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Chapter Six: Monday

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! 7am. Monday morning came quickly. Reis swatted at the alarm clock and in one blow put it out like a candle. He rubbed his eyes and turned over. Marcus was next to him, sleeping as blissfully as on a cloud, not stirred at all by the horrible siren of the alarm. I need to get a new alarm, Reis thought to himself. He reached over and gave Marcus a peck on the check.

"I'll see you later, baby."

Reis lifted his legs over the bed and placed his feet on the ground. The start of the day filled him with so much emotion. He loved it. For once in his life he felt that each day was exceptional. He finally had a stack in life.

Suddenly, he felt the bed move from under him. Marcus had was awake and smiling at him. His energy was relentless, Reis always thought.

"I only got an hour to get ready."

Marcus gave a tempest grin. "What, you think I only have sex on my mind?"

Marcus sat up, kissed Reis on the check and said, "I can wait you know."

Reis grinned. "But I can't."

Then he threw Marcus back down on the bed, lapping at his muzzle and neck.

"Reis...what's gotten into you?" laughed Marcus. "I don't want to make you late again."

Reis lifted his head, sporting his white canines. "It'll only take me a few minutes to shower and get ready."

"Why don't we compromise?"

"Huh?"

Marcus ran his hands up Reis's chest. "I need to shower, too. You know, today is my first day at the office."

"Then what are we waiting for," exclaimed Reis as he scooped up Marcus carried him out of the room.

An hour later, Reis was out the door and Marcus was calling from the doorway. "I'll see you later, hon."

At the front of the driveway was Joji's police car.

"Mornin' Reis."

"Hey."

Joji's smile quickly became blank as he drove off.

"You hear about what happen downtown last night?"

"Yea," said Reis gravely.

"Well, as you probably figured, we got no idea who did it."

"I'm sure we will."

Joji looked at him, his brown eyes were cold in nature, but when he was truly serious, they were shark-like.

"We'd better."

It only took five minutes to get downtown, which would be the technical term for Main Street, Mayfield. Downtown consisted of one main road between rows of red brick buildings, built in the style of their contemporaries in the early 1900s. The landmark of the street was the Hole In The Wall Tavern, an old restaurant that had been the town's primary nightlife hub for decades (actually a century). The bricks on the tavern were tarnished, making the building look like it was stained with blood. The tavern had a wooden porch where, in the warmer months, patrons could sit outside. Not very enticing, but enough people seemed to like it. Right below the sign of chipped light blue paint, which gave the building its title in black and gold lettering, was the date of its founding: 1889. Since childhood, Reis could remember the stories his granddad would tell him about the frontier gunfights that went on in the place: that if you stayed the night you could hear the howling of the poker booth's victims; or that if you left your drink unattended for a few minutes at one of the tables, the glass would slowly empty itself; or that if you put your fingers in the right place on the walls you would find bullet holes. His granddad spent most of his time in that place. He could remember his mom taking him over to see him there almost every day until he was seven. That old graying wolf, as Reis could remember him, with the glazed blue eyes that Reis's mom always said Reis inherited. Reis could remember how his granddad would sit him up on his knee while sitting on the high chair at the bar counter. How he would always hold Reis close enough so that the young pup could smell the beer, sometimes whiskey, on his breath.

Of all places, it had to be here.

The Hole in the Wall Tavern was located on the intersection of Main and Brier Street.

Joji pulled the car off to the side of Main Street and parked. The yellow tape was stretched from one side of Bryer to the other creating a square around the white chalk outline of a fallen body in the middle of the Street. There were two officers on the scene: Jerry and Toni. Jerry was a towering, old Great Dane with greying brown fur and wrinkly eyes. Reis noticed that he always keep the same posture: eyebrows raised but lids rested and a glance that looked like he had taken a behind the scenes tour of hell and fell asleep in the lobby. Toni was a young six point buck who never kept his posture. He was always moving around, as if he could not contain himself after a few minutes in one position. Reis didn't mind him, though he was a bit obnoxious. He referred to Reis as "rookie" when Reis first started coming around the station; even though he was only a year older than Reis and the youngest person at the station. That was until Jerry told Toni to knock it off and that if he was that desperate to shake the "rookie syndrome" off himself, than "douche" might become his permanent nickname.

