Crying Wolf

Chapter 12 - Noah June 18

Annie hadn't left her room or house much since we had our moment. She ate the food he would occasionally bring her and that was it. Well, minus the neighbor who stopped by the other day. He claimed to be worried about Meredith's well-being. The weirdo had a big bruise on the right side of his face. Wonder how he got that sucker.

Noah was in Robbie's study, yet again looking over the camera footage they had. He always wished that something would show him who took Meredith. He looked at the man in the video closely, and that's when he noticed something. When the man had walked out of the house, he noticed a bruise on his face, in the same place as someone he recognized.

He called for police to come see what he learned, and almost instantly the cop was over. The cop was in an undercover car so he parked his vehicle up the street, but close enough he could see the vehicle. The officer handed Noah and Annie tiny microphones to wear, to listen in if the guy came. Noah was to call the man over, to thank him for checking in on them when he had the chances. He called Aimee first, then called the "neighbor".

Aimee was the first at the door.

"Come on in, Aimee. I'm so glad you got here first." Annie hugs her.

They quickly briefed Aimee on what was going on, so she wasn't shocked or scared. Aimee looked relieved that this guy had been this stupid to keep tabs knowing that his face was caught. Hopefully he was stupid enough that he wouldn't notice the trap they were setting up.

"Do you think this will work?" Aimee sights.

He shrugs, "I can only hope so."

Not long after, a knock comes from the door.

"Hey! Come on in!" Annie gave him a genuine smile.

"I was surprised when you guys invited me over! I just got off of work." He chuckles. "There's this one lady who has been giving me hell the past couple days."

Noah nods, "Every workplace has those few, don't they? Well, now you can relax now that you're off."

The man laughed again, "I wish. I always end up going back to work anyways. Feel like I should just sleep there!"

"Me too. I am always called back. I get a day off, they're calling me in because my coworkers are incompetent." Annie nods in agreement.

Noah smiles, "I just thought I would invite the both of you over since you both have cared about finding Meredith. I know you said you are the neighbor, but I don't know your name! I didn't realize that until you had left the last time! I figure, if I'm going to thank you, I should know who I am thanking."

Annie nods, "we have always kept to ourselves, so knowing our neighbors isn't really our strong suit. Robbie did all that."

"Ah, well my name is Raymond. Raymond LaFleur." He smiles, looking between the three of them. "I know what you mean, I am terrible at names."

Annie stands up, "Would anyone like a drink? Some brownies? The brownies were Mer's."

Annie goes and gets what was asked for, Aimee joining to help grab things. Noah was eyeing the guy before grabbing the A/C remote, turning it off. He was getting cold and the look on the man's face was so bland it chilled him to the core. The man could have lied about his name and could lead them on a wild goose chase. How would they even know? Hopefully he wasn't lying.

"What kind of work do you do?" Noah questioned, to break the silence.

"I'm a landscaper. I have a card if you ever need some service," He leans to the side, pulling his wallet from his pants pocket.

Taking the laminate card, he looks it over, reading everything on it. Richard LaFleur. So someone did have the name, hopefully it was him. God, he wished he could tear open his throat for even touching Meredith. No matter what, this bastard would pay for his actions. As would Josie and Michael. They deserved to rot in jail, but he didn't know if he could control the wolf inside him to not rip each of their throats out one by one.

"I can imagine landscaping can be enjoyable. Unless the homeowners have bad tempers and all." Noah rolls his eyes. "People always want their way."

The girls came back and placed the stuff on the living room table. Raymond thanked them before grabbing his coffee and adding in his desired add-ons. Noah grabbed a brownie, munching on it. He wondered if Michael worked for him, and that was maybe why Michael was involved. What he could tell was that he could smell Meredith's scent on him. Bastard.

Noah excused himself to go to the bathroom and made his way upstairs. He locked the door and waited a couple minutes, making sure that no one was following him before he ran the tap and the fan. Had to make sure no one could hear him.

"I'm alone in the bathroom. It's him. I can smell her all over him. Raymond LaFleur is his name. He gave me a business card and it matches," he then relayed the info from the card, "Ok, I should go back."

He flushes the toilet and washes his hands to be believable, and wanders back down the hall. He could hear shuffling, which got him worried. When he got into the living room, they were fine. Annie had wandered towards the fake fireplace. He took his seat against the couch, looking at Aimee.

Aimee looked a little frightened. Had Raymond said anything while he was gone? Where was he anyways? Why wasn't he in his seat across from him? Aimee looked above Noah before screaming. Noah ducked away and rolled onto the floor. The bastard figured it out. Shit.

"9-1-1." he whispered. "Gun."

Not even a minute later, the cops were already in the house. Guns drawn, they focused on Raymond, who now held Annie in his arm, gun pointed at her head. Aimee had crawled backwards towards the cops. Smart idea. Noah slowly stood up, looking at Raymond. He looked like a completely different person, it was scary.

The cops were now trying to reason with Raymond. To let Annie go and they wouldn't shoot. They didn't even know if the gun was even loaded, real or if he would even shoot it. Last second, Raymond aims the gun at Aimee, and a gunshot goes off. Ducking in instinct, he looks around. He saw Raymond sway back, and Annie landed a blow into his gut before running out of his arms.

Annie ran right into his arms, which for the moment was fine, until he remembered the events that happened. Noah puts her aside on the couch, before going to Raymond and searching for a phone. He pulls it out and searches the messages hoping there was something to show where his mate was. There was a text from Michael.

Michael: Yo, where are you? When am I picking you up?

He looked at the officer and said, "I may be able to find her if Michael falls for this."

Noah: Hey, I just got done. I was able to catch a ride from a friend. Could you give me the address again? My phone's going to die so I can't use my GPS.

Michael: You forgot where you live?

Noah: No, idiot, for the girl. I need to get some anger out.

Like a charm, Michael sends an address, which Noah relays to the officers. Noah tells Annie and Aimee to stay at the house while he goes to get Meredith. The officers sent for another cruiser to go to the address and meet him there. He grabs a shirt from Meredith's room. He would get his pack to come with him, so they would need her scent.

The officers put Raymond into handcuffs and put him into their cruiser. They would have to go visit the hospital first to take care of the bullet wound, which Noah felt was unfortunate. He should deal with the pain for a couple hours. Noah instantly changed into his wolf form and disappeared into the woods.

**i might add some fillers in before this one. idk if its satisfactory that shes only gone for so many chapters, but theres many days missing. i just need help brainstorming what to add in! pls comment your suggestions!**