Morning...late morning - It was already Thursday - not that it mattered...

Each slow thought faded into the next one. Kim was alone - well it was almost 11:00. She snuggled down in the sheets and listened to the water lapping the sides of the sailboat. David's sailboat. He had been gentle, but irresistible, making love forcefully, but carefully. He was such a huge man, and stronger than anyone Kim had ever met. His overwhelming vitality had left her feeling exhausted - and sore all over, but she had never been so completely satisfied. She felt hollow and unnaturally light as her mind slowly adjusted to the throbbing daylight in the cabin.

Kim remembered him telling her he was going in to his office - something - whatever, but she was still disappointed to discover he was gone. She eventually got up and wandered into his shower. She raided the small fridge, dressed, and left him a note with her cell number. It seemed wrong to leave, but she walked down the pier to where the club was already visible. Her car was one of only a few left in the lot, and by the time she got in, she began to wonder if it had all been some dream...

- - - -

Jennifer Greene was not only a fine forensics officer, she was also the wife of the head of homicide investigation for the state. She knew Neal Tanner through Bill Sperry and had met him on several other cases. Neal had been picked for the press release for the werewolf murders and was late for a lunch meeting.

Seattle Times, Sunday, March 25

Thirtythree college students from WA State killed Friday night in a brutal massacre on Mt Logan in N Cascades National Park. In what police are calling a probable instance of organized crime, a deep woods resort was broken into and the students slaughtered. In a bizarre twist, it appears that trained wolves, or possibly attack dogs were used in the assault. Names and full details are being withheld pending notification of kin and police investigation.

Neal Tanner

Seattle Times, Thursday, March 29

A security guard for Parker & Cisco and two police officers were attacked and killed around midnight Wednesday morning by a man dressed in a werewolf costume. The building was broken into and one office was robbed, but officials for Parker & Cisco declined to comment on the nature of the theft. It is thought by police that this murder/robbery is directly linked to the wolf attack massacre three days earlier. Names and full details are being withheld pending notification of kin and police investigation.

Neal Tanner

Jennifer looked up see Neal coming in the door. Neal got the press and the cooperation not only because of Lt. Sperry, but also because he could minimize reporting on important crime issues still under investigation. When she thought of the sensationalism that could have exploded over these two stories and the damage it could have done to the investigation... well, she didn't mind buying the guy lunch or talking openly with him about the case.

"Jennifer, good to see you, sorry I'm late, Hey, how's Steve? Did you order?, I'm famished. Bill said you were the only one who knew anything about the case - what's he hinting at?"

"yeah, good to see you too, Neal..." (laughter) "If you like Thai, they make a great Red Curry, if you don't like Thai, try the drunken noodle."

Jennifer waited until they had ordered, and told Neal to start his tape.

"What you don't know, is that the massacre was the third attack we know about. The first was a family of four killed just this side of Spokane, and the crime scene is almost identical to the massacre - the woman tied, raped, and left a short distance away, the father completely torn apart and mostly eaten, and two boys both with extensive mauling and a lot of missing flesh. There was wolf tracks everywhere, and the exact same big werewolf prints from the cabin in the Cascades. Umt - No questions yet!

The Second attack was in Van Couver, and was completely different. A Chinese family of twelve, including 4 men, 3 women and 4 children were attacked while their boat was attached to a pier. There was no rape, and no evidence of wolves, but the same violent destruction of all the victims. One man was absolutely torn apart and mostly eaten - the rest were just killed. There was a survivor - a kid, didn't speak English, but he basically swears a big black werewolf did it, and not only that, but they brought him in today and he absolutely freaked when they showed him the tape from Parker & Cisco - absolutely the same bloody werewolf. You knew about the tape?"

"Didn't see it, but yeah - Steve told me you had it..."

"Well the boy reacted so bad they're keeping him here till tomorrow, anyway - here's the interesting part - this is what Sperry wanted you to get from me. First, we're looking at two different types of kills - the secondary kills are, except for the situation, normal wolf kills. These are not dogs of any kind or anything short of our own local breed of wolf, the only thing special about them is that they are pulling down humans. Oh, and they seem to be eating a normal amount by what our wolf guy told us, so they look like trained wolves controlled by our freak."

"Now - the primary kills; Imagine a real werewolf. I've got bite and claw marks that a kodiak bear would make, crush and impact marks like somebody was using brass knuckles and weighted club and some body-rending that would take a kodiak with opposable thumbs - I'm thinking a gorilla could do it - not a man, no way."

"Ok - whoa, I'm trying to keep up here, what about Parker & Cisco? Couldn't they tell anything from the video tape?"

"Um... no, not really - looked like it would have to be a man though, well over 6 foot, oh, and with lots of teeth and hair - but again, the damage done to the security guard and those two cops was extreme, way more than anything someone in a werewolf suit could have done."

"Ok, ...so your take on all this?"

"Alright Neal, here it is. I'm not trying to play cop and not trying to solve the case, I'm just looking at the corpses. So on my evidence - maybe it's a real werewolf."

