Lazy Magnolia

by T S Paul

  “I don’t think your father likes me very much. How about the coffee shop across the street from it? We could sit outside.”

  I found myself nodding. The Navy Bean had only just opened but already had a good clientele. Plus, they made a killer cup of cocoa. The little marshmallows were my favorite.

  “Sure. How about ten tomorrow morning?” Just early enough to avoid Dad but early enough to still get investigative work done later.

  “See you there, big bear.”

  She hung up the phone before I could ask how she knew I was a bear, it wasn’t on my business cards. The white hair wasn’t always the tip off. I’d told the manager of the condo it was a glandular condition.

  Chapter 5

  I couldn’t stop thinking about Elisha all day and the rest of the evening.

  Dad even commented on it. “Worrying about that sow? Son you need to learn to control your urges. She’s not the right one for you. Trust your old dad. How’s your case coming anyway?”

  “She’s not a sow. I wish you wouldn’t call her that. I’m meeting with her tomorrow morning before we open up. The case is fine I just need some more information as well as money from her. Don’t worry about me.” I really resented him when he got into my business like this.

  “Don’t give me that son. I’m just trying to watch out for you. That sow isn’t from our community. I know because I checked. She smells like trouble to me. Your mother and I only want the best for you. Forgive an old man’s ramblings if you like.”

  He stood and left the room. Staring at his chair in shock I couldn’t believe he left. Since when did I win an argument? If I had been paying attention, I would have asked what community he meant.

  My dreams that night were filled with computers, swimming pools, and beautiful women in bathing suits. Waking up in a cold sweat I knew I needed to finish this case out before it drove me crazy.

  Elisha beat me to the coffee shop. She’d even ordered for me. A steaming cup of coffee sat on the table.

  “Mongo! So nice to see you.” She stood and gave me a full-on kiss that felt as if it curled my toes. “Come, sit next to me.”

  Instead of sitting across from her as I intended, I sat down in the chair next to her.

  Elisha immediately put her hand on my wrist. “Thanks for meeting me here.”

  Her perfume hit me and I lost all conscious thought. “Uh, sure. I… uh… needed. What did I need?” I looked into her seductive eyes like an idiot lost in a sea of nothing.

  “The computer. You called and said you found it.” She moved her hand down to my thigh and just let it rest there.

  My mind swirled. Something was making me insane and I couldn’t tell what. Remembering a trick for undercover agents I’d leaned with the FBI, I started to rub two fingers together. That action would direct your mind to concentrate on something allowing you to remember the people that meant the most to you.

  “I need clarification on a couple of things.” I said. I had to work hard to stay on track here.

  Elisha leaned closer to me. Whispering in my ear I could feel her warm breath as she enunciated the words. It gave me the shivers. “What things would those be sweetie?”

  Her hand moved higher up my thigh causing me to jump. She gave me a pat suddenly.

  “This guy, Pascal. He’s not really your boyfriend, is he?”

  My finger trick was working to clear my head, but it was an uphill battle. Each time I spoke her hand moved up my thigh a bit further.

  “He’s more of a business partner than a boyfriend. We started his company together and he cut me out of it suddenly. That computer he uses does belong to me though. Why do you ask?” She was still whispering in my ear.

  “I… I can’t continue the case under false pretenses. My license is at risk if I do.” Closing my eyes, I tried to not look at her.

  “We are starting to develop something here Mongo. I can feel it. Can’t you?”

  She removed her hand from my thigh and ran it up over my chest. My whole body relaxed. Why did this woman have such an effect upon me? Opening my mouth, I started to say I would do anything she asked when my father’s voice penetrated my brain. More like his roar did.

  “Mongo! We need to open up! Mongo!”

  Removing her hand, I faced her. “I have to go. Consider the contract null and void. I will eat the costs and if you want it back, I’ll refund the first fifty dollars you paid me. Staying legal and legit is very important to me. Sorry.”

  Pushing my chair back I stood up. I could see my dad standing in the doorway. He’d been watching me. There was a look of approval on his face.

  “Damn it Mongo. I need that freaking computer! Stupid polar bear. You males are all alike.” Angry now, Elisha stood and stomped away.

  Stunned, I walked across the street to Dads restaurant. “How did she know I was a polar bear?”

  My father looked at me with an incredulous look upon his face. “Are you an idiot? You couldn’t smell her? I told you she was a sow. You need to listen when your elders speak. Stupid child. I knew you smoked too much of that crap. It addled your brain too much.”

  Slapping my hand on my head I moaned. Sow! In our community Werebear females were called sows. Since I hadn’t met another female bear since I was young, I had no idea. Dad was right though, my senses were dulled it was one of the reasons I left the FBI. Maybe it was time for a shift and a trip back to nature.

