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Chapter 3: Lions, Tigers, and Bears... Oh My

When I started to regain consciousness, my face was sore and the top of my head was pounding. It was understandable why the side of my face hurt, it did get smashed by a pitcher earlier and was still tender. However this new ache was on the opposite side of my head and was giving me one hell of a migraine. I opened my eyes to find myself in an unfamiliar environment, gray concrete walls surrounded me on three sides with iron bars making up the fourth wall of the room I found myself in.

"What the fuck..." I muttered as I slowly sat up in the uncomfortable cot I was apparently dumped on. I touched the top of my head and not only did I feel how tender it was, but also found a sizable goose egg there.

"Well, it looks like our visitor finally woke up from his drunken stupor." A voice said from where the bars were. I looked up and found a coyote in a uniform looking back at me with a small grin on his muzzle.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, a combination of grogginess and irritation in my voice. Where the heck am I?"

"You're in the Delows County Jail." The coyote said with a hint of pride. "Though by the sounds of it, you won't be a guest for much time."

"The hell are you talking about?"

"Don't you remember what you did?" He laughed. "Man, you must have been blacked out drunk. Just what the heck were you drinking?"

"Dude... What in the world are you going on about?" I growled. "I was assaulted twice, once in the face with a pitcher of water then again in the home that I just literally inherited a few hours ago! If anyone should be here, it should be whoever broke into my house and Hit me with a god DAMN FRYING PAN!"

"Hey, calm down." The officer snapped. "You are the one who is in trouble and is facing charges. I mean, getting so waisted that you broke into a house and planned on sleeping it off there? You better just behave and do as you're told or else you might be our guest here for longer."

"But I didn't do anything wrong!" I huffed in frustration. "Weren't you listening to what I just said?"

"Yeah, yeah..." He said dismissively as he started to walk away. "Whatever. Like we haven't heard it all before."

"... I want my phone call."

"Are you kidding me?..." He balked as he turned to look at me. "It's 4 AM in the morning. You can wait until day-shift comes in."

I huffed as I watched the officer walk away, leaving me powerless in the cell. I grumbled to myself as I settled back onto the cot, trying to be mindful of my sore head and I ended up losing all track of time in the cell. With no type of clock to keep watch, it was easy to do. I think that I drifted off once or twice due to boredom, but there really wasn't much that I could do given my situation and I ended up staying in that cell for longer than I care to admit.

After a long while a commotion drew my attention to the corridor and soon another officer came to my cell. He then proceeded to open the cell and had me follow after him, leading me to what I'd presume was an interrogation room and two people waiting for me there. One of the people was another officer, a large bear with a more ornate uniform than I've seen so far and what looked to be a weasel in a three piece suit. I was instructed to sit in the chair next to the weasel, which I did but I wasn't liking the vibe I was getting from the people in the room. As soon as I was seated, the bear shoved several papers my way.

"Sign these." The bear stated, a bit impatiently.

"What are they?" I asked, grabbing the papers and began to look them over.

"They're release forms." Came the simple, yet informative reply. The officer then reached over and tapped the pen that was still on the table, apparently getting a little irritated that I wasn't blindly signing my life away. "Just sign them and you can be on your way."

I gave the officer a skeptical look as I kept flipping through the paperwork. The weasel next to me seemed uninterested and was more focused on what was on his smartphone. I just shook my head as I pursued the paperwork. Most of the jargon on the papers were actually over my head as far as I was concerned, talking about whatever legal bureaucracy that made little sense to me. Then I came across something towards the last few sheets, probably put there so I would just sign away and not catch it until it was too late if at all. What I found was a prewritten affidavit. I didn't read it all but it was saying that I had broken into a home drunk and was basically admitting guilt to a bunch of trump up charges. I had already known my answer before I started going over the papers, but now my response was solidified.

"Well... this is bullshit." I spoke as I dropped the papers back on the table. "I want my lawyer."

"Emile Long, Attorney at law." the weasel finally said as he put the phone down and turned to me with his hand out. I just looked at him, unamused as I crossed my arms. Hesitantly, he pulled his hand back before looking at the officer. "Heh... Well..." he turned back to look at me. "As your appointed lawyer, I have to advise you that you need to sign those documents."

"Why?" I bulked. "So I can be accused of crimes that I never committed in the first place? Hell NO!"

"Mr. Trevor..."

"ITS TAVOR!" I barked. "And I Will NOT sign anything without My lawyer present!"

"He IS your lawyer." The bear said a bit too smugly.

"This weasel is not my lawyer."

