The White Wolf of Winter

Part Sixteen, A Stranger in my House

Chapter Twenty Six
    I enter my house and cautiously move around, shotgun in hand.

    "Hello, who's there?" I have a gun."

    A man pops out of my bathroom dressed only in a towel.

    "Woe little girl, don't shoot! I'm Jennifer's son, your step brother."

    He raises both hands into the air and the towel hits the floor. I now have a very well built, naked man standing before me with black wavy hair and big brown eyes, a well groomed goatee on his chin and a lot of dark colored chest hair extending down a line to his hairy groin.

    "Do you mind if I pick up the towel and cover myself?"

    "No, actually, I wish you would. This is very embarrassing for me."

    "Embarrassing for you? How do you think I feel?"

    "I apologize but I don't usually come home to a strange man in my house."

    He rewraps himself and extends his hand to me.

    "Hi, I'm Bill, it's nice to meet you."

    "I'm Mary, nice to meet you too, Bill. But, why are you here? And why didn't anybody tell me about you?"

    "I think it was a last minute decision. Our parents decided you shouldn't be living here alone with a dangerous woof running around."

    "I can take care of myself, Bill. I've been doing it all a long. How did you get past my dogs?"

    "Your dad was here. He let me in. But he had to get back to the rig."

    "Don't you have a job to get back to, Bill? You look like your in your twenties. You must work."

    "I'm a Highway Engineer, Mary and I am twenty Five years old. I came here to design a highway through here to a few major cities."

    "Who told you to do that?"

    "My mother."

    "And who's paying for this, Bill?"

    "Your father."

    "My father?"

    "Ya, plus a considerable grant from the government. Once your population reaches a certain number, it entitles you to government grants to improve the area. And this town needs roads and a highway. Your dad's been trying to get a grant for a few years now but it finally came through."

    "So you plan to stay here with me?"

    "Ya, if you don't mind. I'm easy to get along with."

    "Well, I do have a boyfriend who comes around from time to time, although at present; I have no idea where he is or if he's ever coming back."

    "What happened, if I may ask?"

    "He went up North to spend Christmas with his family and never came back."

    "Have you heard from him?"

    "Very briefly, but he was due in New Year's Eve and I waited at the airport for four hours, but he never came. Then when I went back to school; he wasn't there. So I went to his house, and it had been cleaned out. I don't understand it because we were so close and he said he wanted to marry me. He hasn't called or written. It's like he just disappeared."

    "I'm sorry to hear that, Mary, you must be heart broken."

    "I'm heartbroken, worried, scared, you name it. What we had was real, Bill."

    "Ya, well I'm going to get dressed and maybe we can cook something up for dinner."

    "I don't know if I can eat anything but alright."

Chapter Twenty Seven
    Bill made dinner, but I couldn't eat anything. I stayed in my room most of the night. Bill said he would bring in the firewood and take care of the dogs for me so I could be alone.
All I do is cry anymore. My man is gone and I have no idea where or if he's ever coming back. I was actually glad my dad sent Bill to stay with me. I was in such a terrible depression I could hardly function.

Bill came to my bedroom door and knocked.

         "Mary, are you alright? Can I come in?"

I went to the door and let Bill in. Then I jumped back under the covers. I knew I looked a mess. All I do is lay around and cry.

Bill sat down on the bed.

    "Mary, I made some inquiries at work about this woof murder. They said this guy, Joey came from a very influential family and that they agreed to pay to have DNA samples from everybody in town sent out to a lab. Just in case it was not a woof who killed Joey. Since no woof had ever been found. Anyway, there will be people at the school tomorrow to obtain DNA samples from everyone. Apparently they requested this from the police before Christmas but were told it was too costly. I hope your friend, Dan comes back soon. It could look bad for him leaving town and not coming back."

    "Well, if they ask me I can honestly say; I have no idea where Dan is or if he's ever coming back."

    "I guess The Depitro family has been sparing no expense investigating this. They even tapped people's phones. You don't suppose your friend Dan got wind of this and is hiding out somewhere? It would also explain why he hung up so quickly and never called back."

    "Why would he do that, Bill?"

    "I have no idea, Mary. I'm just saying, it doesn't look good."

    "The Depitro's are gangsters, Bill, mafia thugs."

    "That's what people are saying. I guess it would give your boyfriend a good reason to stay away. Maybe you should stop assuming he doesn't want you anymore and see the bigger picture. There could be a lot more going on here than you realize."

    "What Bill, you think Dan killed Joey?"

    "I did not say that, Mary. I just mean there could be more going on than you realize. And that maybe your man is staying away to protect you. I mean if he did do something to Joey and you knew about it and covered for him; you could both go down. So maybe you should stop laying about crying and refusing to eat, feeling sorry for yourself. Get up and start living again. If what you two had was real; he'll be back for you someday, after this all blows over."

"I hope your right, Bill. I love him so much!"