Brand closed the door to Hope’s office behind him quietly.

Hope turned to him and didn’t bother with the usual greetings. “Something isn’t right,” she said.

Brand went around her desk and pulled out her chair. “You have good instincts,” he said. “Tell me.”

Hope looked at the chair, bit her lip, and realized that Brand was recognizing her authority as a doctor and as head of the Tranquility Wing of the hospital. She sat down.

Brand went around the desk and sat in the chair across from her. He put his ankle up on one knee and used the arms of the chair to brace his elbows. He folded his hands together and tilted his head in a pose of listening.

“There are three of these gentleman here to…” She frowned. “Retrieve might be the word, that’s how they act, they are here to fetch Dr. Brown. None of them are related to him, they don’t act the least bit concerned about his welfare. For instance, none of them asked how he was doing at all. And when I suggested that the presence of his family might help Dr. Brown recover, they outright said that it wouldn’t be possible.”

Hope leaned forward. “This man has had a severe blow to his psyche and physical body. He needs his family and I will not release him from my hospital and put him in the custody of these men. I sincerely doubt the continuing of Dr. Brown’s existence if I did.”

Brand grinned and quickly straightened his face. Whenever Hope got riled, she sounded more and more like her Uncle Ted. He nodded. “I believe you and I won’t require you to. They can’t require you to either. This is Colorado and this is Jasper, the law is on our side.”

Hope slumped in relief. “Oh thank God.” She looked down and her hands shook. She clenched them into fists. “I thought he was a doctor. What was he really up to?”

“I don’t know,” Brand said. “We don’t have enough information.”

“Were we used?”

Brand grimaced. “Maybe. It wouldn’t be the first time.”

Hope picked up a stylus and began playing with it. She glanced at him. “I can mark his case as pro bono.”

Brand shook his head. “I’ll talk it over with Ted and we’ll see that the hospital gets paid out of the money they are to give us.”

Hope nodded. She’d make sure that the Club was charged the lowest amount possible for everything. “I hate this. I hate it when they lie to us.”

“We don’t know if they have yet or not,” Brand said. “I’ll take over from here. You work on making sure Dr. Brown recovers.”

“I don’t think he wants to leave or talk to these men,” Hope said.

Brand raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“It was an impression I received.” Hope shook her head. “He didn’t state it outright.”

Brand smiled. “Then we’ll make sure he gets his wish.” He stood up, came around and kissed her forehead again. “You’re a good doctor, Hope.”

“You say that because I’m on your side,” she said and set the stylus down.

He grinned. “Having been on the receiving end, yes, I’m glad you are on my side.” He ruffled her hair. “I’m going to set a guard on you in case.”

Hope nodded, for once not protesting. Brand left the office. She sank into her seat. She’d let Brand deal with those men. She shuddered.

---

Savannah snatched back her data strip with the newsletters in it before they entered the hardware store. Gideon scowled and wrinkled his nose at her.

“You’ll have your own in the mail,” she said and stalked towards the door.

Gideon blinked. “I will.” He followed her.

“Yes,” Savannah said. “I’m sure Esme has already called the Post Office to find out your box before you know.”

Gideon darted around her and opened the door before she could touch it. “And they’d give it to her.”

“It’s Esme.” Savannah shrugged a shoulder.

“You have someone in the Post Office too?”

Savannah didn’t pause in walking. She grabbed a cart and pulled out small metal strip, with a flick of her fingers it turned into a list. She thought about it. “Actually, I don’t think we do,” she said. “I think it might be a church connection.” She shrugged her shoulder again and passed him the cart. She walked down the aisle, one eye on the shelves, another on the list. Gideon followed her, draped his arms on the cart handle, and slouched over.

She didn’t seem to have any particular project in mind, pipefittings, random screws, bolts, and nuts, a box of nails, gloves, a few tools, caulk. She directed him to get a bag of concrete and another bag of garden dirt. Near the registers, she stopped and fussed over the plants a few minutes, finally picking up one that was a little more bedraggled than the others and sticking it on the counter herself. The old man who had helped him check out earlier in the week seemed amused. She turned and left Gideon there, going over to the rack, she selected a round squat glazed pot from a local artist, wrapped her arms around it and set it on the counter next to the plant. Unbeknownst to Gideon, it matched the rest of her pots at least in color scheme.

