Dread of Night

Something big is prowling the woods around Parson’s Hollow, and Demetrius Singleton is afraid it’s another wolfman. The sudden arrival of Cody’s niece, Summer, and the strange behavior of Demetrius’ Aunt Amelia distract the two newlyweds from investigating until they learn some people have gone missing and others have been violently murdered. Demetrius and Cody now realize they are the only two with enough experience to stop whatever lurks in the woods.

Refusing to believe in a paranormal entity, Deputy Lucia Durant calls in a State Police sergeant, and Cody and Demetrius are surprised to find it’s Hap Blanchard, an officer they’ve worked with before who’s more open to paranormal possibilities. Soon, Demetrius, Cody, Lucia, and Hap are joined by a number of familiar friends who help them race the countdown to the next full moon and solve their most deadly and personal case yet.


“Okay, so we have a lot to do, and we’re going to need some fuel to do it," Demetrius said. "What’d you two find for dinner?”

Cody exchanged a look with Summer. “Ketchup surprise.”

“Didn’t you two just go shopping?” Demmy said.

“You guys eat out a lot,” Summer said. “Do you ever cook?”

“Sometimes,” Cody said. “When we’re not hunting monsters.” He stood up and said, “Let’s get our fancy clothes on and go to Antonio’s.”

“What?” Demmy looked surprised. “Did you win the lottery or something?”

“Nope. Just think we should treat ourselves once in a while.”


“Is it like Margie’s?” Summer asked, looking at him suspiciously. “Is Antonio Margie’s brother or something?”

“Antonio’s is the nicest restaurant in town,” Demmy said.

“Tablecloths and cloth napkins and glass goblets for water.”

“Won’t Margie miss you?”

“If you want, we could stay here and you could make us all dinner,” Cody said.

“Antonio’s sounds nice.”

“I thought you might see it that way.”

“Back to Parson’s Pines afterward?” Demmy asked. “Check on Felicia?”

Summer got up from the table and ran toward the guest room. “I’ll get changed! Do I need to wear long pants for such a fancy restaurant?”

“We’ve created a monster hunting monster,” Cody said.

“Let’s hope she doesn’t get a taste for it,” Demmy said, giving him a quick kiss before walking to the bedroom to change.

A note taped on the inside of Antonio’s glass door read: Sorry, closed due to family emergency.

“That sounds ominous,” Demmy said.

Cody had been thinking along the same lines. “How old is good ol’ Antonio?”

Demmy shrugged. “Not sure. We don’t eat here often enough to really know him.”

“Correction,” Cody said, “we don’t make enough money to be able to eat here often enough to really know him.”

Demmy grinned. “I stand corrected.”

That grin helped Cody feel a bit better in spite of everything. It let him know things probably weren’t as bad as they seemed. Yet.

He turned away from Antonio’s door and stopped at the sight of Summer standing just behind him with her arms crossed and a sulky expression.

“I take it we’re going to Margie’s again?” she said.

“In case you hadn’t noticed, there aren’t a lot of options here in town,” Cody said.

“Have you considered going to another town?”

Cody frowned. “Why would we do that?”

“Ugh.” Summer turned toward Margie’s Diner, several storefronts away. “I put on long pants for this.”


Swamped By Fear

Critter Catchers Book Three

A family emergency far from home. A list of people gone missing. A long, simmering attraction that finally reaches a boil.

When Demetrius flies to Florida to support his parents during his mother’s health scare, Cody is left to manage their Critter Catcher business alone. And feel guilty he didn’t go along to provide support.

Finally unable to stay away, Cody heads to Florida with Demetrius’s Aunt Amelia. Demetrius is shocked they came to support him. And Cody is shocked about his powerful and romantic feelings for Demetrius.

But all that will have to wait as they are tragically yanked into another monster hunt. In the Everglades. During a tropical storm. If they live through this latest challenge, Cody and Demetrius will need to have a long overdue conversation about their future.

