Chapter Three
Daniel sat at home staring at his computer screen. Jack had insisted that he take the rest of the day off. Outside the rain continued to drizzle down. It tapped at the window with a soothing beat. Jackson was curled up at Daniel's feet sleeping soundly. Daniel scrolled through the website that he'd hacked into until he found what he was looking for. He memorized the address where the young boy was last seen.
Getting to his feet Daniel disturbed Jackson's rest. Jackson got up and tried to get Daniel's attention. When he failed he sighed heavily and went to go find a soft spot to lay down so he could go back to sleep. Daniel went out into the living room and studied the large map that he'd tacked to the wall. The topographical map helped him slip through the city and suburbs of Colorado Springs mostly unnoticed. He had pushpins placed into each spot where he'd managed to find a missing child. So far there were six bright red pins decorating the map.
"I'm wasting time waiting for dark." Daniel growled. "The rain should give me enough cover."
Daniel went over to the window and opened it despite the rain. The window sill was covered with scratch marks where he'd wrecked the paint with Jackson's nails. Daniel went into the kitchen and got a glass of water before retreating to the bedroom. Sitting on the edge of the bed he opened a medicine bottle and shook out three white pills. Daniel knocked back the three pills.
"Jackson, come here." Daniel called.
Jackson raced to the bedroom door, but when he saw the half empty glass of water he skidded to a halt. Tucking his tail between his legs Jackson flattened his ears and whined pitifully.
"I don't want to hear it right now, Jackson." Daniel sighed. "Just come over here."
Jackson took a hesitant step forward towards Daniel before stopping and whining again. Daniel held his hand out to Jackson and the miserable wulf-mutt wagged his tail and came closer. Jackson nuzzled Daniel's palm and in return Daniel rewarded him with a quick scratch between the ears before removing his collar and switching places with him.
Now in the wulf's body Daniel jumped up on the bed in hopes that Jackson would lay down. However Jackson had been through this routine before and was growing to dislike it more and more. Daniel barked encouragingly and laid down himself. Using Daniel's blue eyes Jackson stared at him warily. Daniel waited for a few minutes and Jackson started to struggle to stay awake.
'Just lay down and get some sleep. I'll be back by morning.'
Jackson seemed to hear Daniel's thoughts as he looked at the inviting pillow. Getting tired of waiting Daniel jumped off the bed, trusting that Jackson would go to sleep. He had barely made it five feet before he felt a strong tug on his tail. Daniel looked over his shoulder and found that Jackson had a hold of his tail.
'Let me go.' Daniel growled.
"Staay." Jackson pleaded in his clumsy English. "Staay, 'Aniel, pleease."
'I can't. Just lay down, Jackson.'
"No leave."
Daniel tried to get his tail free, but Jackson just threw himself at him and grabbed him around the waist. Jackson buried his face in Daniel's soft fur and began crying. Feeling heavy hearted as well Daniel peacefully allowed Jackson to cry for a few minutes. Daniel switched places once again and gave Jackson a hug. Back in his own body Jackson licked under Daniel's jaw and whimpered.
"I'm sorry, Jackson."
Jackson accept the apology until he saw Daniel heading back for the bottle of pills. Jackson barked frantically, but it didn't stop Daniel from swallowing three more of the white pills along with the rest of the water. This time when Daniel switched places with him Jackson had no hope of fighting the drugs in Daniel's body. Back in the wulf's body Daniel made sure that Jackson laid down on the bed. Jackson laid down and after hugging one of the pillows to his chest he began crying once more. Daniel stayed with him until he was sleeping deeply.
Daniel watched Jackson for a moment as he began kicking his leg in his sleep. Daniel hoped that Jackson was chasing rabbits in his dreams. Daniel himself barely even remembered what it was like to dream. Shaking off his thoughts Daniel jumped off the bed and headed for the living room. The rain was soaking the carpet under the open window. Ignoring the water damage Daniel jumped up and through the window.