“The dirt is mine too,” she said.

The old man ducked his head and grinned as he punched a few things in.

Savannah narrowed her eyes at him. He did it on purpose, leaving a plant that needed attention right out where she could see it. She huffed and paid for her things without any other comment. She picked up her plant, put it in the pot, and without a word, left to go water it with the nearest hose.

Gideon stared after her. He looked back at the old man. Oh-kay, he thought.

The old man grinned and started ringing up the rest of the cart. Savannah returned, the new plant missing, and paid for the rest of the purchases, pulling out club cards and discount coupons. Gideon ended up being the one to load the van. He got in and looked down. The plant was nestled between the two front seats. He eyed her. She ignored him.

Savannah took them to a pet store next. He eyed her again. The hardware store he understood. The pet store, he didn’t. She ignored him yet again, parked, shut the van off, and headed inside, pulling out yet another cart and her list. Gideon followed her and again was put in charge of the cart except when Savannah wanted things that were more than ten pounds. He kept a mental tally, birdseed, suet, some pet food, aquarium supplies, a leash and a collar set. Savannah turned down the toy aisle, put the list away, and crossed her arms. She picked up a few of the balls and squeezed them, muttering.

Gideon raised an eyebrow at her.

She found one, and shook it. It jingled. She snickered and tossed it into the cart. She went back to squeezing them.

Gideon sighed. “Do I want to know?”

“The pups keep bursting the balls when they play with them,” Savannah said. “Poppy is at wits end. I’m trying to find ones that are a little more sturdy.”

“A football or a basketball might work,” Gideon suggested.

“Yeah. But they don’t jingle. They’re pups.” Savannah tossed the one in her hand into the cart over her shoulder. Turned around and grinned. “Basket!” she said and pumped her fist in the air. She bounced down the aisle.

Gideon rolled his eyes. It wasn’t like it was that great of a challenge.

She turned around and started walking backwards. “Now that I think about it, we probably should stop by Forest’s and pick up a few new balls for the Club.” She pulled out her stylus and added it to the list, turning around, and side stepping another customer as she did.

Gideon stared at her back. How many stores were they going to? She’d mentioned they had to pick up groceries. He figured since groceries had perishable items they’d do that last. It sounded like she had quite the list. Were they going to get lunch in all of this? He was grateful she had brought him an ample breakfast.

Savannah hummed, picked out a few more items, and went to check out.

At the next stop, an office store, Gideon eyed her back and decided it was past time to ask a question that had been bugging him. “Wouldn’t it be easier to go to a department store?”

She half turned. “No department stores in Jasper, town ordinance.”

He stared at her back and gaped. “Town ordinance?” he said.

“City constitution even.” Savannah nodded. “No buildings above four stories tall, or 45 feet, no advertisements, no plastic or glass signs, no neon, no chain restaurants, no department stores, and all public art must be approved by two-thirds of the town.” She wrinkled her nose. “Steele hated advertising.” She paused. “And bad art.”

“I swore I saw a general store,” Gideon said. Okay the carved and hand painted wooden sign had read ‘Jasper Olde Tyme Country Store.’ In his experience, that meant a general store.

“That isn’t the same thing at all as a department store.” Savannah shook her head. “And that’s been there since the founding.” She paused. “Steele gave the original owners a loan actually. I think the Club bought it out under Randy’s term. It’s a real tourist attraction.”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

He stared at her. If he was listening to her right, the Club owned the general store. That sounded a bit crazy. Who was this Steele person? Savannah acted like he was really important. “Okay, who is Steele?” he asked.

Savannah brightened. “Steele is the founder of the Club, the first president and the first of the Original Eight.” She grinned at him. “My great-great grandfather was actually one of the first people to find the crater that became Jasper.”

