📎A/N. [August 22] - It looks like most of you saw two images in the last chapter.  A young woman and an old woman.  :-)  And as @Queen_of_Hades correctly pointed out, the image is from Gestalt psychology.

Since I last checked my wattpad reader world map, we have been joined by :  Brazil, Senegal,Ghana, Portugal, Botswana, Malaysia - Welcome to you all :)

Don't forget to vote. Take care, and thanks for your continued support...

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"And you are sure it was a wolf?"

"Positive."

"And you didn't think to report it to the police?"

"Well," admitted the blood shot eyed man, "I might have had a bit to drink that night."

Drew continued to question his latest lead. As a witness, he had no credibility. His overpowering stench of alcohol, jaundiced looking skin, and bloodshot eyes screamed alcoholic. How the man held down a job to fund his addiction, was a mystery to Drew.

As this wasn't the only person he had spoken to regarding this particular sighting, he wasn't overly concerned. It only reinforced what he already knew. Confirming the last known sighting, he headed further down East 4th Street. Once he reached the Church, he made his way up the stairs of the main entrance. A set of stunning massive wooden doors adorned the majority of the front of the building. As he drew nearer, something caught his eye.

Deep scratch marks had been cut into the wood, marring the otherwise perfectly maintained and polished entryway. The cuts were uniform and thick. The reporter reached out and touched the door. A chill ran down his spine. He had recognised the scratches as claw marks. Whatever had done this was large and, not to mention, strong to have inflicted that much damage.

There was no doubt where the wolf had been. But why was it so eager to get in?

Drew wandered around the side of the church checking for any other evidence of the wolf's presence.

"Can I help you?"

Drew spun towards the voice. Rattled that he had failed to notice the groundskeeper raking up leaves. He turned on the charm that had managed to get him out of awkward positions in the past and introduced himself.

It did not take long before he came away with what he was after, his mind fixated on what he had just heard.

It can't be a coincidence.

Drew pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts list. He found the name he was after and glanced back at the Gate of Heaven Church, hoping his call would be answered.

"Hey Barney, it's Andrew." After dispensing with pleasantries Drew cut to the chase, "Barney, I just heard that my parish priest has gone missing and none of you are doing anything about it."

"What the hell are you talking about? And since when, are you religious?" snapped the voice at the other end.

"Father Paul Myers. I want to know what's going on," he warned, "or maybe I will just have to write a story how the Boston PD is actively persecuting religious freedoms."

"Cut the shit, you and I both know that's not true." There was a pause while his contact, a desk sergeant in the police force, looked up the information he was after. "According to this, he was reported missing, but as it was less than twenty-four hours, we couldn't do much about it at the time."

"It's been more than twenty-four hours now," Drew pointed out.

"I know, but the report was recalled."

"Why?"

"He's no longer missing. According to the report, he sent an email to the Bishop requesting a short leave of absence, something about a family emergency. So, not missing."

Drew returned to his car and stared at the dashboard as if it could give him the answers to the link between wolf sightings and missing people. The priest was the latest in an ever-growing list. Something was going on, and he was determined to get to the bottom of it. He just needed to work out what linked these people to each other.

And more importantly, why are they turning up dead or missing?

***

Ambrose put the phone down and turned to the others, a smirk on his face. "It's official. They have closed the case."

A feeling of relief swept through the room. Visibly relaxing Frank posed the question uppermost in everyone's minds, "So when do we make our move?"

"We head out in the morning and attack tomorrow night," confirmed Ambrose, "We are now twelve strong. They won't know what hit them."

"Are you sure it will work?" asked Brianna, her tone nervous and unsure.

"Very," he confirmed. Utter confidence pouring off him in waves. "We can't hit the others until we have New York. I am not going to let them have control of anything. And you know as well as I do, they will demand a piece of the action."

Ambrose began to outline how the following evening would play out. If it went well, it would be repeated the following four nights until the job was done.

Once he finished outlining each person's role in the upcoming battle they had slowly filed out of the room. They were all psyched up with nervous tension and had succumbed to their wolves demands and headed out into the night. Hoping to vent their excess energy in the local forest.

