Returning to his own vehicle, Moe Charleston felt a great sense of relief as things seemed to be settling down after what had been years of running from the Gambonis. He enjoyed his life as a pizza "chef" and his restaurant had always done well, but when his daughter, Karen, turned fourteen, the youngest of the Gamboni crime family's sons, Marcus, began taking an interest in her for reasons that Moe never fully understood. Marcus was at least two or three years older than Karen, and even in New York before "the chase" began, had attracted negative press for running around with shadier women than Karen. But the chase began, and Moe had found himself moving his family to try and get away, hoping that the Gambonis would give up when they found a new place.
But Marcus's obsession was deeper than Moe imagined, and his family seemed too willing to indulge it. And through a loaded email sent to Moe by one of Marcus's older brothers they had been able to track the Charlestons as they tried to find a new start. The Gambonis then followed them to wherever the Charlestons went, and intimidation and all sorts of other crimes followed and ultimately forced Moe to move his family again. That pattern repeated until the family moved to Moon Lake in response to an offer from an old family friend, Daniel Brooks. Moe had been quite happy and even eager to reunite with an old friend, whom he'd last seen when Karen and Daniel's son Peter were in diapers. It was something that Moe felt would provide real hope for them.
"And who knew that that hope would be so different," Moe thought to himself as he lifted up the garage door and then moved to the car and backing it out onto the driveway.
The difference was in Moon Lake being a were sanctuary. It was a shock to Moe to watch the Town Chancellor turn into a werecat and then leave the instruction that at least one member of the Charleston family would have to become a were to stay in Moon Lake. Nichole was greatly angered by all this and even Moe had initially felt some betrayal on Daniel's part in that the alert wasn't given to him before they came to Moon Lake, though given the threat from the Gambonis, Moe wasn't entirely against becoming a were if it meant Karen's safety. Particularly as they had nowhere else to go. Talking with Daniel the first night had put some things at ease, to a degree, though Moe knew that Nichole was still against it, but they'd managed to at least reach some "compromise," in getting to know the town better before truly making any final judgements. Daniel had even reminded them that this was a decision that he and his wife, Francine, had to make too, with both of them becoming weredogs. That eased some things, and seeing Peter be a gentleman to Karen had also been good for Moe.
That essentially bought time, as Karen began studying the weres she might want to be, and Moe began going through the path of dealing with some of the other things that the Gambonis had done and getting "Moe's Pizza" started. The first part had been revealed while visiting the Brooks family. Albert Gamboni was arrested by MPs at Fort Wolfe trying to pretend he was looking for a missing person and not realizing that Fort Wolfe was a logistical base for the US Army and was not a National Guard base for the state of Washington. But his arrest revealed the existence of the tracker that had helped the Gambonis track the Charlestons around the country and that had Moe's next visit being to the Moon Lake PD to see if their tech officer, Tara Strange. She was a normal human whose parents had become werebears when they moved to Moon Lake and was Moon Lake's technical officer. She was able to get the tracker out and Moe managed to find a new friend and she would play her own role in helping the Charleston's adjust.
And as Moe began driving down toward the outer circular ring that was at the center of Moon Lake to begin the search for this Jenkins construction, he continued to think on the adjustments that he and his family had gone through, though navigation was the more difficult thing. Many cities ended up adopting a "grid" type layout in finding that it was then easy to find streets and get to them. Moon Lake's wagon wheel layout really didn't have that. The only places that were close to that were in the two rings around the park in the center of town, and while Moe did learn a bit on Moon Lake's layout while scouting things out and handling the business needed to get "Moe's Pizza" started, he hadn't figured out everything and contacting a building contractor hadn't been on that list of things to do, yet. He had the address for Jenkins Construction but didn't know which street was that street. So, he came down the outer edge of the park and then turned right onto the circular roads that made up the "hub" at the center of the town.
"Of course... some of the adjustments lead the Gambonis to us," Moe thought as drove along and covered five "blocks" before he came onto the street that the paper that the construction company was on, and he turned right onto it.
While Karen studied the weres she had some interest in and Nichole tried to look into things with a more open mind, including meeting with Francine again, Moe went about securing the business loans needed to secure the building that would be the next "Moe's Pizza." That wasn't too hard as one of the banks he'd found had enough coverage to do business with was present. He got the loan and soon had the deed for the building, though a lot of that would end up being made in installments once he and Nichole could get the restaurant running. That part was easy, though it wasn't long before another wrench was thrown into the works when the MPs at Fort Wolfe working "loosely" with the FBI managed to gather more information from Albert Gamboni's laptop that found that the Gambonis had long managed to hack the accounts of the owners of various banks and allowing them to follow the transactions, addresses, and identities that did business with those banks.
