Chapter 16: Issues

Oliver left after our conversation. He said someone was calling him, even though he had no phone on him I didn't question it. I took my time moving and wiping down everything in the kitchen before returning the keys to Joe. "You been doing okay Valor?" I nodded and Joe opened the door. "Come on in a second." I walked in and shut the door behind me. "I am assuming Oliver told you things." He slid his eyes over at me. "He came to visit while I stocked the bar and I gave him a few beers. I also put money in the register to pay for them." He shook his head. "What else did he tell you?"

"Nothing really." Which he didn't he showed me, but I wasn't going to tell Joe that. "You are very loyal Valor." He handed me a cup, but when I went to drink it something told me not to. I faked a sip and held the cup. "Drink Valor." Joe said as I faked another sip pretending to swallow. He smirked and took the cup from my hand. "Aparently smart too." He grabbed the cup from my hand and tossed it across the room. The cup smashed and the liquid dripped from the wall. I stood up and went to the door. "I'm not sure what is going on, but I think I should head home." Joe nodded and I closed the door and ran down the stairs.

I slammed into Jacob and kept running. "Valor what's wrong?" I kept running and he tackled me into the sand. "Calm down l! Tell me what happened." I took a deep breath. "I went to clean the bar and get it ready I needed time to think." He nodded and let me go. I sat up and continued skipping the part about Oliver visiting. "I went to return the keys to Joe and he handed me a cup, but it smelt weird. I faked drinking even when he told me to drink." I glanced up to see a huge beige wolf charging down the beach behind Jacob. "Jacob, run."

I turned and ran, but when I turned to see if Jacob was behind me there was another beige wolf standing in front of the other. They snarled and circled each other. I yelled for Mike and Mark, knowing they would be home. Mark came out on the balcony first and I pointed towards the wolves. Mike came up behind him and they took a second before jumping down and running toward the wolves. Oliver came running towards us in wolf form, he nudged me towards the red house.

"Oliver you have to go help. I don't know what's going on, but it looks bad." He turned and whined as he pushed me more. "Okay I'll go home, but go." I yelled and ran to the house. I watched from the balcony as four wolves stood against a beige one. I watched them snapped at each other before one snarled and Oliver and the two grey ones backed off. "What the hell."

I watched as the two beige ones circled each other and then one lunged grabbing the others throat and pinning him. I watched as he pulled the fur and skin away from his throat and dragged him into the sea. The two grey wolves and Oliver bowed as the victorious beige wolf howled.

I ran back outside to see the them, but they where all gone. I watched as Oliver came running down the beach in human form. "Okay here's the story you have to tell officers." I backed up and he kept going. "You went to the bar cleaned up and stocked the bar. Joe wasn't there and he provided you with keys. He slid Joe's keys into my hand. "What about the cup I held that's in his apartment." He nodded and stared off for a second. "Keep to the story, you haven't seen Joe, no one has since Jacob saw him yesterday. Which you don't know about... focus on you and everything before today, and Valor, try and stall them as long as possible okay?" I nodded and he took off again.

The doorbell rang and I opened the door. "Good evening miss, my name is Officer Haze and this is my partner Officer Glenn. Can we come in a moment." I opened the door and let them come inside. They stood by the door. "You all want a drink or something?" They followed me into the kitchen. "No Mam we are good, we just have some questions for you starting with your name." I nodded and poured me a cup of apple juice. "Well my name is Valor Sterling." The other officer scribbled on his notepad. "It's regarding a Mr. Jones."

I sat on the stool and placed the glass down. "Okay. Which Jones?" The Officer checked his notepad. "A Joe Jones, have you seen him lately?" I shook my head and got up. "He gave me the keys to his bar a few days ago, told me to go in and clean, and stock before we reopened on the fifth." One Officer took the keys and looked at them before handing them back. "And when did he give you those?" I thought back to when I came into town. "Well I came back to town on the night of January first, and stopped by to see what I could help with." The officers looked at each other. "Where did you go?"

