Omega and the feat - Hookhill 2

Chapter 45

"Do you know who they are?"

"Peterson found a purse with the woman's ID."

Rogers snapped his fingers and another police officer rushed over. He pulled up a wallet and handed it to me. I looked down at a young woman, immediately recognizing her.

"Pamela Lorey, twenty-three years old. The other victim is her boyfriend, Jim Johnson."

Ryan's friends... Pamela worked at the ice cream parlour Ryan used to work in. I clenched my jaws.

"Have you gotten any surveillance footage of the attack?"

"We're working on it. There should be plenty since there are a lot of surveillance around the mall."

"What were the victims doing here?"

"From what we understand from the testimony of the witnesses, they must have been hunted here, sir. The wolf came out of nowhere and approached them by the parking area where they were waiting for a cab."

"Just one wolf?" Angus asked gravely. We all wondered if Ben was accompanied by his pack or not.

"As far as we know, yes. But yet again it disappeared as quickly as it came." I nodded with a sigh. "I fear this will bring you serious consequences, Mr. Hook. People are speculating and your wolves are already being talked about. Surely you must have noticed a decrease of visitors in the reserve?"

"No one is welcomed into the wolves' inner territory, but then we haven't counted the stats, sir."

"Hunters will be called in for sure and it will be a hell of a mess."

"I understand that."

"But it's none of our wolves," Angus repeated quite offended.

"No, I know that, but those out there will want to find a scapegoat fast. And since you are the wolf family, I assume you will be their target."

"Mr. Hook! Can we have a word?!"

"Is this one of your wolves' deed?!"

"Will you hunt it down?!"

"When will you stop this human attacks?!"

Reporters further away shouted at us but we ignored them. Instead, we walked around the area to see if we could pick up any scent marks of Ben or maybe from where he might have been before the attack.

I thought I smelled pinewood, thinking of the larger sawmill towards Holbeck. It was a fresh scent, like newly felled trees.

"You recognized the woman." Alex spoke barely noticeable to me and Angus so no one else would hear.

"Ryan's former colleague."

"He's going after Ryan's friends now," she stated.

"Wasn't the first victim also an acquaintance of Ryan's?" Angus asked. "They've been targeting them all along."

"Yes, he owns that shop he and Mike like."

"But how does the woman at the yoga studio come into the picture?" Alex asked. I shrugged before it hit me.

"Benjamin must have thought it was Vendela. They looked alike."

"Of course!"

"We have Ryan's and Mike's families under protection, but we can't protect everyone they know," Angus sighed.

"Ben will try anything to break Ryan down and get what he wants through that. He's using Ryan and his emotional heart against us." I gritted my teeth.