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Chapter Seventeen

Gareth

Gareth kept his door ajar as he listened out.

His mother was sitting in the library but there was no sign of not-dad anywhere. He had been out when Gareth had returned from his “dinner” at Honeysuckle Lodge while his mother was sleeping.

He wanted to ask mum if she had seen the photos, but another part of his mind told him to wait. Gareth retreated back to his bed where Ralph’s underwear and jock lay. He picked the briefs up and gently thumbed the fabric, knowing with a heavy heart that he would have to probably return them.

He might not notice. He has hundreds of pairs anyway.

Gareth had confirmed this by going through the drawers in Marcus’ bedroom and Ralph’s suitcase that was still in the house.

He closed the door and tugged his shorts down. They hit the floor and were followed by his underwear. Gareth then thumbed Ralph’s silky briefs in his paw before smiling and pulling them up his hind-paws.

Like Ralph’s speedo, the underwear were big on Gareth and hung off his butt, but he didn’t care. Wearing underwear belonging to his number one crush was a thrill.

He cocked an ear in the direction of the door and listened out.

There was no sound from his mum. Even though his instincts told him to wait he wondered if she was in shock and could appreciate some moral support.

He put his shorts back on and made for hallway, but as he walked out onto the landing the front door opened.

Gareth tensed but relaxed slightly as he heard the voice of not-dad’s PA.

“Hello Claire,” Genevieve said. “I hope you’re doing well this morning?”

“I’m a little tired,” mum replied. “I’ve had a few things going on in my life.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Genevieve said in a genuinely sympathetic tone. “He’s not in the house is he?”

“No, his daughter is coming to visit today, he went to the train station over in Fildown to pick her up. I was just sitting in the library. Shall we talk in there?”

Gareth kept his ear cocked as he crept out onto the landing and down the stairs.

Both his mum and Genevieve were talking in hushed tones. He was surprised that his mum was that close to the vixen. Genevieve was generally quite pleasant, but he had never heard her talk to his mum on a personal level.

“So I have no idea who sent those images,” Gareth heard his mum say as he reached the library door.

“I’m sorry to learn about this though,” Genevieve sighed.

“I want to ask Anthony about this.”

Fucking score!

“I wonder if that’s for the best, especially if this is something that’s been worrying you,” Genevieve said.

“But I don’t want to rattle cages,” mum replied in a more desperate tone.

“Maybe ask him diplomatically?”

No you don’t. Don’t back out!

“I think that’s him coming now,” mum said.

Gareth heard the sound of tires coming up the driveway. Silently as he could, he bolted into the kitchen just as mum and Genevieve walked out of the library. At least in the kitchen he could pretend to be finding a snack and not eavesdropping.

He glanced out of the window by the sink and saw Arseny’s Bentley pull up.

The puma climbed out with his daughter in tow. His daughter was called Eliza and Gareth had never thought much of her. Although she had a far more pretty and petite figure than her father, she always looked at him with a snotty expression and refused to chat, even though not-dad always boomed his voice for Gareth to come and say hello to her.

The front door opened and Arseny’s voice echoed throughout the house.

“Where is that glamorous wife of mine, Claire? Where are you, Eliza is here!”

Gareth found himself edging towards the back door in case he had to make a swift exit.

“Hello there Eliza,” he heard mum say. “Um, Anthony may we talk about something?”

“You may, although where is Gareth? He needs to say hello Eliza before he can escape,” not-dad replied with an irritating belly laugh.

“Not bloody likely,” Gareth muttered as he slipped out the back door.

He wanted to be away from Arseny, but he also wanted to listen to his mum finally standing up to not-dad’s wrongdoing.

A grin spread across his muzzle as he had a sudden brainwave. He knew Arseny kept the window of his office open on warm days and Gareth had listened in to his conversations through the gap before.

He hurried around the side of the house until he reached the window and crouched beneath it.

To his relief, the window pane was pushed up slightly, creating a gap that allowed Gareth to cock an ear and listened in.

Ralph’s briefs had bunched up and were hanging out of his shorts, but Gareth didn’t mind. His heart skipped a beat as he heard the sound of the study door open and close.

“So what is it you wish to discuss my darling?”

“I received these messages yesterday from a withheld number,” his mother explained.

“What kind of messages?”

