Another Night on the Town
Don was rolling into a sitting position on his bed when he heard the car door outside slam. The sound of crunching gravel and loud thrumming of an engine had awoken him to his partner's arrival. He leaned over to pull one of his few remaining 'clean' shirts off the ground and got up to prepare for the grind.
Outside his room, in the kitchen, the lights were already on and the smell of fresh coffee filled the air. Hannah was back early and had so kindly started a pot before going to bed he thought as he pulled the shirt over his head. When his eyes pulled through the neck hole though, he caught her disapproving glance coming from around the corner to the hallway.
"Those look fresh," she said in a monotone, gesturing her head to cuts on his ribs. Don nodded in a noncommittal agreement. "I don't see why you do this every night when you keep coming back looking like that," she continued, adding some exasperation to her tone.
"Nobody else is gonna do it," Don started. "Hell most people go about their lives denying this shit goes on or call us crazy for saying it's an issue." He could feel the weariness coming through in his voice, much to Hannah's discontent. "Why do you insist on staying so late at work with what you know now?"
"That's when all the cases of people less lucky than you come in," Hannah pressed "and nobody else is gonna do it I guess." She sighed into a shrug, maybe she was realizing they were two halves of the same coin. "Just don't bring it back here, okay."
"I don't like unfinished business, shouldn't be a problem," Don grumbled as he poured coffee into two paper cups. "I'll be back later, get some rest," he said while walking to the door. He could hear her mumbling something about 'lucky if I'm still here when you get back' as he left.
Outside in the cool night air, Don could make out a silhouette of a man leaning on a muscle car. His face momentarily lit up by the burning of a cigarette revealing deep wrinkles accented by recessed eyes and a nose that looked to be missing a chunk. "Those things are gonna kill you some day, Jack," Don said, handing the man one of the cups.
"I'll be lucky if that's what gets me," Jack chuckled as he accepted the drink and crushed his cigarette into the gravel of the driveway. Both men entered the car and it roared to life as Jack turned the key. The car backed out of the driveway and thundered it's way down the road.
"Got a pack of wolves holed up in a factory downtown," Jack said as he reached for his coffee. "Might actually have a decent turnaround this time, the owner of the building ain't too keen on setting up shop there in those conditions," he continued and took a sip. "Private contracts pay out pretty well in this day and age."
"What's with the wolves nowadays," Don started. "Been getting extra bold. A couple years ago you would laugh anybody out of town that suggested one might be in the city. Now that's most the jobs we get."
"Who knows. Predators pushing them out of the woods. Venison not as tasty. One way or another, people are now the path of least resistance so we get calls." Jack continued drinking his coffee and driving them to their destination while Don laid his chair back and got what little rest he could manage in the downtime.
It felt like he had just managed to close his eyes when they stopped. Jack shut off the engine and stepped out. Don rubbed the crust from his eyes and met his partner at the trunk. They both grabbed their equipment and assessed the layout of the factory before making their way to the door.