The Best Part of Waking Up...Ain't This

Diego stared out his window on the top floor of North Tower East. Outside was dark, not just the sky, but the city. The streetlights were on but no cars stood at the blinking stoplight. Windows around town were nearly all dark. It was the time between times, when one day bleeds into the next. The calendar may flip at midnight, but in truth the border between yesterday and today is a few hours later, somewhere around the 4 AM that had just passed them by. It was the time when the last of the evenings revelers had made their way home and the first of the mornings risers were yet to reach for the snooze button. In a town just short of city status like Moon Bay, the only people awake were shift workers at the local 24/7, cops on deep nights, insomniacs, and now Diego Almanzar. And Diego was not happy about it.

He stared out the window, but he did not see. A lonely car rolled down the road, but Diego took no notice. His mind was several miles away, in a remote woods in Shady Grove Park. A body had been found, and now he had to decide what to do about it. That was the job. It paid well but was seldom rewarding. And nobody brought him the easy questions. He couldn’t remember the last time someone asked him what color the curtains should be (if they had he would have said burgundy), no they brought him issues like this.

Slowly he turned his chair away from the window to face the man across the desk. Cut Whittington, immaculate as ever. Looking at him you would never know he had been rousted from his apartment even earlier than Diego. It could have been 10 AM by the way the man looked. Diego leaned forward and steepled his fingers against his lips. Around his hands he said, “Go over it one more time, Major.”

Cut didn’t need to refer back to his notes. He recited from memory, “At 0230 one of our contacts at MBPD called the alert desk. They reported a body found in Shady Grove Park. All signs point to ‘wild dog attack.’”

Diego nodded. “Go on.”

"We dispatched an Expisco to the site undercover.”

“We have an Expisco on staff?”

Cut shook his head. “Subcontractor we call in for situations such as this.”

Ay Dios, Incluso los chuchos del mitad-demonio se sindican actualmente. “The Expisco’s findings?”

“As suspected, the deceased was the victim of a werewolf attack. Normally we would just forward this information to the local werewolf pack, pursuant to an understanding reached between their Alpha and Mr. North.”

Diego remembered. “We stay out of theirs, they stay out of ours.”

MAJ Whittington continued, “Roger, sir. This instance, however, is unique. Preliminary findings are that the victim, in addition to the perpetrator, is a werewolf.”

Esto podía conseguir feo rápidamente. Once again, Diego turned his chair back to the window. Once again he stared out the window at nothing in particular. He did not completely disconnect from his surroundings, however. He didn’t have that luxury. “That makes things a bit hairier, if you’ll excuse the inadvertent pun.” He watched MAJ Whittington’s reflection nod. “Odds on the perpetrator being a member of the Pack?”

“Not likely, sir. While one of them had some relatively recent troubles during a trip that finished in the Southeast United States…”

Diego interrupted briefly. “That would be the Smith boy, correct?”

Cut answered, “Yes, sir. Quinn. While killing another wolf is demonstrably not outside his realm of possibility, it’s not likely this close to home. Killing this close to Crestwood Estate would raise too many issues, too many questions.”

“Such as the ones I’m asking you?”

Again with the nodding. “Yes, sir. So possible but not probable. How do you want to proceed?”

Hay la pregunta $64.000. The idea of a rogue Pack member, or worse a rogue Pack, was not something Diego wanted to contemplate. He could not, however, ignore the possibility. But when it came down to the final equation, it all added up to the same answer. If this was mutt-on-mutt violence, he all but had to inform the Pack. And they would be the best to handle the situation. And if they were involved on one end of the other, passing this on would serve notice that North Industries was watching, serve notice that this would not be tolerated. It would be a reminder that North Industries was watching, if not how much.

Decision made, Diego turned to MAJ Whittington one last time. “Send the notification to McAlister and his puppies in the usual channel. But put me a team on this. I want constant surveillance of the Pack throughout this episode. And keep it discreet.” MAJ Whittington stood, looking like he wanted to salute, Diego just nodded him out. As Cut was leaving, Diego made one last request. “And Major, have someone call Ms. Hathaway. There’s no point in returning to my suite, looks like it’s just going to be an early start to the day.”