Chapter 90

On the way back, I sat in the second seat and talked to Dani about her sister. Rene had recommended an attorney who'd practiced law for ninety years, licensed to practice in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. A wolf, obviously, who had to retire every so often and open a practice in another state, with the help of the Feds. He had the reputation as a cutthroat. His current practice was in Massachusetts, and it had been sixty years since he'd been in Connecticut, so any lawyers he'd worked for or against there were now dead and buried.

The lawyer and the PI were meeting this week so all of Eva's evidence could go to him and he could start the divorce paperwork, waiting until Eva was ready. Eva was meeting him next week on Wednesday, so he had time to go over all the evidence and develop the plan. That would be while she was on her way to Maine for her meeting with Dani. She'd gotten a snapshot of their financial for the attorney, and he would be looking for anything Eva might not know about. Eva had agreed to waiting until the divorce was started to get pregnant, and she'd stopped having sex with her husband, not that she wanted to anyway. Between his late nights "working, read fucking," and the occasional "headache, read 'no fucking way you're sticking your cock in me again, asshole'," sex with her husband was now off the table.

Eva still didn't know about the wolves, but I guess they could knock her up even if she only wanted a human child. She'd only get paid for puppies, though. I'd seen at least six dark skinned men/wolves so far, and knew there were others. Three of them had been in the strip show, plus Nat, though I didn't know any of the others more than having seen them. If she wanted a black child, I'm sure the wolves could give her one.

We were reaching the rest stop where we'd had the trouble before and I told Lisette to pull in.

"Why?"

"I want to see if we can capture a wolf."

"Jessica! We're not equipped for it. We don't have our guns."

"Not guns. You've got your silver knives, don't you? I've got mine if you don't. I don't want to capture him that way. I want to see if he'll come willingly. The silver is for if he's feral, but I'm hoping he's smart and reasonable."

"Okay. What do you have in mind?"

"Asking him to turn himself in, for a chance at leniency. No one's caught him by chasing him."

"I hope you know what you're doing," Tony said.

"Me, too."

Lisette pulled in and we went to the table where we'd picnicked before.

"Here's what I want you to do? I want you to shift in the woods there and call him to come in. Tell him he won't be hurt, and he'll be allowed to leave again if he doesn't want to turn himself in. Then come back and we'll wait and see what happens. We won't take longer than a half hour if he doesn't show."

I wanted Lisette to call for him as I thought he'd more readily come for a female than a male. The rest of us had a seat and waited. Lisette went into the surrounding woods, shifted to her wolf, ran out a half mile where the sound of a wolf howling wouldn't be quite as frightening. We heard her wolf howling in the distance, so it carried a long way. Five minutes after her calling, she was back, dressed, and I started a timer on my watch.

After twenty minutes, Tony said softly, "He's out there."

I raised my voice and said, "If you want to talk, now is the time. If you're hungry, we can feed you if you come with us."

We didn't hear or see anything for five more minutes. Finally, a voice in the bushes said, "I'm naked."

I went to the car and got the blanket we kept in the back. I brought it to Lisette and she carried it out into the woods and left it on the ground. She returned and three minutes after that, this skinny, dirty young man came out of the woods. He didn't get too close, remaining at least fifteen feet away.

"What's your name, puppy, and how old are you?" I asked.

"Matthew and I'm eleven."

Two years younger than Connor.

"How did you get into trouble with the pack?"

"I got a woman pregnant and told her about wolves without her signing the paperwork. I'm pretty sure she told her best friend."

"How old is the girl and her friend?"

"Eighteen."

"Still living at home?"

"Yes."

"Do you have any way of getting hold of the girl?"

"Not anymore. My phone died months ago."

"Where do they live?"

"Here in Portland."

"Have you seen or talked to her at all since you got booted from the pack?"

"A couple times, before my phone died."

"Does she have transportation?"

"Yes."

"Has she met you here before?"

"Once."

"I want you to call her. You can use my phone, but you have to put it on speaker so we can all hear you talk. Tell her it's you, and then give me the phone so I can talk to her."

I held my phone out to him. He didn't want to come close, but finally, he sighed and stepped close. He was surprised when no one grabbed him.

