"Unit 12 to Base. Come in."
"This is Base Unit 12. What's your status?"
"We're in position. Target now under observation, but no activity yet."
"Understood. Continue surveillance until ordered otherwise. Base out."
"You heard the lady partner," said plain clothes detective McCord to his partner behind the steering wheel of their unmarked Moon Lake Sheriff's Department vehicle.
"I did. We just sit here and wait. But personally, I hope that guy has enough sense not to open Grrrrrrr.... when the town is under a CODE W* Alert," commented Detective Miller.
"Have you ever eaten there?" wondered McCord, as he got comfortable in the passenger seat to continue their stakeout.
"At $100 a plate, are you kidding? With those prices, I'm surprised the guy is still in business," replied Miller, as they sat and watched the front of the restaurant, waiting to see if something would happen.
MEANWHILE...
"Frieda!" called out Eric Anderson, spotting one of his two girlfriends in the hallway of Moon Lake High School.
"How's it going honey?" she asked, concerned, as she gave her boyfriend a quick but chaste peck on the cheek. "I sensed your nervousness earlier and—"
"Afraid I don't have time to talk right now. Turns out Senior level classes also means a Senior lunch and study period. I did write a quick note for you and Spencer about everything that's happened so far today," said Eric, while handing her a folded piece of paper, "but any more conversation will have to wait until after school. Take care," he called out, before going on to his next class.
Frustrated, Frieda went into the school cafeteria, got her Sophomore lunch, and then sat down in a private spot to read Eric's note.
Then she read it a second time.
After that, she got out her cellphone and called the direct number to her father.
"Hello Frieda. How's school so far today?" inquired Benton Knight, wondering why his daughter was calling him right now.
"Dad? Does Knight Industries still have that private detective on retainer?" Frieda asked in a low voice, making sure she wasn't overheard by anyone, let alone any of her fellow weres.
"We have several available. Is something wrong?" Benton asked, a note of concern starting to creep into his voice.
"Possibly. Can one of them check somebody out for me, please?"
"Sure honey. Who is it? A student?" asked Benton, as he reached for a pen and paper.
"No. A teacher. Eric got promoted to Senior level classes this year but now he might be in trouble," replied Frieda, before reading part of her boyfriend's note over the phone.
When Frieda finished, Benton Knight said, "I don't know what good it will do, but I'll get somebody right on it."
"Thanks Dad. Love you," said Frieda, before hanging up.
After hearing those 4 words from his daughter, Benton Knight would have personally moved heaven and earth himself if that's what it required to resolve the issue Frieda's boyfriend might have on his hands and make his little girl happy.
Instead, Benton started making a couple of discrete phone calls.
SOMEPLACE ELSE...
"Brother, what is this?" asked Tau Talbot.** "A mid 1980s pick up truck?" he added, pointing to the wreck sitting in front of the open bay of Talbot Auto Restorations. "Besides the fact that it is not a classic vehicle by any stretch of the imagination, both the engine block and the front axle are cracked, along with the fact that the front end would require extensive body work just to make it street legal again."
"That is a pride clan debt of honor we must pay," said Leon Talbot, the were lion king of Moon Lake, before explaining about Spencer Lawson and what happened to his daughter's fiance yesterday.
When he finished hearing the story, Tau said, "I am glad that everyone either is or will be alright, especially Jean's were and future husband, but in all honesty brother, this truck is truly a lost cause."
"Then we will have to clear the pride debt some other way," realized Leon, thinking about how he could replace the truck.
ELSEWHERE...
"And that's how things stand at the moment Akane," said Sheriff Douglas Cooper over his secured cellphone. "Because of all the unwanted publicity, the earliest the FBI can get here now is sometime tomorrow, but I'm expecting their advance agent later this afternoon. Mayor Twist has already been informed of the situation and will keep the CODE W Alert* active as long as necessary. And I have two plains clothes detectives keeping Grrrrrrr.... under surveillance even as we speak, with specific orders on how to handle things if the owner does try to open for business today."
"Oh, bugger!" exclaimed Tachibana no Akane, leader of the Skulk and senior member of the Elders' Council. She was currently sitting behind her desk at Tachibana Enterprises, listening to the Sheriff's report. "It's 11:15 now," she observed, checking her office wall clock. "Keep me informed as to the Grrrrrr... situation, but if they're not already doing so, warn your men to tread lightly. The owner of that establishment also filed to run against Samantha Twist for Mayor of Moon Lake this morning, and we don't want him to make a political stink over this."
"I didn't know that part, but my men already know to handle this as peacefully as possible," replied Sheriff Cooper. "Meanwhile, if I can ask, how are things concerning Jack and Kenya Crawford?"
"What steps we can are being taken as we speak. Otherwise, we're proceeding as cautiously as possible on that front."
"Understood. If you need anything..."
"Thank you," replied Tachibana, before ending the call.
Sheriff Cooper sat in his desk chair and stared out at nothing in particular after putting his cellphone back in his jacket pocket.
His mind started drifting to his fiance and his cousin and the bright future he planned for the three of them when his desk phone rang.
"Cooper," said the Sheriff, all business once more.
"Douglas? It's Joan," began the lady who had his heart, as Cooper's ears picked up upon hearing her voice. "I wanted to surprise you with lunch, but I couldn't find a parking space anywhere in the area. There's nothing but news vans as far as the eye can see."
"I know honey. Things don't look good here until Fredrick Parker and his men are transferred into Federal custody. Best you can do right now is just go home and wait. Unfortunately, I won't be there till this is all over, so kiss Darrell for me when he gets home from school and take care of yourselves until I can hold you in my arms again."
"Okay. I love you honey."
"I love you too," replied the man, hanging up before his voice cracked.
Douglas Cooper didn't think of himself as an emotional person, but despite being a weregrizzly bear, he was still a man.
Hoping to relax a bit, Douglas swiveled in his desk chair and turned on the radio function of his digital clock.
The fact that the song that came on was poignant lyrics in the middle of Bruce Hornsby and the Range's Every Little Kiss didn't help his mood or situation.
♫What I wouldn't give for only one night, a little relief in sight, makes the time seem light♫
Frustrated, Cooper turned off the radio, got out of his desk chair, and decided to check on matters elsewhere in a more official capacity.
CONCURRENTLY...
Joan Morning Cloud had parked a couple of blocks from the Sheriff's department in the first open space she could find.
The fact that she couldn't see her Douglas meant that she would have to hurry through the rest of her errands in town and get back to their cabin in the woods before the food in the picnic basket of the passenger seat of her fiance's personal Jeep started to spoil.
But as she started the engine to go grocery shopping, Joan was totally unaware that she was now being followed!
_________________________________________________________________________
*Code W is when no were can assume their fursona in public, even during times when it would have been legal to do so.
**The Earth 1 threads of this series have established Leon Talbot as being the oldest son of a large family, so I thought it was time to bring at least another member of the clan into the Earth 2 story.—tmw.