“These. Who is the lady in the photograph?” Gareth remained still as he imagined his mum showing her phone to not-dad. “It also says Anthony Higson-Pearidge is a cheating dickhead.”

Gareth gasped and then clamped a paw over his muzzle.

He had no idea Oliver had added the message along with the photos and he felt a flash of annoyance, even if the words themselves were true.

“That’s Anna Dearly, she’s helping me work on a building project I’m helping to fund on the edge of the village,” not-dad explained in an infuriatingly calm voice. “We were at university together. That was the first time I’d seen her in over five years. She’s a friend nothing more, in fact I was hoping to introduce the two of you.”

“Introduce the two of us?” mum repeated, her tone sounding increasingly angry.

Good, finally tell him to get lost!

“Claire, my dear, Anna is married with two kids. The last thing I would do is anything to hurt you or her,” not-dad continued. “The problem is the building project we are working in is very secret. We don’t want to alarm people in the village as it involves a local landmark possibly being demolished.”

“I see.”

“And honestly, I have no idea who took those photos of us, but I have an inkling and an idea of what they were trying to do.”

Fuck, he knows I papped him?

“What do you mean?” mum asked.

“Potentially demolishing this landmark may cause controversy, and only one person in the village knows about my plans,” Anthony said, the coolness of his voice was wavering and Gareth thought he could detect a hint of a growl. “It’s a smear attempt.”

Unless he somehow knows Oliver sent them?

“I want to believe you,” mum said. “But after Mrs Tanaka.”

“Please believe me Claire, I would never hurt you like that, and I’m going to find who did this and confront them. I want you to know something, I have some plans here in my office for what this project consists of. I want to keep them safe and make sure they never get out.”

Oh no, he’s going to find Oliver or me!

Gareth kept low and sprinted away silently from the office window to where he had left his bike.

Ralph’s briefs were still ruffled and comically hanging out of his shorts, but he kept running until he had found his bike propped against the wall.

He mounted it and began peddling away.

Gareth had already decided to pay a visit to Honeysuckle Lodge, and that seemed like a good place to hide out at while enjoying more of Ralph’s things.

That’s it, I’ll cycle there and get Oliver to find me.

The ride to Honeysuckle Lodge took about five minutes but as Gareth rounded the corner onto the lane his heart sank as he saw Frank’s red truck parked outside.

He slowed down and cycled by cautiously. The figure of the wolf was faintly visible through one of the windows.

Gareth cycled over to the leylandii bush and tried to hide himself and his bike behind it, which after getting his arm tangled in the bike frame, he just about managed to do.

He remained as still as he could as he watched Frank’s truck. From what he had already observed, Frank worked in the morning before leaving the house, allowing Gareth to make his move.

There was a pile of wood in the back of the truck which he assumed came from the shed that nearly fell on Marcus.

The faint sound of the front door opening and closing echoed down the lane and Frank appeared carrying his toolkit. Gareth remained still and watched. Even though Frank was not a celebrity and had no business getting in the way of his crush, Gareth couldn’t deny the black wolf looked quite hot.

Frank was wearing a grey tank top and denim shorts. They were not as low cut as Marcus’ but they defined his body nicely.

Hmm, he is quite good looking, but he also stops me from going to see Ralph’s stuff, catches me when I follow not-dad, and worst of all he blew me off on Prowlr. Yeah better not go there.

Frank paused by his truck and sniffed the air, as if he had picked up something suspicious.

Gareth’s paws were shaking, but he remained still.

Frank sniffed the air again before climbing into his truck. Gareth waited until the wolf had driven away before sprinting out from behind the bush, through the gate and down the garden path. Frank had left a smaller toolkit underneath the window box, and Gareth wondered if the wolf had just nipped away for a break before returning. However, Gareth’s paw brushed against the key behind the window box and he could no longer resist temptation.

He grabbed it and let himself into the house.

A sense of relief rushed through him and he walked down the hallway, wagging his tail as he thought of the caviar and wine in the kitchen.

Still, something in the way the wolf had sniffed at the air unnerved him, and then he realised there was still the faint scent of cigar hanging in the air, which was now overpowering the scents aftershave and fox.

What if Frank can smell me? Oh shit!

A new system would have to be devised, and Gareth had a great idea.

He pulled out his phone and texted Oliver, hoping the Collie was not in a mood with him.

