He was restless as well. He hadn’t dared to contact Natalia or go anywhere near his home. He wasn’t so naive to think that only after a few days his house and his mate would no longer be closely monitored. So, he had waited.
Brian had done well. The scientists were seen at an airport coming back from a lovely month-long vacation in Tahiti. Brian had recorded his interview with the two of them and they had knowledge of Trevor and the lab and some project they had been working on, but the funding was cut and Trevor released them to go on a vacation. He had told Brian to keep a close eye on them in any case, just to make sure his implanted memories stuck.
He looked out of the office window over the Zoo and his pet wolves. They had all fallen under his sway. Even the one who had repelled him a few days ago was now a docile dog who obeyed his commands without question. They were all in the same pen now, lined up like cars in a parking lot, ready to obey him. Some other time that sight might have brought a smile to his face.
He couldn’t get the thought of that damned mountain out of his head. There had to be some reason why it was so important, why it had repeated itself over and over in the memories of that wolf.
He had heard people talk about it. His clubs were filled with people every night. When he would walk amongst the humans, he would pick out different conversations for fun. He could remember hearing once or twice about how Mount Shasta was a focal point for some Earth energy or other such nonsense. He had brushed off those two or three references as more drivel from morons and fools. Now, it looked like maybe there was something special about that place after all. Whatever it was, he was going to find out.
The phone rang.
Kenneth let it ring twice more before picking up the receiver. “Waste management services,” he said in a high friendly voice.
“It’s Mark,” came the reply from the other end.
Kenneth dropped his public service act and responded in his normal voice, “Tell me you have something, Mark.”
“No,” Mark sighed heavily as he answered, “No, I don’t have anything, or at least I didn’t as of a few minutes ago.”
“Don’t play games with me, Mark,” Kenneth replied dangerously.
“Listen, I don’t know what I have and I’m still not sure I believe I have what I have in front of me, as I’m looking at it.” Mark answered in a rush.
Kenneth pinched his sinuses at the apparent incompetence of this Police inspector. “Will you please start making sense; you’re giving me a headache.”
There was a brief pause then Mark continued, “Okay, so you set me to start looking at Mount Shasta. I don’t have any assets anywhere near that far north,” Mark replied. “So, I started calling around and I just so happened to remember one of my buddies who transferred to the CIA two or three years ago.”
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“Fascinating,” Kenneth replied dryly, seeing very little point in this conversation.
“Okay,” Mark continued unperturbed, ignoring Kenneth’s remark entirely, “So, I call him up and I tell him I have reason to believe that a fugitive wanted by Los Angeles County may have fled up north. That, and I have reason to believe that he may be somewhere near Mount Shasta. So, my buddy says let me see what I can do.”
“Is that it?” Kenneth asked quickly losing patience.
“No, yesterday he sends me a hard drive through express mail filled with satellite photos of Mount Shasta. I’m talking massive amounts of data, thousands of high-resolution pictures at different times during the day, I’m talking super high res that I can zoom all the way in to pick out shrubbery above the tree line on that mountain.”
“And the point is?” Kenneth asked.
“I have pictures in front of me of people with things that look like dogs walking on that mountain. It may be just people hiking, though.”
“Dogs?” Kenneth’s interest was suddenly piqued. “What time of day is it in these pictures?”
“All times of day, actually,” Mark replied. “I have seen one or two at dusk and that was a little suspicious, but then others are during midday. It could be nothing, Sir.”
“Mark?” Kenneth asked quietly, “Knowing what you know, knowing that these monsters are out there threatening our way of life and innocent people’s lives, being a man who has sworn an oath to serve and protect those who can’t protect themselves, having seen the darker side of human and animal behavior, you tell me, what does your gut tell you?”
There was a long pause from the phone line. Nothing moved in Kenneth’s office and no sound was heard from the phone except the almost inaudible breathing from the man on the other end. Kenneth didn’t move; he didn’t have to.
“That at least a few of these pictures show those bastard werewolves,” Mark said with venom in his voice.
“Why,” asked Kenneth. He had to be sure.
“I can believe some of these people are hikers,” Mark answered, “but the majority of them, especially those in the dusk photos, they don’t have back packs or any kind of anything that would lend itself to camping, or hiking in anyway.”
“Then it’s time for me to go up to see this mountain,” Kenneth said.
“Wait, what?” Mark asked suddenly. “What do you mean go up to see the place? What are you planning now?”
“I am planning on visiting this mountain with my dogs. With any luck we will be in touch and let you know what we find.”
“So that’s it then?” Mark asked, “I’m done?”
“Maybe, Mark. You’ve done well. If this place is what I hope it is, you may have finally provided the last needed piece to a puzzle that I have been trying to solve for a few decades now, you have my thanks.”
“You think this mountain is where they live, don’t you?” asked Mark quietly.
“Mark,” Kenneth replied simply, “You have proven yourself to be a worthy and trusted agent. Don’t make yourself a fool by being too curious about things you don’t need to know.”
“I understand, Sir.”
“Good,” Kenneth hung up the phone.
He pulled a prepaid cell phone from his pocket and dialed a number from memory, “Michael, my dogs and I need to travel for a few days. Make the arrangements and get me in touch with Brian, I need to speak to him.”
When he got an affirmative response, he hung up the phone. He stood up and looked at his pets. Yes, they would travel north. They would walk up and down that mountain for days, if necessary, till they found what they were looking for, if it was there to be found. CIA satellite photos were a good thing to place one’s trust in, better that than a blind bet. Still, wolves’ memories and satellite proof that at least people were walking around on the thing was good enough reason to follow up on.
The next night Kenneth and five of his pets were in the back of a trailer, being driven north toward the dormant volcano.