's Country Kitchen. 'Today's special: Barbecued Baby Back Ribs, Corn on the Cob, Homemade Coleslaw and fresh baked Buttermilk Biscuit' - oh yeah, that was enough to make his mouth water. He had been living on canned chili, beef jerky, peanut butter and crackers since he arrived in town and the thought of tucking into a big plate of today's special made his mouth water. Hot meal it is! he said to himself as he opened the door setting off the little bell overhead.