📎A/N. Hello my lovelies!

For those of you who celebrated Thanksgiving, I hope you had a wonderful time with your families and kept away from the Black Friday sales. Running with the bulls in Spain look safer.

This chapter is dedicated to @Cristi_C who was one of the winners in my Wattpad Summer Block Party competition. The other two winners @mcat4519 (Michele) and @hmariepugh (Marie) will have walk on roles in Evolution. First up is @mcat4519. Michele's character is mentioned in this chapter and will make an appearance in the next couple of chapters. Stay tuned for updates on when Marie will be in the spotlight. 

Don't forget to vote if you enjoy the chapter...

Take care and thanks for your continued support...

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The more Parker dug, the more concerned she became. On a hunch, she had begun the laborious process of accessing the CDC's mortality database. There was no way the Lycan's suddenly appeared. There had to be some trace of them prior to the recent sightings and the attack on Murphy.

"Yes!" Zach jumped up and thrust his fist into the air. "I'm in."

Parker glanced up from her monitor. Accessing Canada's Public Health Agency database had not taken as long as expected. "Download the data and get it to Jay, then make a start on the INSP."

The terabytes of data they needed to sift through would take a lot longer than obtaining the information in the first place. Jay had the talent to see through seemingly unrelated information and draw a correlation. Not for the first time, she was thankful for the two young werewolves. Under her tutelage, their skills had increased beyond her initial expectations. They were brilliant in their own rights. Zeke was a talented network and security specialist that, with time, would exceed her abilities. Jay, a few years older than Zeke was a data analyst savant.

Without looking up from his monitor, Jay reached for a peanut M&M and popped it into his mouth. "How much longer are you away from getting me the CDC data, I need something to refine my algorithms," he asked between bites.

They were distracted when Kaitlyn emerged from Parker's office.

"Michele will phone when they are on their way." Kaitlyn threw herself down into a chair near Parker. "The ID worked, and they are releasing his body to her."

Once Daniel had notified them of Carbine's death, they needed to act quickly. An autopsy wasn't an option. By claiming he practiced Judaism, they could convince the hospital to release his body to next of kin. The problem was finding a next of kin.

Kaitlyn remembered how they had been alerted to Carbine's predicament in the first place and suggested the woman might be able to help them out. She'd taken point on tracking down the friend, while Kaitlyn had worked on forging the relevant paperwork to support their claims.

"Is the funeral home sending out someone?" asked Parker.

"When I said they'd get double their fee if they go pick up the body now and bring the deceased's sister with them they tripped over themselves to be obliging."

Parker laughed. "Money has a way of talking."

"Especially when it's an American Express Centurion." Kaitlyn looked down at the black credit card she'd been holding. "Heard of these never thought I'd ever see one." She tossed it on the desk and pushed it over to Parker. "I could hear his eyes lighting up when I asked if they accepted Centurion."

Parker pocketed Daniel's credit card and asked, "How did the conversation with the friend go?"

"She seemed a bit nervous at first, and only agreed to do it once I promised to keep her name out of it."

Kaitlyn swiveled in her chair and eyed up the various monitors and equipment in the room. "You know, in this little bunker of yours, you're more protected and better equipped than most of the government security agencies." She leaned forward to take a closer look at Parker's monitor. "And you're illegally hacking into a secure government database, in front of an officer of the law no less."

Parker stopped typing and snapped her head around to face the FBI agent.

Kaitlyn grinned and held her hands up in the air in mock surrender. "Just as long as you're not planning on overthrowing the government, you can dip into any database you want."

Parker relaxed and returned to her keyboard.

There was a temporary silence before Kaitlyn asked, "Immigrants aren't planning on overthrowing the government, are they?" This time, her tone wasn't as confident as it had been a moment before.

Parker raised an eyebrow and threw her an amused look.

Kaitlyn shrugged. "Just asking."

"Did the friend... what did you say her name was?"

"Michele."

"Did Michele say why she wanted to accompany the body all the way here?"

Kaitlyn shook her head. "She was nervous enough that I didn't want to push it. She insisted he was a good friend and would have done the same for her." She leaned forward and rested her arms on her knees. "Michele wanted to make sure she had permission to come onto pack grounds. What's that all about?"

"It's a tradition that goes back to ancient times. Whenever moving through some other packs land or wanting to come into their grounds you need to be preannounced and authorized, otherwise, it's assumed that you are an enemy ready to attack."

