Abandoned Treasure
Damage Control

Stanley Biggs’ POV

North Moccasin Mountain Den/Ranch

Saturday, September 8th, 2007

The phone rang just after ten. “Must be Nora,” I sent to my mate as I reached for the wireless phone on the table by my chair in the living room.

“They’re probably running late,” Julie replied.

“Hello?”

“Stanley, it’s Carol. We’re heading your way, and we’ve picked up a tail.”

“Wolf or cop?” Either would be bad news.

“It’s not a cop. It’s maintaining the same distance behind us while we change speeds.”

“Did he ever get close to you?”

“No, he’s stayed about a quarter-mile back.”

That narrowed it down for me. Enforcers would trail them until they stopped or reinforcements could arrive. “That’s not a cop. They’d close to get your license plate and then follow until backup arrives.”

“That’s what my mate thinks. We’re a couple of miles from the 331 turnoff. What do you want us to do?”

“I warned them not to fuck with us. Tell Nick to floor it as soon as he makes the turn. If the wolf follows, we’ll block him when he gets to our Den.”

“Do you want us to go to Georgina’s place?”

“No. We must assume the wolves are converging on you, so we don’t want your scent around us. That would lead to a war with the Pack.”

“So what should we do?”

I thought quickly. Highwood was north of us, a small town with a bar and a gas station. “Tell Nathan to keep going north on 331 to Highwood. I’ll have Georgina meet you at Elmo’s after I’ve dealt with this guy.”

I heard the tires squeal in the background. I sent a mental message to the entire Den, telling them Pack wolves were coming, to grab guns, and head to the cars. We’d meet at the entrance to the Den from 331. “The tail is closing fast. I guess he’s not interested in following us anymore,” my mate said.

“I’m getting everyone armed and out to the trucks. We’ll block the road after you pass.” I headed for the gun rack, grabbing a Benelli M4 combat shotgun and a box of homeloaded silver-core slug ammunition.

“Gotta go. Thanks, Stanley.”

“Stay safe, kid.” I hung up and tossed the phone aside.

Julie handed me my jacket as I ran for the door. “Keep them safe,” she said.

“Arm up and head to Mom’s. If they make it through us, that’s the first place they’ll hit.” She nodded as I ran out to the truck.

I saw Jerry leaving the driveway while Bobby started the panel truck. I followed Jerry out, seeing Bobby’s headlights behind me. “Nick and Nora picked up a Pack Wolf tail, probably the enforcer who was here this morning. Jerry, you race south until you pass the tail car. Turn around after him and block his escape. Bobby, you and I will go a little slower. After Nick passes us, we block both lanes and bottle him up.”

“You’re interfering with a Council Enforcer?”

“I was polite earlier. Now I’m pissed off a wolf is snooping around my territory,” I replied.

Jerry was already off and running by the time we hit the turn. I waited a minute, giving my brother space, before leading my boy onto the road. We stayed at forty miles an hour as we headed south.

“Something is wrong,” Jerry sent. “I should see them by now.”

“Nick knows to keep going. Keep your eyes peeled.”

It was a few more minutes before we found out what happened. “Stanley, Nick’s car is off the road. It looks like it rolled a few times.”

I put my foot to the floor. “What about the tail car?”

“It’s not here. There’s a car heading south. Want me to chase it?”

If we fight a Council Enforcer away from our territory, it could spark a war. “No. Check on Nick and Nora.”

“Roger that.” I was coming up on the scene; I could see Jerry’s hazard lights on the side of the road, and I parked right behind him.

It was a mess. I could see a wolf in the ditch while Jerry shined a flashlight into the car. “What’s going on?”

“Nora’s gone, and her blood is all over. The wolf took her.”

Shit. Enforcer Knightly had our friend and a head start.

“I’ll check Nick.”

The black and white wolf wasn’t moving, and his blood soaked the ground. I checked his pulse; it was weak, but there. “Grab a first aid kit,” I sent to Bobby. I could see one bullet had grazed his head by his left ear, while another hit inside his left shoulder and exited mid-chest. I updated everyone on what we found. “Mom, get here with the ambulance and bring lots of blood.”

“We’re packing up now,” she replied.

Bobby and I worked frantically to stop the blood loss. The head wound bled a lot, but the chest wound was worse. Thank Artio that the silver wasn’t still in his body!

Julie and Georgina finally arrived, driving the surplus ambulance we’d bought for her years ago. Rogues, werecats, and werebears couldn’t go to human hospitals, and Packs would kill us on sight. The ambulance allowed her to bring a mini-hospital to them. Georgina completed human medical training, including general surgery, in the fifties. Mom had been the sole provider of non-Pack were-care in Montana, Wyoming, and the Dakotas for five decades. She was also Nick’s only chance to survive.

She got an IV going right away. “He’s in bad shape. Julie, get the backboard. I need to crack his chest before he bleeds out.”

We got the big wolf into the back of the ambulance. The lights inside were bright, and her supplies were at hand. “Put a breathing tube in.” Julie had assisted enough to know what to do. My wife got Nick on pure oxygen while Georgina made the incision.

There was nothing the rest of us could do to save him, not in the cramped confines of the ambulance. “Come on, boys. We need to clean up the scene before humans notice.”

