Chapter 2

It took Ron a day and a half to find Callahan. The Ministry had Intel that he might be hiding out in Liverpool, posing as a Muggle. Ron had been briefed on Callahan's profile, and he knew if he was going to find the man anywhere, it would be at one place: a muggle pub. After a day and a half full of searching different pubs and having no results, Ron was beginning to come up with other places he might be when the very man he was trying to find strolled right into the pub Ron was staking out. Callahan was nothing much to look at; he stood at only 5'6, with untidy black hair and was relatively scrawny, with looks that were average at best. However, being a wizard has its advantages, and one of those is being able to charm unsuspecting Muggles into liking you. For the rest of the day, Ron tailed Callahan, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Ron was able to follow his suspect to his place of residence, a shabby looking muggle inn. Once Ron figured out where Callahan was staying, he took up shop on a hill overlooking the inn, not bothering to follow Callahan during the day; he knew where he'd be going anyway. Every night, Ron returned before sundown to take up position on the hill, covered in his standard issue invisibility cloak, waiting for Callahan to return to his room on the second floor. However, this proved to be more difficult then it sounded. Callahan seemed to be interested in two things only: drinking, and muggle women. Every night, he would return to his room in the wee hours of the morning, and every night, to Ron's annoyance, he had a charmed muggle woman in tow.

This continued until the very early morning of the fifth day. Ron was dutifully at his post, just beginning to nod off, when a figure staggered into sight. Ron was instantly fully alert; it was Callahan, and although he was intoxicated as he always was, he was alone. Ron took a breath of excitement and relief, and patiently watched the drunken criminal stumble up the stairway and to his door, fumble with his keys, and step inside.

Ron pulled out his wand, pointed it to his throat and spoke. "HQ, this is Firefox, I have the suspect in my sights."

"Firefox, this is HQ, roger that. What's his status? Another typical encounter?" came a voice form nowhere in particular.

Ron smiled. "Negative, he's flying solo. I guess he finally got far enough gone that he wasn't able to woo another local. He's a sitting duck HQ, requesting green light to proceed."

"Affirmative Firefox, you have the green. Trident 4-1 will be put on standby. Good luck."

Ron pulled off his cloak and got to his feet, moving silently down the hill and into the parking lot. At this time of morning, the parking lot was utterly deserted, but Ron knew better then to let his guard down. He raised his wand and silently disabled the muggle surveillance camera that overlooked the parking lot. Ron silently clambered up the stairway and reached Callahan's room. Ron cloaked the entire floor with a muffling spell, and pulled out what looked to be a human ear with a fleshy string attached. Ron attached the string to his own ear and placed the other end on the door of Callahan's room. The strange device was actually a modified version of an extendable ear, one of his older brothers Fred and George's inventions. Ever since George decided to modify them to amplify sound and promptly sold them to the Auror's office, they had been standard issue for all Aurors.

Everything sounded rather normal inside the room. Ron could clearly hear the tv on, broadcasting some muggle news channel, and heard the sound of running water, and faint splashes. Ron guessed that Callahan had turned on the tv and then gone over to the sink to splash water in his face. He checked the window, just to be safe. The scene was indeed as it sounded; Callahan was splashing water on his face at the sink, his back to the door. Feeling assured, Ron readied his wand to the doorknob. Ron took a deep breath, and flicked his wand.

Several things happened in a short amount of time. A jet of blue light engulfed the doorknob and the door opened with a crash. Ron lunged over the threshold. Callahan barely had enough time to look up from the sink into the mirror. Another flash of light, and Callahan's body went rigid as a board, leaning stiffly against the sink. Ron reached him and turned him over. It had all happened in a matter of seconds. Ron released his breath and allowed his body to relax a little. The hard part was over, but he knew better then to let his guard down just because his suspect appeared to be incapacitated. Although rare, it was possible to break free from the Body-Bind Curse. Ron had seen it firsthand, with his good friend Neville Longbottom, who was able to shrug off the curse during the Battle of Hogwarts, nearly six years ago. But now was not the time to revisit old memories. "Ethan Callahan" Ron spoke at the frozen figure, "you are under arrest for the selling of illegal Dark objects". Ron pulled the immobile Callahan to his feet, and, searching through his pockets, relieved him of his wand. Ron then hauled Callahan onto his back and threw his invisibility cloak over them both and walked out the door, closing it behind him. Rather than haul his catch down the stairs, Ron vaulted over the railing of the second floor, coming to a magical halt inches from the ground. Ron touched the ground and continued into the parking lot and onto the hill.

Once Ron had reached his open area, he threw off the cloak and placed Callahan on the soft earth. Ron pointed his wand to his throat, and spoke once more.

"HQ, this is Firefox. Mission accomplished, suspect is in custody. Awaiting transportation".

"Firefox this is HQ, good job, Trident 4-1 is inbound. Standby." The voice from nowhere responded.

After a moment, a figure appeared and solidified before Ron. The man was about Ron's age, dressed in a heavy tan cloak and had short brown hair.

"Weasley" he said coolly with a smile on his face.

"Stevens" Ron replied, just as cool.

"Looks like a standard bag and tag you got here, what took you so long?" Stevens said, staring at the stiff and emotionless Callahan.

"You know me" came Ron's reply, "I like taking my time". Stevens and Ron laughed.

"Right then", Stevens said, "I'll just take 'em off your hands for you."

"That would be brilliant. Thanks" Ron answered, helping Callahan onto Stevens shoulders.

Stevens pulled out his wand and jammed it into his throat.

"HQ, this is Trident 4-1, I have the suspect and am ready to transport".

"Roger Trident 4-1, you are cleared for takeoff Have a good trip" came the reply.

Stevens turned to look at Ron.

"See you at the office then" he said with a smile.

Ron smiled as well. "Yeah, I guess you will."

Stevens turned on the spot and vanished. Ron put his wand at his throat.

"HQ, this is Firefox, package delivered, request green to return."

"Roger Firefox, mission is complete, come on home. HQ over and out."

Ron put his wand into his cloak and concentrating on his destination, turned on the spot, and disappeared into the night.