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Chapter 9: Business as Usual

Noel was livid. He could see Warren's confident, ernest face with its lips moving, but the sound wasn't registering. The whoosh of rushing blood flooded his ears.

Already a large and intimidating wolverine (until you got to know him), Noel's bulky frame lost much of its definition with his bristled fur, hunched shoulders and close ears. He looked like a looming rock, covered in brown moss and baring fangs.

Warren backed up a step. Even he was a little intimidated.

"Why?" Noel growled. "Why didn't you tell me yesterday? Or even the day before?"

Warren held up his hands. "Because I didn't want you to spend the whole time working yourself into a panic." He stepped back another step.

Noel saw the undeniable logic in that. "That's so- so," Noel searched for a word strong enough, "unfair!"

Warren wasn't alone in the kitchen. Jack and, for some reason, Lester sat at the kitchen table watching the exchange.

He gritted his teeth and tried to talk low enough that just he and Warren could hear. "Had I known I'd have to go to work, back the scene of the crime... I would have voted with Jack!"

Apparently Noel wasn't as quiet as he had hoped. "Oh. I change my vote on that, boss," Jack said. He held his fingers in the shape of a gun just incase could Warren forget when they voted to ransom the coyote rather than kill him and hide his corpse in a shallow grave.

Noel gave the goat a look that kept him out of the remainder of his and Warren's discussion.

Warren said, "it will be fine. There is no way in hell Talbot would even think you had anything to do with this. But, we want to err on the side of caution. Don't we?"

"Then why can't I just call in sick?" Noel's voice became more plaintive, reducing his aura of intimidation.

"Because you have the unique ability to spy on Talbot without anyone caring."

"Are you kidding me?"

Warren put up his hands again, urging patience. "It's not any James Bond type shit I'm asking you to do. Just go in. Work the register, or whatever you do. And if," Warren made a point to emphasize if, "you happen to see Talbot, or anyone that looks like one of his thugs, just make a quick mental note. Do they seem worried? Do the look armed? Did they say anything? How many? That sort of shit. Ok?"

Noel knew he didn't really have an option.

"I have complete faith in you, big guy," Warren pressed.

"What if they question me?"

Warren smiled his politician's smile, "I promise you they won't. But if you want a foolproof cover, if the ask what you were up to the past few days, just say you spent the weekend sick in bed. And that you're still not feeling to well."

Noel ran through several worst case scenarios in his mind. The ones where he wasn't killed outright seemed to work with Warren's cover story. "Fine," he said without much enthusiasm.

Good enough for Warren. "Right. Jack will drive you. Stop by your place, shower and get your name tag." The wolf slapped Noel on the shoulder and walked out the kitchen door into the yard.

Dawn broke awhile ago. A dim orange glow evident before the door swung closed. Noel looked at Jack and Lester. By this time tomorrow Noel expected to be rich. All he had to do was stay focused on that pleasant horizon.

Warren came back in, absently gnawing his thumbnail.

"Warren," asked Noel, "why is Lester down here?"

Lester gave Noel a disarming smile.

"An ever so slight alteration to the plan," said Warren.

"Yeah," added Jack. "Dude's with us now."

Noel opened his mouth to protest but figured it was pointless. To his embarrassment, Noel also wanted to know why Lester was now wearing pants. Not wanting to dwell on that, Noel took a granola bar and can of cola and sat down to his second breakfast as a fugitive from justice.

"He's still not back," Warren said.

"He probably just took a nap in a tree, boss." said Jack. "I'll take a walk out there before we go."

That was the first time Noel heard the goat demonstrate an ounce of compassion.

"Nah. That's ok. He said he'd 'probably' be back before sunup."

Warren still looked worried.

Noel put down his granola bar. "We still have three hours before I start. If you guys want to look for Kevin, I, uh, could watch Lester for you." Noel hoped his offer didn't come off as lecherous as it sounded to him.

Jack answered that with a hearty laugh and a mumbled "fag."

"Thanks for the offer," said Warren, still looking out the back door's window, "but I wouldn't know where to start. We're in the middle of nowhere. I wish he would have taken a phone with him."

