Chapter 10
September 2006

Things went well over the next month, the new wolves adjusted well with the Hales teaching them how to control their shifts and how to exhaust their wolf to control excess energy.

The evidence was passed over to the FBI task force and Noah was expecting them to turn up soon to interview the witnesses. He just hoped the task force hadn't been infiltrated, there were still a lot of cash withdrawals in the statements that couldn't be traced to specific people, people more paranoid than the average beat cop.

They had gathered basic evidence from the statements to show bribes and credit card payments to hotels in the same area in the several months before five different house fires where entire families died. Each of the families were packs where the alpha served on the council in some capacity.

They had only sent the minimum information to the FBI team, evidence that showed that the insurance investigators were bribed in each of the fires, and information that the families were targeted for a reason. They needed to be sure that the agents investigating weren't on the Argent payroll before presenting the rest of the evidence they had gathered.

Chris and Peter were taking the time to get to know each other again. They had spent twenty years apart after all. They had regular date nights at various restaurants around town and snuggling in the preserve under the guise of supervising training for the pack.

Chris had missed the tactile nature of his mate. He had kept everyone out of arms reach since they were separated and had become quite adverse to being touched by anyone but Peter and occasionally Allison.

-x-

A week after the file had been emailed Tara approached Noah's office and she announced, "I have SAC Charlie Duthie and Special Agent Bryant Dwyer here to see you, Boss."

Noah walked out to greet them and once the introductions were done and he confirmed they were from the Devereux Taskforce he said, "The investigation I contact you about is being run offsite. I am happy to take you there."

SAC Duthie nodded in agreement, "Ok if we follow you there?"

Noah snapped up his cruiser keys and sidearm from his office before he led the agents outside and jumped in the cruiser, he sent off a quick text to Chris before he left to let him know he had two FBI agents inbound.

When they pulled up outside the house Noah explained, "I have to warn you both, you will be questioned before any information is given on the case."

Agent Dwyer demanded, "Why?"

SAC Duthie put his hand on the younger agent's arm to calm him down, "Sorry, we have been trying to close this case for some time. Every time we think we are close they slip away from us. Whatever you need, we will comply."

Noah smiled, "Come on then."

He led them through to the living room where most of the pack was waiting. He introduced the two agents to the group before he sat down next to his son on the sofa. He pointedly left off the pack introductions until the two were trusted by the pack.

Chris asked, "Do you object to a few questions before we start?"

Charlie shot his subordinate a quelling look before he nodded his agreement. He noticed several of the teens in the room sit up and they seemed more focused.

Chris said, "If it's ok, we'll start with Special Agent Dwyer." At Charlie's nod of agreement, he asked, "Agent Dwyer, how did you learn about the supernatural?"

Bryant took a deep breath before he said, "My stepmother was a kitsune. She was killed by hunters when I was fifteen, that's when I met Charlie and learned about the task force."

Chris nodded, he had been listening carefully for any sign of a lie, "Have you ever taken a bribe to look the other way on a case?"

Bryant looked indignant as he snapped, "Never. I took on this job to protect those who need the protection from zealotry."

Chris said, "One last question. Do you believe there are times when supernaturals need to be killed?"

Bryant nodded and at Chris' gesture he explained, "There are times when people have been pushed to the point of no return. If they are truly, truely feral there is no other choice, no prison would hold them."

Chris smiled and he turned to SAC Duthie. "SAC Duthie, how did you learn about the supernatural?"

Charlie let his eyes bleed green and he said, "I am a 438-year-old Mori Kitsune, I founded the task force under my previous identity, Special Agent Walter J. Devereux."

Stiles gasped, "You were part of the Brady Gang shootout. You were just a Special Agent back then though."

Charlie nodded, "I was, that shoot out is why the task force was created though. The Brady Gang were actually a rogue werewolf pack which is why they were so hard to capture. I managed to get wolfsbane rounds into a few of the guns being used by the agents which is why the shootout was effective in taking down the ringleaders."

He looked at Chris and he said, "To answer your other two questions, no I have never taken a bribe and the agents in my command are regularly questioned to ensure they don't either, and as you can see by your young spark's comment I will take down feral supernaturals when it's necessary."

Chris glanced at Peter who stood, he had more experience in dealing with law enforcement agents so they had decided he would be better to lead the discussion.

Peter went around the room introducing the pack teens first before he introduced himself and then the bombshell that his alpha mate and the one questioning them was Chris Argent.

Charlie's jaw dropped and he stammered, "Aren't you Kate Argent's brother?"

Chris nodded, "Yep. From what we can tell my father and sister, with help from my late wife used me to keep the Argent name clean. I had a reputation for only taking on sanctioned hunts when requested to by the Hunter's Council and only when there was evidence to back up the claims of the person I was hunting being feral."

Bryant said, "The evidence we were sent hinted that there is more to see. Is it possible to see what else you have gathered?"

Stiles stood and he said, "Follow me, I have set up a crime board in the basement.

Charlie said he would stay and talk to the pack while Bryant checked out the crime board and evidence that had been gathered. Peter, Danny, and Allison accompanied the pair to help with the explanation.

As they descended the stairs Bryant asked, "How many fires do you have evidence on?"

Peter commented, "Five for sure including the Hale fire that took out most of my pack. We suspect another few but we are struggling to find evidence that proves foul play."

Bryant nodded as he followed the kids into the secret room off the basement. He looked at the large wall in amazement. He saw the note in the middle of the wall and he said, "Wait, you have the motive?"

Stiles shrugged, "It's the best guess at this stage but all the packs that were targeted had a representative on the alpha council."

