by Stacey Mewse
Truman’s admittance of her fears agitated Jaunt all the more; she sighed again, though more aggressively. Rubbing her temples with age spotted hands she glowered at the photograph beneath her nose, barely noticing the receptionist return with the coffee to refill her mug. She thanked her quietly and took a gulp of the scalding hot liquid, quickly regretting not blowing at it to cool it as it scalded her mouth and tongue. ‘Ah!’ She waved her hands in front of her mouth as though it would help, and shot a nasty look at Truman who was smirking at her misfortune.
He blew on his own cup pointedly, taking a delicate sip to test the temperature and then replacing the mug on the table. ‘I think perhaps we need to consider releasing him on bail.’
Jaunt shook her head firmly ‘no. We can keep him for much longer than this.’
‘But only if there is reasonable evidence against him, which there isn’t, is there? We can’t just detain him forever, and bail will come with conditions as always, we’ll be watching him Jaunt, you know that.’
‘And what if we’re wrong and he does it again?’
‘We could well be wrong now, its looking increasingly like we are in fact… And in the meantime if he isn’t guilty, while we’ve got all our focus on him the real criminal is getting further and further away.’
Jaunt pushed her cup away from her on the table and glared at the other inspector. ‘So we just let him go?’
Truman nodded ‘I don’t think we have a choice. If we keep him and he turns out to be innocent then we’ll likely be sued and I don’t want that hanging over my head on retirement… The man who got it wrong…. I think we would be better off getting him out on bail, having other officers monitor him, and looking into other suspects in the meantime ourselves. What we’re doing at the moment seems too sedentary to me. I don’t want laziness losing us this case.’
Jaunt stared blankly at him for a moment and then nodded slowly. ‘I can’t argue with you, I know that we need to be putting more effort into ascertaining whether he is indeed the correct man. Which I suppose we cannot truly know until we’ve seen him in his own environment.’
Truman nodded and smiled crookedly ‘exactly.’ He paused to take another sip from his mug. ‘I’ll arrange for his release on bail, in the meantime, if you’d like to go to the crime scene I can meet you there when I’m done here.’ With that he stood and made his way out of the room, leaving Jaunt to sort out her own errands.
*****
Two hours later.
After a while Hunter had lost his angry spark and seated himself back down on the cot, and at some point this had progressed to him laying back and eventually drifting into a restless sleep. He was plagued by dreams of what he had seen and images of Varulv’s hideous half-lupine form lurching up out of the darkness in his mind. He remembered the beast so clearly from the day his parents had been killed, and the sight of it crawling into his nightmares with his father’s blood staining it’s muzzle shocked him awake in a cold sweat. He panted and wiped his hand across his brow, sitting upright sharply and wishing it had all been nothing more than a nightmare.
The sounds of the other men and women locked in the cells which lined the corridor outside drifted to him though the vents and under the door. He could hear some pacing as he had been earlier, and still others fidgeting about on their cots. He found himself captivated by the mumblings of those who were talking to themselves. Some were recounting their interviews to themselves; others were insisting quietly they were not guilty. One was complaining loudly about being arrested for something as stupid as stealing a sausage roll. The general theme was one of lack of guilt, though in the distance he could also hear something that gave him hope, a familiar voice; though very distant which quietly informed him ‘we’re here for you, don’t lose hope. We’re getting you out.’ It was Eve, and from the sound of it she was somewhere on the outer border of the station. He suspected at the rear of the car park, probably crouched by one of the vents.
‘Thank you’ he quietly responded, knowing she would hear him. However his whisper was lost in the sounds of footsteps advancing down the hallway. The sound of two advancing persons was almost deafening to his sensitive ears so soon after sleep; but he recognised their steps and was hopeful that things were shortly going to improve for him. One of them was Truman, the other was Audra.
They stopped outside his door and Truman rattled a key in the lock, swinging it open and allowing Audra to enter before him. She sashayed into the room and smiled at Hunter, a forced gesture that had no warmth to it, not that he suspected Truman noticed.
‘We have arranged for you to be released on bail Mr. Johanson.’ She sounded triumphant, though he knew she was thinking only of herself. ‘You will be required to return to the station in exactly a weeks time for further questioning.’
Hunter smiled despite knowing she was not pleased for him, relief washing over him at his impending release. ‘Thank you.’ He said.
Truman interjected at this point. ‘There will be conditions to your bail Mr. Johanson, if you’d like to follow me I’ll explain everything while you tag is fitted.’
Hunter nodded, inwardly in turmoil at the idea of a tag; he would destroy it if he changed… That would mean more time in a cell… He would have to try and keep his emotions in check, and so soon after the loss of his friend. He doubted his own ability to remain cool headed.
‘Come along then.’ Truman gestured to the door.
Hunter stood and wiped his hands on his jeans, following the other man out of the room with Audra taking up the rear. He was led to a small room where he was instructed to take a seat and another officer entered with an ankle tag in his hands. This was fixed into place on one of his legs while Truman dictated to him the conditions of his bail.