Noel excused himself and went outside. Partly to get away from Lester's coquettish looks and from Jack in general, but main he had to pee. After seeing the bathrooms on his first visit to the farmhouse, he vowed never to try using them again.

At least the weather was nice, Noel decided as he walked around to the side of the house. He unzipped and looked over his shoulder before marking the chipped paint and loose boards.

The thought of taking the opportunity to rub one out chewed on him. He felt guilty, having jerked off four times yesterday, just to get that darn coyote out of his head. As soon as this scheme paid out he was determined to get into a committed relationship. The single life had officially lost its charm.

"Psst."

Noel jumped with a shout. Later he would thank his lucky stars he hadn't been in the middle of wanking. His surprise was great enough that he'd have yanked his dick right off.

"Over here," the voice whispered again.

Noel spun around expecting the FBI or Talbot's thugs. But there was no one.

"Down here."

Noel looked lower at one of collection of scraggly shrubs. "Kevin?"

"Yeah. Tell Warren. And open that window."

Noel bent over. Kevin wasn't alone.

"Wh-"

"Later," Kevin snapped. "Put your pecker away and open the window."

Noel realized with horror that he was exposed. He ran for the backdoor while zipping. The screen door bang against the house. Warren, Lester and Jack hadn't moved.

"Kevin's back. He says we should open the window."

Relief washed over Warren's face. "Where is he?"

Noel was still breathing hard from his brief jog. "Around the side. He's got someone with him."

Warren stopped at the door. "Who?"

Noel took a deep breath. "Couldn't see. But he said-" he watched Warren and Jack leave, "-we should open... the window." I get no respect, Noel thought.

"Which window?" Lester asked.

Noel was pleased someone listened to him. "The one on the side," he pointed, "I think he wanted to climb in or something."

Lester stood. "Well, let's go take care of that."

He lead Lester to the room he guessed closest to the window Kevin had indicated. It was unpleasantly dusty and as the wolverine and coyote fought a shared coughing fit, Lester commented that he would leave a bad review of the place once he had access to a computer.

It took both of them pushing together but the weather warped wood splintered and fresh air blew through the opening.

Noel looked out. The dirt streaked glass didn't afford him a view until it was opened.

Warren was gesticulating wildly while keeping his voice below a whisper. Jack had his gun out. To top off the scene, Kevin held his knife to the throat of a well dressed stallion. The horse was bound in a way that made Lester's bonds seem amateurish.

No. No, no, no, no! Noel was ready to give up. How bad could prison really be? He was a big guy. He could at least look intimidating, right?

Lester tapped him on the shoulder. "Uh, I forgot this thing in the other room. You got this?"

He was gone before Noel could respond.

Noel watched the heated, whispered discussion, that he was, yet again, not part of. They pointed to the window.

Noel stood in an angry silence as they marched the limping, blindfolded horse to the side of the house. He put on his indignant face and took in a deep breath to let Warren have it.

"Not now. Just pull this fucker up. I'll explain the second we have time, ok?" Warren said.

Noel begrudgingly agreed and hoisted the moaning horse through the window while the others pushed.

The horse was huge. Noel guessed Warren only came up to his collarbone. Maybe a head taller than himself. With these thoughts the horse reached a tipping point on the window sill and Noel was left sagging under the weight of the stallion. For a brief horrifying moment he realized he was now alone with the horse. Noel had already guessed his profession to either be an elite ex-special forces assassin, or a federal agent taking note of every transgression on their road to inevitable capture (and probably the death penalty).

As gently as possible, Noel and his straining muscles let the horse down with a grunt. Visions of the new captive breaking his bonds, slicing him open and strangling him with his own innards flashed in front of Noel's eyes.

A thud and scrapping got Noel's attention. Jack was half in the window, his gun pointed squarely at the prone horse. "Don't worry, Noel. I got you covered."

Noel had never been so happy to see that jerk of a goat.

***

Chapter 10: Evaluation

Warren burst into the room, Kev right behind him. Noel went to the window and helped Jack in.

