CHAPTER 13
Knocking Them Down
Hardison and Ewen had left the police car in the lot that they'd picked it up from, and Eliot and Parker had come by in Lucille to pick them up.
"Let's see the arm." Eliot already had medical supplies out.
"It won't kill me. It wasn't silver." Ewen unwound the torn sleeve he'd tied around his arm.
"You want something for the pain?" Eliot picked up a set of tweezers.
"No. Just don't drag this out." Ewen clenched his teeth and Eliot started picking through the shredded tissue trying to find as many of the pellets as he could.
"So where are we headed?" Ewen felt like they'd been driving for a while.
"There's some farmland that backs up to a small nature preserve called Koogan's Point not far from here." Parker turned toward the highway that would lead them to a smaller road that would take them into a more rural area. "We don't want lookie loos to stumble across what's going to happen. This was the closest uninhabited place we could come up with."
"Have we got any idea where Griswold is at yet?" Ewen asked and whined as Eliot did something particularly painful.
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Nati spotted Griswold headed toward her through the farmers market. A wolf named Teddy had spotted Swiatek five minutes ago and several neighborhoods away. So far Parker's plan to drive the reprehensible pack of wolves out of town and to the wilderness area was working.
Nati was a couple of miles to the west at a local farmers market. She was pretending to check out the produce while she waited on updates from the other teams. If she was fleeing in a hurry with no money, a group of people like this would be the kind of marks she'd look for. People willing to help out, someone that would give money or a ride. She was turned toward a stand that was selling some kind of melon when she scented him.
"Hey lady could you help me out." Griswold was up wind of her and must not have figured out yet that she was a wolf.
She turned toward him and flashed blue eyes and longer than human canines at him. "I don't think so. You should move along." Her voice was pleasant in case anyone nearby should over hear but there was a force of will sent with her words that a wolf couldn't mistake.
As Griswold hastened away from the farmers market Nati followed him. She walked at an easy pace and tapped her earbud to turn it on. "Spotted Griswold near the intersection of Webster and Roots roads." She waited to hear Parker confirm the transmission and then muted her line the way Sophie had shown her.
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Joseph didn't completely understand this plan to chase a pack of werewolves out of someone else's territory but his alpha, Henry, had decided on this course of action so it wasn't Joseph's place to question. He and Kenny had been assigned their post and he'd been given a brief rundown on how the earbud worked. The more he thought about it the more it rankled that a little human woman was being allowed to boss him around.
"Joe, isn't that one of the guys?" Kenny pointed at a man in a long wool coat rumpled slacks and nice shoes that was walking down the other side of the street.
Joseph pulled the folded paper from his pocket and took another look at it comparing the man on the street to the faces on his paper. "Yep. Looks like it is." Joseph stepped off the curb and hurried across the street.
"Hey mister!" Kenny called loudly when they got closer.
The man looked over his shoulder and it was definitely one of the men from Joseph's sheet. Joseph took a quick step forward but his target was faster and bolted down the street. He and Kenny chased him for a couple of blocks but their quarry dodged onto a busy street. The human had told them that they couldn't cause a public scene unless it absolutely couldn't be avoided. They slowed to a walk and tried to keep pace.
Joseph pressed on the earbud and heard a click. "Hey is this thing on?"
"I hear you." Parker's voice answered.
Joseph sighed. He didn't see why they had to deal with humans for something that was clearly werewolf business. "We spotted Jacques Roulet, but he's getting away."
"Which direction is he headed?"
Joseph didn't answer immediately. Suddenly a piercingly high tone played across his earbud for a split second.
"Direction?" Parker demanded.
"South on 102nd Ave." Joseph growled.
"Good wolfy." Parker muted his line. If he wanted to speak again he'd have to key the earbud again.
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Paul and Eddie had been instructed to bring two carpets, large enough to hide a couple of bodies, with them when they'd been assigned to the back of the motel. He was told that they probably wouldn't need them but 'just in case' they should have them ready. They had arrived at about the same time as the human and the wolf that were dressed as cops. Fortunately the human attracted enough attention that no one noticed Paul and Eddie slip down the alley with their rugs. The middle aged man that had come down the stairs with Paul's Alpha had unlocked the door that led to the basement and told him where to find the rugs. And wasn't it interesting that they just happened to have two large rugs ready for such a purpose.
After the chaos from the motel room had died down the werewolf had shoved a body out the small window and Paul and Eddie had made quick work of concealing it in one of the rugs. The girl that was calling the shots came over Paul's earbud and told him to take the body to the end of the alley. When he'd got there the middle aged man and a woman were there in an old pickup.