  “Sorry Dad,” I replied. “I really am an idiot not to notice.”

  “Why are you sorry? You made a mistake. It happens. Good thing you left those government folks. With your senses dulled that much you might have gotten yourself killed or something. Did you see those big ass Demons in Charleston? We will not be telling your mother about this. Forget about the sow, she’s not worth it. This weekend we’ll go over to Kentucky for a romp in the woods. Your mom will love it. I have a new contact there who apparently loves my son’s barbecue so much he offered me a trip. Forget about the sow I tell you. You canceled the contract?”

  Nodding I told him yes. It was crazy that my dad and Cat’s made a connection. With luck the fact I helped spread Jackalopes across the South would stay a secret. Robert Moore was a man with foresight. He knew a money-making idea when he saw one. It would be good to run on all fours again. I felt so stupid that I got played. Females suck. One thing bothered me though.

  “Dad, why did she affect me so much?”

  He shook his head. “That fancy school didn’t teach you about pheromones? She played you, boy. Used her feminine wiles against you. This is a good thing. Taught you a lesson. Plan on hanging out with some of our people more. The local Pack could use another beefy man like you. It will harden you to that sort of thing.” Dad gave me a sly look. “Harden you in more ways than one.” He started laughing.

  I gave him a little push and he practically knocked me off my feet. Bears play rough. For the first time since coming home I felt as though I really came home.

  “Are you still going to work at the pool?” He asked me.

  I hadn’t even considered the pool. It was a real job and not just a cover. “Maybe? It lets me swim for free all I want. I’ve been taking your advice and not showing everything I can do in the pool. The girls have been appreciative.” I made my eyebrows bounce even as I said that last bit.

  Dad shook his head. “Flirt with the humans all you like. But that’s it. Remember we fight for what is ours and during mating season have been known to kill other males. Humans are too fragile. One swipe of the paw and no more head. Just be careful son.” He started opening the restaurant.

  Well that sucks. At least I had a job of sorts that paid me unlike working here. I wondered if I should tell Pascal about Elisha and her desire for his computer. I shelved the idea, but it came back to bite me in the ass later.

  Chapter 6

  “Mongo did you hear?”

  I was literally just inside the back gate when some local girls ambushed me. Dad dropped me off in barbeque wagon when m
y car wouldn’t start.

  “Ladies! One at a time. What’s up?” It was so good to be the king! Or lifeguard. Whatever worked for you.

  “There was a break in last night!” Chrissy or Rachel started talking so fast I couldn’t keep up. “And a dead guy!”

  “What?” I asked with a panicked look. She said guy so I couldn’t have been Elisha.

  “It’s true. Three big guys broke into that guy’s house over there and trashed the place.” The redheaded one pointed at Pascals condominium. “The cops are all over the place asking all kinds of questions.”

  The fence around the pool was too high to really see anything, so I climbed the lifeguard chair to take a look. Police and looky-loos were everywhere. Yellow police tape marked off the entire building and Pascals front door looked smashed in. Cops were moving in and out of the place with bags in their hands.

  It looked like half the Huntsville PD was here.

  I surreptitiously climbed down and while nodding to the girls and did what I call a trash patrol. Grabbing empty cans and wrappers I stuffed them into the trash cans. It gave me a reason to be in the corner closest to the cops. Pressing my ear to the fence I caught a few fragments of conversation.

  “… alone. All his guards were off shift. How did they time it so perfectly?”

  “There’s going to be hell to pay over this one. The Chief says this guy was CID or something. I thought those guys all stayed on the base or something…”

  “They would have had to watch him for weeks to figure out his schedule. Only the few tenants on that side of the complex can see his unit, the fence does a good job blocking it in. The manager runs security backgrounds on everyone. He’s a former spook of some kind too,” a cop in a really ugly suit explained. I figured he was one of the detectives.

  Someone new walked up and the agents must have turned away because now I was only getting fragments of what they were saying. The law enforcement agent in me wanted to jump the fence and confess all, but my bear said wait and see.

  My cover story really held up if Bradford really was a spook. Having Elisha’s information already made it so I didn’t have to ask too many questions of the residents.

  A familiar sounding male voice started questioning the bikini girls. He grilled them on strangers in the area or anyone who’d visited Pascal. Then he started in on the Bradford, the manager.

  “No one new, not really. The dead guy had a woman at one point though. Ex business partner or something. I’d seen them together a few times. Pretty hot and heavy let me tell you. She was a real knockout with those green eyes,” Bradford replied.

  “Had you seen her recently?” The detective asked.

  I strained my ear to listen more, but both men stepped farther away.

  “... FBI agent. Can you believe that? That goofy looking lifeguard used to be an agent. What is the world coming to? Be sure someone grills him good. Is there a reason for the Bureau to be here investigating this Pascal guy? Check on that. Tell Phillips about him. We might get lucky and he knows him or something,” one of the head cops said.

