Loose Ends (The Hammer Commission Book 3)

by John Van Stry

  Jeb stopped and looked at the two of them, "You believe, don't you? You're not like the state cops around here, or the forest rangers. They laugh at us. But I can see, you're not laughing."

  Michael shook his head, "No, Sir, we're not laughing. That's why we're here."

  "Can you tell us where your usual place is, Jeb?" Mark asked. "So we don't waste time going there, if you've already checked it out."

  "It's in the Lakeview State Park," he said and started pacing again.

  "Do you know the names of the people who went up there with your wife and daughter?" Michael asked.

  "Elksong, he's about sixty; Sarah, she's his woman, she's about thirty; Danielle Shadowmist, she's also in her thirties, she's from the reservation up north; Howard Rossman, he's in his forties I think and lives a few blocks from here. Oh, and Crystal, she's in her mid twenties."

  Mark watched as Michael pulled out his pad and wrote all that down.

  "Do you know what kind of car they took? That might give us an idea of what kind of terrain they were expecting to cross," Michael asked.

  "They took my wife's forester," Jeb said.

  "Do you have something you wife has worn recently?" Mark asked, "Something you haven't washed?"

  "Why?" Jeb asked, looking at him, "You're not gonna get a bunch of those blood hounds, are you?"

  "Like calls to like," Mark said. "If the place isn't too heavily warded, we might be able to find it that way."

  Jeb's eyes lit up, "Oh! Right! I've heard Kelly talk about that. Just a minute!"

  "Like calls to like?" Michael whispered as Jeb left the room.

  Mark shrugged, "If I end up having to track her, I sure would like her scent, but with all this incense in here, I can't pick up anything."

  "Other than pot," Michael snickered.

  "Eh, it's legal here anyway."

  Jeb came back into the room with a t-shirt.

  "Here, she wore this the day before she left. I haven't done the wash yet, so it should be good."

  "Thank you," Mark said, taking it.

  "How long do you think it will take to find her and Beth?" he asked, looking rather hopeful.

  "I can't make any promises, Jeb," Mark said. "But we'll do our best."

  "Go with the goddess then, and blessed be," Jeb said, shaking hands with both of them.

  "Have a good day, Sir." Michael said and handed him his card, "Call us if you hear anything."

  "I will, officers!"

  They left, closing the door behind them and went back to the car.

  "So, what did you guys learn?" Jess asked.

  "That they're a bunch of hippies playing at magic," Michael said.

  "Oh, I don't know if they were playing exactly," Mark said. "Beth must have some talent to have realized what that bag meant. But most humans don't have a lot of talent, and the ones that do, well they tend to hide it."

  "Why's that?" Michael asked.

  "Because in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is beaten to death," Mark replied wryly.

  "So, how do we find where they went?"

  "We ask the wolves of course. Any people gathering in the mountains around here has definitely had to have come to their attention."

  "Is that why you sent Dave to go talk to the wolves, Dad?" Gale asked.

  "Pretty much. Let's go check into the local police station and let them know that we're here. Then we'll call Dave and Denise and see if we can all meet up for lunch someplace."

  12: Pack Outfitters, Oregon

  "Pack Outfitters? Really?" Denise said, looking at Dave as the pulled into a parking space in front of the store. They were in the middle of a strip mall in the heart of downtown Klamath Falls.

  Dave laughed, "Yeah, some wolves aren't the most imaginative. But you have to admit that if anyone is going to know the territory for a hundred miles in any direction, it's going to be the local wolves.

  "Besides," Dave grinned, "it's not like any of the humans out there are going to realize what it means."

  Denise shook her head, "All these years and all of this was just under my nose."

  "And now it's under me," Dave said with a wink, causing her to blush. Dave could be quite the gentleman when he wanted to be. He could also be as rude and crude as the worst of them, in short, he reminded her of everything she loved about the army, and even the FBI. So it wasn't any surprised that she fallen in love with him.