‘Your Solicitor has given us your address and we have set up the tag to allow you to be out and about in the daytime from 9am till 7pm. If you venture out of your house out of this time frame you will be re-arrested. The tag will track where you are at all times, and I can assure you that if you break the terms of this bail we will know about it. As well as your curfew we will be requiring you to keep away from the village, we trust this will not be a problem for you.’
Hunter shook his head, wondering where on earth Audra had told them he lived.
Truman continued. ‘In a weeks time we would like you to return to the station for further questioning, next Tuesday at 10am please Mr. Johanson. We will also send in an officer to see how you are coping with your bail in three days time. They will arrive between 9am and 12pm on Friday, so please be at home and ready for their arrival.’
Hunter nodded, understanding that he was going to be intensively watched and hoping that they would be able to find a way around that somehow.
Truman continued on with his speech ‘you understand that if attempt to tamper with the tag, or to alter it in any way, or attempt to remove it then an alarm will go off here at the station.’
Hunter again nodded.
Truman smiled, satisfied that his suspect would be sufficiently impeded from committing any further crimes if he were the guilty party. ‘Good. In which case Mr. Johanson you may take your leave,’
Audra spoke for him ‘Thank you inspector, I shall escort him back to his home and we shall see you in a weeks time.’ With that she turned on her heels and sauntered out of the door, not looking back to see if Hunter was following, she knew he would. He shadowed her down the corridor and out of the building to the car with his head hanging low, and was relieved to find that there were no cameras or reporters in the car park as he had feared there might be.
Audra opened the passenger door for him and shut it behind him, lowering herself gracefully into the driving seat and starting up the engine without looking at him.
Hunter sighed and sank back into his seat. He was free, in a manner of speaking… But what next? He would be stuck inside a strange house for a week, severely limited as to what he could do; and for all he knew he would have officers outside the
house watching him.
So much for freedom.
Chapter 20
Audra drove out of the car park and waited until they were a mile down the road before she turned to speak to the were she had just managed to get released. She glanced sideways at him before beginning her speech, keeping as much of her attention trained on the road as she could.
‘I suspect that you are probably sick to death of all of this but I’m afraid that things will not be easy for the next week. I have arranged for your tag to be keyed in to coordinates around a small cottage which is on the outskirts of the pack territory, its fairly far away from you actual home so hopefully no officers will stumble across your genuine abode during your continued surveillance.’ She took a breath then continued with a flat, disinterested tone as always. ‘We have not been expressly told that you will be watched, but it has been heard being discussed by the police force so we know it is going to happen. As such we have a few things we need to sort out for you. We will have to fetch you some clothes, toiletries, food etcetera… It would be helpful if you could tell us what you would like. We think it would be better if you remained in the cottage as much as possible to make your innocence more pointed. That way if any other incidents occur you can be proven to have been indoors and away from it all.’
Hunter nodded, knowing that the idea was a sound one and not wishing to interrupt.
Audra continued on as they drove, barely stopping to breathe. ‘Mercifully things have been quiet in your absence. There have been no more sightings of Varulv, and we have not heard from any other packs so it is safe to assume he is still in the area. We do not know what this means. We assume he is trying to unnerve us by remaining in our territory for so long, or perhaps to goad my father into issuing a challenge, which he will not do.’
Hunter looked at her with confusion ‘challenge?’
‘Yes, its an old tradition, but not one we feel is worth honouring in Varulv’s case, as if he won he would take up the alpha role in our pack which is not something we are willing to risk. Besides which my father was infected much later in life than Varulv, and despite his heightened senses and strength he would be no match for a werewolf as experienced as Nikolai. I would not say this had father not already said it himself. Though all this is besides the point, we need to get you to the cottage and then we can talk more. I need to concentrate for now, the roads here are awful.’
As if on cue the country road they had been travelling on suddenly became a massive expanse of boggy mud which the car crawled through at a snails pace. It took ten minutes of that slow crawl before a small cottage appeared on the left side of the car; nestled in the trees so completely you could easily have missed it if you had not known it was there. Audra pulled up on the grassy verge outside the rotting wooden fence and carefully clambered out, avoiding the mud as much as possible and picking her way around to the gateway. She opened the wooden gate slowly and it creaked loudly, moss coming off in her palm and causing her to grimace. Hunter followed her, not bothering to avoid the mud and quickly regretting it as grimy water slopped over the tops of his boots. They entered the cottage unceremoniously and Hunter closed the rickety door quickly behind them. The building was cold and uninviting, and from the way the lights flickered when Audra hit the switch Hunter guessed that the wiring needed a little work too.
Audra moved straight through to the kitchen and filled an old stove top kettle at the sink, lighting a ring on the ancient oven and setting it down to boil as Hunter explored the lounge. It was dusty and there was a little damp around the window but otherwise it seemed perfectly habitable. The décor left something to be desired… It was very 1970’s, all browns and muddy coloured floral patterns, though the furniture did look comfortable even if it was hideous to look at. Hunter picked up an old cushion from the two-seater sofa that dominated the room and fluffed it, sending clouds of dust billowing into the air. Jerking backwards away from the dust cloud he had created he dropped the pillow and sneezed, just in time to be seen by Audra who was entering the room with two steaming cups of tea in her hands. She raised an eyebrow at him and settled herself down in an armchair that squatted next to the sofa; putting down both cups on the ugly plastic topped coffee table that sat before them both.
