I had been somewhat surprised by how calm the arrest of the gang members had gone. By the story of the number of officers they had killed, one seriously wounded, and wounding Leona as well, I had thought they would have fought tooth and nail when they realized they had been caught. But they didn't. Some of it was certainly surprise. If they didn't know we were coming, they had to have been caught unaware. The rest of it was that none of them were armed. Pit Bulls had a strong bite for a dog, and this combined with a fairly strong human-like build would make them strong fighters, but they weren't invincible and looking down the barrel of a drawn gun was probably the difference.
The biggest "problem" that we encountered were the females. Once they recovered from the fright of the motel door being kicked in, they began barking their complaints about what we could or couldn't do.
"We ain't done nothing!" the first barked at me as lead one of the males out of the room, "You got no right!"
"Your boyfriend attacked and killed cops," I growled back, "or he or you received stolen property... and of the two, I'm fairly certain its the former, given the weapons we've found here, and the fact that I overhead a certain conversation your boyfriends had about capping someone."
The female stood her ground, but I heard the male give a low whine.
"You heard dat?" he whimpered.
"My ears are not for show," I growled back, "and you should know that anyway. Your senses should be greater then they were when you were human."
He only gave a low whine again.
"And for the sake of curiosity, who was this lady you were hired to kill?" I questioned as I marched him to one of the police cars, "nine foot tall? Feline? Striped?"
"I gotta right to a lawyer," the black and white Pit Bull answered.
"We'll deal with that at the station," I answered and moved him into the car. Once he was in I shut the door behind him.
"Whatcha gonna do to us?" the second female challenged from where she was as the two followed after me.
"Officially, nothing," I answered, "we would like to ask you a few questions involving how you became as you are, but we have no evidence to link you with the attack in Peoria we have no reason to take you in. You two are free to go... though I wouldn't go far, as you'll likely face a civil suit for destroying that hotel room."
"We didn't do that," the first answered.
"That was all them," the second gestured to the male Pit Bull "people", in the back seats of the other two cars.
Evidently there was no true love between a gang member and his girlfriend. Or at least it didn't look like there was in this case.
"Maybe, but the room is trashed and the manager of the hotel likely knows it has been trashed," I replied, "I doubt he's going to let you stay here."
"We'll manage," the second answered and the two finally began to leave the scene.
Officer Barnes then came out with various evidence bags, carrying handguns, the syringes, and the duffel bag which held the shotgun.
"I'm pretty sure we got everything," Officer Barnes told me.
"Could you see anything on the syringes that identifies which species of animal's DNA is attached to formula?" I wondered.
"I didn't see anything, but when I put them in the bags, part of them felt sticky, like there had been an adhesive on them," Officer Barnes answered, "And there were a few that were used, not just one."
"Which means they did distribute the serum on the street," I grumbled.
"Great," came Officer Howard's voice as he approached from the other side of the cars, "another thing to figure out..."
"My wonder is why did they settle on Pit Bulls," Officer Barnes commented, "I saw the news report that showed the attack, the officer there was wounded. Leona was shot and then beaten. And they were talking about killing someone at the school..."
"It was Molly," I grumbled.
"You're sure of that?" Officer Howard answered.
"Someone here hired them to kill someone in the school," I answered, "who else would they target?"
"Until we have proof, we can't go beyond it," Officer Howard answered, "you may be right, but without proof, we'll end up in a political argument that a good lawyer will easily beat us at."
I slowly nodded. Officer Barnes then continued with his concerns.
"They came here looking for a fight," Officer Barnes spoke, "and if George or Molly are the targets, they'd have know that what they would be facing would be strong and powerful, and after Peoria, would be alerted to the possibility of being attacked... yet they chose Pit Bulls. Why not an elephant or rhino, something large and strong enough that a tiger in nature would be hesitant to attack. Why not a bear, which a tiger would need to ambush to stand a chance? Why not one of the other big cats? Why a domestic dog that is likely lighter then a human is?"
"Likely their perception of the breed being a strong and tough animal," Officer Howard sighed, "the main reason why people use Pit Bulls in Dog Fighting. The other animals would attract too much attention, and would make it impossible to assassinate anyone easily. Officer Wayne, your sidearm was specially made on order to allow you to carry a sidearm. If they turned themselves into an elephant or rhino, or even a bear, they wouldn't be able to fire a weapon all that easily, and gun companies will have a hard time believing an elephant, a rhino, or a bear need a gun."
