Special Agent in Charge (The Federal Witch Book 3)

by T S Paul

  "The bad man! The bad man!" Thomas started crying, and the two silent children huddled closer to each other.

  "What bad man, Thomas?" Bill ran to the boy and held him.

  "The bad man! He came to see us with the stinky ones. He said not to worry he would take care of us."

  Bill pointed at the screen. "That man offered to help you, but left you there?"

  "Yes. He told the stinky men that we were too old." Thomas hid his face and began to cry.

  Bill looked at Anastasia. He didn't have to even say a thing. "I'm on it. His computer might not be hooked to the net. There is body armor in the cupboard over there." She pointed to the cabinets by the door.

  Looking inside, Bill found better armor than the Bureau issued.

  There was a knock at the door. Bill waved at Ana to answer him.

  "Hello, Sheriff Geri. Thank you for coming. Are you sure the State Police will help? When I called them, they refused to lend any sort of support."

  The Sheriff stuttered for a moment. "Uh... Well... I've, uh, worked pretty close to them for a long time. They trust me. Are the kids ready to go?" He glanced up at the window and tried to see inside the RV.

  "Is he alone?" Bill studied the Sheriff on the screen as he checked his weapon.

  Ana zoomed in on the Sheriff's van. She saw the top of a man's head hiding on the other side of it. "That would be no."

  "Stupid. He thought we would just give him the kids without checking first, didn't he?"

  "Pretty much." She stared at her computer for a moment. "Stupid habits too. That cipher is so last year."

  "Find something?" Bill checked his weapon and magazines as he watched the sheriff on the screen.

  "You bet. I call this one a 'twofer.' Rescue slaves and put away a creep. Have you ever worked VCAC?" Ana looked up from the computer

  "No. I was asked once a few years ago, but I thought I would accidentally put a bullet into one of them, so I turned it down. I know a guy, though."

  "So do I. Try not to kill this one. Agatha will need him alive to prove her case against him, public official and all." The rules that governed the Vampire Nation were very few. Child endangerment or exploitation of any kind was dealt with most harshly. Being staked out in the sun alive wasn't the worst thing that could happen if you were caught.

  "He's not a Were or anything is he?" Bill looked at the Vampire a little worried.

  "Him? No. The Mayor is but this guy got elected. I suspect the guy in the van is Buster, Daniel Jaeger's brother."

  Bill stared at the screen. "He's the one that found the body, isn't he?"

  "Yes. If he gets hurt, it is not a big deal. He is a Wolf, though, so use silver."

  "That I can do. If something happens to me, don't let them in." Bill grabbed his shotgun. He put a big fake smile on his face and stepped out into the sun.

  "If something happens to me they will experience something very few have ever lived through." Anastasia glared at the video screen. She glanced at the kids, but none of them seemed to have heard her or acknowledged it.

  "Hi there Sheriff Geri. Thanks for coming over." Bill held out his free hand to the Sheriff.

  Geri took it as he eyed the shotgun in Bill's hand. "That's a lot of firepower there. Expecting trouble?"

  Bill carefully tried to keep the Geri between him and the man in the van. "We were ambushed on our way out last time. Just being careful."

  "Yeah, the State Police mentioned something about that. They said the Weres involved were frozen?"

  "Special Agent Blackmore is a Witch. It's sort of what she does. So where are you taking the kids?" Bill peeked around the RV briefly.

  "We have a foster home set up and ready to receive them."

  "We? We who? I thought all your deputies quit?" Bill looked back at the Sheriff.

  "Uh, I still have one of the paid deputies. Buster is over in the car." He pointed.

  "This is the same Buster who is related to Daniel Jaeger?"

  The Sheriff spread his hands as if to plead.

  "Hands up!" Bill swung the shotgun around. "Call Buster over here!"

