"I don't like this, George," Molly said one evening as we were preparing for bed, "I don't like this at all."
"I doubt they'll come here," I tried to reassure her, "we've attracted so much press since you were transformed and we moved here, that I'd find it hard to believe that they wouldn't know that we are here."
"But they're coming in at night, without breaking locks or windows and one never even knows they were there until it's too late!" Molly answered.
She was referring to the latest developments in the Grabar and Larceny case that Officer Barnes and I had been following... as were just about every other Police officer in western Montana. I didn't know of the FBI agent, Hermann Heer, had also informed the units in the central and eastern parts of the state, but it was possible that they were alerted to Grabar and Larceny's activities. With all the attention focused on them, I figured that either they would be caught or pursued, or they would move their "crime spree" to somewhere else where local law enforcement agencies weren't alerted to their presence. But there were still occasional reports of them being in the area... unfortunately, by the time any officer had gotten to that area, they were gone.
And it was the latest development that was worrying. They had begun operating at night, which wasn't something they had done before. Their first two burglaries in Columbia Falls had been done in broad daylight, taking advantage of the victim either being at work, at school, or taking care of some business that took them away from their homes. But a few days ago, they burgled a woman's house in the dead of night, taking only some cash... but the action was still a big change. The woman had been home and asleep. She didn't initially respond believing the noises she'd heard to be coming from mundane rats or mice. Instead it was the two burglars that had moved into the area.
Grabar and Larceny did the woman no physical harm, and in fact, they never even approached her bedroom. The scent trails they'd left in the trailer went around the living room and kitchen and that was it. To some extent that was good news in the sense that despite being in a position where they could have done something far worse, they didn't. It would confirm Agent Heer's statements that Grabar and Larceny were non-violent criminals. But the fact that they had changed their activities so that their crimes were done at night still represented a major change in behavior. And that change did bring about great risks. Most people in the area were home at night and thus raised the chances of there being a confrontation, and no one wanted to gamble with the lives of Columbia Falls' citizens that Grabar and Larceny would remain peaceful.
"What if they come in when we're asleep?" Molly asked, "all our valuables and things are in our bedroom. They could shoot us in our sleep."
"I doubt they'd dare that," I commented, "remember Michelle at the Gen-U-Tech offices? She seemed visibly afraid of us on an instinctive level. Even though tigers do not actively prey on rats. Our scents screamed to her "feline" and thus made her nervous, as her instincts recognized us as a potential predator. Now, she obviously had everything under control, but she was never comfortable... and that was just in a public place that used strong enough cleaning agents that even our scents would be cleaned and washed away... Bandhavgarh is our home... our territory... and our scents will be much stronger to their noses here then elsewhere."
"They'll still have control over themselves, and if they have a gun, our scents won't do anything!" Molly answered, "I do not want to be a widow and our cubs fatherless! I do not want to be shot!"
I pulled her into a hug and nuzzled her as hard as I could. Anything I could do show that I loved her.
"That won't happen," I told her in as reassuring a voice as I could manage, "if they are stupid enough to come here... we will hear them. And even if they control their instincts... they won't be able to hide the fact that they are there and they will make a mistake. Some noise, or fumbling... something that will alert us. And they may not come for our money or computer... more then likely, I'd think they'd go for our television downstairs. It's not the most expensive out there... but it has a good screen and we have that "digital converter box" that allows us to continue to receive all the local channels. More then likely, they'll fumble around with that."
"And if they do?" Molly said nervously.
"If they do, I'll take out my side arm, go downstairs and arrest them where they stand," I said, "if they shoot, I'll shoot back and I won't miss. Everything will be fine. Don't worry."
I then nuzzled Molly again. Doing everything I could to assure her that she and our unborn cubs were safe. And that was partially where some of Molly's unease was coming from. She was pregnant and was beginning to approach the end of her third month of pregnancy. Any growth of her womb was at present still to small to easily notice with the naked eye and she was still able to wear her normal cloths. Of course that would change in the months to come. Our cubs would grow larger and enlarging Molly's middle as they did so, but that would take time and would be in the future.
But, protecting them was still a big thing for Molly and I. She and I had been looking forward to becoming parents, and there were times when it seemed that Molly was desperately wanting to become a mother. And now we were on that road. Molly was pregnant, and given the information we had, was due to give birth sometime in the summer. I believed the exact date was some time in June. And it was that issue that made Grabar and Larceny's change in tactics the most frustrating to me. Because by moving around at night, the potential for conflict and confrontation rose.
I had no real fear of death. I didn't want to die, obviously, but after facing so many different violent and dangerous criminals, I didn't fear death. And if it meant saving Molly and protecting our unborn cubs, I would probably do just about anything... and that would have probably applied even if I hadn't absorbed some portion of the Animatrix Serum and Bengal Tiger DNA from Molly on our wedding night. She was everything to me and deserved a happy life.
I couldn't let Grabar and Larceny get the chance to harm her. Not with her third obstetrician appointment coming up soon. It would mark the midpoint of her pregnancy and would mean we only had another three months before our cubs would arrive. I couldn't let them get the chance to hurt her, and hopefully, the chance to put Grabar and Larceny behind bars would come at a location other then Bandhavgarh Ranch and Preserve.
