Artiface of Strength Ch. 08

Beth arrived back at the compound shortly before the dinner bell on Wednesday. She'd driven back alone, leaving William and Florence to travel back home with Ja-mul in his old Willys truck. Alpha John had asked her to hurry back home so that she'd be available to greet the visitors from Fresno, and she had complied, narrowly avoiding several speeding tickets along the way. She had been reluctant to leave Flo behind, but her daughter had refused to be separated from her mate. Indeed, she had viewed her coming road trip with Ja-mul and William as something of an adventure. Beth had not been surprised by Florence's choice, as it spoke to the strength of the mate-bond that she and her mate shared. Beth would not say that she was unhappy how things worked out.

John, on the other hand, was more than a little irritated by Florence's decision. Already unhappy with what he was calling 'the shamanization of a perfectly happy pack', he was also annoyed by the fact that Florence seemed to be quite taken with the old coyote. Ugh, if she likes him, we will never get rid of the old scoundrel!

"John, he said something that concerned me, but I didn't want to discuss this over the phone. He said that you wouldn't have to put up with him very long; he said that your time is almost over."

"He said what? What did he mean by that?"

"I'm not sure, John, I didn't push him for answers right then. I didn't think Florence or William even noticed that he said it, and I didn't want them to worry. I've been wracking my brain ever since then though, trying to think of all the things that he could have meant by that."

"We can't just ask him?"

"Trying to pull information from him is tough, John. He readily admits that he knows more than he is sharing with us, but he says that nothing is guaranteed to happen, and that what should happen...might not, if he tells us about it in advance."

"Sounds like a line of crap to me!" John grumbled.

"Yeah, I know, but how did he know that we were coming? How did he know that I was the mother-in-law even though any human would think that I was in my late twenties? How did he know about you and the freaking Puritans? There are not a hundred wolves in America that really know the true story about your execution; and there are no humans at all."

"So he thinks I am going to die?"

"Don't say that! Maybe he just thinks you are going to step down as Alpha. We both know that Florence is ready to handle the responsibility now."

"Florence, Hell! You tell me that William ran her down."

"He doesn't even know how to be a wolf yet, John."

"Will has military training, and he has a Hell of a lot of it. He slid right into this pack with no real worries or complaints. He's completely crazy about Flo, and he comes equipped with a pet Shaman who will surely be on his side. William looks like the total package, and while he seems to be trustworthy, we have to figure out if we can trust him with everyone's lives."

John paused a moment to think, and then asked, "Do you really think the Goddess sent him to us?"

"I'm not sure yet, and while I wish that I could tell you that I was convinced, I just can't. If he is to be our new defender, that would also mean that Florence takes over my role in the pack. What would you and I do then? I'm not anywhere near ready to retire yet; Heck, I'm just now starting to have fun! But John, think about it... children. Our pack has waited so long for them. One of the things Ja-mul said was that he thought the Lady was ready to end our mating drought."

John didn't hesitate, "Beth, for that, our deaths would have meaning. But, let us do our best to live through this. So... do your best to keep me from killing our new Di-yin, okay? He's right, I never could stand those fucking Puritans, not from the first moment that I met them."

"I will John, but it might not be so bad, none of the Shaman that we've ever dealt with have been grim or humourless. Most of them seem to be pretty easy-going"

"True, but most of them are freaking scam artists, they dance around a fire, shake their fetishes at you, and then they take credit for the fact that the crops actually decided to grow that season."

"So why did you adopt so many of their myths when you established Were society?"

"Some of the Shaman we met actually seemed to see things that they rest of us couldn't. The first few of them that I met were completely nonplussed when I shifted right in front of them. They helped me maintain my sanity, and they gave me a lens with which to view my new life. Quite honestly, a lot of what they said made sense, and unlike my European brethren, they didn't try to hang me or burn me at the stake if I disagreed with them. And maybe most of all, Sam and Tom were believers."

"You are saying that you've never really been convinced about the Goddess, and that you've just been going along with who does?"

