by Tina Smith
“What do you mean another pack?” I asked in disbelief, waiting for the answer.
“They are the mountain pack, the oldest ones. They hide in the bush and never turn human.”
I looked to Reid as he walked inside. “Reid, did you know about this?”
“No,” he shrugged wide eyed, though he had overheard. Angele shook her head in agreement.
“It was never mentioned?” I insisted toward him.
“No. Even if we heard them we would have assumed they were Paws’s pack in the hills.”
“Would anyone else know about them?” I frowned.
“Maybe, if they were old enough,” Angele said blankly.
I wondered if Sky knew of them.
“How many of them would there be?”
“They never said. Bianca was supposed to bring them back. She searched for days and couldn’t find them. Finally Sam had to go with her. This Mountain Pack were around when Paws was a pup. They were the wolves that ran the main pack before us. I know about them from the photos in the hall.” She sipped her tea.
“What are their names?”
“Well, I know from pictures that there was Robert, Patrick and Christian and two girls, the alpha Greta and her omega Agnes – they are the oldest, there were others but they are dead. Oh, and the girls, the new ones from the city – Aylish and Dahlia – who aren’t new, if you know what I mean. They were around at the end of the mountain pack’s days before they disappeared to the city. The blonde knew Paws and they spoke like they had history,” she said knowingly.
I wondered if Tisane’s mother had known about them.
“Which one?” I frowned, confirming the name.
“The blonde? Aylish, though she took off the night after you invaded the house.”
“Do you know why?” I enquired.
Angele shrugged. “She didn’t want to come here. Sam was sent to get them - but they had recently turned a guy and Aylish was upset they had left him. I don’t think Sam knew about him, he was fresh,” she guessed.
“What was his name?”
“I don’t know.”
I counted the numbers. Paws, Narine, Genna, Tyler, Blair, Sam, Bianca, Shelly, Dahlia, Aylish and the new one. Robert, Patrick, Christian, Greta and Agnes from the mysterious mountain pack. “What’s that? Possibly fifteen or so of them?”
“Could be, I’m not sure. They may not have all of the mountain pack? I left before Sam returned,” she admitted wide-eyed. Reid and I exchanged stern looks.
When we had a moment alone I asked Angele a few more questions.
“Angele why did you leave?”
“Narine wanted me to keep tabs on Sam’s pack.”
I was apprehensive of her reaction but I had to ask the next question “Did you tell her what we do here?”
“No, I haven’t told. I want to help you. She hasn’t been for information yet,” she insisted.
“Why?” I asked the obvious.
“I don’t know, she’s busy I guess.” Her face fell.
She was being honest, but that didn’t mean I should trust her.
“Lila, please don’t tell Jack. He won’t trust me, none of them will.”
She was asking me? The last person in the world she should have been confiding in. “You’d tell me if you knew anything else?” I asked suspicious.
“I know you have every reason not to trust me, but I have been nothing but truthful. I haven’t spoken to Narine since she left me or anyone else. I think they just got rid of me really.”
“Why should I believe you?” I knew I couldn’t.
“Because I know Sky still loves you. He could have anyone, any of the pack, but he doesn’t.”
I wondered if she had had her eye on him herself.
“Now I have Jack so I know how that feels. Narine said she wants to take over the world, she wants to make everyone like us.”
“And what, you don’t agree with her?” I swung her a look, like that didn’t surprise me.
“I know she’ll try to do it.”
Jackson came in with Reid and our intense conversation halted as he sat next to Angele and gave her a squeeze.
We decided tomorrow night would be the time. I phoned Giny and she came in with her handbag, the only one of us human. Quietly, she listened to our plans. Her dark eyes were hard to read. “Giny, will you help us?” I needed to know how far she would go. She shifted a little and I noticed she was tense.
She nodded. “Possibly.”
I expected another ultimatum and I was even prepared to bargain with her for her assistance, because god knows we needed all the help we could get. But she didn’t ask. I felt sad about that; she hadn’t the spark that was required for a hunter nor the independence of a wolf inside her and I believed she couldn’t have survived the immortal change, even if she was persistent enough to get what she wanted. If she proved herself, part of me believed she deserved it. Once again I thought maybe she helped us because she hoped to get infected during the fight. But all I cared about right then was that she would help us, no matter the motive.
Reid’s Jeep being destroyed was the end of an era. The vehicles we still had were the dirt bikes and the road bike all locked in the carport at Sam’s. We decided that the bikes were a good option – our only one. Problem was I couldn’t ride one and neither could Angele or Giny - I still wasn’t sure how far she would go. I wondered what she would do when we got there. She let Reid teach her how to shoot a gun. I didn’t know if Angele would betray us.
The only person I would listen to was Tisane; she was the only one who could make me abort the mission and even then, because it was Cres, maybe no one could. There was a waxing moon tonight so the wolves would be gaining strength. Tisane was a secret. As far as the others were aware, the car was Caroline’s but I’m sure they did wonder what else I wasn’t saying about where I had found shelter for the past weeks. I was worried because we still weren’t sure Cres was kept in the Cult house until Angele mentioned the basement. I asked Angele about the lay of the house.
