Sweetening the Deal - Part 7

Story by Magna Vulpes on SoFurry

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#7 of Sweetening The Deal


Jumping into the car, Karen was ready to head back home. She hated seeing her husband in pain, and judging by how much he was sweating and the pained look on his face, he was in bad shape. Unsure of exactly what medicine to purchase, the vixen selected several, hoping that one of them would do the trick. She used the bluetooth devise that Arthur had installed in her car to call him up.

"Honey?" answered the squirrel with an agonized tone.

"I just out of the store. Are you feeling any better?" she asked.

"Not really. Hoping that I don't end up in the hospital tonight."

"Is it really that bad?" asked Karen, feeling her blood pressure rise. "Should I call an ambulance?"

"No. Not yet. Just . . . hurry home."

"I will. Love you, Arthur."

"Love you too, Karen."

Ending the call, Karen ignored the speed limit, hoping to get home as quickly as possible.

It had been too easy for Troy, stealing his uncle's pistol and getting out of jail without actually being charged. Amos had given him the exact address of where Karen was living. The young wolf was infuriated to learn that Karen had actually married that squirrel, the very creature who had paid her fox sex. His blood boiled as he got in his truck and headed out. He was going to make both of them pay for what they'd done to him; Karen for cheating and Arthur for beating him up. But before he was ready to pay them a visit, he had one stop to make.

On the very edge of town was "Service Liquor", the very establishment that he'd been caught shoplifting from. His truck rattled, in need of repair, as he pulled into the parking lot of the place. He looked around, seeing that there was only one car there; obviously belonging to whoever was working here at this time. The little bell atop the door rang as he entered the place. He looked over and saw the owner, a serval, was standing behind the register. He was the one who had caught Troy in the act, and was not happy to see him again.

"The fuck do you want?" barked the serval. "You come to apologize."

"I have," said Troy, sounding sincere. "I'm glad that you and my Uncle could work something out."

"Don't mention that to me," snapped the serval. "I don't want anyone else besides you and him to know about that."

"Not a problem," said Troy, going over and grabbing a large bottle of bourbon. "No reason we have to be enemies."

"Don't expect us to be friends either," said the serval, still angry about what the wolf had done. "You got money to pay for that, or are you triyn' to steal from me again?"

"I've got money," said Troy, trying to calm the serval down.

"Oh really?" said the serval, crossing his arms and continuing to glare.

"Yeah," said Troy. "It's right here."

The serval didn't have time to react as Troy pulled the stolen pistol from inside his pants and shot the cat right in the forehead. Gore splattered all over as the owner of the store fell dead. Working quickly, Troy opened the register and took out all the cash. Just underneath the counter, he found the very shotgun that the serval had used to hold him at gunpoint before the cops arrived to arrest him. He took hold of it and the bottle of bourbon, leaving the store, but ran back inside to get a few more bottles of bourbon. Throwing everything in his truck, he climbed in the driver's seat, turned the key and headed out. Opening one of the bottles of bourbon, he drove out of town, ready to pay his ex and her new hubby a visit.

Still in agony, Arthur was relieved to hear Karen coming up the steps to their bedroom. The vixen took the plastic bag containing the various medicines, letting him select the ones he wanted. She sat on their bed, watching him swallow the medicine.

"You think you're going to be well enough to work tomorrow?" she asked, rubbing his back.

"Hope so," he said, wiping sweat from his brow. "I hate missing work."

"But if you're not feeling well, you should just call in," she suggested to him.

"You're right," he said. "Let's see how this stuff works first."

Karen staid with him, gauging his reaction to the medicine. After thirty minutes, Arthur claimed that was feeling better. Karen noticed he was no longer sweating and his pained expression had transformed to one of relief. He assured her that he was feeling much better and would be going to work in the morning.

"You sure?" she asked, nuzzling him.

"Positive," he said, yawning. "I'd better try to get some sleep now."

"Not me," said the vixen. "I'm wide awake now. Think I'll go to the office and do some writing."

"Okay, sweetie," said Arthur, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "See you in the morning."

Karen flicked the light switch off as she left her husband to his rest. She went to the office, turned the computer monitor on and went to her Word document. With so much free time on her paws, the vixen had taken up writing stories. She started with some short stories, still unsure of her writing abilities. Once her first few stories had been finished, she gave them to Arthur, asking him to read them. Always wishing to please his vixen, the squirrel sat down and gave them a read. He was astonished at how well she had composed the stories, giving them a smooth plot line, interesting characters and even the dialogue was superb. Still unconvinced of her talent, Arthur suggested sending them to some various magazines to see if they would publish them. It had been a huge day for the vixen when she received a letter in the mail saying that one of the magazines was going to publish her story, sending her a check for $500. Arthur was pleased that his wife had found something she truly enjoyed doing.

