Tom was fairly quiet as he made his way back to the car and felt fairly confident that things were going fairly fine. So far, with regard to his assignment, much of what he'd found and uncovered generally proved that there was no major interconnected crime wave coming to Washington State. In pure theory it could come if some of the smaller city police units eventually got back to him and said they'd noticed odd uptakes in certain activity, but from what he had found out with regard to the major issues that had lead to his present assignment, the Gamboni crime family coming into Washington State and then being caught, the arrest of Lionel Ulysses, and the gun battle with Dymixious Drake were all isolated with regard to their impact. The only thing that connected them was Moon Lake, and even there the specific circumstances were different. That was essentially good news to report.
As he got to his car he then pulled out his cellphone and placed in its hands free stand mounted to his dashboard. Once he got it clicked into place he hit the phone's speaker function and then hit the auto-dial to call his editor to then provide him with the updates from his interviews with the staff at Fort Wolfe. It rang for a few moments as Tom then started the engine and began to back out of the parking space he was in. Eventually a familiar voice answered.
"Hello," came his editor's voice, "what have you found out Tom?"
"Mostly good news, I think, sir," Tom answered, "most of the things that Fort Wolfe was able to clarify would generally reflect that while we have some big things happen in the past month or so... it would appear that they largely appear to be coincidences and in some cases unrelated. Which would mean some things will cool down... or at least should."
"Well... that is good news," his editor commented, "though... have you heard anything back from local law enforcement agencies?"
"Outside of Seattle, the only one I've heard from is Moon Lake," Tom answered, "and there, they answered that about the only reason the Gambonis likely came to Moon Lake was that some family they were chasing moved to Moon Lake and nothing more. Lionel Ulysses had no connection to the Gambonis and the fact that he was from Moon Lake is largely irrelevant to many major crime patterns. Which would mean his activity with the "Rat Pack" was largely within the normal rates within the state."
"So odd... but not outside the norm?" his editor answered back.
"Yes," Tom replied as he drove along the roads that lead back toward Fort Wolfe's main gate, "now... some things may change if and when I get some answers from some of the other local police departments... but so far I haven't gotten answers from them yet."
"So... what do you have next?" his editor asked.
"At the moment, my only appointment that I have scheduled is with the Federal Marshalls' offices in Spokane tomorrow at around ten or eleven," Tom answered, "so... I'm actually thinking on heading out to Spokane now that my business at Fort Wolfe is finished."
"Driving?" his editor asked.
"It'd save the paper money on plane tickets," Tom reminded him, "and Spokane isn't THAT far."
"All right then... stay safe," his editor told him and with that the call ended.
Tom then carefully reached over and pressed the hang up button and the returned to driving. Normally a route that would be best driven from where he presently was on Interstate Five would be to drive south to around the Seattle/Bellevue area and then get on to Interstate Ninety and then follow that highway all the way to Spokane. However, Tom had some other reports to give that would help with the other major project that he was working on and one that would affect him and the society that he'd joined after meeting and bonding to Alice Stevens, the most beautiful werefox vixen Tom knew or would ever know. The big reveal might be something that many weres would worry about, but Tom was confident that while there might be some trouble, things would generally be good in the long run. It would benefit weres and Moon Lake, and above all would ultimately benefit Alice. And it was his business with the big reveal that prompted a different route, as he had some information to relay to Alice's father.
And that meant a trip back to Moon Lake where he could talk directly with Harold Stevens on the matter. For he knew that Moon Lake had been a bit on edge over the fear of exposure as a result of what had happened with Lionel Ulysses in Seattle and some of that fear came out during the debate over the big reveal. Tom was optimistic that things would be good in the long run, but that didn't necessarily mean he expected things to be suddenly easy or that the fears would go away, particularly if there was suspicion that humanity was digging to find weres in connection a crime. That was the point that Tom had tried to stress that doing the reveal while things were quiet and there was no criminal suspicion would be best, but some of the fears and nervousness over things like that, particularly with the fact that Lionel Ulysses was a were. That sort of stress would drive up fears and concerns, but from what Harold had so far found in his paper's assignment, a lot of any interest in Lionel Ulysses' arrest outside of Moon Lake seemed virtually nil. About the only curiosity might have been with the Gambonis, but even that case didn't match the potential exposure issues that Lionel Ulysses did. Thus things actually seemed rather safe with regard to "outside Moon Lake" issues.
And so, Tom turned off of I-5 north of Seattle and was soon making his way up the smaller mountain roads up to Moon Lake. As he got further away from the larger interstate the quieter things became and provided a rather calm and peaceful look at nature, which in a way Tom had also found more attractive since becoming a werefox. He wasn't exactly the type to want to live a rural life, but that didn't change the fact that the fox within him liked the scent of the trees and the sound of the birds chirping and so on. It made for a quiet and calm drive. After a little while, he was soon pulling back into Moon Lake which despite some things that had to surely be going on in the background, it was fairly quiet. He pulled up to the Stevens home and found that one of the Skulk's security personnel waiting for him, one of Akane no Tachibana's grandsons, Ichiro.
