“I … I haven’t told him about you.”
That was odd. She had talked to Cal about those of us who had been bitten and turned into werewolves when we were working as camp counselors. We were the ones the public suspected were shifters. But she hadn’t told Cal about Dave, who was born into the clan. Apparently, the public knew nothing about him or any of the other werewolves who were shifters by birth.
“Sounds like you are spying to me,” Todd said.
“I guess you could look at it that way. But it was for the good of the country. I mean, he wants to help you all, which the government doesn’t seem to be doing. So I joined his team…”
“Help us? He wants to help us? I don’t think so,” I gave Margaret an icy stare. “I overheard members of the WHO discussing him one day. They said he was supplying money to finance trips to the capitol to stage protests, pay for ammunition and more! How is that helping us?”
Margaret brushed it off. “He would never supply them with ammunition or any money that would be used to hurt you. He just pretended to go along with them so he would know more about what their plans were. He would donate some cash now and then for food or travel expenses, but never for guns or other ammunition.”
I shook my head in disbelief.
“Cal is a creative thinker,” Margaret said. “He is trying to think of ways to help your kind so you can be of benefit to our nation while also enriching yourselves. He just wants to help you.”
“Help us my ass.” I rolled my eyes. “Sounds like he wants to get richer at our expense.”
“Well, I am not going to lie. It takes a lot of money to support Cal’s lifestyle. So naturally, he wants this to be a profitable venture for everyone—including himself. But mainly, he wants to help you all. He likes to help others.”
Todd cocked an eyebrow. “That sounds like bullshit to me.”
Dave breathed an exasperated sigh. “Yeah, this is a load of crap.”
“You might think he wants to help us, but what if he doesn’t? And if you get caught spying for him, you risk prison and you might lose your pension! How would you feel if you lost your pension after all those years of work?” I asked.
Margaret gave me a sarcastic look. “Ha! It’s unlikely they would send me to prison.”
“Unfortunately, there are government employees that collect a pension even though they are negligent. A pension financed by the American taxpayer,” Dave replied.
“That sucks man,” Todd said.
“So you were never kidnapped?” I asked. I thought back to when Shelby and Lisa recounted being attacked and almost kidnapped along with Margaret.
“No, it was set up to look like the three of us were being kidnapped. Of course, I knew all along what was happening. We just hadn’t counted on Lisa and Shelby turning into their wolves. What a sight that was. It was exciting to watch them transition in the van.”
“You enjoyed watching them transition? You were excited?” I said angrily, shaking my head. “Those girls were scared out of their minds. This is just sick.”
“Oh come on, we weren’t going to hurt the girls. We just wanted to talk to them.”
My jaw was tightening, and I could barely stand to look at her. She truly had no clue how frightened Lisa and Shelby had been; and how concerned we all had been for their safety when we thought they had been kidnapped.
“Umm,” I said, “I overheard a member of the WHO group say she had a good friend that worked for Homeland Security who told her werewolves were real. A member of another organization, the WAG, said the same. Was that friend you?”
“It was,” Margaret responded proudly. “Cal asked me to do some detective work. He wanted to know the reaction to the rumors that werewolves existed, and how they felt about the government covering it up. I did some digging and found a small group of students at the University who were vehemently opposed to assimilating werewolves into society.”
“The WHO group?” I asked, referring to the Werewolf Haters Organization.
“Exactly,” Margaret said, scratching her cheek with a long, red fingernail.
“The group wasn’t very organized, they were just starting out. I made it so that I would ‘accidently’ meet Karen, one of the members, and then I became friendly with her. Despite our age difference we became good friends.”
“How did you meet her?” I guessed that Margaret was in her forties. I had to wonder how someone Margaret’s age could become good friends with a college age student.
“Well, Cal’s company arranged for her to “win” a scholarship. We told her that her name had been randomly selected from all freshmen by a benefactor who wished to remain anonymous. But in order to keep the money, she had to meet with me twice a week to discuss her goals and such.”