After over indulging in self pleasures with Internet were porn, Brian Walker went to bed.
Not that he was sleepy, per se, but it was a school night and the last thing he wanted was to get into further trouble with his mother, who would be expecting to find him sound asleep when she got home from her second job as a waitress at The Local Diner.
So one can imagine the groggy state Brian was in when the landline phone to the Walker household started ringing after 11 that night.
Half asleep and still in his were-otter fursona, he staggered to the living room and answered it.
"Hello?" he mumbled.
"Brian? Sorry to call at this late hour. It's Sheriff Cooper. I—"
"OH MY GOD!" screamed Brian. "What happened? Is my mother okay?"
"Calm down. Everything's fine. It's just that there's been some new developments on things I'm working on and I need to ask you a few more questions," explained the Sheriff.
"Well, okay. But you're sure my mother's all right?" Brian asked again, while trying to calm down.
"Yes. Now, this will only take a couple of minutes. First off, do you remember any more about that brown* furred werecat named Betty you told me met my cousin Alyssa in that motel room for the threesome between you and them?"
"Like what?" asked Brian, wondering what the Sheriff was up to.
"A last name? Where she's from? Any detail you might remember now that you didn't before."
"Hmm..." said Brian, acting like he was genuinely thinking about it. "At one point Alyssa complained Betty was late. Then again that could of been because of the weather. It wasn't all that great that night."
"I remember." Then this woman might not be the one in Seattle, provided I can find her to begin with. "Anything else?" asked Cooper.
"Well, the more I've thought about it since that night, the more I've wondered if Betty was her name," admitted Brian.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, it's just that, if you or I were in her paw prints, considering what she and Alyssa were up to that night and hoping to accomplish in the future, would you have used your real name?" That should throw him off any possible scent he might be on, Brian thought, confidently.
"I see," replied the Sheriff, realizing the kid had a point and he might be trying to climb the wrong tree by trying to find the Betty referenced by Julie Stovall in the death of his cousin. "Did you ever see her out of her fursona?"
"No. She came in the hotel room already furry and wearing a dripping wet overcoat, shoes, a soaked umbrella, and nothing else. Between it being after dark, the blackout, and the weather; she wasn't violating any were display laws I'm aware of," answered Brian truthfully.
"Okay. Thanks Brian. You take care now," said the Sheriff.
"You too, sir," replied Brian, before ending the call.
Then Brian heard a noise behind him.
"What are you still doing up young man?" asked his mother angrily as she came in the front door of their home. "You do remember tomorrow's a school day, don't you?"
"Yes mom, but I was just on the phone with the Sheriff," he answered.
"Really? What did Cooper want?"
"He apologized for the late call, but said there had been some new developments and wanted to ask me a couple of more questions."
"Is that all?" asked Mrs. Walker, sitting her purse down on the end table and checking the day's mail Brian brought in. He has to be telling the truth. That would be too easy to disprove.
"Well. I'm not surprised, with everything that's been going on," said his mother, still in her human form, as she sat the mail back down on the table, disgusted to see nothing but bills.
"Like what?" wondered Brian.
"According to some of the Elders' Council support staff who stopped by the diner for a late dinner before going home for the night, Julie Stovall killed someone while escaping Elders' custody today!"
"REALLY?" said Brian in disbelief. I didn't know the bitch had it in her. "They announced in school before early dismissal that she was the reason for the Were Alert, but no one ever said anything about a murder."
"I know. Even older minors like yourself and adults not directly involved are never told everything in emergency situations. I stayed at the hospital instead of coming home in case of emergency. Then, when my boss said there was no overtime available, I went on to my other job at the diner for the evening," explained his mother. "I don't know if the two events are related, but the gossip is somehow Alyssa Cooper was murdered today too."
"WHAT?" exclaimed Brian, in genuine shock, for he liked the older were-mermaid, especially for the wild bouts of sex they had together. "I tell you mom. When I first answered the phone and heard the Sheriff's voice, I thought the worst had happened to you."
"That's sweet, but don't worry about me honey. I'm a lot tougher than I look, and it's my job to worry about you," she said, giving him a brief motherly kiss on his furry cheek.
"I think, considering it's just the two of us, that should work both ways."
"Maybe, but I have seniority, so what I say goes. And right now I say it's time for you to get back to bed young man."
"Okay mom," said Brian, as he started heading back toward his room.
"Brian?" said Mrs. Walker as her son stopped to turn back and look at her. "Thank you, for everything, and here," she added, handing him his confiscated cellphone back. "You're still grounded, but there's no need for me to keep this anymore."
"Err, okay. Thanks mom," he said, accepting his public cellphone back, while thinking about the secret one he had hidden in his room.
"By the way. Andrew Curtis called. I know about tonight, but unless you hear otherwise, he'd like you at the Council building after school tomorrow. Just tell the bus driver when you get on to leave for the day and it will drop you off there."
"Sure. No problem."
Brian Walker went back to his room with heavy thoughts on his mind.
Alyssa's dead? I wonder if Betty already knew that when she called and said she'd be taking over my "training"? Maybe the universe is trying to tell me something and, despite how much I like sex and want to earn money to help mom out, maybe becoming a gigolo isn't the answer. Then again, a couple of those bills we got today had PAST DUE notices stamped on their envelopes, so I don't know what to think, he admitted to himself, while trying to go back to sleep.
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*Part of the partial truth/partial lie Brian previously told the Sheriff to cover his tracks, since Betty the werecat actually has black fur.—tmw.