It will change everything between them, forever.


“Hey Mr. Gator," Demetrius said as he dipped the end of the leaf net in the water and made some splashing sounds. "Let's get you out of there, okay? You've got to hate the chlorine, don't you? I bet it's messing up your eyes, isn't it?"

The alligator floated closer to the edge of the pool. Demetrius took a step back, extending his reach to keep the edge of the leaf net just above the water.

"Careful Demmy," Cody said in a calm, gentle voice.

"Yep, absolutely."

He knew alligators could move fast, but when the thing lunged at the leaf rake, as prepared as he thought he was, it still surprised him. The gator grabbed the leaf rake in its strong jaws and twisted as it dove beneath the water. Demetrius reacted without thinking and tightened his grip instead of releasing the rake. As the gator pulled the leaf rake under, it pulled Demetrius into the pool and under the water as well.


Fear flared inside him, hot and suffocating. He remembered to release the leaf rake and struggled up to the surface. This section of the pool was ten feet deep, so he couldn't touch the bottom. Every moment he expected to feel the alligator's jaws clamp down on his foot or his leg and drag him underwater for good. Demetrius swam toward the pool's edge that seemed miles away instead of just a few feet. Cody was shouting something, but Demetrius couldn't make it out over the sound of his own panting breath and splashing water.

Something hit him in the back of the head and Demetrius screamed, thinking it was the alligator. But then he realized it was the life ring that Cody had thrown to him. He grabbed the ring to hold himself up and looked across the length of the pool as he reached out for the concrete edge. The alligator swam right for him, its snout creating a furrow through the water. Demetrius's heart pounded, and his breath came in short pants. He was never going to see how his mother's surgery went. He was never going to see his parents again. He was going to die with a whole list of things he had yet to do.

Cody was shouting his name over and over again, but Demetrius could not understand what he was saying. All he heard was the blood rushing in his ears and the sound of his own breathing. The alligator lifted its nose up out of the water and started to open its jaws. It was only a few feet from him now, and coming fast like a speedboat.

Demetrius pushed off from the wall, dragging the life ring along without thinking about it. The alligator missed him and hit the edge of the pool, sending a tidal wave of water out onto the deck. It thrashed its tail in anger. Demetrius did the sidestroke, heading for the shallow end of the pool as he kept the gator in sight, his left arm hooked through the life ring.

The alligator dove under the water and a sense of panic enveloped and consumed the fear inside him. The panic built on the fear, quadrupling then octupling it until it lived within him like some kind of invasive spirit, making it difficult for him to breathe.

Something tugged on the life ring, pulling him off his course and toward the side of the pool closest to the house. At that moment he felt the swell of displaced water behind him and it pushed him even closer to the house side of the pool. The alligator had surfaced right where he had been swimming, and if he hadn't been pulled out of the gator's path, it would have dragged him beneath the water and drowned him.

Cody crouched on the side of the pool, Hubert right behind him, both of them pulling on the rope tied to the life ring, dragging Demetrius through the water. Both men were shouting, but Demetrius still couldn't understand what they were saying as his heart pounded, his breath rasped in his throat, and the water sloshed around him. He touched the side of the pool and then reached up, feet kicking, stretching for the bottom but still unable to find it. How fucking deep was this pool, anyway? Then Cody had hold of his hands and lifted him out of the water and into his arms.

"I've got you," Cody said, holding him tight. "I've got you. You're safe."

Demetrius's heart pounded, and he could feel Cody's heart beating in time. They both had been frightened by his fall into the pool.


Screams of the Season

Critter Catchers Book Five

A Christmas spent far from home. Cody’s father gone missing. Clues that point to another monster case.

Demetrius accompanies Cody on a trip to visit his parents in Colorado for Christmas. The house is packed with Cody’s four brothers and their extended families, which is something close to chaos and means Cody and Demmy are sleeping on the living room floor of Grant, his oldest brother. Soon after their arrival, they learn Cody’s father’s truck has been found in a ditch with no sign of his father and are out the door.

