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CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

NED

"Well, that was...unsettling" muttered Carmen Posa.

The SF Metro Homicide Division had just finished watching the DVD Alana Wittmore had found in her mailbox.

Ned generally prided himself on his strong stomach, but even he was feeling a bit woozy after watching the Prophet saw the twin wolves into pieces. He'd gone over the male, Ken, first, and when Ken had been beheaded and had all his limps removed, he'd switched to Ken's sister, Eliza, and worked over her in similar fashion. Afterwards he'd told the viewer where the bodies could be found, recited some bible quote, and shut off the camera.

"He had the camera mounted to the chainsaw" Scarlett observed quietly, looking very unwell herself. "So as to show the....killing...closer up."

Arkady nodded shortly. "This is definitely meant as an act of terrorism. The guy is trying to unnerve us...." He signed. "What bothers me is that he's switched cities. Why start in San Fernando and suddenly move to Sacramento?"

From the back of the room, Lennox spoke softly. "What about that religious rhetoric he was spewing? Is that connected to the quotes we found on Wittmore's body?"

Milo looked up from where he'd been tapping away at his computer. "It's another quote from the other "prophet," Senator Adam Johnson."

Lennox and Arkady both walked over to look over the jackal's shoulder. "Damn" Arkady swore. "Same origin."

The jackal frowned. "Something else came up when I googled the quote..."

"Which is?"

"Johnson is in Sacramento, right now. He just gave a speech there yesterday."

That got Ned's attention. The bigoted badger was in the very same city where the Harding twins had just been murdered? The same guy who was being quoted right before the killing. That would be a mighty big coincidence to pass up...but a good detective is taught not to believe in coincidences.

Lennox and Arkady were exchanging a glance. "I want to know the Senator's whereabouts last night" Lennox ordered. "Just so...so we can clear his name, if necessary."

"I'm on it" Montoya said grimly. "What do we have on the victim's identities?"

That was Ned's cue. "Everything he said was true." He glanced at the notes he'd taken after a few quick phone calls and an internet search. "Ken Harding was a Marine, more specifically an openly gay one. He was visiting home on a three-day leave."

He shifted the papers to expose the notes on Eliza. "Eliza Harding, Ken's twin sister, was a law student at Harvard. She lives - lived - in Massachusetts most of the year but typically spent the summer months at their parent's home in Sacramento, which she was now doing."

The lieutenant nodded. "Do we have any idea yet when the Harding twins were last seen?"

No one knew, but at that moment the door opened and Jason pushed in, breathing heavily. "I finally tracked down the mailman" the cougar gasped. "He said the DVD case was already in the mailbox when he dropped the mail off."

"About what I expected." Arkady cocked his head thoughtfully, scratching his chin. "The Prophet could have put that DVD in there any time during the night...."

They watched the video again, horrible as it was, but it was frustratingly devoid of clues. The Prophet had edited most of the Hardings' dialogue out of it, as well as blurring Ken's face in a few places where he'd apparently tried telling what the Prophet's species was, preventing the possibility of reading his lips. To make matters worse, he had apparently made two copies of the DVD, because only a little bit later, one of the city's largest news broadcasters announced that they'd learned that the Prophet had murdered two more victims, very violently, while in Sacramento. Before long, news pundits were screaming of the effects of the Prophet's killing, saying it was no longer safe to be publically gay in San Fernando, or the surrounding area. Perhaps part of it was because of the way the wolf twins had died - before, the Prophet's victims had all died rather quickly, but the Marine and his sister had had their limps sawed off one by one while they were still very much alive, so that both had been practically begging for death when at last the saw angled towards their necks. He was taking his killing to a new level of horror, and with that, SF Metro had to admit that they had a skilled killer on the loose who was eluding law enforcement with unusual skill, despite the public flaunting of his evil deeds.

It was nearing noon when Scarlett finally cornered him, when he'd gone to grab a drink at the little kitchenette off to the side of the main office.

"You alright?" he asked, concerned, noticing the lack of bounce in the coyote's tail, and the way her ears seemed to lower every time she looked at him. "That video...."

"I threw up" she admitted quietly. "But I'd rather not talk about it."

He put an arm around the coyote's shoulder. "Same here, but we've got a case to solve."

"Sacramento city police are already looking at the Harding crime scene" she whispered. "We don't need to actually see them, this time, thanks to jurisdiction."

