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  Almost every one of my waking hours and most of my dreams were spent going over and over different ways of helping Pen. I thought about telling my Inspector, but he would only want to know how I had become so close to a Lycanthrope. He would ask why I cared for Pen – a wolf – so much. He might suspect something that wasn’t really there – or perhaps it was?

  Every time the phone rang, I leapt upon it, wondering if it was Annie with more news about Pen, as I hadn’t heard anything more from her since our last phone call.

  Then on the fourth day after that call with Annie, I did receive some news. It didn’t come in the form of a phone call as I was expecting, but by letter. I’d discovered the envelope in the mailbox as I left home for work that morning. As I was climbing into my car, I pulled the envelope open to read the shortest letter I had ever received. It read: Pen’s gone missing!

  Chapter Fifteen

  Murphy

  Whoever had written the note, I didn’t recognise their handwriting. It had been scribbled in black ink. As I turned it over and over in my hands and re-read those three frightening words, I realized that Annie had been true to her word and had contacted me as promised. I understood the reason why she wanted to do this anonymously, so she didn’t appear to be involved.

  I contacted my work and lied to my Inspector. I told him my mother had taken a turn for the worse, and I had to go back into The Hollows to be with her. He gave me three days special leave. I threw some clothes into a bag and packed my cuffs and handgun. Before I left, I held Chloe tight and kissed her goodbye. I felt apprehensive, anxious, but most of all, scared for Pen.

  I drove all day, stopping only briefly when I needed to fill the car up with petrol and top myself up with sweet black coffee. I reached Pen’s hometown just after dark and rented a room at the local hotel. Without even freshening up or stopping for food, I drove straight to Pen’s. I pulled up the short path and left the car parked next to an old truck that stood by the dense crop of trees which surrounded the side and rear of the house. I walked casually around the truck, which I had not seen before. I made my way up onto the porch and knocked on the door. After several moments, the door was slowly opened.

  “Yep?” said the tall, stocky male who greeted me.

  “I’d like to see Pen,” I said in a flat, dry tone.

  “She’s not here.” The man eyed me suspiciously and stepped out onto the porch and pulled the door shut so I couldn’t see past him and into the house.

  “I’ll wait then,” I said, moving towards the front door. The man stepped between me and the door, barring my entry.

  “Who are ya?” he asked.

  “I’m Jim Murphy, a friend of Pen’s. Who are you?” I asked, looking him up and down.

  “I’m Steve, Marc’s brother.”

  “The chef!” I said dryly.

  Steve stood about six-foot-two with lank brown hair, it could have been blond but it was so greasy it was hard to tell. His two front teeth were missing and his tongue slid wetly between them as he spoke. He had about four days’ worth of beard covering his chin and his eyes were yellow and sore-looking, as if he had just got up after a night of heavy drinking.

  “Look, what do ya want?” he questioned irritably as if he had a thousand better things he could be doing.

  “I’ve told you, I want to see Pen,” I said.

  “And I’ve told ya, she ain’t here!” he said, his wet tongue slipping between the gap in his front teeth.

  “When will she back?” I persisted.

  “Dunno,” he shrugged. “Look, go home. I reckon she’ll call ya when she can.” Steve then stepped back inside Pen’s home and briskly closed the door.

  I stepped back off the porch and looked up at the windows for any sign of life. Maybe they had Pen held prisoner up there while they fleeced her and her business of any remaining cash. My imagination was running wild, stoked up by not knowing where Pen was or what had happened to her. Whatever was going on, I knew that Marc and his brother had something to do with it.

  I went back to my car, and as I pulled away, I looked back at the house and caught Steve peering around the edge of the curtain at me.

  I drove into town and pulled up outside ‘The Ooze Bar.’ I could see it was slowly building up with customers for the evening and I could hear the dull beat-beat of music seeping from within.

