Chapter 23: Back Home

As the night went on, we napped in the chairs, waking on the hour when the nurse came in. By four, Liv didn’t wake up, and I let her sleep. She would need all of her rest for what was coming up.

It was just after six when the night shift doctor turned over her case to the day shift. They gave her another examination, which must have gone well. “Do you have someone at home who can monitor her through the day?”

“We have several people who can do that,” I said.

“Excellent. Vicki is doing well enough that further observation here is not required. I will leave you with instructions about her care and what to watch for. If any of those occur, bring her back here immediately,” he said. “In the meantime, she needs her rest, and to move around when she is awake. Walking around is good, running or sports are not. In three days, you can allow her to become more active, but stop the activity immediately if it triggers headaches, dizziness, or nausea.”

“I can do that,” Liv said.

“Limit things that can cause strain; no video games, limited television, reading, texting, or computer use at first. Follow the same rule, increasing them over time unless they trigger symptoms.”

“How long will she have the headaches and the other issues?”

He couldn’t tell us. “Brain injuries are not predictable, like a broken bone or a cut. She may be fine in a few days, or symptoms could linger for months. You should follow up with your pediatrician in two weeks to have her stitches removed, sooner if there are any problems.” He went through a stack of forms with Liv and finished signing Vicki out.

Vicki was excited to be leaving, but still tired. We had a parade of wheelchairs as we rode the elevator down to the exit, where Donna was waiting with Liv’s silver Acura. “I had it brought here just in case she was released. Your car was the only vehicle we had with a booster seat,” she explained.

“That’s fine,” Liv said. Donna and the nurse got Vicki buckled in while Liv got into the back with her. She was moving slowly, and her torn-up ankle probably hurt with every move. I had a little more fun getting in the passenger seat with my boot and crutches, but I made it.

“Momma, I’m hungry,” Vicki said. “Can we have McDonalds?”

“Connie will have a good breakfast waiting for her favorite little wolf when we get home,” Donna said as we pulled out. “We can’t have a repeat of the ambulance in Mommy’s car.”

I snorted, and Liv looked shocked before she started to laugh. “It’s for the best, my tummy is always upset later in the day.”

“You shouldn’t eat anything greasy or heavy, Liv. Fruit, juice, maybe some pancakes or oatmeal.”

“How long do I have until the fever starts?”

“Before lunch,” I told her.

“Mommy is sick?” Vicki looked over at her. “You had owie, not sick!”

“A bad werewolf came into the truck and bit me after the accident, love. My ankle will heal, but I’m going to get a wolf. She will be like yours, but bigger.”

Vicki broke out in a smile until she remembered something. “Your change hurts a lot, like mine?”

“I’m going to go through the same thing, but it will be worse for Mommy because I’m not as brave as my little girl is.” She reached out her hand and reassured her daughter. “I will have people to help me, and I’ll have my little girl there too.”

“I’ll let Wolfy out to help you, Mommy,” she said.

“You are not to shift until your mother, or I tell you to,” I told Vicki with an Alpha command. “Your doctor said not to do anything that could cause you strain, and changing your head into a wolf’s head is a strain.”

“Awww, man,” she said. Her eyes got wide. “Will I be able to talk to you with my mind like I do with Unka Wolfy?”

“Once we teach your Mom how, you will be able to. She will be in our Pack with Brent, Mike, and Anita.”

“You’ve been getting calls from people about joining our Pack, Leo,” Donna said.

“I know. My phone has been blowing up with texts all night. Do you want to know what I told them?”

“I do,” Liv said.

“While we were still at Wiederholt’s, I sent a text to all the numbers I had for my old Pack except for Alpha Todd. I also included the Alphas of the surrounding Packs. The text told them Alpha Leo Volkov had formed the Miesville Pack and was open to adding members.”

“So that’s what ticked him off,” Liv said.

“Yes, but I didn’t think he would act so quickly. Last night in the hospital, I sent the same people another text. I told them that Alpha Todd is on borrowed time. His cowardly attack on my truck resulted in injuries to me and two of my Pack members, one of whom is not even five years old. His Pack members also exposed their wolves and bit a human female. He KNEW there was a human and a juvenile in the truck, and he did it anyway. For these transgressions, I will have him removed as Alpha of the Welch Pack. When I recover, I will come after him, and he will lose his life. I warned them all that if they stood with him, they would share his fate. I signed it as Alpha Leo Volkov, Alpha of the Miesville Pack.”

“Dang, you didn’t pause to catch your breath,” Donna said. “My boy isn’t happy that there has been another attack, and he’s calling in more help. I told them that Mike and Brent are the only healthy Pack member you have right now, and you’re all restricted to your home.”

“He doesn’t want another Pack war breaking out.”

“Exactly. We’ll put so many wolves around your home that he won’t dare try anything, and that will give some time for the Council to work this out.”

“I bet those pencil-pushers are THRILLED to have me back in the mix,” I said.

“Their primary motive is to make sure nothing spills out into the humans, and Liv and Vicki are all over the news. An Alpha is the FBI’s prime suspect in a murder/kidnapping, two Stillwater wolves are dead, and a former Alpha took them out to save a human and her Alpha wolf daughter. You can count on a parade of senior Werewolves showing up. Heck, some may be waiting for you.”