"I am NOT a weasel!" Long hissed at me. "I'm an Ermine!"

"Whatever." I deadpanned. "Point is, he is not my lawyer and I will Not be railroaded into signing a false confession!"

"Either cooperate and sign the papers or things are going to get real bad for you!"

'Oh joy...' I thought to myself. 'This guy just threatened me.' "I want my phone call." I said out loud.

"Not until you sign those papers!"

"I am not signing them as I did nothing wrong. I want my phone call."

"Mister, as your appointed representative, I am saying that you should sign these papers. It's not going to go well if you don't cooperate."

"You are not representing me."

Things kept up going around in circles for an unknown amount of time, I shortly had enough and clammed up. I didn't say a thing from that point as I simply leaned back in the chair I was in and kept my arm crossed. The two kept trying to pressure me into signing the confession, though by now it was dawning on them that I wasn't going to fall in line with what they wanted me to do. Much to their annoyance. Mr Long gave up on trying to get me to do anything long before the officer did. The bear continued to try and press me into signing the documents, from flimsy promises to thinly veiled threats. Either way, the guy was getting more irritated as things were prolonged. Finally, the officer got up and stormed out of the room in a fit of rage.

"Why are you refusing to sign the confession?" Mr. Long asked after the room was quiet from the bear storming off. "I mean it would be in your best interest to cooperate."

"Mister Long..." I finally spoke up after my bout of silence. "How would you like it if all you did was go home to put ice on a cheek that had a pitcher of water broken on it, only to have someone else hit you with a frying pan. Then when you wake up, you have people jumping down your throat trying to get you to confess to lies. Lies that are so far off the mark that it's utter BULLSHIT!"

"..."

"Exactly." I growled. "So I either want my lawyer here or I want my phone call so I can start getting this crap show straightened out."

"Wh-who's your lawyer?" Mr. Long asked meekly.

"Mr. Maddox."

"M-M-Mister M-Maddox!" The ermine stammered out. "How did you get someone like him to be on retainer?"

"Family." Was all that I said.

Mr. Long left shortly after that conversation and I was left alone in that interrogation room with nothing more than a ticking clock, which helped to drag the time along. I don't know if it was some kind of stall tactic or an attempt to wear my defenses down, but it was a little over two hours before Mr. Long and the officer came back in. The ermine gave me a sheepish look while the officer had another smug look on his face.

"So we called your "lawyer" and according to them, they have never heard of you."

"Really?" I deadpanned. "Did you really call the office or are you making it up like the rest of the bullshit you're trying to shove down my throat?"

"Are you calling my Daughter a LIAR, you little Punk!" The officer roared, slamming his fists on the table.

I turned to Mr. Long. "It seems like I had hit a nerve with this guy." I muttered before looking back at the officer again. "So tell me, did you use my actual name, or the fake one that everyone tries to use because they will add letters and syllables that don't actually exist in my name?"

"Shut Up!" The bear nearly roared. "Cooperate and sign the papers or else I will have you locked up until you do!"

"That seems highly illegal."

"M-Mister Barlow, that's..."

"Shut Up Long." The officer growled. "This is my jail and I make the rules! I am not letting this upstart punk kid come into my country and cause havoc as he likes! I WILL teach him his place if it's the last thing I Do!"

It was about that time that the doors flew open, making all three of us jump in our seats as a tall tigress in a business suit walked in through the door. Her aura radiated confidence as she strolled in with her long white hair flowing behind her, her emerald eyes were those of a predator ready to rip their prey apart. She was a woman on a mission and nothing was going to be standing in her way. She slapped her suitcase in front of Mr. Long, making the ermine swallow hard.

"Mister Long." She greeted with a gentle fierceness that one would only ignore at their own peril. "Thank you for standing in for my client. However, your services are no longer required." Mr. Long nodded but as soon as he started to get up, Officer Barlow was having none of it.

"Now hold on just a damn minute!" The Bear snapped as he stood up. "Just who the hell do you think you are barging in here!"

"You know damn well who I am, Bruin!" She said, shutting Officer Barlow down. "And I am here to represent our newest client Mr. Tavor." The ermine took the opportunity to make a hasty retreat out of the room as the tigress sat down in the now vacant chair next to me. "Layla Kumal. Mr. Maddox apologizes for not coming himself, but he does send his regards." She said as she extended a hand in greeting.

"Thank you for coming." I said as I took her hand. "Though I didn't think that I would need Mr. Maddox's services so soon."

