Shaggy and Slink had to wait a few hours for the other guys to get off work. But they made sure to park in an alleyway not for off from the Spiegal offices. Once the mass of workers began to leave all at once, Shaggy turned the car back on and followed the silhouette of his large Perinadon friend. Ren was walking with Vlad and Dave, along with Ralph, who didn’t look too happy to be a part of their group. They were all headed toward Callahan’s and Dave seemed to be excitedly talking about something when Shaggy pulled up.

“Hey! You kids want some candy?” Shaggy cackled out of the window.

Vlad raised an eyebrow while Dave stopped talking and stared. Ren looked a little aggrieved.

“You cannot be serious. You STOLE a van?!”

Shaggy pulled back from the window, putting up a hurt expression. “Why, I would never deprive another person of the hard-earned goods or vehicles. The very idea!”

Ren and Vlad didn’t look like they believed him. But Dave was excitedly circling the van in the street like a puppy. Shaggy had slowed them down to a crawl on the empty road, but they were still moving. Slink’s voice emerged from the back and the sliding door opened a bit as the van moved.

“We didn’t steal it. It’s a long story, but we’ll get to it later. Callahan’s?”

Vlad nodded as Ren confirmed. “Callahan’s.”

Ralph looked like he wanted to ask something, but Shaggy lurched the van forward. Moving a hover vehicle that wasn’t on the designated sky-lanes was tricky, but not too difficult. Unless there’s an excitable mutant running around your damn van. Dave made it a little game to race the van. Luckily, their destination wasn’t that far away.

Once they had arrived at the small diner, Shaggy brought the van around to the back of the building and parked it. He glanced at the words emblazoned on the side of the black van and turned thoughtful. While ‘Park Restoration’ was probably a suitable cover, they would probably need to repaint the van. Slink scampered out of the van and joined him in the parking lot. Seeing his gaze, the young man nodded.

“Yeah, we’re going to have to change it. And the digital tracking codes.”

Shaggy grimaced as they turned toward the diner. “I thought those were turned off. We found the tracker, right?”

“Yeah, but the codes are still embedded in the van’s personal network. If anyone scans it, they are going to find out that it’s a federal truck.” Slink explained right before they passed into the diner.

Callahan’s Diner was much more subdued than it had been the previous night. There even seemed to be fewer people around. Although Ren and the others stood out. They had commandeered a booth at the back of the room and Dave was waving at various people. Ralph was nowhere to be seen, and Shaggy really didn’t care about the man.

Pushing their way toward the booth, Shaggy grinned wolfishly as he approached. Ren and Vlad had the surly looks of people not enjoying their jobs. Dave was, as always, fairly oblivious to the general mood. Slink pushed his way past Shaggy and dove into the fake-leather seat, thumping the van’s manual down on the table.

“Is it okay to bring that in here?” Shaggy asked as he took a seat next to Vlad.

Slink shrugged. “Probably. But I couldn’t get much reading done in the van. I get carsick.”

Shaggy nodded as the boy opened the book and began reading. Vlad and Ren were shooting him looks, asking for an explanation. But Shaggy waved down a server first and order a round for the table. On Ralph’s tab, of course.

“Seriously, what the fuck? We sent you out to do recon and you come back with a damn van?” Ren asked.

Shaggy grinned. “It’s just my prodigious luck.”

Ren bit back a retort as Vlad sighed. “Ok, Shags, you’ve had your fun. Now answer the damn questions. You're teetering on annoying.”

Shaggy sighed as he explained. Although he tried to leave out his early car-stealing exploits, but Slink wouldn’t let him. So he quickly told the story of their car-stealing shenanigans, and then he explained about the Barton Creek Estates. He also told them about the estate’s security and the tacky mansions housed in the community. Then he explained about their recon efforts and the eventual fight with the feds. Finishing with the discovery of the van and Slink’s new mission to rob another crime lord.

Ren sat back and sighed as Shaggy finished explaining. “You’re a damn menace.”

“What?”

“You killed two federal agents and stole their van?” Ren whispered angrily.

Shaggy just grinned back and then grimaced as Vlad slapped the side of his head.

“Calm down, Ren. You know better than that. It wouldn’t be that simple, even if Shaggy hadn’t taken the kid. With Slink there, the two of them wouldn’t do something so stupid even they didn’t think they could get away with it.”

Ren sighed loudly as Slink grinned over his book. Dave looked at all of them before he asked a question of his own.

“So, like, what about the Spiegal dude? You told us about this Teo guy the feds were watching but the recon was for... uh…”

“Drew.” Ren said helpfully. “You were supposed to find some dirt on Drew.”