"I know" he said. "But it's still our case."

She didn't answer, just spun around so she was facing him, ears flicking down again. "Ned...I met with a snitch this morning, one of the ones we contacted last week. He didn't have much to say, but....one thing..."

Instantly Ned felt a shudder of dread. "What is it? Just say it."

She bit her lip. "The snitch said that Xang Lan works with a coyote. One of her henchmen, he thought. He only commented on it because it's rare to see a non-Chinese species working with the Triad."

Ned felt the last wisp of the happiness he'd felt that morning, already mostly drained from watching Ken and Eliza Harding die, leave him for good. "Thank you for telling me." His voice was stronger than he thought it would have been - if....

"What are you going to do?" she asked quietly.

He paused, glancing out into the main office, which was mostly empty, as most of their fellow officers had already departed. "It's almost lunchtime. If you can hold things together here, I'll get Garrett to meet me for lunch...so we can...talk."

It was bad enough struggling with emotions inside, but the way Scarlett looked like she was about to cry made it worse. "Stay safe, ok?" she murmured, sympathetic. "I wish I hadn't had to tell you that."

"I think I already knew, somewhere inside" he said, and that was all he could say.

"So I heard about the new deaths on the radio" Garrett said, eyes wide. His voice was somewhat muffled by the other conversation in the crowded café, for which Ned was thankful. The café was not far from SF Metro's station, but it was an establishment very popular with the tourist trade, especially in the summer, so practically every table was filled with noisy, happy tourists.

"We're working on it" Ned muttered evasively, not wanting to talk about that. He paused. "Do you think we're taking this relationship too fast?"

Garrett's smile vanished and his ears went down. "What do you mean?"

Ned looked away, ignoring the slight feeling of guilt which appeared at the distressed expression on the coyote's face. The café's menus had a map of the city on them for child diners to colour in, and absently he found himself finding the places on the map where the Prophet had killed a victim. "Oh, maybe we should have just started with a little coffee-shop date, like most people."

"I hate coffee" the coyote dismissed that. "And more importantly, that would be boring and ordinary, and I am never either of those."

No, Ned thought, you never are, even if I might wish you were more ordinary.

Perhaps it was time for honesty. He folded his paws on the table, staring at the black fur, and remembering what Olympia had said about darkness. He looked up. "Olympia is Xang Lan, the Chinese Triad leader."

He waited for the expression of surprise, for Garrett to gasp and flatten his ears, but the reaction never came. Instead, the coyote just stared at him seriously.

"You already knew" Ned guessed, and hung his head.

Garrett put his paw on top of Ned's and leaned across the table. "Ned. This doesn't change anything."

Ned recoiled as if burned. "Who are you?" His jaw set, he stared the coyote directly in the eyes. Time for the Alpha wolf to come out.

The coyote looked at him seriously, glanced to the side. "Among the Chinese I am called Tang Guang. I am Xang Lan's - you know her as Olympia - top enforcer, henchman, companion. I am a respected member of the Triad - you could call me her right-paw coyote."

For the tiniest of seconds, Ned hoped Garrett was bluffing, that it was a lie, and that in a moment he'd start laughing at the bizarre joke. But he knew that wasn't going to happen. Garrett's face was dead serious, waiting for Ned to condemn him, or to...really, Ned didn't know what he expected.

He swallowed. "Did you ever actually have an interest in me, or are you just looking for someone close to the police to get information from?"

Garrett flinched and at that his ears did go down, and did not come up again. "Of course I care about you, Ned!" he insisted. "I don't need a mole!"

Is that because you've already turned someone else to feed you police secrets? Ned wondered briefly, but he quickly forgot that thought in the horrible reality of realising that he had been falling for a member of the Chinese Triad. "What is your....position...in the Triad?" he asked shortly, facing freezing into a cold stare.

"I'm an enforcer primarily. Besides that I suppose one could say I'm an assassin, though perhaps not in the Hollywood sense of the term" the coyote explained without hesitation. "I've assisted with hold-ups and burglaries, put pressure on occasional of our...associates...when they weren't paying us properly, dealt with disloyal associates as is needed, stolen cars a couple times, pretty much everything we do, I'm involved in."

Ned wanted to scream, to disappear, to wake up and realise this was only a horrible nightmare. But he could not.

