The Mating (The original Law of the Lycans story)

Chapter 24

It was ten-thirty when Elise arrived at Marty's Auto Repair. She hoped he had a car he could loan her. It was quite a walk to the Grey Goose, and shifting into her wolf form to run down the street really wasn't a good idea. If need be, she'd have to hire a cab. When she asked, Marty looked her up and down and smiled. "For a pretty girl like you...anything." Expansively he waved his hand towards the rows of cars that were for sale. "Take your pick."

Elise forced herself not to roll her eyes at the mechanic, who obviously saw himself as something of a ladies' man. He wasn't that bad looking with short brown hair and a pleasant smile, but compared to Kane, he definitely fell into the 'average' category. Ignoring his flirting, she glanced over the line up then impulsively pointed to the end of the row. "That red one, the sports car."

"Ah! You're a lady of discriminating taste, I can see." Marty nodded at her knowingly. "Marlene, my girlfriend, has a fondness for that one too. Always wants to borrow it rather than a nice conservative grey sedan." Marty stepped a bit closer. "A hot sports car always looks good on a hot lady."

Elise stepped back and folded her arms. "I have to get to work." She looked pointedly at the rack were the keys hung.

Marty gave her a wink and then strolled over to get the keys.

"Have your girlfriend and you been together long?" Elise asked idly while waiting for Marty to get the key. Honestly, if the man already had a girlfriend why was he acting this way towards her?

"Oh, we're on and off. She was really keen about six months ago and even wanted to help me around the shop so we could spend more time together. Marlene looks like one of those runway models, but she doesn't mind getting her hands dirty. She even asked me to teach her about how the brakes and steering work! I was real disappointed when she dropped me sudden like, but now she's back again and I ain't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Besides, I'm getting smart. If she can have someone on the side, then so can I." Once again, Marty winked at her.

Marty and Marlene sounded like they deserved each other and Elise didn't really want to know any more details about their relationship, but Marty wasn't done. "Marlene thinks I don't know that she's seeing other guys, but I found some men's clothing in the trunk of that car one time. I figure if she's going to pull one over on me, I can do it back."

They'd almost reached the car by that time, when Marty suddenly exclaimed. "Damn! I've got the wrong keys. Just wait by the car and I'll be right back."

Anxious to be on her way and away from Marty, Elise stood impatiently tapping her foot and checking her watch. She looked around without really noticing anything in particular until her gaze landed on a large truck and two men, who were busily loading a collection of steel drums onto the back of the vehicle. A sign on the side indicated it was a waste disposal company that recycled used motor oil. There were probably almost a dozen containers sitting there awaiting pickup. The men worked from the front of the clustered containers towards the back, their muscles flexing as they heaved each metal drum up onto the truck.

For some reason, Elise studied how the barrels had been arranged and noticed that there were three empty spots near the rear. Circular marks in the soil, and the compressed weeds, showed where the barrels had sat, while scrape marks on the ground showed how they'd been dragged away. That's unusual, she thought. Why would they load those barrels first or... Could someone have taken those other barrels? But who would want used motor oil? And—she looked up to see Marty approaching with the keys—why did she even care?

She took the keys and started the vehicle, anxious to get to work. Mr. Mancini hadn't been too pleased with her when she'd been talking to Bryan yesterday, and she didn't want to give him any cause for complaint today.