"We didn't think so either." She shot a glare at Officer Barlow while still talking to me. "So Mr. Tavor, how was it that you came to these circumstances?" Before I could answer, Barlow spoke up.

"He broke into a house in a drunken stupor and tried to sexually assault the property's caretaker." He said in an attempt to regain his earlier momentum. "Thank god that the owners weren't there or else they might have been attacked too. His statement is in those papers there."

Miss Kunal picked up the papers on the table before giving me a sidelong glance to which I sheepishly looked away. Some of those documents had been folded and creased by me while I was in the room by myself in a vain attempt at origami. I do not idle well and I tend to fidget with what's available, though I was never diagnosed with anything. The tigress silently flatten the pages a little bit more before perusing through them herself. After a few minutes of silence she finally looked at me.

"Is this statement accurate?" She asked quietly. I didn't catch any accusation in her voice, but I couldn't help but snort.

"Hell no." I said flatly. "Hard to give a statement when you are knocked unconscious by a damn frying pan to the head."

"Really..." Miss Kunal shot a glare at the officer before taking the papers and ripping them to shreds.

"What are you DOING?!?" Officer Barlow shouted in shock. "Those are official documents! You can't just rip them apart!"

"Shut Up Bruin!" My lawyer snapped back. "It's obvious that what is written in that 'confession' and my client's account of what happened are two different things. I know election year is coming up and you have your eyes on becoming Sheriff. However, if this is just some ploy to gain brownie points in the eyes of the public, I WILL make sure that this will end your career!"

"Is that what all of this is about?" I found myself blurting out. "You think that I'm just some damn tally that you can bully into submission to do what you want? Screw YOU!"

"Mr. Tavor..." Miss Kunal said as she put a hand on my shoulder. I let out a growl of frustration as I leaned back in the chair. "Please tell me your version of events that have led you here."

I let out a long sigh as I began to explain my side of the story, starting with how I had arrived not even twenty-four hours ago in Hardale and met with Mr. Maddox in his office. I continued on with being delivered to my uncle's house, glossed over the video message that I watched and how I ended up at the General Markets to get some food. I will admit that I left out what transpired between the deputy and the local, but I didn't quite want to get him in trouble as he seemed like a decent person. Though I could be wrong and he was the one that hauled me here, starting this mess. I continued on with the events with the diner and how the waitress hit me with a pitcher, which I will admit some blame for as I did press the issue by following her. I then explained that I came home to put ice on my swollen cheek as well as to relax by putting a movie on when I heard something behind me and when I looked back I saw the bottom part of a frying pan coming towards me.

Officer Barlow did make several attempts to interrupt me, trying to poke holes in what I said or put words in my mouth. I was so thankful that Miss Kunal was there to shut down Barlow at every attempt. It was really getting on my nerves on how much he was trying to have me prosecuted.

"Then when I came to," I said, nearing the end of my explanation. "I was in a cell. An officer made his presence known to me, but he basically was useless. He refused to do anything for me or answer my questions. Afterwards I was brought here and was told to sign those papers or else they would make sure I was punished more severely."

"What a likely story." Barlow deadpanned. "I find that story rather coincidental and hardly believable. If you think that..."

"Enough Bruin." Miss Kunal snapped, shutting the bear up. "This is a clear case of bullying and harassment of an innocent person whose only crime is being a victim of home invasion and two accounts of assault and battery." She then huffed as a thought came across her mind. "Tell me Bruin, have you or any of your people even read Mr. Tavor his Miranda rights? I don't remember being told that anyone has properly arrested him."

"Uhm... Well..." The bear started to fidget in his seat. "I was... well... I assumed that since..." Miss Kunal let out a small groan as her eyes rolled.

"Don't tell me that Mr Tavor was never read his rights."

"Kind of hard to be read your rights when one's been knocked out." I quipped. My lawyer shot me a look that told me that I wasn't helping and to keep my mouth shut. She then turned to Officer Barlow.

"I want ALL video footage that involves my client immediately, this includes the arresting officer's body cam footage. If any of it is either tampered with or 'conveniently missing,' I Will come down on you so hard that you'd wish that you had chosen a different profession." She got up and slammed her hands onto the table as she leaned in close to the bear and looked him dead in the eye with a fiery glare. "And I WILL be talking to your brother-in-law about this whole situation. I'm certain he and his wife will have a few choice words the next time you see each other." She then stood up and looked at me as she grabbed her briefcase. "Ready to leave, Mr. Tavor?"

"Gladly." I said as I stood up and started to follow the tigress out the door.

