Restoring the Order

Chapter 5

"Sir, may I come in, I need an urgent word with you"? He peeks his head around the open door.

"Rollo, I was just about to call you, we have a situation?" Oh no, what now, not more situations. He closes the door behind him and takes a seat in front of the Sergeant.

"What is the situation, sir?" He runs his hand through his hair and looks at Cavanaugh.

"You need to go to Seth Montgomery’s house, now." Rollo stiffens, how did he know?

“Sir, how did you know that the latest victim is Seth’s daughter? That was what I came here to tell you”. Cavanaugh is clearly shocked.

“Well, Seth got a package… a gruesome package” Sergeant Cavanaugh says with a somber expression.

“Let me guess, her heart was in the package” Rollo says as a matter of fact.

Bill Cavanaugh looks at Rollo in utter shock and horror. “How do you know that?” He suddenly narrows his eyes suspiciously.

“Because, yesterday at the scene the coroner said her heart is missing, and I was wondering what the hell the killer wanted her heart for. Now I know! There is something else…there is a rogue werewolf on a killing spree." he looks at Cavanaugh to see if there is any reaction.

His face turns red. "Do you want to tell me that your kind is killing us?!" That was close to a shout. Rollo can feel the anger rise in him; he should not blame his 'kind'. He gets up and glares at Cavanaugh. What an ass, I will show him what our kind is capable of. Odin growls. Rollo ignores his wolf and glare at Bill.

"No Sir, not our kind, one rogue individual!" He is clenching his jaw and saying the words through gritted teeth.

"I am sorry Rollo; I didn't mean to lose it, but it is a situation indeed. That is why there are rules and councils to protect each other." He says trying to calm down. The last thing he wants is for a werewolf to lose his temper in his office. That will not end well.

His apology doesn’t sound sincere, and the anger is still heavy in his voice. Rollo closes his eyes and tries to think of a better way to say what he needs to say next. "The worst part is..." he takes a deep breath “I believe he killed our latest victim”. Cavanaugh literally exploded.

“What the hell are you telling me Black? You want me to believe that your kind is not killing us, but just look at this. Judge Seth Montgomery’s daughter! This is war! If you werewolves want a war, you will get one!” He is fuming. But so is Rollo, he is accusing ‘his kind’ of murder.

There it is again - your kind! Odin fights to get out.

It is not ‘his kind’ it is one rogue bastard that is responsible for all the chaos. “Bill could you just please calm the hell DOWN!” Rollo was growling at him now. “The human council and humans were not the only ones affected and killed!” Now there is basically a shouting contest going on, and neither of them cared who heard. “He is killing humans, vampires and werewolves. He killed a member of the Vampire council as well, now the vampires are all freaked out and want to kill us, as well. Bill, you know as well as the vampires that the werewolves will win any war. So, calm down, let us discuss this.” He lowered his voice and started to breathe normally again. He can see Cavanaugh also calming down somewhat.

“We need to stand together, to win this and catch the maniac. I don’t know what he is playing at, but I can assure you it is not good. It seems to me that he is trying to start a war, but I do not know why. I managed to find out that he has a very old dark witch on his side, she helps him with a lot of his crimes. We cannot seem to track him as he disappears, and I have a feeling it is something to do with the witch’s spells". Rollo keeps the part to himself where Dameon escaped the previous night because he was distracted with Violet.

"I need an audience with the human council, I will also try to meet with the Vampires. Like I said, we need to stand together." Rollo says looking Bill straight in the eye.

"Do you honestly think that I believe you, that one rogue werewolf is responsible for all this chaos." Cavanaugh spat the words at Rollo, he is still red in the face and fuming. He clenches his jaw and glares at Rollo. He can feel his anger flaring up again.

"No, not only one individual, a whole rogue pack of misfits. They are probably his eyes and ears and spy on everyone to get the timing right. Bill! Do not piss me off, you will regret it!" He could not contain his anger, he had to fight his wolf to stay calm. “If you want this to go to war, because you do not trust me. Then so be it, but remember one thing, you humans have no fighting chance against werewolves. These are a bunch of ruthless rogues. I will not be able to help you against them if you do not trust me.” Rollo presses his index finger into Bill’s chest.

"Is that a threat Black?!" Cavanaugh raises his voice again and glares at Rollo.

"Well, I guess it is, if you want to see it that way and don’t want to help me, then I guess it is a threat. They are sizing each other up. Bill is a tall man, a little overweight and starting to go bald. He will be no match for Rollo, and he knows that. As if someone threw a bucket of cold water on him, he suddenly snaps out of it and sits down.

"Alright, alright let's not get ahead of ourselves. I realize that I overreacted, and I know you are the right person for this job. I trust you, Rollo." He says looking down at his hands.

What the hell just happened, where did that come from all of a sudden.

After everything that was said and done. It is the only way, and Cavanaugh knows that.

Rollo left Cavanaugh’s office still fuming. How dare he accuse all werewolves of being ruthless killers. There is a code and rules to keep everyone from killing each other and to live in harmony. A multispecies co- existence if you will. He turns in the direction of the morgue. He needs to check a few things out. Ashley said they found wolf hair and skin under her fingernails. He wonders if Dameon did that on purpose to let her scratch him.

Pushing open the swivel door to the morgue, Rollo is greeted with a friendly smile from Ashley. “Oh boy, you look worse than you sounded over the phone earlier. Who ate your porridge this morning?” He is in no mood for her jokes today. Rollo just gives her a halfhearted smile that does not reach his eyes.

“Hi Ash, you said you found wolf hair and skin under the victim’s nails. Can I perhaps see it?” He asks in a professional tone.

“Okay, not in the mood to talk then. Let me get the sample for you”. She says turning around and reaching for a petri dish that contains the sample. Rollo puts the sample under the magnifying glass and looks at it intensely. Ashley is raising her eyebrows; he knows that she thinks he does not have a clue. But he can smell Dameon and he can see the unique werewolf cells that she cannot see. This is definitely his handy work.

“Can I have a look at the body please?” He asks.

She looks at him with amusement. “Tell me, detective, what did you see just now?” Her mocking tone makes his head snap at her.

“More than you think” he said through a clenched jaw. Her eyes go wide in shock.

“Okay, I did not mean anything by it, sorry. Jeez, what is it with you today?” She walks over to the body, without waiting for an answer from him.

“I am sorry Ash; I just had a really rough day today. Maybe I will tell you all about it someday” she heard the sincerity in his voice and turned to him with a smile.

“It’s okay, I understand, this is a high-profile case, her being Judge Montgomery’s daughter and all” she lifts the sheet from the victim and gestures for Rollo to have a look. He took his time investigating the body. There were similar scratches and bite marks on both sides of her body. He can smell Darius on one side and Dameon on the other.

They definitely both attacked her simultaneously. Most of the injuries were made post-mortem. Death was instant, the rest was just them sending a message and being unnecessarily brutal. He looked at the place where her heart used to be, they really did a number on her. So much anger and brutality in the attack. It seems that the cause of death was massive blood loss due to a severed carotid artery. She would have died in seconds. Rollo clears his throat “uhm what is cause of death?” he asks, pretending he did not figure it out. But to make sure he wants her to confirm it.

“It seems that the carotid artery was severed during the attack. That would have caused her to bleed out in seconds. The wound looks like it was caused by a wolf’s canines”. She responds with a frown. He knows that she is right, but he cannot answer on that, so he just nods. At least they were on the same page with cause of death. Although that is as far as it goes. He cannot share any more information with her, so he turns and walks away.