Chapter 6: Answers

"Roman's body disappeared".

 The words kept echoing in Lucille's head as she tried to understand what had just been reported. How could Roman's body disappear? He was already dead and the Pentagon had been so busy with finding his wolf that they had delayed the cremation of his body. 

"Lucille" Phiri called. "Are you there?"

"Yes. Yes, I'm here" the woman assured her even though her mind was all jumbled up at the moment. She didn't know what to do and she could only imagine how the other werewolves would react once they found out about this. They hadn't been informed about Roman's death.

"Don't tell this to anyone, Phiri" she said into the phone in all seriousness. "We're on our way back".

With that, she hung up the phone and quickly turned to face Calvin who had the most impatient look on his face. She knew she had to convince him to go back with her in anyway possible. If Roman's body had really gone missing then, it means someone other than the Pentagon knew that he was already dead and Calvin was not safe. 

"You have to come with me" She said in a tone of urgency. 

"Why would I?" Calvin asked with a raised eyebrow. He still had that headache so he was in no mood to deal with this pretty middle aged woman. 

"Listen Calvin" Lucille lowered her voice. "Your life is in danger and we are the only ones who can help you".

"We?" Calvin asked in confusion. "Who are you?"

"My name is Lucille and I can explain the voice you've been hearing in your head".

It was at this point that Calvin remembered the voice and the events of the previous night. The last thing he remembered was running in the woods when he had fallen. He remembered the pain and he had heard that howl. He couldn't remember anything more. He wasn't sure how he even got home.

Now that he thought about it, he had woken up naked on his bed. Where had his clothes gone and why was his head aching so much? It certainly wasn't a hangover. He was sure because he had a high tolerance for alcohol and he didn't even remember taking any.

Calvin threw a suspicious look at the woman in front of him. She just claimed to have answers to all the questions he had about the voice that had been in his head for weeks. He was ready to get answers but he couldn't just go with her. She was a complete stranger. He wasn't the type to grant audience to people he didn't know but he had this gut feeling that this woman meant no harm.

"I can assure your safety" Lucille added as if she had just read his mind. 

"Where are you taking me?" Calvin asked with a deep frown.

It took a while but Lucille was able to convince Calvin to come with her. The young man convinced himself that he was only going with her because he couldn't help being a gentleman.

Before getting into Lucille's tinted car, Calvin took a quick look at the plate number of the vehicle and then texted it to Tony. He didn't know where he was going so he needed to leave some information in case he needed to be tracked. 

Calvin got into the backseat with Lucille and he shivered at the chilling aura of the man sitting in front. There were two men actually. The one in the driver's seat turned to give him a warm smile, but the other one didn't even spare him a glance. He was a big man clad in black.

 

"Can we leave now?" The big man spoke gruffly. Calvin didn't fail to note the irritation in his voice and how his nose flared in what seemed to be annoyance. He was beginning to wonder if going with these people was actually a good idea. 

"Don't worry" Lucille said. "Rufus just has an unpleasant personality. You shouldn't worry about him".

Calvin heard the big man grunt as he glared at Lucille through the rear mirror. Lucille's assurance somehow calmed his nerves but he couldn't ignore Rufus' obvious disdain. Calvin was not one to be intimidated but this big man's dark eyes gleamed dangerously, leaving an impression.

As the car sped off, the voice in Calvin's head came again. For the first time, it was calm and it was asking him to trust these people. Calvin didn't trust the voice but he was able to relax. He believed that the sooner he got the answers he needed, the sooner he would be able to get rid of this voice in his head. 

************

Tony decided to check up on Calvin that morning as soon as he got a strange text from him. In the text, Calvin had sent a plate number and asked Tony to take it to the police if he didn't hear from him before the end of the day.

 

With the way he disappeared from the festival the previous night, Tony knew something was wrong. He had tried calling him all night but Calvin didn't take any of his calls and with this text coming in hours after, Tony was convinced that something was amiss. 

He arrived at Calvin's house and was surprised to see someone at his doorstep, ringing the doorbell. Tony couldn't guess who it was as the person had a shawl wrapped around her body. Judging by the silhouette, he could tell that it was a woman.

"Excuse me" he called her attention and when the woman turned, he was surprised to see that it was Charlene Hayford. 

Charlene turned immediately. She seemed startled but she was able to get her composure in two seconds. She gave the surprised Tony a small smile as soon as she recognized him. She had seen him with Calvin the previous night and she believed that they were friends. 

"Hi" she said to the tongue-tied young man. 

"Uh. H... Hi. I'm Tony" he managed to say. "I see you're looking for Calvin."

"Yes" she confessed. "I've been ringing the doorbell for a while now. I have to see him. It's urgent."

"I'm sorry but I think you just missed him" Tony informed her. "He's not home."

"Do you have any idea when he'd be back?"

"No, but he should be home before nightfall."

Charlene sighed before quickly opening her purse and taking out something. She handed it to Tony and he saw that it was her card. 

"Please tell him to call him when he gets back" she said. "It's important".

Tony simply nodded as he looked the card over. The design was unique, he observed. Charlene smiled at him again before putting on her sunglasses. She wished him a good day before walking over to where she had parked her car. Tony simply watched her get into the car and he stood there till she drove off. 

When the car was out of sight, he looked at the card in his hand to make sure he had not imagined what just happened. He chuckled as he wondered what Calvin had possibly said to Charlene the previous night that seemed to have caught her interest.

Calvin always took pride in his ability to get any woman but Charlene was not just any woman and Tony would have sworn that she was way out of his friend's league. But with what had just happened, Calvin was indeed what he called himself, The Casanova King.

"Well played, my friend" Tony chuckled as he slid the card into his pocket. "Well played."