“They keep prisoners and put us in there when we are bad,” she disclosed.
“You’re sure that’s where she would be?” Reid worked on the bikes. While he and Jackson were out of earshot, I probed. “Why didn’t you mention this before?”
“I don’t know. I think we weren’t allowed to discuss it. It’s where she put us if we didn’t comply. Sky was in there,” she confided with a sharp certainty that made my blood run cold.
“They put Sky in this basement?”
“No.”
“No?” I questioned.
“No, yes they did. But it’s not the basement they lock you in, it’s the cage.” She explained carefully.
Cage, they locked him in a cage. “Angele, do you think Cres could be in this cage?” I realized then that he must have been unable to get to me, and now Cres was in there too.
“Yes,” she said quietly.
“How can we get her out?”
“The keys are in the office. It’s on the bottom floor. Paws keeps them in a locked filing cabinet.” She leant over and tapped the hand drawn map. Again I went over the lay of the house with her, trusting her as she explained the rooms.
We were inside with the TV on, eating the food C.J brought back from the local takeaway. She had raided her father’s coin jar. I was chewing a Snickers and flicking through the paper when a breaking news story came on the television ahead of the nightly news. “In breaking news this afternoon, the town of Shade, on the far south coast, has been hit with the news that a local Cult leader Dieter Pawston of the Born Again Beings was found dead this morning inside his compound home.”
All three of us looked at each other. Silently we turned our full attention to the screen, frozen, listening. My eyes fixed on the screen.
“At this stage, investigation by local police seems to confirm a suicide. All other members of the Born Again Being cult are accounted for and it is reported from within the group that he suffered from d
epression. The town has also experienced several missing persons in the last year, including most recently the unaccounted for missing seven-year-old boy Bronson James and his eighteen your old sister Cresida James, just days ago. Jane Shelton is at the scene.”
“Hello Jane, what has been happening outside the cult compound in Shade Valley?”
“The community has been rocked in recent days by the disappearance of two more of its young people. It was speculated they may have been in this cult, situated here behind me.”
Blair Whitlock’s face lit the screen and he adopted a serious expression under his police uniform cap. He appeared to be in a media scrum with tape recorders and microphones from various networks uncomfortably pushed into his face. “Yes we have not located any missing persons in the compound or otherwise and the search for the James children continues. Anyone with any information relating to the case is urged to call crime busters.” He attempted to leave as a barrage of questions made him pause.
“What about the body?” a reporter boomed above the rest of the scrum.
“The body of Dieter Pawston was found early this morning by people affiliated with the deceased. At this point it looks to be a suicide and is completely unrelated to the missing children’s case.”
We turned and looked at each other, mouths open. I felt my heart beat a little faster inside my chest and I’m sure my face drained of blood. What in God’s name was going on out there?
“Holy shit,” said C.J.
Everything had been turned on its head. “Paws is dead?” I gaped, unable to believe it.
I shot a glance at Angele who looked stunned. Perhaps she didn’t know about it. We couldn’t believe it; neither of us believed it could have been a suicide. My words sank in and the meaning of this settled over us.
“Could Cres have done it?” asked C.J, amazed as I stared at the screen which showed footage of an ambulance leaving the gate to the property.
“Narine’s in charge now,” I uttered. She would be undisputed. “We’ll need to take her out,” I said deep in thought. I knew Cres had done it.
38. Blair Whitlock
Narine had suggested a change for senior constable Greg Sutton for some time but it was Blair that had to do it. Blair traced him up the river, through the state forest to a spot at the base of Cradle Mountain where he was fishing. He watched him and a companion down beers one after the other. In the early hours he snuck in and bit Senior Sutton with just enough venom to do the job slowly and he barely stirred.
Problem was, it turned back the clock too far for the old potbellied policeman and he had to go into hiding and then quit, leaving Blair in charge at the station. Sutton fled from his wife and daughter – with Narine, the boy and Sam to Queenbeyan, where they found Aylish’s old unit a cosy hiding spot. Meanwhile, Blair made himself comfortable as new unofficial head of police in Shade.
When Narine heard the news of Paws’ death, she couldn’t stay away. They all piled back into the car and drove the two and a half hours drive back down the mountain into the valley, to see her dead lover’s remains and make Cres pay.
The body dripped thick blood into the shag carpet of the study.
Narine’s hysterical voice filled the room, “He’s a public figure, god dammit. We can’t sweep it under the rug and we know Cresida’s friend is coming - I haven’t seen Angele yet! Fuck this is so like him, he didn’t think it through. When he had Sam get the boy, it was too soon,” she moaned.
Though she had been the one who had instigated it.
“Hey.” Blair stroked her back. “Today’s headlines are tomorrow’s bird cage liners.”
She strode elegantly across the bottom floor and turned to Blair who followed her. Evidently she was now doing her best Judy Garland in distress impersonation. Inwardly, he cringed at her theatrics.
“Blair, tell me honestly, do we cover it up or let it out? This going to cause a firestorm in the media, and I don’t know if we need this much attention. It’s too much at once. I’m relying on your judgment as an officer, what is best?” Mascara had smudged under her eyes.
