Chapter Text
Hank and Nick entered the Spice Shop to find Monroe alone. Apparently, Rosalee was making a house call and he was tasked with manning the shop. They were headed back to the precinct after a rare uninterrupted lunch break.
Monroe spied the distinctive cup in Hank’s hand and groaned softly. “Dude, you go to that Eclectic Craftin’ cafe?”
Hank looked at his cup then back at the blutbad. “Yeah. They have reasonably priced coffee and the most delicious desserts I’ve ever eaten.”
“He’s been going there at least once a week since he found the place.” Nick shook his head with a smile. “Is the coffee not up to your standards or something?”
“The quality of the coffee’s not the issue. The guy who runs it is a fairy.” Monroe shuddered.
Nick and Hank bristled at the comment. Hank said, “I didn’t know you have something against gays. I thought you were this reformed Wesen or is that only a dietary thing? Do you secretly dislike Nick and Sean but put up with them because Nick’s your friend and Sean’s a prince?”
“Gays? Wha..?” Monroe shook his head with a sigh of understanding. “We’re talking two different languages. I mean he’s a stille volk! Probably has the desserts bewitched to make them addictive to keep his clientele coming back for more. Like, don’t get me wrong. They’re crafty little buggers. Like crafting crafty. I’m sure he makes his own furniture or something.”
Nick watched Hank look at his cup then at Monroe. “So, is it bad to go cold turkey once they’ve drawn you in with their sweets and you know the scam?”
Monroe rotated his hand back and forth like he was trying to level the horizon. “You’re not gonna die or anything dramatic like that. You just might be irritable for a week. Or a month. Depends how long you’ve been eating there, really. Hey, calm down. It’s not like they suddenly control your every actions. They’re not that kind of fairy. Those kinds exist but that’s not the stille volk way of doing things. Only need to be cautious if they ask a favor from you even something as simple as, I don’t know, ‘can you hold the door?’”
There was a pregnant pause as the two detectives stared at Monroe. “Do we want to know why?”
“Oh, no. Don’t tell me…” Monroe shook his head slowly.
***
Hank had been studying some of Nick’s books when he should have been sleeping. It was showing at work when Nick asked how he slept, and he said ‘on your books’ with a laugh.
“Hank. This guy is here to see you. Seems pretty upset. Says he knows you.” Wu pointed behind him at a slightly taller man with dirty blond hair and a 5-o-clock shadow. “Jarold Kampfer?”
“Yeah, I know him.” Hank stood up as Jarold was ushered in. “Hey, man. What’s going on?”
They shook hands briefly before hugging it out. “I’m sorry to bother you, Hank, but I think something’s happened to Carly.”
“Carly? Are you kidding?” Hank stepped away from his friend and sat back down at the desk, gesturing for him to take a seat. “Jarold, this is Detective Burkhardt. My partner. Nick, Jarold Kampfer, old friend. You think Carly’s in some kind of trouble?”
“Yeah, I don’t know.” Jarold shook his head and exhaled. “Umm, she was supposed to meet with her school counselor this morning and she didn’t show up, and that’s not like her at all.”
Nick grabbed a pad and pencil. “When’s the last time you saw her?” Hank may be in the know about Wesen but there was still the secret about the Before.
“Last night, before she went to sleep. I left early this morning for work, and I didn’t want to wake her up, so I didn’t check on her. And then I got the call at work from her counselor asking where she was, so I went home, checked in her room, and her cell phone was there.” He produced the cell from his pocket and placed it on the detective’s desk.
“She never leaves her cell phone at home. Her laundry was there, her bed was made.” Jarold’s voice cracked as tears threatened to fall from his blue eyes and he gestured with his hands emphasizing the things he checked. “She never makes her bed, so I don’t even think she slept in it last night.”
“All right.” Hank leaned over to his friend. “Was there any sign of forced entry?”
“No. No, no.” He shook his head some more. “I mean, Hank, I don’t know where she is.”
“Have you or Carly received any threats?”
“No.” He sniffled.
“How old’s your daughter?” Nick asked. The timing was a little different so he had to be sure before intervening.
“She just turned 17.”
“Right, right, right. Just two weeks ago.”
“Yeah.” He wiped his eyes and tried to compose himself.
“She still seeing that Robert guy?”
“No, no, they broke up last month, but I called him. I called her friends. Nobody’s seen her. Nobody knows where she is.”
They asked him a few more questions and he finally sobbed, unknowingly showing Nick his coyotl side. Now that Hank knew about Wesen, Nick didn’t have to keep his partner in the dark.
“I’m really, really worried, Hank.”
Nick leaned in so only the two friends could hear when he whispered, “this may have to do with Carly being a 17-year-old female coyotl.” He stressed the word ‘female’ to hint at a barbaric practice for bringing females into a pack of coyotls.
Jarold’s attention snapped to Nick while Hank stared at his friend. “You mean… he’s one of them?”
Jarold looked back at Hank, still shocked. “You know… about Wesen?”
Nick inhaled deeply preparing for the inevitable reaction to come. “Hank’s a kehrseite-schlich-kennen and I’m a Grimm.” He held out his hand to calm the coyotl down. “I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to help you find your daughter. Okay? I’m a cop first, Grimm only when necessary.”
