[b][LOUIS][/b]

Louis woke to the sound of someone screaming. That wasn't unusual by any means at the Black Tree Resort. People came here to live out their fantasies, both tame and...otherwise. Louis was currently 'posted' to the Black District - which catered to the [i]much[/i] darker end of things. Snuff, necrophilia, and psychotic sadism were vanilla, here.

Now, Louis hadn't gotten posted, arguably to the most horrible area of BTR, as a punishment. Nor was it exactly his 'pleasure', either. He was here because he was the only one in the security corps who could actually keep the wackjob clients and residents of the Black District in line. Not to mention the wackjobs who got punishment postings here - a.k.a. his 'subordinates'.

The screaming person got louder, and Louis considered very strongly going over and shooting whoever was making the noise [i]and[/i] whoever was making them make it. But firstly, he didn't like shooting in general, actually. Second, it was his goddamn day off, and going and doing something about whoever was doing whatever to whoever...well, that was very much 'on-the-clock' shit. Fuck that. Hopefully the poor fucker would die soon...or at least maybe their voice would give out.

When the screams turned into high-pitched shrieks, that was it. A glance at the clock told him it was 04:00, waitforit,  04:01. Who the fuck was making that kind of racket at four in the morning!? Even the usual Black District clients weren't typically awake at this hour. 

Grumbling and cursing, the big Dog climbed out of bed, snatching up his gun from the nightstand and checked its load as he stomped out of his apartment, not even bothering to fully shut the door behind him. No one would dare steal from him. 

On the way down the stairs, he nearly tripped over Lionel, one of his neighbors, who was coming up the stairs. Louis paused to help steady the smaller Cat, who thanked him. They both awkwardly paused there on the stairs, both about to say something, then, well, not saying anything. 

"What's the...ah...hurry, Lt. Baxter?" Lionel asked, to break the awkward moment and in response Louis waved his gun above them.

"Know who's making that racket? They woke me up and I'm gonna go do sommat about it."

The Cat shook his head, "Don't know, sir. It does sound like it's coming from the outside, though. Maybe the alley?"

"Come with me as backup, and the bodies'll be yours," Louis offered. One perk of being essentially the police chief for the District was that he knew [i]everyone's[/i] weak point. And other than his addiction to necrophilia, Lionel was actually one of his less objectionable neighbors, so Louis felt he ought to throw the guy a bone occasionally. It couldn't be easy, actually living in the Black District, at Lionel's size. Dude was just shorter than three feet. Balls height to most Canids and nearly all humans. Snack size for the wackos.

Lionel's tabby-marble face lit up, "Done!"

Together, they headed down the stairs and out into the parking lot. Out there, they could more clearly hear the sounds. Quietly, they approached one of the alleyways, only stopping when Lionel patted Louis' bare rump to get the Beardog's attention. "Hey, um, Lt. Baxter...what exactly do you want me to do, here? I'm not exactly a fighter."

"Honestly, you're bait. I want you to go [i]there[/i] and piss. Make sure they can see you, [i]and[/i] that I can see you from here.  Uh...try and make yourself seem like a cub, if you can. Round here, even if they've already got a plaything, they won't pass up the chance to nab what they'll think you are. They come into my sights, bam, done. You'll be perfectly safe."

"If I get hurt--"

"I'll at least be pissed enough to get revenge for you. But seriously, I'm a great shot, you'll be safe. I actually promise you, I will not let you get hurt, Lye."

"OK. Hey, uh, this is a weird time, but I've always liked you...Imean, you're not a thug like the last guy, is all I'm sayin'," Lionel said, and Louis noticed that the Cat's paw was still on his ass. 

"I thought you only went for cold ones?"

"Dude, you're like, the hottest male in this District, human [i]or[/i] Anthro. Have you [i]seen[/i] some of these greasy wackos? Ugh!"

"Please don't tell me you fantasize about fucking my corpse."

"No way. It's about you fucking [i]my[/i] corpse."

"Lye. No. [i]Dog[/i] no. Go be bait while I scrub that image out of my head."