  I stepped into the bar and immediately, as if she had been expecting me, Annie looked up from the customer she was serving and looked straight at me. I could see a look of relief slip across her face, but her eyes looked wide and scared. At the end of the bar I could see Marc. I moved towards him, and when I was only a few feet away, he looked up at me.

  “Where’s Pen?” I asked him.

  “She’s gone away,” he said right back.

  “Where?”

  “I don’t know,” Marc said, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.

  “Look I haven’t come down here to be screwed around. Where’s Pen?” I demanded.

  “Listen, you’re not on duty now. So don’t come down here throwing your weight around,”

  he said, climbing off the barstool and standing like a wall in front of me. “Pen hasn’t been feeling well lately, so she’s taken a break, you know, gone away to relax.”

  “She would’ve called me,” I said.

  “Maybe she’s having so much fun she has forgotten,” Marc said slyly, an obnoxious grin spreading across his face.

  “I doubt it,” I told him.

  “Can’t poor Pen do anything without you?

  What are you, her guardian angel?” he said in a deeply cutting tone.

  I stepped closer towards him, narrowing the gap between us to mere inches. Then leaning in close so I couldn’t be heard by anyone other than him, I said, “Listen, you know and I know something’s not right here. You might have been able to intimidate Pen with the help of your brothers, but to me you’re nothing but werewolf shit.” I noticed just a slight flicker of light in his eyes.

  “Why don’t you go home? When Pen puts in an appearance, I’m sure you’ll be the first to know,” he smiled.

  “I’m not going anywhere ‘til I find out what’s happened to my friend,” I warned him, looking hard into his fiery eyes. I wanted him to be under no illusion that I wouldn’t go away until I had discovered what had happened to Pen.

  “Please yourself,” he said, turning away and stepping behind the bar.

  I watched him saunter away from me, and as he did, I noticed the door leading down to the basement. It was slightly ajar and I could only see darkness behind. I looked away, and as I did, I thought I saw movement in that opening. I looked back again but whatever it was had gone. I slowly walked towards the door and instinctively touched my gun that sat strapped to my side, hidden under my jacket. I put my arm out to push the door further open, when Marc was suddenly in front of me, blocking my view.

  “That’s private down there. Staff only I’m afraid,” he said.

  I ignored him and made a move towards the door leading down into the darkness. Within an instant, Marc had placed his arm across the doorway, barring my entry.

  “Do you have a search warrant, officer?”

  he asked smugly.

  I stood exactly where I was for another moment, not taking my eyes off his. I then stepped away from him.

  “I’m coming to get you!” I said smiling at him. “Just like all the other stinking wolves I’ve hunted down.”

  Then, I turned my back on him and walked towards the exit. As I did, I snatched a sideways glance at Annie. Our eyes met momentarily and then we both looked away.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Murphy

  I pulled into the car park of the local store and killed the engine. There was a phone box, so climbing from my car, I headed towards it. Taking some coins from my pocket, I called my Inspector.

  I didn’t want to, but I needed some help. Like me, he was a Vampyrus and had dedicated his life to hunting down and bringing to justice those
Lycanthrope who had given in to their curse. He would know I’d lied to him about needing to visit my sick mother, and he could kick me off the team for it, but what else could I do? I needed some help – advice – if I was going to help my friend.

  I dropped the coins into the slot and punched my Inspector’s office number into the keypad. There was a clicking sound, followed by a dial tone.

  “Inspector Rom, Special Ops Department,” the voice said down the phone. I could picture his bald head gleaming beneath the fluorescent lights in his office.

  “Hello, sir,” I said, still not knowing exactly what I was going to say to him. “It’s Jim Murphy.”

  “Murphy, what can I do for you?” he asked. “How’s your sick mother?”

  “Huh, she’s okay,” I started. “Look, I was wondering if...”

  “Spit it out, Constable,” Rom said sharply.

  “I’m giving a briefing in a minute or two to the team.”

  I took a deep breath, which Rom must have heard at the other end of the line as he said, “Are you in some kinda trouble, boy?”

