Hairwolf

Lillian notices a stream of State Police vehicles descending on them. She pulls on Stef’s shirt, growing very, very scared.

“I’m sorry, Stefanie,” Foster says. “You left me no choice. I have a missing person I have to find and I don’t have time for games. I need to be sure she’s alright.”

“Oh, she’s alright. For now. Won’t be so sure about later though. Are we going to prison?”

“No! No, no, no. I really just need to ask you some questions, that’s all. I’ll even buy you lunch. Okay? And please, don’t say anything to anyone. Not yet. If you know what I mean? As far as anyone’s concerned, we’re looking into a rabid bear attack.”

Stef is caught off guard by his request. “Um, okay.”

Lillian notices the police approaching – she nudges Stef, “Do you think they want to use the

phone?”

The lead officer is a tall and imposing man. As he approaches, the girls have to crane their heads to make eye contact. He stops in front of them and Stef offers him the phone.

“Thank you, ma’am...”

Foster quickly suggests he doesn’t do that. The Trooper corrects with - “Miss. Sorry about that.”

The Trooper listens to Foster and looks at Lillian cowering into Stefanie. He addresses her - “Miss, can you describe to me what you were wearing last night?”

Lillian, scared to death, mutters, “Bi, bi, bi, bi, bi, black mi, mi, mi, mi, military ki, ki, ki, ki, Khakis, with a mi, mi, mi, mi, mi, mosquito net.”

Foster says something to the Trooper. He turns to the other Troopers with, “It’s her.”

The Troopers are relieved. That’s one less person they don’t have to worry about.

“There were concerns you were dragged off by a rabid bear last night,” the Trooper says to Lillian.

“She escaped,” Stef offers.

“I wa, wa, wa, wa, was – wi, wi, wi, wi, wi, with her. We...we... we.... we’re very goo...goo...good friends.”

“May I speak with him, please?”

The trooper hands the phone back to Stef.

“Warden Foster? Yeah, she’s about to go into shock with the troopers here. Can we just hurry up

and get this over with?”

“Absolutely. Put the Trooper back on.”

She hands the phone back to the Trooper. He soon cradles it on the receiver. Then, to Stef and Lillian -

“If you like, you can follow me. We’ll escort you to Warden Foster.”The girls notice the other troopers inspecting their truck. The trooper asks very reluctantly, “You don’t own any large

pets, do you?”

“Define, large.”

“Black, furry. Bear like.” he says.

“Check the glove box,” she says, walking back to her truck.

The trooper laughs out loud... “Yeah, right? I really didn’t think that one out, did I?”

Stef turns back to him, “Thank you for going through so much trouble for us.”

“That’s our job, miss. So what happened?”

Stef pauses, slightly caught off guard. “Oh, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you. Talk about not well thought out. I’ll let Warden Foster fill you in.”

The Trooper’s good with that.

Stef takes Lillian’s hand and walks her to the truck. Lillian’s still a little intimidated by the number of troopers and clings to Stef.

As Stef and Lillian enter the Tahoe, they notice the squad-cars taking up positions in front of and behind them in the parking lot. For Lillian, it’s serious business. For Stef, it’s just a little over the top and could be a rues.

The lead car pulls away with full-alert. Stef, however, maintains the speed limit causing the trooper to fall back. Once she catches up, he again pulls away, leaving Stef behind. Again, the trooper slows waiting on her.

“Why are you driving so slow?” Lillian asks. “They want you to follow them. Hurry up.”

“I’m doing the speed limit.”

“But they’re not. Which means you don’t have to.”

“It could be a trap,” Stef replies.

“What kind of trap? Get you to speed up so they can pull you over? Step on the goddamn gas and catch up to him.”

“Stop telling me how to drive.”

“I’m not telling you how to drive – I’m telling you to at least drive. I mean, Jesus. Any slower we’ll be back at the truck stop.”

Stef bursts out laughing. Lillian smiles at her, “Right? Oh my God, I don’t think I’ve ever been so nervous in all my life. So many police officers.”

“Cute, too. What’s up with that,” Stef says?

Lillian is sitting and looking at her, considering everything; What she was last night, what she’ll be again tonight. She really can’t believe this. But it’s real. Then her attention is taken to the lead Trooper who’s pulled over. Stef pulls up behind him. The trooper approaches the car.

Lillian blasts Stef - “Now he’s going to give you a ticket for driving too damn slow.”

“I wasn’t driving slow – I was doing the speed limit.”

The Trooper steps up to her window -

“Miss... We have a good distance to go. Would you feel more comfortable driving with me?”

Lillian offers - “I told her to keep up. She’s afraid of exceeding the speed limit, officer.”

“Oh – you don’t have to worry about that. You’re in a police escort. You get to drive as fast as we do.”

Lillian jumps at the offer. “I’ll drive with you.”

“No you won’t,” Stef demands. “You’re staying right there.”

The trooper returns to his vehicle. Stef threatens Lillian - “If this is a trick, you’re paying the fine.”

“How have you survived all this time,” Lillian asks.

“Oh, I haven’t even gotten started with you yet,” Stef scolds. “What was that shit with the stick last night? Did you really think I was going to play fetch? Miracle of your life and you want to play fetch.”

“I was scared to death. You’re lucky I didn’t clobber you with it.”

“That’d have been bad. Did you see what I did to that stick? Three fingers, Lillian. Three fingers.”

“Oh, what!? You want to go? Pull the truck over. See how tough you are without that furry, fangy little friend of yours. I’ll beat you till the next full moon.”

Stef bursts out laughing. Her eyes tear up causing her to wipe at them so she can see the road.