Hunter took up his cup and sarcastically quipped ‘home sweet home.’
Audra smirked, though whether from finding his remark or his situation amusing he did not know. ‘This place doesn’t get much use nowadays.’ She explained ‘the pack used to be much larger and more spread out, we’ve got three more empty cottages very similar to this one as a remnant of those times in fact.’
Hunter feigned interest, her tone was patronising and it irritated him ‘what happened?’ He asked.
Audra failed to notice his tone of voice and continued on regardless. ‘Times changed that’s all, people moved on and started their own packs in other areas, some challenged my father and were killed, some were banished. Pack life is not always harmonious. But I’m side-tracking aren’t I, we must discuss what’s going to happen next.’
Hunter nodded earnestly.
Audra continued, barely noticing his response. ‘Lacking any further knowledge about Varulv’s whereabouts or activities, we are doing everything we can to locate him. Based on his previous patterns of behaviour he will most likely not kill again for another two weeks at least, this gives us a little time to play with but still we cannot be complacent. For now obviously you are stuck here, but we can still liaise as there is no rule against you having visitors. Though this does mean you cannot be directly involved for a week, which I’m sure you had already worked out.’
Hunter nodded with an agitated look marring his scarred features as Audra continued.
‘Rest assured we will be keeping you well in the loop as we still require your services as a secret weapon… As it were. In the meantime however, we will have to attempt to track Varulv as the second he slips off the radar we are at a distinct disadvantage. Luckily there is a good network of communication between the established UK packs and we can be assured we will be contacted if he appears in anyone else’s territory.’
Hunter interjected ‘that’s all well and good but what are you actually going to do now? Tracking him won’t stop him from killing again, and I’m starting to think he enjoys the attention of an audience.’
Audra took a sip from her tea before answering. ‘We will do everything we can to prevent him from being in any situation where another murder seems likely, even if we simply use mundane scare tactics to frighten potential victims away from him. We have our ways Mr. Dalton. For this week Tobias and myself will be tailing the monster. Trust me when I say we are more than capable of keeping him from murdering again.’
Hunter considered that for a moment; he did trust the male beta to be able to handle the situation no matter how strongly he wished it were himself who was doing the chasing. He had proven himself to be capable and his wolf was enormous, there was no better candidate in his absence in Hunter’s eyes. He replied simply with a satisfied nod, Audra might be next to useless with her people skills but he supposed between them they might make a formidable team.
Audra continued on as Hunter mulled over the situation, talking at him rather than to him. ‘We will be departing later this evening as far as I am aware, after getting together some supplies for the journey. I really must leave soon as I have things to do before we set off. Someone should be along shortly to discuss what you would like from your home, and I’ll be leaving as soon as I’ve finished my tea.’ She took a long gulp from her mug and then took it to the kitchen where she dropped it in the sink to be washed up by Hunter later. Then she popped her head back into the lounge and said a curt goodbye.
Hunter did not get up to see her to the door, he was glad not to have to spend too much time in her company and figured that she felt the same way about him. An assumption that was entirely correct. He did get up when he heard the door close however, and made his own way into the kitchen where h
e tipped the remainder of his tea down the sink and popped the cup onto the sideboard. Then disinterestedly explored the cupboards only to find them all empty. He swung open the fridge too and found nothing but an old block of cheese that was turning hard along its one exposed edge and speckled with mould. Feeling beyond starved he picked it up and sniffed at it, it wasn’t entirely off and that was good enough for him. He picked off the mould spots and took a huge bite from it, chewing and swallowing without even tasting it he was so hungry. He ate the whole thing and then belched quietly, knocking his fist against his chest and feeling fuller if not satisfied. Closing the fridge he threw the cheese wrapper into the open topped bin that stood next to it and then proceeded to open the freezer. Again, nothing.
Sighing he ambled back out into the hallway and then popped his head in through a door under the stairs, into a room which turned out to be a rather cramped toilet. Closing the door slowly he then began to make his way further into the building, heading up the stairs and seeing there were only two doors on the second floor. On closer inspection one proved to be a bathroom that was very sparsely furnished, with only a grubby old bath and a sink that was filled with stains. Sighing heavily he opened the airing cupboard that was on the far side of the room and was pleased to see it filled with towels and sheets. Feeling grubbier than he ever had before he took out two towels and a small face cloth and laid them out by the bath. Turning on the taps and watching the water tumble into the tub as tendrils of steam began to curl from the splashing water. He dug around in the wooden cupboards which were under the sink and found a very old bottle of bubble bath; which when he sniffed it smelled woody and masculine. Feeling that it would just about do he swirled two capfuls into the water and watched the bubbles froth around his hand.