  “I guess,” I said.

  “Oh, shit,” Rom groaned. “How deep?”

  “It’s not really me, it’s a friend...” I started.

  “A girl?” Rom sighed.

  “Yes, but it’s not what you’re thinking,” I said. “It’s worse.”

  “Is this girl married?” Rom barked.

  “No...” I took another deep breath. “She’s a Lycanthrope.”

  There was a long, drawn-out silence from the other end of the line. It was so long and deep that I wondered if Rom hadn’t slammed down the phone on me.

  “A Lycanthrope?” he suddenly breathed down the line. “Are you out of your fucking mind?”

  “She’s just a friend,” I told him again.

  “Nothing like that has gone on. I’ve known her since we were just kids. It’s her who’s in trouble.”

  “She’s a Lycanthrope, Murphy,” Rom hissed. “She ain’t your problem.”

  “She’s my friend and I think she has been murdered,” I said.

  There was another long pause. Then suddenly, “Murdered by who?”

  “A couple of Lycanthrope,” I explained.

  “Then that’s not my problem or yours,”

  Rom said. “Now get your arse back to work and I’ll speak to you then.”

  “I can’t come back – not yet,” I told him.

  “Not until I’ve found out what has happened to my friend.”

  “You don’t make friends with wolves,” he reminded me. “We’re like cats and dogs. We don’t mix. Now grow up and get your sorry arse back...”

  “I’m not coming back,” I said, drawing another deep breath and feeling sick inside. “Not until I’ve found out what has happened to her.”

  Another long silence.

  “What makes you think she has been murdered?” he finally said.

  “Pen...that’s her name...has been living with this guy, you see…” I began to tell him. I explained about the ‘Ooze Bar’, Marc, and his brother. Rom asked for their surname and I got the feeling that he was writing down what I was telling him. Did this mean he was going to help? I couldn’t be sure. I explained how Marc had been beating Pen and stealing money from her business.

  When I’d finished, Rom spoke again.

  “Listen, Murphy, these people… wolves, they don’t live like us,” he warned me in an almost fatherly tone. “Nothing good will come of this. As far as you know, they haven’t killed no human, so if I were you, I’d leave them to get on with it.”

  “I can’t,” I whispered. “Pen is my friend.

  I can’t just walk away.”

  Realising he wasn’t going to change my mind, he sighed deeply and said, “You’re a good cop, Murphy. I had high hopes for you. Why you’ve gone and got yourself mixed up with a Lycanthrope beats the shit out of me.”

  “She’s my friend,” was all I could say.

  “I know I’m going to regret this,” he sighed. “I’ll do some digging on this Marc Johnson and his brother on my end and see what I come up with. Give me some information on this friend of yours.”

  I gave Rom Pen’s description, car registration number, address, and anything else I could think of. I then thanked him.

  “Don’t thank me,” he said. “When you get back, me and you are going to have a serious talk about your future on the Force. Now, for Christ’s sake, sit tight and don’t get involved.”

  I gave Rom the number of the hotel I was staying at and thanked him again.

  “If it wasn’t the fact that you were a Vampyrus and a cop, I’d come down there and kill this freaking wolf, Pen, myself!” He hung up the phone.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Murphy

  Despite Rom’s warning not to get involved, I drove back across town, which was now mostly quiet and deserted. It was just short of midnight and I guessed that ‘The Ooze bar’ would be closing soon. I parked just up the street and slid down into my seat and waited for Annie to leave the bar for the night. It was just a waiting game now. It was a game that I had played countless times before, back home while at work.

  By 1:30 a.m. there had still been no sign of Annie. I twisted in my seat and stretched.

  Maybe I had missed her already? Maybe she finished earlier, before I had even arrived? I had decided to give her another half an hour, when I saw her step out of ‘The Ooze Bar’ and into the night.