This again brought Daniel to the Charleston home, this time with a warning and a proposition. For it turned out that the Moon Lake PD had also been coordinating some things with the FBI's Agent Baoman, who had been part of the case and detail trying to protect the Charlestons and tie the Gambonis in to some of the crimes that had followed their pursuit of the Charlestons. This time, it appeared that Marcus was growing more impatient or more reckless and as law enforcement found out some things thanks to having Albert in custody, they had devised a plan to lure the Gambonis into a trap. It would risk the Charleston home, but not the Charleston family. They would go to Tara Strange's cabin, as she lived outside of Moon Lake and in an area that didn't get a lot of traffic. When the Gambonis raided the Charleston home, they'd find armed and ready officers that would subdue them, and Daniel had eagerly volunteered to lead that team and protect the house.
Moe and Nichole agreed to the plan, if it meant finally breaking the Gamboni's chase after them. And so, they gathered a few sets of clothes and were driven out to Tara's cabin, which looked nice and was even "closer" to nature than the home across from the high school that the Charleston family had settled into. By this time Nichole had adjusted a bit more and Moe figured that some of her talks with Francine had to have changed her mind on some things, though Karen seemed set on being a weretiger that would set them up for Moon Lake's rules. That all worked out well, though Moe also found in addition to getting more used to Moon Lake, Nichole had also gotten far friskier than he’d remembered… or at least closer to when they were newlyweds. It wasn’t something that Moe hated, as neither were too old for it, yet, and did love Nichole passionately, but it was a bit of a surprise. Though, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing as it also led to Nichole telling him that she’d changed her mind on being a were.
His thoughts were still thinking on that as he came up on what looked more like a trailer on the north side of the road and had a couple of trucks parked in front of it. Around it, Moe could also see a chain link fence that went along behind the trailer and with a few sheds inside it. To the front, Moe did see a sign that had written on it, "Jenkins Construction" and figured this had to be the place. He calmly pulled into one open space and got out and made his way to the front door. He was grateful for an "open" sign that hung from a pin on the door, and looked like while one could potentially steal it, it'd take a lot of effort just to get an open/closed sign. Moe quietly opened the door and said "hello" as he came in. He entered to find a rather standard sort of office entry space with a woman a few years younger than him setting at the desk space. She looked up as he came in and looked around.
"Can I help you, sir?" the woman asked.
"Huh?" Moe spoke back with his mind being snapped out of things that had happened with his family and with looking around the area. Noting a few pictures that showed company employees and the like. "Oh... my name is Moe Charleston; I was told this was the place in Moon Lake to come to if I needed repairs."
“Repairs, construction, contract labor, anything involving woodworking, construction, and the basics, you name it, we do it,” the woman answered, “though, with Halloween a little more than a week away, we’re looking to actually get a lot of our outside work done before winter hits. So, I must tell you that I our timetable for scheduling new construction is rather limited.”
"It isn't so much new construction as it is repairs," Moe explained, "my family recently moved here in the hopes that your town could protect us from the Gambonis... largely on the promise of an old family friend. And I can say that they succeeded in that. But the result of this resulted in the back window to the master bedroom broken. The police said that you would be the ones to contact regarding the repairs."
"Well... Jenkins Construction built many of the newer houses in Moon Lake, so we would be able to do those sorts of things," the woman answered, "can I ask when the damage occurred?"
"Last night when the Gambonis were caught," Moe answered.
"And the address?" the woman asked.
Moe gave it to her and watched as she turned to a rolodex card organizer and was flipping through it. He watched as she looked through it and eventually, she stopped flipping through it. She then got up and went to one door and opened it before sticking her head in.
"Hey, Huck, we got a Moe Charleston here, he owns the house on 456 Growler Lane," the woman spoke, "says he needs repairs on a window."
"Do we know the need for the repair?" came a male voice.
"Probably big," the woman answered, "he said it was broken by some criminals in a fight with the cops."
"Ah, that'll be a priority, then," came a chuckle in response, "I can handle this. Though, I'll need to check what model of window. I'll give you a call when a know which one it is."
The woman then turned and moved back to her chair. A few moments later a lone man came out and Moe noted that he was reasonably healthy looking and guessed that the man, "Huck" was a were. The man smiled to Moe as he approached.