Hey mate, I’m at Ralph’s, front door is unlocked. Come quickly

Gareth made his way upstairs and smiled to himself as he shed his shirt and shorts; walking around in the Doberman’s appropriated underwear was the best way to enjoy hanging out in the house.

His phone vibrated in his shorts and Gareth bent down to retrieve it, almost losing Ralph’s briefs down his hind-paws in the process.

As expected, the message was a reply from Oliver.

Ok, I’m coming!

A minute later Gareth heard the front door open.

“Hey!” Oliver’s voice called.

“Wait down there,” Gareth replied as he grabbed Ralph’s aftershave.

Oliver was waiting in the hallway as he hurried down the stairs. Ralph’s briefs almost fell down again as he reached the bottom of the steps so he held them up with one paw. The Collie noticed and rolled his eyes.

“Seriously mate, I know you’re over Marcus but can you please steal his underwear instead? I can see your junk.”

“Oi,” Gareth replied as he reached the bottom of the stairs and pointed the aftershave spray in Oliver’s direction.

“What are you doing?”

“Airlock procedure,” Gareth explained, squirting some aftershave on the Collie who coughed and spluttered. “Frank came to work on the house earlier and I could swear he was sniffing about.”

“Oh no.”

“Yup, which is why I’m covering my tracks,” Gareth continued, spraying himself with aftershave.

“Are you sure this isn’t just an excuse to smell like your crush?”

“Nope, although I love smelling like him,” Gareth sighed dreamily as he retreated into his head.

“Oh Gareth, you smell divine today. That scent is turning me on.”

“Thanks Ralph, it’s actually your aftershave.”

“It suits a cute husky like you. Say, why don’t I carry you to bed so I can appreciate it closer?”

“Hey, wake up!”

“Huh?” Gareth replied.

“I was asking about how Arseny reacted to the photos?”

“Come upstairs and I’ll explain,” Gareth said, gesturing for Oliver to follow him.

He walked back up to the bedroom, trying to keep Ralph’s briefs from sliding down and ignoring protests from Oliver.

“Ugh, I can see your crack!”

“I’m starting to think you’re bi-curious given the fact you’re looking at my bum!”

Gareth flopped down on the bed while Oliver stood by the window.

“I didn’t realise you’d written a message with the photos,” he sighed as he snuggled into the sheets.

Oliver sniffed the air.

“Did you have a wank in here? It smells of cum.”

“Hey, don’t dodge what I was saying,” Gareth replied, reaching for the aftershave and squirting more into the air to mask the scent. “You remind me of Frank when you sniff about like that.”

“Yes I did send a message too,” Oliver grinned. “Just to emphasise the point.”

“Hmm, well next time tell me, and I think we may be busted.”

“What?” Oliver replied, looking alarmed. “How?”

“The good news is my mum confronted Arseny about the pics.”

“Good!” Oliver said, wagging his tail.

“The bad news is, well, he does this annoyingly calm voice which somehow hypnotises her. That’s not new, all her idiot ex-boyfriends did the same thing,” Gareth explained. “But then he said someone had done it to smear him, he knew who and he’s going after them.”

“Fuck,” Oliver breathed, before turning to glance down the street in case Arseny was marching towards Honeysucke Lodge. “Going after them?” he repeated. “Does he have a gun?”

“I don’t know, he might have a blunderbuss.”

“A what?”

“It’s an old type of gun from the 1700s, didn’t you learn about it at school? Anyway, that’s not important right now.”

“Just so long as it’s not an AK-47,” Oliver muttered. “But wait, this doesn’t make sense, how would he even know who took the photos if I sent them under a withheld contact?”

“I have no idea, but I have a horrible inkling that he thinks I did it,” Gareth said with a shiver.

The thought made him wrap the covers over himself in a protective cocoon.

“No offense, but hiding under a bed is not going to help if he comes at you with a gun,” Oliver chuckled.

“I know, being in here makes me feel safe,” Gareth replied, although his voice came out muffled as he put the quilt over his face. “Did you have to send that message with the images, the photos would have been enough on their own.”

“It added more to it!”

“I didn’t want more added to it, she just needed to see the photos,” Gareth sighed.

“Do you want my help or not?”

“That wasn’t helping!” Gareth snapped. “It pissed Arseny off.”

“Hey, he was going to be pissed off already!”

“I know but,” Gareth began, but he heard Oliver shush him. “Don’t silence me,” Gareth growled as he threw the covers off, but the Collie frantically motioned with his paws.