"Well no, that's not exactly right either. I'm sure that there is a Goddess; it's just that I'm not 100% convinced that the things that we believe about her are actually true. We've all felt her power, but she's never actually spoken with us, and now there's a brand new scam artist coming who claims that she speaks to her. I will tell you right now, if his name was Osteen rather than Marris, I'd kill him on sight; he'd just be coming for our money anyway."

Bell thought about this for a moment, and then said, "So, what scares you more: the possibility that he is lying or the one where he is telling the truth?"

"You don't even have to ask that question, Beth; you know the answer to that! A liar would be really easy to deal with, but a real, live, breathing Goddess? A Goddess who wants something from us? That is terrifying! You know, like you... times ten."

Beth laughed at this. "Oh come on John, I'm not that bad!"

"Not to the women," John replied glumly.

Beth just laughed even louder at this, but she did reach out and put her hand over John's comfortingly. "You know that we all trust you with our lives, John. You have the biggest heart in the entire pack. You will do the right thing. You always do."

"No pressure huh Beth, just get it right like always?"

Beth's laughter pealed again, "Oh C'mon John, do I need to crawl into your bed and reassure you?"

"You have not crawled into my bed in over a hundred years, Beth. Hell, I could barely handle you then, and I know that you've learned all kinds of tricks since then."

"Ha! You couldn't handle me then. You always treated me like I might break."

"You were a mess then, Beth."

"And I'm a bigger mess now...but we might get grandchildren!"

"Oh, that reminds me," John said slowly, "Jefferson is coming along with his lawyers. He's going to be bringing Carol with him. She's due to have another grandbaby. You need to buy a gift."

"I need to buy a gift? Buddy, you are the one that pissed her off; she is mad at you!"

"Okay, fine, I need to give her a gift, but you need to buy it...umm, by Friday. Here, she sent a list."

Beth didn't growl often, but this time, she looked into John's eyes and let fly. A lesser wolf would surely have flopped over on his back and exposed his neck and belly to her, but John was made of sterner stuff; he merely shuddered and changed the subject to the contingent coming from Fresno.

"Sam says that there are two men and two women coming, and that apart from the three pit bulls they are bringing with them, they are traveling pretty light. They don't seem to be bringing much luggage with them, so we may have to take them shopping for nicer clothes so they can fit in at the Resort. Evidently, they are just not flashy people."

"Two couples?" Beth responded, allowing John to change the subject.

"No. Evidently, both men are bachelors, but Medina's friend is bringing his sisters with him. Sam said something about the girls being plenty hot. He didn't say a whole lot more after that, he just started making those sucking noises that he makes."

"Geez, Sam is such a pig!"

"Isn't it nice to see that some things never change?"

"I'm still mad at you, you know."

"Look on the bright side; you can do all the shopping at once, and pick their brains at the same time. You know, spend lots of money, and maybe get those boots that Tom owes you."

"John, you are a bad man!"

"I learned it from you; I was completely pure and unspoiled before I met you."

Beth just snorted and rolled her eyes.

Back in Dallas, it had gotten ugly. "What do you mean that you don't know where Yazzie is," Burton yelled into the phone.

Phil answered, "He left on Monday. He said that he was just going for a run, but I think that maybe he was going to meet that girl who works for Billington, and then he never came back."

"And you never thought to report him missing?" Burton said witheringly.

"Boss, I just figured that he got lucky or something, but when he was still gone today, I called you right away!"

"He is married to my daughter, you blithering idiot! I don't want to hear that 'he got lucky or something'!"

"Yes boss, that's why I didn't call you."

Burton took a deep breath before he continued; he'd love to get rid of Phil, but he couldn't afford to fire him as there wasn't another man alive who had William's trust. Burton knew that he was lucky to have a man simultaneously stupid enough to tell him everything that William was doing, but still sharp enough to maintain William's confidence. Yazzie was too smart to leave unmonitored for very long, and Phil Perry was the only man for the job. Burton realized that his son-in-law was quite an asset, but he also knew that William hated him with a passion.