Gideon’s mind stuttered, great, great, that was two greats, had founded the Heaven’s Heathens and was related to Savannah. He decided that maybe he should consider her motorcycle club royalty, if motorcycle clubs had such a thing.

She picked up a paper and dropped it into the cart. “Steele was in the United States Army and had been posted out here in what was then South Dakota. He was from the Rockies originally, he refused to really pin point where.”

Which was actually typical of how werewolves thought, if you don’t tell, the family would be protected. She thought the Northern Rockies charter might be close to his original hometown, but she wasn’t certain.

“However, he was posted here and fell in love with the land, the trees, the prairie.” She paused. “After the war, instead of going straight back to the Rockies to find his immediate family, he came here and found this crater. Without Steele, there wouldn’t be a Jasper. He helped plan the city and write out laws, reseeded the Black Hills, recruited the other Eight, formed the Club, and still had time to have a family.”

“He sounds like a paragon of virtue,” Gideon said dryly.

Savannah laughed. “He loved motorcycles, guns, liquor, and a good fight. Virtue was the furthest thing from his mind. Great-great grandma pointed a shotgun at him to get him to finally up and marry her when she was pregnant with Randy. Those were rough and wild times. Great Grandpa Randy calls him an ornery old cuss. Grandfather says the two of them were a lot alike. It’s amazing they didn’t fight more.”

They probably had the Code of Behavior and the fact that Randy was Steele’s only son and only child to thank for that. She picked up a box of pencils and looked them over, set them down and picked another one up that looked almost identical to Gideon and set it in the cart.

“Your grandfather knew Steele?”

“At the tail end of his life, Great Grandpa Randy let them spend a lot of time together when Grandfather was small because he knew Steele didn’t have much time left.” Savannah picked out a few more boxes of pencils and silly looking erasers and continued down the aisle.

“Anyways, when the town was settled, because they were rough and wild times, Steele promised the town council that the Club would protect the town. God knows the newly minted police chief with a task force of him, himself, and he wasn’t up to it. And as long as there was a Jasper, we would continue with that protection. In return, the town gave us inconvertible rights to a lot of land outside of city limits.”

Gideon blinked. This was more than he wanted to know actually. “That’s nice.”

“It is a good deal for both of us. The town is safe, and we have a place to run and hunt on land that can’t be taken away from us. There are jaunts coming up soon. You might want to sign up for a couple of them, get the jitters out of your system.”

Gideon looked down at the cart he was leaning against. He hadn’t realized he had jitters. He’d have to take her word for it. He felt uneasy and unsettled still. He’d like to get a job and pay his rent and feel useful. He didn’t think he had the jitters.

Savannah finished picking things out and headed towards check out. He followed behind her chewing on what she’d told him. This did answer a few of the questions he had about the town. Like why there weren’t any franchise food places, about the wooden signs, and why the place felt old fashioned. Okay, it answered a lot of the questions. He continued to muse on it as they headed out the door.

He didn’t say anything when she took him to Forest’s Hillside Sports and picked up a few balls of various types for games. He bit his tongue to keep from pointing out that she bought them all in Club colors, including the tennis balls. That didn’t take more than ten minutes.

Then it was onto the post office, which was apparently a stop for him. He picked up his physical mail, got his assigned permanent port for his electronic mail, downloaded that and got his own copy of the Lunatic, Jasper Edition, and filed a short form to tell them his apartment address so they could take his physical mail there. There were letters with official looking seals of varying thickness.

He didn’t have a much time to look through them. Savannah pulled in down from the post office to the police station and got out. He blinked and got out too. Savannah was already headed towards the door. He barely got there ahead of her to hold the door open. She bounced inside and walked past a line of desks to one of the members he recognized from the meeting last night. Except, the man wore the put together and pressed different shades of green uniform of the Deputy Chief of Police.

Gideon still didn’t think it was legal.

“Good morning, Josiah!” Savannah said, came around his desk, and kissed his cheek before sitting on the corner of it. She crossed her legs.

“Morning, Savannah.” He looked at her and smirked. “You look cute. What is the occasion?”

