Chapter 3 – Is This Dry Clean Only?

Mike Slagenweit (Sabrewolf) cruised the grounds of the Raid, watching the daily activity, or as much as it could return to “normal” after the disaster of the previous evening. His friends Becky Woods captured by the Fashionista and JT Tepnapa in depression as his one true love, Adam, was revealed as the Fashionista. And to top it all off, his best friend, Tobey Devonshire (AKA Nightwolf), was recuperating in the Den’s infirmary recovering from a bomb explosion which nearly killed him.

I read the headlines touted in The Graphic: “Oscar Nominated Actress Kidnapped!” and “Bombing at the Raid”. The level of journalism while somewhat true also was appalling; the staff’s competency in guest safety was put into question. It pissed me off but I had bigger things on my mind. Like keeping the remaining guests safe from reprisal attacks from the Fashionista. Darren and Ookami rotated shifts guarding JT, while Cana and Ty-Ohni patrolled in the city hoping to get clue as to Becky’s whereabouts. I, on the other hand, stayed close to home supervising the repairs to the spa’s bar and keeping the curiosity seekers away.

While walking through the shambles of the bar, I noticed something dropped among the litter of the damage: a receipt for a suit cleaning at Barnett’s Dry Cleaners.

Taking the Suzuki, and leaving the guests in Zack's hands, I drove into town--obeying the speed limit-- and stopped outside Barnett's Dry Cleaners.

Respectable place, I thought, but at the same time, looked shady. A large, beefy man was working the counter when I walked in. He said to me in a low rumble, more placating than anything, "Can I help you?"

I pulled the business card from my pocket--after coating my fingertips with plastic, so as not to disturb evidence-- and said, "I'm the Manager of the Raid. You know, the place that was attacked last night and found this on the floor of the bar. You have an idea who might have dropped this there?"

"What is it?"

"It's just a card which gives the name and address, but I wondered if you knew anybody who might've used your services and then attended the event."

He gave me a dark look.

"You're kidding right? There are only 3 people in this town that do dry cleaning. And you're asking me about a heavily attended event? Sure try half the town." He said sarcastically

"Well, maybe I was wrong," I replied, "I wonder, is the manager in?"

"I am the manager." He said testily. "Can I help you with something or are you gonna bust my chops?"

"I see. Well, I have an Italian suit which needs to get pressed. Got roughed up in that bombing. I wondered if I might bring it in." The dark look came again and the sense perked strong this time. He definitely knew who I was and that I was not there to talk about getting my Armani suit cleaned.

What was he after? Better be safe than sorry. "Sorry bub, something like that you wanna take it to Schoomaker's. We don't handle that mamby pamby stuff here. We're a working man's store." He crossed his arms defiantly.

"Okay. Thanks for your time," I said, "I appreciate it."

The store owner grunted and watched Mike walk out the door. Then he ducked behind the curtain heading for the back.

I walked outside and got back into the truck. He'd known something all right, and I was determined to find out what. Though it was not something Mike Slagenweit could accomplish, but Sabrewolf could. First though to send a little note to police Captain Solak.

Dropping the card in an envelope with the seal of the Wolf Pack, I surreptitiously dropped the envelope out the window, into the gutter outside the LEC where a cop was standing a few feet away who saw it. Then I drove back to the Raid. Fine night for hunting baddies, I thought.

As dusk fell, I caught Cana on the way back to the Dormitories after supper. Pulling him aside, I said, "Feel like hunting tonight?"

I felt a grin growing on my face. "Sure thing boss. How soon?"

"After nightfall. We're going to pay a call on Mr. Barnett of the Dry Cleaning establishment. I suspect he knows someone in the Fashionista's gang."

Finally, more field work! My favorite part of the job. "Okay, let me go grab my gear. Do we have time to check in on Tobey?"

"Sure. I've got to as well."

Dashing off to the dorm, I got my pack and walked into the infirmary 10 mins later suited up. Tobey was asleep still hooked up to the monitors and wearing an oxygen mask. Laren was standing beside him, the glow fading from her hands. "How is tonight?"

