Chapter 49

When the news of the demise of Luke Thompson and Rev. Timothy Pearson hit the papers two days later, Barry could not hide his shock when he read the blatant lies printed on the pages. It was reported that the aged scientist was as usual carrying out some research into the possibility of crossbreeding wild dogs such as wolves and jackals to create a new hybrid of these animals and create a new species, when he was attacked and bitten to death by his test subjects. According to the report, a lab assistant had failed to properly lock the cages where the animals were been kept, leading them to break free from their cells and attack Mr. Thompson.

In the same vein, it was reported that Rev. Timothy Pearson had gone on a lone fishing trip to Ballaine Lake in Olnes, as he was known to do quarterly, when he was found by early morning hikers, shot to death. The police ruled it as a possible robbery attack gone wrong, but investigations were still ongoing.

Barry didn’t know the deal with the dead reverend, but he had a gut feeling that it may be connected to his father’s death. The CIA had obviously doctored the report and tied everything with a neat bow—there was no mention of werewolves or dead guards anywhere in the papers. It was as if his father’s quest to create an army of werewolves for the U.S. military did not happen at all. No one would even believe him if he ever said such a thing had been happening. People would think he was crazy, just as he had thought that his father was crazy.

He didn’t know if he would still hear from the anonymous donor, or if all his wealth would disappear into thin air overnight, seeing that his dad did not finish the project that his friends in government had been paying him heavily for. Barry wondered if these faceless people would eventually come after him—did they know how much he knew about his father’s project? Would they see him as a threat? Would they kill him too and feed the press false news about his death as they had done with his father?

Fear made Barry’s mind work fast. He rushed into his room and began to pack a bag for an impromptu trip. He didn’t even know where he would go to yet, but he knew that he needed to leave the U.S. immediately and hope that the CIA hadn’t flagged his passport. He could hop on a train and go to Canada first, then carefully plan his next destination. He didn’t want to leave anything to chance—he knew too much about his father’s project for the government people not to view him as a person of interest.

He wished he could call Aubrey and apologize to her for the role he played in involving her in something as messy as the whole werewolf thing. But then again, he should probably stay away from her because what business did he have with a real-life werewolf? He hadn’t even fully recovered from knowing that such creatures actually did exist in the human world.

“This world is a crazy place,” he said to himself aloud and snapped his suitcase shut. It was time for him to run away for a long, long time.