They came up with an idea that Hayden Walker, the guy whose sister Jarold married, may have something to do with Carly’s disappearance once the coyotl connection became known even if they were last seen in Texas. They tracked down his place of employment in Portland which led to his apartment where Nick and Hank found what was left of animal carcasses. They found a clue that then led them to a farm. Hank was briefed on the Aseveracion ritual where a female coyotl is placed in a fertility matrix under the next full moon following her 17th birthday and bred. Violently.
When the three pulled up to Renniker Farm, they quickly ran back through the plan they’ve formed which included Jarold staying in the car until the detectives could determine Carly’s location and then, unlikely but hopefully, peacefully dealing with the ex-Texan coyotls.
There was an RV parked next to one of the silos on the farm. In front of the RV were four men drinking beer and listening to rock music on a small radio. To the far right stood a guy maybe in his mid-20s with shoulder length dirty blond hair. Directly in front of him was Hayden, an older man with a walking stick and dark brown hair, lounging in a chair with his feet resting on a green cooler. Behind him, sitting on the steps of the open RV, was another young guy with short dark hair and a red button-down shirt over a tan undershirt. Close to him, a slightly older man with his right ankle resting on his left knee and a ball cap that hid his hair, presumably short and dark, was identified as Todd.
Hank and Nick asked Hayden two questions before Jarold abandoned the hint of a plan they had and jumped out of the car to accuse his brother-in-law.
“Where’s Carly? I know you have her, Hayden. Where is she?” He pointed at Hayden as Hank and Nick tried to hold him back. “I know you have her!”
Hayden got up with a smirk and slowly walked towards the visiting men, making a show of leaning heavily on his cane. “It’s awful to hear that Carly’s missing.”
“I know you have her, man! Where is she?”
“I was just telling the detectives I have no idea. Detectives, I don’t know what he’s told you, but he took my sister from our hometown, and I haven’t seen her in years.” Hayden leaned on his cane when his sons flanked him. “How would I know where Carly is? I haven’t seen her since she was five.”
Nick stood between Hank, who was still trying to get Jarold to calm down and get back in the car, and the approaching coyotls.
Jarold backed away from Hank and started looking around at their surroundings. “Carly?” He took off to check the buildings with Hank on his tail.
That left Nick with the in-laws. He made it very clear that he didn’t mind answering their questions on how they’d been found while Hank and Jarold looked around. Hayden had a calmness about him while his sons and the rest of their group had a more aggressive vibe standing near him.
Hank returned and pulled Nick to the side to inform him that the motorcycle they’d seen at the mechanic shop where Hayden worked was at the farm which meant they knew in advance that they’d have company. They mused bringing the group to the station to get information out of them, but Nick noticed a rope shifting seemingly on its own in a well nearby. Hank and Nick pulled the rope up to reveal Carly, with duct tape over her mouth to keep her from screaming for help, as Jarold went back to his in-laws. It took the three younger men to hold him down while he continued to scream at them for taking his daughter with Hayden looking on.
Hank, Nick, and Carly ran towards one of the barns to avoid the shots suddenly going their way. Carly repeatedly asked Hank not to let her estranged family members get her. He assured her that wasn’t going to happen.
“You don’t know them. They’re gonna hurt me!”
“I need you to calm down and listen.”
“You don’t know what they’re going to do to me!” She struggled against Hank who warned her not to go back outside. In her agitated state, her eyes glowed yellow as she turned away from her godfather towards his partner. She recognized what he was and backed away. “No.”
Nick held out his hands in a non-threatening manner. “I’m not gonna hurt you.”
“Don’t kill me. Don’t kill me.” Carly tried to hide behind Hank. “He’s gonna kill me!”
“No, he’s my partner.” Hank tried to assuage her just before she hurled him through the air as it was obvious to her that he was on Nick’s side.
She woged showing light to medium brown fur covering her face and neck. Hank backed away a step at seeing the woge up close. He hadn’t seen a coyotl, yet, and while it wasn’t as scary as the blutbad it also wasn’t as cute as the fauchsbau had been. He didn’t even come across a picture of one in any of Nick’s books so far.
“I’m sorry, Hank. I didn’t mean for that to happen. I thought he was going to kill me.”
“Because he’s a Grimm? Man, you said Wesen treat you like the boogieman, but I didn’t know just how scary you’re supposed to be.”
“Wait, you know about us?”
“It’s a recent thing. Right now, we need to deal with your family and save your dad.”
Hayden approached the barn. “Fellas! We need to talk. I want to come in. I’m unarmed. We can work this out where nobody gets hurt.” Behind him, Jarold was on his knees in front of the rest of the group of coyotls with a gun pointed at his head. “But if anything happens to me, Jarold dies.”
“He thinks he’s got an advantage because of what he is, but he doesn’t know what I am or that you know.” Nick walked back from the window towards the center of the room to rejoin Hank and Carly. “We’re gonna let him in.”
“You think he’s gonna woge, too?”
“Yeah, and you gotta be ready.”
Hank nodded. “Oh, I’m ready.” He had to save his goddaughter and help his friend.
Hayden entered to find the detectives flanking the door with their guns drawn. After a short scuffle, he revealed himself as a coyotl only to be surprised that neither detective was shocked or scared. In fact, he was the one scared once he realized what Nick was.
Carly screamed bloody murder to gain the attention of the coyotls outside. They rushed in to help Hayden get rid of the cops only to be apprehended and she ran outside to help her dad. By the end of the day, there had been 6 arrests, the girl rescued, and a family reunited.