Kaitlyn shrugged. "Makes sense. At least you don't have the awkwardness of running around in a mad rush to clean the place when unexpected visitors turn up."

***

"It's getting late, shouldn't they have phoned already?" asked Kaitlyn.

Parker glanced at the clock. Kaitlyn was right, Daniel and Murphy were well overdue to contact them. After leaving Des Moines and notifying them of what had happened at the hospital, they were to let Parker know when they'd arrived at the morgue in Kansas City. Parker had already tapped into the surveillance system and would ensure it was non-functional for however long it took for them to get the bodies out of the morgue and out of the authorities hands.

Kaitlyn had finished charging her new Taser and was getting agitated at the inactivity. "They're cutting it fine. The CDC will be there soon."

Parker was stopped from answering when her phone rang. "Speak of the devil," she said as she glanced down at the caller ID.

She pressed the speaker button. "What took—"

Daniel cut Parker off before she could complete the sentence. "You need to get into the hospital's surveillance and get rid of any incriminating evidence, and you need to do it now." She could make out a high-pitched squeal as car tires lost grip with a smooth surface. They were driving, and, from the sounds of it, fast. "We managed to stay out of the line of sight for all the cameras except the sky bridge and the parking garage."

Parker began to type frantically. "On it. What happened?"

"For once, a rent-a-cop actually did his job."

"Okay, I'm in. How far back?"

Parker's eyebrows rose high on her forehead. Any further and it would have disappeared into her hairline. She had found what they wanted to be erased. "Jesus, Mary and Joseph."

At Parker's outburst, Kaitlyn pushed her chair across to see what had riveted her. At the sight of Daniel and Murphy pushing, what could only be two dead bodies in wheelchairs, she burst out in laughter. "Can you do that thing where you fly it up to the big screen, and then rewind it to just before they start running."

Parker had to agree, it had been a while since she'd seen anything as humorous.

"Now that you both have had your fun. I need you to find us a Funeral Director with modern ovens," snapped Daniel. He clearly hadn't seen the funny side of their predicament.

Parker held herself back and said, "I'll give you a call as soon as I have an address."

"I don't understand. What does Daniel want with a Funeral Director?" asked Kaitlyn, once Parker had ended the call.

"They need to dispose of the bodies. Creamating them will leave no trace."

"And why the modern ovens?"

"Unlike the older type, they get up to optimal temperature and burn faster."

Kaitlyn rubbed her forehead and shook her head. "I'm sorry I asked."

A few moments later Parker had successfully erased the evidence. "Okay, removed all trace of their little foray into body snatching."

Kaitlyn cleared her throat. "Ummm... you did keep a copy, didn't you?"

"Of course. I'm going to have a lot of fun asking Daniel what they were thinking of and what old man is roaming around looking for his stolen Fedora."

Kaitlyn leaned closer and lowered her voice. "If you don't mind, I wouldn't mind a copy as well."

Parker had to feel sorry for Zeke and Jay when they both burst into fits of laughter. They were clearly confused at the women's torture techniques.

Less than five minutes later they were back on the phone with Daniel and Murphy. "I've sent the address of a funeral home to your phone. The place is just across the state line. By the time you get there, they'll well and truly be gone for the day," said Parker.

"And the other thing?"

She glanced across at Kaitlyn, and they shared a grin. "Taken care of," said Parker, "when the security guard reached the carpark, you were already gone, there was no way he set eyes on the color of the car, let alone plates." She glanced across at the live feed she had left running. "They are still doing a patient check. By the time they think to check the surveillance, they'll find that all the cameras from that wing of the building have been down for the past five hours."

"Why five hours?" asked Kaitlyn.

"That's when the shift changed over. They'll just think it was a glitch with their procedures and not related to the body snatchers."

Parker and Kaitlyn then gave them a fund down on where they were at with the other dead body on their hands.

"Did you manage to anything out of Carbine?" asked Parker.

"No, but he did say one thing towards the end that was odd. I'm not sure if he was so far gone or if he knew what he was saying."

"And that was?"

Daniel let out a deep breath before he answered. "He said that evil hides behind a false messiah."

"What do you think he meant?" asked Parker.

"I've been asking myself that exact same question," said Daniel. "Did you have any problem getting him out without raising suspicion? From what I could see he was a good man and didn't deserve to suffer like that."

"He was," said Kaitlyn, "or at least that's what his friend said."

Kaitlyn moved closer to the phone and brought them up to speed with her conversation with Michele. Like Carbine, Michele had left her pack long ago and now roamed as an unaligned werewolf.

