Dawn was breaking over the hills by the time Caesar got back to his mansion. Swiftly, he entered the kitchen, prepared a quick breakfast of croissants, omelet, steaks, freshly squeezed juice and coffee. He piled the food on a tray and took it up to Safiya. She was sitting on a dressing chair in front of a big mirror, brushing her hair. She turned around when she saw his reflection in the mirror. Her face lit up.
“You are back,” she said.
Caesar didn’t reply to her. He put the tray on a table and turned to her.
“Eat!” He said and moved towards the door.
“Caesar,” she called out.
He looked at her.
“What is it, Safiya?” there was an edge in his voice and it reached her where she sat. She made a face at him.
“You are so cold to me, Caesar. Why are you like this? You treat me as if I were your prisoner,” when he didn’t say anything, she why on. “Anyways, I just wanna say I'm sorry about the death of the Fur Elder. A know loosing a man like that must have cost this town pretty much. Please accept my condolences,”
Caesar stared at her, watching her face closely. He didn’t even believe all the words that came out from her mouth knowing how crafty she was. He believed she was up to something. But he didn’t know what it was.
“Is that all?” He asked her.
She giggled.
“That’s all darling or would you want anything else?” She crossed her legs, and recrossed it, and he caught a glimpse of her inner thighs. She wasn’t wearing any panties. She winked at him, a tight smile on her face. The message was clear.
Caesar gave her a scornful look and went out of the room. He heard her release an angry hiss as he shut the door quietly behind him. She walked into his office and sat down on a chair behind his desk. He took out a thick, Cuban cigar from a platinum case, lit it with a gas lighter and fed it into his mouth and lit up. He dragged smoke into his lungs and then released it, a thoughtful expression on his face.
He kept thinking of Selena and how she was related to the death of Lionel Williamson. He finds it hard to believe that Selena was stealing from the dead millionaire. The thought of the call he wanted to make to Ara came to his mind.
He took out his phone, scrolled through his contacts and dialed her number. After a moment, she picked the call.
“Hello Ara,” he said.
“Hey! How are you, Caesar? It’s nice to hear from you. This is a surprise call,” she sounded exhilArated.
“Yeah! Listen, Ara there’s something I gotta tell you,” Caesar said, wanting to get over with it as soon as possible.
At her end, Ara began to beef about how she had tried to call him in the past and how he had refused to pick her calls.
“I know, I know!” Caesar seethed out. “Will you listen? I gotta tell you something,” she went silent at once. “I’m sorry I had to tell you this Ara but you need to know,” he drew in a long, slow breath. “Your father is dead,” there was a long pause at the other end and it was so long Caesar thought she had fainted or something. Then he heard her voice.
“How did he die?” She finally said in a calm voice.
Knowing how jittery her nerves were, Caesar was surprised at the way she had replied to him.
“He was murdered; a werewolf killed him,” he heard her gasp and he cursed himself. But she had the right to know how her father had died. There was another long pause, then she said;
“Thank you, Caesar. Is that why you called?”
Caesar was totally stunned now and he found it difficult to reply to her with the right words. He drew in a sharp breath.
“Yeah, that’s why I called,” he answered thickly. “The remaining Fur Elders, including I, will take care of the funeral arrangements. You don’t have to worry about anything. We”ll handle this,”
“Alright, that’s fine! I really appreciate this Caesar. I really do.”
“I’ll update you about the funeral date,” he replied.
“That won’t be necessary, Caesar. I don’t think I will come. Say hi to Marianna for me,” and before he could say something, she ended the call.
Caesar stared at his cellphone, a shocked expression on his face. The whole conversation had been too fast and overwhelmingly absurd. Why would Ara refuse to come to her father’s burial? That’s so absurd! It didn’t even make any sense. A part of him wanted to call her back but he pushed the thoughts away from his mind. Well, if she was not going to come, the Fur Elders would take care of the whole thing. He brooded about Ara for some moments and because he had a trained mind, he quickly put the thought of her off his mind and called Hatton, reminding him of not letting Selena’s father be aware of what was going on with her and that he was expecting them. He ended the call and took out another fresh cigar but he didn’t light it. Then he rang for Dvorak Zimmerman.
Few moments later, Dvorak’s bulk frame appeared. Caesar waved him to a chair. He took out a cigar and offered it to Dvorak. The big man stared at it, hesitating. Caesar inclined his head. Dvorak smiled broadly and took it. They both lit up. Caesar looked at him thoughtfully.
“What I’m going to tell you just not to go any further,” he said, keeping his voice low.
Dvorak looked a little started, but he nodded.
“Sure, I don’t have any friends and I don’t talk,” he said. “You should know that,”
Caesar shifted his chair closer.
“I think I’m beginning to like you, Dvorak. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don’t think so. Though I don’t really know anything about you other than you saved my sister from that bastard Jack Axgorn, something tells me that you are a good man and I can rely on you. That’s why I’m taking this risk. And I want you to know something, I’m not telling you this because you are my right hand man or because I want us to be good pals, I’m telling you as the way I’ll tell my blood brother got it?” Dvorak head bobbled, he went on. “There’s a werewolf living with us in this house. Her name is Safiya and she’s in my room,”
Dvorak stared at him stupidly. He sat there, like a stone, staring hard at Caesar, only the smoke that wisp out of his mouth made him alive.
