Sitting up straighter in her seat, she heard the phone pick up and she waited to hear a voice on the other end.
“Zeke.” That was all the deep voice said, as if it was a go code to whomever was on the other end of the line.
“Hello, um… this is Tiffany. I got your… gift.” Tiffany trailed off, now that she was on the phone with him, she wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted to say to him. “I was wondering, if you aren’t busy and you had time, maybe you could come over to talk?” As she said it, Tiffany realized that she couldn’t say what she needed to over the phone.
“I can be there in fifteen minutes.” Zeke replied, leaning against his bike for a second or two as he stood outside of the gas station, he couldn’t wait a whole day like Josh had told him. Zeke couldn’t believe the little chimp was right. Maybe he would have to let Josh live after all.
17.
In the fifteen-minute window of time that Tiffany had before Zeke arrived at her apartment, she went around straightening things up, though it wasn’t as messy as she imagined it to be. She’d only just had a big clean the day before, so she made sure that her bed was made –not that she was expecting him to see her bedroom, but in the off chance he did, she didn’t want it to be a shabby mess. Tiffany made sure all her dirty laundry was in the utility room and then put fresh water and food in Brody’s dishes.
“Someone I was very mad at the other day is going to be coming over and I want you to promise to be polite.” Tiffany said, picking Brody up in her arms, kissing his head softly as she gave his ears a good massage before setting him back on the floor. Brody didn’t seem to mind Zeke so much the other day when he’d banged on her door, if it seemed like Tiffany had the situation in hand, and she had, Brody was fine sitting back and watching her back a bear down her doorstep. It was if things got out of hand that Tiffany worried Brody might try to take a nip out of Zeke.
When he knocked on her door this time, it was much softer and welcoming of someone that you wanted to see. Turning all the locks, she pulled the door open gently, peaking out just to make sure that it was him before she opened the door wide. “Please, come in.” She said. Tiffany hadn’t even changed out of her work clothes; she hadn’t looked at herself in the mirror to see what she looked like –Tiffany could only assume she was still looking a little pale like Ryland had described her before he insisted that she clock out. If things went well tonight, she would have to do something very nice for Ryland in the future, Tiffany didn’t know exactly what, but it would be a tiny thank you for sending her home and letting fate take the wheel.
“I’m sorry.” Zeke had to duck down somewhat to step through her apartment door, which wasn’t unusual for him. Zeke was used to being bigger than the world around him.
“I know, I got that much from your note.” Tiffany replied, closing the door and turning the lock on the handle. Tiffany just didn’t like being inside without at least one lock on the door. She’d never had problems with break ins in the past, but that didn’t mean that something couldn’t happen.
“No, I really am sorry. I saw you at the bond’s office and –here’s the thing. I wanted to see you again, I just didn’t know where I would find you and when I saw you there, a lot of thoughts went through my mind and I shouldn’t have let myself believe anything that I didn’t have proof of.” Zeke explained, though they were already clear on this, but it was good to hear him say the words himself out loud in front of her instead of over the phone or written in a letter, Tiffany could hear how genuine he was in his voice.
“I can see how it would make you think a lot of things, and –considering what we are, we live most of our life worry about people finding out, so I get it.” Tiffany nodded gently.
“There’s something else too.” Zeke told her.
“What?” Tiffany couldn’t think of anything else he had said or done the other day to offend her. “Here, come have a seat.” She said as she picked up the big fluffy stuffed bear and took it to a dining room chair before she sat down on the couch, patting the seat for him to come sit beside her.
Zeke watched her for a moment, he seemed to be taking in her apartment, but eventually, he came and sat down on the sofa, the cushions dipping deeper than normal because of his size before his deep forest green eyes focused on Brody, who was wiggling his little butt over one of his boots to come hop up onto the sofa between them, sitting there –looking Zeke over while his tail whooped Tiffany on the leg. At least she didn’t have to be worried that Brody wouldn’t like him, he was already putting on the charm to get Zeke to pet him.
Stroking his fingers over Brody’s head and around his ears, Zeke was stalling. Whatever it was he had to tell her; it must have been something bad.
“You’re not, married, are you?” Tiffany asked, because that was the worst possible scenario that her mind could go to.