  The fact that he was positively ripped didn't hurt either. He was even better put together than his old man, which was saying something.

  "Hey! What the hell are you doing here!" a young man said, coming up to them as they entered the store.

  "Heya, Chuck, how's it hanging?" Dave said grinning.

  "You got some nerve coming in here, after the last time!"

  "Aw come on! That was just Clem having fun, and you know it. Besides, he's not here."

  "Who's the girl?"

  Denise looked him over; Chuck was a little taller than Dave, but thinner.

  "His wife," Denise growled putting her hands on her hips and looking him up and down.

  Dave laughed, "Denise, this is Chuck. Chuck, this is Denise, and better mind your manners. You think Clem was tough? She'll clean your clock in less time than it takes to talk about it!"

  "Right, like a small girl like that could take me down!" Chuck sneered.

  "Put up, or shut up," Denise said staring him in the eyes. She had to look up of course; he was at least six inches taller than she was.

  "Looks like you just got called out, Chuck," Dave smirked.

  "Like I'm afraid of a little girl!"

  "Okay then," Dave said and took a step back, "On three!"

  Denise looked at Dave, who just winked at her and pointed to Chuck.

  "One," Dave counted, "two, three!"

  Chuck reached for her, and Denise grabbed his hand and pulled him towards her, then cranked his arm around, as she stepped into him and using a simple hip throw she threw him down onto the ground, rising up onto her toes a little bit to get that extra leverage that made him come down so much harder.

  Keeping hold of his arm, she kicked him in the armpit, then stepped on his shoulder and wrenched his arm to the point of almost dislocating it.

  Denise smiled as he gasped in pain.

  "Warned you, Chuck. She can even beat me up! I don't think Clem would even win against her. Now I suggest you yield before she rips your arm off and beats you to death with it!"

  "What the hell is going on over there!" A man yelled from the back of the store, Demise was almost sure she'd heard that voice before.

  "Kyle! Help! Dave is back and he brought some sort of demon with him!"

  "Kyle?" Denise said and turned around to look, and sure enough, she had.

  "Kyle you son-of-a-bitch!" Denise said and letting go of Chuck's arm she charged him, launching herself at him from a good six feet away.

  "Denise!" He laughed and then 'oofed' rather loudly as she knocked him onto his ass.

  "What the hell are you doing here?" Kyle laughed as she tried to get him into a submission hold.

  "Trying to finally beat your ass up! That's what!" Denise laughed.

  Kyle grunted and got her in a scissor lock, trying to do the same to her.

  "Hey, you've changed!" He whispered as they scrabbled on the floor of the shop. A couple of customers stopping to watch what was going on.

  "Now I know why I could never beat you," She grunted back in a low voice, "but now I will!"

  "Dear, people are beginning to watch," Dave said walking over to the two of them as they wrestled on the ground.

  Denise and Kyle stopped wrestling and looked around, embarrassed. All five customers in the shop were now watching them.

  Dave reached down and helped Denise up as she brushed herself off.

  "So," Kyle said getting up, "from the commotion my little brother started up front, I take it that you're either Dave, or Clem?"

  Dave smiled, "Dave, I take it you know my wife Denise th
en?" he said while sticking out his hand.

  "Wife?" Kyle said shaking hands and looking at Denise. "Well, that explains a few things then."

  Denise smiled and leaned into Dave.

  "You know her?" Chuck said coming over.

  "Yeah, she was in my military police group in the army. Craziest and toughest bitch in the unit. I've seen her take down men twice her size." Kyle looked back at Denise, "You mustered out the same time I did. What brings you here?"

  "I work for the FBI now," Denise said in a lowered voice as the onlookers went back to their shopping, having realized that there wasn't going to be anything more interesting going on.

  "Let's go talk in my office," Kyle said. "Chuck, take care of the customers, okay?"

  Chuck nodded and walked off, rubbing his shoulder as he worked his arm a little from where Denise had kicked him.

  Once inside, Kyle showed them to a couple of seats as he closed the door.