Everything going crazy around them makes Cody appreciate what he and Demmy have found together, and he opens up to his family about the true depth of their relationship. There are mixed reactions, but Cody's honesty with his family proves to Demetrius just how important he's become to Cody, and he realizes he couldn't ask for a better Christmas gift.

Between Greg Bower’s disappearance, Grant's cannabis greenhouse, and a trip to the mall with Cody’s nieces and nephews, the guys also manage to find themselves smack dab in the middle of another monster case when a sasquatch makes a terrifying appearance. As they high-step for their lives through the deep Colorado snow, they’ll end up saving a movie stuntman with a terrible sense of direction and writing Cody’s nephew an IOU for a brand new drone.


Cody stopped and leaned against a hardwood tree to catch his breath and looked back. Demmy had paused as well, propping himself against a different tree as he panted. His face was red, and sweat stood out on his forehead just beneath his hat.

"This deep snow is hard to walk through," Demmy said.

"This may not have been my best idea."

"Better than trying to skateboard down my road by holding onto the back fender of my bike."

Cody chuckled and flexed his knee. "I still have the scars from those scrapes."

"I'm very aware of every one of your scars." Demmy grinned and waggled his eyebrows.

"If I weren't afraid of passing out trying to peel off all your layers, I'd be all over you right now."

"You say the sweetest things."


Before Cody could suggest they turn back, he heard a sound. From Demmy's expression, he'd heard it too. Cody looked into the trees ahead of them. The sun was sinking fast, and the light played tricks with his eyes, making shadows seem to move. He held up a hand for Demmy to stay where he was and took three long, careful steps.

Something moved behind a tree about ten feet in front of him. It was tall and broad and looked like it was covered in hair.

Fucking hell. It could be a bear. Or Demmy might have been right about that footprint.

Cody started to look back at Demmy and motion for him to retreat, but the tall, broad, hairy figure moved. It faced away from them, shifting position as the muscles in its back flexed. It lifted its leg, pulling a massive foot out of the snow and planting it behind for better support.

And then it turned and looked over its shoulder right at him.

"Run!" Cody shouted.

He turned away from the thing and took off running. Demmy wasted no time asking what he'd seen. He had already turned and started running back the way they'd come.

Cody heard the thing rumble some kind of growl, and the sound urged him to move faster. Demmy was a few feet in front of him, high-stepping to clear the snow, both of them grunting and panting.

A mix of growls and snorts from behind sent shivers through him. He expected to feel a big hand grab his shoulder and spin him around, and then the thing would choke him until it crushed his neck.

How far had they walked away from the wider animal run? It felt like they had been trying to escape forever.

He risked a glance back, and his heart hammered even faster.

The thing was bounding after them, the fur around its face dusted with snow, highlighting the simian appearance. It reached out for him, but Cody was a few feet out of its reach.

"Faster!" Cody shouted.

Demmy looked back, his eyes big and his mouth a dark O of shock and exertion.

"What the fuck?" Demmy managed to shout between gasps.

"Just go!"

They burst out of the trees onto the animal run. Free of the thigh-deep snow, Demmy sprinted through the more widely-spaced pine trees and out into the open field. Cody was just a few feet behind him, and he could see people standing around the police cruisers in the gas station parking lot on the other side of the field.

He looked back and gasped with relief. The thing had not pursued them across the animal run. Cody could barely see its outline, glaring at him from behind a couple of trees.

Cody slowed a bit and managed to say, "Demmy… It's okay… It stopped."

Demmy looked back and then tripped over his own feet and went down on the snow. He reached Demmy and dropped to his knees beside him. They were both out of breath as they looked at each other.

"You okay?" Cody asked.

Demmy nodded. "Was it…?"

"Bigfoot? Most likely." Cody looked back, but the thing had moved back into the trees out of sight. "Fucking monsters."