Chuckling deeply, Zeke shook his head. “No, Tiffany. I am not married. I’m a drug dealer.” Well, he said that.
Tiffany blinked for a few seconds, tilting her head somewhat. “You are a drug dealer?” She asked, feeling her eyes squint somewhat as she tried to make sure that she was correctly hearing what he told her.
“Yes. I grow and distribute illegal drugs, most of my business is marijuana, but I have also transported other drugs like Oxy and cocaine across the border and sold them too. The club I own was opened as a cover business.”
“A cover business?” Tiffany felt like her head was spinning with all this new information. So, not only had she slept with a were-bear, but he was also a drug dealer and he was connected to Mel, wait –hadn’t he said that he bailed Mel out of jail because he was Josh’s cousin and Josh was his club manager? “Is Mel somehow involved in the drug business too?” Tiffany asked him.
Zeke looked down into his lap a moment, rubbing his hands together. “I understand if you can’t be involved with me, given what you’re currently doing. Maybe you might decide you want to work for the bonds men, but if you do still want to get to know me, I’m not going to tell you to stop doing anything that you want to do. Mel is involved in the drug business and what I said at the office was true, I bailed Mel out because of Josh, but I also hired Mel because of Josh too. Mel has been doing some transportation work for me. Mel is missing and so is a truck full of drugs that he was supposed to be taking to Scottsville, and if he gets caught by the cops? He will lead them straight back to me, that’s why I must find Mel and that truck before the cops, or the bondsmen do. Josh is pretty sure that Mel will rat us all out if he goes to jail.”
“Oh, shit.” Tiffany leaned back in her seat, feeling overwhelmed. She could see exactly why this was a big deal –and while she wished that Zeke wasn’t a drug dealer, she also still liked him –a lot, and she didn’t want to see him go to jail either. This whole situation was fucked up. But hey, at least he wasn’t a married drug dealer, right?
“Yeah,” Zeke replied, turning his head to get a look at her. “I was out trying to see if I could pick up Mel’s scent when you called. If I shift, I can track better, but it’s not exactly inconspicuous either.” Zeke said, feeling she would understand the situation that he currently found himself in.
Sitting beside him, Tiffany didn’t say anything, instead she was thinking, her brain working overtime as she sat up in her seat and flipped the box of chocolates open, eating another one while she thought. “You hungry? I have left over pizza and I feel like I think better when I am eating.” Nodding softly, she got up and went to the kitchen, taking out a pizza pan from the cabinet and tossing the rest of her second pizza from the night before on it and stuck it into the often. “Don’t go anywhere ok? I want to change out of my work clothes, but I feel like there is some way where we can work this out where we both get what we want. I want to catch Mel for Margaret, the bonds office is amazing, she’s a great person and she believes in me, but I also don’t want to see you go to jail either. I want it all.” Tiffany said, though she was aware that you didn’t always get everything you wanted,
but she’d be damned if she didn’t try anyway. Closing her bedroom door, she hung up her uniform since it wasn’t that dirty, she’d only been wearing it for a couple of hours and put in an oversized shirt with the Tasmanian Devil on it and a pair of pink shorts that had cups of coffee printed all over the fabric.
Returning from the bedroom, Brody had found his way from sitting beside Zeke to sitting on his leg wagging his tail and doing his best to try to lick his face while Zeke held him.
“You want to make this work,” Zeke said, hearing her feet on the shag carpet, the only thing that Tiffany didn’t really like about the apartment.
“Yes, I do. I feel like if we put our heads together, we can make this work.” Tiffany replied.
Brody must have sensed the relief Zeke felt, because he licked his cheek, hopping out of his lap and coming to jump at Tiffany’s legs. Bending down to pick him up, she was attacked by his tongue as well. “You said you were tracking Mel before, you could probably find him faster if you shifted, but walking around town as a bear would cause problems –but what if you had a bunny with you?” Tiffany asked with a small smile. “I have a pretty good sniffer when I’m just like this, but like you I can smell and hear things that are a lot further away when I shift into my fur. It wouldn’t be as strange if a rabbit went hopping through town. We find Mel, but –you talk some damn sense into him. I call Margaret, and tell her that by some weird chance I found Mel. We’ll work something out where he doesn’t go to jail, do you think that would be enough to keep his mouth shut about the business? Meanwhile, Margaret and I take him in –and you take the truck with all the drugs he was supposed to be transporting wherever it is that you stash your supply.” Tiffany smiled, putting Brody back down and heading into the kitchen as she could smell the pizza. Checking the oven quickly she walked back out of the kitchen and looked at Zeke, seeing him smiling as he watched her.