Bryant turned to Allison and he asked, "Can I ask, why are you helping with this investigation?"

Allison grinned with a smile that had too many teeth and she snarled, "Because I am disgusted that those of my blood think that genocide is ok. That they are the judge, jury, and executioners of the supernatural world. My mother was killed by Cameron Kendrick," She tapped the wall where the Kendrick fire evidence was laid out. "She was directly involved in bribing police dispatchers to ignore the calls to the fire and in having the statutory rape case against my Aunt thrown out as lies. In my opinion, she got exactly what she deserved."

Bryant took a close look at the Kendrick fire evidence and he mentally linked it to the evidence they had already gathered on the case and he thought the financial records would be what they need to finally get an arrest warrant out on both Kate and Gerard.

He commented, "This is going to create waves. Even in the mundane world. Especially when those who took bribes will be arrested."

Stiles snarked, "Isn't that the point. Send a message that hunting without cause has actual consequences. Something hunters have never had to face before because supernaturals fear speaking out in case they are attacked by hunters or worse, the council."

Bryant asked Allison, "Why didn't you go to the council with your suspicions?"

She pointed at Stiles, "Stiles made a really good point. They are serial killers that target entire families, that's bigger than both the alpha council and the hunter council. Peter remembered there was a task force that the alpha council could escalate cases to if they were bigger than what they were equipped to deal with so we thought we would skip the middleman and approach you directly."

Bryant contemplated the board and he asked, "I have to ask, everything is on paper, why? Most teens I know prefer to keep things digital."

Danny chuckled, "Digital can be tracked and we suspect the Argent's have trojans and moles in various law enforcement systems looking for specific keywords to stay one step ahead of any investigations."

Stiles pointed to one of the lists on the side of the crime board as he explained, "That's a list of law enforcement people that have received payments from the Argent bank accounts. There are several on there who are FBI, not just agents but support staff as well. It wouldn't be hard for them to monitor your cases and pass on relevant information."

Bryant started going down the list and his heart ramped up when he saw several names he recognized. He carefully unpinned the list from the wall and he asked, "Do you have a highlighter?"

Stiles handed one over but before Bryant could start marking names on the list Charlie entered the room and he grabbed the list from the agent as he started to swear, "There are several people on this list that have worked with us on cases that aren't officially part of our task force."

Stiles nodded, "We found one of Dad's deputies on the list too. We suspect that is just the tip of the iceberg of law enforcement they have bribed and coerced into covering up their crimes."

Allison agreed, "Especially given the number of cash withdrawals that are listed in the bank statements.

Bryant agreed, "I am surprised to see any law enforcement members using their own bank accounts to receive bribes, to be honest."

Charlie grinned, "Works for us, it will lead us to the departments that need investigating further. Usually, where there is one there is more."

Stiles asked, "So how do we help you finish the investigation without Kate being tipped off?"

Charlie sighed, "We have to assume that anything in the FBI systems is either compromised or known. You have a lot here that we didn't know before, especially with the bribes and her preying on minors. So I would suggest we continue what you have here, keep it offline and we can give you the names we are sure are connected with her."

Bryant suggested, "It would be good to trace her movements and maybe look for events rather than looking for events and seeing if she was there at the time. We have a couple of team members we can bring in to build a timeline for us to start with."

Charlie asked, "Are you thinking Spires and Darcy?"

Bryant nodded, "They are good at grinding through the data to find the important info. We could build a timeline for each of the Argents on the opposite wall if we move the beds. Maybe we could talk to Townsend about training Stiles while we are here."

Stiles asked suspiciously, "Train how?"

Charlie smiled, "He's a spark, the only magic user we have on the team. He hasn't met many sparks, and never one as young as you, Stiles."

Stiles agreed, "If the adults all agree with him entering the territory then I am fine with it. It would be good to ask an actual spark rather than relying on what's in mom's books and journals."

Allison asked, "Why don't you have other magic users?"

Charlie blushed, "I don't trust druids and every other spark I have met has been bound to a pack. Even Townsend is bound to our unit as a makeshift pack."

Peter suggested, "Why don't you have the rest of your team feeding decoy information to the agents we know are on the Argent's payroll?"

Allison snarked, "Not that they can pay them anymore. Dad cut off their access to the bank accounts and their credit cards won't allow cash withdrawals."

Charlie put two and two together and he asked, "You plan for them to find you? To be bait?"

Allison smirked and she inspected her very sharp claws as she said nonchalantly, "Eventually. We hope that whispers of the investigation will distract them from their latest target. Either way, they'll face the legal system or pack justice."

Charlie nodded, "Let me go chat with your alpha and get his approval to use his panic room for the investigation. It's unorthodox but with how deeply embedded the Argent's are, it's going to take unorthodox methods to bring them down. I may also bring in my Section Chief to brief him on the investigation."

Peter took Charlie back upstairs to chat with the rest of the pack as Allison and Stiles continued taking Bryant through what they had found so far."

It was eventually decided with input from Noah that the house two doors down, which was currently available for rent, would be rented by the Hales and the FBI agents would work between the two houses to take over the investigation the pack had already started. The timeline was in progress on the wall for all three Argents and it wasn't painting a pretty picture. It looked like they had been active a lot longer than expected but the first few packs they attacked were smaller more remote packs in Canada. They would be passing the details to the Canadian authorities so they could check for bribery and accomplices in each of the attacks.

They did find some good news in all the mess. There was evidence that not all of the attacks were successful and the task force was quietly reaching out to those packs to get witness statements for the case.

They were almost ready to bait the trap to bring the Argents to Beacon Hills. Just a few loose ends to clean up before they would file the warrants with a judge known to be incorruptible.