He stood up. "We are through" he said coldly. "Because you were....you seemed to be kind to me, I will not turn you in. Yet. But...." He shook his head, hackles raised. "I cannot love a murderer." He spat the last word vehemently, then turned his back on the coyote, ignoring the pained expression on Garrett's face, the sign that his words had hurt.

Once back in the Ford, he punched the steering wheel angrily. Why, why, had he had to start falling for someone only to learn they were a gangster? He felt betrayed, believing the coyote was a good person only to learn he was a killer, the very sort of person Ned was supposed to take down. A fucking assasian, no less. Someone who killed for money.

Olympia would be to blame. She must have corrupted the coyote into joining her. Ned wanted nothing less than to arrest her, but now was not the time. Maybe he'd give Garrett an ultimatum - leave town or be arrested with Olympia.

That made him wonder if Garrett would try stopping him. He was an assasian - no surprise, when he fought the way he did. Would he be willing to kill Ned to prevent being arrested? Somehow Ned doubted that, but with mafia one never knew; they could not be trusted.

He found himself swerving on the road. Damn it, Ned, get yourself together. But how could he, knowing that Garrett - and he'd felt so incredibly happy that morning, little realising, or not wanting to realise, who he had thrown himself in with.

I'm a traitor, he thought_. I know who Xang Lan is and where she lives, and I also know who her right-hand man is. And yet I'm not turning them in yet_. Yet.

I will turn them in, he thought. Later today, maybe. Show Garrett how it feels to be betrayed.

But would that really do any good? Garrett's pained expression, drooping ears and curled tail, the last vision he had of the coyote, kept resurfacing in his mind, a persistent memory that would not leave. Maybe he just needed to wait it out until his anger and the hurt had faded a little, so he could decide what to do with his head on straight, not when what he really felt like doing was yelling and smashing things. "Control your anger" his father had said. "Anger uncontrolled is a very dangerous thing, pup, and don't you ever forget that."

Clear your head, he told himself. But that was a poor fix when it was his heart that was hurting.

Scarlett was gone when he returned to the station.

"I would have sent you" Lennox told him, glancing up in annoyance from her desk. "With things this crazy I can't have you running off at lunchtime. Just eat here."

"Noted" Ned muttered, thankful that Lennox was not commenting on his uncharacteristic moodiness.

The other wolf ignored his limp tail, though, and explained. "Mrs Wittmore called back and said one of her kids had found something she thought the person who put the DVD in her mailbox may have dropped. Might be nothing, but I sent Montoya and Lewis up to check it out."

Miserable and I don't even have Scarlett to talk to, Ned mused. "Did you have something else for me, then?"

The lieutenant nodded. "I want you and Redfield to go have a quick look at the Harding crime scene. Sacramento probably already found anything worth noticing, but just to be on the safe side, I'd feel better if a couple of our people gave the place a looking over too."

An outing to Sacramento? Well, at least that would get him away from the familiar settings which reminded him only of Garrett and the coyote's latest brutal revelation. "I'm on it" he told her, nodding politely before exiting the office. At least he'd managed to pull himself together enough to bury the emotions, allowing his ears to return to their normal position atop his head, raising his tail. Discussing relationship issues wouldn't help, not when he couldn't tell anyone that his former boyfriend was a member of the Chinese Triad.

Diego was waiting for him by the elevator. "You heard the news?" he asked.

"I did" Ned pressed the button for the first floor. "Your car or mine?"

They ended up going in Diego's, a fancy forest-green Mercedes-Benz. As Diego drove them out of the city, Ned kept noticing the wolfdog's ears flicking his way, and wondered if the detective had noticed his emotional unease. The initial anger over Garrett's betrayal was fading now, replaced by sadness, the pain of the betrayal. Betrayal. Ned knew well the emotions associated with that word, first when his father had thrown aside the apple of his eye merely because he did not want to date women, and second, now.

Garrett had been hurt, and unless he was an extremely good actor, he had genuinely cared about Ned, and had been horrified when Ned broke off their relationship. That meant that the coyote thought he and the policewolf could maintain a relationship despite their being on differing sides of the law. How could such a thing be possible? Ned could not fathom dating someone who killed for profit, or who viewed such death in such a casual, insensitive manner. And yet inside, he still felt like a hole had been ripped in him, a void that the coyote had previously filled.

