Honest Work Begins

The hotel room door had closed behind Yolanda. Ian turned to his friends. “Okay, I think she’s gone. What do you think is going on? Alright, do you think she knows anything?” 

“This is something that’s bothering her. Though it’s not clear whether it’s because we caught them in something or she’s concerned about how this affects her and the Wolversens.” Jaxon commented while he picked up the files from the bed and floor. 

“Are they foolish enough to name themselves Wolversen and be werewolves?” Ian said. He frowned as he began packing up the food. 

“It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve come across creatures that are so self-confident about their secrets they reference the truth in their names. Do you remember that were-eagle who named his bar, The Roost?" 

“I know the smell of food is heavy in here, but I can’t smell bacon over the burger smell. So, we know that her sense of smell is sensitive, more so than ours. Maybe, they are werewolves.” 

“Yolanda wasn’t trying to read what we left out. Though I’m sure she noted what was there. Yolanda’s curious but not fascinated by the photos or evidence. She registered what was here, finding none of the pleasure from seeing the evidence. I’ll pull up the surveillance on her communications. Her text messages prove she’s trying to find the proof that they have no involvement in this.” Hal started poking at the computer on the closest bed. “I can’t find any codes in these messages. If there is a code, it’s hidden very well. The messages are waiting in the buffer of her cellphone, so no one else knows what she has written.” 

“For now, that should be fine. My question is, are the Wolversens involved with this. Or do they just live nearby? If Wolversen is that generous with his time and money. Why would he let this happen?”  

She showed no surprise to see it and her reaction to it was real with disgust. I felt there was something else—loathing or maybe hatred. Yolanda didn’t display any fear or fascination at all. I don’t think she comes from a group that condones things like this.” 

“Fine, are we taking her into the thick of this investigation? She claims to have the skills and knowledge to survive around here.” 

“If she’s a werewolf. Then she is better prepared than any of us to investigate further.”

Hal was still poking around on his laptop, researching something. “She’s been holding back on us. Her record says she’s a crack shot and something of a weapons expert with all the correct permits. I bet she took stock of our gear in less than three minutes.” Hal pointed to the open weapons bags.

“Could be a problem with how we’re running the trip? With the weather like this, I’ve sent several requests for proper gear and transport. Now the weather is worse than I even thought it would be. Do either of you have any hesitation going out in a couple of days to see if we can find anything thing further?” 

“If we don’t do it now. We will find nothing else. Time is ticking on any viable evidence out there. But I don’t think we should tell her where we are going exactly until we get there. The last thing we need is someone getting out there and destroying evidence.” 

“Agreed. We’ll have Yolanda as a backup plan and keep her close to see how she reacts to anything we find.”  

“Then I think we should go over the map and the co-ordinates the hunters provided when they could get their satellite phone working again. This is pretty remote, but if I understand what I’m looking at, this here is a place that we can have a helicopter drop us and our stuff off for a few days. Here is where we would get a signal with a satellite phone, and here is the location we are heading to. It’s pretty remote, and satellite assessment of the area has evidence of several caves in that specific area. I figure they were storing things in one cave while using another for their rituals. We must be careful with estimations are the cold will alter the estimations of any time frames we might work out from the evidence. Any reports are going to have to state that until the lab work is finished.” 

“We’re going to have to limit our exposure also to the elements. Or we will need medical attention, and we won’t have time to afford the luxury of having anyone gone for medical attention. There are also issues with the large bear and wolf populations up here. I can’t believe that all the sightings are of were-creatures. We can’t afford anyone trying to reason with an animal while we are there.” 

“I don’t think we will get anything like a ski-doo or ATV out there, so moving locations are going to be cumbersome. Unless we can find a helicopter that can haul large cargo suspended below it.” 

“We may also need more than one trip in. One for people and another for equipment. This is going to kill our budget.” Ian started flipping through files and reports. Cross-referencing things on a tablet. “I am still concerned about getting the extra gear out here in time. Everything is hinging on that getting up here in the next couple of days. Have I said how much I hate winter in Canada?” Looking out into the darkness, it was barely seven in the evening, and he could just make out the snow still falling steadily past his window. 

“How is Yolanda going to get her own gear if she can’t get back to the Wolversen’s estate?” 

“There’s got to be someplace in town that can help with that. I mean, honestly, how do these people survive without shops and such?” 

“When we can get into town, I guess we’ll find out. The kid at the front desk would probably know where to go to the things we need.” 

“Yup, that’s definitely something we will do.” Ian scribbled something on a notepad and then pulled up an email from one of their occult specialists’ contacts. “Here’s something absolutely disgusting. They have identified one symbol as a rare summoning rune. It looks like whoever it was performing the ritual, their intent was to raise something or someone from the dead.” More scribbling into the notepad on the table before him. 

“I think there might be a trail that goes by the site. It’s as if you can’t see the site from the road and the road from the site. The land looks pretty rough. We must watch our steps carefully, or we could sink into an unseen snowdrift.” 

“Delightful.” Jaxon was straightening the bags for the morning and just trying to claim some floor space for the three rather large men. “Can we just accept the fact that we won’t be able to recover any evidence for a few days? I feel this will be a storm that lasts for two or three days.” 

“I really hate to agree with you, but you have a valid point. Alright, let’s just get this planning done as far as we can for now, and we’ll pick it up tomorrow. Then we can knock off for the night and relax for a bit.” 

“Sounds good to me. It’s been exhausting for me.” Hal shut down his computer and plugged it in along with his phone. “Why can we never have enough outlets in our rooms?” 

“Budget issues. Sorry, we’ll just have to make do. Alright, I’m heading back to my room. I’ll see you both in the morning.” Ian headed out the door, intending on going to his room, but he changed direction without thinking about it.