The Cat snickered and slunk off, into the alley, but not so far in that Louis couldn't cover him. The Cat was so engrossed in being meticulously stealthy that it was only once he was in position that he actually looked at the scene. Whatever he saw, he abandoned stealth and scampered back to Louis.

Even if that hadn't been the plan, the screaming stopped abruptly, replaced by silence. A voice called out from the alley, "Don't be shy, Lt. Baxter. Come on in! I've got a [i]thing[/i] I need to chat with you about."

Louis crouched and took Lionel by the shoulders. The out-of-shape Cat was still panting from his earlier sprint, but at the Dog's insistence got his breath back enough to talk, "There was just this Wolf, with a radio set up on a table next to a speakerphone, and he has some big machine gun on mounts set up next to the table. He's got armor on, too. Bear Steel logo."

Louis looked up at the nearby apartment building, "I bet he's right beneath my window, too. Fuck. It's a trap. Did you recognize him at all, Lye?"

Lionel shook his head, "Nope. I didn't get a good look, though, just nope'd the hell out of there. Sorry."

Louis patted the Cat's shoulder, "That's okay, Lye. I don't want you hurt. This might be a bit beyond your skill, so you can head back if you want."

The small Cat surprised him in shaking his head, "I'll stick around. Help if I can."

To the Wolf, Louis called out, "Why don't you come on out? Leave the machine gun."

The Wolf did just that, and even Louis gulped when he saw who he was dealing with. The Wolf was wearing a full set of military 'Bear Steel' armor - Louis' little nine-mil was...not guaranteed to penetrate [i]that[/i]. In fact, it was very likely to ricochet or deform against the considerably harder ceramic steel of the armor. If Louis were spectacularly unlucky, it was possible he could shoot [i]himself[/i] by shooting [i]at[/i] the Wolf. 

Physically, he could possibly take the guy on, but the shiny glinting of the Wolf's claws told Louis those were mil-spec combat implants. 'Sharp enough to cut God' was the general consensus among those who used - or faced - them in actual combat. That shit was a close-quarters no-no if you were literally naked, like Louis was, and he had no intention of getting disemboweled. 

"That's close enough! Who the hell are you?"

The Wolf stopped, paws out to the side - seemingly docile but actually giving those claws room to swing, if needed. "Lt. Baxter, there's no need for the hostility. I mean you no harm."

"Answer the question, Wolf," Louis ordered gruffly, keeping his gun trained on the Wolf's muzzle while also keeping those claws in view and estimating if he could get a shot off before being lunged and murdered.

"Alekhine."

Louis involuntarily took a step back. Alekhine!? [i]That[/i] Alekhine? He was not in the mood for this shit on his day off. But he also couldn't ignore Alekhine - literally Black Tree's Enemy Number One - traipsing in his backyard. 

"You got some way to prove it?" 

The Wolf scoffed, "I'm not exactly carrying an ID card."

Lionel spoke up, "His picture's on the hit site, sir! $195,000 dead, his head as proof. Twice that, captured. Has a list of distinguishing features and a police scent profile chart. Here, look."

The Cat tugged on a pawful of Louis' hip fur to get him to bend down and look at the Cat's phone. The bright screen had an image of an obviously younger Alekhine, clearly a mugshot. Even from the picture alone, Louis could tell the Wolf in front of him was who he said he was. And the scent profile matched as well. 

"If it interests you, Interpol is offering half a million, alive. There's a reason no one's taken Black Tree up on the hit yet. Satisfied I am who I say? Can we get down to business?"

If the Wolf lunged, Louis would feel bad about it, but Lionel would have to get used as a shield, despite his earlier promise. Trying to make it look like a protective thing, he moved the Cat behind him, while also keeping him within reach. "What business would that be, Wolf?"

"There's gonna be a hit on your boss soon, and I wanna know now if you'll be willing to be paid off...or if I need to 'eliminate' you and your friend." The Wolf's reply was curt, matter-of-fact, and dead serious. 