“We go public, paint it as a suicide.” He said calmly, he paused and then added contemplatively, “We don’t have a lot of time.” Or a lot of choices, he thought.
She sniffed. “Blair, oh my god he’s dead.” She placed a pale hand over her lips and looked at him with blood shot eyes.
“It was a shock,” he assured her and stiffly rubbed her arm.
She shook her head, and covered her face in her hands to cry.
Sam knocked on the door softly and pushed it open. “Can I come in?” she whispered, her glance apprehensively assessing the scene.
Blair looked at Narine who seemed to nod, so he nodded at Sam too.
“I think we should call the emergency number at daybreak. My advice is to go with suicide; it’s less tricky once it’s over. It happens all the time,” he shrugged. “We’ve got the gun?”
Sam realized it was a question. “What? Yes.” She seemed to be staring into nothingness, contemplating the ramifications.
Narine lifted her tear soaked face. “Blair you must tell everyone what has to be done. The boy can be hidden.” She glanced at Blair, urging.
“Yes, he can. I’ll make the cards fall in our favour. There’ll be media attention I’m sure, it’s not every day a cult leader…er, tops himself, but if we hold it together they’ll soon disappear,” he replied sternly.
“Yes,” added Narine as she wept slow tears. Her features grew angry. “Lila will be reluctant to raid us with cameras around. We have to beat it out of the bitch where to find her.”
Narine took a belt, Paw’s belt, from the bed post.
“I’m relying on you, Sam, to leach it out of her,” she said forcefully, stopping to look at the belt leather tenderly as if recalling Paws wearing it. She touched the buckle gingerly.
Blair, who had stood back, spoke tentatively. “I’ll go and get the group together for a briefing,” he offered, politely leaving the room with a nod.
Narine focused on her in the reflection and turned to Sam.
“You stick with me and we will run this pack,” she said sharply as she wiped her nose, turning back to face the mirror. “I will rule the valley. This pack is through being run by men. You are powerful Sam, but you’re not the type to be able to hold a pack together, that’s evident. Truthfully you have always relied too much on your hypnotism. Paws has just been a figure head for this past year, I’ve been the one pulling the strings, orchestrating our takeover.” She leant down to put her finger in an open jar on the dressing table and painted her lips, eyes in the mirror. “I’ve been successful haven’t I?”
Sam nodded, her features restrained successfully into blind obedience.
“You’ve got a good place here and who knows, when we are in control you’ll have your own pack again in the Valley – I don’t doubt it. I have plans for us all.” She determinedly fixed her hair, admiring her reflection, and breathed in and out with a sigh. “Now let’s see this mongrel,” she said more harshly, grasping up the belt buckle again firmly. “We can’t afford to have this hunter loose any longer.”
We watched the news footage again on another channel seated on the cream leather sofa.
“Does this change the plan?” C.J asked tentatively from her place on the arm of the chair as we exchanged looks and stared back at the flat screen TV. Either it was strategic, or a trick, but the ambulance and the body on the stretcher were all real. I knew I looked as shocked as I felt. There would be reporters around.
“I need to see…” I dare not say her name. Tisane was the only secret I had left. I turned to C.J slowly. “We need to go home,” I said deliberately. “Tell Reid and Jackson we’re going scouting. I’ll pull the car around.”
C.J called her on my recently acquired mobile phone. Tisane picked up, she told me she was expecting someone at 1pm but she had a feeling they would cancel, so at this point though she was free. We agreed to drive up a little c
loser and hide the car just in case, so we could leave without anyone knowing. We came in the back door.
“Are you guys hungry?” She was tipping out the full pots of water that collected the rain from the leaking roof.
We shook our heads and as I walked through the lounge room I could see through to the kitchen and I saw she had baked a cake.
“Have you seen the news?”
“Yes, it’s everywhere.”
“Do you know anything?” I asked, but Tisane only shook her head.
“I’m playing catch-up myself.” I noticed the cards on the dresser laid out and a tarot book next to them. It was the first time I had seen her use a reference.
“What do they say?”
“Nothing straight forward. It wasn’t planned and it wasn’t a suicide. But I’m sure you already knew that.”
I glanced at C.J. “We think it was Cres. She went over there because they took her brother. We need to know if you think she’s alive...do you still see a war?” My breath became unsteady as I anticipated her answer.
“I believe there will be a fight, but it won’t go the way you expect. As for Cres, I haven’t seen any death yet, but I’ll reshuffle. But Lila you will be betrayed.” Her eyes grew sorrowful.
I developed goose bumps and I looked at C.J. “I think I might know by who. Cres mentioned a girl helping us. At the time I thought she meant C.J, and then I’d hoped it was Angele, but the stupid part is we know she’s a spy and she knows everything. She’s been slowly earning our trust, she has sway over Jackson. I don’t know what to do. We can’t trust her,” I said bitterly.
“Nothing is certain, things change. Paw’s death was a shock,” Tisane insisted.
“Do you think it was Cres? That killed him? “I hoped she would confirm our suspicion.
“It certainly seems likely,” Tisane admitted. But I knew it was Cres.
“Tisane will you help us? Even if it means killing your sister?”