He wasn't happy with the situation, but it dawned on him that it was a damned good thing that Liz could still make Will jump, because she was the only real control that he had on his employee. Burton had no doubt, it was obvious that William Yazzie was too talented to throw away lightly. He wondered if it might be possible to find Liz a boyfriend on the side, thinking that maybe it would keep her occupied and she'd leave William alone to work in peace.

"Umm...boss?" Phil prompted, "Should I just wait for him to show up?"

"No, head on down to Fresno and make contact with Medina; we may need to bring him in. I will send Jebidiah to meet you there. It looks like we may have to move on to plan B."

"Yes sir!"

Burton ended the call without saying any more. He had no interest in being pleasant to underlings, although he was starting to think that it might be time to make peace with a certain William Yazzie. Clearly the man had a better head on his shoulders than Liz did and Burton wondered if there was a way to swing this situation into a position where the Waters family interests could be protected without actually putting Liz in charge of anything. Burton was feeing his age and he knew that he wouldn't last forever, but he didn't believe that his daughter had what it took to assume the family mantle. He couldn't stand Yazzie, but he knew that William would have to be the bridge between Burton and Burton's grandchildren. I've spent my life building this company, there has got to be a way to make it last beyond me, he raged silently to himself.

Drumming his fingers idly on his desk for a moment, he reached a decision. He picked up his phone and made the call to bring in his surveillance team. He was far from happy to have to make this decision, he knew that his team was likely riddled with Governmental moles and that using them was taking a chance that the C.I.A. would take an interest. You just never knew when they would decide that something was in the National interest. And then he'd be screwed; this deal needed to remain private.

He spoke with his operative, ordering spook teams into the Whiskey Lake area. He demanded a full operation complete with infiltration squads and satellite surveillance. It was an expensive gamble, but the potential profit for the company with what was in those mountains justified the risk. He just hoped that his own sources within the agency would alert him if the bureaucratic idiots took an interest in his project.

