Nichole and Karen were both surprised to find that their home was so close to the police station after barely going a "block," if one could measure a block on Moon Lake's largely straight line roads that only in the center of town had any intersecting roads. For Moe, it was only a reminder of when Daniel had brought him down to the station to get his phone de-bugged. They quietly pulled into the modest parking lot in front of the police station. Karen found her eyes drawn to the unmarked black vans that were actually parked in front of the main doors.
"Does every Moon Lake policemen drive private vans like they're the Men in Black?" Karen wondered.
"No... most of us that are patrol officers drive our cruisers to and from work, and those that don't will park their cruiser in an inside garage in the back," Daniel gave a chuckling laugh, noting Karen's eyes focusing on the three black SUVs, though they had no other identifiable markings. "These guys are likely some of the FBI guys that have come in. We know that they've been after the Gambonis... and an Agent from their organized crime units has come with a fairly big team... some from New York/New Jersey, some from the Seattle Field Office, and some from other places. That means a lot of agents and little chance that the Gambonis can or will do anything."
"Won't people know?" Nichole wondered.
"Some might... but I'd think with the present plan most will be on foot and only a few that need to be in vehicles will be," Daniel answered, "Though... some things will have to be left up to agent in charge."
Daniel softly bit his lip as they made their way up to the front door to the police station and pulled the door open. He then looked to Moe as his friend entered the station again. He was a bit nervous as the planned operation would involve having himself and FBI agents in the Charleston home waiting for the Gambonis to come into town and come into the home to find the Charlestons, and while Moe had been more than willing to cooperate with the plan to protect them, Daniel also knew that Agent Baoman's sting operation would need the Charleston's vocal and written consent to use their home as bait for the sting operation. That Daniel was a bit more nervous on, though, given what he overheard, he also suspected that it might not be worth worrying over. All the same, the worry was there.
They slowly made their way into the station. The walk in followed a sort of stop and go pattern as they passed the front desk and went through the main door that took them deeper into station. Daniel opened the door and let the Charlestons in while they then waited for him to take the lead to take them through the hallways inside the station. It didn't take them long to make their way through the building, as it wasn't a particularly large building and this allowed to rapidly come up to the door that had a brass name plate that read: Chief of Police MLPD, O'Hara. Daniel glanced to the Charlestons and then knocked on the door.
"Come in," came the answer.
"The Charlestons, Chief," Daniel spoke as he opened the door and ushered the Charlestons in.
They came into the office to find two officers waiting for them. One was male and seated behind the desk with a modest computer on one side, but most of the desk was clear to look over paperwork and other reports. The man sat quietly with a firm and fit build, much like Daniel did, though unlike Daniel, the man seated wore a regular business suit with blue tie and his badge, a silver shield pinned to the upper right portion of the jacket's chest. Inside the shield was a circle that held a relief of a crescent moon shaped body of water, at least if one was looking at a map key for water. This left a smaller circular shape on the part of the interior of the badge, and it was in this section that the letters MLPD were stenciled. They could also that the man had reddish colored hair, which was parted on the left side and combed toward the right. Standing to the right of the desk was a lone woman wearing glasses, and to Nichole had a very modest and almost slim frame, which had been an obvious contrast to the few female weres that Nichole had met so far.
"Officer Tara Strange," Daniel gestured to the woman, who gave a small nod, and then to the man seated behind the desk, "Chief O'Hara."
"It is good to see that you're doing well, Mr. Charleston," Tara spoke politely, "a shame we have to meet again under such circumstances."
Moe nodded and then gestured to his wife and his daughter, "My wife, Nichole, and my daughter, Karen."
"It is good to meet you all in person," Chief O'Hara spoke politely as they all shook hands for a moment, and he made sure to stand to do so. It was something that would be friendly and might help deal with some of the issues the present operation had to deal with, "and if Officer Brooks hasn't told you already, you can rest assured that we will keep you safe and we have a plan for dealing with the Gambonis. We've gotten a bit of help from the FBI for it... but if it gets mobsters put away, I won't complain on who gets credit."
"Thank you, sir," Moe answered as he looked to Chief O'Hara as he sat back down at his desk.
"Now, I can't get into any of the specific details on the operation," Chief O'Hara spoke, "but before Officer Strange takes you out to her cabin, there are a few issues that we'll need to discuss and that you'll need to sign off on... at least to help us with any and all legal issues related to the operation."
"Legal issues?" Nichole wondered glancing to Moe and then to Daniel.
"Specifically that the plan is to be a sting operation," Chief O'Hara spoke, "Officer Brooks and a small team from the FBI are to use your home as bait, as the Gambonis are likely to go there according to what they're analyzing Marcus Gamboni's mental state to be like at the moment. They will in a sense pretend to be you and give the Gambonis the impression that you are home whenever they make their way here. They should be taken down after gaining entry so far as I understand it. However, because the Moon Lake Police Department does not own the home... we need you to sign off on some forms that would grant us permission to sue the residence. The FBI has also left a form or two that will offer to take financial responsibility for any damage done in the course of arresting Marcus and Vito Gamboni."
"This has to be done legally?" Moe wondered.
"Mostly as a precaution to make sure that the Gambonis can't lay a claim to an unlawful arrest... essentially accusing us of trespassing," Chief O'Hara answered, "by a technicality... that would invalidate the arrest. However, with permission... that arrest will be valid... that sort of thing. It shouldn't be too much of an issue."
"That's all?" Moe breathed a sigh of relief, "if it takes care of the Gambonis... we'll sign it."
Chief O'Hara nodded and then collected a set of papers in front of him. He tapped them against the top of the desk and then handed them to Moe. While Moe and Nichole checked them over, noting that one was a pretty standard permission slip with the Moon Lake PD insignia and another with the FBI's insignia. The last was another form amounted an agreement that the FBI would cover financial costs for any destroyed or damaged property. Both Nichole and Moe noted that the FBI's papers were already had the appropriate FBI signatures, reading: Baoman. As they looked up after looking at the papers, they noted Chief O'Hara holding out a small ballpoint pen. Moe took it and then signed his name on the appropriate lines and dated the paperwork. Nichole did the same, as the home was in both of their names.
Chief O'Hara gave a small smile as Moe passed the signed papers back to him, "Good... then the only thing left here would be to leave your home keys with Officer Brooks. He will be our representative there and will be the best suited to make sure you get your keys back when this is over."
"What if we need something?" Karen wondered. She was pretty sure she had everything with regard to combs, toothbrush, toothpaste, and clothes. She'd also picked up the guidebook to Moon Lake that Samantha Twist had left with them, just to make sure that the Gambonis or the FBI agents wouldn't stumble onto it.
"That will depend on how things go," Chief O'Hara answered, "and if things go long enough that more things are needed... we'll try to arrange it so that the route to and from your home is clear."
There were a few small nods as Moe and Karen handed their home keys to Daniel, who soon fit them to a key ring that was buttoned to his belt.
"Don't worry, every thing will work out fine," Daniel spoke.
"And my folks might be willing to come down to visit in the evenings... let you meet some more of Moon Lake's citizens," Tara added, staying silent though on her parent's status as werebears. While Agent Baoman was dedicated and professional, dealings with the FBI could be tricky, as there was the occasion that the agent was also a were was rare, and even a Moon Lake Normal like Tara recognized that unless the agent was already a were or had sympathies with weres, it was safer not to mention weres until after the Gambonis were dealt with. Dealing with that in the open might ultimately be necessary, given how much technology had been advancing, but that day hadn't arrived, yet.