Freak Out


The car screeched to a halt. Wolf stepped out and saw the police swarming like flies around sweet rotting food. As the gang got out, Diane and the police chief were still talking with the reporters. The red and blue lights flashed on and off in the night as Wolf and the others walked up to the horde of pressing reporters who suddenly hounded them. Flashes and cameras shuttered on and off in the growing night sky, blinding the gang. "Mr. Wolf! Mr. Wolf! Do you have anything to say about the allegations from Chief Luggins about this attack."

"No comment," Wolf grumbled. "Ms. Foxington. Chief Luggins."

"Well, if it isn't the wolf coming out of his lamb's coat," Luggins glared. "I hope you have an answer for this."

Wolf glared back but shot his eyes over to Diane. Her eyes twinkled from reporter cameras flashing and snapping pictures. He smiled a bit. At least that was his peace.

Just then, two officers came behind Officer Luggins. "Um... Ma'am, I think we should do this inside the police station."

"Not now, Bill."

"I think Officer Bill be want'n to tell you somethin'. We found somepin' on the cameras," said the other officer.

"Ugh, Bill, Bob. Can't you see that I'm in the middle of something?" Luggins retorted. "What's so important that I can't interrogate the culprit right here and now where everyone can see?"

"The law," Bill and Bob both said bluntly. Luggins sighed in defeat.

"Officer Luggins," Diane spoke up, stepping between Wolf and her. "You have no evidence yet that Wolf did anything."

"Hmm." The female officer glared at Wolf's dark eyes. Wolf's growl entered Diane's pointed ears.

"Why don't we go inside and discuss this privately?" She said. Wolf nodded and walked in with Luggins. Diane sighed, "What's going on with him?"

"He's just a little upset that Luggins's taking this thing out on us," Snake replied. Webs hopped onto Diane's shoulder with her tiny computer in hand.

"I have video proof that we weren't anywhere near the time that explosion happened, Governor."

"I know," The fox smiled. "You guys wouldn't try to finish off Luggins. Not like this."

"The question is who would," Snake said.

Diane nodded and turned to the crowd of reporters. "Thank you for your coverage of this case. However, we need time to investigate the scene. No more questions, please." Diane quickly ushered the others into the police station and closed the door before the reporters could say anything else. She gave a sigh of relief, but it wasn't long before she heard more shouting.

"We didn't do anything!" Wolf growled.

"Oh, and I'm sure that's a likely story," Luggins snapped back. Poor Bill and Bob were pushing the two away from each other before they would spill blood.

"Luggins, Wolf! Stop!" Diane shouted. Snake joined Bob in pushing Wolf back.

"Easy, buddy," Snake said. "It's not like you to lose your cool. Not like that."

"She's pinning it on us! If we really wanted to get rid of her, we wouldn't have made such a mess!"

"So you admit it!" Luggins shouted back.

"Why you-"

"Enough!" Bill exclaimed. He pushed Luggins into a chair, quickly using his belt to tie the officer down. Bill was a palish young officer with a very round nose and not much meat on his bones, but he was very quick.

"Bill! What's the meaning of this?!"

Bill wiped the sweat collecting from his jet-black hair. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but you have to calm down, please."

"You too buddy," Snake said to Wolf. "I thought you didn't care what other people thought about us."

"There's exceptions," Wolf growled. A tender paw rested on his shoulder. He looked at Diane's worried face and gave a sigh. "Alright. What's the deal?"

"The deal is," said Bob, "That we have some video evid'ce of the perpetrator. It took a while, but we think we know who it is."

Bob walked over to the brown semi-circular reception desk and pulled out a small TV. He fiddled with the controls, scratching his bright orange beard. It was the only hair on his head he could scratch. The TV flickered on and a street similar to the one outside appeared in black and white. Luggins' car was part nearest to the camera, which made it hard to see anyone on the sidewalk.

They didn't need to. A motorcycle revved up to Luggins' car, tossed something underneath it, and drove off. Wolf looked at Diane and then at her briefcase. For a moment, that motorcycle reminded him of her compact motorcycle. Wolf shook his head.

No, Diane had no reason to kill Luggins. Right?

"The bike looks like an M1 Cyprus V," Webs said. "That's not something you can get around here."

"Why not?" Diane asked.

"They're sold only on the East Coast. Not expensive, but very exclusive. They're very reliable and very quiet."

"And they don't leave a trace," Bob sighed.

"There's no tire tracks?" Wolf asked.

"Not what I be meanin'. Even though they exclusive, we can't trace the bike back to any owner. Recent virus on the east coast scrambled all purrchase records."

Snake raised his eyebrow. "Wait, someone put a virus out to get rid of the motorcycles sold on the entire east coast? Just to cover their tracks?"

"Hmmm, who does that sound like?" Luggins said, staring at Wolf. The dark-furred canine rolled his eyes.

"But... we also know that you guys didn't do it. For a list of reasons," Bill finally spoke up in a small voice. "None of you have a bike, it wouldn't make sense, and the size of the person on the bike suggests that it is a female."

Luggins and Wolf both raised an eyebrow at the same time. "How could you tell it was a female?" Wolf asked.

