Chapter 32C

Laura drove to the vet that Harry had taken Bubba to before, and he seemed to pout as he looked at the building.

"Come on, Bubba," Laura said. "I promise it won't hurt, and I'll hold your hand the whole time." That earned her a big sloppy kiss from Bubba who jumped out of the truck.

Harry and Lew pulled up at the studio, opting to park in the back lest people think there was a real reason for a CMPD cruiser to make this many frequent visits to TKO.

Joe Johnson, parked half a block away at a garage changing a tire that wasn't flat, smiled at the efforts the officers were going to. This Todd Ayres must be something really special, and there had to be something going on at TKO with all the traffic he had seen come and go on a Saturday. 'Little Joe' had convinced the owner of the garage to "hire" him on starting Monday. It was the perfect distance from TKO to allow him an unobstructed view of the front of the building, and twice a night he would take a drive up and down Jane Avenue where Todd was living with Kelly and the other girl now.

It was an interesting situation from what Joe had learned since arriving in Charlotte. His charge was to protect Ayres from any nasty business coming down from Cleveland. A job made a bit more difficult for the former Marine Sergeant Major since Todd wasn't supposed to know he had a bodyguard watching him. It had taken a bit of calling and research to discover that Ayres lived with four females in the house owned by his partner. Laura Williams, daughter of a local cop, Kelly Jennsen, co-owner of TKO and long time friend of Ayres, and then there were the younger girls. At first, Joe had thoughts that Ayres was building a small harem till he learned the younger girls, Cara Anderson and Ami Phillips - former Olympic hopefuls who had only recently moved to Charlotte as models for a sports equipment company - were from rumor and speculation much closer than just friends. They had opted to stay in Charlotte and attend UNCC in the fall.

Aside from the five regulars who now occupied the house, there was one other person with a key to the place, and that was Gloria Clarke. An enigma, that one. Not exactly a housekeeper or maid, but more like a personal friend and assistant to Jennsen. Her daughter worked for TKO and lived in the upstairs apartment with her boyfriend, Robert Payne. The apartment had been the home of Ayres until last month when he moved in with his partner full time. Gloria Clarke had another child living in Charlotte, Delton Clarke, who owned one of the finest nurseries and greenhouses in Charlotte. Quite a thriving business from the tax records Joe had examined, and then he'd discovered that Ayres and Jennsen had set him up in business. Unusual to say the least, and upon further examination had discovered that Ayres and Jennsen had also been paying tuition fees for the daughter who was set to graduate with an MBA shortly.

Joe had been confused at this largesse on the part of Ayres and Jennsen, though he could find no ulterior motives - as a matter of fact, Ayres and Jennsen had paid for the grown children of Gloria to come to the US, and both were now citizens. Having been given all the available files from the CMPD, Joe was even more amazed at how much money TKO gave out anonymously every year for summer camps and special events for underprivileged kids. What was it about these two that made them seem like philanthropists yet never wanted their names publicly mentioned? There was little in the local newspapers about them other than their business opening and Jennsen's yearly school visits preaching about safety equipment. At first he had wondered if they were hiding from something in their pasts, but a trace on their personal records showed Jennsen had been a professional model since she was 13, and Ayres, well he had only recently shown up on the radar under a new name, but it was only a truncation of his birth name, and under either name, he had never had any legal problems or questionable activities.

Joe knew that his boss would never assign him to protect anyone doing anything illegal or even un-American, so he had vowed to stick around till the dust had settled and find out for himself if there really were such altruistic people in the world as these two seemed to be.

The vet confirmed that Bubba had suffered no injuries and was not tick infested. Any incidence of fleas would be taken care of at the groomers, though the vet had convinced Bubba to take two extra-strength vitamins from his hand and sat patiently while his teeth and gums were scrubbed and cleaned.

"I'm giving Bubba a low-dose antibiotic," the vet said to Laura. "I don't think he needs it, but I just want to make sure in case he inhaled or swallowed something that might give him a case of the scoots later on."

Laura thanked the vet and paid him, and after Bubba held the door open for her, had let the GSD lead her back to the Tracker. The next stop was at the groomer's, a place that Bubba remembered fondly, and he was clamoring to get out of the Tracker even before Laura had a chance to park! She realized that as soon as she got back to the studio, she would have to take a shower herself as she had visions of fleas crawling on her skin.

Bubba loved his bath and subsequent shower, and the girls made a real fuss over the hero of the day, going so far as to polish up his collar, harness, and leash and even pinning a big blue 1^st place ribbon on his collar. They provided Laura with a huge treated and scented sheet to place over the front seat so that any pests that had transferred to the truck would be killed, and nothing could get back on either of them. An hour after Laura had picked up Bubba, she and the proud, shiny dog were on their way to the studio after hearing that her Dad and uncle Lew were already there. They could take Bubba back to Annie, though she would gladly do it herself. Annie was a character, and Laura always thought that if she had lived through the sixties herself, she would have turned out just like Annie or at least become the type of woman who spoke her mind and acted instead of just watching. Kelly would have made a good child of the 60's, Laura thought. She didn't whine, bitch or moan about everything in life being unfair. She did things to make the world a better place to live in, and that was one of the reasons why Laura loved her so much.

