Jerry glanced over at me, a delighted smirk splayed across his face. “Speaking of the whore, it’s so nice of you to finally join us, Beverly.”
Dave hissed. He cocked his tail and bared his fangs, snapping his incisors.
“She’s not a whore!” Todd exclaimed, “She has more class in her little pinky than you have in your entire body.”
Jerry waved the gun in the air and for a moment I thought he was going to crack it down onto Todd’s head. “Man, I’d like to fuck you up. But fortunately for you, there’s a bounty on your head if you are delivered in good condition.”
“A bounty?” I cleared my throat. “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t ask any questions,” Jerry snapped. “Dave, change back to your man, or your lady and her friend will get a bullet—bounty or not!”
Dave snarled but he could see he was in no position to argue so he quickly transitioned back into his man. Bones snapping and crunching, fur enveloped into skin, his body collapsed into itself. He quickly yanked on his jeans and shirt. In seconds, Dave stood before Jerry in his man, trying to contain his anger.
“You’re quite the ugly monster wolf, Dave,” Jerry said nastily. “Thank God my dad warned me about you shifter types and prepared me for this moment.”
Dave shook his head, glints of darkness flashing across his steely gray eyes.
Yeah, dad said you people in your wolf would shock the hell out of any man, so we practiced. He had me work with some nasty attack dogs to get a feel for what running into a vicious animal would be like. But damn…” Jerry wiped his forehead with his sleeve, “it was still a shock seeing you like … like that.”
I looked at Jerry again. The guy was just pure evil. There was something about his jawline and the way he spoke, and what he said about his dad that struck a chord with me. Suddenly it clicked, and I had a clear suspicion of who he was related to.
“Who is your dad?” I asked.
“Jerry … Jerry Mars. He owns the Orange Tap bar in Frederick. You may have seen him. He’s been on the news a lot lately, supporting the werewolf protestors. And,” Jerry added proudly, “he won’t allow none of your kind in his bar.”
I knew it! He had the same jawline, an identical nasty grin … why hadn’t I seen the connection earlier?
“So, you’re Jerry Jr.?” Todd asked. “I guess I just didn’t put two and two together.”
Jerry nodded. “Yup, and proud of it! My dad’s a hard-working, honest man, and neither of us like this werewolf bullshit.”
I could sense the tension in Dave’s body and I knew he could go ballistic at any minute. I tried hard to think of something to say to diffuse Dave’s anger, change Jerry’s mind about whatever he had planned for us, and figure a way we could get out of this mess.
“So, what do you want with us?” Dave asked tersely.
“It’s not what I want. It’s what the boss—Calvin Peet wants.”
Calvin Peet. I recognized that name. He was the multi-millionaire who owned a lot of property. He was supporting the WHO group. I remembered them talking at the coffee shop about how he was willing to supply their organization with money to finance trips, weapons, and whatever else they needed to fight us “monsters”.
“What could Cal Peet possibly want with us?” Todd asked.
“We’re not about to bite and turn him, if that’s what he wants,” I replied, thinking back to the crazy request made by the members of the WAG group.
Jerry started laughing maniacally. “I don’t know, I’ve never had that discussion with him. But I have a feeling he has something in mind other than being turned into one of you. What I do know for sure is that he is offering a bounty for you two,” he said, pointing at Todd and me. “I don’t think he knew about you,” he nodded towards Dave. “I got me three wolfies instead of two. I bet he’s gonna pay me extra. Cha-ching!” Jerry exclaimed happily, a wide grin spread across his face.
This guy was a nutbag … maybe I could distract him with conversation? If I could get his guard down there was a chance we could somehow wrestle the gun away from him. “So there was never a fight here tonight? This was all just a ruse to get us to come to the pizzeria?” I asked.
“Yeah, I told Todd there was a fight to get him in here. When he got here, I told him to call you, Beverly, and say something to get your ass in here too. But instead he called Dave and told you both not to come. Thankfully, you all ignored him and came in anyway,” Jerry smiled. “That’s a good thing—at least for me, anyways.”
Ugh, I felt queasy. I could just imagine Todd with a gun to his head minutes before we arrived, not knowing if he would be shot or not after defying Jerry’s orders.
Todd shook his head. “I’m sorry guys, I tried. I feel sick about this.”