“I’ve got enough going on, thank you,” I said. “I just want to eat, then sleep until Liv starts her change.”

“What he said,” Liv replied.

When we arrived home, a dozen people were waiting for us as the garage door closed. Liv and Vicki were carried inside and set at the kitchen table, while Mike got me into the wheelchair and brought me inside. I thanked Luna that I’d had the foresight to adopt Americans with Disability Act standards for my home when I built it. The extra cost from the beginning was minimal compared to a refit. The doors were a few inches wider than standard, levers were used instead of knobs, there were no drop-offs on the main floor, and I had handrails by the toilets. I even had a shower on the main floor bathroom that would allow a wheelchair to roll right in.

I had oatmeal, toast, and jam for breakfast with orange juice, taking my pain pills with them. Liv and Vicki left for their apartment with Brent before I finished; he would watch her and warn us when it was time. Mike helped me shower and get ready for bed before he left me. It was annoying; my body ached, and not just from the shoulder and ankle. Getting rolled in a truck had me bruised and sore. I put my arm in an immobilizer they had given me. It kept my arm at my left side with my forearm across my stomach while I slept. My ankle was just as annoying with the heavy boot on it. I covered myself and lay back in the big bed. My head barely hit the pillow before I was out.

It seemed like the next second when Anita turned on my bedside light and woke me up. “Alpha, the FBI is here, and they insist on speaking to you,” she said. “I’m sorry.”

I grabbed my phone and looked at it; it was nine forty-two. I’d had less than two hours of sleep. “Put them in my office, I’ll be there shortly,” I said.

“They’re in there already. Let me help you with that.” She removed the immobilizer and helped me put on a clean T-shirt, then work my way into a track suit and slippers. When I was back in the wheelchair, she put my left arm in the sling and wheeled me down the hall. The two agents stood, an older female and a younger male. “Agents, what brings you here,” I asked as Anita moved me behind my desk, kicking my desk chair out of the way. I kept the link open with her, Mike, and Brent as she left.

“I’m Senior Agent Thompson, he’s Special Agent Lockwood. Two attacks on the same woman and daughter, and both times you are there,” the woman said. “I don’t believe in coincidences.”

“Neither do I,” I said. “I don’t like relying on luck, either. Every person in my truck was injured when we were knocked off the road, and it could have been four fatalities.”

“We need to know what happened,” she said. I laid it all out for them; they knew Vicki was my niece from before, and Liv was my friend. I told them about my offer to rent them the apartment above the garage, and how I asked my brother-in-law to send some people to help keep her safe. “We hadn’t seen anything suspicious, and it was Tuesday night, prime rib night at Wiederholt’s. We had about twenty of us, I thought it would be safe.”

“Did you notice anything suspicious there?”

“My younger brother John was having dinner with my former business partner, Todd Miller,” I said.

“Your brother is here?”

“Yes, I talked to him alone for a few minutes. He heard about the kidnapping attempt and wanted me to know he had nothing to do with it. He knows he blew it with Liv, and he’ll never be allowed into Vicki’s life. After all, he was married and fooling around, and he left her alone and pregnant. Vicki is still his daughter, and he loves her from afar.”

“Do you think he would take her?”

“And do what? Liv isn’t going to settle down with him, and he’s still married, with children of his own. He wanted to see for himself that she was all right. He knew I had saved her, and he knew I ate every Tuesday at Wiederholt’s, so he waited for me.”

She looked up from her notes. “This Todd Miller, who is he again?”

“He was my foreman, my right-hand man, as I built up Volkov Construction. After my wife died, I lost interest and sold my interest in the company to him. He is the majority-owner of the company now.”

She tapped her pen. “Volkov Construction? Do they own dump trucks?”

“Several. They still do contract plowing and road salting for some of the townships in the winter.”

“Did you recognize the truck? See any markings?”

“It was dark, all I saw was the headlights and the plow. I’m sorry.”

“Can you think of a reason why Todd Miller would want any of you dead?”

“I told him I was coming back out of retirement. Todd’s a decent supervisor, but a crappy owner. Give me a year, and my new company will be bigger than his and more profitable. Maybe he was scared I’d take my company back from him.”

The two looked at each other. “Anything else you can tell me?”

“Not that I can think of.”

“We’d like to talk to Olivia and Vicki,” she said.

“Olivia has been up all night with her daughter, and she didn’t see anything. She’s already given a statement to the deputies at the hospital. Vicki was asleep during the accident and didn’t wake until she was in the ambulance. If you leave your card, I’ll have Olivia contact you when she’s ready to talk.”

“Did anyone else see anything,” Agent Lockwood asked.

“If they did, they gave their statement to the deputies already.” I let out a yawn. “I got very little sleep last night, and the drugs aren’t helping. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“No, thank you. Here is my card, and another for Olivia. Please call us if you think of anything that might be helpful.”

“I will.” I called for Anita and asked her to show them out, then come back for me. She returned a few minutes later. “Spread the word to the Winona Pack members about what I said.”

“Already done, Alpha.”

“Then I want to go back to bed.”

We were in the hall when Brent called to us. “No time for that, the fevers have hit Liv. You’re needed up here, Alpha.”