- - - -

[Thursday Evening]

It wasn't until almost six that Neal finally got home. He had gone from his lunch with Jennifer to the local branch of the library - where he had been inadequately supplied with books about werewolf legends and Hollywood werewolves, and a more satisfying trio of books about wolves. His thoughts switched tracks entirely as he drove onto his block and could see Kim's VW in front of the house. The girl was more stress already than he'd been prepared for, but now they only had a few more days and she'd go back to her mom in Dallas. Her mom...wasn't going to know that Kim hadn't come home last night - forget that - not unless Kim brought it up!

Kim was in sweats and no makeup, curled up with a book in the living room. As he was putting his stuff on the couch, she got up and gave him his hug, as if she was still a twelve year old.

"Hi, Daddy! Wow - wolves and werewolves? Helping Bill with his werewolf case? I don't think you'll find many clues in those - Hey! I read that one, it's good, you should read that first."

"I expected you home last night, Kim - and don't 'hi-Daddy' me like it's no big deal, I had thought you were engaged to a certain young man in Dallas - remember Dallas? Randy?"

"Well, I'm not engaged ok? But we do need to talk - I should have talked to you before, but I was too upset. Is now a good time? Let me fix you a glass of tea.

Randy and I did break up, and there's no chance of us getting back together. But, we had all the same friends and all the same classes, and I don't get along with Mom at all right now. She thinks I should make up with him - she has no clue. Dad, don't tell Mom, well nevermind, it's just worse than I want to talk to Mom about.

Anyway - I wanted to stay here a little longer than Spring Break - I figured you wouldn't mind? Yes? I can get a job somewhere, or... I've already withdrawn from UTA and talked to WASU about next semester...? Say, 'Ok' Daddy."

"Does your mother know about your plan to drop a semester and move 2,000 miles away?"

"Yeah, but I told her to let me talk to you about it first."

"Ok, honey, and stay in school. Don't worry about working this semester, just go back in the fall. So - what does a father do? Do I ask about last night?'

"umm - I don't think I've got a good handle on my emotions right now - don't get me wrong, but David - is - different;"

"David?"

"He's older - thirty something? ... he's rich (or at least very well off) ... European ... he's a giant - built like a pro football player ... and he's - surprisingly - umm - captivating.

I don't know about David right now, but - he's not just somebody I met, or just someone I slept with. I'm not letting go of him just because I just broke up. You know I need some time, we'll take it slow... but - well, maybe I am too vulnerable right now - but that can't be a factor with David, anyone else it would be, but he's a keeper, Dad, and ... I'm gonna hold on as long as I can."

Neal took a long, careful sip of tea and let the conversation slip into a holding pattern... he stared at the books about wolves and werewolves, and felt too tired to think about anything. Bill was coming for a late dinner to talk about the case and even as he thought about calling and canceling he knew he couldn't.

- - - -

Dinner conversation had consisted of meaningless chatter and small talk, but after the table was cleared Bill suddenly plunged into the current aspects of investigation.

The biggest breakthrough had been the Parker & Cisco incident. First, they had film showing the "werewolf", with their only living witness absolutely confirming the identity, this gave the police a positive height/weight range. then they had found a complete footprint, an exact match and the only common evidence from all the attacks.

Another breakthrough was that they had captured and positively identified six wolves as the ones who had killed the college students. The wolves had been studied by an expert and conclusively proven to be abnormal maneaters. In fact, they had demonstrated a singular hostility to everyone who came near them. The wolves were being held for further study, but had their destruction scheduled, the standing conclusion being that the wolves had been trained to attack humans on sight.

What was currently involving Bill the most was their young witness. He was only eight years old, spoke only Chinese, and was Canadian, not only this, but he was hospitalized locally after his reaction to the Parker & Cisco film clip. He had had a panic episode followed by a complete breakdown, Bill had not been able to talk to the boy since, but felt like the boy had more to tell...

"I spent about two hours with the boy's uncle, a Mr. Le, but his English is terrible, he seems convinced that the mother and father of the boy had gotten on the wrong side of some kind of Chinese Mafia. He also seemed to convinced I was talking about a ghost instead of a werewolf, I really don't think he understood me.

Did Jennifer tell you her theory?"

Neal thought of Jennifer's agitation and realized there was something she hadn't told him. He wondered what else she hadn't said; "Yeah, she said it was a real werewolf - or lowland gorilla in a werewolf suit. I've been thinking about the descriptions of the damage she gave me, and I've got a little bit better theory, but it's got a hole in it."

Bill waited for his friend while he took a pull at his beer and settled back in his chair before starting.

"I think we've got to admit that wolves killed a lot of the college kids and the family outside Spokane, I think the animal people with the wolves are right about them being conditioned to attack on sight, that way they could simply be brought in by our werewolf guy, and - from what I understand, the wolves we have may be the only ones.

I think we've all been thinking about some martial arts psycho in a werewolf suit, probably integrating some degree of body armor and involving some kind of drug use by the attacker. But Jennifer said something about brass knuckles that's rattled around in my head all day.

Think about the old Japanese Samurai. Some demonic face mask was always part of their armor. Take it a step further, what if someone wanted to make a werewolf suit, to scare people, and made it with integrated body armor - and go me one more - let's say the werewolf's hands had a steel structure, like brass knuckles and knife-blade claws.

