Moe was quiet as he lead his family out of the shop that was to be where he'd get Moe's Pizza started again, the mouse and anything that would relate to it forgotten for the moment. They'd managed to move the cleaning supplies into the kitchen and made sure they weren't leaking before they made their way out. It wasn't much of an accomplishment, as it represented an interruption of his own life and hopes and dreams, and one that had come far too often and this time far too early. While the Gambonis had often showed up in the places they'd moved to, for some reason they never showed up this quickly. More often than not the threat of their arrival had been weeks to even a month after the Charlestons had settled into a new town. This time it had taken a matter of days.
"Don't worry, Moe," Daniel commented from the left of the front door, "I promised I'd protect you and that is what we're doing. And this time... THEY'VE slipped up and we'll be able to put them away."
"I'd hoped that putting them away wouldn't have involved things coming to my own door," Moe answered slowly as he locked the door and then turned to his friend, "that'd we'd be unnoticed... but between that tracker and their hacking the banks..."
"I know," Daniel sighed and his eyes drifted downward for a moment, "but in the end... you and your family will be safe."
"That'll be a relief... have the Gambonis BEEN here?" Nichole wondered.
"If they have, it was only to drive through Moon Lake on their way to Seattle," Daniel answered, "not enough to have noticed anything."
There was a sigh of relief at that. Though there wasn't much relief given that they were having to essentially go into hiding, at least for a few days. There wasn't much to be comfortable about that. Daniel patted Moe on the shoulder and then moved to his police cruiser while the Charlestons filed into their own car with Karen climbing into the backseat. Moe glanced to her and saw that her eyes were nervously darting from right to left as Moe turned the key in the ignition and the car's engine soon hummed to life. Her declaration was a bit of a surprise to him. He and Nichole knew that she had volunteered to be their family were, even while he and Nichole weren't necessarily keen on the whole idea, but they'd figured that Karen was only getting information for which to make an informed choice, and yet she'd apparently made one without even voicing what it was or her reasoning for it. To the parent in Moe, that was more a sign of a problem than anything else. He thought Daniel detected it to, but didn't say anything about it.
"Is something wrong, dear?" Moe asked to her as he turned his eyes back to the road.
"I will not be carried off by him!" Karen declared as she looked up seriously to her parents in the front seat, "all this has been too much running... too much trouble... And now they think that Marcus not only knows we're here but knows exactly where we live!?"
"That doesn't mean you'll be carried off by Marcus, dear," Moe warned, "especially if their only way of knowing is based on a hacked bank account. All that gives them is our address, not whether or not we're there. They'd need the tracer in my phone for that..."
"Which was removed, right?" Nichole asked as they rounded a corner and were soon on the way back to their home.
Moe nodded.
"I still won't be carried off!" Karen vowed, "when he shows up... I intend to be capable of driving him off!"
That made Moe blink and he wondered as to whether or not Karen's "decision" was more of a fear based reaction to the revelation that the Gambonis had found them. It was something that also triggered memories from their first night in Moon Lake, when they'd gone to the Brooks to try and get some answers. Karen had taken some of that discussion in a direction that would give an indication of using being a were as a means to deal with the Gambonis. It wasn't an unreasonable thought in some way. As there were plenty of times where Moe had long wished he were strong enough to drive the Gambonis away from his family, but at the same time, Moe also knew that the country had laws for a reason.
"And you won't be... but..." Moe began.
"How do you know?!" Karen nearly shouted back, "You said they wouldn't likely find us here!"
"We didn't know they'd hacked the banks," Moe answered, "just as you don't know EVERYTHING, yet. Not to mention that if we're guests in someone else's home, I highly doubt they're going to allow you to join were society in THEIR home, unless Tara Strange is the one doing it... and she is a normal human being... so that's not going to happen."
"Suppose they find her cabin!" Karen protested.
"And why would they be looking for her cabin? How would they even know that we're not going to be at home?" Nichole asked, grateful to hear that Tara Strange wasn't a were, "We'll be following Daniel in our car to the woman's home... which Daniel said is on the southwest side of town... even outside it."
"And she is a law enforcement officer," Moe added, "so I'm sure she's had training as well."
There was a silence as Karen crossed her arms in front of her chest and sat back in the back seat. They finished the short drive and pulled onto the driveway at their own home. Nichole quietly lead Karen indoors while Moe got out to see Daniel pulling a U-turn to park on the street in front of the Charleston house. As he heard the door open and shut, Moe then turned to talk with Daniel directly.