  I started the engine and crawled slowly up the road some distance behind her. I waited until she had walked a couple of streets and was a safe distance from the bar, when I drew up alongside her and wound down my window.

  “Hey, Annie!”

  She quickened her pace and didn’t turn to look at me or the car.

  “Hey, Annie, it’s me, Jim!”

  On realising who it was, she slowed slightly and looked through the open window at me.

  “Go away!” she whispered and flashed a quick glance behind her.

  “Get in,” I said.

  “No! Go away,” she pleaded.

  “I just wanted to say thanks for the note.”

  “What note? I never sent any note,” she said, looking straight ahead.

  “Okay, okay…I never got any note,” I played along. I continued to crawl along beside her as she began to quicken her step.

  “How long has Pen been missing?”

  “About four days. Now please, just leave me alone!” she said without even turning to look at me.

  “You don’t have to be scared, Annie, I can protect you. Just tell me what you know,” I said.

  “I won’t need protecting if you just go away!” she whispered.

  “Why are you so scared, Annie?”

  “Because I feel that something very bad has happened…I think something bad has happened to Pen.” This time she did glance sideways at me and I could see the fear in her eyes.

  “Like what?” I persisted.

  “I don’t know!”

  “What’s in the basement?” I pressed.

  “Nothing, I think…please, Jim, please leave me alone,” she said.

  I could sense her fear and didn’t want to alienate her completely. I hoped that she could maybe be a future source of information – so I let her be.

  “Okay, Annie, I’m sorry. Look I’m staying at the local hotel. I’m in room 219 for the next two days. If you need anything or hear anything, just let me know.”

  Annie took a sharp right turn and hastily disappeared down another street. I wound up my window and drove straight on – losing Annie from my sight.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Murphy

  I was woken to the sound of the telephone ringing. I reached for the phone with my eyes still closed, and knocked it onto the floor of my hotel room. I wriggled from beneath my blankets, dangled over the side of the bed, and picked up the receiver.

  “Hello,” I said, stifling a yawn.

  “Rise and shine, Murphy,” Rom snappe
d down the line at me. Even half asleep, I could picture his pinched-looking face and sharp, keen probing eyes. Not the thing I wanted to see first thing in the morning.

  “Hello, sir,” I said, sitting up in bed.

  “I’ve got some news for you,” he said. “I ran the Johnson boys’ names through the system.

  They’re nothing but scum by the looks of it. The whole family is rotten through and through. There ain’t a decent wolf amongst ‘erm.”

  “You ever had dealings with them before?” I asked, rubbing sleep from my eyes with my free hand. My mouth tasted like I’d been eating road kill.

  “All their lives they’ve been in and out of jail…and you say your friend…this Pen, has been living with one of ‘erm?” he said.

  “Yes, the one called Marc,” I reminded him.

  “Well, I got someone who owed me a few favours to do some checking on her, too,” Rom told me. “Her father is doing time down in The Hollows for human child abduction. You really know how to pick your friends.”

  “Pen hasn’t had contact with her father for years,” I told him. “He abandoned her. Pen is not like the others.”

  “Well, I got one of the wardens to visit him down in the cells,” Rom started to explain.

  “Her father didn’t want to talk at first, but after my friend yanked on his bollocks for a minute or two, he couldn’t wait to start talking. Apparently, your friend Pen has been promised to this Marc Johnson.”

  “What does that mean exactly?” I asked Rom, now feeling fully awake.

  “Her father lost her in a card game some years ago...” Rom started.

  “A card game!” I spat.

  “He was playing cards and losing bad,”

  Rom said. “He had nothing left in the pot to gamble with so he offered up his young daughter.

  He lost and your friend Pen was then promised to Johnson’s eldest son, Marc, when she came of age.”

  “Those fucking animals,” I breathed angrily down the phone.

  “Tell me something I don’t already know,”

  Rom said. “Don’t you see now? These wolves don’t live like us. They’re scum. Don’t get involved in this, Murphy. It’s not your problem.