Love Is Always Write Volume 4

around.
    "Yah…it's got his markings on the hindquarters. I thought you got through to him."
    "I told him to go home. He called me an old man and stormed out of here."
    "I'd rather be an old man than stuffed and mounted." Mackie shook his head. "This is just…it's just…."
    "Stupidity is for the young. We were lucky enough to outgrow that."
    "Age has got nothing to do with stupidity, Rodrigo." Mackie returned, tossing the remote back down in front of me. "We simply were lucky."
    The big old rotary dial phone back behind the bar rang to life. Mackie shivered as the old school bell grated on his spine. His watering blue eyes blinked nervously at it then he picked it up, both of them knowing full well who the call was for. He listened for a moment then pulled the long cord free from the hook on the wall and set the heavy black base down on the bar top in front of Rod.
    "It's Mannix." Mackie moved off to give some privacy.
    Rod nodded but made no move to pick up the receiver until he took another drink from his beer. "Rodrigo?"
    "You seen it?"
    "The news?"
    "Yes, the news. I sent Tommy to you so something like this didn't happen."
    "Can't help someone who doesn't want to helped."
    "Clean it up."
    "You clean it up. Apparently I'm old and a coward and not worth listening to."
    "He was just a pup."
    "Thomas knew what he was doing. He knew what he wanted and what he wanted was the freedom to kill when he wanted and what he wanted. He didn't give a shit about outing the rest of us to the humans. He got what he deserved, Mannix."
    "You're the only one in the area, Rodrigo. You know that there can't be an investigation."
    "I really don't want to do this, Mannix."
    "No choice. Our continued survival depends on the lack of evidence of our existence. By the way, I was going to keep this to myself but that brother of yours has been trying to find you for a couple of weeks now. Others are saying that he's getting desperate and you know what desperate leads to around here."
    Rod's hand tightened around the receiver. "What did Travis want?"
    "I know you aren't on good terms with your family but he said something about your sister."
    There was a long pause. "Next time he calls, give him the name of the bar. If he wants to see me, he can make his way here."
    "You on the job?"
    I turned my eyes back to the television screen of the displayed corpse of Thomas the werewolf but the newscasters had moved on to the mysterious reports of a large black cat being spotted in the area. Of course the only ones seeing it were the old and homeless so they were being mocked in that oh so condescending way human young held for their elders.
    "Rodrigo?"
    "I'm on it."
    "I'll tell everyone the God of the Night is on the prowl."
    Rod hung up the phone. The last time Travis had wanted to 'talk' it was the last day Rod had spent on the preserve. Travis and his sister Lisa Marie had ruined his world once. What the hell could they do to him now? Rod pulled his wrap around shades out of his leather vest and shook the arms open. He glanced at himself in the mirror at the back of the bar. The iridescent inner glow of his yellow eyes was bright with emotion over the loss of another young life and the emotional turmoil that ripped through the scar he thought was healed. His family had thrown him away when the times got tough and he had learned to stand on his own. The Community depended on him to keep the secret from humanity. Blending was key for this. Rod pulled the glasses on then tossed a few bills on the bar top.
    Humanity didn't need to know the world they lived in was shared. They dismissed the stories of men turning beasts as nothing more than legends and myths used to scare the uneducated into social behavior. Men didn't need to know that weres walked among them. Rod twitched as he felt his natural senses pick up in anticipation of a hunt. It had been a while since he let his inner cat walk the night. Tonight the werejaguar would take care of the werewolf problem. The situation with the werecougars would have to wait until tomorrow.
    ****
    The situation was taken care of. Animal control had taken the carcass to an incinerator before the over eager scientists could get on the scene and clamor for samples. The park was already returned to its natural splendor with new dirt trucked in and spread around to mask the scent of blood and death. Just to make sure, Rod followed the closest human game trail, watching and regarding the movement around him. People