It was once a tight fit for Jackson's large frame to get through the window, however the mutt had lost weight and now Daniel easily sailed through the opening. Landing in the wet grass Daniel took off at a dead run. The chain link fence between him and the woods behind his house was no challenge and he leapt over it without even pausing.
Once in the wood Daniel turned North and ran through the wet leaf litter. The next move was a little trickier. The boy had last been seen at a playground near a school. The school was in the middle of a suburban neighborhood. Sticking to back alleys and crossing through backyards Daniel carefully made his way to the playground. He normally moved under the cover of night, but the gloom of rain was helping. Daniel figured that most people who caught a glimpse of him dashing through their yard would believe they were just seeing things.
At the playground Daniel found that the police were still there. Daniel hid in a near by clump of bushes. He already knew the story from the police report he'd read on line. Her son had been at the playground hanging out with friends, being fourteen there was nothing too unusual about that. The other boys had left when it started to rain. Noah had left as well, but he never made it back to the house, only two blocks away.
Realizing that he wasn't going to be able to get close enough to pick up on Noah's scent with the police here Daniel changed his tactics. He'd read the boy's address as well and headed off for his home. There were police at the house as well, however with everyone focusing on the missing boy Daniel was able to jump the fence into the backyard.
Slinking around the yard Daniel tried to memorize all of the human scents he could detect. It was far more difficult to have his target lost in the heart of the suburbs rather than out in the woods where there were far less human scents to begin with. Getting lost in his work Daniel didn't even notice the cop that had opened the sliding glass door.
"Hey, Boy." The cop called.
Daniel looked up sharply and froze.
"You looking for Noah?"
Unsure of what to do Daniel stayed motionless.
"Hey, Captain," the cop called to his superior inside "do you think the family dog could help? He looks like he's trying to track from the backyard."
"Track?" A female voice inside the house said. "Mopsy is outside, he hates the rain."
"Mopsy?" The cop looked back at Daniel with a slightly amused expression.
"Christ!" The Captain exclaimed as he came to the sliding glass door. "That's no dog, that's that goddamned wolf that people keep reporting sighting of. Shoot it."
Before anyone could draw their fire arm Mopsy came flying out the back door and charged at Daniel. The five pound toy poodle was clearly proud of itself as it chased Daniel out of his yard. Daniel had actually turned tail the moment the Captain gave the order to shoot. He knew he should have taken off the instant the first cop spotted him, but for a moment he had forgotten that he needed to fear humans in this form.
With Daniel jumping over the fence and not a very clear shot anymore the cops held their fire. He was fairly certain that Animal Control was being called, but he was also certain that they weren't going to catch him. Hoping he had enough of Noah's scent to start a search Daniel headed back over to the playground. However with the rain slackening he kept hearing shouts as more and more people spotted him.
Finding it harder to hide Daniel was forced back into the forest. It was only an hour before sun set so Daniel decided that he would just wait before returning to the crime scene. After night fall Daniel went back to the playground. He picked up on Noah's scent for a moment, but it stopped at the curb. Ten hours later of combing the streets for even the slightest hint of Noah's scent Daniel was unsuccessful.
As the sun rose Daniel realized that he had been defeated. With his head and tail held low he made his way back home. He was exhausted from the night's search. Getting back he could barely scramble in through the open window. He padded over to where Jackson was sleeping in his body and nudged him awake.
"'Aniel?" Jackson asked sleepily.
Rather than answer Daniel switched places. Back in his own body Daniel got up out of bed and headed into the living room. Jackson shook his whole body as he struggled once again to stay awake. When Daniel spent the night running around the city it was Jackson's body that needed sleep when the sun rose. Daniel walked up to his map and used a marker to make a black X over the spot where Noah went missing. Among the six red pins were dozens of black Xs. Jackson came into the living room and whined. Ignoring Jackson Daniel stared at the map.
"I failed another one."
