{{For those not in the know, High Noon is the title of a great western movie from 1952 featuring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly. Worth seeing the next time it's on television.—tmw.}}
Plain clothes detectives Miller and McCord of the Moon Lake Sheriff's Department sat in their unmarked car and kept a close eye on the front door of the restaurant known as Grrrrrrr... A high priced establishment that catered only to weres since it required all diners to enjoy their meals in their fursonas.
It was currently under surveillance after an anonymous tip claimed that the owner intended to open for business today, despite the fact that the town was still under a CODE W ALERT, which prevented any were from being in their fursona, even during times when it otherwise would have been okay.
Although the original reason for the alert, the notorious mobster Fredrick "The Shark" Parker and his men trying to break Freddie's son out of jail was technically over with the arrest of the father, the alert remained active until Parker and his men were in Federal custody. A transfer now made more difficult because of Jack Crawford leaking word to the media about Parker's arrest as part of his scheme to distract the forces of law, order, and the Elders' Council in Moon Lake from arresting him and his wife Kenya on various charges.
Now that you've been brought up to date on at least one aspect of our ongoing story, we can begin Episode 961! of the Moon Lake of Earth 2* saga...
McCord and Miller sat in their car, talking about nothing in particular while keeping alert in regard to their surroundings and their target.
They both hoped the tip would amount to nothing, for who in their right mind (which called into question Jack Crawford's sanity) would intentionally risk exposing were existence to the world before the world was ready to accept them more than it might be at the moment.
As their watches and the dashboard clock both said it was now twelve noon, their hopes were dashed as someone within the restaurant switched the CLOSED sign to OPEN on the front door, and then stood outside waiting for the first customer of the day.
"Showtime," said Miller with a slight sigh, as he stepped out from behind the steering wheel onto the nearby sidewalk.
"Kid gloves," McCord remembered, thinking about Sheriff Douglas Cooper's instructions to them before they left the station that morning.
"Ah, gentlemen. Welcome to Grrrrrrr..." said Chester Brown, as he saw Miller and McCord cross the street and approach him. "Today we have—"
"Detectives Miller and McCord, Moon Lake Sheriff's Department," said Miller, as both men flashed their badges. "Sir, do you know the town is still under a Code W Alert?" he asked in a low voice, as McCord took a quick look around to make sure there were no strangers, especially reporters, nearby.
"Let me guess," began Brown in his normal tone of voice. "Our illustrious temporary Mayor can't stand the fact that she now isn't running unopposed for the job and wants to find some dirt on me."
"We know absolutely nothing about that," admitted McCord, as Miller now took a quick glance around. "But with the arrest of Fredrick Parker and—"
"Yeah. I saw that on the news this morning while I was having breakfast. So?" asked Brown.
"Besides the Federal agents that will be here soon enough to take Parker and his men into their custody, the town is also crawling with reporters to cover the event. Do you want to risk exposing... our secrets to an outside?" Miller asked in his low voice, while it was now McCord's turn to discretely survey their surroundings, something they were rotating responsibility on.
"Honestly, I don't see how me being open for business can do that," admitted Brown. "No one gets inside unless they're... you know. A normal doesn't pass the sniff test, if you know what I mean, and anyone other than one of us who does try to enter is told that this is a private club for members only."
"And that doesn't arouse any suspicion?" asked McCord.
"It hasn't yet, and I've been in business for a while now," replied Brown. "Besides, what about The... W Club and Awareness?" he asked in return.
"What about them?" inquired Miller, knowing of the other two establishments in Moon Lake that catered exclusively to weres.
"They're open, or at least, I know Awareness is. I walked past it on my way here after filing my candidacy forms this morning," said Brown.
"First off," began McCord, as Miller scanned their surroundings, "since my daughter works there as a waitress on weekend while working her way through college; I can tell you for a fact that The... Club was closed this past weekend, with all employees on paid leave."
"WHAT?" called out a voice from behind the closed front door of the restaurant. "He kept us closed the entire holiday weekend without one red cent!"
"Whoever that is better get back to work while they still have a job!" Brown shouted at the closed door.