  "So, as this isn't a social visit, what brings you here?"

  "I work with the FBI's paranormal group; we're part of interstate affairs division. We're on a case involving a young female wiccan by the name of Beth Moonwing who got her hands on some remains from a devil while she was living up in Portland. We believe she brought them back here to experiment. So we're trying to recover it, before anything bad happens."

  "And how does the local wolf clan fit into this?"

  "Simple," Dave said, "my dad wants to know where all of their ritual sites are, so we can go check them out."

  "What does your father have to do with any of this?" Kyle asked.

  "He's on loan to my group at the FBI," Denise said, and then smiled, "that's how I met Dave and we mated."

  "Damn, Mark Levin is working for the government now?" Kyle shook his head, "My old man is going to have a fit when he hears about that!"

  "Why?" Denise asked.

  Dave coughed, "Dad has a tendency to go a little overboard if someone messes with his wives or us kids," he said, smirking a little bit, "And well, me and Clem got in some trouble here a few years ago."

  "And his father damn near beat three of the wolves in the clan to death. For a turned, he's one tough bastard. Everyone thought that story of him and that bear were just a load of crap. Then he takes out three of the clan's toughest, and suddenly everyone realizes that you do not mess with old man Levin," Kyle said.

  "Hey, if it's any consolation, he beat the two of us to within an inch of our lives and then grounded us," Dave said with a shrug and a laugh. "We weren't allowed out our cages for the rest of the summer."

  "Cages?" Denise said and both she and Kyle looked at him.

  "Yeah, he built two of them, just special for us and tossed our asses into them. Said if we were going to act like stupid animals, we should live like them too. At least it was only for a month!"

  "That's harsh," Denise said shaking her head, "I don't even want to know what you did to earn that!"

  "Yeah, we were getting a little out of hand. But that sure reined us in. Dad's still got some anger issues, mom says it's from what happened to him in the war when he killed that vamp," Dave shrugged, "all I know is you see him truly angry at you once, you never want to see it again."

  "So, does this mean that the local alpha won't help us?" Denise said, turning back to Kyle.

  "Oh, my old man will help; he'll have to, to save face. Ya' see, Mr. Levin came down here afterwards and apologized to my father in front of the whole clan for both his actions, and that of his kids," Kyle nodded towards Dave. "He didn't have to do that, so it really made a big point with my father. Earned his respect."

  Kyle shook his head, "So, the feds know about us now?"

  Denise nodded, "From what I gather, they always have, they've just kept it quiet and let the different religious groups and the clans deal with the problems as they came. But a couple of years ago they decided to stop depending on others. Still, it's not common knowledge and they plan to keep it that way."

  "That's good to know," Kyle said and taking a card out of his desk he wrote something on the back and handed it to Denise.

  "My cell number is on the back. I'll go talk to my dad and find out when and where is a good time to meet. There have been a few strange things going on in the last few days, and my dad's been wondering what to do about it. Call me in a couple of hours."

  "Okay," Denise said and both she and Dave stood.

  "And congratulations on finding a mate. My brothers might think your husband there is a bit of an ass, but the girls all liked him and said he was rather sweet."

  Denise sighed and shook her head as they shook hands with Kyle, "And now I know why he got in trouble. Well, at least he's off the market now."

  "Yup," Dave grinned, "she'll beat me to death if I so much as look at another woman!"

  "Sounds like you two were made for each other," Kyle snickered and they both blushed.

  "Here's my card," Denise said and handed hers to him as they left the office, "don't be a stranger, Kyle."

  "Bye!"

  "Bye."

  13: Lake Steak House, Klamath Falls

  Mark stood up when Walt, the Klamath Falls pack alpha came into the room. They were having dinner in a private room in the back of a rather nice steak house that Walt's son Kyle had told them to be at, at five.

  It was quarter past five now, Mark figured that Walt wanted to make it clear to everyone that Mark wasn't in charge here. For Mark's part, he was okay with that, this was Walt's hometown and Mark would rather put the incident of a few years ago behind them.