The Devil of Pinesville

Critter Catchers Book Four

An old friendship shifting to a new romance. An ex-boyfriend extending an invitation. An urban legend in the flesh.

Critter Catchers and amateur monster hunters Cody and Demetrius are building their friendship into something hotter and deeper. Both are way out of their comfort zones, but willing to work at things. It will just take a little time until Cody feels comfortable “coming out” to their friends, family, and the rest of Parson’s Hollow. Demetrius is trying to be patient and understanding about Cody’s position, and focuses on their business. Or, rather, the lack thereof.

When Demetrius’s ex, Oliver Berridge, invites him to come to Pinesville, New Jersey for a case that might be right up their alley, Demetrius is intrigued. Sensing not just physical but romantic danger as well, Cody makes certain to accompany Demmy on the trip. Things in Pinesville are quickly complicated by a competing animal control company and a group of monster trackers from a low-budget TV show. The case quickly intensifies, leading to short tempers and tested loyalties, and forcing Demmy and Cody to decide if they're willing to save their business, their friendship, or their romance.


Cody set the flashlight on the ground, beam pointed at two of the cages occupied by pacing skunks. He hefted the wet towels, one in each hand, as he looked for the one remaining skunk, of which there was no sign. "And the towels are going to keep their spray from getting out of the cage?"

"That's what the site claimed," Demmy said.

"Well, if it's on the internet, it must be true."

"Are you ready?"


They stood in place, towels in hand, flashlights on the ground and aimed at the cages.

"How about now?" Demmy asked.

"I'd like to know where that other skunk got off to."


Barking erupted from behind them. It was frenzied and high-pitched, intermixed with shouts of surprise from Jugs. A string of harsh curses quickly followed, and the stink of skunk floated to them on the evening breeze. Moments later, Jugs rushed past them, eyes wide in the glow of their flashlights. His arms were stretched as far out as he could reach, and he held a frantically wriggling Enid Helen.

"She's hit!" Jugs shouted as he ran past. "It got her."

"Guess that answers my question," Cody said.

Demmy nodded. "Let's go."

Cody managed to drape a towel over the first cage with no problem. As he moved to the second cage, he stooped to pick up his flashlight and directed it toward the area of the yard where they'd been sitting. Jugs's lawn chair lay on its side, but there was no sign of the skunk.

With his attention diverted, Cody didn't realize how close he was to the next cage until his foot bumped against it. He cursed as he stumbled over it, the flashlight tumbling from his grip as he stretched out his hands to break his fall. A pungent stink exploded around him. He gagged and turned away to draw in a breath of fresh air as he scrambled to try and stand. His feet went out from under him and he fell flat on his stomach, face turned so he stared at the business end of the elusive skunk. He had just enough time to squeeze his eyes shut and turn his face away before he got blasted a second time.

"Shit!" Demmy shouted from somewhere nearby. "I got sprayed."

Cody kept his eyes closed and held his breath as he got to his hands and knees. He crawled blindly away from the skunks, lungs aching for fresh air. He ran into something and fell on top of it, rolling onto his side as he gasped for breath.

"What the fuck?" Demmy said from beneath him. "Oh, god. You… Skunks!"

Another blast of awful stink erupted around them. Cody's eyes burned and tears streamed down his face as he coughed and gagged, trying to catch his breath. Demmy squirmed beneath him, gagging as well, and suddenly Cody was rolled to the side. He got to his hands and knees and crawled a few feet away. The smell was everywhere, he couldn't get away from it. His nose and throat burned. It felt like steel wool had been packed into his lungs.

He gasped and drew in a deep breath. The searing odor filled his chest and his stomach twisted in revolt. Moments later, everything he'd eaten came up in a burning rush. He blurted out curses between each ugly clench of his gut until there was nothing left. Fuck, he hated throwing up.

A hand touched his back and ran slowly up and down his spine.


And from the lightness of his touch, Cody thought — hoped — that Demmy had forgiven him.

