Chapter 12

"Hey, Tom," Jenko greeted him as he walked into the chapel, still shaken up from his encounter at Rocket Dog.

"Hi, Coach," Tom replied dully. He frowned when he saw what his captain was doing. "Are you really playing that guitar?"

"Yeah." Captain Jenko, who was sitting Indian-style on the main table, played another chord on the acoustic guitar. "Heard you busted our drug dealer. Nice job, man."

"Yeah, well, about that . . ." Hanson scratched the back of his head nervously. "I don't think the drugs in his locker belonged to him. He said they weren't his, and I believe him. Is there any chance we could—"

"Whoa, wait. Hold up," Jenko interrupted. He stopped playing and stared at his officer. "You want to spring this kid just so we can find who set him up? No way. Besides, his parents or someone will have him bailed out before dark. Why don't you go write up your report, Tom?"

"I was going to," Tom said testily. He found a blank report sheet and pencil and sat down at the table to fill it out. He'd type it up later.

There was a comfortable silence, broken only by the sounds of Jenko's guitar. Tom was pretty sure his captain was playing Supertramp's "Give A Little Bit," which didn't really help his mood. At least it didn't take long for him to file the report. When he had finished, he asked, "Hey, Jenk, do you still want me undercover at Central?"

It took Jenko a few moments to reply. "Sure. Since Halloween is coming up, just play the bust like it was practice or something. I'll tell the principal you're going back in. They don't know about Hoffs, do they?"

"No, her cover's still intact," Tom replied. Judy's alias was Judy Johnson—or J.J.—and she was a bit of a tough wild child with a drug and attitude problem. Needless to say, she was one of John's buyers.

"Good. Listen, I want you back in school. Since you don't think Bryant is our killer, focus on this Folan character. And Hanson, use your head. Try not to blow your cover again."

"Yes, sir." Tom gave him a smart salute and walked back out. He seriously hoped Alyssa and David wouldn't tell anyone what they'd seen and start rumors of a werewolf walking the school's halls. Then again, as both Miranda and Jenko had pointed out, Halloween was two weeks away. Maybe he could work it to his advantage, if he and Judy were at Central for that long. There was supposed to be a dance Halloween night and he'd sort of been looking forward to it.

Smiling slightly, he fired up the Mustang and began heading back to school, listening to "Living on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi and then "Rock and Roll" by Led Zepplin. Thank God they'd yet to play Michael Jackson's "Thriller."

...

It was relatively easy to sneak back onto campus and into the school. Thankfully, most of the students were at lunch, since it was aroundnoon. Security was lax anyway.

Once inside, Tom headed for the cafeteria. He was hungry again, and besides, he needed to see Judy.

A few kids gave him odd looks as he walked by, but he ignored them. He joined the lunch line, paid for a cheeseburger, and went to join Judy. Using his powerful sense of smell, it wasn't hard to find her.

"Hey, Jude," Tom said lightly as he set his tray down and pulled up a chair.

She jumped, then relaxed when she saw who was sitting next to her. "Where've you been?"

"I went to Rocket Dog after dropping John off, then to the chapel." Tom picked up his cheeseburger, studied it, and bit down. "Mmm, this is good. You have anything on Folan?"

"Well, no. We're going to have to get close to him. Any ideas how?"

Hanson shook his head. "No, I don't. He scares me."

Glancing over to his left, he saw she was trying not to laugh. Judy snickered, "You're scared of a seventeen-year-old?"

"As a matter of fact—"

Judy stopped and looked at him. "Oh, you're serious. . . . Hanson, is he like you?"

"Like me?"

She rolled her eyes. "A werewolf. Do I have to draw you a picture?"

"Will you please not say that in public?" Tom hissed, swiftly glancing around to see if anyone had overheard. It didn't seem as if anyone had been listening in, but he couldn't be too careful.

"Okay, okay. You know"—a mischievous note had crept into her voice—"you could go as yourself for Halloween."

He took another few bites of cheeseburger before saying, "Really?"

"Yep."

"All right. I'm going to give you three seconds to run away as fast and as far as you can. I'd suggest you book it."

Judy paled and shot up from her seat. "You wouldn't."

"One . . ."

She was gone by the time he'd counted to two, and when he reached three, she was on the far end of the cafeteria. With a low sound that was half laugh, half growl, Hanson took off after her.

He was feeling better already.

I may not be able to update until next Sunday. My mom doesn't have Internet access and the school censors certain sites, FF being one of the unfortunate ones.