Harry had been a bit reluctant, but Vanetta had finally convinced him that the shower in the studio was there for models, and that he definitely looked like model material. Lew laughed out loud!

Harry gratefully accepted clean towels, a brand new toothbrush and comb, a robe, and a bag into which he could drop what was left of his uniform, plus another bag for his gear. He was surprised at the size of the shower for the studio and wondered about the one in the apartment above. Clearly marked wall-mounted dispensers contained soft soap, shampoo, and conditioner. While Harry was just a plain bar-soap kind of guy, he had to admit that the lightly scented body-wash was pleasant and felt good on his skin. The shampoo had a delicate scent to it as well and lathered nicely. He felt stress being washed away along with the mud and grime from his time in the brush with Bubba.

Finally clean and smelling good, Harry had to chuckle at the thought of his new smell. Would Bubba even recognize him? He emerged from the shower to find that someone had been in and brought some fancy four-bladed razor along with a brand of shaving cream he had never heard of. He assumed this sort of merchandise was the part about shooting new products for public consumption that Kelly and Todd had mentioned to him. Knowing their reputation, how they only took on products they believed in, he smiled as he lathered up his face. Damn! He was feeling good!

"Can I powder my hero in?" he heard from behind. It nearly scared him out of his skin, that being all he was wearing at the moment. Then he realized it was Meg waiting for him.

He turned to her and drew her into a kiss. "I thought I was always your hero," he said to her.

"You are, Honey, but what you did today was a miracle."

Harry blushed and tried to give the credit to Bubba, but Meg was having none of it. "Annie's dog might have found the boy," she said, "but you're the one who carried him out. I heard on the news that if he had been left much longer, he might have bled to death."

Harry turned sober. "Meg, I will be so happy when I have my time in and I can retire from this job. Today was a good day, but so many of them aren't. Lew gets his 30 year option in October, and with a bit of luck, I'll have my 25 in September. If we can get this situation resolved with Todd before then, I'm going to request a transfer to be a trainer at the police academy to finish out my last few months, and I'm going to suggest the same to Lew."

Meg hugged Harry fiercely with tears in her eyes. "I'd like that, Harry. That way I know you'll be safe, and then we can start our new lives at Muriel's Place. You've given this city a quarter of a century of honest service, you deserve a chance to relax."

Harry laughed and said he wasn't sure how much relaxing he would get as the co-manager of Muriel's since he would have an even tougher boss to work for! Meg lightly slapped him, told him to finish shaving. As he did, he felt Meg's hands rubbing his body with a fine powder. This really was the life.

Meg had brought in 'Joe Boxer' briefs and some name-brand socks. "I know your size, Harry, and Todd said, since these were packages, you would just have to take the rest of each package home with you."

Harry rinsed his face off and said to Meg, "I don't know where to find this shaving cream, but I would really like to splurge and buy some for home. Feel this, Baby," he said as he kissed her again, rubbing his face against hers.

"Mmm... Nice," she mumbled as she groped for his erection. "Are you up for a quick release before Sally checks out all these scratches?"

"I'd love to, Honey." he said as he groped her breasts, but I have to brush my teeth first.

As he opened up the cellophane from the new toothbrush, he felt Meg slide down his body and then the warmth of her mouth going over his erection. He smiled as he fumbled with the top of the liquid toothpaste container and started to brush his teeth. It would be a race to see if he could hold out long enough to finish brushing his teeth before Meg brought him over the edge.

Harry lost the race, and with a mouth full of toothpaste, he deposited his seed into Meg's eager mouth. Moaning was hard, and he turned and spit out what was left of the tooth polish before lifting Meg up under the arms and kissing her again and again, tasting a faint residue of his own offering on her lips.

"Now, come on, Superman," she said. "We've got to get you dressed properly because you are wanted downtown."

With a sigh, knowing he would probably catch hell for using Bubba, Harry slipped into a pair of briefs and socks and then slipped the robe on. Meg had a bag into which she placed the toothbrush she had cleaned and the toothpaste and razor and shaving cream.

"You can't just take that stuff, Meg," Harry said.

"Actually, I can," she replied. Todd said very few of the models here shave and the can would just go to waste, and the toothpaste - that funny stuff in the gel form - is a new product that won't be available for the market for another six months. Todd just did an ad shoot for it and says they sent him a case of it."

Harry shook his head in wonder and amazement. "This stuff sure beats all the discount soaps and shampoos we're used to Meg."

"It's funny you should mention that, hero husband of mine. Todd told me that while women's products are the largest percentage of what he shoots, he said it was nice having another man around to share some of the products with. And by the way, the girls and I now have enough feminine products to last us an entire year, including deodorants and other things you'd rather not know about."