"So, you're Mr. Charleston," Huck said slowly, "a bit of damage coming from crooks..."
"Yes," Moe answered, "the Gambonis tried to get us, but your police and the FBI had a whole sting operation, but it still ended up breaking a window. We cleaned up the glass... but we are likely in need of a new window. I'm good with pizza, but home repair... not so much."
Huck smiled, "and you came to the right place for that. I'll need to look at the window and know what the job will be... if it's a window that is essentially pre-made or if we need to put a whole frame together. All of that will determine the workload." He then paused to look back over his shoulder, "I'll give you a call, Betty, if it's a preset window that we have in stock or if we'll need to construct a whole new frame."
The woman, Betty, nodded and then gave a small smile, that to Moe looked almost love-sick, but Huck was already looking forward as they went out.
"A girlfriend?" Moe asked.
"Betty?" Huck answered, "No... she's a Moon Lake normal and was here when my family moved in. We went through high school... and we've gotten along well. She's good at wood working, and when we have some big projects in the summer and need extra hands, she's right there with us. And honestly, she does better work than some of the men that work for me... but no. We're not involved. We've been friends, but I don't think she's actually interested in me."
Moe shook his head at that. From what he could see, the woman clearly liked Huck, but it wasn't his place to say anything. He simply followed Huck out as the man went to one of the trucks.
"We'll meet back at your place, and I'll take a look at the window, and we'll go from there," Huck said to him and shut the truck door and started the engine. He then began to back out as Moe moved to his own vehicle.
As Moe got back into his car, the interaction he'd observed between Huck and Betty jogged some of his memories on things that had gone on with his own family. Partially because of the obvious attraction to Huck that Betty had, and which Huck didn't presently seem to notice. It mirrored Nichole's resistance to being a were and her opposition to Moon Lake's Mandatory Were Law on general principle. It was something, that at first, Moe didn't think that Nichole would ever drop and privately made him worry over how he'd get Nichole to accept it if they were to do it to protect Karen. Karen agreeing to be the family were didn't necessarily make it easier, though, Nichole softened a bit so long as Karen was willing to study up on the weres she considered first. Moe thought that was for Nichole more a plan to find a way to avoid it, but ultimately that didn't last as Karen got what she needed and made her decision... getting the help from a weretiger that also lived out in the area outside of Moon Lake and near where Tara's cabin was.
But by the time that Karen became a weretiger, Nichole had changed her mind in more ways than one. There were also changes other than just those that associated with being a were. Some of the feelings of safety that were there and opportunity to get Moe's Pizza up and running again had also awaked a fair amount passion that running from the Gambonis had robbed from them. It got them going again. It was something that got them going again and allowed for some passion between them, even at Tara's cabin where Nichole revealed her change in opinion with regard to being a were. It would mean that they would have their own research to do, though neither had a full decision yet other than that they didn't want something as cliche as werewolf or as domestic as weredog. That might disappoint Francine and Daniel if they were hoping their family friends would be close, but Moe and Nichole would make their own choices.
Which brought them to where they were now. Cleaning up the damage from the battle with the Gambonis. There would be the trial, and Moe expected that he and Karen, at least, would have to be witnesses, but that was something different. Until then, they had cleaning up their own home after the battle, letting Karen start school again on Monday, and go through the work of getting Moe's Pizza open. The cleaning part, meanwhile, had brought Moe into contact with "Huck" from Jenkins Construction and replacing the window that had been lost, and Moe's thoughts returned to that as he pulled back into the driveway and while Huck pulled a U turn to park on the street in front of the house.
"So, you built this house?" Moe asked to Huck as he got out.
"More likely my dad built it," Huck answered, "I was still in high school when our family moved here and I became a weredog to fit the Mandatory Were Law... and if he didn't build it, then he's likely done earlier repairs on it over the years as well, in case something breaks."
"Weredog... do you know Daniel and Francine Brooks?" Moe found himself asking.
"There is no one in the pack that I'm in by that name," Huck answered as they reached the front door and Moe ushered Huck in, "many of the were groups in Moon Lake can be pretty split up. The werefoxes are all united into the Skulk and it's all hyper organized with like individual chapters and so on. The werelions have their prides, which loosely follow their proverbial "king." The werewolves and weredogs have their associated packs that are often geographically divided. Not every weredog or werewolf are in the same pack... and sometimes individual packs can have their rivalries."
That was a bit more than what Moe expected, but it did cover some of the time as he then led Huck to the master bedroom to let him look at the window.
"So... what do you think?" Moe asked as he gestured to the broken window.