Officer Barnes and I nodded.
"You and Officer Barnes can go back to take them back and begin questioning them," Officer Howard added.
"We'll need to get a court appointed attorney for questioning," I sighed.
"That may take until tomorrow then to question them," Officer Howard sighed, "most of the lawyers are going home now, or have already gone home."
"At least we have them," Officer Barnes replied, "If need be, we can get that done tomorrow."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
I found Molly waiting for me when I got back to Bandhavgarh Cabin. I could smell dinner cooking.
"George!" Molly spoke when she saw me and got up off of the couch, "You're home."
I slowly nodded. After overhearing the conversation among the gang members, I knew how close Molly had come to being shot dead. Whoever had hired them had told them not do anything near the school and appeared be able to get them to agree to it. If it was Beauregard who hired them, I'd have to hand it to him on that. He wouldn't allow making a bad situation worse. Hiring hit-men was inexcusable, though, and if we gained proof of it, there would be nothing that would stop me from making the arrest.
"George?" Molly asked as she came closer to me.
I didn't answer her vocally. I merely stepped forward and pulled her into a hug and held her tightly to me. Molly slowly hugged me back.
"George are you okay?" Molly then asked, sounding more concerned.
"I love you, Molly," I told her, "with all my heart."
"What happened?" Molly asked, "Is it Beauregard? Are you hurt?"
I then slowly began to tell her about the bust. Beginning with the two female Pit Bulls snooping around a trailer park, confirming that they had some connection to the gang that attacked Leona's lab, and finishing with the actual arrest. When I finished explaining, Molly gripped me tightly.
"I never saw them," Molly spoke slowly, "they could have gunned me down and would have never seen it coming."
"And I wouldn't have there to protect you," I told her, "to help you... but they didn't, and for that, I guess I will be grateful."
We hugged there for a few moments.
"We'd best eat before it burns," Molly commented.
I chuckled and followed her.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
The next morning I made sure to make it in early to the station. Not much could really be done until a lawyer could come in, as they repeatedly claimed they wanted a lawyer when they were put in jail for the night. It took until about eight thirty for a lawyer to arrive. He was a rather meek looking man from my point of view, but he was all business.
"Good morning, officers," he spoke plainly.
"Morning," Officer Barnes replied, "you're the attorney the court called in for the questioning these guys."
"Yes," he nodded.
"You can set up the the interrogation room," I told Officer Barnes, "I'll "fetch" our trouble makers."
"Very funny, George, very funny," Officer Barnes retorted.
I moved them into the room one at a time, just to make sure they didn't decide to run. I noticed the attorney looked ore fearful of them then he was of me. Once they were in and seated, I took a standing position to block the door in case they tried anything.
"I am Lenard Samson," the attorney spoke, "I trust you have explained these three their rights?"
"We have," Officer Barnes answered, "May we begin?"
Lenard nodded.
"We will start with your names... what are your names?"
"Snoop," the black and white one spoke.
"Big T," the cream colored one answered.
"Spot," the white with a black spot answered, earning snickers from his compatriots.
"You names, not what you call each other," Officer Barnes repeated the question.
"Dawg, that's who we are," Snoop answered, "what's it to you?"
"Formality," I spoke firmly.
"Robert Hairson," "Snoop" sighed. "Thomas Buggsy," "Big T" answered. "Bryan James," "Spot" sighed.
"Now," Officer Barnes spoke, "all three of you do understand that on the charges you are under, you will likely be transfered into Federal custody fairly soon."
"Federal custody?" Snoop gasped.
"You committed a crime in Peoria, Illinois and then fled across state lines," Officer Barnes informed them, "that is a Federal offense. If you cooperate, you might be able to get your sentence reduced."
Before Lenard could give them advice, Snoop spoke again.
"Dawg, we haven't been in Peoria!" Snoop denied it.
"Then perhaps you could explain the firearms in your possession?" I asked, "how come the serial numbers on the ammunition you have matches the rounds removed from for murdered Peoria officers, one wounded officer, and Leona Washburn? And that your fingerprints were the only ones on them?"
They were silent in response to that.
"Perhaps they merely received them from the actual perpetrators," Lenard surmised, "The police in Peoria don't have any real lead on where they went."
