Chapter Two
The Hunt
Henry walked towards the National Mall lost in memories from his past. He left the hotel and headed West to 23rd street and turned south toward the Lincoln Memorial. At this time of night most of the tourist, who were there to see the cherry blossoms, were either enjoying a late dinner or staying close to the hotels after a long day of site seeing. For Henry this was the time to visit old friends and as Henry reached the Monument he climbed the steps until he could gaze upon the face of Lincoln.
"Well old friend it's been a long time" he said softly even though he was the only one there. "If only you could see this country now and how far it has come and how little some things have changed, I think you would be somewhat surprised."
He thought back to the evenings they spent getting to know each other. Lincoln had been hidden away at the Willard by the Pinkerton agents due to death threats on the future president. Henry had been staying there at the time and they had met one evening and had become fast friends. He had been impressed with this tall, deep thinking man and was surprised to see a quick wit and ready smile as well. They shared stories of their upbringing, Henry obviously altering his quite a bit, and found they both shared a love of books and knowledge and a deep concern for where the country was headed. Both knew that war was imminent and would be a devastating for both sides; they also knew that it would be almost impossible to avoid. Henry had felt great affection and empathy for this man with such weight on his shoulders. They had remained in touch whenever Henry had been in Washington and was deeply saddened when he'd heard of his assassination. "Bloody Hell" he said aloud as he remembered. Just then he sensed that he was not alone. Turning he saw a large shadow by the gift shop hidden in the corner. "Are you following me for a reason Gerald?"
Gerald had been lurking in the shadows watching Henry stare up at the figure of Lincoln. Hearing his question he lumbered, for that was what a Mastiff did, over to him and nudged his hand with his nose.
"Remind me to get you a bib" Henry laughed as he wiped his hand on the big dog's fur.
"You don't look so ferocious to me." He added. Then as if on cue Gerald snarled and showed lots of teeth. "Ok I get the idea, you can when you want to be. And we'll have to have a talk about this tomorrow." Henry turned and headed down the steps then stopped and looked back at Gerald, who was still standing there. "Well come on, I'm not going to carry you, If you want to follow me you'd better move" and headed back down the steps. This time Henry could here the ump's of the big animal behind him. "Bet you took the elevator up there." Henry got only a woof in reply.
They walked from the Lincoln Memorial East past the Viet Nam Wall and along the reflecting pool to the World War II Memorial, when Henry stopped. "He's been here and fairly recently, I can smell him. He's claimed this as his territory so there's no need to find him, he'll be looking for me." And with that they headed North back to the hotel.
When they returned within a block of the hotel Henry stopped and looked at Gerald.
"Look I am not walking through the lobby of one of the finest hotels with a drooling Mastiff, your going to have to get back in on your own." And with that Gerald meandered away.
It was close to sunrise when everyone met back in the conference room.
Gerald was sitting on a large bed in the corner of his room and Coreen was scratching his ears. "We need to make this fast, Gerry needs to change back soon and he likes to be alone when he does that."
"Well other than taking the wrong Metro and ending up at the airport all we did was have a great dinner in Chinatown." Vicky said, and looked at Mike.
"What? I was hungry and it was Chinese" he said defensively. "And I did strike up a conversation with the cop there by the Smithsonian Castle. Seems there have been several strange murders, not made public I might add, that sound like they'd fit this Jean Paul guy. And I'm meeting him later for a cup of coffee. He might make a great contact here for info that's off the record."
"Well I sensed his territory and left my own sent, so I think he'll be looking for me soon. He still follows the old ways according to Miles so he'll be out of commission during the daylight hours. That can work to our advantage too." The he looked out the window.
"Speaking of daylight I could use some rest too and the last thing I want to see is Gerald changing over so I think I'll head to our room, Vicky?" and he held out his hand to escort her down the hall.
"Are you ok Henry? It's not like you to run away from daylight anymore." Vicky wondered.
"I just feel the 'need to feed", he chuckled and started nibbling down her neck.