I made my way out of Bandhavgarh and into town as quickly as I could. I let Molly know that an emergency had come up before leaving. She promised to have some meat waiting for me when I returned. But with what Officer Jenkins had told managed to say over the phone, I had no idea when that would be.
It was all surprising and "out of the blue" as it were. Leona's frustration with the "Animatrix Serum" being legalized for distribution was obvious, but to a great extent, those that had wanted to take it had made a good argument as to why it should be distributed. And while people could buy it, the regulations around it would probably slow down the distribution of the serum as people would have to actually study the animals they wished to become. That however wasn't the really surprising portion of the conversation.
The surprising portion was Leona's announcement that Peoria's Officer Jackson had proposed to her. Now because she had plead guilty to the minor charges related to Eugene Changes' scheme, her official punishment was very harsh. Community service and promised work on a "cure" for the Animatrix Serum. My father had assigned Officer Jackson to serve as her probation/parole officer, mostly for her own protection. It was after my transformation that I had actually found out that there had been some attraction between Leona and Jackson. And now it appeared that the attraction was both mutual and serious. Though, Leona would have to wait a month or so before her period of probation ended.
And that was followed by Danielle Jenkins' call about her daughter being kidnapped. Which added to what seemed to me to be totally random. I did however didn't dwell on it all that much, as life rarely flows in the patterns one expects. That's what makes it life, and at the moment it appeared that that life had taken a frightening turn for the woman who was substituting as my partner for Officer Barnes. I was off duty and probably couldn't investigate the case, but I decided to head there and provide whatever help that I could. It was the proper thing to do.
I arrived at Danielle's home to find a car there with its lights on. Officer Barnes had come over from his home and was hugging Danielle Jenkins on her front lawn while she cried into her shoulder.
"What happened? How did this happen?" I asked as I approach.
"George, you came..." Danielle Jenkins spoke quickly looking up from Officer Barnes' shoulder.
"Yes," I nodded, "how did this happen? Who took Megan?"
"I don't now," she said nervously, "I had to run a couple of errands before returning home... when I got here... my mother was out cold and my baby girl was gone."
"Did they leave a note, or some other demand?" I asked.
"No! You gotta get her back, George! You gotta!" Danielle Jenkins said desperately, "track her down... maul who took her from me!"
I was left partially unsure on how to proceed from there. I simply didn't know what had happened, and the on duty officer that had arrived would likely take the lead in the case, and might even be moved to the day shift to do it.
"She left with a young to middle aged male," Officer Barnes spoke up as he strengthened his hug, trying to reassure her that everything would be fine, "I had just returned home from my shift... you and Officer Jenkins likely weren't back from Kalispell yet... when I saw a man lead Megan out of the house and toward a minivan parked on the curb."
"Was he from around here?" I asked him.
"He had Washington State plates, so, not likely," Officer Barnes sighed, "so... it's not likely that he is. At first he lead Megan by the hand, fairly gentle, like nothing was wrong... but when Megan noticed me, however, and attempted to come over and say "hi", he grabbed her by the waist and rushed into the minivan. I tried to pursue, but I couldn't catch him."
"Do you know which way he went?" I wondered looking down the street.
"It wouldn't matter by now," Officer Barnes said nervously, "he's long gone by now... our best hope is that we can track the vehicle to wherever the guy is running to."
"You got the plates?" I asked.
"And called in Officer Sane here from the night-shift to make the official investigation since I'm still in recover, and Officer Jenkins is officially too close to the case," Officer Barnes sighed, "by rule they won't let her try to get her daughter back for fear of a lack of professional behavior... though I don't see much that will stop her from trying."
"We got to get her back!" Officer Jenkins spoke.
"I can help," I offered, "protocol won't restrain me from helping."
"You'll help?" Danielle Jenkins spoke, "You'll get Megan back?"
"I'll try," I responded, "if Officer Sane will allow it."
"And for the moment, I'll take it," came a new voice as the other officer, Officer Sane came out.
He approached Danielle first, "You mother is awake. She doesn't seem too bad, but a visit to a doctor may not be a bad idea."
"Of course," Danielle nodded, trying to keep herself composed.
He then turned to me.
"According to another officer contacted to search for the minivan... in case he is still in Columbia Falls," Officer Sane answered, "the van has parked at a small motel on the western edge of town. I was just on my way there, now. If you want to come along, I wouldn't mind."