Daniel had more questions, none of which could be answered by anyone other than this mystery friend. "You are not to let her go. Am I clear? Keep here there until I can question her."

"Do you think she knows what or who's behind this?" asked Parker.

"Don't know, but she might know what this Messiah is."

Parker took note of the time. "I doubt they've left the morgue yet. You'll beat her back here."

"No. Once we've taken care of our passengers, we are heading to the soya bean farm to see if we can pick up a lead."

***

Parker lifted her head and called across to Jay, "Are you seeing this?"

Midnight had come and gone a long time ago. After she and Zeke had obtained the last of the information they required, Parker had sent him home. He'd already spent enough time chained to his computer, his wolf was well on his way to becoming agitated. Zeke's wolf wanted a run.

Jay, being older was able to remain in his human form much longer. Right now, it was Jay's skill she needed.

"It gets worse," said Jay. He pressed a few keys, and he projected his monitor onto the big screen that took up the majority of one of the walls. "If we add in the reports from the forestry service and police, not to mention third rate tabloids, it looks like this."

Parker stood and made her way to stand in front of the giant monitor. A map of North and Central America was sprinkled with colored dots.

"What are we looking at?" ask Kaitlyn.

Parker pointed at the screen. "The black dots represent areas that we know were Lycan attacks. Orange is where people have been killed as a result of an unidentified animal attack. Blues are reported strange animal sightings."

"What about the green?" asked Kaitlyn.

"Those are people whose bodies were found out in the open so decomposed they have no idea what they died from."

"What are you hoping to see?" asked Kaitlyn. "It looks like a toddler's finger painting mess at the moment."

Parker wrapped her arms around her chest and stared at the map. "We're looking for a pattern, something to tell us where they might have originated from. Lycan's don't suddenly pop up out of nowhere. They have to come from somewhere." She took a step back. "Can you limit the data set to show incidents that happened on a full moon."

Jay made a few adjustments, and the majority of the dots disappeared. In its place was a smattering of colors. While it resembled random blobs, Parker detected a possible pattern. She froze when she noticed a particular cluster. "Can you now build them based on the timeline."

"Give me a sec," said Jay as he hunched over the keyboard again.

It took Jay replaying the timeline three times before Parker could accept the ramifications. The first time her mind had dismissed it out of hand. The second, she convinced herself she'd imagined it. The third was enough to frighten her enough that she needed to sit. Her legs suddenly felt weak and unable to hold her weight.

Please let me be wrong. This is my fault! I'm responsible for all those deaths.

***

"Are you sure this is the place?" Murphy asked.

Daniel closed the door and looked across to the old, run-down trailer Carbine had called home. "According to his boss, he's lived there for the past four years."

Tucked in a small grove of trees and away from the dirt road was a twelve by sixty-foot trailer home that had seen better days. In fact, they would have missed it had they not been looking for it. Much to their surprise, the Soya Bean farmer had been more than helpful. Carbine had been a valued employee, and the family had been quite fond of him. Even though they had turned up late at night, they had been provided directions to where to retrieve his belongings, the family's condolences, as well as full access to the area in which the attack had taken place.

They were understandably devastated. In one fell swoop, the majority of their long-term employees had been killed in a violent attack, and on their land no less.

Murphy scanned the area. "There's no trace of any disturbance."

"To be sure, do a perimeter search, and I'll take a look inside."

Daniel made his way towards the unsafe looking mobile home. The predawn light hid nothing, and, as he grew closer a stench, similar to rotten eggs from the rust dotted across the exterior assailed his senses.

Expecting resistance, Daniel was surprised when the door opened freely. Inside, the narrow and small living and sleeping area were as dilapidated as outside. Carbine wasn't exactly what he would term fastidious with his living environment. The bed, which took up the entire width of the trailer was unmade. The kitchenette had unwashed dishes piled haphazardly across every surface, and the living area was no better. Newspapers and sheets of paper were strewn across the small table and over portions of the floor.

Dogeared postcards were pinned to a small corkboard along with newspaper cuttings and what Daniel assumed was Carbine's work schedule.

He made his way to the table and began to sift through the mess. Underneath the pile was a small journal. Daniel picked it up and began to leaf through the pages.

"It must be the cleaner's day off," said Murphy as he stepped inside.

"Find anything?" Daniel asked.

Murphy shook his head. "Apart from Carbine's footprints, no one's been here in days." He indicated to the book in Daniel's hands. "Interesting read?"

