Part Ninety-Three

Malachi sat in silence for a while. He got up and went to his study. He came back with a list and gave it to James.

“Phone John and ask him to go through Marrick’s financial records. I will speak to Richard to get us Marrick’s phone records and so on. We have to find out who did this and why!” Malachi said. On the list he had written down John’s phone number and the instructions for James.

“Karani, speak to any mutual friends you and Susan had. Find out if there were any marital problems or concerns that could have led to this,” Malachi asked and Karani got up with her phone to arrange lunch dates with the friends.

“Kiran, you need to go find Jackson’s friends. They will know who you are, Jackson liked to boast about you. Find out if they know anything. Kids talk more openly than their parents. They are more honest with their friends,” Malachi said and I nodded.

“Adara, you can join Karani and take note of how she handles the humans,” Malachi said. He must have known that she would eventually ask what she could do to help.

“Also, Kiran, phone Travis and find out if Marrick spoke to him at all. Perhaps he mentioned something worthwhile,” Malachi concluded.

Everyone left to complete their tasks and Malachi kicked the couch in frustration. It skidded over the tiles and through the sliding door onto the patio.

I left Malachi and drove to Seward Middle School and waited for the bell to ring. It was wise to let Malachi be when he was angry, he would brood and work through it by himself. While I waited, I decided to call Travis. His phone rang twice, and he answered.

“Kiran, it’s nice to hear from you. I wished it were under different circumstances though. Your timing is impeccable. My patient just left. I assume you’re calling about Marrick. We do talk, you know,” Travis said to me.

“Hi Travis. Yes, I am. Do you have anything for Malachi?” I asked him.

“Sadly, I don’t. Marrick was himself these last few weeks. Nothing’s jumping out at me. He didn’t complain, in fact, he was excited about their upcoming holiday. I guess that’s why it took so long for them to be found. They were going to visit Susan’s parents in Florida,” Travis informed me.

“Thanks Travis, if you do think of anything, please call Malachi,” I said. We exchanged some other pleasantries before ending the call. The bell rang and I saw kids rushing out of the school doors.

I got out of my car and waited. At Jackson’s last birthday I had met some of his school friends. I saw Finch walking alone, his head bowed. Sadness was radiating from him. I walked up to him from behind.

“Hey Finch,” I said and he jumped at the sound of my voice.

“Hey Kiran,” he replied when he saw me. We stopped walking and he looked up at me. “Is it really true? Is Jackson dead?” he asked me sadly.

“Yes, Finch, it’s true. I wanted to ask you about Jackson,” I said as tears welled up in his eyes.

“Did Jackson talk about anything that was bothering him or his parents?” I asked gently.

“No, everything was fine. The last time I spoke to Jackson was that Friday afternoon before his mom picked him up. He was excited about going to Florida and missing school,” Finch said to me.

“I’m sorry buddy, Jackson was a great kid,” I said and put my hand on his shoulder. I took some of his sorrow, not all of it, he still needed to grieve for his friend. He was human and we couldn’t interfere too much with the natural order of things.

“I’ll never forget him. I’m sorry I couldn’t help you,” Finch said and I smiled at him.

“You did great, Finch. Jackson was lucky to have you as a friend,” he smiled back at me and then continued to walk on. I watched him until he rounded the corner and then went back to the Jeep. I drove home replaying the conversations in my head. I had come up empty with Travis and Finch. I hoped that someone else had better luck than me.

I got home and heard a crash in Malachi’s office. I rushed to his study. Malachi was furious and the contents of his desktop was on the floor. The whole study was in disarray. He was pacing up and down as I looked at him. The rage filling him was so intense that I truly feared my father for the first time in my life. He turned around and saw me, then shame filled his eyes.

“Kiran, I didn’t know you had returned,” Malachi said as he started picking papers up from the floor. He placed them on the table, and I bent down to help him.

“You don’t have to do that,” Malachi said softly.

I sensed fear in him, and I looked up at him. He was frowning, worried and angry.

“Dad, what’s going on? I’ve never seen you like this,” I said to him worriedly.

He sat down and sighed. He turned his laptop to me and pressed play on the video that appeared in today’s online newspaper.

I watched the video in silence. It showed the wolf fight in the forest at the clearing. Our confrontation with Ramos. I saw again how I just went for him when Malachi and the others had shown up. The video blurred at the part where Ramos turned human with his two friends. The next slide was a photo of three naked men bowing down to the wolves. It stopped abruptly and the screen returned to the face of the local news anchor.

“There you have it ladies and gentlemen, we’re not sure yet what had transpired in the woods that day, but first you can see eleven wolves, then two are dead. Later after the blur stops, you see three men and only four wolves. The witness claims that the wolves turned into men and he’s currently receiving psychiatric help at the hospital. This certainly has us confused. Coming to you from Seward, Alaska!” the video ended and I had my hands in my hair.

“This is messed up. Dad, what the hell…” now I understood his rage and frustration after looking at this video.

“I thought that guy was with Ramos,” I said and Malachi nodded.

“So did I, Kiran. This is not your fault. I should have known better,” Malachi said to me. This could have serious implications for us, not only were we spotted in our wolf forms, but Ramos had also changed to human and now it was out there for the world to see.

I helped Malachi straighten his office as the rest would return shortly with their findings on Marrick Goldman. We would know soon enough just how much trouble we were in.

Karani and Adara also came back with no news. Everything seemed fine, they were excited to go to Florida, no problems that they knew of. Unless John or Richard came up with something, we had nothing. It would probably be a few days until either of them could give us feedback and there was nothing more that we could do.