I went to the hall and pulled tickets from my bag. "I like to travel a lot and I came from visiting my parents grave. I haven't been in a while. So I made a big trip out of it." I handed them the ticket stubs. "Can we hang on to these?" I nodded and watched as they bagged them. "Did you know Joe was missing?" I sat back down. "No I mean he keeps to himself a lot. I never see him unless he's working, and then he always seems to be in his apartment over the bar."

He nodded and placed the baggie in his pocket. "Do you live here alone?" I shook my head no. "This is actually my brother's house, he just let's me stay here." I shrug and take a sip of juice before waiting for the next question. "What's your brother's name and where is he now?" Inswallowed and nodded. "His names Oliver Sterling, and he's probably surfing, or at his friend's house."

I took another sip and Officer Haze kept stairing at me. "Okay and when where you last in the bar?" I pointed to my shirt. "I just came from there. I had to clean and restock the kitchen. If you want I can walk and show you around. They both nodded and I grabbed the keys. We walked through the sand and both officers followed. I glanced at the yellow house and saw the twins giving me a thumbs up.

I turned back and made sure they where behind me. "So Valor do you surf?" Said Officer Haze as he trudged through the sand keeping up way better then Officer Glenn. "Yeah I usually go in the mornings if I have time." He nodded and I stopped when I got to the wooden ramp. "Do you go alone?" I shrugged and thought about it. "Sometimes, but usually I go with a group of people." He eyed me. "And the names of these people are?" I smiled and he blushed slightly. "Sorry I have never been questioned like this before. I go sometimes with Mark and Mike who live in the yellow house we passed. Sometimes Zane who lives there too. Sometimes my brother Oliver and I've been with Jacob twice." Glenn stopped to write it all down. "Where does Jacob live?" I pointed to the side apartment. "He lives with his brother Joe."

I led them to the front of the bar and opened the door. "Do you mind if I lock the door? It's just Joe likes to keep his business tidy." They nodded and the Officers walked around. They opened cabinets, looked through freezers and in spice containers. I stood until they where done. "What do the other keys go to?" Asked Officer Glenn. "Oh the blue is the restaurant and bar area, the small ones are for the locks on the freezers and the coolers. The red leads to the basement which we use for storage. "Can you show us the storage?" I shrugged and opened the storage door. "If you go down watch the ladder it's kind of shakey." Officer Haze smiled and paused before going down. "Who uses this?" I thought about it. "Well me, Jacob when he carries boxes up for me, and I'd assume Joe although I've never seen him use it personally." He nodded and walked down there. I waited but Officer Glenn stayed there with me.

"Looks all clear." Officer Haze said as he came up and then I locked it back. "Can we see if those work on the apartment?" I shrugged and wondered if Jacob would care. "I would feel better if Jacob or Joe did that, only because it's his place too. I'm not sure how he'd feel about that." They nodded and walked to the door for me to open it for them. I shut off the lights and locked the door behind me. "Thank you for all the information you have provided Ms. Sterling. I hope you'll be around in case we have more questions." I nodded and walked down behind them. Haze whispered something to Glenn and Glenn started walking down the beach. "I don't normally do this on the job especially on an open investigation, but would you like to go to dinner sometime?" Officer Haze asked as he turned towards me.

"I am flattered you'd ask, but I just got out of a relationship and I don't think that would be what's best." He nodded and gave me his card. "Well if you think of anything regarding the case, or decide to take me up on my offer please call me." I nodded and slid the card from his hand. "Okay." We walked back and he glanced down. "Do you own a dog?" I looked down to see pawprints in the sand. "No we don't have a dog, but it is a beach and people run up and down all the time." He nodded and took a picture with his phone. "Does your friends or anyone you know own an animal?" I shook my head and Officer Haze nodded back.

"Alright thank you for your time beautiful Valor." He tipped his hat and I watched him walk to the yellow house where Officer Glenn stood. I saw Oliver run between the houses and stop. He waited till the officers dissappeared before going toward his red house. I walked back hoping I had given the other's enough time.