"Take it that this is for you?" Paul indicated the rug he had balanced on his shoulder.
"Just put it in the back." Nate didn't get out of the truck and drove away slowly after Paul closed the tailgate.
"Paul can you tell how long ago Griswold's men left the motel?" Parker's voice came over his earbud and startled him for a moment.
"Sure thing. Once I pick up their scent what do you want me to do?" Paul wasn't sure why a human was running this op, but if Mark, his Alpha, felt this was best, Paul was okay with it.
"Tell me whatever you can about what direction they're headed and if they split up."
"Yes ma'am."
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Lucas had heard Nati's report on Griswold and signaled Mark Benson and the other wolf to follow him. Lucas had been told the junior wolf's name but he couldn't remember it. If it became important later he'd work on it but for now nothing was more important than catching Griswold.
"Natali where is Griswold now?"
"Natali is moving south on Webster if she holds this course she'll be on Oatfield in less than a minute. Can you guys get to Union and spread out I want to drive him down 82nd to the footbridge that crosses the river." Parker couldn't see where Griswold was on her tablet but tracking Nati's progress gave Parker a good idea.
"We'll be there soon." Lucas picked up speed just barely keeping to human possible speeds.
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Paul had kept in communication with Parker and he found that he liked this girl despite her being human. She didn't dither and she obviously knew how to run an op. "Looks like our guy hit the end of Edgewater road and went between a couple of houses. Do we follow?" He had told Parker where each scent trail had turned off one by one until he and Eddie were left following just one of the target wolves.
"Yes. Be careful when you get into those trees. We need him to cross the river if you can manage it. Do I need to send more guys your way?" Parker zoomed out on the map on her tablet to see who she could spare.
"I don't think we need more man power."
Paul and Eddie jogged between the houses and into the woods. They hadn't made it far when they heard a high pitched panicked scream. "We got trouble. Kid screaming up ahead."
The woods were dense here but Paul caught glimpses of a house up ahead. He spotted movement and he and Eddie raced in that direction. Before they could get to the last place they'd spotted someone there was the sound of snapping branches and a thump. They had nearly closed the distance and Paul gave Eddie a hand signal to go slow as they approached. There was another cry but this time Paul could tell the child was scared but not as terrified as before. The child, a small girl in pink overalls, shot past them running as fast as she could back toward the house they had seen. Paul made it a few more steps when he heard the brief scream of a man in pain. The scream cut off with a gurgled groan. The breeze brought the scent of two werewolves and a lot of blood. Paul and Eddie stepped past the concealing trees into a very small clearing. On the ground, with a big hole in his chest, was the wolf they'd been chasing. Standing over the body was a Native American man wrapping something bloody in a cloth that he then placed in a small backpack.
"Parker, we've got an unknown and he just took out our guy." Paul updated Parker.
"Unknown? He's not on your sheet?" Parker had given each wolf a printout of the mugshots or pictures that they had for Griswold and his men.
Paul knew the other wolf could hear him but he figured it was better for Parker to have the information than to try and be subtle. "No. Male, Native American, nearly six foot. He's…"
"He's got a name. Jim Skookum." Jim interrupted.
"Says his name is Jim Skookum." Paul repeated the information. He knew that a wolf would have heard Jim over the earbud, but it had been a long time since Paul had been human so he wasn't sure if Parker would hear it or not.
"Tell Jim that Eliot's been wondering where he was." Parker sounded relieved.
"He heard you." Paul knew that Jim had heard Parker's voice over the earbud and didn't see any need to repeat her message himself.
"Tell Eliot's little sister that she doesn't need to worry about Jean anymore. You boys should rejoin the hunt. I will take care of this." Jim nudged the body with the toe of his boot.
Paul relayed the message and stepped close enough to get a picture of the dead man's face. He sent the picture to Parker for confirmation and left Jim to the cleanup.
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Henry and Frank had been working their way east on Jennifer St. Frank was one of Henry's newest wolves. The man had been a Wildlife Officer before he chose to become a wolf just a few months ago. He wasn't submissive in anyway but he was just too easy going to ever be at the top of the pack and Henry was pretty sure that Franks place in the pack was set in the middle. Henry had brought Frank with him for this hunt because he'd turned out to be one of the best trackers in the pack. Not only was he good at reading signs but his sense of smell was unparalleled. Henry would never admit it but he would have already lost this trail they were on at least twice. Frank motioned them off the sidewalk and toward the river again. Suddenly Frank froze and tilted his head back, obviously scenting something.