The wolf saw the looks of worry on everyone's face. "We've already got a hostage room... We've got that going for us."

Carrying the horse was a lot harder than walking Lester to the upstairs room. When they set the horse on the bed Warren tried to untie his arms from behind his back. The knots were needlessly ornate. After some experimental pulling he guessed this was just his cousin's way of showing off. "Kev," he motioned to the bound captive.

With a grin that bordered on smug, Kevin jerked a loop near the stallion's elbows and the rope slackened at once.

Before the gloating could start, the previously comatose horse bucked. A fast blow from the horse's fist doubled Kevin over. Jack and Warren tackled an arm each. Although still gagged, Warren could imagine the litany of curses spewing out at him.

Kevin recovered and delivered a hard kick to the horse's injured foot.

A howl of pain, a full body convulsion and the horse went slack. Apparently blacked out.

Warren took no chances and quickly set to duct taping the new guest.

On the way out he turned on the radio. There would be yelling when this was discussed. He was sure of that.

In the kitchen he cracked open a beer and collected his thoughts. "Kev... why do we have a horse tied to the bed in the hostage room?"

"Why is Lester sitting in the kitchen with us?" his cousin asked. Lester waved to Kevin from across the table.

Fair enough. "New information has come to light. He's in debt to some fucked up people and it's now in his best interest to team up with us."

It was like a light went off in Kevin's head. "That explains it," Kevin said quietly.

Warren was used to Kevin's easily distracted mind and kept his rising annoyance in check.

When the wolf was ready he continued, "I was doing like you said, fixing it so no one could follow me down river. All of a sudden I hear this fucker yelling like lunatic. He stepped in a trap," Kevin paused to mentally give himself a pat on the back for his craftsmanship.

I saw the suit so I was going to just slit his throat but when I asked him how Talbot found us, he acted like he didn't know what I was talking about. I twisted the stake sticking through his foot and... I think he was telling the truth."

Kevin went into graphic detail about getting the horse to admit he worked for a group called the City Syndicate.

Warren threw his now empty beer against the wall. "Well how the fuck did they know where we were!" Warren yelled.

Kevin's ears flattened at his cousin's outburst. "He said they'd been keeping tabs on Lester for awhile now... It's why we took him in through the window. So they couldn't see us. There's a car with another fur, parked off the county road, watching the house with binoculars."

The dam holding back Warren's anger burst.

When Warren was finished, he was hyperventilating. Most of the kitchen cabinets had their doors either ripped off or kicked in. The cooler was absent and a window was smashed. The only one left in the kitchen was Kevin, noticeably shaken, but trying to hide it.

"Feel better, Warren?"

He righted a chair and sat down heavily. His head sunk to the table. "No." He sighed and wished he'd let Jack talk him into buying some drugs while they were out yesterday.

"The game was rigged from the start." How could he have missed it?

Warren looked up at the sound of a clunk. Kevin was pointing to a wallet and a pistol. "These were in the guy's pocket."

"Kev. I really don't think you should be handing me a gun right now."

Kevin snatched the items back. But the thoughts were already taking seed. Warren saw it clear and vivid. Shoot Jack, Lester and Noel. Shoot the two fuckers from the Syndicate. Write a confession. Send Kev, with the money they took from the safe, west. Then end it all.

So neat and clean.

He shuddered at the thought.

Warren cleared his mind. He tried to line up what he knew. Maybe there was a path other than murder/suicide. The Syndicate was watching Lester. So they knew he had been kidnapped. "But why is here still here?" Warren said aloud.

"What?" asked Kevin.

"If they know we have Lester, why didn't they tell Talbot?"

Kevin shrugged. "They don't care?"

Warren lifted his head from the table. "But they do care about the money Lester owes them." Warren pushed his chair back. Kevin flinched, fearing another violent outburst, but Warren's eyes lit up.

"Those bastards are waiting for us to ransom Lester back! They aren't watching Lester, they're watching us." Warren smiled.

Kevin tilted his head in question.

"Kev... I have an idea."