Now here's my theory; imagine some martial arts expert designs a werewolf suit armored using the best of modern technology, and integrates weapons into the hands in such a way as to compliment his combat style, and let's even give him night vision or infrared or something built into the headpiece. It wouldn't even be hard to do - and it could be as real looking as Hollywood could make..."

"Sounds good, I think that's kinda what I'd been thinking about - but what's the problem with it?"

"Jennifer - She's blew it out of the water at lunch today. She says bite marks like a kodiak bear would make, which I don't think you could do with some weird headpiece, and also she said too many of the bodies were torn apart - she said a man couldn't do it, and I agree - you saw the bodies. That's when she said it'd take a lowland gorilla to actually do what we're talking about."

Kim muttered a grim chuckle, "like Murders at the Rue Morgue", and looked up to see two blank looks. "Hello?, Edgar Allan Poe?, about a gorilla that kills people? Nevermind."

Bill tried to regroup, "Ok, well let's assume, since we've got an upright werewolf on film, that it's a man in some kind of werewolf-looking combat armor, with knives, and brass knuckles, shin guards, whatever - how's he ripping people apart?"

Kim interrupted, "Jennifer's wrong, there are people strong enough to do that", but she stopped before she gave David as an example, "like pro wrestlers or someone on PCP or something, why is that so hard?"

Bill threw out another question, "We still don't know how he's getting to and from each location. The prints we get never seem to lead to or from the scene, and he always circles the place he's going to attack at least 2 or 3 times... anyone... anyone...? Well, that and this Chinese kid are my main objects of interest tomorrow, I'll keep you informed, Neal. Kim, It's good to see you again.

Neal walked Bill to the door, but called for Kim as soon as he opened it, alarm giving way to anger as he ran into the yard, followed closely by his friend and his daughter.

The little red Jetta was no more.

All the glass had been shattered and the tires slashed, but when they got to the car they saw the worst of it. The seats had been slashed, what turned out to be blood had been sloshed all over the front seats of the car. In the driver's seat and floor board was a complete set of Kim's clothes; shirt, skirt, bra, panties, shoes - all cut up and torn.

The only blood in the back was at one place on the top of the back seat, which was unlatched and leaning forward slightly. Bill Sperry pointed out the puncture in the leather near the blood before pulling the seat forward. Inside the trunk was the grotesque remains of a small child - one that Bill Sperry knew would never tell him anything else about the werewolf.

Kim screamed and started to cry hysterically, Bill felt a sudden rising nausea and turned away.

- - - -

Neal's thoughts whirled around in shock as he held his daughter. It was bad enough for a cop to get a violent threat from the criminal he was investigating, and as a reporter, he'd been threatened enough times - but this was personal against his daughter! - and a body - a child for crying out loud! - Neal hadn't even done much in the investigation, only printing the papers... only printing the articles, with his name on them, his address wasn't hard to find - maybe this guy had no clue who was investigating and only knew who the reporter was... but his daughter!

Police were outside taking care of the crime scene. Kim had been absolutely freaked, panicked and crying, Bill had been shocked only until his fury had kicked in, then he'd been yelling at the car, the trees, the telephone, and all the cops that'd shown up.

Neal barely heard a car pull up, but Kim almost jumped, then glanced outside.

A kiss, a "Bye, Daddy!", and she was getting into a silver Ferrari, and then she was gone - she hadn't even stopped crying.

- - - -

Watching David, Kim felt suicidal, more, she felt like she was somewhere in the middle of a long, drawn out act of suicide.

They were at the slip for his sailboat, with a dying fire in the habachi. She had almost jumped out of the Ferrari when she had seen Brian instead of David, it was just one more surprise at a bad time, but he had taken her to David's boat at the pier and then vanished down the road. David had been beside her before she'd turned around.

For a while he had simply held her, now, a few hours later, he was on the back of his boat doing some kind of Ti Ching workout, while she snuggled up in a blanket with her wine glass on the deck just off the boat. They'd talked for a while, but without really saying anything. The crying was over, but not the shock - she felt safe now anyway. She relaxed into the fruity aroma of her wine, hints of apricot, honey, and licorice subtly woven in with the warmth rising in the back of her head and in her feet.

She watched David. He was huge, probably over 6'6" with masses of solid muscle, she watched his muscles ripple and play over his back, arms, and legs. Every muscle in his body was sharply defined in the flickering firelight, as if his skin had been replaced with a coat of paint. She started looking at scars - he had a lot of them, some had to be from bullets. He had no regular tattoos, but she had noticed when she first met him the circle of Viking runes branded around his wrists and ankles - it was a light, delicate looking red script - all she could think of was how much it must have hurt, but now she wondered what it meant.

She looked at the name on the boat, "Sea Wolf", it didn't help. She felt like she was in the wrong place with the wrong person - but no way she was leaving. She ignored the rain that started, and so did David. The rain obscured everything else like another blanket around her. She let the rain dilute her glass on the table and instead hid the bottle into her blanket, wondering who David was and why she needed him so much.

- End of Chapter Three. -