Fuck, he almost actually pissed himself. Alekhine was a legend in the underworld - the Wolf was called a 'violence savant', and Louis had [i]no[/i] desire to find out what exactly [i]that[/i] meant. Especially not when he was naked. Plus, he really didn't want Lionel to get hurt, if he could help it. "What am I being paid off to do...or not do?"

"Just...be less attentive than usual. I'm not asking you to [i]help[/i] my guy, per se, more like--"

"Don't hinder. Got it. How much are you payin'?"

The Wolf grinned, "How much are you askin'? 'Member, it's to split 'tween you an' the Cat. A side request is that I was never here."

"Fifty grand, each, if you have it right now. Seventy each of you're wiring it. Throw in yon gun on yon table, and you have a deal."

"I got eighty grand in a duffel behind the dumpster I got the table out of. It's all I have on the spot - we underestimated you. And you know the thing's a prop, right? It was just to keep your...residents...from getting too curious. It's yours if you want it, nonetheless."

Lionel nudged Louis, "I'll take thirty grand if you want. Bastet, I'll take [i]no[/i] grand, if it gets us out of this sooner."

Louis looked his friend dead in the eye, "We're splitting it even." To Alekhine, he said, "We'll take it. Care to drop a hint as to when the...event...is going to be?"

The Wolf had already started walking away, but he called back, "By my phone's clock, my guy should be landing right about now. It'll probably take him a few days to get set up, so, 'soon' is the best guess I have. [i]Buenas noches, perros[/i]."

As soon as he was sure the Wolf was gone, Louis crouched and then just sat down as he waited for his heartrate to go back down. Louis was by no means a small Dog. At six-feet, he was fairly tall for a Canid, and he was all muscle. There's a reason his Clan (sub-Tribe within Dog Tribe) was known as 'Beardogs'. But Alekhine scared the [i]shit[/i] out of him. The things he'd heard about the Wolf, if they were even half true...yeah, no. Not someone he'd want to tango with. 

Lionel must've been feeling much the same, if not worse. The poor Cat was visibly shaken, and barely managed to scramble towards the dumpster when he was forced to drop his shorts, squat, and empty his bowels. 

"He scare you that much?" Louis teased. 

His friend yowled and avoided eye contact, "Shut [i]up[/i]! It's unrelated!"

Louis climbed to his feet and padded over to the Cat, whose insides were apparently rebelling, and stood guard. When Lionel glanced up at him, the Cat snickered at his swollen sheath, "If all I had to do was shit in front of you, I'd'a done this more often."

"It's unrelated. When you're done, I'm gonna fuck you," Louis growled, grinning at the shiver of arousal that became visible in Lionel's fur.

"Oh, God, yes!"

"Good kitty."

The moment Lionel was 'done', Louis wasted no time in reaching down and picking the Cat up by the hips, causing Lionel's shorts to fall off his footpaws, not that either of them noticed. 

"Ohwhoahwhoa! Oh, fuck, you're strong! Please don't drop me!"

Louis held the flailing Cat at arm's length, "I'm not gonna drop you; stop flailing! Lye, for fuck's sake, just go limp and raise your tail! I'm not gonna drop you!"

Without anything supporting his paws, Lionel's instincts were hard to override, but he managed, forcing himself to let Louis hold him in the air and shove his comparatively huge snout under his tail. When he was sure Lionel was clean, he set his friend back down, laughing s the Cat immediately dropped to all fours with his ass up, tail obligingly out of the way. 

"Not here, Lye. You're coming back to warm my bed. For now, let's get the money and the prop thing."

Lionel grumbled, but stood up, yelping as Louis reached a paw down to grope the tabby's erection, "Lye, I...aghm...I like you, too. You're cute."

Lionel ground his cock against Louis' pads, "I know. It's how I make money. People pay me to watch videos of me doing... well, Black Tree stuff."

"Look, Staff are allowed 'family' to live in their apartments...if we, uh..."

"Fuck yes! If... you're okay with... you know."

"If you're OK with being a...well, a 'sex kitten' - I only now realized the pun there, it wasn't intentional."

Lionel giggled nonetheless, "I'm OK with that."

"Good, let's get the stuff and get back up to my bed before I paw you off here in the alley."