My fellow student looked exhausted, and so I helped her sit down. "He is 100 times better than last night, but I figure he will still be down for another day or two. I can't believe how badly he was hurt."

Remembering back to the last few minutes in the house, I couldn't believe my mentor was still breathing! "It was a close call Laren. Too Close."

On my way up to the Infirmary, I saw Ty-Ohni working in the R&D area. Pulling him aside, I said, "You and the others better suit up and be ready. I'm going to take the Pup and do some scouting. If I need you, I'll call."

"Very well," he replied. I got on the lift again and rode it up to the Infirmary. Cana and Laren were talking off to the side, moving further away to give me a little more privacy when I came into the room.

I walked up to my friend, still unconscious, and taking his hand said, more in my mind than voice, but it came out in a whisper, "I've got a lead. Hopefully, with a little luck, we'll get Becky back and make things right. You concentrate on getting your strength back. We can't afford to lose you."

I just lay there like a slug.

I sensed a slight stir which made me wonder if he'd actually heard me, but didn't have time to dwell.

Heading out, Cana following, I said, "You ready?"

Scratching my red hair, I pulled my mask over my freckled face and my gaze hardened. "Let's prowl Sabre."

Taking the lift to the garage level, we climbed into the Beast and broke for town. Instead of taking the front approach to Barnett's as I'd done this morning, I took the truck to the back of the building in the alley. Under the cover of shadow, we found the backdoor to Barnett's: locked. I looked at Cana and said, "Did Nightwolf teach you how to pick a lock?"

Hesitantly, I answered, thankful that my mask hid the fierce blush rising on my face. "Uh yes sir, he was working on fine tuning."

"Good. Get busy." He didn't see that under my mask, I'd smiled.

Turning to the lock, I took my tools out of the pouch on my belt and grateful for a darkened ally, felt the tumblers fall into place and the door hung ajar.

"Nice work." We slipped inside, finding ourselves in Barnett's office. The place was a mess of paper, most looking like financial statements. The IRS would have a field-day in here, I thought. On the surface nothing looked as if it might give us a further clue as to Becky's location.

I worked quickly sliding drawers open and glancing through the files. Nothing.

Rifling though the desk, though, I found something which did pique my interest, a pack of cigarettes. Not your typical Marlboros though, imported smokes. I called Cana over. "Have you ever seen this brand before?

""No sir, but they smell familiar."

"Sure do. The same smell coming from the Fashionista's smokes. I wonder where in town you could get these?" I thought for a moment, and then said, "There was a train that came into town from down south. The cops said they had reason to want to search it, but couldn't get aboard."

"I think we ought to pay a visit to the train yards."

"Sounds good sir. Do we want to leave a calling card here?"

"Absolutely. Mr. Barnett may look legitimate, but he's laundering money through this place. He's just not stupid enough to keep it here."

I fished out the needed tool and with a flourish, grinned at Sabre. At his nod, I walked over to the wall and with the Laser Cutter; I burned a nice wolf's head on the wall 4 ft across.

“Let's head for the rail yard boss." Satisfied we walked into the night.

"Calley to Sabre: what's your 20?"

"The rail yard? What type of lea- Never mind." Calley had ceased trying to figure us out

I replied, "We've got a lead that the Fashionista procures his smokes from a foreign source that came into town recently. This may give us a clue to where his hideout is and where he's holding Becky."

Ty broke in on the call. "Be careful after last night. We don't need anymore singed fur."

"Don't worry, Ty. I'll call you in at the first sign of trouble... Or I'll send Fuzzy to do it."

Ty looked over at Calley.

She just shrugged her shoulders. It wouldn’t be the first time the mutt has called.

Ty nodded.

Cana watched the computer monitor in the dash board as Sabre flew down the streets.

"What are we looking for sir? Should we check the train manifests for cargo?"

It seemed such an easy job. Standing there and guarding. Standing there. Guarding. Guarding whilst standing there. In fact, it seemed that the only two factors require were guarding and standing, and the standing had to be there.

