“We don’t have an out to lunch sign. I normally bring a lunch or bribe Clarissa and Iris to get me something.” Piety replied warming up  to the idea of not eating at the register while working.

“Who?”Melody asked poking about looking for a post it pad she had seen earlier.

“My minions I inherited from my aunt; the're high school kids. However, I doubt I will see them it was Clarissa’s boy friend that had been murdered and his ghost that … “ Piety trailed off. So much was happening and so fast. She had managed to visit Glenda for a bit this morning , her surgery was going to happen later today and the only reason she was not sitting at the hospital was Melody being very practical said, “ Whether you are chair side or at work nothing will change. You need to deal with the store. Glenda would want you too.”

Piety wanted to be angry and tell Melody the store could go to hell for all she cared, but the store was limping along and without she could not afford the cabin on 6 acres of land. She would have to take a job working for people she knew she would hate.  In Piety's whole life she had never liked working for other people.

Melody triumphantly held up the post it pad she had been searching for and wrote “LUNCH!!!!! See you in an hour 😊” and she made a smiley face under the words. Piety wondered how you could be a bad ass alpha wolf mate and use a lot of exclamation points and a smiley face. Then again Melody seemed to goddamn cheerful to be a killer werewolf, maybe Melody was supposed to be a kindergarten teacher or something.

 Melody smiling up into the warmth of the sun declared it was too fine a day not to walk. Piety considered the  fall day to be brisk but not too bad and agreed. The leaves blew around them in golden and red swirls. Piety said, “I didn’t think you knew about the BIB.” 

“The pack brought a defunct church campground up here around Richland NY, we need space to do our thing. The locals think we are a motorcycle club. The Bib loves our massive takeout orders of barbeque ribs and chicken. It's our kinda place it serves messy ass food in large quantities. ”

Piety nodded wondering just how many "members" were in Melody's pack. She wondered if Jack wore one of the plastic "BIB's as he ate ribs and chicken. that gave her a slight smile.

Walking in the restaurant the owner and hostess waved then called out “Oh hey Melody long time no see. Y’all just sit wherever you like. I'll be over with menus and take your drink order.” The restaurant was busy but not crowded with the one waitress hustling out plates of food. The music was modern country, but very low and unobtrusive.

Melody waved and called, “Sounds good, Jen!” and indicated that Piety could select a spot. Piety chose a booth along the wall and Mel smiling sat down across from Piety, “Okay, how did you manage to avoid the cauldron life?” Piety looked around surprised that Melody just said that. Melody smiled, “ Talk in a normal voice dear and no one will care. Also we are not in the middle of the room.”

Piety figured this was coming and answered Melody honestly, “That would be my mom and Dad I think. They decided to become militant Baptist fundies when I was a kid. You know no makeup, long skirts at church, everything is a sin type religion. So, I had no clue, that my family had any sort of supernatural bend. My brother and I were taught that we had a crazy aunt who was a hippy and going to hell.”

“We wolves will get newbies who try to get an exorcism to cast out their demon. Never ends well for the priest if it’s a full moon.” Melody scanned the menu.

Piety laughed in spite of herself, “I’m trying to imagine Jack being hit with holy water.”

“Oh my god, that would be funny.”

Jen the owner stopped by their table “ what will you ladies have ? We have coke products on fountain , ice tea, coffee and I won’t tell if you need something stronger.”

“Good lord Jen it’s only noon , I will have a coke.” Replied Melody

“It’s 5 O’clock somewhere.” Jen replied with a laugh.

Jen looked at Piety who said, “ I will have to coke too, but with a splash of that cherry syrup please.”

Jen wrote it down and looked up at Melody, “ Say, is your club doing another Toys for tots drive? Y’all brought in quite the haul.”

“Of course and in the spring I will do my walk for a cure fund raiser.”

“Should I double my meat order for your Christmas party and toys for tots drop off?”