Shaggy was about to explain, but the printed picture of Melanie leaving Drew’s house hit the table. Slink tapped it twice before he set his book down.

“That’s Melanie. Drew’s lover. But he’s not her husband.”

Ren and Vlad craned their neck over the picture before sitting back and turning contemplative. Slink picked the picture back up and put it in the book.

“Hardly a smoking gun,” Vlad whispered as he sipped at his red drink.

“But it could be disruptive.” Ren said.

Slink nodded along, but he quickly explained their plan. They were going to release the photo and let the net do its thing and then tomorrow evening they would hit both Drew and Teo’s places. Drew’s for more information and Teo’s so they could stop another crime family from invading Austin. Dave seemed excited, and Ren nodded understandingly. But Vlad seemed hesitant.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Do we really want to hit another crime-lord? Under-Town is already going to be a mess. If it gets out that we hit this Santos guy. Shits not going to be good.”

Shaggy grunted as he drained his beer. “It will not be good if another major family comes into town, anyway. We go scorched earth on these guys and then disappear back home. It may be a delaying tactic, but at least it will put them on the back foot for a while.”

Vlad grimaced. “or they could come running down here in full force. Looking for who killed their boss.”

“Which is why we are also going to rob Teo Santos.” Slink cut in. “He has to have something there that we can turn over to the police. Hopefully, that will make the Santos Crime family back off or even get them on the run.”

Shaggy nodded as Vlad seemed to think about. The diner was slowly filling with people, and this line of discussion was going to get tricky soon. Ralph was at the bar looking sullen while the mixture of workers and civilians were mingling and talking. Shaggy glanced up at Ren, smiling.

“So how was work?”

Ren chortled into his large mug. “Ha! Same old, same old. Boring ass lifting and pulling in the scorching sun while Vlad and Dave got to enjoy some A/C.”

“Sorry rhino-dude, I didn’t pick the jobs. But I promise, while I am off enjoying my air conditioning. I’ll think of you.” Dave said, draining his own beer.

“Ha!”

“Shudup!”

Slink back to reading and Shaggy. The other four discussed their plans for the night. Vlad explained Ralph was so sullen because Ren had browbeat the poor man into offering his apartment for the night again. Ren just shrugged and finished his beer as Dave explained his own day and the various people he had met when he was out delivering materials. Shaggy was only half-listening to the excitable man when a scent caught his nose.

He turned to track the new earthy scent when the door to the diner opened and several woman entered. They were chatting animatedly as they moved as a group toward the bar. Shaggy noticed that all four of them smelled the same. A weird mix of dirt and chemicals that clashed with their apparel. All four of them were dressed for a night on the town and they seemed to be in the middle of a pub crawl or something. Shaggy was wondering what brought them all the way out here when Vlad tapped his arm.

“Ain’t you married, Shags?”

“Of course I am,” Shaggy growled. “They just… smell funny?”

“How so?”

Shaggy shook it off and dragged his eyes away from the group of woman. “No idea. Like nature and science mixed.”

“Magic?” Ren asked.

“Probably.” Shaggy said, filing the smell away and going back to his drink.

His wife should’ve been in the game by now. Yet he had received no message about where to meet up. He really hoped she would not play a prank or something again. Last time, she had gotten them thrown out of a theater with her antics. Shaggy grinned at the memory as another smell hit his nose, this one far more familiar. It was sulfur.

Shaggy turned to the door just in time to see Xelthub step through the door. The cop was dressed in plain clothes. Although his red skin clashed with the navy polo shirt he was wearing. Xelthub scanned the bar until his eyes fell on Shaggy’s table.

“We got incoming.” Shaggy muttered.

Shaggy winced as almost everyone at his table turned to look at the demon cop walking toward their table. Ren kept his face forward, but he grimaced as something occurred to him.

“Oh yeah, the cops were looking to talk to you.”

Shaggy snapped an angry look at his alien friend. “Really?!”

Ren shrugged. “It was a long day.”

Shaggy sighed as Xelthub got to their table and scanned them all. Shaggy was sure the demon was memorizing all their faces before he grinned. Showing off stark-white pointed teeth. Shaggy grinned back, but said nothing, waiting for the cop to make the first move. Xelthub glanced at all of them again before he dragged a chair over and sat down.

“Your a hard man to track down.” Xelthub said, addressing only Shaggy.

“Yeah, I didn’t really like warehouse work. So my friend and I went out into the city to find work elsewhere. Slim pickings, though. Even with the recent invasion and all.”

Xelthub nodded. “You heard about that? I thought you lot were from out of town?”

“Yeah, but giant robots are going to be big news for a bunch of drifters looking for work.”

“I suppose so.” Xelthub nodded.

