FIRE ON HIGH

    “Fire On High” is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental. All characters and settings © Tigermark 2003-2018 unless otherwise noted. Request permission before using them, please.

The characters of Anatol Altaisokova and Melinda Altaisokova are my names for characters © Max Blackrabbit. They appear in this story with his permission. The characters of Brandy, Maxwell, Tonya and Zig Zag are also © Max Blackrabbit and appear here with his permission. Events and information relating to Tonya, Anatol, and their family are presented here, but are not to be considered canon to those characters or any other story but this one. ZZ Studios, and all characters associated with ZZ Studios, James Sheppard, and Marvin Badger © James Bruner and appear here with his permission.  Although characters from and events referring to Zig Zag the Story appear here, this story is not canon to that one, and the author will disavow any knowledge of this story. Wanda Vixen © Chris Yost and appears here with his permission. Sabrina Mustidalae © Eric W. Schwartz and appears here with his permission. This story is not canon to Sabrina Online the comic, or Sabrina Online the Story, either. Matt Barstock, Angie Rockwell, Intermountain Charter, The Bitch, and her crew, and Jerry Kitt © Silver Coyote. See their story HERE.  Gail Rutherford © me and is not canon to any other story involving ZZ Studios. Gabrielle Ryder and Jean LeBrun © Aslaug, from her Transitions stories. See them at her site, The Axe Shed, available from the links page. Aramis Dagaz is© his player and appears here with his permission.

Author’s Note: Lewiston, Maine’s airport, identifier KLEW, is actually uncontrolled. That is, it has no control tower. Poetic license was used for this story, so Alex and company talk with a control tower whilst aviating there.

Chapter 123

Graduation

Aramis sat slouched down, a hat pulled low shading his eyes in the darkened corner of the theater. He had joined the small crowd going in to the adults-only movie, trying to keep Jefferson Mastifson in sight. He’d last seen him somewhere around the doorway in line for a ticket, so now he was waiting to see the Rottweiler depart. He’d try to be by the door before the crowd got going so he could pick Mastifson out.

The moans and action on the screen, and from a few of the patrons, were causing the young agent to blush furiously. He was surprised he wasn’t glowing enough to light up the corner of the theater where he was. To distract himself from the events going on in the theater, and allow him to watch for Mastifson, he went into analytical mode. Theaters like this were becoming increasingly scarce. The internet was hitting its stride at providing fare such as this directly to the privacy of the viewer’s home. In the next few years, there would likely still be adult video and … other items stores, but the x-rated theater as a standalone business was quickly waning.

The action onscreen reached its climax, so to speak, and Aramins slipped out the door. He got just off to the side as the group of several males and a couple of femmes came rag tag out the door. Mastifson at first was not among them, but then Aramis spotted him coming out of the alley on the other side of the building. The Rottweiler was carrying what looked like a gym bag and a black trash bag. It was odd enough for Aramis to quickly snap an image with the tiny camera built into the frames of his wayfarer sunglasses. They had a tracker on his rental car, so the felid agent waited for Mastifson to pull away. He then went to see if the theater had an exit into the alley.

“Great,” he groused to himself. There was an exit there. The Rottweiler may have been across the theater from him the whole time, and just slipped out that side exit. It didn’t explain what the fur was carrying, but it did make the fact Aramis hadn’t seen him come out ambiguous at best.

He came back out of the alley to see Diana insistently waving him to the car. He quickened his steps and reached the car in a moment.

“What’s up?” he asked as he got in.

“Apparent O.D. Four blocks over. Just happened about a half hour ago. Witness on scene is hysterical, but not a druggie or wino,” Diana informed him as she put the car in gear and put a magnetic blue strobe light on the roof out her window. She glanced over at Aramis as she pulled out. He’d just removed the sunglasses and hat he’d been wearing. He was still blushing furiously.

“I’m sorry Aramis. I should have realized porn wasn’t your thing. You okay?”

Aramis shook his head no, but still muttered, “Yes, I’ll be fine.”

 He continued speaking but wouldn’t look at his fellow agent as he did. “Just have to redirect all that somewhere safe. When I have time, I’ll file it under bad acting and worse lighting. I never saw him in there, but it was a bit dark and I couldn’t see the far side of the place very well. When it let out, he came out of the alley carrying a gym bag and a trash bag. There is an exit in the alley.”

Diana looked sour. “Where’s he heading now?”

Aramis checked his laptop. “His hotel, it looks like.”