"Everything will be fine," I told her.
"Did you lock all the doors?" Molly asked.
"Yes," I nodded.
"Even the garage door?"
"Even the garage door, and the doors to the Transit," I told her, "everything will be fine."
Molly slowly accepted the line, but it was clear that she was still a bit uneasy about things.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Things had remained fairly quiet since Larceny and Grabar had their first nighttime burglary of a woman's trailer. There were the occasional sightings, but again, by the time anyone got to where they were, they'd left the area. The revelation that they were operating at night now was frustrating to many of the other officers and Agent Heer, who had returned to Columbia Falls to receive our updates on the tracking of the two Black Rats. Of course, some of that change in tactics would be considered a smart move...
While doing things at night might increase the chances of a confrontation, as Black Rats, Grabar and Larceny probably had some advantages that humans did not. I didn't know how good rats could see in low light conditions, exactly, but given that in many places they operated underground, in sewers, and areas within buildings where there wouldn't be a lot of light coming in, I figured they had to have decent night vision. Along with good ears and a sense of smell, that would enable Grabar and Larceny to either get away from a person that decided to confront them, or set up some sort of ambush for that person. And the officers on our night shift were all human, which would mean that they would need spotlights, flashlights, and their car's headlights to see well in the darkness. And those could be potential warning signs to Grabar and Larceny while they were concealed in the darkness.
Because of that, the morning after my attempts to soothe Molly's worries on the issue I stopped in Officer Howard's office before Officer Barnes and I were scheduled to go out on our morning patrol.
"Good morning, Officer Wayne, is there anything I can do for you?" he asked, "we've already talked on you having the day off for your wife's doctor's appointment... I have all that written down."
"I know," I spoke, "this isn't on that... this has more to do with the present hunt for Grabar and Larceny."
Officer Howard gave a heavy sigh, "the two of them are rapidly becoming a big pain in the butt. Going around at night... we're running the risk of someone getting hurt or worse..."
"I know, sir," I nodded, "that's partially why I'm here."
"Oh?"
"By moving their main burgling activities to the night hours they're taking advantages of their transformed bodies," I commented, "Black Rats are covered in black fur, hence the name and why the Bubonic Plague was commonly called the Black Death..."
"I know that much," Officer Howard nodded.
"With that, they can hide in any shadow anywhere," I spoke, "stay away from street lights and to be on the look out for the headlights on our cars or flashlights for any officer on foot. They'd then stay in areas where one wouldn't initially look and thus avoid capture because human officers need some additional light source to see well at night... I however, do not. Tigers, like most predatory animals have excellent night vision. We can see fairly well in daytime... but our eyes work best at night. I can move on foot, and if they come around, I can see them without a flashlight and all they might hear of my approach would be my footsteps or things on my belt clanging together or flopping against my sides."
"You're volunteering to go to the night shift?" Officer Howard asked.
"To catch Grabar and Larceny," I nodded.
Officer Howard sat for a moment, as if pondering this for a few moments and then spoke.
"Request denied, Officer Wayne," Officer Howard spoke, "I'm sure you'd help... but I can't rearrange the shift schedules for just one specific mission... it'd need to be a permanent switch from day to night. And until we can get the funds for getting one of those new vehicles being made for Animal People, you'd need to go on foot, which would reduce the time you'd have to get to them if you were on one end of town and they were on the other. And even if we did, you'd still have to put your headlights one, regardless of your night vision. And on top of that, you have cubs on the way. The night shift and people with families don't mix. You'd never get to be with your cubs, and I'm not going to deny you the privilege of being a father. I thank you for volunteering. Believe me, I do. But I need you on the day shift."
I looked down for a moment.
"Don't worry... Grabar and Larceny may be a royal pain in the butt, but they are only "human"," Officer Howard spoke, not having any other way to say what he was trying to explain, "they will eventually screw up. Either they'll go somewhere and get caught, or someone will catch them before they can get away. They will be caught and considering the number of burglaries they've committed in this spree... and adding in the fact that they've crossed several state lines and potentially in and out of Canada... they'll be looking a very long prison sentence. They can not win."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"So, how'd it go?" Officer Barnes asked as I climbed into the back seat of our patrol car.
He knew about my idea to move to the night shift while the hunt for Grabar and Larceny was still on and was fairly curious about how my idea had went over with Officer Howard.
"Not well," I sighed, "he feels the best place for me is with the day shift."
Officer Barnes only shrugged and began to drive forward, "he's probably right. Going to the night shift to chase the rats will mean switching over to the night shift on a permanent basis... and that'd mean that when your cubs are born and are up, you'd be asleep."
I slowly nodded. There wasn't much with that that I could disagree with on that. Though part of my idea for moving to the night shift was to insure that they would be caught and that Molly would be safe. But, if they were caught at some other time, or by some other officer, my need to switch to the night shift would no longer be needed.
"Hopefully we catch them soon, then," I sighed, "this whole thing has Molly worried."
"I know," Officer Barnes nodded, "You told me already."