  Bill heard a tearing sound and realized he forgot again that Weres could hear everything! He looked up just in time to see 300 pounds of Timber Wolf charging at him.

  ~~~~~~~~~

  A meaty paw swung toward her head as Cat's other form roared a challenge at the WereBear. Her four-inch claws swatted back catching the bear across his hind leg. The Bear stood up on its hind legs and roared! Ten feet of snarling Bear would scare anyone except a giant Cat the size of a small car! Cat leaped, knocking the Bear down as she dug her claws into its belly.

  I could do nothing as I watched the two titanic Weres try to kill each other. I peered around the edge of the door hoping to catch the fancy man, but he was missing. The closet contained a tunnel leading somewhere. I would have to wait until I had help to search.

  The Bear struggled and managed to flip over causing Cat to lose her grip on him. He stood up on all fours. Blood streamed down across the floor as he tried to regain his strength. Cat charged him biting down on his front leg. Her saber teeth piercing his leg. She shook her head ripping a chunk of flesh off. The Bear collapsed in pain.

  "The necklace Cat! Remove his necklace!" I yelled at Cat.

  One swipe of her claws left deep cuts down the face of the Bear as well removing the object in question. Finally, I could do something! I muttered my freeze spell, and the Bear froze in mid swipe!

  Cat's other form stood in front of her opponent. She was breathing heavy. Blood seeped from a myriad of slashes and cut all across her body. I carefully stepped over to her.

  "Cat? May I approach you?"

  The big cat looked in my direction and nodded. I placed my hand on her flank and muttered my best healing spell. The connection we had as a non-traditional Pack allowed more power than usual to flow into her. As I watched, the cuts along her back and sides slowly healed and closed. I felt an additional surge of power and looked up into the pale face and eyes of Chuck.

  "I heard the battle, but couldn't get to you. The stairwells up there are totally trashed. I almost fell off the third floor."

  "Is anyone left alive up there?" Chuck looked scared to death.

  "No. All dead. Someone shot everyone in the head just to be sure. It's pretty gruesome up there. Is she going to be OK?" He ran his hand over Cat's head and scratched behind her ears.

  "She's fine. I wouldn't do that if you value your hand." She snapped at Chuck at that very instant to make my point.

  "Daniel Jaeger and Stephan Petrov are dead. But this isn't over yet. The Reverend is behind this. He has to be. We need to find him."

  Chapter 20

  Ever wonder what happens when you try to stop a runaway car with a shotgun? That is what happened to Bill when he fired on the charging Wolf. His shotgun was loaded for Were with shells stuffed by silver and Wolfsbane. The first blast caught Buster in the left shoulder and the second in his face. The Were was dead after the second shot, but 300 pounds of dead Wolf just doesn't stop. The momentum carried his body forward into a slide across the parking lot to stop at Bill and Geri's feet. Racking another shell into the chamber, Bill brought it around to face the renegade Sheriff.

  "Whoa! Dude! It was all his idea." The Sheriff pointed at the now dead Wolf.

  "Poor judgment is not the reason I'm arresting you. You are very lucky we don't just shoot child molesters without a trial first. The boys from the church remembered you. Consider yourself under arrest."

  Sheriff Geri looked both ways like he was going to cross the street.

  "Don't even think it." Bill swung the butt of the shotgun up catching the Sheriff across the face, knocking him to the pavement. Bill bent over and put cuffs on the man. All the unit had was Were cuffs so there would be no escape. They used a locking system different than those used by regular law enforcement.

  Bill dragged him to his feet. "Get up." Grabbing a length of chain from the rear of the SUV he locked the ma
n to the picnic table next to the RV.

  "Anastasia, see if you can get the State Police on the phone again. Tell them we have some trash for them to take out." Bill said it to the air knowing that the microphones and cameras would catch it. This was a righteous bust, and it was all recorded.

  ~~~~~~~~

  "Ready to rule boys?" Reverend Austin smiled at his two Betas. Not many Packs allowed WereWeasels into them. Too many of the Weasels became thieves and renegades. It was a species trait that they shared with their mundane counterparts. Josiah liked the musky little fellows. They had been with him for years.

  "We will spread out and consolidate each section of town as we go. The Sheriff is on our side as well as half the officers. All that should be left of the other Packs is women and children. Those we can easily dominate. Then we find the diamond mine and all become rich! Dream of a lifetime, boys. Dream of a lifetime."

  Walking over to the map laid out on the barn table the reverend and con man smiled. "Laskin, take five Specials and circle around here. This should be where the Petrov escape tunnel comes out."

  "I can tell you exactly where it comes out if you like. Boss, we have a big problem." Everyone turned toward the new voice.

  "Arthur! I assume by your presence that Stephan and his leadership are taken care of?" Josiah smiled an even bigger smile.

  "They are. Daniel Jaeger is dead too. That problem I mentioned? Those FBI agents stepped in at the last moment and almost killed me! Did you know the leader was a Witch?"

  "Actually, I did. That was why I gave you and the most of the Specials those amulets. Did her magic work on you?" Reverend Austin smiled at the fancy dressed man.

  "It didn't. They still kicked our ass. I think the Specials that Daniel had are either dead or captured. I got away by sheer chance." Arthur looked down at the map of the town. "This thing is useless as long as they are still alive. Our story has to be perfect, or no one will believe we didn't kill anyone!"

  "I already sent Buster and Geri after our next generation and that Agent out at the fish camp. He's human. No way those two can screw that up. Where did you say the Witch and her team is at?"

  "The basement. Or at least that is where the girls were. That big guy wasn't there." Arthur looked at the map again.

  "They have to come out somewhere. Send out the scouts again. They are to shoot anyone coming out of that house. If it's any of our people, well, they will have to take their chances. Happy?" Josiah looked at Arthur.

