“As one of the family guardians, I check out what’s new and kinky on a regular basis and see how it relates to us. Furries and shifter groupies are just one of the things I’ve run across,” said Ginny. Meg nodded her head in agreement.
“So, what’s getting repaired and what are you doing to solve this?” asked Patrick trying to change the subject.
“Two broken windows, paint splashed on our signs and Peter is hiring a guard service with dogs for a few days. Last time this happened we did this and it helped,” said Luc.
“Dogs? Why not a few shifters?” asked Meg.
“Because last time they tranquilized one of us and tried to haul him off to a lab. This way, they get 175 pounds of pissed off guard dog,” said Luc.
That got everyone laughing.
*
Late that afternoon after dropping Meg and Ginny off, Luc and Patrick showed up at the office to see how things were progressing. The windows were fixed and Cal was picking up the last of the paint smeared rags.
“Hey Luc! Good to see you,” said Cal.
“You’ve been busy,” said Luc looking around.
“Yeah. Peter is back in the warehouse with the dogs having a little discussion with them,” said Cal.
“That should be good. I take it the guard dogs took exception to Peter?” asked Patrick.
“Probably. His scent is really heavy, and probably made the dogs nervous,” said Luc.
Cal nodded. “Damn things pissed themselves,” he said. “That so didn’t make Peter’s day. Upset the handler too. He took two of them back and brought three others. One wouldn’t come out of the cage and the other two rolled on their bellies. We explained that Peter has a wolf at home and the guy nodded like he understood.”
“I was afraid of that, but glad that Peter had the sense to come up with something,” said Luc. “Now what got done to the signs?”
“Some of it was just paint thrown over the lettering. Others were things like ‘were’ added to Alpha Wolf and ‘Shifter!’,” said Cal. “All the usual stuff. The brick through the window threatened to burn us out and shoot us with silver bullets. I took those to the police.”
“Thanks. After all the stuff up in Spoon River, I had hoped it would be quiet down here. How many other companies with the word ‘wolf’ in them have been hit?” asked Luc.
“Forty-seven,” said Peter coming up to the front of the building. He had two huge dobermans by his side on a leash. “Let me introduce you to Buttercup and Fezzik.”
Luc, Cal and Patrick turned to the dogs and let them sniff their hands. Buttercup wagged her tail and Fezzik rolled over on his back waiting to be petted.
“Are you sure these will do the job when we leave?” asked Luc. “I think I’ve seen more aggressive kittens.”
“Oh, they’ll do the job. They have a phrase trigger. Once you say that, they’re on duty,” said Peter.
“Okay, so let’s put them in the warehouse area and put them to work,” said Luc. “It’s been a long day and I want to go home.”
The men walked around to the entrance of the warehouse and Peter let the dogs off their chains. He locked the gate and then said, “As you wish.” The two dogs looked at him and then started prowling the yard.
“I take it the handler liked the Princess Bride?” asked Patrick.
“Oh yeah. He even looks like Cary Elway,” said Peter.
“That’s a riot. Now, other than filling out police reports, playing with puppies, cleaning up paint and repairing windows, how’s work been?” asked Luc as they went into the main offices to close up.
“Steady. All our regulars still calling in. A few new jobs and a couple of nosy inquiries,” said Cal.
“Oh, and don’t forget the goth chick that wanted a job,” said Kevin as he came into the main lobby.
“What?” asked Luc.
“We had this goth chick in full leathers and lace and a foxtail come in asking for a job. Said she’d do anything, as long as she could work for the company,” said Kevin. “It was obvious she thought we were werewolves ala some of the novels that are out.”
“So how did you get rid of her?” asked Luc.
“Well, I did the who ‘queerer than thou’ thing and said that we really were looking for a pretty boy as we had all the bitches we could handle,” said Kevin. “It took her all of about thirty seconds to leave once I started blowing kisses at Cal.”
Luc laughed while Patrick shook his head. The rest were laughing too.
“Oh, and she slugged her boyfriend when she got out to the car. We were watching through the windows. We figure he put her up to it,” said Cal.
“People are really stupid some times,” said Peter.
“Yeah. Shall we grab pizza and head over to my house?” asked Luc. “Then I can catch you up on all that’s been going on in Spoon River.
Cal and Peter looked at each other. “Deal!” they said.
“I’ll get the beer,” said Kevin.
*
Luc closed the door and turned back into the house. The pizza and beer party had helped everyone get back into the mindset for the week. Everyone was caught up and understood what had gone on in Spoon River as well as in town. No surprises and hopefully no more hassles. Granted, Luc wouldn’t be surprised if Buttercup and Fezzik got something to eat in the next week or two. He’d called a few of the other ‘wolf’ named businesses and talked to them to find out what kinds of attacks they’d suffered. All of them were dealing with the same kind of situation; broken windows, paint smears and weird people trying to get hired. They’d exchanged phone numbers and email addresses to keep in touch.
As Luc checked the back door and turned the phones to ‘do not disturb’, he heard Meg in the shower. He walked quietly into the bathroom and watched her shower. He only stood there a minute before stripping off and getting in behind her.