"Good question. Check and see what you can find." I pulled the Beast to a stop in the parking are of the city rail yard. Three sets of tracks crossed the yard, joining together at the opposite ends. Two of the lines had a row of cars on them, waiting for the engines to take them away

They hunkered there like rusting steel boxes which were never going to be sent.

Tapping into the rail line computers the contents of the past week scrolled across my screen. No Cigs. But something struck my eye.

"Sir, I think I may have something. A train pulled in 3 days ago.

"What was its cargo?"

I mean, guarding by itself is simple enough, and standing there is simple if you put your mind to it, but when you put the two together - man, that takes genius.

"That's just the thing sir. There was none, but it is scheduled to leave in two days carrying film equipment and wardrobe boxes."

"Carrying nothing, but leaving full? That is odd. Let's take a look at the cars."

In fact, it really feels like something needs to happen. Perhaps a - (thunk)

The lithe Asian wolf walked up the stairs of the cottage to the master bedroom where JT was under their care when she heard a body hit the floor.

Getting out of the beast both men pulled weapons and began approaching the trains sitting on the track.

The sight of the cars sitting there in the night with the harsh light of the security lights on them was disconcerting, but we found the cars Cana pointed out.

On the outside, they looked ordinary. On the inside, was another matter entirely.

Ookami ran up the flight of stairs and reached for the door. She heard struggling inside and grabbed the doorknob to burst inside. The electricity flowing through the metal knob knocked her back down the stairs where she collapsed in a heap.

On the other side of the door, JT was being bound and struggling to scream against the tape over his mouth. The Brunette who had electrified the doorknob turned around at the goons bagging the Asian director. She was glad that he was so light. It would be easier getting him back to the boss. Walking to the balcony, she watched as their hostage was dropped down into the waiting arms of more thugs and they stole off into the night. 2 for 3.

The car's doors slid open with a noisy rattle. When they finally cleared a space wide enough for us to get through, we found ourselves staring at the barrels of half a dozen guns, Cana's eyes went wide with surprise, as for me... well, to say I suspected a trap would be a lie.

A growl escaped my throat, while my mind said, "Fuzzy, you're needed."

Even when you are expecting it, it still frightens you to stare down the barrel of a weapon Cana thought.

I looked at Cana, trying to convey a look of calm, then said to Barnett, standing there with a .45 leveled at my head, "I have to compliment you, Mr. Barnett."

Calley looked up at her display at a tale tell light. "Ty. We’ve got a problem. I am only reading two life signs at the Elm Cottage." Ty moved out of the command center to the cottage. Calley opened a comm line. "Command to Darren and Ookami come in."

"Who the frak are you two supposed to be?"

Even though he couldn't see it, I smiled underneath my mask. He truly was ignorant. I said, "We're the Wolf Pack. Remember it, when you're stewing in prison. Now where's the Fashionista?"

With a smirk, Barnett cocked his pistol. "Yeah right like I would tell you. Besides you won't need to know here in a moment."

"Shows what you know." I gingerly reached into a pouch on my belt, and pulled out a couple of marble sized smoke bombs out. In a quick movement, I smashed them on the ground. They exploded on impact, but the cover wouldn't last long. Just long enough, I hoped, for Cana and I to turn the tables.

Cana lashed out with a Roundhouse kick to the chin of the man on his left while unleashing the pulse energy from his hands to Barnett and the goon standing to his left.

I pulled my bo staff out of the sheath on my back, snapped it into place and brought it against the head of another one of Barnett's thugs. The remaining one had the moment to react, which got him out of the way of a repeat attack. He dodged my swing, ducking at the right moment. He tried to bring up his gun, but I quickly knocked it from his hand.

Cana crouched down and waited for the smoke to clear and heard another thud from over by Sabre

I put a swift boot in his chest which put him on the ground, but left him conscious. Leaning over him, I said, "Now, where is the Fashionista?"

He made a coughing sound, and I leaned closer. He looked me square in the eyes and spat right in my face.

Cana grinned wickedly as Fuzzy stood over him from above and growled.