"Thank you," I answered, "and I will."
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Officer Sane and I arrived at the hotel about five minutes later, where another officer was already watching the parking lot.
"Officer Wayne..." the observing officer spoke in surprise.
I recognized him as one of the officers that come to Bandhavgarh to "investigate" my transformation.
"Officer Jenkins is a friend," I answered, "I am here to provide some extra muscle."
Officer Sane nodded, "have you noticed anything? Is anyone in the car? Or in a room?"
"The likely kidnapper I believe is in room 4A," the officer answered, "or at least I've seen a man go out of that room and go to the minivan... and he's looked fairly nervous."
"He must be packing," I commented.
"If he intended to leave Columbia Falls, he should have just gone, to hell with packing," Officer Sane commented.
"He may not be entirely criminal," I shrugged, "or thinks he isn't... but that'd be a guess at why he DIDN'T leave Columbia Falls."
"All the same," the officer that had staked out the hotel answered, "we should move in while there's a chance that the kid is alive."
"Right," Officer Sane answered, "we'll wait till he comes out again. Officer Wayne, you will retrain the kidnapper. We'll try to get Officer Jenkins' daughter away safely."
I nodded and then moved around on foot across the street and toward the hotel. As we approached room 4A, we were especially careful. If the kidnapper saw me or the other two officers, he might do something desperate. Once we were in a position, we waited. If the kidnapper was taking stuff out to the minivan, he'd likely come out again. As we waited, I faintly heard the complaining of a young voice.
"I wanna go home," Megan Jenkins complained.
"You will be home when we get back to Spokane," answered a man's voice, "now hurry. The local cops will likely have gotten their feet under them."
"I wanna go home," Megan repeated.
"Come along!" the man answered, "we must go! Now!"
"NO!"
The door opened to reveal a man carrying Megan, who was by now beating on his back with fists trying to get him to put her down. She was also putting out an excellent scene, which was also beginning to attract attention from the hotel's other customers.
"Quiet!" the man yelled at Megan, not noticing us at the moment.
"That is quite enough, sir," I growled at him as firmly as I could without scaring Megan further.
"Tiger-Man!" Megan hollered, "save me!"
The man turned and his eyes widened at the sight of me. He quickly managed to get Megan between myself and him.
"Stay back!" the man commanded, "all of you."
"Surrender the girl," I said firmly, but stood still, "turn yourself in."
"She is mine!" the man declared, "back off and let me go."
"You know we can't do that," I told him, "let her go."
"She is mine!"
"Officer Jenkins would argue against that," Officer Sane answered.
"Don't meddle in affairs in which you know nothing!" the man growled back.
He continued to back away, though somewhat slowly, holding Megan as a sort of human shield. Officer Sane and the other officer couldn't shoot him, and I couldn't attack. Not without risking hurting Megan.
"Save me, Tiger-Man!" Megan cried.
The man continued to back away, but with his attention focused on us, he wasn't paying that much attention to where he was going and tripped over a parking bump, releasing Megan as he went. She immediately ran forward and I sprung into action. It amounted to a sort of pounce, going over Megan and my paw-like hands catching him by the shoulders and pushing him backward into the minivan he had come in. The blow knocked him senseless, as he had not intended to hit his head on the side of a vehicle.
"It's over," I growled at him, "you are under arrest for the kidnapping of Megan Jenkins. You have..."
"I know my rights," the man answered, "and they do not apply. One can not kidnap what one already owns..."
Something told me that the questioning of this man would be somewhat interesting. In the meantime, Officer Sane caught Megan and quickly began to pull her away from the area, in case the man had a concealed weapon. The other officer helped me help the man to his feet and place cuffs on him. He had been checked over and had no hidden weapon.
"You'll take him back to the station, right?" Officer Sane to the other officer.
"Of course, sir," the other Officer answered, "can we expect you to return soon?"
"Yes," Officer Sane nodded, "but Officer Wayne is already pulling overtime because of this scoundrel's idea to go after a cop's kid... and I know one little girl who's mother wants her daughter back."
Megan came forward to hug my leg while the other officer took the kidnapper to his car.
"Thank you," she said to me, "is your fur as soft as the Tiger-Lady's?"
"Molly seems to think so," I replied, glad that this incident was solved quickly, and was thankful to anyone and everyone that I could thank that Megan Jenkins was unharmed.