Savannah scowled at him and looked down her nose. “No occasion.” She crossed her arms. Could she wear a mini-skirt and not get a comment on it for once? It was Wednesday. She didn’t have to ride her bike anywhere. She could dress the way she wanted. Brand didn’t care.

Josiah snickered. “What brings you to my desk?”

“Nothing. Prospect needs to pick up the plates for his auto and I thought I’d say good morning,” she replied.

Josiah coughed and looked at Gideon. Gideon couldn’t interpret the look.

Gideon’s eyebrows rose. “Which helps if you tell me what we’re doing,” he said and looked around. He saw the desk and walked away.

Savannah blinked. “I told him his plates were going to be in today,” she said and then shrugged. “How are Christie and the girls?”

“They’re fine,” Josiah said.

“That means nothing.” Savannah reached up and played with her necklace chains.

“They’re fine!” Josiah said. “They really are. No colds. No tantrums. No social anxieties. Fine.”

Savannah sighed. “I’ll ask Christie.”

“And you’ll get the same answer,” Josiah said, actually believing it.

Savannah rolled her eyes.

Gideon came back, hefting a package, large enough and heavy enough to be his plates. Savannah smelt him first and turned her head. She got off the corner of the desk. “We won’t keep you from the honorable carrying out of your duties,” she said.

“Yes, because this town is a hotbed of crime and villainy,” Josiah riposted.

Savannah grinned and walked away.

Gideon rolled his eyes, gave Josiah a two-fingered salute. “Deputy,” he said and went after her, once again barely making it to the door to open it before she did.

He went through the mail and his package on the way to the grocery store. He opened the package first and gave a low whistle. “Shiny,” he said as he pulled out his new plates. They had the scanner bar codes already on them.

Savannah glanced over. “Oh good, you can blend in better.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Your plates stick out. Does New York have something against pleasant color schemes?”

“Are you calling my plates ugly?” he asked. Though he agreed, the blue and gold plates were ugly.

“I’m implying. You said it outright.” She pulled into a medium sized lot outside the grocery store. Or what Gideon was to find out soon enough, the first grocery store.

He tucked the rest of his mail in the handy inside pocket of his kutte and pulled out a lollipop. He unwrapped it, stuck it in his mouth, and blinked as he saw Savannah staring at him. “What?”

“You are an addict,” she said.

“It beats smoking.”

“Oh my Lord.” She put a hand to her forehead. “You and Grandfather are going to get along so well,” she muttered.

Gideon raised an eyebrow.

“Butterscotch, he is addicted to butterscotch because,” she raised a hand and made quotes, “it beats smoking.”

Gideon grinned.

Savannah sighed and stalked to the store, the door opened automatically before her. He pulled a cart out of the mess of carts near the front door and followed her. She pulled out her list again and they got through the store without incident until the check out line. She got to the front of the line, pulled out a packet of coupons and cards, and handed it to the clerk.

Gideon stared at her.

It was her turn to blink. “What?”

“You’re couponing,” he said.

“Esme and her group cuts them out, not me!” Savannah raised her eyebrows and her hands. “I don’t want all their hard work to go to waste.”

The clerk snickered.

“You’re couponing,” Gideon repeated.

Savannah turned to the clerk. “Forgive him, he’s new.”

The clerk grinned. “I can see that.”

Savannah turned again into the candy section, pulled lollipops out of the bin, and set them on the conveyor belt. He eyed them. “And who are those for?”

“You. To keep you quiet,” she said.

Gideon made a show of shutting his mouth and sucking on the lollipop he already had. Savannah looked down her nose at him and nodded shortly.

The clerk giggled and finished ringing the items up. Savannah swept up the lollipops and put them in her pocket. Gideon’s eyes narrowed. She said those were for him. She bounced out of the store, forcing him to get the cart and follow her.

He loaded the van and Savannah directed some of the items into what turned out to be a cooler instead of benches like he thought. She drove them to another grocery store. He stared at it. “We were at a grocery store,” he said.

“Yes, and this one has different sales,” Savannah said. She pulled out a lollipop and handed it to him.