"Morning Sheriff. Hey Reis." Said Toni, trying to make his voice sound animated.

Joji inclined his head in a quick nod. "Morning. Anything I need to know?"

Jerry stepped forward. "Well, actually yes Joji. Before we came here, we stopped at the morgue. I took a look at the poor kid's skull."

Jerry raised his chin up higher and placed his right finger on his scalp.

"The bullet entered the skull between his right ear and almost exited out the bottom left jaw." Jerry then pointed to his lower left jaw. "But they found it lodged in the jaw bone."

Joji lifted his head up to the Great Dane, focusing his eyes in a squint. "Did anyone see it happen?"

Jerry turned to his right, looking down Brier Street.

"Reginald, the Hole's owner, was here when it happened. He was the first witness. Rang us up about 8:30. Only few seconds at most after he heard the shot."

"And?" Joji raised his right eyebrow. Jerry's face looked colder.

"He saw nothing. No shooter. Not even the sound of someone running away."

Joji looked down at the street again and back to the chalk outline, which was stained with blood towards the head. Then he turned around, looking upward.

"Have you checked the tops of those buildings?"

Toni interjected, budging his way between Joji and Jerry. "Sure did, Sheriff, we found a shell on the top of the old pizzeria." Toni pointed to another old brick building down, this one abandoned, about a few hundred yards from the intersection.

Joji sternly looked at Toni. "You didn't move it, did you?"

"Course not, Sheriff, but we had Sam take several photos." Sam was the department's only full-time investigator. "We also found a candy bar wrapper and an empty cup of coffee up there. Whoever he was, he must've climbed up the fire escape. The shop was closed up tight and it doesn't look like anyone broke in."

Joji wiped the bottom of his jowls. "Sniped him. Someone must have known he'd be right here. But still, an experienced sniper wouldn't leave his garbage behind like that."

Jerry, giving an unbelieving look, stepped in front of Toni. "Maybe he didn't think he'd get caught. Like he doesn't have a record or he knew he would be a hundred miles away from this place by now."

Joji looked back to the Hole. "Did Reggie say anything about any suspicious activity?"

"He said that kid didn't come inside at all, but appeared around 8:15 and waited outside until it happened," said Toni.

"Who's the guy?" Reis interjected. The three looked at him.

"The Tobias kid," said Joji gravely.

Reis felt his stomach sink. "Tobias? The tiger?"

Joji nodded. "I was gonna to tell you later, before we release his name tonight. I know about your history with him."

Jerry faintly nodded his head. Toni was the only one who looked puzzled.

Joji looked back at Jerry. "Nothing else?"

"Reggie said some stranger came looking for the kid."

"Stranger?"

"Some guy that Reggie's never seen before. A big wolf, well over six feet. Probably late forties early fifties. Reggie said he had black fur and really dark eyes."

Reis could see that Joji's face turned white as a ghost.

"Did this guy say anything?" asked Joji almost in a whisper.

"Only if...if Tobias had been by. This guy appeared about a half-hour before Reggie noticed Tobias outside. When Reggie told him that he had no clue where he was, the wolf just left."

"That's it! He didn't say anything else? He didn't at least buy anything?"

Now Jerry looked puzzled. "You know this guy?"

Joji recomposed himself and sighed. "No...No. But I want you two to stick around and keep an eye out. I'll put the rest of the officers on alert. I'll talk to Reggie myself when he's available."

Joji turned to Reis and put his paw on his right shoulder.

"Come on."

"Where are we going?" asked Reis following Joji's lead.

"To the DA's. Got a meeting with Carol."