"That way Alpha." Frank pointed toward several large warehouses. "A minute out. Maybe less. If we hurry we…" Frank trembled and his teeth began to lengthen.
"Calm down." Henry scented for himself but didn't pick up anything. "Don't go wolf on me. Not yet anyway. Just take me to him."
Frank nodded and started jogging in the direction of the warehouses.
"Parker, Frank and I are onto something here. He thinks we're close to catching up with one of Griswold's guys but I don't know which one yet."
"I'm pretty sure you are on the trail of Swiatek. Griswold and Jacques have been spotted. Jean is dead and so is Manuel." Parker updated Henry.
"Be careful. Swiatek is Griswold's second so don't underestimate him." Eliot's growly warning came over the earbuds.
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Joe and Kenny had picked up Jacques's trail again. They'd run at more than human speed through a couple of back alleys and now their target was in sight. Joe tapped his earbud a couple of times before he heard the line come on again.
"Yes?" Parker sounded busy.
"We've just about caught up to Jacques again." Joe spotted a street sign up ahead. "Evelyn St. I think. That big grocery store distribution place is up ahead. I think he might be crossing Jennifer St. Hang on. Something's happening."
Joe had heard the sound of a revving engine, a thump, and a screech of brakes. "I think someone just hit our guy with a truck."
"Yep we got him." Nate's voice came over the earbuds.
"I don't think he's dead though. He's still moving." Sophie sounded a little shaken.
Kenny glanced around the intersection looking for oncoming traffic and possible witnesses to the recent traffic incident. When he made it to the south east corner of the intersection he moved slowly keeping his hands in sight. He'd heard about the silver burns they'd found on the dead guy at the motel. And he'd heard that one of the humans had caused them with some kind of silver paintball or something. "I'm Kenny, one of Henry's wolves. Joe" He pointed at the man crossing the intersection behind him. "He's one of the guys with the earwig things." He'd recognized the middle-aged human couple from the pub and he didn't want to frighten them.
"Can you help us with this guy?" Nate was standing near Jacques.
Joe joined them. "I thought the little human girl said we couldn't make a scene in public."
"Do you see anyone around here?" Nate asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Can you get him in the back of the truck and bring him to the meeting spot?" Eliot asked over the earbuds.
"Sure thing." Joe answered. Without pause he knelt down next to Jacques and snapped his neck.
"Umm. I'm not sure Eliot wanted him dead yet." Sophie observed. She had to swallow hard to fight back the nausea that had sprung up at the sound of Jacques neck snapping.
"He's only kinda dead." Kenny said as he helped Joe toss the limp body in the back of the truck.
"Kinda dead?" Eliot asked.
"Snapped his neck." Joe grunted.
"That works." Eliot answered.
"How's that 'kinda dead' as opposed to 'dead dead'?" Nate asked.
"As long as the head's attached he'll recover eventually." Eliot answered.
"Like cockroaches." Sophie grimaced as she buckled her seatbelt.
"I need you two to bring the dead guys to the meeting place. Joe and Kenny I need you guys to back up your Alpha." Parker had Hardison send the coordinates to the wolves's cell phones. Parker had planned on having Nate and Sophie trail Henry and Frank but after Nate hit Jacques and Joe 'kinda killed' him this seemed like the better option.
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Nati had been stalking Griswold for over a mile. Fortune had smiled on her and she was enjoying it. There had been no pedestrians for Griswold to use as cover or for hostages. Twice Griswold had tried to turn off of Webster the first time to be met with a cop on his regular beat and the second time two of the hunting party had met him. Nati had scented several pairs of wolves as she'd followed Griswold. She hadn't seen them but she knew that they were flanking Webster Rd.
As they approached the intersection where Webster turned into Oatfield the wolves had made themselves more visible. The wind shifted and brought the scents of several of them to her. She knew that the breeze took her scent and Griswold's to the wolves she'd spotted on the east side of the street. One by one as the breeze blew across them she saw them catch the scent and their eyes flash to their wolf for just a second. Griswold saw it too and Nati smiled as she smelled a wave of fear come rolling off of Griswold.
"Fine day for a hunt, is it not?" Nati asked loudly.
"That it is." Lucas stepped out from behind a privacy fence with a predatory smile as he joined Nati in pursuit of Griswold.