“You’re a fucking genius.” He said, standing up quickly and in two long strides he’d cross her living room and his arms were locked around her body, lifting her off her feet as his lips came crashing into hers for a moment before he placed her back down on the floor. “Come on, let’s go.”
“Wait, what?” Tiffany paused, looking directly up into Zeke’s almost hypnotizing green eyes. With his deeply tanned skin, he had to be Hispanic, or perhaps one of his parents was African American, whatever the case was, they made a beautiful man. The lower half of his face needed a bit of a shave, but she could deal with his level of stubble that prickled and tickled when he kissed her lips, also his lips. Normally, she didn’t find herself attracted to a man’s lips, but Zeke was different. His smile was slightly crooked in a somewhat amused and mischievous sort of way.
“Find Mel.” Zeke laughed, kissing her again once more, quickly before he went into the kitchen, his body filling up the small doorway that was plenty big enough for Tiffany, but for Zeke, it seemed that his whole body took up the kitchen. “How do you turn this thing off?” He called from the doorway, looking at the oven for a few more seconds. His ran on knobs, this one seemed to have little buttons that you pushed.
Coming up to his back, she peeked around his side pointing before she tried to squeeze through, but there just wasn’t enough room for them both. “Here, step out and I’ll get it.” Tiffany told him feeling his frame easily shift sideways and allow her into the door frame.
Turning off the oven, she grabbed a dish towel and took the pan out of the oven, looking at the bubbling cheese a little mournfully. “You are taking me to dinner after this, a real dinner.” Tiffany said to Zeke.
“I’ll take you anywhere you want, baby. Come on.” Grabbing her hand, he was half dragging her to the door as she dug her heels into the carpet.
“Wait a minute, Zeke I have to put on clothes.” Tiffany laughed.
Turning, Zeke looked at her, his fingers grasping the hem of her shirt for a second or two as if he were contemplating taking her clothes off right there for completely different reasons. “Why do you need to get dressed? You’ll be shifting –not like you’ll be wearing much clothes, darlin.”
Tiffany rolled her eyes at him gently. “I at least need to put on a bra.”
Zeke blinked for a moment, using the grip his fingers held onto her shirt to tightly coil it around his fist, pulling her closer to his body until she felt that delicious heat washing over her and she felt her knees knock together. “You’re not going to need any clothes by the end of the night, darlin.”
Blinking, Tiffany felt her cheeks get hot as she looked up at him before she nodded up and down, following him to the door as she got her keys and slipped her feet into a pair of sandals, tucking her purse under her arm as she followed him outside and she made sure that the door was locked. It was the first time she noticed what he drove or rode. There was a big black Harley parked right behind her car, angled so that the bike wasn’t half hanging out of the driveway. “Is that… yours?” She asked.
“Mhm.” Zeke hummed his response, taking the keys from his pocket as he walked past her, slapping her ass. “It is.”
Tiffany reached back, gently rubbing her cheek for a moment as she walked to the driver’s side of her car. “Ok, where were you when I called? Did you have Mel’s scent?” Tiffany asked him, picking out the key that would unlock the door of her car.
“Yeah, I was at the Kum and Go gas station. I stopped to get gas, but when I was there, I could have sworn I caught a waft of his smell. Mel isn’t exactly known for smelling great.” Zeke explained, straddling the Harley that was sitting in her driveway. And oh boy did he look good on it.
Tiffany’s head cocked to the left as she looked at Zeke for a quick moment. “I went there today too, I smelled something familiar, it had to have been Mel. I just didn’t know it, I’m not familiar enough with him to know his scent by memory. Let’s start there.” Tiffany nodded quickly as she hopped into her car and followed Zeke’s bike back to the gas station. Parking in the dark lot next door, Tiffany got out of the car and looked around, watching as Zeke pulled up next to her.