"Hey..." Officer Barlow finally protested once realization hit that I was making my exit. "He can't just leave." He nearly yelled as he stood up. "There are still..." He was cut off as the door opened in front of us and an older Lion came in.

"Officer Barlow, Enough!" He growled, forcing the bear to cower a bit. He turned to me and Miss Kunal and his expression softened a little bit. "Miss Kunal, Mr. Trevor, I am personally sorry about what has happened and I hope that you can one day forgive the force for what must have been a rather troublesome experience."

"Yeah..." I sighed and rolled my eyes at the mispronunciation of my surname. "I just hope that I never see the insides of these walls ever again and the proper people are punished for this farce of a fiasco."

"Don't worry." The lion said. "It will be taken care of in short order. BARLOW, MY OFFICE. NOW!"

Miss Kunal escorted me out of the labyrinth of a prison and helped me recover what possessions that were taken from me when they dragged me here, namely my wallet and keys. I was so glad to leave the confines of the Delows County Jail and into the open air, at least until I was hit by the cold temperatures without a jacket. It took Miss Kunal a minute to realize my predicament before she quickened her pace and I briskly followed the lawyer to her vehicle, which she promptly unlocked the car and started the engine to start warming the interior up. It took a while like most cars do to warm up, but thankfully her car did have heated seats that I was taking advantage of and had on the highest setting.

We were quiet as Miss Kunal drove. I assume that the tigress was taking me back to my uncle's home, which at first I didn't mind. It wasn't until ten minutes later that I realized something.

"Miss Kunal," I spoke up, breaking the silence in the car. "You're taking me to my uncle's place right?"

"Yes. Unless you have some other place that you can be dropped off at."

"I figured." I said as I nodded in understanding. "But... There is a dilemma that I think we need to address."

"And that would be?"

"That stranger that assaulted me was able to come in the house undetected until the last moment and used a weapon of opportunity." I looked over at the tigress. "As far as I know most home invaders use knives or guns, they don't typically use pots or pans."

I saw a bit of realization flash across her face as my words sunk in, grimacing at the thought that crossed through her mind. She pulled off the side of the road before digging through her pockets and pulled out her phone. One five minute call later we were on our way again. She drove until we got back into Delows Valley and pulled into the parking lot of the Rt. 216 General Markets. It was another fifteen minutes that we sat there and waited.

"I'm sorry about all of... This." I sighed in apology and waved my hands in the air. "I'm certain that you had other plans for the day besides to come to my rescue and babysit me."

"Mr. Tavor, let me just say that the unexpected sometimes comes with the territory." She said with a wave. "There's nothing that you need to apologize for. Unfortunately, things happen that people can't foresee and must deal with the actions of others."

I nod and before anything more could be said, a sheriff car pulls in and parks next to us. A familiar officer gets out and comes over to where Miss Kunal was sitting. She rolled the window down and the German Shepherd leaned down to peer inside.

"Miss Kunal, it's always a pleasure to see you." He said before noticing me in the passenger seat. "Oh, hey. I didn't expect to see you so soon, Mister..."

"Tavor." I said with a nod. "Nor did I expect to see you so soon Deputy." The tigress turned to give me a questionable glare. "We met last night when I came here for some food." I responded. She quirked an eyebrow, realizing that there were things not being said but she didn't pry further into it.

"Indeed." Deputy Ryan agreed. "Now Miss Kunal, to what do I owe the pleasure? I doubt it's to ask me out to lunch."

"I'm afraid not." Miss Kunal chuckled. "Unfortunately, its something a bit more serious. Mr. Tavor here was a victim of a home invasion and was subsequently illegally incarcerated."

"Wait, What? Really??" He asked as he looked between Miss Kunal and I bewildered. I nodded as my answer while Miss Kunal continued.

"I can't disclose any more details and really, I had already said enough. Though I believe it was required to fill you in on the situation."

"I see..." The shepherd said in thought. "So, how do you want this to play out?"

"Well, originally I had planned to return my client to his home. However Mr. Tavor had brought up a concerning issue and I do not want last night's or this morning's events to happen again."

"Alright." The Deputy said as he stood upright. "Are you going to be tagging along with us, Miss Kunal?"

The tigress shook her head with a frown. "Afraid that I have other engagements that I'll have to take my leave now."

"I understand Miss Kunal." Deputy Ryan said before looking at me. "Shall we?" I took that as my cue to exit the tigress's vehicle and make my way to the sheriff cruiser. I over heard the deputy wish her a good rest of her day before coming over to his cruiser and getting in himself. Admittedly, it was more cramped than the smaller car, but that was because of all the electrical equipment and their mountings creating a smaller than normal space in the cab.

