The Wolves of Third Clan Read online

PARTY?

  People who lost their way.

  OH.

  Really? All this time and you’ve never thought about expanding your horizons, maybe read a book or two?

  I’VE BEEN BUSY.

  With what?

  WORLD DOMINATION.

  Oh, yeah.

  “Hello, I’m Peter North” the man said while standing and, to my shock, revealing himself to be an even larger rhino than the mastiff at the front gates.

  “Hi, I’m Bob Simpson and this is Steve, Melissa, and Johnny.”

  He shook Bob and Steve’s hands, barely glanced at me, and virtually devoured Melissa with his eyes.

  “What can I do for you?”

  “We’re from Industrial Products and we’d like to see if we could be of any use to your company” Bob responded.

  “Let’s see what you’ve got” the enormous Peter North said.

  Okay, this is where it got a little weird because it was here Melissa was to furnish our brochure so Peter North could follow along with Bob as he impressed upon him the great advantage of our products and services over the vast array of other products and services which did the exact same thing. We had it down to an art form; everyone had a role to play and we’d rehearsed it so many times I could repeat my lines in my sleep. Therefore, I was a bit surprised when it went off script.

  “Melissa?” Bob asked

  “Now!” she yelled.

  I was stunned as the two salesmen from Industrial Products leapt in unison at our potential client. What happened next left me even more dumbstruck. Peter North moved with a speed I didn’t know existed; one second looking at Melissa with what I thought was bemusement at her strange behavior and the next with a look of contempt as he held the throats of Bob and Steve whom he’d caught in midair. As they struggled I saw Peter look at me, smile, then glance at Melissa and un-smile for in her hands was a pistol with silencer and before I could comprehend what was happening Peter North’s head snapped back like jet-pilot’s on takeoff.

  “What the…?”

  Is what I believe I said but I can’t be certain because after the initial shock of the pistol’s whispered retort I was learning how I’d respond to a sudden, life-threatening situation. I found out I’d stand stock-still for a second, shout something incoherent, and scatter as far away as possible from the red-head with the firearm. For her part, Melissa was acting strangely serene and composed; walking up to the previously living Peter North, aiming directly at his unmoving head, and firing four more silent rounds into it. I’d heard the term ‘overkill’ before but never knew its proper place. So there I was, bravely sheltering behind a five-foot tall floor lamp when she turned and shot Bob Simpson in the heart before doing the same to Steve, both remaining immobile as she did it, leaving me as the last sane living person in the room. I recall the events which transpired next because it became very surreal for a moment with Melissa walking over to a painting and removing it from the wall to reveal a safe which she began unlocking by dialing a combination.

  “Get the door” she said after removing the piece of paper.

  PROOF OF THE DEED?

  Yep… it’s all she needed.