The Werewolf's Sabbat Ch. 09

The twins beamed at him. "Why thank you Mitch."

"Brown-noser," Janette said under her breath but loud enough for him to hear. She smiled over at him when she heard the low chuckle come from his chest. Her stomach flipped when Mitch hooked one foot behind her ankle to drag her leg slightly closer to his.

"So, how's your family, Mitch?" grandma asked. She had never met anyone else in Mitch's family but the sexual tension in the air was getting stiflingly thick as her granddaughter and her new beau remained quiet but continued exchanging looks and giggling. Someone had to say something to break the tension.

Mitch cleared his throat and took a sip of his tea. "They are doing quite well, thank you," he said with a polite smile. "We are actually in the process of buying up another business. A much smaller one, this time."

Janette looked at him surprised. "Really? You never told me that. What kind of a business is it?"

"It's just a small cafe. It's located not far from your apartment. In fact, Jack told me he had run into you there a few days ago. I'm going to be the official owner of the place but Jack will run everything."

So that was the early morning business Jack had been referring to, Janette thought to herself. "What about the club? Who's going to do the bartending?"

Mitch smiled at Janette. "There are plenty of people in my pack who are well experienced at bartending," he said matter-of-factly. "Jack doesn't want to do it anymore. I was looking into buying the cafe anyway and I knew that he was good at management. I also knew that he was ready to get away from the bar scene so I gave him the job. I think he will be much happier there."

Mitch and Janette continued like that for the better part of an hour. Rose didn't mind being left out of the conversation. She understood what new love was like. It seemed like just yesterday when she and her late husband, Henry, had fallen in love. It was as though they were the only two people that existed. Everything else had just disappeared. Of course, he passed away many years ago but she still missed him dearly. She was so happy to see her only granddaughter finally finding that love, even if she didn't know it yet.

They had all finished their dinner along with a slice of the pie that Marion had made, which was amazing. Mitch stood to help clear the table. "That was absolutely delicious. You two have out done yourselves," he said, patting his full stomach and sighing. Rose got up to help with the clean-up and Mitch stopped her. "No. Have a seat. You two cooked, Janette and I will clean up." He grabbed several plates, stacking them neatly and headed for the kitchen. Janette followed him with platters of leftovers. She put foil over the platters and put everything away in the refrigerator while Mitch loaded the dishwasher. It didn't take long to clean up with them working together.

Mitch leaned down and placed a sweet lingering kiss on Janette's lips. "Do you want me to take you home? Remember you don't have your car here," he said as he pulled her into his arms.

Janette rested her head against Mitch's chest and sighed. "Yes, that would be nice. I don't work tomorrow but I'm exhausted. It's been a long day."

"That it has." He kissed her once more before he released her from his arms. "Go tell granny goodnight and we can take off shortly," he said, before playfully swatting her on the rear.

Janette walked to the living room, Mitch following close behind. "Grandma, I think I'm gonna head home now." She kissed her grandma and aunt Marion on the cheek and gave them both a quick hug.

"Thank you for everything," Mitch said, giving them both a hug of their own. Mitch led Janette out to his jeep and opened the door for her. He was about to help her get in but remembered that his excessive doting sometimes irritated her so he just stood there. After she got in and buckled up, he closed her door and walked to the driver's side, got in, and started the jeep.

"Seat belt," she reminded him sternly.

"Yes mommy," he said, and winked at her before strapping his belt around him. He knew that she was still thinking of what had happened earlier that morning and decided to take the back roads into town rather than the highway. They drove for a good thirty minutes before reaching her apartment. He got out of the jeep and ran around to her door, opening it for her. "M' Lady, we have arrived," he said teasingly, putting his hand out to help her. They walked side by side to her apartment, his arm wrapped around her shoulder as though he was afraid to let her go lest she disappear.

Janette stopped in the hallway of the apartment building and turned to Mitch, taking his hands in hers. "Thank you for being with me today," she said with a sigh. "Today was really messed up... well... the part before the incident in the woods, that is," she said with a deep blush rising across her cheeks. "I don't know what I would have done without you by my side."

Mitch kissed Janette softly. He couldn't seem to pass up an opportunity to kiss her. "Well, if it were up to me, I'd spend every day with you, and every night for that matter."

Janette smiled up at him, her heart skipping in her chest. She turned and unlocked her apartment door and held it open for Mitch, closing it behind them after he entered. His face was illuminated by the soft glow of the streetlight in the window and the angry look she saw there took her by surprise. She tried to follow his gaze into her apartment but it was too dark for her to see anything. "What's wrong, Mitch?" She turned and flipped the light switch by the door. She gasped when she looked into her apartment to find that it had been ransacked. Someone had broken in while she was gone. Her furniture was tossed aside as though it weighed nothing. Even her sofa was upside down. She brought her hand up to cover her mouth and her eyes went wide, filling with tears. "Oh my God. Mitch. What the hell..." She took a step forward intending to check out the rest of her apartment but Mitch held out an arm, stopping her.