"That was really stupid," I grated, "The wolf is getting hungry and I have no problem letting him have you for dinner."

Darren looked up from eating carpeting to find Ty kneeling over him. "JT - Hit from behind - oof!" Ty had dropped him to run up to the master suite. He paused only long enough to check for a pulse and breathing on Ookami. On the landing, Ty burst down the door and rolled into the room to come up in a fighting stance, his mystic powers bathing him in a red tinged aura.

Calley was tapping furiously on the control boards as Ty reported in and called for Laren to assist with the two fallen wolves. "Command to Sabre and Cana: Please respond we have a problem."

Sabre was not gonna be happy

I was just about to tell Fuzzy to go ahead and start knawing on the goon under my feet, when my comm-link went off. I made a quick sign to Cana to hold him, and then said, "This is Sabrewolf. What's going on?"

Calley filled us in, with a few quick words. The first word out of my mouth, when she finished, summed it up for the both of us: "Shit!"

Cana shook his head and pulled ripcords out of his pouch and bound the two henchmen near him. Unbelievable. How could two of their charges be snatched right out from under their noses?

"All right, we're on our way back. Get everybody back to the Den." I said, deactivating the comm-link. With a quick swing of the staff, I sent the goon under my feet to la-la land, and said to Cana, "Tie these two up as well. They'll make a nice gift for the cops."

"What about Barnett?"

"I'll deal with him in due time. Right now we need to find out how the hell the Fashionista got the drop on us."

The thought brought Cana to his full height. "We might be infiltrated!??!?"

"A thought, Cana, which gives me no comfort. Come on."

We jumped back into the Beast and tore for the Den. The kid was probably right, somewhere on the grounds of the Raid, was a spy working for the Fashionista. We had suspected it before, but with the sudden kidnapping of Becky we didn't have the luxury to dwell on it. Now the prospect seemed too difficult to ignore further.

The teenager got into the passenger compartment strapping into the webbing and absently scratched Fuzzy behind the ears as he watched the town streak by. Who was it? And how were they gonna find and get the hostages back?

Over the comm Calley reported everyone was in the command center getting patched up and were awaiting their arrival.

I pulled into the secret entrance to the garage, the photoelectric cells closing the doors behind us. Once inside, we climbed out and took the lift to the Command Center. I got right to the point and said, "There is someone working for the Fashionista amongst us."

"No shit mate" said a very grouchy Darren holding an ice pack to the base of his neck.

"So the question is: how do we find him or her, without giving ourselves away or alerting the Fashionista that we're on to him?"

The pack looked amongst them waiting for each other to speak. Laren spoke up timidly. "We can rule out the pack itself right? I mean we were all present in the company of another pack member at the time of the attacks right?"

Ty spoke, "We can. I have looked into all of your minds and found no deceit. However, we have a number of guests here as well as recent additions to the staff. It will take days to eliminate all the probable suspects."

Laren checked over Ookami again.

I said, "We can narrow the field to all guests and event staff. The kids wouldn't do this sort of thing."

As comfortable as the uniforms were, it took Seth a glance at Shawna and seeing her giggle to realize his mask was still on. Sheepishly he pushed it over the back of his head. "Us kids wouldn't have the resources either"

"So that leaves us with about a hundred fifty guests and probably about a hundred staff members."

Darren shook his head and winced.

"No mate, less than that, there are those we know who are loyal: Zack, Two Socks...'

I sighed. "There has got to be a way to narrow the field of suspects..."

Calley had a concentrated look on her face. "Let me access our personnel files. We can rule out different people faster than the mental list. First we eliminate all staffers who have been here two years or more. All staff over 60 should be alright correct?"

"Right," I said. Calley's thoughts started to kick my wheels of thought into motion. "Also, eliminate those who haven't had any contact with the guests. It's only a few, but it's some."

“We can focus on those that were hired in the last 6 months; those that have expressed being unhappy; and those with a criminal record."

Her hands flew across the keyboard of the computer, playing it as easily as a piano. A list of about thirty files came up on the screen.

