Part Fifty

I mounted the small wireless camera in a tree on the side of their yard that had a view of the front door and logged into it via my phone. I walked back towards the dock and then followed the scents of baked goods until I reached the diner.

I took a table in the back and ordered coffee as I watched the feed on my phone. Two cups of coffee later I watched as Chester kissed his wife goodbye and climbed in his car. She was still in pajamas and I hoped that she didn’t stay in the house all day.

I ordered breakfast and twenty minutes later his wife, Leila, closed the front door behind her and walked towards the garage. It opened and her car reversed out as she drove down the street. I had placed two tracking devices on the cars in the garage and I could see that Chester was headed to the Council Building in the city.

Leila’s car stopped in front of the spa and I quickly paid my bill and walked back over to their house. The streets were quiet and I slipped back into the foliage that run the length of their property on the side closest to the warehouse building across from the docks.

I watched the house for a few minutes and then made my way to the back yard and the kitchen door. Those were always the easiest locks to pick and sometimes, just sometimes, people didn’t lock them at all.

I was about to step out of the foliage when another woman opened the kitchen door wearing a uniform. ‘Shit,’ I thought, that was close. She carried the washing bin to a small building across from the house and I could hear her mutter as she loaded the machine.

I ported back to the house and appeared in the computer room. I opened the link on another computer and set the program to record. I would download the tracker information later tonight and check their routine. I didn’t need to physically watch the house every day to get an idea of their comings and goings.

I spent about two hours in the computer room before going to my office where I found Jett lounging on the couch with his eyes closed. I kicked his leg as he leapt upright and then groaned when he saw me. I poured myself a drink as I watched him get comfortable again.

“Don’t you have work to do?” I asked him.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in New York?” he asked me.

“I finished early, I’ll do the rest over the phone,” I said.

“What legislative bullshit does the Council want to come up with now?” he asked me.

“It’s just talks at this point, nothing I can disclose right now,” I said to him and he cocked an eyebrow at me.

“Seriously? We’ve never had secrets before,” he said.

“Non-disclosure Jett, I’ll tell you when it’s all done,” I said to him.

“I never knew you liked unicorns and shit,” he said.

“What?”

“Sierra’s colour scheme is all glitter and unicorns for the ceremony,” he said as I jumped out of my chair.

I rushed down the stairs and into the foyer where Sierra stood with the coordinator and I heard the word glitter. My mind went blank when I realized that I told her she could do whatever she wanted, but glitter and unicorns?

“Hey, I thought you were stuck in meetings all day,” Sierra said as she heard my footsteps.

“I finished early,” I said as she reached for my hand.

“Sorry, Patty this is Griffin, we were just finishing up,” Sierra introduced us.

“Nice to meet you Alpha Griffin,” she said and lowered her head respectfully.

She left abruptly after that introduction and Sierra turned towards me with a questioning look on her face. She had a small notebook tucked in her other hand and on impulse I tried to take it but she slapped my hand away.

“What colours did you pick for the ceremony?” I asked her.

“Why?”

“Just curious, because glitter and unicorns don’t really represent this clowder,” I said to her.

“I see and what colours would represent it best?” she asked.

“Black,” I said.

“I thought you said I could do whatever I wanted,” she said a small smile on her lips.

“I did, but glitter and unicorns?”

“Why would I ever choose glitter? And where the hell did you get the idea of unicorns in your head?” she asked me.

“Jett said….” I began to say and faltered as she started to laugh.

“Right,” she said and turned away from me shaking her head.

“So you didn’t choose glitter?” I asked following her.

“I hate glitter Griff,” she said over her shoulder.

“I’m going to beat his ass,” I said.

“Who’s ass?” Jett asked suddenly behind me.

“Yours!” I said and smacked him behind his head.

For the rest of that week I watched the computer programs and I sorted out Chester and Leila’s routine. She spent most of her time either at the spa, the gym, shopping or lunching with other women where she drank copious amounts of wine and slept it off until Chester came home at seven pm.

The cleaning company dropped off a cleaner three times a week, so I planned to break into their house on the following Tuesday. I had my phone set up so that it automatically downloaded the pictures I took to my computer so that by the time I got back I wouldn’t still have to download them.

