"If he tries anything, you'll be safe here," Vivian assured Jen as the family enjoyed a nice hug, "things have been fairly tense since that rogue's little rampage and the Skulk is already in arms over some of the issues that have come up after. If Lionel Ulysses tries ANYTHING, he'll be caught... no good rat."
Jen felt some real comfort from that as her mothers and Tad were close to her. They were what mattered most to her, as they were family and would always be there. And from what Vivian said about the town already being on alert thanks to other issues made sense. While people who had recently moved to Moon Lake and joined were society might not know Lionel Ulysses scent, the town was a tight community and not all of Jen's high school graduating class had left. In a couple of her errands since her arrival, she had a few small interactions with people she known while growing up. They would know Lionel Ulysses scent and would likely report his presence to the Moon Lake Police Department. Jen felt a great deal of comfort in that.
Especially as things related to Lionel Ulysses was a rather odd and nervous issue. He had always been something of a "bad boy," and wasn't someone that Jen really wanted to be involved with. However, Jen had always tried to be a good person and some of the scholarships she wanted for college required some "community service" and "tutoring" time. That had brought her into more direct contact with Lionel Ulysses, as he had been struggling in his classes and really needed a tutor. Jen tutored him through their Senior year in high school, and through her help had managed to allow him to graduate, though only just barely. Considering where Lionel Ulysses had been academically at that time, Jen had taken that as a major victory for her, but it wasn't necessarily easy or comfortable.
There were times when Lionel displayed signs of infatuation with her, probably because much of his antics and behavior had kept many people at arms length from him and the fact that Jen had come to tutor him gave him the impression of personal attachment to him. At times, his parents supported it, but they'd also confided privately to Jen that they really hoped she could get him on the straight and narrow. Jen did her best, but always kept things on a professional level and never returned Lionel's attempts at flirtation. She'd been borderline enraged when a male friend, and possibly a gang member (Jen didn't know) managed to snap a picture of her and Lionel at one of their study sessions. It was after that, and the threat of not tutoring him further that things boiled over. Thankfully, it was at the end of the year and there wasn't really that much more that Jen could have done for Lionel, but that didn't stop him from keying the Teller family car for Jen not officially going out with him.
Thankfully, after high school, Jen didn't hear any more from him and he didn't add any stress to her life then. It let her meet and fall in love with Jeff Decker without having to deal with an obsessed wererat who appeared not to know the difference between romance and academic help. The thing that frightened her and made her nervous was that Lionel Ulysses was named as the FBI's main suspect in Jeff's death. He had keyed the Teller car when she wouldn't go beyond just tutoring him and now he'd murdered her husband. A part of her was scared he would come back for Tad, and the cat in her wanted nothing more than to find and corner Lionel Ulysses and teach him why rodents tended to be cautious around felines.
"Thanks mom... moms," Jen replied, and managed a purr, "and thank you, Tad."
"We're all family, mom," Tad said to her, "You know I'll look out for you... as you and dad always looked out for me."
"And us as well," Karen added, "and the police will be on the look out too. Even with some of the things that Vivian and I have heard through the rumor mill regarding what the rogue did and some of the stuff coming up within the Skulk's community... they won't let him get away with anything."
Tad nodded, though given that he was raised outside of Moon Lake, he really couldn't say much on that. He'd heard plenty of stories about "the rogue," and had even met the son of the man the rogue had clawed. But he figured that if werefoxes were like any other were, though Tad's knowledge was really only limited to werewolves like himself or his father and werecats like his mother and grandmothers, that they would be on the alert for trouble after what had apparently gone through Moon Lake before he and his mom came to town.
"Now, why don't we move forward with getting some lunch ready," Karen offered, "let Vivian get through her now late morning workout... and go from there."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
"So, what did you find at Moon Lake?" Agent Jasper asked him over the car's onStar hand's free device.
"Some background info and at least one lead that we can build on to get our guy," Agent Theodore Green said slowly as he drove along, "apparently, at one time he was meeting with some gang in Seattle every Sunday. I'm on my way to the Seattle FBI field office in the hopes of getting some leads on to which gang and where these meetings might have taken place."
"The Moon Lake PD didn't know?" Agent Jasper asked.
"Ulysses has apparently done a pretty decent job of keeping a low profile with regard to his home town," Theodore replied with a sigh, "a lot of low level stuff... but nothing that's going to make them drop everything until they catch him and ignoring their main mission of protecting law and order in their town."
"But they had this contact info?" Agent Jasper wondered.
"That actually came from his parents," Theodore commented, "the police didn't have that in their files... and unfortunately, the parents didn't hear all that much. All they knew was that in the past he met with a gang in Seattle every Sunday... and since Seattle is outside Moon Lake's jurisdiction, Moon Lake wouldn't know on where in Seattle that Ulysses met with this gang."
"Great," Agent Jasper commented, "well... hopefully the Seattle police will cooperate, though I will have a heads up for you."
"Oh?" Theodore asked.
"Agent Luvstruuk took a chance to see if there were any bank accounts or credit cards that our perp might have... or at least cards in his name," Agent Jasper reported.
"Does he?" Theodore asked.
"Not in his own name, but he does apparently have a card that is connected to a George and Caroline Ulysses," Agent Jasper reported, "apparently the sort of card parents would get for their kids to allow them to make certain purchases as needed."
"What did Agent Luvstruuk get?" Theodore asked.
"A couple of hits at various gas stations over the past few days," Agent Jasper spoke, "one in western Virginia, another in southern Indiana, then in central Iowa, then in western South Dakota, then again in south central Wyoming, then again in eastern Idaho, then again at Spokane, Washington State, and finally at Olympia."
"So... he is in the state," Theodore surmised.
"Well, his CARD is," Agent Jasper spoke, "but since he only bought gas... I'd wager he is."
Theodore nodded. They likely wouldn't have much time, but if Ulysses was in Washington State, that meant that he had to still be going through these Sunday meetings. That would make it all the more important to get the Seattle Police Department's cooperation. The charges concerning Jeff Decker's murder would take precedence, but Theodore figured that they might be able to arrange for Lionel to also have the additional charges for various criminal actions to be added or allow for separate trials or if need be, simply declare the cases closed with the most likely suspect in custody and on his way to prison. And if Ulysses decided to skip the meeting and tried to hide out in Moon Lake, Theodore figured that the police there would be waiting for him and were already alerted to Ulysses status as a prime suspect in a murder case.
"Okay, then," Theodore spoke, "I'm almost into Seattle now. I'll do what I can with the local field office in terms of working with the Seattle PD and with Ulysses capture. Once we got him... we can go from there. Hopefully, his arrest will put an end to this."
"Right sir," Agent Jasper said slowly and then hung up.
Theodore only sighed, as he knew there was one thing that he hadn't told one of the agents directly under him, and that was the likely nature of WHO he was hunting. Based on where he grew up, Theodore figured that it was highly possible that Lionel Ulysses was a were-beast of some kind, though the exact species was an unknown. And even if he wasn't, he'd at least know about weres and that carried risks of its own. Theodore would fight hard to keep Marci safe and was more than willing to become a were to be with her, but if Lionel Ulysses decided to use Moon Lake's secret as an instrument of blackmail or as part of an offer for some sort of plea bargain, many things would have to change, and Theodore really didn't know what would happen if were-beasts were exposed. The nightmare he'd always had was himself being held down by his own agents while they carted Marci, fully transformed, off in a cage.
"If it comes to that..." Theodore thought to himself, "and weres end up being exposed... hopefully Moon Lake has a contingency plan to deal with such an event and show themselves in the best possible light. For them... and for Marci..."