Lillian reaches over, taking the wheel . . .“Bring that shit over here. Three fingers... I’ll strap your ass to a shock collar, make you my bitch. Bzzzzzzzzz! Bzzzzzzz! You’ll be fetching whatever I tell you to fetch.”

Stef is losing it behind the wheel but Lillian’s got the vehicle.

A short time later, the Troopers pull into a donut shop, just off of a main road.

“Really?” Lillian, queries. “This is their idea of lunch?”

“I was hoping for a potato quiche with a side of lemon and spinach.”

“I’m guessing it’s it’s gonna be more like fried dough with a side of flour and sugar.”

“Oh, Jesus!” Stef announces, catching herself in the mirror. Do I look as bad as you?”

“Shit!” Lillian, alerts, flipping down the passenger visor. “Oh, thank God. No! You’re much worse.”

Lillian licks her fingers and wipes away dirt and grime from Stef’s mouth and chin.

“Owe!” Stef complains.

“Sit still. You look like you raided a flower bed.”

Stef notices Brizzbee standing in the midst of several wardens. A warm smile lights up her face. She then notices Foster standing next to him.

“Hm. Pretty clever,” Stef says to herself. Then to Lillian. “That’s the man I rescued and I’m pretty sure that’s Agent Foster.”

“But they don’t know we know that.”

“I know. But he knows we know something. He didn’t want me to say anything to the other troopers.”

“Really?” Lillian says. “Then we’ll walk right up to them. That’ll convince them at least it was me they shot.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to say, Lillian. They didn’t see me last night. They saw you and they saw her but they never saw me.”

“Take it slow. Just answer their questions simply. And don’t lie. We’ll say you got drunk and fell asleep in the truck.”

“You just said don’t lie.”

“You have to lie a little. They saw you sleeping when I drove out. It’ll work!”

“It’s still lying,” Stef says.

“Then say you were lying down. Out like a light. Out like a light. It’ll work.”

Foster leans into Brizzbee with, “remember, try to play nice. I don’t want any complaints filed.”

“Then let’s hope they’re not wasting our time.”

The girls walk straight towards Foster and Brizzbee amidst the troopers. Foster whispers to Brizzbee, “How’d they know it was us? We’re not wasting our time.”

He then gestures to the other wardens and troopers to relax and give them some space.

They hover close by, but out of earshot. Another Warden exits the donut shop and approaches with a bag of donuts and coffees for the girls.

“Oh, how sweet,” Lillian comments looking into the bag, “no jelly? No thank you.”

Stef addresses Foster, “Warden Foster?”

“Stefanie? Nice to meet you. Help yourself. Thank you for coming ...”

“This is Lillian. The one I called about. As you can see, she’s . . .”

“. . . This is Warden McCalister. I’m sorry.”

“You can call me Brizzbee. Or Brizz. Everyone does. Donut,” he asks?

“If you don’t mind – I have one more thing I need to do,” Foster says. “It’ll only take a moment. Charlie -”

As Charlie pulls Rowley from his truck, Stef declines the donut and notices Brizzbee staring at her.

“Have we met before?” Brizzbee asks. “You look – familiar.”

Stef steps up to him, starring deep into his eyes, “Thank you for everything you do for the creatures. Big and small.”

This takes Brizzbee by surprise. He’s pleased over the compliment as is Foster. At least there won’t be any complaints now that Brizzbee likes them.

Charlie approaches with Rowley, the K-9 on a leash. Rowley crosses right to Stef and sits. Foster finds that odd but says nothing. Charlie rewards the dog. The canine then crosses to Lillian and sits. He rewards him again. Lillian is puzzled over this, but not Stef. She understands Foster’s reasoning. But there’s something about Rowley that catches Stef’s attention.

“Thanks, Charlie,” Foster says, watching Stef look at the dog. She appears to be listening or communicating with Rowley. She tilts her head showing concern over something. She kneels down and the dog lays on his back, exposing his stomach. Charlie is perplexed over his behavior. Foster gestures for him to wait a minute.

“Oh,” Stef alerts. “He has a tick.”

Charlie, somewhat possessive of his canine, instructs, “Please don’t, Miss.”

“He has a tick and it’s hurting him.”

Doubtful, Charlie, bends down but doesn’t see anything. “Where?” Stef points to an area hard to see, “There. In his fold. It’s a deer tick.”

Charlie opens the fold of skin and spies it. It’s quite big and filled with blood. “How did you see that,” he asks, capturing the attention of everyone nearby.

“He told me,” Stef says without thinking.

“She’s a pet whisperer,” Lillian offers, proudly. “You should see the way she talks to her cat. Actually, you should see the way the cat listens. He’d crack a beer for ya if he had hands.”

Stef is still having an exchange with the dog. He jumps up and licks her face, wagging his tail as if to say, thank you. “Oh, pretty boy. You’re welcome. He’s going to take that nasty tick off of you. Keep him safe, okay?”

“I always keep him safe...” Charlie defends.

“I was talking to Rowley,” Stef says. “He worries about you.”

Charlie queries Foster, “How do you know his name?”

“...Rowley told her,” Brizzbee comments, somewhat sarcastically.

Stef rises, addressing Charlie directly, “He wants you to use him more and risk yourself less. And something about jumping for something. It hurts his back. He likes the round thing better. What is that?”

“Frisbee. I thought he loved frisbee.”

“He does. But it hurts. Use the ball instead. They’re really not designed for that kind of twisting and jumping. He prefers it on the ground.”

“Don’t we all,” Brizzbee murmurs.

Stef chuckles at his quick wit. He smiles back at her. Another connection is made. Stef then leans in and kisses Charlie on the cheek. “Thank you for treating him so nicely.”

“Pet whisperer, ah,” Foster asks Stef. “Can I interest you in an application?”

“No. But you did say something about lunch.”