  "Mostly. This was your best scam yet, Josiah. We just have to fix a couple of things." Arthur grabbed a rifle from the pile and went to join the snipers.

  ~~~~~~~

  We had a minute while Cat healed, so I examined one of the amulets from the slavers. To a non-magical person, the pendant looked like a fancy locket. Inside was what mattered to me. "Someone broke the rules in making these things."

  Chuck looked at me. "Did you ask me something, Agatha?"

  "No. Sorry. I guess I said that out loud. Whoever made these, broke some rules in doing so." I carefully tore the spell apart using a small pocket knife I carried. That was one piece of advice I heard about at school. Always carry a knife.

  Herbs mixed with hair and what appeared to be clippings made up the entire spell. The definition of Magick is changing the physical nature of something using non-scientific means. This was one form of that. The clippings are what interested me the most. I dropped into my magical sight and took a serious look at the completed item. There were actually two spells here. One to protect the wearer and one to bind them to the person they were made for. It sparked a memory that made me smile. I would have to mention this to Grandmother. If this had been a ring, it would have been hilarious. I separated out the clippings. That was the part that bound the wearer.

  "Agatha." I looked over, and Cat was back to herself and naked. I chuckled at her expression. At least Bill wasn't here.

  Chuck smiled and pulled out a packet of clothing from his gear bag. Nakedness is still the biggest problem for Weres in the modern world.

  "The fancy man got away, but between us, I think we got all of them." I pointed toward the closet. "There is an escape tunnel through there. By the time I could open the door, he was gone."

  "Not your fault Agatha. What about Stephan? Is he dead?" Cat sounded sad.

  "He is. So are Daniel Jaeger and lots of others. This was some sort of double-cross. Daniel attacked Stephan who was in turn attacked by the Austin Pack. We knew this was a power play, but we are still missing something." I looked at the frozen Bear.

  "Have you tried calling Anastasia? She might know by now what's happening?" Chuck looked at the both of us.

  "And a child shall lead them," Cat smirked.

  "Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up." Chuck scowled at the both of us.

  I pulled out my phone seeing the hundred or so messages from Ana and started dialing

  ~~~~~~~

  "Josiah, the cat is out of the bag."

  "What did you just say?" Josiah stared at one of his Betas, Kuna.

  Kuna looked at the phone in his hand. "One of our informants just called to tell us the State Police know everything. Slaves, kids, double-cross, and the rocket launchers. Everything. They just picked up Geri and Buster out at the fish camp. They know he's a pervert."

  "Are they coming here?" Josiah grabbed his phone and turned it on.

  "No. Not yet anyway. They want the FBI to take care of all the combatants before they will come and help."

  The phone lit up like a Christmas tree beeping and flashing. Josiah studied it for a moment. "We do indeed have a problem. According to this, we are all implicated in a long list of charges."

  Josiah closed his phone and laid it on the ground. He pulled a pistol and shot it to pieces. "That solves that part. No phone equals no tracking chip. "Kuna, contact your brother. It's time to leave town for a while."

  The WereWeasel frowned as he pulled out his phone. Whenever it's too good to be true, it almost always is.

  "What about us? Are you going to leave us all here to face the music with the Feds? We had a deal!" Arthur stepped out from behind the barn.

  "And we still do. After all, we sort of know where the mine is located. We just have to search for it." Josiah reached into his pocket and touched the small red bag within.

  "That's not sufficient. I killed for you. Pay me now or suffer the consequences!"

  "What would those be Arthur? What if I was to say you belong to me and me alone. How about now?" Josiah touched the red bag again and muttered some words.

  Arthur froze in mid-speech. Only his eyes betrayed his panic.

  "Never ever put on magical jewelry without finding out what it does first. A good rule of thumb to live by, don't you think? Now. This is how it's going to be. We will be relocating and you, my friend, will be coming with us."

  "Not if I have anything to say about it." A new voice joined the conversation.

  ~~~~~~~

  Josiah and his two lieutenants looked in my direction. Tracking them down was easy enough if you have something to trace. Fingernail clippings for example. Led us right to them.

  "You're under arrest."

  Josiah began to laugh. "You're going to arrest me? I have avoided being imprisoned by the best throughout history. What makes you think you can stop me now?"

  I stared at this man who killed three Packs. I was tired. Blood and who knows what else stuck to my clothing. Mental images were plastered into my mind of the horror this man and his cohorts created in this town under the guise of being members of a church. Of helping people. "You are a plague upon the Earth, Josiah Austin. It is my job to stop you." I waved my hand and tossed a freeze spell at him.

  "You can wave that little hand all you like, but Magick doesn't work on us. We are protected." My spell hit them and had zero effect. "Arthur over there told me what happened when one of us attacked you. You cannot hold your shield forever, and you are too tired to defeat all of us."

  I watched as Josiah, his
lieutenants, and all the guards shifted into their other forms. WereWeasels are frightening looking.

  "Cat?" I called back to her. She and Chuck were my backup, but there were six of them and one of me.

  "I'm too tired to shift. Is there a way you can get the spell off them?" Cat groaned.

  They were immune to my Magick, but not the area around them. I cast, aiming for the earth beneath them and it became like quicksand.