To dismiss such troubling thoughts, he decided to focus on the wolfdog he was currently driving with, a wolfdog who was a cop, not a mafia gangster. His eyes drifted to the driver's seat, where Diego drove with his right arm while the left hung carelessly out the open window. Studying the wolfdog, he could see the varying characteristics Diego had received from each of his differing parents; the muzzle was wolfish, and the fur thicker than a dogs', but his ears were larger than Ned's, and his tail lacked the bushiness a wolf's would have had, revealing the Alsatian blood within him.

He wondered briefly whether he should try to make conversation, but perhaps that wasn't wise. For one thing, talking about their personal lives might bring up Garrett, who Ned most definitely did not want to discuss at this point. Especially not with the memory of Diego catching he and Garrett screwing in the bathroom the day before; no, that was not something he wanted to discuss. He supposed they could talk about Diego. What did he know about this wolfdog? Diego wasn't his real name; but everyone called him that because he was from San Diego, or had gone to high school there, anyway.

They were out of the city now, heading north, and abruptly Diego turned and looked directly at him, eyebrow raised. "You aren't very talkative today."

Perhaps honesty would again be the best policy. "I had...a fight with Garrett" he admitted, deciding not to say "broke up with" quite yet.

The wolfdog looked sympathetic. "That happens with all relationships" he offered. "I think it helps strengthen them."

Ahead of them, the traffic was slowing, and signs indicated the construction would be delaying travellers today. "Maybe" Ned murmured evasively. "You single?"

"At the moment" Diego looked out the window, frowning at the traffic. "I haven't always been successful with relationships."

Ned guessed that this was probably relating to Diego's and Montoya's habits of promoting the idea of themselves being ladies' guys who could win over a different woman every night, but he did not say so. Besides, that was all thrown into confusion after just the day before, Diego had obviously been very turned on by the idea of Ned and Garrett having sex.

Ahead, cars were slowing, until finally, Diego had to put his paw on the brake and let the car roll to a stop behind a SUV. "Damn traffic" he muttered under his breath. He turned back to Ned. "Don't let whatever this is get between you and Garrett, ok? I saw the way you and he looked at each other at the gala....it wasn't like someone casually dating."

"I'm not sure..." he met the wolfdog's eyes. They were green, and very dog-like. "I'd rather not talk about it.

Diego's ears lowered. "Sorry, I didn't meant to pry. It's just that you two are a cute couple...." He trailed off, blushing a little.

A cute couple? That was definitely not something a straight guy would say. Diego was probably closeted, Ned thought. Why hadn't he realised that earlier? He could have been dating Diego, without getting mixed up with Garrett.

Thoughts like that made him feel guilty, though. The feeling of loyalty to Garrett just didn't leave, even after....

The wolfdog's ears were still lowered, expression sympathetic. "I hope that didn't sound awkward..."

Impulsively, Ned leaned closer to the wolfdog, who matched his movements so their muzzles were scarcely an inch apartment. Diego's soft breathing made Ned's whiskers twitch. "Diego...are you..."

They leaned closer.

The SUV ahead of them rumbled to life and begun driving away.

Instantly both males leaned away from each other, Diego pressing his paw down on the gas to accelerate. Neither spoke, and for a moment, Ned kept his eyes focused steadily out the passenger door window, looking at houses and trees and other cars, anything but the wolfdog he'd almost just...kissed? Yes, he and Diego would probably have kissed if they hadn't been interrupted by the sudden traffic movement. What did that mean? I'm emotionally unstable enough to consider cheating on my boyfriend. Except that Garrett wasn't his boyfriend anymore; he'd said "We're through."

When he did dare a glance Diego's direction, the slight swelling in the wolfdog's jeans was unmistakeable. How long have you been in the closet, Diego? Why couldn't he have come out sooner?

In the long run neither of them mentioned the incident again, and after a short while of meaningless conversation, Diego turned on the radio. Predictably, it was spewing more of the general media hysteria concerning the Prophet and his victims.

Most of the radio dialogue was nothing that hadn't been said before - speculation on who the Prophet was; what he hoped to accomplish; who the next victim would be; and, to Ned's annoyance, questioning whether the lack of an arrest on account of the police was the result of homophobia within SF Metro. Mostly though, it was just another example of the public unease that seemed to be rising over the past week, increasing every time the media released news that yet another victim had fallen under the Prophet's judgement.

This went on for a short while before Diego switched the station to an alt-rock channel, which they listened to for the remainder of the drive to Sacramento, while Ned moodily pondered how he could have fallen in love with a mafia assasian.