“Figures,” the desert cat muttered. It only took a few minutes to reach the crime scene. As they flashed their credentials to a uniformed officer, they saw two paramedics struggling to get the body of a large lion onto a gurney. A very petite mouse femme, Aramis would have put her at around four feet ten or eleven inches tall, stood nearby, crying into a handkerchief. As they walked up, a jaguar in a short jacket and slacks wearing a gold detective’s badge on his belt turned to greet them.

“Can I help ya? I’m Homicide Detective Perry Danville, Pittsburg P.D.”

They showed their I.D. and introduced themselves.

“I’m Agent Diana Forsham, FBI. This is Agent Aramis Dagaz, AFOSI. We’re working on a case that may or may not be related to this, but we wanted to offer our help in any case. We were a few blocks over and heard the call.”

The detective looked at both of them with a knowing smirk.

“Classified, I bet. Okay, I’ll play. What we got so far is a very large lion who was known to work as muscle for a local dealer, but wasn’t known to use himself, very dead from an apparently massive opioid overdose. He’s got no needle tracks. The little mouse gal there is his girlfriend. We knew him in the P.D. He kept the users in line, mostly, and didn’t hurt anyone who didn’t make him. He certainly didn’t deserve this.”

Diana nodded. She knew the tactic of letting furs on the bottom and periphery go in order to get the ones farther up the line.

“What have you got from the girlfriend?” Aramis asked.

The detective blew out a breath. “Mostly hysterical screaming. What we have got doesn’t make much sense. You can talk to her if you want, she’s not a suspect.”

They thanked the detective and stepped over to where the femme was watching teary-eyed and snuffling into her cloth as the EMT’s loaded the lion’s body into an ambulance. They got in and the vehicle pulled away at a sedate pace, turning its emergency lights off. The femme was looking rather lost, staring in the direction the ambulance had just departed in. Diana now cleared her throat and the femme looked at her.

“I’m sorry for your loss. I’m Agent Diana Forsham, FBI. This is Agent Aramis Dagaz, AFOSI. Can we talk with you for a bit?”

Without warning the femme threw herself into Diana’s arms and began to weep loudly into her shoulder.

“Daniel’s gone! He’s gone! I couldn’t s-t-top him, I was way too little and scared! What am I gonna do n-n-now?”

Diana looked helplessly at Aramis. She was never much good at dealing with bereaved furs. She eased the crying femme down to sit on the curb.

“Okay, if you can, tell us what happened?” Aramis asked soothingly as he kneeled down beside the two femmes. The mouse looked at him fearfully, shrinking back against Diana’s shoulder. It became obvious to him the femme had a traumatic fear of either males or male policefurs. Aramis eased back away and stood up. The femme seemed to calm down a bit. She turned to Diana and explained between sniffles.

“Ah, my name is Maria Muridine. The…the one who died is Daniel Caver. He…he protected me. He was the only male I could ever trust. All the others all hurt me. And now he’s gone!”

Maria looked as though she might start crying again, but then took a breath and got herself under control and went on.

“A couple years back, I was just outta high school. This gang who had just moved in from uptown caught me walkin’ home from work.”

Here she shuddered. “They…they did things to me. For days. Daniel heard me crying and took on the whole gang. They were gone when the noise stopped, and I looked up. He was a little torn up, but he freed me. I patched up his wounds, and he took my ma and me in. Been protecting and helping provide for us since. He took care of us.”

Diana nodded. “What happened tonight?”

The mouse looked down grimly for a moment and then spoke, her voice riding the edge of a grieving wail. “I g-got off work like I usually do and walked here. I always kinda hide back in that doorway there and wait for Daniel. We’d…we’d meet here and walk home. Just before he was due this weird ol’ dude in a big slouchy black hat and big old coat came hustlin’ down the alley. He looked creepy, so I stayed back in the shadows of the doorway. He…he sprayed somethin’ in Daniel’s face! I thought Daniel was gonna tear him up, but then he-e-e…”

Here Maria broke down and sobbed again. After a couple of moments, she snuffled, wiped her nose and went on.

“The guy opened Daniel’s coat and stuck him in the arm with a needle. Daniels started to come to, an’ the creepy bastard choked him. Then he pried Daniel’s eyes open an’ watched him die. I was too scared to do anything, and now Daniel’s gone! Please, please get that guy.”

Diana asked gently. “What can you tell me about the guy in the coat and hat?”

The femme snuffled and then answered. “He had a big, old fashioned wide brimmed black hat. His face was covered, like cloth or something. He had some kind of goggles on, colored red. Big black coat. Black pants, shirt, gloves. He had a cane that sprayed the stuff that knocked Daniel out. He didn’t use it to walk, except right when he got to the street back there as he left.”

The femme fell silent, chewing her lip, her thin tail wrapped around her legs. Diana looked her in the eye.