“Triple it Jen, those men eat a lot! We almost ran short last year. I think it was us walking in the Christmas parade, the toy drop off that makes them starve by 6.”

The bell chimed that new people entered, and the owner dashed off to greet the new customers. “Hello, welcome to the Bib, any place is fine to sit down.”

Piety sat back and said, “Are all packs so philanthropic?”

“No, some are barely more than Hell's angels who go furry. David and I took over in the 1970’s and we changed the pack structure. We fought hard to change the mindset of the pack. We demanded that everyone understand that we started human, we have human children, parents and spouses we cannot forget we are human too.”

“Hang on, did you say the 1970’s How old are you?”

“I was born in 1949 , I am 70 last year.” She replied then closed her lips tightly as the drinks arrived and Jen departed. Melody continued, “Werewolves by nature of the beast don’t tend to live long. When I was attacked I was a SUNY student in Binghamton and the pack at that time was based on "might makes right". The long and short of it is when I found David we clicked, and we knew we could change the pack for the better. Lycanthropes age slowly at a certain point you have to plan to transition your money and change your identity.  The waitress came up with her order taking pad and said, “ What can I get for you?”

“Ohh I need a chicken Chimmi” Melody replied brightly and it was strange change from the the end of the last thing they had talked about.

Piety had not made up her mind but she didn’t want to hold up lunch, “ I will have what she is having?”

Lunch size ? the waitress asked her pen pausing

“ Nope I will pay extra for dinner” said Melody and Piety shook her head, “ Lunch size, I am fat enough.”

Piety checked her phone , no calls that must be a good thing. She looked up and asked, “ You have to be bored hanging out at the shop.”

“I get bored at the realtor office. Honestly, I like being up here, realtor work is tedious.”

“Then why do you do it?”

“I can’t be a history professor, I aged out of being Monica Schultz and so when we relocated from Rochester live off of savings for ten years and reemerge as Melody and David.  My husband is a salesman, it's what he is good at. David wanted to sell real-estate. So, with a hair color change and not being in places that Monica frequented and I am the receptionist/ wife. Trust me I am not missing anything.”

Melodies lunch chimichanga arrived and as she inhaled the smells of sea food and cilantro she said, “A perk of being a werewolf is the fact I don’t have to watch calories.”

“I wonder what that is like?”

“Eh, other aspects are overrated. Will we would be at hospital later today too.”

“Unfortunately, our profit margin is narrow, so I do need to be open till 6. Then I want to visit her”

Melody stiffened  and the tiniest growl rumbled in her chest, her focus turned to a person walking toward them. Piety put her hand on Melody’s wrist, “ It’s ok.” The werewolf relaxed and Piety found it strange how Melody went from zero to fight so fast.

It was Clarissa and she said in a low emotionless voice said, “Miss Piety I looked for you at the store.” The girl radiated grief , she wore no make up and her eyes looked red and puffy. Her normally perky attitude was dimmed and there was an awkward silence. Piety scooted over, and patted the bench “Clarissa, I didn’t think you would be back to school this soon…”

“I’m not, I sort of needed to talk to you so I borrowed the car. Mom wont happy.” The girl slid in the booth seat.

“Okay, well what could I do for you?” Piety asked and Melody cut into her chimmi. Apparently no crisis delayed a werewolf’s consumption of Mexican food.

“Your Aunt Charity once told me she could talk to the dead.”

“Sweetie, I’m not my aunt, I get that you might want to say goodbye or…”

“NO, it’s not that. I just need …I need him to move on.” The waitress slowed by the table to see if the new persona needed anything and girl shook her head as a negative.

Fat tears spill down Clarissa’s cheeks she futility rubbed at her cheeks and Piety quickly handed her a napkin. “I need him to stop following me.”

"Who, Clarissa?" Piety asked not understanding.