He took it and eyed her. He didn’t know if this was necessary. She opened her door, slid out of the driver’s seat, and slammed it shut. He stuck the lollipop in his pocket and followed her. He found yet another cart, leaned against it, and trailed Savannah around the store.

He didn’t want to admit it, but he was getting bored. Shopping of any flavor had never enthused him. To top it all off, he didn’t know Savannah at all. He didn’t even know what to talk about and she seemed perfectly content to go down her lists and check things off. He seemed to be along to push a cart and lift heavy things. Things that he was sure Savannah could do herself or anyone else could fill the same role he was. He tried not to feel frustrated. He could be job searching or something.

His eyes strayed to her butt in that tight mini-skirt and he idly wondered if she was addicted to lists. His mind wandered and he felt a stab of lust as Savannah leaned over at the waist to pick something up from a bottom shelf. He quickly averted his eyes and didn’t look back at her until he was sure she was safely facing the other direction again.

She stopped and started to talk to someone.

Gideon glanced over, it was Morgan with a cart filled to overflowing with all the groceries necessary to feed eight werewolves, or at least a good start to it. He smiled at her and she wrinkled her nose at him and continued to talk to Savannah. He tuned it out. It didn’t appear his opinion on whatever it was they were discussing, was necessary. He looked around and schooled his face to blandness. How long was Savannah going to keep this up? Was this ritual torture?

“Good morning, Beda!” Savannah said.

Gideon’s attention jerked back to the women. He grinned at Beda. Beda smiled at him and talked with Savannah and Morgan for a few minutes before excusing herself. Gideon glanced at Savannah. He figured she wasn’t going anywhere, not with Morgan going in the opposite direction she was and them talking. He intercepted Beda and put a hand on her basket. “Let me get that for you. Did you find everything you needed?” he asked. Good, he could feel necessary for at least ten minutes.

Beda beamed at him. “There might be a few more things.”

Gideon looked down. “I thought I saw lemons on sale,” he said.

Beda grinned. “And here I was thinking about an icebox pie,” she said. “But I’ll need vanilla wafers for the crust.” She wrapped her arm about his and tugged him away.

Savannah and Morgan stared after them. Savannah’s mouth slightly open. She shut it with a snap.

Morgan turned to Savannah. “You were abandoned for a century plus octogenarian,” she said solemnly.

Savannah blinked once and started to giggle. The two broke into laughter, leaning against their carts. Savannah reached up and wiped her eyes with the edge of her hand. The two looked at each other and started laughing again. “Oh God,” she said. She tugged on the cart. “Did Esme put you on the list?” she asked.

“Yep. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Won’t that be fun?”

Morgan grinned and pushed her cart forward. She didn’t get three steps before she started laughing again.

Gideon caught back up to Savannah a couple aisles later. He’d slipped a little money in while Beda was paying to cover the cost of the extras such as the lemons and escorted her to her auto. He reminded her gently to not be weeding in the midday sun and to wear her hat and let her go. She’d pursed her lips at him, told him he was a bossy boy child and then grinned when she thought he couldn’t see her. He took the cart back over from Savannah. She was tugging it by the wrong end.

She looked back at him. “Are you done wandering away?” she asked. “I do have leashes in the van,” she said, it sounded tart but she was smiling.

“She’s my landlady,” he said.

“I know.” Savannah said, turned around and giggled.

He glared at her back. It didn’t harm anyone for him to help out his landlady a little bit. Savannah continued to giggle, as she leaned over and grabbed something from a lower shelf. He struggled not to pout. He’d been being nice and she was laughing at him.

Besides, if he hadn’t helped Beda, his mother would scold him in his thoughts. He didn’t know how his guilty conscience had acquired his mother’s voice, but it had and it made him squirm. He sulked. His mother would be proud of him. His mother wouldn’t laugh.

Savannah turned around, set something in the cart, saw his face and something about her whole face and eyes softened as she grinned. He couldn’t figure the emotion out. She turned around and started to hum.

He leaned against the cart and pushed it after her, still sulking.