"My secretary said you wanted to see me when I got back?" said Town Chancellor Samantha Twist, as she walked into Mayor Martin Stovall's office.
"Yes. I just wanted to know how final security preparations went for the Harper-Jenkins Wedding tomorrow morning," said the Mayor of Moon Lake, as he offered her an empty seat in front of his desk.
"Just dandy," replied Samantha, sitting down. "Between our office, the Skulk, the police, Tachibana Security, volunteer werewolves, and even some volunteer werelions; a fly can't get into that church or on its grounds without a valid invitation."
"That's not what I'm worried about," replied Martin.
"Your concerns are mine too, and they basically come down to this Dieter Wilhelm and the Harper family."
"Just where do we stand on them?"
"First off, Chief O'Hara still says we can't take the risk of tipping our hand until Dieter Wilhelm is physically in Moon Lake, and even then he'd prefer to wait until Wilhelm enters the church. That's when O'Hara and his men plan to arrest Wilhelm and the new henchman he'll have with him, before they get a chance to pull their guns out."
"On what charges?" the Mayor wanted to know.
"Concealed weapons on church grounds and the possibility of conspiring to and about to commit a hate crime against a religious group for both of them," began Samantha, recalling the meeting. "The latter might not stick, but the former is about the only thing we'll probably be able to charge this henchman with, depending upon the origin of the weapons, their background and history."
"You mean whether or not they're legal, licensed, and haven't been used in a prior crime," realized Martin.
"Exactly. But that will just be the opener for Dieter Wilhelm. The police department has been working closely with the District Attorney's office, so Wilhelm will definitely be facing charges for the attempted murder of Harold Jenkins and the shooting of Henry Jenkins, Junior."
"And we can do this without the risk of exposing were existence?" the Mayor wanted to know.
"Yes. Just standard, normal charges against a not so standard normal."
"What about the other matter. Jennifer Harper confronting her family and running the risk of exposing us during some heated argument or whatever?" asked Martin Stovall.
"Arresting Wilhelm in front of the Harpers should come as a shock and take some of the wind out of her father's righteous sails, but Frances says Jenny's as strong as she can be, and can face the Harpers," began Samantha, while referring to her wife the therapist. "Granted, by all accounts Jenny's father is a real piece of work himself, but at least all the fireworks between them should be verbal in nature, although all the security measures will stay in place until after we have confirmation that the Harpers have boarded the plane in Seattle and are their way back home to Alabama."
"And has anyone ever come up with a viable solution to address the fact that Jennifer Harper doesn't look like she used to since becoming a werevixen?"
"Actually, Tachibana no Akane explained to me that they will be using a bit of trickery that the Skulk are famous for."
"How so?"
"Since Jennifer Harper will be having two weddings, she will also be wearing two different wedding dresses as well," revealed Samantha.
"How is that going to help anything?" wondered Stovall.
"As Jenny phrases it, her normal human form went from being someone who couldn't beat Olive Oyl in a beauty contest to that of a high fashion supermodel," began Twist, recalling seeing photos taken in Jennifer Harper's past compared to the way she looks now. "The first dress for the first wedding will be very form fitting and very becoming of the beautiful bride she is about to be. The second dress for the second wedding slips over the first and with its extra padding and material, hides Jenny's hourglass figure and more bountiful bosom to the point where anyone who only knows how Jenny was before coming to Moon Lake will assume her old stick figure is being swallowed by an over sized, ill fitting dress."
The Mayor stared at the Town Chancellor with a confused look on his face. "Will that work?"
"They had a preliminary fitting earlier this week," said Samantha, taking a couple of photos out of her portfolio. "See for yourself," she added, before passing the images to her friend and superior.
Martin Stovall studied the pictures, and they were just as Samantha said. One showed a beautiful blonde haired woman in a very form fitting wedding gown, happy about to walk down the aisle as all her dreams came true.
The other showed the same woman with a sadder expression on her face, now wearing an ill fitting wedding gown that appeared at least two sizes too big.
"So presumably, all anyone from Alabama will see is the Jennifer Harper they're expecting to see," realized Martin.
"Yes. Psychological trickery ala the Skulk," confirmed Samantha.
"If all goes well, how long will the Harpers be in town?" asked the Mayor, as he handed Samantha back the photos.
"About two hours, and with Wilhelm and his cronie under arrest, they will have a volunteer drive them back to the Seattle airport along with a discrete police escort to make sure they get there. There will also be Tachibana Security at the airport who will stay on station until after the plane takes off."
"No plan can ever be declared 100% totally fool proof until after the fact, but it does look like anything that can be covered is."
"The only question mark in all of this that we can foresee is how emotional the confrontation between Jenny and her family gets," admitted Samantha. "Although Frances and I will be in the audience for both weddings, along with a lot of her other friends and supporters, Jenny is pretty much on her own for that part. Frances says it's a must for her to face her father if she's ever going to be her own person."
"And do we run a risk of exposure during this?" Martin needed to know.
"Frankly, your guess is as good as mine. Her father has no official criminal record, although there is a history of police calls to their house for... domestic disturbances throughout the years, but no one has ever pressed any charges. From what little I've been able to ascertain, the jerk will never be a contender for Father of the Year, and to top it all off, Jenny is hoping to convince her younger brother and sister to stay behind with her and file for emancipation."
"What's our risk factor there?"
"Unknown," admitted the Town Chancellor. "Provided either or both children decide to take Jenny up on her offer and stay, Tachibana has said the Skulk would cover all expenses as part of their debt to her for Jenny being transformed into a werevixen by the rogue Yvette Smith against her will. Harry Jenkins' parents have offered to be additional surrogate parents for them and let the kids stay at their place, and technically the most I could do is just have the kids sign the standard Non Disclosure Agreement with Jenny as their legal guardian, because she already being one meets the Mandatory Were Law for the Harper family."
"Worst case scenario, are contingency plans in place in case weres are exposed?" the Mayor needed to know.
"Containment measures are on standby. The very worst case situation, we detain the Harper family until we decide what to do with them, with Wilhelm and his henchman totally in the dark unless one of the Harpers blab the news to them since those two will already be on their way to jail. Best case scenario, everyone else either goes home or will already be in jail and Jenny stays here as Mrs. Jennifer Harper, a happily married werevixen."
"And within the unseen gray areas that lurk in between?"
"Without them finding out that weres exists?" asked Samantha. "Worst case, Jenny is disappointed that her family totally disowns her and goes back to Alabama, which is a place she said she'd never set foot in again anyway. Best case, at least one of her younger siblings stays here and we take it from there."
"And if they do find out that weres exists?"
"Jenny swears that as long as he knows she's happy, her older brother will cooperate whatever happens. As for her parents..." and Samantha had no answer for that at all.
"Okay. If they're not already, I want everyone on full alert from dawn tomorrow morning until we have confirmation that Dieter Wilhelm and his henchman are in jail and that whatever Harpers leave are on their way back to Alabama," ordered the Mayor of Moon Lake. "Weeks of planning come down to just a few hours of activity, but it's always wiser to hope for the best and prepare for the worst than to do absolutely nothing.