Bitesize 3.12

Bitesize 3.12

Just a couple of hours later Ed was back in the briefing room with Alf. Odolf had come up trumps under hypnosis and despite his fears he'd supplied a list of names without the onigawa waking up. Alf had wasted no time getting pictures of the named men from around the time of the war and he and Ed studied those pictures now. The old black and white photography was grainy and far from ideal but it gave them a starting point.
"This one." said Alf, pointing at one particular guy. He was young, barely past 18 at the time of the photo. He wore light, thin framed, thin lensed spectacles and had a distinctive crescent shaped scar across his left cheek. "This guy we think we found."
"Go on."
"His name back then was Jean Fredericq. I guess some people have trouble letting go of their past because we found a man with an identical scar on Facebook going by the name of John Frederick."
"Not very original."
"Exactly. Which means Crowley's likely gonna find him fast too."
"So where is Crowley now?"
"We don't know." said Alf, "The tracker isn't responding so either they neutralised it somehow or they're still in the mirrors."
"And this John Frederick. Where's he?"
"His Facebook claims California but we think that's false. Here's some of the images we pulled from the site."
He produced a handful of modern digital photographs that had been printed off.
"Anything look familiar?" he asked.
Ed took the photos and thumbed through them.
"Looks a little dreary for California. Hey wait."
He pulled one photo out.
"That's Cawdor castle."
Alf nodded.
"I thought so too. In fact, all of these photos look like they could be in Scotland. He's also got a link to his gaming profile on another site where he goes under the name MacBeth. I've got people going through phonebooks and utility billing addresses in the area around the castle. We'll have a location soon no doubt."
"So we gotta hope we can get to him before Crowley can."
"You should take the T-alpha, just in case."
Ed nodded.
"And Katia too." said Alf.
"Are you sure? I mean, if Crowley is there..."
"If Crowley's there then the T-alpha will have to tackle him, but don't think he'd go alone. If he brings Raddick and Leclair I don't want you outnumbered."
"Yeah, ok."
"Remember Ed, we don't know what this guy is capable of. Use caution. Go get equipped. We want him alive."
"And Crowley, Raddick and Leclair?"
Alf sighed.
"We can't let them run round. The longer they are with Crowley the more dangerous they become. Kill them if you have to."
It wasn't a comment delivered dismissively, but out of necessity.


Ed spent the next hour nervously pacing the room with the T-alpha cage, Katia sat nearby.
"You'll wear out the floor." said Grace.
"Aren't either of you nervous?" asked Ed.
Grace shrugged.
"Of course we are Ed." said Katia. "But you have to learn to focus."
Ed lit up a cigarette and carried on pacing.
"You know, you don't have to keep me in the cage anymore." said Grace.
Ed didn't say anything.
"It's not like I'm going to escape." she continued, "You're gonna have to let me out to take me with you so why not just let me out now?"
"Fine, but if you try anything..."
"I won't. Jeez, just 'cos I'm a wolf you think I'm dishonest?"
Ed undid the lock to her cage and the little girl came out, stretching her arms.
"Oh yeah, that's better."
"So take my mind off things." said Ed, "How'd you get turned in the first place?"
"Oh it was a long time ago. We lived in Spain, 'til my dad got in trouble with some very bad men. We fled, first to France but they followed us, and then to England. We settled down, tried to live our lives, you know. He started drinking heavily though and one night we had a massive argument. I waited until they were all asleep and ran away. Didn't take me long to get lost. I still can't remember exactly how it happened. I remember stumbling around the moors for hours and then pain and passing out. Even after that it took me a while to realise what was going on."
She shrugged.
"I struggle to remember a lot of it, it was so long ago."
"So you'll be a child forever?"
"Physically yes. Mentally of course, I've grown."
"You know, if you would let us run some tests..." said Katia, "We might eventually be able to find a way to let you age normally again."
Grace pouted.
"I don't like tests."
"Fine then. Be a child all your life."
The argument was ended abruptly as a phone on the wall rang. Ed answered it.
"We got him Ed." it was Alf's voice, "Get ready to move."