  There were other murmured answers, but I didn’t stick around to hear them. I jumped into the pool. The last thing I needed right now was to be added to a subject list.

  Coming up from breath I heard my name being called.

  “Mongo! I should have known. The local police actually checked you out a month or so ago when you moved home. I’m surprised you aren’t in private security or something. Of course, you always were a surfer or something. Not a lot of waves here in the sticks.”

  Wonderful. Agent Ronald Phillips. If anyone deserved to be forgotten and left behind on a deserted island, it was this guy. He would sell his own mother to get a new job. He wasn’t called the screw half the FBI Academy graduating class for nothing.

  Grabbing the ladder, I pulled myself out of the water. Even without my shoes on I towered over the finely dressed Agent. “Phillips. What hole did you crawl out from?”

  “That would be Special Agent in Charge Ronald Phillips to the likes of you Mongo.” He said with a sneer.

  My sniffer might be on the fritz, but I could still smell the hair oil he used. Slimy bastard even for a Were. He was Weasel Clan, so he barely counted. “Do you know anything about the break-in at Blaise Pascal’s condo?”

  “Who? Dude I just work here part time. Between this, my dad’s restaurant, and the few cases I get I’m pretty busy,” I explained to him.

  Humans had a really hard time lying to a Were, but we could do it to each other as long as one of us wasn’t an Alpha. Then we were just screwed. It was easier to lie by omission any way.

  “Pascal. He lives over there. His company is doing security for our new bombers over at Redstone,” Phillips explained.

  “And he’s living here? This is a bit high-end for Huntsville, but I could maybe afford it.” I pointed to the surrounding buildings. “I’ve seen the guy that lives there a couple of times. He sits at the table by the pool and leers at the girls. Never met him though. You say his name is Pascal?”

  “It was. Someone broke in and killed him last night. You wouldn’t know anything about that now would you Mongo?” The Agent stared up at me.

  “He’s dead? Holy crap! With all the security on this place you’d think it was safe. No way I’m moving in now.”

  There was no good cop bad cop when it came to Phillips. He was all bad cop. Better to play it mostly straight with him. Make it real.

  “Have you seen anything that looked suspicious around here? You were an FBI Agent at one time. Surely you saw something we can use.”

  “Let me show you something.” I lightly grabbed his arm and turned him toward the pool I just got out of.

  “See that? If I could look at that all day, why would I bother with a computer guy’s house?”

  Bikini-clad women were lined up in chairs down one side of the pool. There was enough flesh flashing there to distract a professional sports team. That wasn’t even counting what was in the pool itself. It was a dream job.

  Phillips scowled up at me. “Pervert.” He stormed off.

  I probably should have come clean, but it would be just like The Screw to make me the scapegoat for this whole disaster. Better to file my paperwork and hope for the best. If she gets away from them, I might see her again someday. She might be a killer, but she was a hot one. But that could be the hormones screaming at me.

  Picking up my clothes I started getting dressed. Patting my pants, I froze. Keys yes. Wallet no. Uh oh.

  Author Notes

  Did you like that one? Do me a favor and review it on Amazon, it lets me know how I’m doing.

  Get involved, join the Fans of the Federal Witch Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/363520877425449/

  It’s a good place for catching up on snippets and new book announcements.

  Mongo has always been one of my favorite characters to write about. Who doesn’t like a big goofy guy in a Hawaiian shirt? Funny story, when I first met my wife I had an entire closet filled with those sorts of shirts. Three months into our relationship they were all gone. One by one they vanished. When asked all she said was, “What shirts?”

  So, Mongo is my shirts. He’s my way of getting away with wearing them without actually owning them. You might’ve noticed the Demon reference in this story. For timeline purposes this one takes place just after the events in the Arcane series and Child of Darkness, but before Draft of Dragons. Mongo has his own part to play in Death Awaits and future books. He’s not going anywhere.

  For the future I have a ton of things coming. The big ones are obvious. Death Awaits. Tempered, a brand new space adventure. I’ve promised a new Athena Lee and yes, I will be writing a very long promised Space Cadets story. There is new stuff as well. Heather Paul, my wife is joining me on a couple of brand new projects that are going to be so much fun. Keep your eyes peeled for those.

  Book three of this series is a surprise, but here’s the cover as a teaser!

&nb
sp; Keep it magical. TS Paul

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  Also By T S Paul

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  Child of Darkness - The Extra Chapter

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  Jack Dalton Book 1

  Jack Dalton Book 2

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  Jack Dalton Book 6

  Jack Dalton Book 7

  Jack Dalton Book 8

  Jack Dalton Book 9

  Athena Lee Chronicles

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