“She’s the Luna of Jack Axgorn.” Caesar continued in a quiet voice. “She’s been here for exactly two days now,”
“This is unthinkable,” Dvorak muttered finally, getting over his shock.
“Yeah, but the situation got out of my hand. I couldn’t help it,”
“But a werewolf?” Dvorak said, his eyes showing utter disbelief. “Isn’t that too much?”
Caesar shrugged.
“Well the situation couldn’t be help, I had to do what I had to do,”
“But how did she get here? How did she get inside your room? Dvorak jabbed the question at him.
Caesar laughed, amused.
“For Christ sakes, I should be asking you guys. You were supposed to be alert and watchful. I went into my room and I saw her lying like a cat on my bed. Not even the rigor of getting in their shoes I bet. She was as cool as cucumber,”
Dvorak thought about this for some moment.
“She must have slipped past us,” he offered. “That’s the only explanation. You know how those fucking psychos behave. They are damned elusive” and paused and went on. “Marianna knows about this?”
Caesar frowned, shaking his head.
“Just you and I, and I want it to stay that way,”
Dvorak digested this “Okay, she’s here, what do you wanna do about her?”
Caesar heaved heavily, then leaned forward.
“I don’t know for now, but time will tell.” Of course, he knew what he was going to do but it was unnecessary to tell Be about it. He went on “For the time being, I’m handling anything concerning Safiya. I don’t want Marianna to get a whiff of her. She’s nosy. You stay off the grounds and stay in the house. Marianna for no reason must not get into my room? Got it?”
Dvorak shook his head.
“I don’t know what to say about this, sir.” there was a kind of fear in his voice and Caesar sensed it.
“You don’t have to be worried, Dvorak. Safiya won’t cause anyone any trouble. I can assure you of that.”
“What about the WolfStoppers? the damned thing might go off if it senses the presence of a werewolf in here, you never can tell! What about Weston and Dutch? What if they get suspicious?”
Caesar shook his head “Problem with you is that you worry to much. Weston or Dutch won’t get suspicious once we don’t give them any reason to. That Wolf Stopper won’t be with you inside the house. Of Course, you will have some Fur Weapons with you; wolf guns with silver bullets, fighting knives laced with silver mercury and the rest of those things. That will come in handy for protection and safety. Other than that, you have absolutely nothing to worry about.”
Dvorak rolled this in his mind.
“Alright. I think I’m fine with this,”
Caesar relaxed in his chair.
“Also, I want to tell you that Selena Charlton is involved in the death of Lionel Williamson,” and he went on to fill him in about everything he had discussed with Hatton and Dean at the crime scene and what he intended to do.
“So you wanna bring her here?” Dvorak asked when Caesar finished talking.
Caesar inclined his head.
“Yeah, Hatton is bringing her here. We’ll put her in the cell behind the garage walls. In the past, my father used it for a man who committed a crime in the town.” Then his voice took a lower tone. “I saw him put a man there who was believed to be a werewolf. He tortured her for days till he finally got tired and killed the man. My father was a stoic werewolf hunter. Back in the days, the folks around here called him “point and kill”. You got a whiff of a werewolf, you point it to my father and he fixes it dead. It’s that simple. Anyways, that cell will do just fine for Selena” just then, Caesar 's phone begins to ring. He saw Hatton's name on the screen and picked it.
“Yeah?” He said and listened raptly as Hatton started to speak. Dvorak watched, his expressionless face closely. When he ended the call, he looked at Dvorak.
“The sheriff just told me now that there were two eyewitnesses; a couple who had seen the altercation between Selena and Lionel. They said Selena said something about Lionel being a rapist or something before leaving the store. According to them, there were signs all over her of her being in a fight. Hatton told me Dean and him are going over to her place to pick her up. They should be here anytime soon.” He paused and went on. “Well, if all these is true, then I guess Lionel’s got it coming. It’s selfish to say but it is what it is. But that man doesn’t deserve to die like that. By God, he doesn’t. He’s one of Fur Rivers finest. A good man. He and my dad go a long way back in the days. Whether or not Lionel is guilty, I will make sure I deal with anyone involved in his death.” He sneered.
“What do you want me to do?” Dvorak asked.
“You do nothing. Just clear up the cell, that’s all” then he gave a wicked smile. “We are bringing home a prisoner”
Dvorak nodded and got to his feet. He walked to the door and turned back as if he remembered something.
“Sir, I believe there’s something I ought to let you know,” the unsteadiness in his voice reached Caesar where he sat.
“Go on,” he said.
Dvorak nodded and swallowed hard. He dug into his cargo pants pocket and out a folded paper. He spread it out on the table.
Interestedly, Caesar leaned forward in his chair and stared at it. It was the “WANTED” poster of Victor.