Fred looked like he had very little interest in anything as I drove back into Fangton's rich neighborhood. I was still curious as to what Night and Terri's idea was. Neither had seemed entirely confident that there was much that could be done with regard to dealing with Devon, and at best all we could hope for was for him to let the three of us go. The events of the day had surely changed somethings, but the fact that they had come up with this idea so suddenly was surprising. And given that I'd likely take the worst of the punishment from Devon, I really didn't want to be out of the loop on that.
On top of that there were other complications. Fred hadn't believed a word I'd said when I'd told him, and I think he only came a long to see if I was truly sane or not. But he wasn't the only complication. Fred had told the hospital staff how he had gotten the wound,and that neither he nor I had had the opportunity to report things to the police, which was partially true. I had a cellphone and it was in my pocket, but in all the excitement, I'd forgotten I'd had it up until when I called Terri to tell her what happened. I'd intended to call the police after that, but Night was soon on the line as well and she'd advised against it, leading to her mysterious plan and some doubt as to whether or not the police could catch Devon. Nervous over whether or not the police could find anything, and feeling my inner wolf's anger at what Devon had done to a friend and its simmering possessive rage at him having sex with Terri, I think I privately agreed to not call the police in a mixed emotional/instinctual mood, hoping to get a shot at fighting Devon and winning... even if I realistically stood no chance of winning... But the hospital had already called the police.
And that was the other major complication besides the fact that Fred didn't believe me. It would mean the police WOULD be involved. Devon would probably move the meeting he wanted with Terri, Night, and I to keep from being caught tonight, but I doubted he'd be able to cover his tracks forever. In fact, part of me was still sure the fact that Fred had witnessed his wife's murder was enough to give them reason to finally take serious action. But based on the call with Night and talking with the doctor, it might take time and might interfere with whatever plan Night had Terri had revealed that they had. There was some good news though.
That had mostly to do with Lt. Brian Hunt. I was by no means an expert on law enforcement protocol, but explaining just how big a specific case may be, or revealing that a specific case is actually bigger than you might think it might be went against that. While shows like Cops gave a lot of information the hoods they were chasing, from the episodes I'd seen, they were dealing with small petty crime that escalated based on what they found. Bigger issues went more through official releases and so forth. The Fangton police didn't reveal the extent to which Trip Johnson had been involved in illegal gambling until after the bookie had been caught the next town over and extradited back to Fangton. Brian Hunt had not operated like that.
Brian Hunt in fact told me that Devon Lycos was under investigation for far more than just murdering Francine Jones. The crimes ranged in scale and violence, and included domestic slavery, which appeared to all be slavery. That I could explain. They were likely Devon's she-wolves, who probably followed him fairly voluntarily, as far as Terri and Night knew. Probably because of the increased sex drive being a werewolf had given them and Devon was the only male to alleviate their needs. Even Terri and Night had been fairly friendly with him for that reason, and it was only the realization that Devon was trying to build a harem that Night had wanted to break away and told Terri and I the morning after I'd been bitten.
The rest were things I didn't know about. I'd never heard of any kidnapping of males or any violent takeover before. It could mean that he was abducting the boyfriends of his girls... maybe to ensure their ultimate loyalty... to frighten them into accepting his and only his maleness. That might be something to worry over, as Brian Hunt mentioned one by name, a Kevin Johnson. Night had said she'd been dating a guy named Kevin between full moons, but had never mentioned his last name. The violent takeover could mean that his predecessor at the office was also killed by Devon, but had been handled in a better way to insure that there were no witnesses. Fred's testimony might help bring Devon in, but it would likely interfere with Night's plan if she launched it. The only good thing was that we'd be able to know the size and scale of the investigation.
Getting to that, however, would have to deal with the fact that Fred didn't believe me.
"John, you do know this is all bogus right?" Fred said to me, "I mean... if you're a werewolf and Devon is a werewolf... why would you be hanging out in a rich neighborhood... especially when it isn't even your ex's residence. It's her dad's."
"You expect them to be hanging out in woods?" you asked back, "anyone could get bitten. A person from LA could be wandering the woods in a remote area, be attacked, survive, and returns to LA and changes there..."
"And eat's people?" Fred rolled his eyes.
"Only if he doesn't get enough meat during the day," I sighed, "I'm only still learning, and Night and Terri can probably help more than I can as they understand it better... but werewolves aren't mindless killers. Predatory, yes, but not mindless."
"And if he doesn't get enough meat?" Fred questioned.
"My guess is that the energy of transforming burns up most of what was eaten during the day," I answered, "if he didn't eat enough, he'd be starved... and in a starved state a werewolf might go in search of any meat to replenish his energy... but that is only a guess on my part. I'm only still learning..."
"John, this is bogus," Fred answered, "They're only old monster movies. They aren't real. It creates a nice suspense thriller to try and make me think YOU were responsible for Francine's death... but I know you weren't. I watched her killer kill her like some sort of sick freak."
"You'll at least let me try to prove this to you?" you asked him.
"Yeah," Fred sighed, "I don't know why, but yeah."
I opened the front door and walked in. I also held the door open for Fred as he followed behind me. As I came in, I was greeted to Terri and Night's scent again. The scent of female wolf that gave me the slight inclination to be aroused, and their scents were the strongest, which I think meant that they were the only ones presently there.
"Terri, Night, you two here?" I called, "I brought Fred... listen, he..."
"Did you tell him?" came Night's voice as she came around a corner.
She was wearing some clothes that were obviously on loan from Terri, not that she looked bad in them. Transforming to and from her wolven form had brought about many excellent secondary effects of lycanthropy. Effects that would likely be different for me, and I wouldn't fully experience for a while yet. Terri came right behind her, came to me gave me a brief hug and then turned to Fred.
"Hello, Mr. Jones," Terri said to him, "I'm so terrible sorry about what Devon's done to you."
"You know him?" Fred asked, "I'll say that you've filled out VERY nicely since I last saw you and John together at a company outing before your divorce... but I must also seriously say that while John did a great job at the company, you and I both know he was low enough on the chain of command that he'd never know the name of his boss."
"Devon is the local Alpha Male," Terri answered, "in fact he is mine and Night's Alpha male. And as an Alpha Male, he's made sure all his she-wolves know him."
"You've brought them in on this charade too?" Fred asked.
"Charade? John didn't you tell him?" Night asked, sounding urgent.
"I did," I answered, sounding frustrated, almost giving a low growl, "he doesn't believe me. We need some way to prove it to him."
Night sighed
"And that isn't the only complication at the moment," I added.
"One problem at a time," Night sighed and began to pace.
"Maybe we could show him the website," Terri offered, "some have posted private cellphone came footage of their own transformations for aspects of the REAL page."
"Website?" Fred asked, "You're meaning to tell me you've gone online with all of this?"
"Not us, but werewolves do maintain a webpage to talk other packs around the world and to help us coordinate the training of new wolves like John," Night answered.
"This all sounds bogus to me," Fred answered.
"It's very real, I assure you," Terri told him, "but if you really want proof... it's either the website or at least one of us brings our inner wolf out before moon rise..."
"Which would bring out the wolf of at least one of the other two," Night added, "we're trying to help you Mr. Jones. Believe me..."