We were able to get the car on its wheels. “Bobby, open the back of the truck and put the ramps down. Jerry, pick up everything that flew out.” They got to work while I got the car started. Two of the tires had shredded. It took the engine and two bears pushing to get it into the back of the truck. “Drive this back to the garage,” I told my boy. “We’ll finish up here.”

He nodded and headed for the cab. I went over to the ambulance and peeked in. “How’s Nick doing?”

Georgina had his ribs spread and her fingers inside the wolf’s chest. “I got the bleeders tied off. I’m checking for bullet and bone fragments now.”

“When can we move him? We’re exposed out here.”

“Five minutes for me to close, then we can go.”

I knew better than to argue medical stuff with her. Every minute we sat here was a chance for a human to stumble on the scene, and Artio forbid they call 911! I used the time to clean up the scene. I had Jerry spread Clorox on the blood while I picked up as much broken glass as I could. I tossed it in the trash can in the bed of my pickup as Jerry came over. “What are we going to do about this, Stanley? The fucking wolves will be all over this.”

“They don’t know we were helping Nick.”

“If they figure it out, we’re dead. They’ll get fifty warriors out here and overrun us.”

It happened before with werebears and werecats. They had strength in numbers. “Then they better believe me,” I said. “I might have to allow them on our lands to allay suspicions. Let’s go talk to Mom.”

She was stitching up his head. “He got lucky. An inch to the left? We replace his brains splattered in the ditch instead of a concussion and fractured skull.”

“We can’t bring him back to the Den, Georgina.”

“He needs to rest and recover, Stanley.”

“I hear you, but if we bring him to your house, we risk losing everything. You have to take him somewhere else to recuperate.”

She shook her head. “A long drive might kill him. If he rips out those stitches? He’ll bleed out before I can save him.”

We didn’t have a choice. “We have to take that chance. This place could be crawling with Pack Wolves by morning. Nick has to go.”

“Fine.” No one liked to hear that from a woman because you knew you’d pay for it later.

“Julie, you’ll have to drive so Mom can keep an eye on him. Don’t say where you are going, and don’t call us for at least a week. What we don’t know can’t be used to hurt you. Buy what you need on the way.”

Julie knew I was right, and she’d help Mom accept it. “I love you, Stannie,” she said as she kissed me.

“I love you too,” I said.I kissed Mom goodbye, then closed the back door of the ambulance. They headed south while Jerry and I drove north to our ranch. Jerry and Bobby pulled their things out of the car and burned it all in a bonfire while I went to make a phone call.

“Council Headquarters, Amanda speaking,” a female voice answered.

My deep, raspy voice scared her a bit. “I’m Stanley Biggs. Tell the Chairman I want to speak to him RIGHT NOW.”

“He’s in a meeting, Mr. Biggs. Can I take a message?”

“Tell him to get on the phone before I turn a four-foot-tall, two hundred-and-twenty-pound wolf over to the Montana Fish and Wildlife Department.”

“Yes, sir. Please hold.”

It didn’t take long. “Gruber.”

“Let me ask you a question, Mr. Chairman. When your guy came by earlier, did he see a sign in front of my ranch that said ‘Dead Werewolf Storage’?”

“Stanley, it’s a delicate situation.”

“Did he see a sign in front of my ranch saying ‘Dead Werewolf Storage’?”

“No, he didn’t.”

“You know WHY he didn’t see that sign?”

“Why?”

“’Cause it ain’t there, ’cause storing dead werewolves ain’t my FUCKING business, that’s why! So why the FUCK are your people running a car off the road and leaving a wolf carcass on my doorstep where humans could replace it? And why is Enforcer Knightly running away instead of helping to clean up the mess HE made?”

There was a pause. “The two rogues were wanted for murder. The female was injured, and Enforcer Knightly made a field decision to try and save her baby. He left because he thought humans were coming.”

“And he couldn’t take out the fucking TRASH first?”

“He did what he could. I can have a team there by morning to assist with cleanup.”

That couldn’t happen. “The FUCK you will. Vic walked away because he came under a flag of truce with your authority. Rogues are fucking dangerous. They know better than to come near Den lands.” I had to convince him we had nothing to do with Nick and Nora. “Me and the boys will take care of the car and the carcass. Neither will exist by morning. If you send anyone near my Den, I’ll shoot first and ask questions later.”

“I would appreciate that, Stanley. The last thing we need is for the humans to get involved.”

“Yeah.” I didn’t say anything for a moment. “Your people owe me for this.”

“Your cooperation is appreciated. Have you scented that pair before?”

“Never. Of course, we don’t wander too far from our den, and Montana is a big state.”

“I’m sending people that way to look for their hideout,” the Chairman said.

“Keep them twenty miles or more away from us,” I threatened. I'd send Jerry to clean out their apartment in Great Falls as soon as I was done here. “You don’t want any fatal misunderstandings.”

“I read you perfectly, Stanley. We’ve got a lot going on, as you might imagine. Is there anything we can do to assist you?”

“Send five grand to my trucking company to offset the cost of transport and disposal of their car,” I said quickly. “It will be a cube of scrap metal by morning, with no disposal record.”

“I’ll do that. Thank you, Stanley.”

“You’re welcome, Chairman Gruber.” I hung up the phone and smiled. I’d gotten more than I’d expected from the call.

Now, I had to pray the Council didn’t ever connect our Den with their rogues.

(Apologies to Quentin Tarantino for the dialogue abuse)