"The bike looks custom-made. Wider backside, easier for women," Bob said.

"And you know this because...?" Diane asked. Bob looked all around and pulled out a handkerchief to pat his bald head.

"The point is the size of the person on the bike doesn't match anyone in your group," Bill said. "She's too small."

"Small," Wolf echoed. He scratched his head a bit. "What about the bomb? What did you figure out with that?"

"It's a dual radar bomb."

"What?!" Webs exclaimed.

"What does that mean?" Sharks asked.

"It means that when the person setting the bomb up is far enough, it tracks the target. So the bomber was probably five miles away when the bomb went off," Tarantula explained.

"Perfect distance to get away without a trace," Snake said.

"And isn't it just convenient that you know all of this, Ms. Tarantula," Luggins remarked.

"Alright, that's it!" Wolf snarled. "I'm getting tired of your accusations. We were nowhere near this place and you have all the evidence to prove it."

"You've made things like watches disappear. What's the say you can't make people disappear."

"Enough you two," Diane stood between them.

"I'm not like that anymore. None of us are like that!" Wolf declared. "And besides, your watch isn't-" Wolf looked at Luggins' arm. "Wait a minute."

"Hey!" Wolf pulled Luggins' arm up to his face and examined the watch. "I demand you let me go!"

"Where did you get this?"

"Hmph, a secret admirer gave it to me," Luggins smirked, expecting the wolf to become more irritated. "They sent it this afternoon."

"Wolf, what's wrong?" Snake asked.

"That's... this is the same watch that that woman I met at the diner was wearing?"

"Ah HA! So you at least know the culprit!" Luggins shouted.

"Ugh, this again?!" Wolf snarled.

"Officer Luggins. That's enough."

"I'm sorry, Governor, but this wolf is obviously hiding the real culprit. I'm making my own investigation and getting to the bottom of this." She turned around and started marching to the door.

"I'm not hiding her!" Wolf shouted, "She was just some random person who said she knew you."

"Who was she?" Diane asked, raising her eyebrow and crossing her arms.

"Some lamb called... uhh Lillia Lambs?" Wolf said. Luggins stopped. "She said something about knowing Luggins as a partner. I didn't think she was-"

"What did you just say?" The Police Chief turned around with eyes wider than tennis balls and skin paler than pearls. "What did you say her name was?"

"Lillia Lambs," Wolf repeated. Luggins's eyes stared through Wolf as if she were staring right into the eyes of horror. "Do you... Do you know-"

"You said this watch looked exactly like hers, right?"

"I... uh... I think."

"You think?!" Luggins stormed up to Wolf.

"Yes, yes! I... guess." Wolf gulped. Luggins quickly took off the watch and tossed it to Wolf. "What the-"

"Governor Foxington, I must be... dismissed for a while."

"Officer Luggins, what's wrong?"

"I... I need some time to think about things." Luggins rushed to the door.

"Wait, what about the watch?"

"Keep it!" Those were the last words she said before leaving the police station.

"Whoa, chica looked like she saw a ghost," Piranha said.

"Huh, now that I look at it," Officer Bob said. "The perp on the bike would match the size of a lamb."

"Lillia Lambs," Diane repeated. "That name sounds familiar. Officer Bill, Officer Bob. Could you two see if there's any records of it."

"Will do, ma'am."

"And make sure to keep tabs on Luggins. Something's off with her," Diane said.

"You mean more than normal?" Snake asked. Diane sighed. He had a point there. Wolf stared at the door before looking at the watch. Some of Officer Luggins' sweat was on it. She was scared.

Why? She didn't seem scared before he mentioned Lillia Lambs. What was going on?

"Uh... Mr. Wolf?"

"Huh?" Wolf turned around and saw Officer Bill. "Oh, what's wrong?"

"We uhhh we need to ask you some questions."

"What?" Wolf exclaimed.

"Not like Chief Luggins was going to do. I mean... tried to do. It's just..."

Officer Bob sighed, rolling his eyes, "What the shy lad is trying to say is since you actually met this Lillia Lambs, it'd be nice to know what she told you and what she looked like."

"And what you actually did with her," Diane said.

Wolf gulped and raised his hands. "I didn't do anything with her. She was just some strange sheep that came into the diner and started talking about how flocks were more dangerous to each other than wolves or something like that."

"What did she look like?" Bill asked.

"Sheep, wore a nice black suit, golden necklace, wore this watch."

"Huh, that is weird," Snake said. "Wait, is that why you were freaking out earlier?"

"I thought I saw her on the sidewalk. Maybe I did."

"Speculations get us nowhere. We have to figure out where this Lillia Lambs is and stop her," Diane said. "Webs, can you help Officer Bill figure out the specs of the bomb? Wolf, talk with Officer Bob and tell him everything that you noticed about this person."

"Uh... sure," Wolf said. He carefully slipped on the watch Luggins gave him. He looked at its shiny reflective surface. It was slippery. Wolf narrowed his eyes.

Chief Luggins rarely got nervous enough to sweat. What was going on?

"Alright, Wolf. Come on, let's get this over with," Bob said.

"Yeah... yeah." The dapper canine followed the officer, still in a fog of his own confusion.

Continued...