Promising his wolf, he too would be allowed to come out to play, he contemplated how things were about to change. The New York Families belief that they controlled the eastern seaboard was over. They just didn't know it yet.

And the Russians? Well, they would fall soon after.

***

Their early meeting with Doug was going as well as expected – nowhere. Kaitlyn didn't know what to be more irritated about. The fact that her boss could not see the error in the hasty decision, or that Murphy had predicted the outcome. Down to the words that would be used.

"I know what the evidence is saying," Murphy said, his tone barely concealing his frustration, "but I don't think we have our killer."

Doug leaned back in his chair and rubbed his forehead. Kaitlyn had detected a flash of anger before it was repressed just as fast. "Unless you can give me good cause not to," said Doug, "I need to close the case as solved. I'm getting pressure from everyone from the Director to the Governor."

Doug sat forward and looked at both Murphy and Kaitlyn, "You do realise how much it costs the city to keep that level of police presence on the streets?"

"I'm not saying that Belcher wasn't involved," Murphy cut in, "he could easily have been an accomplice. But it's all too neat and convenient. And the fact still remains - the suicide doesn't meet the profile of a psychopath. You know as well as I do, they are oblivious to emotions. They have no conscience and are not haunted by what they have done. Therefore, guilt is not going to drive them to suicide. Less than four and a half percent of serial killers commit suicide."

Silence descended on the office. Each person knowing what Murphy said was true.

Doug turned to Kaitlyn, "And what's your take on this?"

Kaitlyn looked her boss directly in the eye. "I'm inclined to agree with Murphy. I know the evidence is damning, but it just doesn't feel right," she said.

Doug sighed and scratched the back of his neck. Something she knew he did when he was debating how to approach a delicate issue. "Murphy," he said, "your own profile had the unsub as a psychopathic narcissist. While his psychopathic nature wouldn't, his narcissism would. Harold Belcher is our man and that is final. We cannot ignore the facts."

Now addressing Kaitlyn, "I think you of all people should be happy your father's killer is gone. I understand you may be feeling denied confronting him yourself, but both you and Murphy had a hand in pressuring him to do what he did. There has to be some solace in that," he finished gently.

By his determined and set expression Kaitlyn knew they were not going to sway the Unit Leader. His mind already made up before they walked into his office. Just as Murphy predicted.

"That went well," Kaitlyn remarked dryly as they made their way back to their temporary office.

"They were never going to change their minds."

"So what now?" Kaitlyn

"Now we submit our closure reports. I carry on looking for Elijah and you get assigned to another case."

"No."

"Pardon?"

"I am staying on the case."

"Were you not just in the same meeting as me?" asked Murphy, "There is no case. The more we argue the point, the more suspicious they will become."

Kaitlyn chose to ignore his logic and continued to mull over the abrupt halt to their unimpeded search for Elijah.

As they returned to the office, Kaitlyn noticed Tony was not yet at his desk, glancing at her watch she realised that it was still early. She sat down at her desk and powered up her laptop, a sour expression plastered across her face as she contemplated the paperwork that needed to be filed.

Determined to not let the matter rest, Kaitlyn weighed the options available to her. There was no way she was not going to continue the search for Elijah. With or without Murphy. At least with Murphy she had a better chance of not only finding him but surviving the experience.

The thought of not seeing Murphy again had Kaitlyn in a tailspin. She didn't want to contemplate life returning back to how it had been before he crashed into her life, forever changing the landscape of how she viewed the world.

After chiding herself for her wayward thoughts, Kaitlyn sat staring at the screen. Her mind sifting through the problem at hand. The solution coming to her in a sudden flash, she stood abruptly and flew out of the room without a word to her partner. Fifteen minutes later, she returned just as suddenly, heading purposely towards Tony's desk.

Murphy watched as Kaitlyn rummaged around the Detectives top draw. "What are you doing?"

"We are going to need access to the police database," she replied absently, continuing to search. Her eyes lit up as she reached to the back of the draw and let out a small triumphant cry. "Found it!"

Kaitlyn, noticing Murphy continue to stare at her explained her actions. "The other day I noticed that Tony has a second encryption key. And, as I am pretty sure he's not supposed to have it, he's not going to put up much of a fuss if he finds it missing."