Before he took the phone, I asked, "How long since you had a decent meal?"

"Two weeks. I've gotten scraps here at the rest stop, caught a couple rabbits. Haven't gotten a deer since Quinn captured my friend. I need help running down a deer."

"If we can work something out, we'll feed you five burgers as raw as we can get them."

He took the phone and dialed the girl. "Jan, this is Matt. I borrowed a phone. Can you talk?"

"Great, I'm putting you on speaker. Someone wants to talk to you."

He pushed the speaker button and handed the phone back. I set it on the table and said, "Jan, my name is Jessica. I'd like to talk a bit. Are you alone at the moment?"

"I'm with a girlfriend."

"Are you on speaker now? Is she listening to this conversation?"

"She is."

"Take it off speaker for a moment. Tell me when you have."

"Okay. It's off speaker."

"Is this the same friend you told about werewolves?"

"Yes."

"What's her name?"

"Tanya."

"You can go ahead and put it back on speaker. I need to talk to both of you."

"Okay. It's done."

"Have either of you told anyone else about werewolves?"

"I told someone else, but she didn't believe me. Thought I was scamming her." Not Jan's voice, so Tanya I guessed.

"Has she told anyone else?"

"I don't know."

"Telling people about werewolves is a violation of federal law, punishable by prison, or worse."

"I didn't know," Tanya said.

"I realize you didn't know, but you did, and now we have to fix it."

"Can we fix it?"

"Possibly. It depends upon how widespread this information is now. You definitely can't tell anyone else, or you'll be in big trouble. Nothing I or anyone else can do to help you then. How old is the other girl you told, Tanya?"

"Nineteen."

"That's good. She's not a minor anymore. Are you keeping the baby, Jan?"

"Yes."

"Would you like some help with it?"

"You mean money?"

"Money, maybe medical expenses."

"Sure."

"Here's what you both need to do. Tanya, you need to get hold of this other person you blabbed to, find out if they've told anyone, boy or girl. Get anyone who's been told, all together and then you have to come to my house, sometime in the next few days."

"Are we going to be killed or captured?" Jan said.

"No, but we need to stop the rumor mill now, or you might be. You can tell someone where you're going and if you don't come home, whoever you told can call the police. But you have to come to Bath, and it needs to be soon. You all need to sign Non-disclosure agreements, so you quit blabbing about this to everyone. For any females, there might be some money you can claim, but you need to know what that's all about first. Don't tell anyone anything you don't have to, for them to come. Tell them you're going sightseeing at Orr and Bailey Island, or something similar, or that you want to check out a store, or you're checking out a job, but get them all there. If I don't hear from you in three days, FBI agents may be knocking on your doors. You didn't know how serious this is, but now you do."

"What's going to happen to Matt?" Jan asked.

"I don't know yet, but that might depend on you. Can you keep your mouths shut?"

They both answered yes. I gave them my address and told them to call within the next three days.

"Am I going to give birth to wolves?" Jan asked.

"Have you had an ultrasound?"

"Yes."

"What did the doctor say?"

"That I was having a boy."

"There you go. You're having a boy. We can discuss that as well. Please call me. It's very important to your future freedom."

"Okay."

"You can talk to Matt later, perhaps when you come visit. Goodbye. I'm hanging up now." Which I did. I turned to Matt.

"Matt, you now have a choice to make. You can remain out here, starving to death, alone, until Quinn eventually captures you, which he likely will, or surrender yourself, get fed, shower, and wait at my house until Quinn comes to collect you. It's unlikely you'll be killed, though it's possible you'll be penned for a while, as we try to fix the mistakes you made. Maybe see Jan again. What's the deal with you two."

"We're in love. I wanted to mate with her. It's why I showed her my wolf."

"So what's your decision. Are you going back in the woods, or will you take your chances with us?"

"I'll go with you."

"Good puppy. Go back in the woods, shift to a wolf and then get in the back of the SUV. We'll buy you a few clothes at a WalMart or Target in Brunswick, but you'll stay a wolf until you enter my home. Any questions?"

"When can I get fed?"

"The first Mcdonald we get to, probably in Brunswick. There's not much on this road until we get there."