"Janette don't move," he said, the fury still apparent in his now black eyes. "Stay right here." He slowly walked into the living room and into the bedroom, his stance ready to fight at any minute. He cautiously checked every closet, even behind the shower curtain, in search of the intruder but found no one. "Whoever was here is gone now."

Janette shook her head in confusion. "Why would anyone break in? I don't have anything valuable. Hell, my television is even second hand. I don't understand. I don't get it. This makes no sense. Why the hell..."

Mitch had to calm Janette down. She was obviously starting to panic and that wouldn't help the situation any. "Look at me, Jan. Take a deep breath." He watched her close her eyes and breathe deep. "Good. Now I need you to stay calm. I don't know why anyone would do this but even you have to admit that this isn't the best part of town by a long shot. It could have been anybody for any reason. We are going to call the police and let them take care of things. Try and relax but don't touch anything." Mitch pulled out his phone from his pocket and dialed a direct number to a specific officer. He was in the middle of explaining things when he saw Janette head into the bathroom. "Don't go in there!" he said too late. He closed his eyes and let out a distressed sigh. He didn't want her to see what was in there. "Just get someone here please, quickly," he said into the phone before hanging up and putting it back into his pocket.

Janette slowly stepped backwards out of the bathroom, her trembling hand covering her mouth. She wasn't expecting to see the word 'WHORE' written in big letters on her bathroom mirror. From the looks of things, whoever wrote it had used her lipstick to do it with. Why would someone do this to her, she thought. She didn't have any enemies that she knew of. She wasn't a whore or any degree of a bad person, for that matter. She felt Mitch behind her and turned to look up at him. She shook her head in confusion and wiped away the tear that was streaming down her cheek. "This wasn't random, was it?"

Mitch wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. "Janette, you can't stay here. It's obviously not safe. I want you to come home with me. I will take care of you, I promise."

"Y, yeah, okay," she said, her eyes glassy. She reached for a dresser drawer to get some extra clothes when Mitch grabbed her wrist, stopping her.

"Jan, it is imperative that you touch nothing. Don't worry about anything. I'm sure I have everything you will need at my place." He saw the tears stream freely down her face and it tore at his heart. "Come here," he said hugging her tightly.

"Mitch?"

"Yeah, sweetie?"

"What if I had been here?" she said in a shaky voice. "They would have killed me."

Mitch squeezed his eyes shut trying not to think of the what-ifs. "Don't think about it. You weren't here and that's what matters. You are safe with me, and that's all that matters."

Just then, they heard a loud knock at the door. Mitch swiftly walked into the living room and pulled open the door, letting the policeman in. "Gary." Mitch shook the officer's hand. "Thanks for coming. I didn't want anyone else to handle this situation. I'm sure you understand why."

The officer took a few steps further into the apartment and inhaled deeply, recognizing the scent of an unfamiliar were. He nodded in Mitch's direction when understanding registered in his mind. He then turned to Janette and reached his hand out to her. "I'm Officer Stafford."

"Janette Timbers," she said, shaking his hand.

"Miss Timbers, I know this might be difficult but I need to know if you have noticed anything missing here," Officer Stafford said with a no-nonsense look on his face.

Janette looked around carefully but didn't see anything missing. "No, not that I can tell. I mean I really didn't have anything that was worth stealing to begin with, officer."

Officer Stafford looked thoughtfully at her and nodded his head. "Okay. Do you have any known enemies that you can think of?"

"Goodness, no. I mean I'm not a saint or anything but I generally keep to myself. I don't think I've even had close enough contact with anyone to have had the opportunity to make an enemy."

"I understand," Stafford said, nodding towards Mitch. "We'll do the usual, photos, fingerprints and..."

"Look," Mitch interrupted, pulling him to the side. "I trust you to do a good job here. We are going to find this bastard if it's the last thing I do. In the mean time, I need to get Janette back to my place. As you can see, she's pretty shaken up over this. It hasn't been the best day for her." Mitch spoke in a low voice as to not alarm Janette more than she already was.

"I understand," the officer said. "I have your phone number and I know where I can find you. I'll let you know if I find anything as soon as I'm done here. Don't worry, Mitch. I will keep this discreet."

Mitch nodded to him. "I know you will." He patted the officer on the back. "Let me know your findings ASAP. I don't care what time of night it is."

Mitch walked back over to Janette and grabbed her hand. "Come on, let's go." He walked her quickly out the door, down the hallway, and to her car before turning to her. "I want you to take your car and follow me to my place. It's not too far of a drive. Can you do that?"

Janette nodded absently, still in a state of shock and confusion at what had happened. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I'll follow you."

Mitch kissed Janette's cheek and opened the car door for her. He walked back to his jeep and got in, buckling his seat belt before turning the key in the ignition and pulling out of the parking lot. He glanced in the rear view mirror to make sure that she was following him before turning onto the street and heading for his mansion.

Neither of them had noticed the person silently watching them from the shadows across the street.