  So he stood up, and the others did as well, as a sign of respect.

  "Thanks for helping us with this, Walt. I appreciate it," Mark said with a smile and shook hands with him. Mark assumed the young man with him was his son Kyle who hadn't been here the last time Mark had been in town.

  "Well, Kyle here tells me you are trying to find a young woman?" Walt said.

  Mark nodded, and introduced the others in his group, then sat back down as Walt and his son Kyle each took a seat.

  "Her mother is the leader of the local wiccan coven. I talked to Jeb Sundancer this morning. He told me they went up into the hills, to some special altar or place they have there for their more powerful rituals, not their usual place out in the Lakeview State Park. That was on Thursday night, and they were going to do their experiments Friday night, under the light of the full moon."

  Walt nodded, "And now it's Wednesday and they're not back. That doesn't sound good. Being up in the hills this time of year, it can still get pretty cold. At least it hasn't snowed or rained in the last week."

  Mark nodded, "So, I'm asking for your help, and the help of your clan. From the sounds of it, this Beth girl had some minor talent for a human. So it's possible that they might have unleashed something dangerous, or at the very least, gotten injured or sick."

  Walt sighed, "I know Jeb, and I'm familiar in passing with many of the members of the local coven that his wife runs. They're one of the more laid back ones in the area, and they're pretty respectful of things, so we tend to give them their privacy and respect their ways."

  "So, does that mean you'll help us?"

  Walt nodded, "I'll have Kyle here take you to the place I think they were using. One of my nephews saw them heading out to a special place they use up on a hilltop to the east of here a ways. Like I said, we give them their space, because they respect the forests around here, and well," Walt shrugged and suddenly grinned, "sometimes they can get pretty freaky out there, and it's the last thing I want any of the kids to see, so the rule is you stay away, well away, when they're doing their magic. But my nephew Scott told me that he heard some strange noises coming from there late Friday night, well after midnight, when he was out for a run.

  "Saturday night he called me again and said there was a foul odor coming from the hilltop and it sounded like some kind of beast was up there. I told him to stay away and I've been gathering up a bunch to go take a look at it myself. But now that you're
here," Walt said looking around, "are you all with the FBI?"

  "Denise and Michael are," Mark said motioning to the two of them. "I'm just working with them on loan from my usual job."

  "I'm surprised you turned them," Walt said, motioning to Michael and Denise as well.

  Mark chuckled, "I didn't. Their new mates did. Helena has been trying to line up spouses for the kids for a while now, and well, they were interested in meeting the family and some match making took place. Being as they already know about us and have worked with a number of lycans before, they weren't bothered by the idea."

  "Still, I am surprised, and I don't know if I like the FBI knowing about us."

  Mark shrugged, "It had to happen sooner or later. Most European countries have a group that deals with us. It's just our country's turn to get involved. My advice to you is the same I give to everyone else: If you have some kids who want to get involved in law enforcement, get a job with the FBI. I'll even help, as will Michael or Denise here. As long as there are enough of us working there, they won't abuse us."

  Mark watched as Walter pondered that advice for a minute or two.

  "You have a good point there, Mark. I think I will talk to some of the others about this, including some of the other clan heads in the area.

  Walt sat back and smiled, "Well, now that we've concluded business, how about some dinner?"

  Walt raised his hand and beckoned to the waitress who had been standing on the other side of the room. Mark had already noted that she was a werewolf; he suspected that the place was probably owned by one of the members of Walt's clan.

  "Dinner sounds good to me," Mark agreed.

  Mark was following Dave and Denise's SUV, Kyle was in their car and was giving them directions to where the suspected site of Friday night's ritual was. They'd been driving for almost an hour, this place was definitely well out of town, and they were driving on forestry roads now. He'd called the pilots before they'd left the steakhouse, once he realized that they probably weren't going to be leaving until tomorrow.