Daniel regarded the well-worn journal and frowned. "I'm not sure. There's no order to it. He records his work hours, reminders to himself, dates he paid a bill. He's even jotted down a recipe for pumpkin pie."

He looked towards the cooking area. Daniel shuddered to think someone actually attempted to bake in the bacteria infested kitchen.

"Did he happen to write down the passcode for his phone?" Murphy asked.

The personal effects they had taken from the hospital included an old cell phone which looked like it had had better days. They weren't surprised to discover it could only be opened with a code.

"No, but I can tell you he paid three sixty-five for a gallon of milk. When did milk get to be that expensive? I thought it was a dollar something."

Murphy opened one of the hanging cupboards in the kitchenette and pulled out three more journals similar to the one he was holding. "It hasn't been that price since the seventies. When was the last time you actually bought milk?"

"That reminds me," said Daniel. "I got a call from Joshua Quinn and your father."

Murphy froze, and Daniel held back a smirk. He knew that would get the other man's attention. Instead of replying, Murphy continued his search. He moved further back towards the sleeping area and opened a narrow floor to ceiling cupboard.

"They were both in shock after your brief phone calls to them," said Daniel.

Still no response.

"While I admit, letting them know in ten words or less that you nearly died, Kaitlyn is your mate, and you'll be away from Boston for a while, is an achievement that most of us can only dream of accomplishing. However, hanging up at that point wasn't the smartest thing to do, and ignoring their calls after that wasn't much better."

From the muffled grunt, Murphy had no intention of explaining his actions.

Daniel let out a grin. "So I approved their request. They'll arrive at Nederland in the next couple of days."

There was a thump as Murphy's head hit the shelf in the tiny wardrobe he was rifling through followed by a series of curses. "What the hell did you do that for?"

"Because they are your family. A family I might add, who is struggling to understand how close they came to loosing you without knowing. To top it off you just let slip that Kaitlyn is your mate. Imagine my surprise when I discovered your parents have met her. They were a little surprised at your bombshell, to the point, they asked me if it was true. Actually, your mother is convinced it is, the other two don't know what to think."

From the additional thumps as he moved things about in his search, Murphy was not happy. "You could have just confirmed it. I told them I'd visit when this was all over."

Daniel let out a wry laugh. "My life wouldn't be worth living if Parker heard I'd done that, besides..." he trailed off and his brows furrowed. Daniel had begun to flip through the newspaper clippings and printouts tacked to the cork board when a familiar story caught his eye. "That's interesting."

"What?" said Murphy as he looked up from his rummage.

Daniel unpinned the cut outs and held up the one that had stood out.

"Why would he have the report of the coyote attack in Rush Creek?" asked Murphy.

Daniel scanned their surroundings. Something was out of place. The stacks of newspapers accounted for the cuttings. However, there was no trace of a computer or printer. So, where did the printouts come from?

Come to think of it, he doesn't even have a TV.

Daniel pushed passed Murphy and headed towards the bedroom area. After pulling the linen off the bed and tossing the mattress, he was no closer to finding an answer. However, they had an additional journal to add to the ever-growing pile.

"What are you looking for?" asked Murphy.

"Any sign he had a computer."

After a thorough search, they were still none the wiser. Nothing about today had been normal.

Daniel rubbed his jaw. "Something just doesn't feel right. I don't think there was anything random about the attack."

"What makes you say that?"

"We found only a single Lycan trail," he said referring to their search of the area in which the workers were attacked. "That meant they left the same way as they arrived. If it were a random attack, they wouldn't have backtracked on their original path. We would have seen them going off in a random direction."

Daniel glanced back at the newspaper article and shook his head. "No, something feels off."

"Do you think it has to do with this Messiah he warned you about?"

Daniel began to stack the papers on top of each other. "The only way to know for sure is to get this all back to Colorado. I think it's going to take more than the two of us to sift through all of this. This may look like trash, but I suspect there's a wealth of information if we just knew what we were looking for."

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📎A/N.  OMG. I wonder what Parker is blaming herself for? What did she see with the colored dots?

And it looks like Daniel has a bit of a sense of humor... should be interesting when Murphy's parents turn up...

I wonder if Daniel is right? Is there something more than meets the eye with our dead werewolf Carbine.. did he know more than he let on?

Next chapter may or may not answer these questions.. *evil laugh*

Take care and don't forget to vote.. it's real easy, just click the star.

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