BACKTRACKING...
"Sheriff Cooper?" said a man's voice, knocking on the open door of his superior's office.
"Yes?" Cooper asked, looking up from the mountain of paper work he still had to process following yesterday's activities that resulted in the arrest of Fredrick Parker and his men, let alone the reports following the assault on Nate Anderson.
"Miller and McCord. Plains clothes division," said the man, as he and his partner entered the office.
"Yes. How did it go at Grrrrrrr... ?" asked Cooper.
"Better than we expected. Chester Brown is willing to cooperate, to a point. He'll stay closed till Friday morning, but plans to reopen then come hell or high water," explained Miller.
"That and he seems to have some kind of a chip on his shoulder about Mayor Twist," added McCord.
"Oh?" asked Cooper, looking at his detectives more closely.
"The Code W Alert is seriously damaging his business, according to Brown, and he mentioned having to fire Twist's son Ben before the kid even started working there because of the Code W," explained Miller.
"Great," complained the Sheriff, leaning back in his desk chair. "Didn't know any of that, or I would of warned you men going into the situation. Then again, considering the guy charges a $100 a meal..."
"We know," said McCord.
"Well, at least that's one less thing to worry about. For now," realized Cooper, as his desk phone started to ring.
"Sheriff Cooper speaking," he said, answering it.
"Douglas? It's Joan," began the voice on the other end of the connection. "I'm on the hands free set in your jeep. Did I call at a bad time?"
"There's no such thing as a bad time when you're concerned honey," said Cooper with a smile, as the detectives tried not to overhear either side of the conversation, despite the fact everyone in the room was weres.
"Two things," began Joan. "First off. The elementary school called me. I'm on my way to pick up Darrell for the day now but his teacher wants to talk to both of us, if possible."
"I'll have to take a squad car, but I can be there in about 20 minutes," replied Cooper, while looking at his wristwatch. "What's the other thing?"
"I think I'm being followed," said Joan.
"WHAT?" exclaimed Cooper, as he rose from his chair.
"I wasn't sure about this until I pulled out of the grocery store to head to the elementary school. Dirty white car. Only the driver, as far as I can tell, but whoever is in there seems adamant about keeping an eye on me."
"Can you read me the license plate?"
"Out of state. California, because I recognize the coloring from having lived there for so long, but he isn't close enough for me to say more."
"DAMN!" Cooper cursed under his breath, fearing it might be someone connected to Fredrick Parker. But friend, foe, or reporter? he wondered.
"Okay honey. The moment you get to the elementary school, head directly inside. If anyone other than me or school personnel approach you, scream!" advised her fiance.
"Okay. Love you," said Joan, before breaking the connection.
"You men heard?" Cooper asked, hanging up his desk phone.
"Yes," replied Miller. "How do you want to handle it?"
"You two take off now straight to the school. The moment you get there, find that car and whoever's inside. I'll be right behind you. Detain for now, but we ain't leaving the school until I make sure my fiance and son are okay."
"Right!" said McCord, as the detectives turned and left the office.
But as they raced out of the building to their car, McCord asked Miller, "Did he say fiance?"
"News to me," replied Miller, as they started to get inside their vehicle. "I thought the kid was just Cooper's cousin or something like that," as they fastened their seat belts.
Then Miller started the engine and the car left the parking lot, not drawing any undue attention from the surrounding reporters because it was unmarked.
Yet moments later, after telling his men what to do with Agent Brooke of the FBI if she should arrive while he was gone, Sheriff Douglas Cooper leaving in an official Moon Lake patrol car did attract their attention, as a few of the more ambitious and nosy journalists decided to follow and see if there was a potential story in whatever was going on.
"That's right you vultures. Follow along. Let's just hope there's no carrion for you to feed on, because if anything happens to Joan or Darrell..." Cooper growled under his breath, doing his best to keep his anger in check and not assume his were-grizzly bear fursona.
NOW...
"Okay men, there's our targets," said Rex, the leader of the Tusk Brigade, named because all its members were were-elephants, as he spotted Eric Anderson and Frieda Knight coming out of Moon Lake High School. "I was right about her being with him, but I still don't understand how that asshole rates such a fine hunk of woman to begin with."
"Wait. Who's the other chick?" asked Harry, closely following his leader.
"I don't know," replied Larry, the third member of this teenage gang of bullies. "Must be a friend of theirs. See? She's getting into that car with the ones we want to teach a lesson to."
"Probably just getting a ride some place. The Knights do like to show off like that, giving favors to people," complained Harry.
"Yeah, and that's Benton Knight himself driving," realized Rex, as the town car started to pull away from the school. "Damn! Teaching that bastard Eric a lesson is going to have to wait till tomorrow. Oh well, I feel like having a pizza. Let's go shake up some Freshmen and see if they have any money left to treat us to some."
AND INSIDE THE CAR...
Blissfully unaware of the evil intentions the Tusk Brigade have toward Eric and Frieda...
"So, how did everyone's first day of school go?" asked Benton, as he started driving.
"That's a loaded question," replied Eric, as he and Frieda held each other close in the back seat.
"Rough day?" asked Benton, actually concerned about the boy, and not just because of how his daughter felt about Eric.
"It could have gone a lot better than it actually did," was all Eric would say.
"Does this have anything to do with that teacher Frieda is having me investigate?"
"Partially, yeah. Wait. What?" asked Eric, looking at his co-girlfriend.
"I'll explain later," promised Frieda, still holding one of her two lovers.
"While having to take Senior lunch and study hall too, which means I don't see either of you ladies at all during the day now," began Eric, "I can handle the course work. It's that math teacher and the so-called Tusk Brigade."
"Wait. The what?" asked Benton, wondering what the latter was.
"A bunch of bullies who are also were-elephants who have been mistreating students for years," explained Spencer, sitting in the front seat across from Benton. Personally, she longed to be in the back seat with Eric too, but this town car wasn't as big as the one her girlfriend's father usually drove, and thus having three people in the back wasn't logistically possible.
"Okay. It sounds like the three of you had quite a day. Where to?" asked Benton.
Frieda longed to say "Our place," referring to that special home only she, Eric, and Spencer shared. However right now that was only a dream in her mind and not a reality.
"I guess back to the estate," realized Frieda.
"And after we get there, we're definitely having a family meeting," said Spencer, thinking about the talk they needed to have in regards to adjusting their plans for the new school year ahead of them.
"If it's okay with Spencer and Eric's parents, you kids can stay for dinner, but unfortunately you can't get... comfortable. If you know what I mean," said Benton. "We have guests."
"Oh? Who?" asked Frieda, not knowing of any entertainment plans her folks had for today.
"That's a surprise," was all Benton would say, thinking about the three Doberman puppies his wife Amanda took home while he left animal shelter to pick up his daughter and friends.