With her confidence increased after the letter, she decided that she was going to write a full length novel, knowing exactly what the story would be about. Loosely basing it on her own life, she was writing about a young vixen stuck in a horrible relationship that she couldn't get out of. The protagonist's salvation would come when an older squirrel came to rescue her after responding to a Craigslist ad, though the bass guitar had been changed to just a guitar and she left out the part about prostitution.

She worked on the story for an hour, but was now getting sleepy. She went over to the comfortable chair in the corner of the office, deciding that she would sleep in here tonight so she wouldn't bother Arthur, who was most likely going to be dragging around all day tomorrow from the decreased amount of sleep he would get tonight. Yawning, the vixen's eyelids shut, then opened a few more times before finally closing in sleep.

Troy had been driving around for over an hour, drinking his bottle of bourbon. The murderous wolf needed some liquid courage before he was ready to face that squirrel again. He looked behind his seat, seeing the shotgun that he had stolen from the slain serval. Adapt at martial arts or not, that squirrel was no match for a 12 gauge with double ought buckshot. Feeling a terrific buzz from the alcohol, he turned down a country road, the very road where Karen and her new husband lived. He look from left to right, noticing the heavily wooded area, and even in the night he could see the houses here were few and far between. Perfect. He didn't want a bunch of nosey neighbors seeing what he was going to do anymore than he wanted customers in the liquor store when he killed the serval. He looked at the address, seeing that he was almost there. Not wanting his loud, old truck to wake them up, he pulled over to the side of the road and got out.

With his pistol tucked in his pants, and the shotgun in his paws, he sneaked towards the house, seeing that there were no lights on.

"Good," he said, taking a final drink of the bourbon and tossing it into the woods. "They'll never even see me coming."

Slowly, he crept up to the house, hearing only crickets chirping and leaves rustling from the wind. Taking his wallet out, he managed to get the locked door open. Quietly, he entered the house, going from room to room in the downstairs area, but finding no one. He saw the steps leading to the upstairs and with his shotgun in paw, he went step by step, drunk, but mindful not to make noise as he made his way to the top. There in the first room, a door hung open. Hearing snoring from inside. Troy walked in and closed the door. He flicked on the light switch, seeing the squirrel sleeping by himself, the wolf snarled inwardly, wondering if Karen was even here. The little slut was probably cheating on this squirrel just like she had cheated on him. His anger getting the better of him, he rushed the squirrel, swinging the shotgun just as the squirrel blinked his eyes, noticing an invader in his home.

Karen, still sleeping in the office, was suddenly wakened by the sound of an explosion and screaming and yelling. Jumping to her feet, she listened, hearing a voice she recognized from her not to distant past.

"Troy!" she said. "Oh no, Arthur!"

She went to the desk, grabbing the pistol Arthur kept in there. She opened the cylinder, seeing that it was fully loaded, she ran out of the room and into her bedroom. She turned the light on, seeing Arthur and Troy in a fight to the death, and Arthur was on the ground, being struck in the face with the butt of Troy's shotgun. Arthur had taken her shooting on several occasions and she was now adept at using the weapon. Troy, turned, seeing the vixen pull the hammer back on the pistol.

"There you are you, you little slut," he said, getting ready to take aim at her.

BANG!

Arthur and Karen's ears were ringing from the sound of the magnum caliber handgun being fired. At such a close range, Troy didn't have a chance. Shot through the heart, the wolf fell dead upon Arthur. Karen put the gun down on the floor and raced over to Arthur. She rolled Troy's corpse off of her husband, seeing his badly bludgeoned face. Arthur was in agony, he spat out blood and teeth as he was barely clinging to consciousness.

"Hang in there, sweetie!" yelled the vixen, running for her cell phone.

She dialed 911, telling the operator that her husband was badly beaten by a home invader whom she was forced to kill. She cradled Arthur, trying to get him to hold on. He looked up at her as she talked with the operator, his vision now turning dimming as he was ready to black out. Karen shook him, not wanting him lose consciousness.

By the time the ambulance arrived, Arthur was still barely conscious. The paramedics immediately began medical treatment before hauling him out of the house. The police arrived soon after and ordered Karen out of the bedroom so she wouldn't disturb anything more than she already had.

"What happened hear tonight, ma'am?" asked a one of the officers on the scene.

Karen had remembered what Arthur told her about dealing with the police. She shook her head at them.

"I don't have anything to say," she said defiantly.

The deputy who'd asked her the question sighed. "Then I'm afraid we're going to have to take you into custody, ma'am."

"I want a lawyer," said the vixen.

Karen felt her paws placed behind her back as she was cuffed and read her rights. Leaving the house, she wondered if she would ever see it or Arthur again.