We then began our patrol for the morning and looking out for any sign that could be seen of Grabar and Larceny. There was some hope that we'd be able to get some tip that would allow us to catch them. Some change in luck that was so far in the rats' favor. And then it happened.
"Dispatch to all Columbia Falls units, we have report of a pursuit in progress," the dispatch officer spoke over the radio, "subjects Grabar and Larceny being pursued in a white Ford station-wagon heading east from Whitefish."
"It's Grabar and Larceny?" Officer Barnes asked.
"Ten four."
"What happened? How were they found?" I wondered.
"Supposedly they went into a gas station where the local police chief there was buying coffee while running his own patrol," the dispatch officer spoke after Officer Barnes relayed the question, "he saw them and ordered them to surrender. They fled immediately before any shot could be fired. The pursuit went from there. They are on their way to Columbia Falls..."
"What road are they on?" Officer Barnes asked.
"Forty," was the answer.
"This is Officer Barnes and Wayne, we're nearing that road," Officer Barnes spoke, "any need for stop sticks?"
There was a silence for a few moments while Officer Barnes drove toward the main road between Columbia Falls and Whitefish and the dispatch officer contacted the officers pursuing Grabar and Larceny. After a few moments, the dispatch officer answered.
"Stop sticks would be appreciated," the dispatch officer answered, "Use if the road is clear."
"We're in position," Officer Barnes answered, "hopefully we get them!"
We then got out of the car and moved to set things up. Officer Barnes opened the trunk and I pulled out the set of stop sticks that was assigned to our car. The system did a good job of taking out tires on fleeing cars and prevented officers from having to use their firearms to shoot the tires out. This then also slowed down pursuits so that the crooks could be caught... or at least that was the intention. Some crooks seemed to speed up after stop sticks were used on them.
Carrying the stop sticks, I moved to the edge of the road, though I was prepared for the case that Grabar and Larceny would loose control of their vehicle. The roads were still fairly slick with ice and wet slush from where engine heat had warmed the road. Officer Barnes meanwhile stayed a little bit further down in ditch that was the side of the road to stay out of the way and to keep an eye out on traffic. For the most part things were quiet. But after only a couple minutes of waiting, I could see a long line of cars coming and the sound of sirens coming from the procession indicated that this was the pursuit.
"How's traffic?" I asked to Officer Barnes.
"For the moment we're clear," Officer Barnes answered, and then activated the walkie talkie that made up the portable radio system that practically every officer carried. It connected him through our dispatch officer to the officers already chasing Grabar and Larceny. "Officer Wayne is preparing to deploy the stop sticks. Road is clear... pursuit units, be prepared to slow down to avoid sticks."
He paused for a few moments as he watched the pursuit come. I was watching it too. After a few moments more, they were close enough to deploy the sticks. I tossed the section that housed the sharp spikes used to puncture the tires across the road and pulled back on the rope and pulled them into a position so that they could be rapidly pulled in front of Grabar and Larceny's car. As they got closer, I then pulled on the rope rapidly to try and get the tires.
Grabar and Larceny, however, tried to avoid them, and ultimately that was what ended the chase. They went to their left which took them off the road and into the ditch opposite from us. When they did, their tires lost traction and they entered a fairly violent skid as their car's momentum didn't stop when they swerved. The momentum ended up rolling the car onto its side and then onto its roof when the vehicle finally came to a stop against a dirt road turn off.
"We may need an ambulance," Officer Barnes spoke into his walkie-talkie, "they've flipped!"
The other cars in the pursuit came to a slow stop as rushed toward the flipped car. There was the concern that they had hurt themselves in the course of their flight. As I got closer, the driver's door opened and one black furred rat person in a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt climbed out of it. His eyes practically bulged out of his head when he saw me, and bolted.
"FREEZE!" I roared at him and pursued.
I managed to catch up with the rat person as he fled and quickly tackled him to the ground. The result of that was a fairly big "explosion" of snow flying everywhere as I took him to the ground and then held him down. And once it was impossible for him to get away, he gave up.
"I give up! I give up!" the rat person cried, "Don't eat me!"
"I don't eat dirty rats," I gave a low growl and moved one arm behind him while holding him down with the other arm. One of the other pursuing officers moved to help place the cuffs on him.
"That's not normally how stop sticks work," the other officer said with a chuckle.
"Normally they're supposed to drive over them," I answered with a shrug, "and I'm not about to complain about them wiping themselves out. You're from Whitefish, right?"
"Yeah," the officer answered, "these two have been active in there... robbed by sister's home practically blind."
"They've caused trouble here two," I nodded as we got that rat person up.
"And so I suppose all that's left is to wait for that FBI guy to come in and take this one," the Whitefish officer sighed.
"And the ambulance to arrive for the other one," I commented, "he's still hanging upside down in his seat and one arm is hanging down... looks to be in real pain."
The Whitefish officer looked back to the overturned car and nodded.
"After all the burglaries they've pulled off?" the Whitefish officer sighed, "they both probably deserve worse."
I said nothing to that, but only nodded. After all, Grabar and Larceny had caused a lot of trouble. But thankfully, their luck had run out.