“Go ahead and strip, I’ll make sure no one is looking.” Though he was staring at her and even in the darkened lot she could tell that his gleaming sharp pearls were grinning at her.
“Lucky for me no one can see me around you.” Tiffany smirked softly, though she still found herself shrugging out of her clothes in a hurry, glancing around suspiciously before she looked at Zeke again, noticing that he was drinking her in. “Well, here goes nothing.” She hadn’t shifted at will since her parents died, and Tiffany couldn’t help feeling a little frightened, but as soon as she felt the tingling in her muscles, the strain of her bones as they snapped in the darkness, she peered up at Zeke from the ground, sitting back on her hind paws a moment, her nose twitching before she sprinted off towards the gas station sniffing.
Bouncing towards the pumps, luckily there weren’t any cars pulling in, the florescent lighting bouncing off her glossy black coat. The same scent was there, her nose twitching as she followed it around the parking lot, hopping up to the doors she knew he’d gone inside for whatever reason, then he’d come back out. He went inside to pay for his gas, but… his scent was so strong here. Stronger than it should have been.
Following his scent, Tiffany slowly hopped towards the bathrooms, the same place she’d been drawn to earlier that day when the smell from the dumpsters had made her back off. The smell wasn’t any better now that she was standing in front of it. Glancing back as a car pulled up to the pumps, she noticed that Zeke wasn’t far away. Seeing him watching her gave her a little courage as she continued to sniff around, the smell from the dumpster made her stomach turn, but she forced herself to check, Mel’s scent was the strongest here.
Hopping behind the dumpster which stood a good five or six feet away from the brick wall, Tiffany jumped, shrieking faintly as she saw a crumpled body. Slipping a little closer, he was breathing, but he was bad off.
Shifting, she padded barefoot around the side of the du
mpster.
“Zeke, I need your help.” Tiffany didn’t have to shout, he was already there, he must have heard her shriek and he had her clothes in his arms.
“I don’t know what happened, but we need to get Mel to a hospital right now.” She said, yanking her shirt back over her head as she crawled into her shorts as well. Tiffany knew that she probably looked suspicious.
“Here’s your phone. I grabbed it off the seat of the car.” Zeke said, taking it from his pocket as he tossed her shoes on the ground, holding Tiffany’s arm as she slipped her feet into them and dialed 911 at the same time. “See if you can get him to respond okay? Let him know that he is going to the hospital and he isn’t going to jail, he is safe.”
Reporting to the EMT’s she gave them the address of the gas station and ran back around behind the dumpster, leaning down to look at Mel though Zeke didn’t seem to have any luck getting him to respond.
“Mel? Can you hear me? My name is Tiffany. You’re going to be okay, buddy. Don’t worry, the ambulance is on its way. I work for the bondsmen. You’re not going to jail ok. Do you understand? We’re going to get you all fixed up at the hospital and talk to the judge and get everything straightened out.” Tiffany explained as Mel gave a low groan. Leaning closer she found his ear, trying not to breathe in the scent of blood and filth. “I just need for you to keep quiet about the drugs ok. Don’t say anything. You’re not going to go to jail, I promise you. I will make sure of it. Everything is going to be ok.”
Standing up straight, Tiffany looked at Zeke. “You probably shouldn’t be here. I don’t know why, but it’s just a feeling in my gut.” She said, feeling terrible for asking him to leave.
“But we still don’t know where the truck is.” Zeke mumbled under his voice in case anyone nearby could hear what they were talking about.
“It doesn’t matter. We can find that later, Mel didn’t take it. Someone else did –by the looks of it, someone knew about the truck and jumped him, beat him and dumped him back here before they took the truck. Right now, we need to focus on Mel and just Mel.” Tiffany hoped that was making sense, it was probably best that he was not around because there would likely to be police. She didn’t know what kind of record Zeke had or if he had one, plus it might have been suspicious that he finds Mel beaten up right after he paid his bail and the bondsmen thought that he had ditched town. All of it just felt odd to her, maybe she was wrong, she wasn’t a detective, Tiffany wasn’t even officially a bondsman, but there was something in the pit of her stomach that told her Zeke needed to get the hell out of here before the cops and the ambulance showed up.
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