20)

Instead of a testosterone overloaded idiot claiming a divine right to boss me around and a pack of subservient thugs willing to follow his every whim, I got a nice, sensible lady in charge and a bunch of folk who just wanted to live their own lives and be left alone.

I can sympathize with that.

Hell, even the vampires are just people working a nine to five to keep themselves fed.

For moment I was thinking everything was fine, until I saw the pudgy guy taking a picture of my license plate with his phone.

Young, out of shape, with some chin scuzz that might one day be facial hair and looking very pleased with himself, right up until he looked over to see me standing next to him.

I pointed from his phone, to my car and then back at him. “Explain.”

“Uh, what?”

I lifted the phone out of his hand to look at the picture of my car still on his screen. “Why are stalking me son, I mean, even if I swung that way, consider the age difference.”

Kid looked ready to run. “Wha-what?”

How to I erase the picture, in the gallery? Right, there it is, plus some other pictures including a grainy security cam image that looks like me walking inside the Redd’Smart entry hallway…

Oh, that’s why the entrance was so long, keeps the sunlight out.

“So I’m guessing the people who gave you my picture were a getting a little long in the tooth?”

Pudgy just looked confused and started backing up right toward the man who had stepped out of the used bookstore with a concerned look, and when I looked over to meet his eyes, got a look on his face like he was getting ready for a fight as he came up behind pudgy. “What’s going on here Dave?”

Sorry, behind Dave.

Dave looked behind him, then back at me with a look of fear. “Aw no, he’s one of you guys Dare?”

Dare, a younger looking guy with a dark complexion and too much product in his hair, was now close enough for both of us to recognize each other as werewolves.

He started breathing harder and fixed himself for a fight as he stepped up to stand between me and Dave, and gave me a challenging look. “Looks like it, if we’re going to have a problem we should settle this out of town.”

I felt my self on the edge of throwing a punch and took a deep breath, remember, I told myself, you’re pass this kind of grandstanding, breath out “Dave here was taking a picture of my car’s license plate, and has a photo of me from a Redd’Smart security cam, I’m have to admit I'm kind of curious about how he came by the one and what he was planning on doing with other.”

Dare went stiff for a moment before asking, “I think I may have read this wrong. Can I take a look at that?” he pointed to the phone.

What the hell. “”Sure, here you go.”

He looked at the phone, opened something and looked up at me, then back at the phone while Dave started to slowly back away, before asking, in a exasperated tone. “What the hell Dave?”

Dave began to shake his head while he waved his hands in front of him. “I had no clue he was one of you guys, some guy at Vernon’s was offering fifty bucks if anyone could help him find a guy in a big black ford who clipped one of his mirrors and took off, I just thought I was helping somebody out, really.”

I looked over at the other guy “Vernon’s?”

He looked up for a moment from messing with Dave’s phone. “A dive bar. I erased the images, but this is the number of whoever texted your image to Dave.”

He handed me the phone back with only a token sound of protest from Dave, I got my own phone out to take a picture. “Why don’t you tell me about this guy Dave.”

Dave glanced around for moment, looking desperately for someway out of the conversation before sighing and starting to talk. “The guy said his name was Bing, like the guy in the old movies, but he looked like someone they would cast to play a young Charles Manson, he had two guys hanging back who left with him, big guy with awesome sleeves, er, full arm tattoos, and a guy who was just some guy. He talked to a lot of people, even bought a round when he talked to a whole table, most people let him send them the text, I swear I really thought this was about some boomer doing a hit and run, sorry, I mean old guy, I mean not old-’

I cut him off at this point, as I started to throw some kind of plan together “Loose the guys number, start spreading the word to everyone else who was the bar that night that’s they’re…let’s say, working for the old guys ex-wife who’s out to hit him up for more money, and that Bing is dodging your calls about paying you for tracking me down, and then we’re good, here’s some cash, go to the bar right now, buy yourself a few and start complaining to everyone there being ghosted, got it?”

I handed him two twenties and his phone as he nodded eagerly stuffing both in his pocket, Darius grabbed him by his shoulder. “Dave, delete the phone number now.”

The younger man quickly dug his phone out again. “Oh, right, sorry.” and scurried off with some beeps coming from his phone.

I held my hand out to the remaining man, “John Lathe.’

He shook my hand, firmly but without making it a contest. “Darius Jones, the Sheriff you just had dinner with’s grandson. So what exactly are you intentions with my grandmother, are you planning on making a honest woman out of her, or are just looking for walk on the wild side with a she wolf? ”

Ahhh…..”It was more of just a dinner type thing...”

He laughed, and his voice relaxed into cheery tone.

“Kidding, granny’s definitely a wait until the third date kind of gal, and Dave is seriously harmless, just kind of a idiot.”

He made a shooing motion behind me and another to the side, I looked over to see a few people who had been heading our way nod and walk off with looks of relief or disappointment.

“Grandma asked everyone to give you some space for now, but a few of us decided to show up and hang back just in case things went sideways. I would have left you alone entirely if it didn’t look like you might be about to tear Dave’s throat out, so I’m going to call her and fill her in on all this and we can both let her do her job and she’ll catch up with you up later, okay?”

I nodded at the young man “Sounds about right Darius, if you’ll excuse me I still got a few errands before I head home.”

He gave me a wave and a “Have fun” as he headed back into the book store.

The book store full of over packed shelves of all kinds of used books...now I kind of want to go in there myself, but I got things to do.