"Not likely," I commented, "gangs rarely trade in weapons. At least not in the sense of selling them. And even if they did, we would have gotten a second set of prints on the weapons we've confiscated. Their prints were all over them. If you wish to check, we can recheck their prints."
"You can check prints?"
"Yes," I nodded, "our hands may be paw-like, but not quite truly paws, and my wife and I still have our human fingerprints. The same goes for these three."
"Dude," Spot growled at Lenard, "you're supposed to call 'em off and let us go."
"I am to make sure they do not break any laws trying to convict or question you," Lenard answered, "and to insure that you do not implicate yourself."
"Then what good are you?!" Snoop screamed at him, and turned, making Lenard get out of his seat and back away, "You're supposed to tell them to got to hell and to let us go!"
"It isn't that simple," Lenard responded, continuing to scurry away.
Snoop got up and slowly advanced toward Lenard. I gave him one good growling hiss for warning. The black and white Pit Bull looked at me and backed off.
"Now, why did you attack the science lab that the Peoria Police was protecting?" Officer Barnes asked, "do you hate animal people?"
"What a ridiculous question," Big T answered.
"To ask why?"
"To think we hate animal people, man," Big T answered.
Big T and Snoop remained silent.
"Why did you attack the facility?" Officer Barnes asked, "I promise you, if you cooperate, we'll do what we can to get a fair deal for you."
Snoop and Spot were defiantly silent. Big T took one look at me and then at Officer Barnes and then sighed.
"Fine..."
"T!" Snoop and Spot protested.
"They'll throw the book at us for fightin' 'em!" Big T answered, "and this wasn't our fight to begin with. The Boss wasn't even in any gang and wouldn't fit in with one if he tried. I don't wanna go to jail for the rest of my life."
"You'll cooperate?" Officer Barnes asked.
"Yeah," Big T answered, and said to the attorney, "you can go for now."
Lenard blinked and nervously made his way to the door while I moved Snoop and Spot out. If Big T would cooperate, we didn't need to but heads with his two partners. Once they were back in their cell, I returned to the questioning room. Lenard was still there, if standing nervously.
"So why did your gang attack the Peoria Lab?" Officer Barnes repeated.
"We were paid to," Big T answered, "we's the Helena chapter for MountainBoyz when this older guy found us hanging out, smokin' a little stuff. He wondered if we were lookin' for a score bigger then anything we'd ever had."
He paused for a moment and then continued.
"All of us were skeptical at first," Big T commented, "I mean don't you do that to bust people for soliciting prostitutes?"
"Please, continue," Officer Barnes sighed.
"Anyway," Big T continued, "we made sure he wasn't a cop... he even said you guys were the problem that had to be dealt with. Said a lot but running against nature's order and stuff like that, but the promise of getting a big score was too much. We agreed to his hit. And it was the mother of all hits. One on you and the Tiger-Lady, and the Lion woman that started it all. And we tried to. We got there and found the police guarding the place fairly closely. We shoulda given up there, I suppose, but the promise of a big score pushed us on. Snoop planned the ambush on the police and we made our way in."
He then gave me a nervous glance.
"None of us though thought there was anything wrong with bein' a bit more wild then most so we only trashed the lab and wounded the lion lady," Big T answered, "and obviously took some of the serum."
"Why did you remove the labels?" I asked.
"Easier to hide," Big T answered, "we could claim it was insulin or something that way. Make a good buck on the side."
"And you used some of it on yourselves," Officer Barnes commented.
"Only Snoop took the shot," Big T answered, "Spot and I had to wait until after he'd transformed Delilah and Daisy through..."
"Mating," I gave him the word rather then hear some euphemism.
"Yeah," Big T nodded, "and then we came back here. To finish the hit on the targets the guy had the most hatred for."
"And do you know who he was?" I asked.
"He never gave us a name," Big T answered.
"Could you describe him?" I asked, provided we get someone to sketch the description?"
"Sure," Big T nodded.
It took nearly half an hour to get a sketch person in, as the officer who specialized in that was on patrol at the time. Once he did arrive though, he got straight to work sketching out the face for our like "boss" that had hired this small gang to commit murder for him. As Officer Barnes and I watched, I could only growl in anger at the drawing. For the sketched face was practically identical to Pierre Beauregard.