"I covered the three cages," Demmy said. "Can you stand?"

"I can't see anything," Cody said. "It got in my eyes."

"It's all over you. And pretty much all over me as well."

Demmy helped Cody to his feet and they moved away from the cages. The air cleared with each stumbling step, until they reached the chairs. A lingering cloud of skunk stink washed over them and Cody gagged again and went down on one knee.

"Shit." Demmy grunted as he tried to keep Cody on his feet. "This is where Enid Helen got sprayed. Over here. Come on."

Demmy directed Cody across the yard. After they'd staggered a distance from the chairs, Cody went down on his hands and knees. He could barely see his fingers splayed in the thick grass from the tears blurring his vision.

"Fuckin' skunks," Cody managed between coughing fits.

"Stay here," Demmy instructed. "I'll get the hose over here so you can wash your face and flush your eyes."

Cody put his forehead against the cool grass. He took deep, gulping breaths and kept his eyes squeezed shut as he muttered, "Fuckin' skunks."


Horror at Hideaway Cove

Critter Catchers Book Six

A wedding on a budget. A honeymoon booked last minute. An urban legend that rises to the surface.

After dealing with a sneaky otter and an expanding guest list, Cody and Demetrius manage to get married without a single monster crashing the event. Afterwards, Cody whisks Demmy away on the honeymoon trip he planned all on his own… after putting it off until the last minute and booking it all online, sight unseen.

To their happy surprise, the cabin Cody reserved is quite comfortable and very secluded, situated on an island in the middle of the deep Heaversford Lake, and accessible only by boat. But as usually happens to the guys, trouble has a way of finding them. For not only is the lake home to Esther, a monster similar to the one in Loch Ness, but shortly after they arrive a storm knocks out the power and a local resident drowns under mysterious circumstances. The clues all point to Esther being somehow involved, and Demetrius and Cody quickly realize they’re going to have to do their own style of investigation.

Before they realize it, their peaceful honeymoon is shattered and they find themselves fighting for their lives in the cold, dark waters of Heaversford Lake.


The butterflies in Cody's belly had mutated into a flock of pterodactyls. He shifted his weight and cracked his knuckles, then tugged at the collar of his heavily starched white shirt. Sweat had slicked the skin of his back. How fucking hot was it inside this building? Did someone crank up the heater?

"You okay?"

Cody looked at the man standing to his right. He knew it was one of his brothers, but for a few terrifying seconds he couldn't think of his name.

Dave. It was Dave, his younger brother and best man. And he was keeping Cody company while he waited to walk down the center aisle of the chairs filled with their friends and family inside the Parson's Pines Optimum Life Community Center. The ceremony was being held in the Wickersham Room, while the reception would be across the hall in the Langley Room.  "Huh? Me? Yeah. I'm fine."

"You're a little pale."

"It's the tuxedo. It's washing out my complexion."


Dave chuckled. "Yeah, I don't think a white tuxedo is going to make you look quite this pale. You look like you're going to throw up."

Cody shook his head. "No. Just a little nervous."

"About getting married?"

Cody held his hand up and waggled it back and forth. "Sort of. Mostly just talking in front of everyone."

"Dude, you talk with all of us all the time."

"Yeah, with all of you, not in front of all of you."

"You'll do great. Just focus on Demetrius."

Cody glanced toward the black screen Amelia had asked Otis to put together. It blocked his view of Demetrius who stood at the opposite side of the room. Because they didn't want to assign any kind of gender roles, they had discussed with Amelia how to handle the wedding processional. After some long conversation, she had finally suggested Cody and Demmy enter from opposite sides of the space, to the left and right of the guests. The wedding party would walk down the center aisle, but a screen would be set up to keep Cody and Demmy from seeing each other until it was time. They would walk in at the same time and come down the far aisles, turn at the front and approach each other until they stood together before Amelia.