"That's not telling me why you are stealing his key."

"It's not stealing, it's borrowing," she clarified, "we will need access to the police database without them knowing."

"You do understand you are making no sense?" Murphy said. His tone dubious, almost as if he were questioning her sanity.

"We need to work out what our next step is. You heard Doug – there will be less police presence. Elijah will have free reign again. You and I both know that's what the farce of a suicide is all about."

"You are more than stubborn," Murphy said, as he glared at her. "The FBI has closed the case. You are no longer authorised to work it."

Kaitlin crossed her arms over her chest. A defiant look as she stared Murphy down. "Do you really think I would come this far and not see it through?" she said, "Starting tomorrow I'm on leave. There is no way you are doing this without me."

The shocked look that erupted across Murphy's generally restrained expression, was evidence that this was the last thing he thought she would come out with. He continued to stare at her as if waging an internal battle.

He broke the impasse, surprising Kaitlyn with the change in topic. "Why does he have a second key?"

Before she could offer her opinion, Murphy's head swung to the door, "Speak of the devil."

Kaitlyn pocketed the key, ensured that the desk looked the way she found it, and then dove back into her chair. As Tony walked through the door, both FBI agents were focused on their monitors.

"Morning," Tony mumbled as he made his way across the room.

Kaitlyn swung to face him, hoping her face was devoid of guilt at almost being caught out. She was surprised when she discovered he looked decidedly worse for wear. "You don't look too well," she said, immediately concerned.

Tony sat down and placed his head in his hands. "I don't feel it. I haven't felt this crap since college."

"Up a bit late last night were we?" teased Kaitlyn, once she realised it was self-inflicted.

Tony poured himself water and dropped, what she guessed was a couple of Berroca tablets, into it. The distinctive sizzling sound as the tablets dropped to the bottom of the glass and dissolved in a flourish. He took a long drink before answering. "Yeah," he admitted after putting the glass down, "a few of the guys from the precinct were out celebrating last night."

After listening to him give them a rundown of the previous evening's escapade, they returned to wading through their reports.

If he ever decides to quit the force, he will most probably become a successful Casanova, mused Kaitlyn as she began typing. She cringed as she recalled him explaining in detail a particular portion of his evening, Sometimes he shares just a little too much information.

"Well, I think that's it for me," Tony said, as he pushed his chair back a while later. "I've checked that all the evidence has been signed in, and let Daisy know she can start the paperwork to release the vics personal items. I'm out'a here."

"So you think we got our man?" asked Murphy, a non-committal expression gave no indication of what his actual thoughts on the matter were.

Tony bobbed his head a confident expression as he spoke. "You saw the place. How could it not be? I'm just pleased it's all over," he said, before a grin overtook his features, "not that it wasn't fun working with you both. But too many chopped up bodies was a little intense."

Tony grabbed a cardboard box and began to fill it with personal items he had brought with him. Kaitlyn noticed a frown, tinged with a distinct panicked expression cross his face as he opened the top draw.

"Have you lost something," she asked innocently.

Tony was now frantically sifting through the draw, "I could have sworn..." Tony trailed off, "... never mind."

He stood up straight and cleared his throat. "Well," he began, "it's been great working with you both. Don't be a stranger at the 115th."

After shaking hands with Murphy and Kaitlyn, the Detective grabbed his half full box and left. His official secondment to the special unit now finished.

"Out with it," blurted Kaitlyn the moment Tony had left. She knew he was preoccupied with something. Tony had not detected the slight change after their conversation, but she had. Murphy was troubled with something that had been said.

"He was lying," said Murphy.

"Of course he was. We know what he was after."

His next words and its implications stunned Kaitlyn. "No, not about that," Murphy said as his dark eyes becoming hard and uncompromising. "He knows Harold wasn't the killer we're after."

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📎A/N .... I think our reporter is getting a little too close. What do you think??

... OMG! Ambrose is going to take out the 5 NY Mob Families... this I have to see..

... and how does Tony know that Harold our suicide victim wasn't the BWK??

.. and your challenge this week... this chapter's title ... who said this famous line ??

Till next time.  Take care and be safe, and don't forget to vote :-)

M.