On Tuesday morning I had breakfast with everyone and then made up an excuse that I needed to leave. Sierra wasn’t very happy with me because I hadn’t helped her with the ceremony at all. I had been so preoccupied that when she asked if she could serve raw pork I had just said yes.

I waited until I saw Leila’s car park in front of the spa and I ported back to the parking lot adjacent to their house. I removed the two cameras I had hidden and made my way through the foliage to the back yard and crept to the kitchen door.

Picking the lock took a mere six seconds and I was inside. The house was quiet and I made my way towards the study and took the big painting off the wall and smiled when I saw the safe that had been hidden behind it.

I attached the codebreaker and waited for the safe to click open. I found the agreement document after rummaging for a few minutes and started taking photos of every page. Attached to the agreement was an annexure of Damon’s execution with hand written notes on the back.

I put everything back exactly as I found it and closed the safe. I closed the kitchen door just as the front door opened and I cursed myself internally for not watching the tracker unit on my phone. I headed straight for the computer room when I ported back to Newport and sat down in the chair, ready to find answers.

‘The agreement forthwith will be between Alpha Damon Woods, Enforcer clowder, and Council Members McClaren, Jameson and Greene. Alpha Damon Woods testifies that no claim was lodged with the Council due to unforeseen circumstances. He further states that he as Alpha takes full responsibility with the waged war against the Hastings pack for the abduction and subsequent torture of Sierra Peyton, the fated bonded half of future Alpha Griffin Woods.

Attached is a copy of Sierra Peyton’s injuries and a medical certificate from the clowder doctor describing her condition in detail. Unfortunately Ms. Peyton cannot remember the events that led to her kidnapping although other statements were received from Enforcers that they felt the fear through Griffin Woods and knew that their future Lady was in grave danger.

This Council has taken the authority without the aid of the courts to pull the memories from Alpha Woods by Oracle Justine. There have been subsequent complaints against Alpha Conrad Hastings for abuse and mismanagement of his pack and after reviewing the court transcripts of Ms. Peyton’s murder charge we have decided that after the memory extraction proves sufficient no further punishment will be doled out.’

My hands were lightly shaking as I read the final outcome of that meeting Damon had set up. He did exactly what I had planned to do. I had the same agreement with Chester, that I would offer up my memories of those events and that they would prove to be sufficient.

‘The memory extraction was successful and proves to be sufficient evidence into what happened at the Hastings pack house. Council members Chester Greenfield and Louis Johnson were also present for this. Alpha Woods was left in the infirmary to recover while we reviewed all the information and came to the decision that the case will be closed.

Three hours later the body of Alpha Damon Woods was discovered with his heart ripped out while still in an unconscious state. The video footage of the recovery room have disappeared and we unanimously decided to report his murder as an execution for the unlawful killings of the Hastings pack.’

They had no idea who killed my father and then they covered it up. They had almost gotten away with it too and now I had the proof. I couldn’t have them arrested because I hadn’t obtained these documents legally and I had no just cause to apply for a search warrant.

“Fuck!” I said out loud and Kane raised his head.

“You know what I think,” he said and lowered his head to his paws again.

“This time I agree with you,” I said as I looked at the names responsible for his murder.

“Who would want him dead though?” Kane asked me.

“I don’t know but I’m going to find out,” I said to him.

I looked through everything again and wrote the times down that Damon had been interrogated, his time in the extraction room and then the time he went into the recovery room. I compiled a list of everybody in the Council building during those times by pulling the sign in logs of their ID cards.

I narrowed the list down by eliminating the ones that didn’t have access to those areas. The list wasn’t that long and the only names that were added to my kill list were the ones of the receptionist, the Oracle and the nurse.

Justine Lange – Oracle

Denise Hall – Receptionist

Kylie Pheiffer – Nurse

Kevin McClaren – Council Member

Grant Greene – Council Member

Phil Jameson – Council Member

Chester Greenfield – Council Member

Louis Johnson – Council Member

I began running searches into their background, their addresses, working hours, second homes, anything I could find that would allow me insight to the names on my list. I would kill them all if I had to but somehow I doubted that any of them had killed Damon.

The nurse had been the last person to see Damon alive and I was going to start with her. All employees of the Council were trained to resist interrogation, but I would make her talk. I could make anybody talk, no matter how far I had to go.