A bit earlier…
Martin Stovall and the police chief, Douglas Cooper, met with the US Marshals inside Martin’s office.
“Is everybody up to date on the situation then?” Agent Johnson asked. It was just him and Agent Reed inside the office. The rest of his agents waited outside. The atmosphere was tense enough without a SWAT team armed with heavy machinery. Agent Walker stood outside the office, listening to their conversation.
“Yes. I’ve got some of my men waiting here, and here. Civilian vehicles so they don’t draw too much attention.” Cooper said, pointing to the places on the map where he and Martin agreed to send the Were Team (Moon Lake’s version of a SWAT team).
“How armed are they?” Agent Johnson asked.
“Standard police issue weapons. Nothing too excessive.” Cooper said.
“Alright. I’ve got about twenty guys outside, ready to go as soon as we can decide on a game plan. Where’s the Lawson’s house?”
Cooper pointed out the residential area, right in the middle of the area he sent the Were Team.
“Bower’s in the wind, so to speak. We haven’t seen him leave, so he must be hiding in the woods, or the sewer system.” Cooper sighed. The woods would take hours to search, and the sewers were a dirty, dark labyrinth.
“I think we can rule out the sewers. He’s not going to find the girl down there,” Agent Reed said, “Bower’s got minimal survival training. And if he’s been able to survive this long on the run, a few hours in the woods won’t be much of a challenge.”
“You said on the phone there had been some developments?” Agent Johnson said, turning to Martin.
“Unfortunately, yes. Samantha Twist, you spoke to her earlier, went to give the Lawsons a heads up. Spencer overheard their conversation and…”
“Went after Bower herself?” Reed surmised.
“And when Evan Lawson was informed, he went after her.” Martin sighed. Johnson didn’t expect anything less from Evan, but Spencer… What had possessed her?
“I’ve got two K9 units after them.” Cooper said, glancing at Martin. They both knew that a K9 unit in Moon Lake really meant the weres with the best sense of smell, bloodhounds and werewolves.
“I don’t want to send armed men into the woods while those two are out there. No need for friendly fire casualties.” Johnson said. He called Walker inside, ordering Walker to tell the teams waiting outside to stand down until further notice.
Martin’s phone rang in his jacket pocket, and he stepped aside to answer it.
“Samantha, what’s wrong?” Martin asked. Cooper could hear the conversation, but not the normal humans in the room. They jumped out of their skin when Martin yelled.
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE WENT INTO THE WOODS?!” Martin shouted after learning that Eric Anderson had taken off after Spencer.
“What the hell is that kid thinking? He’s normal! And… Eric!” Martin thought, knowing Eric was not the athletic sort. He was as average as average could be. And now he was risking getting hurt, or worse killed. Martin didn’t know Bower, but he guessed this madman wouldn’t be below scratching an innocent boy, or mangling him.
Cooper remained silent, though his mind was already racing with ideas, until Martin hung up.
“What happened?” Agent Johnson asked.
“Spencer’s, uh, boyfriend snuck out of his house and ran after her with a baseball bat.” Martin said, the situation getting more and more complicated by the second. He wasn’t sure if Eric was indeed Spencer’s boyfriend, but, based on his actions, Martin thought it was safe to say the boy had some pretty strong feelings for the girl.
“I’ll get radio my guys in the field.” Cooper said, leaving the room to make the call. Agent Johnson rubbed a temple, wishing people would control themselves. Now he had to find Bower, Evan and Spencer Lawson, and some other teenage boy.
“Who is it, the boy who went after Spencer?”
“His name’s Eric Anderson. He’s fourteen.” Martin said.
“His family, do they know?”
“He snuck out the bathroom window, while everyone else was in the living room.” Martin said.
“Please tell me they didn’t run after him.” Johnson said.
“No, Samantha was there, told them the best thing to do was stay and let us handle it.”
“She’s right,” Cooper returned having finished making his call to the K9 units out tracking the Lawsons, “One of my guys doubled back toward the Anderson and Twist houses. Eric’s following tracks Spencer left when he ran into the woods. It won’t take long for us to find him, he can’t have gotten to far.”
“Have your guys picked up either Lawson’s trail?”
“They think they’ve got Evan’s, but not Spencer’s. Actually we had hers for a while, but… well she’s apparently picked up a few tricks from her dad.” Cooper said. The girl knew how to mask her scent, and hide. The werewolf that was following her lost the scent when Spencer took a detour into the lake.
“We can’t do a thing until those three are found. Bower’s not going to make a move in broad daylight. Not unless he realizes what’s going on. And if we send men with guns into the woods, he’ll start acting rashly. And nothing good will come of that.” Agent Johnson said.
“So what can we do now?” Martin asked.
“For now, I’m afraid all we can do is wait until your men find them.” Johnson sighed. The three men, and Agent Reed, sat down and each began to contemplate their next move. Until the Lawsons and Eric Anderson were brought in, they wouldn’t be able to do a thing about Bower.