“Frank is outside,” he hissed.

Gareth’s eyes widened as he slid off the bed and sprinted over to join Oliver.

The black wolf was opening the garden gate and Gareth’s paws began shaking as he began walking down the path.

“D… did I lock the door behind you?” Gareth whispered.

“I don’t think so,” Oliver replied.

Gareth watched as Frank walked up to the front door but paused to bend down to pick something up.

“What’s he doing?” he mused out loud, and then he felt himself relax as Frank picked up the toolkit he had left and turn to walk back down the path.

However, as Gareth watched, the wolf paused and raised his snoot to sniff the air again.

“Can he smell us?” Oliver whispered.

Gareth opened his mouth to reply, but breathed a second sigh of relief as Frank continued walking to where he had parked his truck on the road.

They watched as Frank climbed in and drove away.

“Fuck, that was close,” Gareth said as he climbed back into the bed. “Anyway, I feel like laying low here.”

“What, with Frank almost catching us?” Oliver laughed. “This is not a safe hiding place. Come crash at mine.”

Gareth knew Oliver had a point, but on balance, getting caught by Frank was a lesser evil than getting cornered by Arseny.

“You know, Frank seeing me here would be awkward as fuck, don’t get me wrong, but getting shot by not-dad would be humiliating,” he reasoned.

“Humiliating? You’ll be dead.”

“I know, but everyone else knowing I died because of that fat bastard would be an embarrassing legacy. I’m hiding here.”

“What if Frank comes again, while you’re in bed?”

“I’ll sleep in the treehouse in the garden,” Gareth announced. “And you can bring me food if I run out here.”

“Okay,” Oliver replied, looking very unsure of the idea. “Seriously, you could just sleepover at mine.”

“He might think to look for me there,” Gareth sighed.

“True, but we still need to have our poker tournament,” Oliver said with a grin.

The poker tournament consisted of sitting under the oak tree in the field and gambling (just the two of them) for money.

“We do,” Gareth agreed, before he wrapped himself in the covers and thought to himself. “I wonder why Arseny wants to keep his meeting with that calico a secret?” he pondered to himself.

“Because he’s bonking her?” came Oliver’s voice from outside the cocoon of covers.

“No, not just that,” Gareth replied, disentangling himself from the bedclothes. “I’m starting to think there’s more to this.”

He sighed to himself and idly slipped a paw down Ralph’s underwear.

“Gareth, seriously do you have to do that?” Oliver sighed.

Gareth removed his paw and rolled onto his stomach.

“I’m going to eat here again, want to join me?”

“Not with Frank prowling around,” Oliver replied. “Ya know, I think I’m going to head home and hide there. I have work tomorrow.”

“I thought you only worked Sundays?”

“I do, but there’s this cute caracal called Rachel who asked me to cover for her. I’m hoping to get a shag out of it,” Oliver grinned. “Anyway, catch you later, that’s if Frank or Arseny don’t catch you first.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Gareth huffed.

“And text me if you need me to bring stuff to your new treehouse,” the Collie added before leaving the room.

Gareth rolled himself back up in the silk sheets and suddenly found his mind was racing. Not-dad had been talking about demolishing a local landmark and not upsetting people in the village.

He was near the house owned by the poet, the one Frank was telling us about. Cecil Mansfield’s house.

“Hey Oliver, wait!” he called, poking his head out from under the covers.

“What is it?” the Collie asked, sticking his head around the door.

“Arseny said he has plans in his office no one needs to see. Bloody hell, for someone who wants to be secretive he’s not very good at it,” Gareth pondered out loud as his mind began formulating a plan. “I want to hide here, wait until Arseny is out, and then find out what exactly he’s doing. That way we can bust him, rescue my mum, and oh man, we’ll become famous!”

“Yess,” Oliver said, pumping a fist. “We’ll be featured in the news.”

“And Ralph will want to meet me if I’m a local celebrity,” Gareth sighed dreamily.

“Not that shit again, I’m going home to see what’s for lunch, see ya soon,” Oliver said as he left the room for a second time.

Gareth wasn’t listening. He slipped his paws down the front of Ralph’s briefs as he began fantasising.

“That was very brave of you to bust that horrible man like that.”

“Thank you Ralph.”

_“I’ll take you away from here, I promise.” _