"Dan... I have to ask..." Moe began as he watched Daniel's driver side door go down, "Could the Gambonis find Tara Strange's cabin?"
"Could they find it?" Daniel said slowly raising an eyebrow with some suspicion.
"It's just something Karen brought up," Moe answered.
"Well... I suppose it is possible that they could find it, but the odds of them stumbling onto it by accident are minutely small," Daniel answered, "So much so that it wouldn't be worth mentioning to be honest. Your home is on the northeast side of town and is in Moon Lake City limits. Her cabin is outside of town and is on the southwest side. And unless they've decided to come in on foot over the mountains, they're not going to drive past it. Her cabin is on a dead end road that has to turn off onto any other major roadway. The only way into Moon Lake is either from the main roads running north and south or east and west. Which means if and when they drive here...they're not going to just stumble onto you by chance. They'd have to know you've moved beforehand, and with your phone de-bugged, that shouldn't be an issue."
"Good," Moe said slowly, "then... once we're ready... I want you to just escort us to Tara's, even if Tara comes along. I think some of Karen's decision is a panicked one... that somehow Marcus will find her and if she were a were, she could fight him off."
Daniel blinked and remembered that sort of question from the dinner when the Charlestons first arrived... Karen had asked if she could use being a were to keep Marcus away from her. It was an understandable desire and one partially shaped by the issues related what the Gambonis had done to the Charleston family, and there weren't many weres that would easily put up with the sort of bullying that the Gambonis had supposedly pulled before. But that didn't change the law and was part of the reason why he told Karen that night not to become a were just to maul the Gambonis. That would only make things worse.
"But she has volunteered to be your family were... right?" Daniel asked and waited for Moe to nod, "well... it is possible that she might have had a decision in mind..."
"But she hadn't said she was leaning to any specific were and she didn't even say what that kind of were was when she said she'd made her decision," Moe countered, "I'd think that most of this was entirely in panic over the fact that the Gambonis are on their way here. She hadn't told Nichole or I that she was close to a decision."
"I can understand your fears... trust me," Daniel spoke, "Fran and I had our concerns when Peter said he wanted to become a were to be like us... but in the end... it is her decision, and unless you and Nichole want to take the plunge... in the long run, at least one member of your family will have to become a were at some point."
Moe nodded slowly. He knew that. Personally he'd been reasonably willing to be a were if it protected Karen, but he knew that Nichole had been against it and had thus remained silent on that, particularly as there was much was still to be discovered. Nichole had seemed to have grown more accepting on Moon Lake's weres, but Moe still had the sense that there were still things that she was uneasy on and if either of them made that choice it had to be together. And for the moment, neither Moe nor Nichole were ready for that in any way.
"I just want to make sure that the decision is one she's thought through," Moe eventually spoke, "not rushed into anything because she afraid of being attacked by a guy we've been running from for what feels like forever now. Please... as a friend... just make sure that Karen comes straight to Tara's cabin and stays there. Especially if this plan will keep us safe until whatever scheme the Gambonis would still mean that Karen wouldn't be able to join were society..."
"That... that probably wouldn't be allowed," Daniel did nod, "If only to keep Tara's cabin off of any attention."
"Which would then mean it wouldn't make sense to buy her were birth control pills that she can't take until AFTER this present crisis is over at the earliest," Moe finished. "I think that Karen is scared and panicking... and if she is safe from all of this... a panicked decision wouldn't result in her having a sound decision."
"Okay..." Daniel said slowly, "but please. Move quickly and pack."
Moe nodded made his way in to the house. He found Karen tossing down a duffel bag and looking at him with a disappointed frown.
"I don't like this," Karen stated flatly, "You agreed..."
"I agreed to let you gather information to let you make an informed decision," Moe told her, "not rush into one because you're afraid of Marcus."
"He's chased us around the country!" Karen pointed out, "Who knows what wicked things he's done?"
"I know... but we'll be safe, Daniel has assured me of that, and where this cabin is won't be known to Marcus," Moe assured her, "and he can't just stumble onto it... That means he will come here thinking we are here. He'll run into Daniel and the FBI and they will get Marcus and anyone with him."
"I hope so," Karen answered and looked down while her father went to pack.