It had all sounded great and easy and swell when they had been talking about it, but now that it was almost time, Cody was afraid he was going to trip or stumble or fart or belch or throw up or pass out, or any number of other embarrassing things.

The low and calming music faded out, and Cody's heart pounded. His mouth felt dry, and his tongue seemed to have grown to the size of his forearm, complete with hair.

Dave pulled him into a tight hug. "I love you, big brother. And I'm really, really happy for you. You're my best friend, and I wish you and Demetrius every happiness."

"Gark," Cody managed to say in reply.

Dave stepped back, winked, then turned away and lined up behind Jugs and Demetrius's roommate from college, Trent Warburton, who had agreed to be his groomsman. All four men wore black tuxedos, including Demmy's best man, Oliver, who also happened to be his ex-boyfriend. Cody had only griped a little bit when Demmy had told him who he'd wanted to ask to be his best man. The truth was, Cody had gotten to like Ollie over the years, even though he pretended he wasn't very fond of him.

Still, he didn't think he'd want Demmy and Ollie running off on a road trip any time soon.

Now that the music had faded out, Cody could hear the quiet whispering and shifting of their guests. There weren't that many people, he tried to comfort himself. Just everyone they knew.


Terror By Moonlight

Critter Catchers Book One

A charming serial dater. A serious-minded entrepreneur. A bloody start to their new business venture.

All it will ever be is a close friendship. That’s been Demetrius Singleton’s mantra for as long as he’s known his best friend, Cody Bower. It’s helped through the years as he’s watched Cody date practically every girl in town. Now several years out of college, Demetrius manages the business side of their brand new animal control service, Critter Catchers, while Cody acts as the idea man and finesses potential clients.

When their first client is brutally murdered by a large unidentified animal, they have to act quickly to save their business reputation and stay out of jail. Demetrius is distracted by a handsome new town reporter, but Cody is wary of this new arrival’s intentions. And, quite possibly, a little bit jealous. But he doesn’t feel that way for Demmy… does he?

No matter how they feel about each other, they will need to work together to uncover the truth about the gruesome murders in their small town of Parson’s Hollow before they end up victims of the beast themselves!


Several hours later, Demetrius’s legs had fallen asleep. He shifted position again and winced at the pins and needles that prickled up his legs as the blood started flowing through them once again.

“I’m hungry.” Cody’s voice floated out from the other side of the tree in the darkness.

“Me too,” Demetrius replied with a sigh. “Shouldn’t be much longer now. Raccoons forage at night, so it should be coming back home soon, right?”

“Whatever you say, Ranger Rick,” Cody said. He yawned, and Demetrius could just imagine him opening his mouth wide, showing off rows of glistening teeth.

“Keep it down,” Demetrius whispered. “You’ll scare the damn thing off before it gets to the trap.”

“Fuck that,” Cody grumbled. “It probably found someplace new to live. Stupid rodent.”

“Raccoons aren’t rodents. They’re mammals.”


Cody snorted. “Strike two against them. And strike two against old man McLeod for being such a crabby old fuck.”

“You pitching a no hitter tonight or something?” Demetrius asked. “That’s a lot of strikes.”

“Look at you with the sports reference,” Cody said with a chuckle.

“I’ve picked up a few things from you over the years,” Demetrius said.

They waited silent and surprisingly alert for spending hours sitting in a tree in the woods outside old man McLeod’s house. They had arrived later than expected after getting a flat tire on the truck, then finding the spare flat as well. By the time they’d arrived at the house, it was already late afternoon and Demetrius had to spend some time smoothing over any hard feelings Ian McLeod had from hearing Cody’s unprofessional message as well as their tardiness. They’d climbed a ladder and shined a flashlight into the section of the house’s eaves where the raccoon had jimmied open an entrance, finding it empty. They’d assured Ian McLeod no other raccoons were inside, but he’d protested, not believing them until Cody had climbed the ladder and snapped a picture on his phone.