“What can I do for you, officer? My friend said you were looking for me?”

Xelthub glanced at Ren, but nodded amiably. “Sure was. But not me, my department. I am under orders to find you and offer you a freelance contract.”

Shaggy’s eyes widened, and he was sure he heard Vlad suck in a breath. “Freelance? For the cops?”

Xelthub grimaced as he rubbed his knuckles. “We have a Glow problem, Mr Shaggy. Now we have several departments out looking for the stuff. But we are stretched thin with recent events. With your ability to track Glow, my department is ready to offer you a lucrative contract to help us hunt down suppliers and shut down production.”

Shaggy sucked in a breath. It was a tempting offer. If he wasn’t a damn wanted criminal. Ren was staring at him as Vlad pulled at his shirt under the table. Slink ducked his head lower over his book and Dave was damn near vibrating with excitement.

“Ahem, how would that work exactly?” Shaggy asked, ignoring the pain from Vlad angrily pinching him.

Xelthub’s dark eyes took them all in before he explained. “Well, we would have you come in to the station and fill out some paperwork. But afterwards you’d be assigned a liaison who would give you details. Places to search and possible suspects things like that. For big busts, you’d have to have police supervision, but for the most part, you shut down drug production in the Austin area and we pay you to do it.”

He glanced at Shaggy’s friends. “Well, you and anyone who helped you, of course.”

Dave was damn near shaking the table with excitement as Vlad took a long draw from his flask of blood. Ren was still staring at Shaggy, but Slink had picked his head up from his book. Shaggy cracked his knuckles nervously as he thought about it. It wasn’t a bad gig overall. Stop drug suppliers get paid. The only thing stopping them was the fact that they were criminals. But who said that every vial of Glow would be turned over to the police?

“Say we or I,” Shaggy started slowly, “were to do this. What would happen if I had been a little… bad... when I first entered the city?”

For the first time, the entire table went still, and all eyes were on Xelthub. The large demon man sat back in his chair and stared at Shaggy. He seemed to weigh things up in his mind. Shaggy put his hands under the table and got ready to transform them into claws. But suddenly, Xelthub pushed his chair closer to the table and whispered.

“How bad?”

Shaggy gulped at the intensity of the demon’s stare, but he didn’t blink.

“Attempted mugging.” He said, adding quickly. “Hypothetically.”

Xelthub nodded before he smiled. “Bah! We can make that go away if you help us. How long ago?”

Shaggy shook his head. “You know, I can’t really remember.”

“Right.” Xelthub said, sounding unconvinced. “Well, you bring yourself down to the station and we’ll get you sorted out.”

Xelthub pushed his chair away and stood, drawing a few eyes. But people mostly went back to their drinks. Shaggy noted that the table of earth-scented woman was looking over their way. But Xelthub gave them all another look over before he smiled and waved. The big demon was barely to the door when Vlad started punching Shaggy in the side.

“THAT was absolutely the dumbest thing you have EVER done since I’ve known you.”

Shaggy took another pull from his beer and grinned. “Give me time. The night is still young.”

Vlad huffed angrily and turned to the others, but Ren cut off his tirade.

“We’re doing it.” The large alien said simply.

Vlad stopped short and glared at the bigger man. Slink tossed in his own thoughts.

“If they get rid of our record, moving around topside will be easier.”

The kid drew Vlad’s angry gaze next, but Dave finally couldn’t contain himself. He stood from the table and started a weird little dance as he chanted.

“I’m going to be a Super. I’m going to be a Super…”

Vlad banged his head on the table and Shaggy was about to explain his reasoning when a soft voice called from over his shoulder.

“Um, excuse me?”

Shaggy turned, along with the others at his table, to see a tall woman with skin the color of obsidian and purple eyes and hair. Shaggy thought she looked like a drow elf. She even had pointed ears. She was looking at Shaggy excitedly as she stumbled over her words. Over her shoulder, Shaggy could see her friends all gazing at them happily. Shaggy sighed as he guessed where this was going.

“Um, I’m sorry.” Shaggy interrupted. “I’m married.”

The drow woman’s face flashed from surprised to angry. “Um. No. I’m sorry. You’ve seemed to have misunderstood. I was just going to ask about your demon friend. Like, who is he?”

Shaggy felt his face heat up as he ducked his head to the table and let his friend’s answer. After a quick exchange with Ren, the woman snorted and walked back to her own table of friends. She was barely a few steps away when his friends burst out laughing.

“I’m sorry. I’m married.” Vlad mocked.

“Oh, shut up.” Shaggy said as he drained his beer and watched the table of woman pay for their drinks and leave. The drow woman looked back at him and grinned as she stepped through the door.