"Secondly," began Miller, as McCord took his latest turn in their rotation, "Awareness may have been open for business since the Code W began, but not once have they allowed anyone inside their dressing rooms for changing, fittings, or whatever. Existing customers have been able to place orders if their measurements are on file or collect finished orders if the clothing was ready for pickup, but absolutely no new projects or customers have been undertaken since the alert started."
"And how do you know that with such certainty?" Brown demanded to know.
"It's a matter of public record if you don't believe me, but my wife is one of the co-owners of the business, and she certainly wouldn't do anything to risk exposing us to the world before it's ready for us," said Miller proudly.
"I..." began Brown, and then stopped to think things over.
"You guys sure you're not here because I filed to run against Samantha Twist for Mayor this morning?" Brown wanted to know.
"No. We're not. Your mention of it is the first we heard about that," replied McCord.
"And this has nothing to do with the fact that I couldn't afford to hire her son Ben just as the Code W was imposed?" Brown asked.
"News to us," replied Miller, although McCord paused in his surveying the area, surprised to hear that.
Chester Brown thought about his situation a little more before saying, "Look fellas. Regardless of what anyone might think of me, I'm just a small business owner trying to make ends meet. I still don't see how me being open could put everyone at risk."
"Especially with all these reporters in town at the moment, do you want to take the chance and find out the hard way you were wrong?" wondered McCord.
This time, Chester Brown didn't hesitate before saying "No. I'm a naturally born and proud citizen of Moon Lake, if you know what I mean."
Miller and McCord, along with Brown, could all smell that they were among fellow weres as Brown added, "I honestly didn't think trying to serve the public a good meal might get them in trouble. I just want to run a successful business."
"Nobody says you can't," replied Miller. "It's just that until we can lift the Code W..."
"How long do you think that will be?" Brown wanted to know.
"Truthfully? The day after we can confirm that all the reporters are gone, and they won't be leaving until after Parker and his men are in Federal custody," answered McCord.
"When will that be?" asked Brown.
"Hopefully, tomorrow. Thursday at the latest. With all these reporters around, the Feds want to take extra precautions when picking their prisoners up," admitted Miller.
"I did some serious number crunching over the weekend," said Brown. "Truth be known, I'm in a tight stretch right now as it is. There should be some kind of financial assistance for small businesses during something like this alert, which is one of the reasons I decided to run for Mayor in the first place."
"Can't blame you there," conceded McCord, which earned him a look of disbelief from Miller.
"Okay. My employees won't like not being paid longer than they're already being frozen out, but I can wait till Friday, but I've got to open by then if I'm going to stay in business," confessed Brown.
"While I like the idea of fine dining and I hear your food is good, but your prices are outrageous. A $100 a plate? Maybe if you reworked that aspect of the concept," suggested Miller, while it was now McCord's turn to stare at his partner.
"Ain't the first time I've heard that suggestion. I'll take it under advisement," promised Brown. "But I'm still running for Mayor, and I'm still opening Friday, Code W or no Code W."
And with that, Chester Brown went back into Grrrrrrr... switching the OPEN sign back to CLOSED as he locked the front door.
As they walked back to their unmarked car, Miller said, "Well, that went better than I expected it would."
"What if he had stayed open? We were under orders. No scenes and no arrests," McCord reminded him, as they resumed their respective seats in the car.
"Then I would have come back to the car and gotten those STILL UNDER CODE W: WATER RATIONING signs out of the trunk to post up and down the street to keep people from going inside," replied Miller, which used the cover excuse of what the Code W Alert was for any normal outsiders not in the know about weres.
"So, what now?" asked McCord.
"I'll drive around the block and find a different place to park so we can keep an eye on the business for a while longer to make sure Brown keeps his promise. Provided he does, we go back to the station and report to Sheriff Cooper in person.
"How come I don't get to drive?" wondered McCord, as he fastened his seat belt.
"I always drive**," replied Miller, as he started up the car.
"Do you think that Brown has a chance of winning the Mayor's race?" asked McCord, as they pulled away from their parking space.
"Remains to be seen. Personally, I hope not," admitted Miller, as they left to circle the block.
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*Subtract the first 3 episodes from the "Branch View" total, because those were just the setup for the overall CYOTF (Animal) threads.
**For those who haven't figured out yet what classic TV show this installment is honoring, there was one episode of that series where the driving situation came up.—tmw.