“Maria, we’ll do all we can to catch this guy. I’m very sorry.”

A commotion at the police line caught their attention. A tall muscular lioness with several piercings and tattoos was arguing with a uniformed officer. Diana noted the way Maria perked up at the sight of her. She got the officer’s attention and waved for him to let the femme in. The lioness walked up to them as they both stood up. She must have been over six feet tall, as Diana almost had to look down to make sure she had actually raised to her feet.

“Maria, you okay? Freddie jus’ told me what happened.” The femme’s body language said she was tense and looking for answers. Aramis kept back and watched. Diana didn’t say anything, allowing Maria to speak for herself.

Oh thank God, Dani. I don’t know what I’m gonna do. Daniel’s gone. Some weirdo killed him. What am I gonna do?”

The lioness, tall, muscular, busty, and tough, dropped to one knee and opened her arms. The mouse femme fell into them with a sob. The larger femme wrapped her up in a protective embrace.

Dan’l always took care o’ you an’ your momma. He always made me promise I would too if’n something happened to him. He gave me money to put aside just for that. You’re gonna be okay.”

The mouse buried her face into the lioness’ chest and sobbed. As the lioness gently patted her back, the large femme looked over at Diana. She was still practically eye to eye with her even with her kneeling.

Ma’am, get whoever did this. Dan’l may have worked the wrong side some, but he was a good fur. He didn’t deserve this.”

“I, that is, we will. It may take a while, but we will. She told me, but she’ll probably have to give a statement for the local police. I’m Diana Forsham, FBI. We think this guy is a serial killer.”

The lioness held out a paw to shake. Her grip was surprisingly gentle.

“Dani Caver. Dan’l was my twin brother. I’ll see that she does. Just make sure they have a femme officer to take it. Maria has a hard time dealing with males without a counter between her and them.”

“I’ll tell the detective in charge. I’m glad to see you here for her,” Diana said as she prepared to leave. The lioness nodded, all but cradling the mouse femme in her arms. Aramis joined the desert cat and they stopped by to talk to Detective Danville and tell him what they’d found out. He shook his head in disgust.

“Dammit, that’s all I need. Some kook in a costume offin’ furs on my streets.”

“So far he’s never hit the same city twice,” Aramis advised him. The detective looked between he and Diana and then gave a grim smirk.

“Good. No offense, but he sounds like he’s more your problem than mine. With Daniel gone, there’s nobody to keep a lid on the users. My job just likely got a lot busier. Like I said, he didn’t deserve this. I’ll make sure we get a femme officer to get the girlfriend’s statement. You guys be safe.”

The pair of agents thanked him and went on their way. Mastifson was right there in his hotel, but they didn’t have probable cause to arrest or search him. Still, he was leaving more evidence each time. First video, now an eye witness. They could now put a Shadow-like figure firmly in place as the perpetrator of three homicides with identical M.O.s. The autopsies of both the undercover officer and the dancer showed the overdose was done with a massive amount of veterinary grade Fontadyne. It had taken a super-magnified examination of the bodies, but both had been injected in the Brachial Artery near the armpit.

Mastifson had been in town and in the general area each time, but so far it was all circumstantial. Then Aramis had an idea.

The hunt had to go on.

#   #   #

Alex, Corrie, Jenna, Jack, Andrew, Billy, and Penny all sat in a row in the bleachers of the football field of Clark County High School. It was Graduation Night, and every parent, family member, and friend buzzed with excitement for their graduate. There was even more excitement about the V.I.P. who was there. Senator Paul Randall was in attendance to watch Tia graduate. Her package for the Air Force Academy was so strong she’d actually gotten early approval. She wouldn’t be old enough to go until the fall of the following year, but she’d gotten the letter just last week that she’d gotten a slot in that class.

Tonight though, was a time for the pomp and ceremony of high school graduation. Since Tia and her Top Guns were graduating a year early, there would be two Valedictorians and six Salutatorians.

“Wow, this is exciting!” Corrie enthused. Her high school graduation had been a bit more subdued, as she’d just joined her class in its last year after moving to the U.S. from Australia.

“It is,” Jenna agreed. “Tia is the first Valedictorian in the family, as far as I know.”

Sure wasn’t me,” Alex responded. “I was top ten percent, and so was Jason, but not the very top.”

“I was Salutatorian,” Billy mused. “The guy who was our Valedictorian went on to M.I.T. He became a nuclear engineer.”