"You've had a short day today," Ichiro spoke as Tom got out of his car, "Yoshiro reports that things remain quiet with Alice in Seattle and her place of business."
Tom nodded to the male werefox. Ichiro and Yoshiro were part of some efforts to protect himself and his fiancée from a pair of men that struck Tom as being part of some secret society that appeared to operate like some sort of secret "were-police" type force. The pair of them, Quintus Fives and Gustavus Amehr, didn't like Tom's big reveal plan and made that clear in such a way that he feared harm to himself or to Alice, which only related to many of the fears that Tom sensed many in Moon Lake would have regarding the big reveal. The two members of the Skulk's security personnel would provide some additional security while Tom worked with Moon Lake's City Council to put a concrete plan together. All of it would reflect some of the issues that had brought Tom to Moon Lake to give his report to Harold Stevens, should his mission to Spokane end up resulting him returning to western Washington too late to participate in the standard City Council session on Wednesday. In pure theory, Tom might have the time, but he couldn't be certain given the responses he'd gotten with regard to local city police departments.
"Technically I'm still on the clock, but right now my present assignment has an appointment in Spokane late tomorrow morning," Tom spoke, "Which means I have a bit of a drive a head of me... and you or one of the Skulk's security are free to follow... but for the moment, I have come across some other facts that should be shared with Mr. Stevens... or at least someone who can relay those facts to him, should my schedule change while I'm in Spokane and I cannot make it back to Moon Lake by Wednesday."
"I see..." Ichiro said slowly, "Well... Mr. Stevens is still at work, but Mrs. Stevens is at home."
Tom nodded and made his way to the house and quietly made his way in. He entered to find Lucy Stevens presently reading on couch of the Stevens family living room. She looked up to him as he entered.
"My... you had a short day... didn't you have appointments at Fort Wolfe?" Lucy spoke.
"I managed to finish those," Tom answered, "and I have scheduled interviews in Spokane with the present assignment my paper has for me, so I will need to get going in order to be able to make those appointments tomorrow. And I will try to call this evening to let Alice know that I'm fine... safe... and that I love her very much."
Lucy nodded, remembering some of the background conversations from the previous evening's dinner that had also carried over into the conversation at breakfast. She respected her daughter's choice and in a way could understand Tom's reasoning for the big reveal and the responsibilities that his job required, but for the moment those things would present something of a test for Tom and Alice's relationship. So far she had no reason to fear that that test would fail.
"In the meantime, my assignment has also revealed some information that I feel would be best relayed to your husband," Tom spoke, "and since I will not be here this evening and he is presently at his own job, I would feel it best to let you know before heading out on the drive to Spokane."
Lucy looked up as Tom came around the back of the couch and then sat down beside her.
"And this would actually be good news, I think," Tom then spoke, "It's not something I can confirm with certainty, but with what I've noticed it would be good news. At least with regard to fears over what happened with Lionel Ulysses and later Dymixious Drake."
That actually got Lucy interested. It was more her husband that was interested in local public service than she was, but she also knew about Tom's positions with regard to the were secret and that his proposal to put together a plan for the big reveal and all of that had played into fears that she'd noticed around Moon Lake, ever since Lionel Ulysses was caught by Seattle Police and the FBI and was shot trying to escape. Her job didn't have her on duty as long as her husband did, but she knew that her coworkers were still nervous over some of the reports, particularly when the Seattle Police posted the body camera footage to their site for public access. That Lionel Ulysses had essentially exposed weres then and there.
"Go on," Lucy responded.
"Now... granted I really only had time to talk in depth with two people, but their responses were telling," Tom spoke, "they knew of Lionel Ulysses' arrest. But... no one could really be bothered by it. Like it was yesterday's news and totally out of their minds. And there was no gossip going on about it either. It may not be everything... but it would be something that could be good news."
"It'd be likely though that they've accepted the FBI's story that the tail was a costume piece," Lucy warned.
"Perhaps... but the fact that it's calmed down as much as it has... would be a sign that things are calming on that front," Tom nodded, "and right now... it may still be a while before the plan is actually ready. Which would mean that when we do get to the actual reveal... any thought of Lionel Ulysses will be gone. Which ultimately be good news."
"On that I can agree," Lucy commented, "I assume you'd want me to relay this to Harold?"
"Yes... I know I won't be here tonight," Tom spoke, "but right now tomorrow and Wednesday are a bit up in the air. As I'll need to know what some of the interview requests with local police forces have turned up. If no one responds... I'll should be able to return by tomorrow night and would likely be available for the first planning meeting with your City Council... if not I may have more travels that will have to be made. Thus why I'm letting you know now. If I am detoured by my work schedule... you can inform Harold that things are moving in a direction that could well be good news with regard to what people are thinking with regard to anything related to "weres" after Lionel Ulysses' arrest. It's not much... but right now, it's the best I have to report."
"I'll let him know," Lucy promised.
Tom nodded and soon stood up again and before moving to head out for what would likely be a long drive to Spokane promised, "and let Alice know that I will call to talk to her when I get there... and that I love her very much."
Lucy nodded to that.