"So, where are we headed?" Ryan asked to which I hesitated slightly.

"Uhm... I'm afraid that I haven't fully learned the address yet, just that it was my uncle's place before his passing."

"I see." He said in thought. "What was your uncle's name? The address might still be in the system under his name then."

"Ashton Tavor." he stopped for a moment before looking at me.

"Your Ashton Tavor's nephew?" He asked, which I nodded. "And you're inheriting his estate?"

"Yeah..." I said as I slumped into the seat. "Or at least what he has left me. The house, the business, and some money, but I have no idea what he really had before he died."

The deputy nodded as he put in the information and we headed off once he got the address. It was quite as he drove the ten to fifteen minutes to where my uncle's house was, occasionally I would catch him stealing glances at me. He was acting like he wanted to ask me something, but would instead keep quiet and nothing would be said. Eventually, he worked up the courage to speak up.

"Mind if I ask you a bit of a personal question? You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"Eh, I guess that I don't mind." I said casually. "What's the question?"

"How well did you know your uncle?"

I had to think for a moment before I answered. "Not... Very." I said. "I've met him when I was growing up at a few family functions, but I myself never really got that close. I think anyway. My parents got along well with him as far as I know, at least till a few years ago."

"What happened, if I may ask."

"Nothing that directly involved my uncle." I shrugged. "My father decided that he didn't want to be with my mother, fooled around one too many times and got caught. My father's side of the family was already splintered, but had basically sided against my mother and tried everything that they could to muck up the divorce while my uncle did what he could to support my mother. My uncle was already estranged from the family and when they conspired to leave my mother with nothing, that was the final nail in the coffin so to speak and cut ties with that side of the family. I do know that my mother kept in contact with him with the occasional phone calls, but I've personally haven't seen him in years."

Thankfully, we were almost to the house and while I was glad that the morning ordeal was over with, I couldn't help but feel a bit of impending trouble was on its way as we approached the driveway. Since the thought first came into my mind earlier when I was with the lawyer, my overactive imagination has been running a bit wild with worry about what we might find. It's admittedly not a good thing to have, but it's something that I can't help doing. Once we were pulling into the driveway, I was glad to see that the exterior was still in the same condition as it was yesterday. While I wasn't that worried about the place being ransacked, I was more worried about a potential squatter in the house. Which depending on the local laws, would be a royal pain to deal with.

Once the deputy parked the car, I quickly got out of the passenger seat and I hurriedly made my way to the front door to open it, hoping that the locks hadn't been changed. Deputy Ryan took his time and got out of the sheriff car with a whistle. "Nice place." He said as he looked at the house.

"I haven't fully explored the place myself." I said as I steadied my hand from shivering from a lack of a coat. I was finally able to insert the key after the eighth attempt and pushed the door in. "Finally." I chattered to myself as I opened the door and quickly made my way into the warmth. Deputy Ryan followed me casually as I went to the master bedroom. While I was worried that there was someone here, I still needed to warm myself up and that at least means grabbing my hoodie that was in my stuff. "If you want to start looking for anyone who doesn't belong," I said as I went to where I hoped my luggage was in the master bedroom. "I'll join you as soon as I get another layer on." The deputy nodded and began his visual inspection of the place to see if anything was amiss.

Going into the bedroom, I was relieved to find that my luggage was still where I left it yesterday and was undisturbed. After some quick rummaging through the clothes, I found the hoodie I had packed and put it on. As I was about to leave the room, I heard voices talking. The one was obviously the deputy, while the other was a familiar female voice that sounded familiar but I couldn't quite remember where I'd heard it before. I hesitated a moment before I steadied my resolve to find out exactly what was going on and exited the bedroom. It took me a second to find Deputy Ryan standing in the living room, looking towards the dining room/kitchen area with a relaxed posture.

"Is everything alright deputy?" I asked as I came around to where he was standing.

When I came around the corner, I finally noticed that we were not alone. Standing in a hallway off the living room and dining room was a familiar shape of a female wolf with white fur and auburn hair. The room fell silent as both of us looked at each other, both of us recognizing the other but was also trying to place exactly where that place was. After a moment it hit me as the memory last night flashed through my mind. I could see the same flash of insight in her golden eyes as we both remembered exactly where we saw each other. I partly felt bad for the deputy as he had to endure our next statement in stereo as both of us said the same thing at the same time.

"YOU! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!?!"