Harry, wearing just briefs, socks, and the robe that Vanetta had provided, followed Meg down the hall to the in-studio wardrobe change room. He could hear his daughters singing as he looked at the suits that Vanetta and Meg had put out for him, but before he could try even one on, Sally had to check him over.

Feeling a bit embarrassed sitting in just briefs and socks, Sally checked out every scrape and scratch. The shower had cleaned off most of the blood and cleansed the wounds, and except for a few places where Sally rubbed some iodine, she pronounced him fit to return to duty as long as his tetanus shot was up to date. Harry assured her that he had had one the year before, so Sally gave him a quick peck on the cheek, congratulating him for his rescue of the toddler and left to sit with Lew.

Todd had not been fooling when he said he had Armani suits. There were other brand names as well, including Brooks Brothers and others whose names he couldn't even pronounce. Meg had picked the sizes but had left selection of what would look best on Harry to Todd and Vanetta. Todd had an eye for what made people look good judging from the portraits they had seen in the studio. Vanetta knew what was in style, and she and Meg had selected a few good suits and dress shirts and even some Gerry Garcia ties!

Harry walked out of the change room a changed man. His hair had a shine to it, and the suit fit him like a glove. Vanetta had insisted that he take the other suits home with him as well, assuring him that they still had plenty in their main warehouse and more coming every month. Harry had been shaking his head as he slipped on the Florsheim loafers. These suits represented a half year's salary for him, but he was quickly learning that you didn't turn down a gift from Todd and Kelly. Vanetta had made that very clear when she had dropped her proper English accent and lectured him in her native patois!

The singing stopped abruptly when he entered the studio, and he caught an envious, admiring glimpse from Lew. His daughters ran over to him carrying on about how handsome he looked. Harry simply held up his hands, palms up, telling them that that's why their mother had married him.

Todd smiled and said the outfit looked good on him and asked if the shoes were comfortable. Vanetta stood behind Todd nodding her approval.

"Hey, partner," said Lew. "We've got to roll. While you were getting all cleaned up, the captain called and we're to report to the station ASAP in plain clothes. That means I've got to get home and get changed."

Todd looked puzzled, but Vanetta was quick on the uptake.

"Don't be silly, Lew," she said. "Shower here and get some suits for yourself. God knows I could use the space. Todd never wears one, and Robert can only use so many. I'd personally appreciate it if you helped clear out some room for me."

Lew hemmed and hawed until Meg reached over and punched him in the shoulder. "Don't be stubborn and pigheaded, Lew," then she smiled at Vanetta. "Thank you dear. He's worse than an old woman like me."

Todd laughed and said that Meg was anything but an old woman. In fact she should qualify for mother of the year!

Meg blushed and Vanetta took Lew by the arm and led him to the shower. Before he was out of sight, Harry hollered, "Hey, Lew... Why've we got to go to the station in plain clothes?"

"I don't know why the plain clothes, Harry, but the captain said we had promised a press conference for Bubba, and since we brought him, we're now his official escorts."

"The snooze people actually think Bubba is going to give a press conference?" Harry asked. "Damn. Repeaters are dumber than the dog!"

"Don't be insulting Bubba now, Harry!" Lew said as he entered the shower room.

Once Lew was in the shower, Todd suggested that Vanetta and Meg help pick out some outfits for Sally.

Sally started to protest, but Vanetta cut in. "Ire, don' vex me now mother, me had two proud jeckels 'pon my face today. Me no wan' no more. Go!"

Reluctantly Sally let Meg and Vanetta lead her back to the store room.

The band started up again, picking out new songs and arranging them, letting Robert know the key. Todd sat beside Robert, sipping on a fresh beer. "You know Bobby, I hear these kids play and all I want to do is record them. Think you can find a decent studio locally where we can get a CD recorded?"

"I can find out," said Robert. "If not local, we can always take a trip for a good quality studio."

"Yeah," said Todd. "They're doing a lot of classics and those old songs have never sounded so good. We'll make it part of the project and sell copies of the band playing the best. I'll cover the recording and press run costs, and all the sales - 100% of the proceeds - will go to programs for abused and troubled kids."

Robert nodded somberly, then laughed and said, "I'll bet you already have a name for the album."

Todd smiled, he was really getting to like Robert. "Yep, I was thinking, 'Cover to Cover.'"

Rob laughed and said he liked the title. "Maybe in a month or so. Let's see if they're still getting along then."

"The way that Ted keeps looking at Kat, I think this band is going to do very well together," Todd said.

Lew and Harry were drinking mineral water. Lew was looking very dapper in his new suit, and Sally had a few bags for him as well as for herself that Todd and Vanetta insisted she take home. They were speculating about why the plain-clothes order when Laura bounded in the door with Bubba pulling her along. That put an effective end to the band practice as all the kids took turns petting and praising Bubba.

Bubba for his part seemed to look at Lew and Harry as if they were aliens, sniffing a few times just to make sure these were really his friends. Of course Laura carried on about how smashing both Lew and her dad looked, and then Lew reminded Harry that they had a 6 o'clock meeting at the police station.