Jack knew that there was something obvious he was missing. Two murders and the second worse than the last. It was like this was being ramped up there also had not been a murder last night just the spectral visitation. Lycanthropes have to change with the full moon, but with some practice they can change whenever they wish. Jack in a pinch can change back and forth twice in one day, leaves him a tired quivering mass laying in bed for several hours but he could do it. So, why no murder last night?

Then there was the matter of Mrs. Cho who smelled blood in the wate,r so to speak ,with Glenda being struck down. Jack had no patience for witch politics, but it seemed rather coincidental that with a killer on the loose Glenda taken down and a power vacuum had started. As if on cue David called his cell. The second sandwich was waiting for him on the seat of the cruiser.

“ Yes boss” Jack said putting it on speaker unwrapping the sandwich and biting into it. He wasn’t sure why he had an addiction to meatball subs but there it was.

“I felt a disturbance in the force.” Said the voice on the other end of the line.

Jack snorted he had had other pack leaders in his time as a wolf and most equated power with a lack of sense of humor . David was tough, fair and could laugh with the best of them.

“Mrs. Cho decided to show up at the subway and pull some woo-woo stopping everyone in the store for a minute.”

“ Where you impressed? Tell me that you made old girl feel special she blew her magical wad that day on you.”David said shuffling some papers by the sounds of it.

“Meh, I got to the point and asked her why she was there. It led to vagueness and wondering why you want to throw in with Piety who isn’t even a real witch.”

“What did you tell old ,short and wrinkled?”

“To call you, I just do what I am told.”

“ Jack , you oblige me by doing what I ask. At any rate she hasn’t called me”

“Do I get to ask why we are potentially pissing off the new arbitrator? Piety has some power but no clue how to use it. Cho and her family should have had the title passed to them and, Charity did an end run by dying and passing it to Peabody.”

“Charity was more than an ally to us she was our friend. She loved Piety and I promised to look after her. I’m also not convinced that Cho has the backing of the whole coven especially the Sixberry clan and the Saint John's have no love for her. The VanDam family will throw in with the winner. Your text said that when pushed Piety did dismiss that ghost and without much effort. She is from a bloodline older than even the Sixberry's. I think power like that won’t sit still.”

“You’re betting a lot, boss on old friendships and stakes on inherited witch ability.”

“True but trust me Jack as an old wolf who has seen covens come and go, we do not want Cho running things here. She finds anything less than human to be vermin, we need to make sure that whoever becomes the keeper the law they won’t see us as something to find excuses exterminate. There is also the matter that Charity was the only witch to ever help us with our lycanthrope problems that can make a normal life difficult. I think Piety might be cut from similar cloth.” Jack paused and considered this then saw a motorist fly by his wolf became excited for a chase and translating that to a tingle of anticipation.

“Ok, I need to go back to work harassing people who have lead feet.”

“I envy you, nothing exciting at a realtors office.”

“Poor pack leader collared to a desk.”

With that David laughed and hung up.

Piety was distracted, she had listened to how at odd moments Marcus Wilson would appear to Clarrissa always looking normal and then slowly looking more gruesomely torn up. Like a video stuck on a loop. Clarissa said that at first screamed and her mother hugged her, and they prayed, then begging god to give Marcus rest. Clarissa’s father was a long distance truck driver and was making his way back from Alaska. Her father wanted them to stay in Albany with his mother but Clarissa instead took the family car and went where she thought she could get help.

In the day and half since Marcus died, she had seen him three times begging her to make Piety fix him. Melody ordered the girl a coke and listened with Piety, Before Piety could say anything deigning her aunt was more then an eclectic shop owner Melody said, “ I think you should call Latrice Saint John to help you with this.”

Piety stopped sipping her own drink and said, “ I don’t even have her number.”

“I do.” Melody said getting her phone from her purse.

“I don’t think my mother would like that, she barely tolerated MissCharity and her “gift shop”. Clarissa replied dully.

“Well in for a penny in for a pound my dear, you’re old enough to drive and I assume you will go to college next year. You already took the car to come here for help you might as well stick it out.” Melody replied.