He had one last call to make, and unlike the others, this one promised to be less pleasant and would almost certainly come with an argument. He hit the speed dial button for Elizabeth.

~~~

Late in the day on Thursday, the caravan from Fresno arrived at the Resort where John, Beth, and Tom were waiting. Sam's car rolled up, followed by the vehicle carrying the humans.

John wasn't sure what he was seeing, "What the Hell is that?"

Beth replied, "It's a minivan, John."

Tom said, "No, I think it's a low-rider."

"A low-rider minivan," John said curiously. "And what is that music they are playing?"

"I think it's the Gap Band, John," Beth said smiling.

John took a long look at Beth before deciding that she was serious. "And just what the Hell is a Gap Band?"

"The Gap Band, John"

"Whatever," he sighed. "Do you think that you can get them cleaned up enough to fit in at the Resort? You know that most of the clientele here are pretty stuffy."

"I see women in the van, almost all women love to shop, especially when someone else is paying. It shouldn't be a problem. It's just like playing dress up."

Beth saw that the minivan had now come to a complete stop in the valet area, so she stepped up and greeted their visitors, "Welcome to the Whiskey Lake Resort! I'm Beth and I will be your escort. This is John, our general manager, and I think you've already met Tom. Come with me, and I will take you directly to your suites, you are already all checked in. Stan, our bell page will see to your bags. I see that you've brought your pets with you; you'll be happy to know that we have a very nice pet care area available for their boarding."

"Wow," said one of the sisters, "Nick, I don't know what you had to do to pay for this, but I sure could get used to all of this!"

"Mr. Calvillo is it?" Beth asked.

"Yeah, I'm Nick," he responded.

"This is Oliver; he will take you to our pet care area and help you get your animals comfortably boarded, and then he will bring you directly to your suite."

"They can't stay with me?"

"I'm sorry Mr. Calvillo, although dogs are more than welcome here at the Resort, they are prohibited from entering the Hotel unless they are service animals. I am certain that you will be very happy with our boarding area; our owner is a major dog person! He's made sure that our visiting animals are as happy as their owners!"

"I told you not to bring them, brother," one of the sisters said.

"They are like family Maria, Heck, I brought you and Margarita, didn't I?"

"Right this way, Mr. Calvillo," Oliver said somewhat smoothly.

Nick collected his dogs as the others walked into the foyer of the Resort. John and Tom, realizing that Beth had their patrons well in hand, took their opportunity and slipped away quietly. Beth, seeing that she'd been left alone with her charges, merely rolled her eyes at the two wolves and launched into her spiel.

As she walked them to their suites, she informed the four guests that their rooms, meals, and all options within the Resort had been comped, they merely had to charge whatever they wanted to their room and it would be taken care of. She took them to the Restaurant and well as the smaller coffee shop, making them aware that the restaurant was fine dining only and though there was a dress code, all of their food could be ordered from room service. Beth could clearly see that the ladies seemed to be irritated at the men when they heard about the dress code, so she smiled and explained that there would be no need to kill their brother for allowing them to bring clothes more suitable for camping, and that Beth would be taking all four of them on a all expenses paid shopping excursion the very next morning down below in the city.

"All new wardrobes?" Maria asked dreamily.

"Everything that you'll need for a week's stay here," replied Beth with a smile.

"And you said we shouldn't come," Margarita said, laughing at her sister.

"Shopping?" George said grumpily.

"Well Mr. Medina, I guess we could take your sizes and have our shopper purchase the clothes that the two of you need for the Resort, but before you take me up on that, you might like to know that there is a very nice sports memorabilia and apparel shop within the mall. There's also a fine steakhouse with a full sports bar attached. There would be no need for you gentlemen to accompany us once we get inside, and I suspect that Sam or Tom would be assigned to assist you."

"I'm in," laughed George.

"And Mr. Calvillo?"

Nick's sisters both began laughing before answering, "If there is a new jersey in it for him, the dumb bastard will even leave his dogs behind."

"Excellent, and now we are here," Beth replied as she pulled out the suite's key card and opened the door into their rooms.

"Oh my God," gasped Maria.

"Wow," said George.

Their suite was luxurious in the extreme. There were two king sized beds, each in its own private sleeping area. There was a large living room area that extended into a private balcony that looked out over the lake. A full sized hot tub sat just inside the room, on the edge of the balcony, which would allow its occupants the opportunity to open the sliding glass door and experience being outside while they soaked in the tub. The balcony had several lounge chairs and a gas fireplace and grill, giving the feel of 'Resort camping'. A huge high definition television took up a large portion of one of the living area's walls. George took one look at it and thought that it rivaled the Jumbotrons at any of the sports arenas that he had attended. Being a man, he mostly disregarded the fact that each sleeping area had its own private en suite bathroom equipped with showers large enough to hold a small party.

"This room has been set aside for the boys, the television is bigger." said Beth with a smile, before stepping up and unlocking the connecting door between the suites. "Now, the girl's room was furnished more with a woman in mind." She opened the door with a flourish and continued, "As you can see, the living area is smaller, but the bathroom... ah, but the bathroom is something special!"

Margarita darted past Beth and ran into the door, then gasped, "Sister! You have to come see this!"

"Are those massage tables?" Maria asked.

"Yup," giggled Beth, "We have massage therapists who will come directly to your room, as well as hairdressers and make-up experts. It's all included, there will be no need to tip any of them, and all gratuities will automatically be added to the room's bill, so everyone will be happy to come work on you!"

"Now, you'll notice that the bathroom comes with wall sized mirrors and full vanities, so the two of you can get the full spa treatment without even leaving your room. Oh... and room service will happily bring cocktails, as long as you order them before 2AM. I would also like you to know that your Jacuzzi seats four, two to a side, with seats facing the lake; it's just the thing for a double date of romance!"

Maria took a quick look at the tub and then darted over to George and grabbing his ear, she said, "George, whatever these people want... do it!"

She then looked to Beth and said, "Where does he sign?"

Beth laughed and replied, "No, no, we won't do any business tonight. Just enjoy your stay here at the Resort and we'll have our people talk to you tomorrow or the next day. We are bringing in our legal team to talk with you, but I'm sure that you'll be very happy with their offer; we want to make sure that everyone is happy when we are done and that everyone knows they were treated fairly."