“Shh, they’re starting,” Penny called. The crowd got quiet as the Principal of Clark County High School, a squirrel named Arthur Brown, and his secretary, a ferret named Claire Johnson, stepped up to a small podium with a microphone on it. They were on a small stage at mid-field of the school football stadium. A red carpet ran from the stage over to where the graduates sat in folding chairs. Each was to come up, receive their diploma, shake paws, and then go back to their seat. Once all were there, they would be instructed to move the tassel on their mortarboard over from the right to the left side. The ceremony began with the Principal addressing all the assembled furs.

“Graduates, students, parents, family, and friends, welcome. This evening we come to acknowledge and celebrate this class of distinguished graduates. They are all fine examples of the youth of America. They have worked hard and successfully completed the requirements of the Clark County school system and the Commonwealth of Kentucky for graduation. Graduates, I say to you, this is not an end, but a beginning. As you go on to college, the military, trade school, or out into the work force and life, remember nothing is achieved without striving for it. And now, our Valedictorian Jacob Morrow will speak, followed by our Valedictorian Tia O’Whitt.”

Jacob, a slim Greyhound headed for a degree in Computer Engineering, stepped up to speak. He hit the usual points of looking to the future and thanking the school and his parents. He managed to end his speech before he got boring, and then it was Tia’s turn. She took the podium, looked at them all calmly and began.

“Good evening. I want to speak tonight about overcoming adversity. I know many of you think of me as a spoiled rich kid. Some know my story, some don’t. My father was an Air Force fighter pilot. He was killed in a crash. That brought about a lot of changes in my life. Moving to Kentucky, starting a new school, making new friends, all without a dad there. I have a great Dad again now, but in those times, I had to choose to overcome that tragedy. Since then, several things have happened that could have caused me great harm. I had to choose to overcome them. I did it with hard work, study, determination, and a lot of help. All the help in the world is useless unless you decide to put forth the effort and achieve. To overcome whatever life throws at you. Have faith in God, and in yourself. As we graduate, I leave you with the words of Winston Churchill. Never, never, never, never give up, and never quit.”

Tia walked back to her seat to a round of enthusiastic applause. The Principal and Secretary stood back up. He then had everyone stand. He began reading the names in alphabetical order.

“Becky Abbott.”

The squirrel femme stepped out, and as she approached the small stage Principal Brown read off a list of her achievements.

“Music Scholarship to the University of Cincinnati, First Chair clarinet, and Generations Jazz ensemble.”

When she arrived, the diploma was passed, and paws shaken, and then she went back and stood at her seat. So it went until finally Tia’s turn came.

“Tia Alexandria O’Whitt.”

Tia stepped out as the Principal began reading her achievements.

“Valedictorian with a four point oh plus GPA, National Honor Society, Martial Arts club, Mystery club, Aviation club, six full scholarships offered, Tia has been accepted to the U. S. Air Force Academy after graduating a year early with full credit requirements earned.”

Tia reached the stage, accepted her diploma, shook paws, and walked back. Alex noted she had to walk carefully with all the tabs and sashes on her gown. The ceremony continued until the last graduate was called. Then he gave a command.

“Graduates, turn your tassels.”

All the graduating class reached up and moved the tassel on their mortarboard over to the left. Principal Brown looked them over one last time, looking a bit misty-eyed. Then he took a breath and made the final announcement.

“Graduates, you are dismissed.”

A great cheer went up and many mortarboards flew into the air. Everyone had their name in theirs, so sorting them out after didn’t take too long. Tia met in a group hug with her Top Guns to make plans to get together over the Summer before the other three left for college. She hugged Stewart Zander for a long moment, and then the two friends smiled at each other before turning to their families, who had come down from the bleachers.

“Tia, that was cool,” Andrew stated, his voice cracking a bit between tenor and baritone.

“It sure was! Honey, I’m so proud of you!” Jenna enthused as she hugged her daughter. Everyone took a turn hugging the young tigress. They were going out to eat at her favorite steakhouse to celebrate. As she turned, she met Carl Branson. The former hoodlum had also graduated, much to his and his mother’s relief. He looked at her, smiled, and offered his paw.

“Congratulations, Tia. I hope you do well in the Air Force.”

She shook his paw. “Thanks, Carl. What are your plans now?”

The canid grinned broadly. “Welding school. The shop teacher says I’m good at it, and welders make good money. Hey, um, I want to thank you. You helped get me going in the right direction, even if you did have to knock it into me.”

Tia smiled, and then hugged the surprised canid. “Carl, you just needed a right direction to go. As far as I’m concerned, you and I will always be okay.”

Carl grinned. He was blushing a bit as he turned to go. Tia joined her family as they headed for their cars. For her, for now, it was very okay.

 

 

End of Chapter 123

 

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