As she watched the activity around her, and nurse her bruises, Kami spoke up. "We need to make it seem like our charges are still here on the resort grounds. I can shift into Ms. Woods and Mr. Tepnapa a few times around the resort in the morning and afternoon so people will see them. It may lull the mole into a false alarm."

Ty held up a card with an embossed F. "This does not bode well for us either." On it was "2 of 3". "I found it on the floor where we were hiding JT.

"So, the question becomes, who's the third?"

"That is indeed the question my friend. We have been laboring under the pretense that it was a connection between two famous people. But what is the connection that brings a 3rd person into play?" Darren and Seth just looked at Ty in concentration at that thought.

"An actress and a director... Both relatively famous but not quite in superstardom yet."

Seth spoke up "Could it be one of their entourage?"

"Could well be... God, I'd hate to think there's more than one."

"Makes this process all the more harder."

"Wait a moment, I've thought of a plan. Long shot, but it might work."

Calley turned to look at her friends’ backlit by the glow of the computer center. "I have uploaded the employee files to your comm links."

"Let's split up and take a couple of individuals to watch-- the shiftiest of the suspects. We monitor their moves and what they're doing, reporting in anything at all out of the ordinary. If they make a move, this time we're ready. Open comm-links from here on out. Calley, you'll stay here and coordinate."

"Sir", Shawna was hesitant.

"This is the only way I can think of, unless someone's got a better idea." I said, trying to be reassuring, "Don't worry. If we keep everybody here contained, this process should go fast."

"No it's just Calley has been on her station since last night. I mean I don't want to speak for her. But can she pick this up tomorrow with a little rest?"

Calley was touched by Shawna's thought and truth be told she was starting to feel scratchy behind her eyelids

Shawna's words touched a spot in my mind, she was probably right. We all had been running on pure adrenaline for two days now, with precious little sleep or rest. If we kept this up, we'd burn out before we caught the infiltrator anyway.

"All right," I conceded. We'll have to take shifts down here monitoring. Take a little time and try to get some rest."

Calley looked at the youngsters of the group. "To bed with you two. You might have school in the morning, but we will see. “She speared Sabrewolf with a glance. "You too. With the open com links, we can all be reached." But gently she grasped his forearm. "Shawna made up the bed next to Tobey's. We know you won't want to leave him. Kami, you might want to impersonate our happy go lucky cruise director while you're at it tomorrow. Ty since every one else is injured, can you take first watch and then wake me at 0400 to relieve you?"

Seeing the look in Calley's eyes and knowing her judo skills, I thought it best not to argue the point.

Ty replied, "Very well."

"I left a note for housekeeping to clean up the Elm Cottage but to keep it hushed" Darren said.

"Look for anything which might be a clue beforehand. Doubt it, but worth checking anyway." I said.

Calley shot me another look that said, "REST!" I headed for the infirmary. On the way, I remembered that strawberry-blonde haired waitress who'd spilled the martini on me the night before. Being one of the new hires, she was one I would take to watch.

The rest of the staff left to go back to their rooms.

As I approached Tobey, I noticed the subtle movement of his eyes, though closed in sleep. I wondered what he might be dreaming about. I wondered if there might be a way to reach into his mind and see...

The moon shone bright above me. I couldn't figure out how I had gotten to the stone bridge down by the mill. But the moon shone full in the sky and I felt light as a breeze. Walking towards my comfort spot down at the old mill, I could hear the wind blow past my ears and saw two of the pack leaving for their domiciles.

The path failed to crunch at my footsteps and I thought that odd, but then I heard crying and kept moving forward.

As I rounded the water wheel sitting on the shore line was a petite strawberry blonde crying.

Concentrating my mind, I closed my eyes, willing my mind to link with my unconscious partner's. Like a bar of soap, squirting from your hand when wet, I couldn't seem to make contact.

She was looking down at something and just weeping. But before I could find out why, I felt my eyes open and sitting there beside my bed in the chair was a softly snoring Sabrewolf. Patrol must have been a bear. He was so exhausted he had fallen asleep with his mask still in place. Sleep overwhelmed me once again and took me back under the full moon.