After McLeod had agreed the nest did, indeed, appear to be empty, Demetrius had secured the opening and set a live trap on the ground beneath the spot. McLeod wanted the raccoon gone as soon as it was trapped because he didn’t want “to be kept awake by the fucking thing’s scratchings and scrabblings all fucking night long.” To appease their first customer, Demetrius had agreed and convinced Cody they needed to wait to see the animal caught. Demetrius figured it would come back sometime after midnight, nothing too late. It had been Cody’s idea to climb into the tree, his reasons muddled between “hunters do it all the time” and “I like trees.”

That had been at sunset almost three hours ago. Now, they were tired, damp with dew, and hungry.

A muffled shout came from the direction of the house, and Demetrius felt a chill go through him. He closed his eyes to listen harder, then asked, “Cody, did you hear a shout from the house?”

Cody snorted. “Probably old man McLeod reliving the terrors of World War I.”

Demetrius smiled, then stiffened as something trundled through the underbrush to their right.

“Is that it?” Cody whispered.

“I think so.”

“Sounds like a big fucker, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah. Bigger than that running back from Harriettville that got past you to run forty yards and score the winning touchdown the last football game of your senior year.”

Incredulous silence followed Demetrius’s comment. Then, “Really, Demmy? You gotta just keep shoveling that back in my face, don’t you?”

“Shh, it’s coming,” Demetrius said with a grin.

Suddenly, a deep, vicious growl rumbled through the mist-shrouded trees. Moments later, something even bigger than what had been trundling through the woods pounced out of the underbrush a dozen yards away, and Demetrius could have sworn he felt a gentle ground tremor that made the tree sway.

“What the fucking hell was that?” Cody whispered, and Demetrius heard his own fear reflected in Cody’s voice.

“Bigger than a raccoon,” Demetrius whispered back.

Something squealed in terror and pain, and then a few seconds of silence followed. Complete silence. No insects buzzed, no frogs croaked, no night birds sang, nothing rustled. Demetrius slowly, quietly, let out the breath he’d been holding. The branch he sat on seemed to dig hard into his buttocks, and his bladder suddenly felt very full, but he was too scared to move. He felt the light touch of Cody’s arm against his own where they each gripped the trunk of the tree, and that helped to reassure him a bit.

With a heavy huff of breath, the large, unseen creature tromped off deeper into the woods. In a few moments, the insects, frogs, and birds started up again, as if someone had thrown their “on” switch.

“Christ, that was scary,” Cody said and pushed to his feet, standing on a thick branch.

“That was no raccoon,” Demetrius added, as he stood up as well.

They climbed down from the tree and both squinted across the moonlit yard toward old man McLeod’s house. Even in the deep shadows on the back porch, Demetrius could see the back door stood open, and the screen was shredded.

“What the fuck?” Cody stepped from the trees onto the dew-soaked lawn.

Demetrius followed, casting his gaze right and left until he saw something near the edge of the woods. “Wait, look.”

They approached the twisted, bloody, furry lump, and Demetrius felt bile rise in the back of his throat. “Oh my God.”

The front half of a fat raccoon lay at their feet in a tangled mess. Blood had splashed over ferns and bracken for at least a foot all the way around. Its eyes were wide, and its mouth gaped open, tongue lolling out the side. It had been bitten in half just behind its front legs, the sleek, nimble fingers spread wide as if reaching for escape.

“What the fucking hell?” Cody said. He turned to look at the back of old man McLeod’s house. “Shit, Demmy. I think we’re in a heap of trouble.”


Chasing The Chupacabra

Critter Catchers Book Two

A struggling small business. An odd job opportunity. Two friends figuring out they may be something more.

Demetrius and Cody stopped a murderous wolf man months ago, but that hasn’t done much to bring in jobs for their Critter Catchers business. Now, as the two best friends struggle to make ends meet, Demetrius also tries to find time to date Oliver, the new reporter at the Parson’s Hollow Herald, and Cody can’t help nitpicking about them. When veterinary student Agatha Tisdale approaches them with an odd case, they jump at the opportunity despite their misgivings. While Cody flirts with Agatha, Demetrius finds himself distracted by handsome farmer Reed Wilkes whose goats are being bled dry by something living in the woods around his farm.