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Frank had gotten them within sight of Swiatek. With Henry's help Frank had kept his human shape except that his eyes which were normally green were now a bright brown. As Henry and Frank made their way along the back of one of the warehouses they heard footsteps coming up quickly behind them. Frank spun with a growl putting himself between Henry and whoever was coming up on them.
"Whoa take it easy little brother." Joseph put his hands up and held still until Frank realized who they were. Frank wasn't actually related to Joe but Joe had picked up the habit of calling the lower ranking wolves 'little brother.'
Frank cringed back toward Henry when he realized he'd nearly attacked his pack's second. "I'm sorry. It's just…I'm…" Frank shook his head.
"Don't worry the hunt is a hard call to resist even for us older ones." Kenny patted Frank's shoulder on the way past.
"What do we have Alpha?" Joe asked as he came even with Henry.
"Swiatek is Griswold's second. He's up ahead about two hundred yards. We need to get him across the river and to the meeting place, Koogan's Point. Parker sent the location to everyone's phone." Henry looked at his wolves for a moment. "Joe you and Kenny go north make sure he doesn't get back onto the main roadway. Frank and I'll drive him east until he hits the river. Once we've got him down to the shore we drive him across. Keep your human shape no matter what. Once we're across the river you don't need to keep to human speed unless we run into a farm or some other place where you might be spotted. Keep this guy to the trees as much as possible and follow up the river until we hit Koogan's Point. Hopefully by then the others will be there."
Kenny and Joe both nodded and jogged toward the main road. Frank moved ahead and Henry waited a moment before he moved to the other side of the warehouse. At the front of the warehouse he encountered a work crew loading crates into a semi-trailer. He nodded and strolled past them like this was an everyday thing for him. They didn't seem to take any special notice and as soon as he felt like none of them were watching he jogged past the end of the warehouse. With a little more weaving around buildings and cars, he soon found himself on the manicured field of a golf course. Just a little to the north he saw Joe and Kenny break through the trees at the edge of the green. Much farther south and east on the other side of the course they heard Frank's wolf howl. Frank had gotten closer to Swiatek than Henry had meant for him too.
"Quickly boys." Henry said before he took off at a run that wasn't strictly at human speed.
They were shoving their way through the underbrush when they heard a snarl and a yelp. Caring not at all if he was scratched up by the thick patch of scrub Henry shoved through until he burst into the open space of the river's shore line.
"You think this pup could bring me down." Swiatek growled as he yanked Frank by his arm into a position that made him yelp and whimper. "You shouldn't send a puppy after an old wolf unless you wanted the puppy back in pieces." Swiatek quickly twisted Frank's torso and Frank couldn't hold back the high piercing scream as his arm and then his back broke.
With a snarl Joseph leapt at Swiatek. He threw himself, arms forward like a diver and struck Swiatek causing him to drop Frank. Joseph and Swiatek rolled several times and ended up in the river. Swiatek came up on top with a knee on Joseph's neck holding him under the water. Henry and Kenny had run to Frank to assess and render what aid they could but when Swiatek came out on top of the scuffle, they both charged Swiatek.
Swiatek knew that in a fight where he was out numbered three to one his odds were usually pretty good but he recognized Henry and that changed things. When Henry and Kenny charged him he decided that a swift escape was his better option. Swiatek figured he had only a second before they would be on him so he punched Joseph hard enough that something in his cheek snapped before he got up and ran for it.
Henry saw the blow that Swiatek had given Joe and waved Kenny off to see to Joe while he continued to pursue Swiatek across the river. He tapped the earbud while he leapt from rock to rock across the river. "Parker, I've got two men down I've left Kenny with Joe and Frank. Frank is going to need assistance if you can manage it."
"Copy that. Is he people shape and what sort of damage?"
"All three are human form. Frank's spine was snapped They'll need a board to get him out. Did you have their location?"
"Are they near where Joseph's earbud died?"
"Yes."
"I see you moving east." Parker had panned out on her map looking to see who she could send.
"Yes I'm following Swiatek. Right now we're heading in the right direction and I'll keep him going this way."
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"We're closer than the rest of them." Parker was working through possible outcomes for this scenario as fast as she could. "I could redirect some of the wolves that are after Griswold. Nate and Sophie could turn around but they've already got two bodies in the truck." Parker tapped a finger against her chin.
"It's your call." Eliot squeezed her shoulder.
"Hardison pull over." Parker showed her tablet to Eliot. "We're here and Henry is here. You and Ewen meet him and finish the hunt. Hardison and I will take care of Henry's guys."
"Alright." Eliot paused as he got out of the van. "You two be careful"