Wolves and Men

When he got there it wasn’t as bad as he thought, it was worse. The whole hotel was nothing but a charred-out husk. It looked like a bombed out ruin from the World War II era. The whole building was scarred and blackened from fire damage. Jesus, did the fire fighters just sit and watch the place go up before they did anything?

The place was taped off but there were a few workers walking around and some official looking men in suits, probably the arson investigators. He approached one of these men as he was examining, what used to be, a window frame with a flashlight.

“Excuse me, can you tell me just what the hell happened here?” Kenneth asked.

“This is a closed crime scene, pal.” He turned toward some other police officers standing off to one side. “HEY!! Can you two get this guy out of here?!”

Kenneth whipped the man around to face him directly. His eyes bored into the detective’s. Soon the man’s body relaxed and went slack against the wall. “Now, tell those men to back off, that everything is fine.”

The investigator nodded and looked over to the approaching officers. “Never mind fellas, my mistake, this guy owns the joint…or used to anyway.” He smiled at his joke. The two officers looked sideways at him since Kenneth was still gripping the man’s coat. Kenneth let go of the man and said, “Sorry guys he just caught me as I slipped that’s all. Go on, you’re security, right? Go secure something that needs to be secured, I’m fine here.” The two officers shared a glance between each other but turned and walked back the way they had come.

“Now officer,” Kenneth sneered. “What the hell have you found out about what happened here?”

The officer looked back at the charred shell. “Well, near as we can tell the fire started in the basement with a little explosion around the water boiler. The explosion was no big deal and it should have been contained there. But the internal sprinkler system was off line and somehow the fire managed to make its way up and over to some gas lines used in the heating system and that’s what we think caused this place to go up so fast.”

Kenneth could only look up at the charred remains of the five-story hotel. All those resources, all that time and effort, and all those cows, gone. He couldn’t keep the laughter from escaping his lips. Of all the things that the wolves had hit over the past five years, they had never hit a Farm. What had changed? What had happened to make them so bold now? Did his capturing Ansuya have anything to do with this?

“What about survivors? Was there anybody that escaped the fire?” Kenneth asked.

The officer rubbed his chin. “Well, yes and no. I spoke to a few of them that managed to make it out but they were like mind numbed zombies. I know being caught in a fire is traumatic but I ain’t never seen people like that. A hand full of men and women just sitting there, blank stares on their faces, waiting for something, refusing to speak at all.” He massaged his temples absentmindedly. “Downright creepy if you ask me.”

Kenneth looked up at the building again. The hand cuffs, chains, and other restraints wouldn’t have all been destroyed. Alessandro would know this and he would have made sure one of House Dukart’s investigators was in charge of the scene. He knew that this guy wasn’t it.

“Where is the lead investigator? The guy in charge?” Kenneth asked harshly.

The officer pointed to a group of vehicles and a small gaggle of people around it. “Detective Diaz should be right over there.” Kenneth left the man without another word.

He made his way through the gathering of police and found an open van with a small group huddled around a table with benches along the sides of the van and some bright interior lights. Kenneth was looking for a man but it seemed that all the attention is the group was being given to a woman.

She had long wavy black hair tied behind her in a tight pony tail. Her face was not unattractive but it was hard. Her strong nose and downturned lips gave her a look of anger but also authority. Her deep brown eyes were cold and calculating. This must be Detective Diaz.

“Detective Diaz, might I have a word with you?” Kenneth asked overly politely.

“WILL SOMEBODY GET THIS DAMN REPORTER OUT OF HERE?!” She yelled without looking up from her reports.

Kenneth smiled and shrugged off a guy who caught hold of his jacket shoulder. “Detective Diaz, I’m not a reporter. But I am someone who you really should give your precious time to,” he said quietly.

The woman looked up in indignation, “Are you threatening…me?” Her voice trailed off as their eyes met.

Kenneth smiled at the woman. She obviously recognized who he was. That was a good start. “Not at all Detective. I just have a few questions for you, if we could speak in private?”

The woman nodded and cleared the group away. She gave orders to a few men who were closest to her, the rest she shooed away with a flick of her wrist.

When the two of them were alone Kenneth turned to the woman. “How dare you call me a reporter! I should have you as a slave for a month to teach you respect!” He said, loud enough to get his point across, but not loud enough to be overheard. His voice dripped with venom.

The woman was obviously shaken by the threat. She had been dealing with vampires for a while it seemed. “Yes, Mr. Pacifico, please forgive me. I will be more careful in the future.”

Kenneth snorted and swept a few files to the front of the van. “Be sure that you do, insect! I’m not in the habit of granting boons to buffoons and morons!” He moved around the small enclosure. “What have you done about our contraband? Evidence of our activities here has been cleansed, yes? Tell me you could do that right.”

Detective Diaz bowed her head and nodded quickly. “Yes, the evidence of the farm has been taken care of. The metal obviously didn’t burn, so the chains, hand cuffs, and other instruments were swept clean before the site was even opened for investigation. The contraband is currently being shipped to the predetermined address. It should arrive there tomorrow morning.”