While working to identify the blood-drinking critter, however, Demetrius discovers he’s having to remind himself more and more often to keep Cody in the friend category of his mind and heart. And for his part, Cody is realizing he might be more than a little jealous of the relationship developing between Demmy and Oliver. But all of that must be set aside when farmer Wilkes goes missing and Cody, Demetrius, Oliver, and Agatha follow a bloody trail into the woods and come face-to-face with something as dangerous as the wolf man!


“First goat we found was probably a week ago, and we found him right about here. There was two that first time, and the other one was just about fifty feet away, over there.”

Cody leaned on the railing of the goat pen and looked down at the mud. Reed Wilkes might not be as tall as Cody, but he was more muscular, with a jaw just a touch more square, eyes the brilliant blue of a Photoshopped Caribbean Ocean travel brochure, and shoulders almost as broad as Cody’s. Almost.

Reed Wilkes was about four times younger than Cody had expected, and eighty-seven times more handsome. When Agatha had given them the farmer’s name—and the fact that the man was a farmer, in and of itself—Cody had conjured up a mental image of a grumpy, set-in-his-ways old man. But, instead, here they were talking with a men’s fitness magazine model. And one that was mean to his dog, to boot.


“Six goats altogether, right?” Demetrius asked, leaning on the railing on the other side of Farmer Wilkes. He stared up at the man, his blue eyes wide and his expression intent, as if he’d never heard anything so fascinating as goats found dead from blood loss.

“Right,” Reed replied, but then glanced down to where Agatha was making notes as she knelt beside the most recent victim. “And my wonderful Sophia is gone now.”

“Goat fucker?” Cody grumbled to himself.

“Did you say something?” Agatha asked, looking up from her notebook.

“Nope. Not a word.” Cody forced himself to listen as Reed went through each night a goat had been slain.

“Each time I was inside the house, reading by the fire—”

Cody had to restrain himself from an eye roll, the force of which would have surely made him black out. Farmer Wilkes was just a little too picture-perfect with his amazing body, handsome face, flannel and denim, and salt-of-the-earth act.

“—and I didn’t hear a goddamn thing. Just found them bled and dead the next morning.”

Well, Cody had to be impressed by Farmer Wilkes’s poetic rhyming when describing his slaughtered goats.

“I looked out the window,” Farmer Wilkes continued, “but from the kitchen, I can only see the front section of the pen, not the back area here. Never saw anything unusual.”

“The goats were found in the back of the pen each time, right?” Demetrius asked.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Reed replied with a nod at Demetrius.

Cody could have sworn he saw Demmy’s chest puff out a little bit with pride, and his irritation bubbled up too much to be contained.

“Do you always leave your goats out in the pen unattended at night?” Cody asked, hearing the sharp tone to his voice, but not able, or interested, in adjusting it. Something about Farmer Wilkes just rubbed him the wrong way. It could have been that Farmer Wilkes was so muscular, or so handsome, or mean to his dog, or flirting with either Agatha or Demmy, Cody couldn’t quite tell. Whatever the reason was, Farmer Wilkes was absolutely getting under Cody’s skin.

“Oh, well, yeah, sure,” Farmer Wilkes replied, and gave Cody an assessing look. “I mean, they have a shelter to go under if it rains, and if it gets too cold, I put them inside the barn. But the weather wasn’t bad this week, so I left them out.” He turned to look at Demmy. “I mean, I’ve always done it. I’ve never had a problem with losing my livestock.”

Demmy gave the farmer a sympathetic nod as he gazed up at him. What the hell was wrong with Demmy? Wasn’t Ollie the cub reporter punching all of Demmy’s buttons these days?