Prologue

The dark can be very threatening to humans, and Tom was no exception. He hated having to wait around for these guys to show up, these strange and seedy men who never seemed to balk at the tasks he asked of them. Tom was the type of man that was used to people listening to him, doing what he said. When it came to working with these guys, he was at their beck and call.

But they did good work. He didn’t want to know how they did it; he was just happy they did it. If someone that was standing in Tom’s way happened to go missing, there was not a single thread of evidence to point in Tom’s direction. Except the word of these men, and Tom was pretty sure no one would believe them over him. They were wild-eyed and broke, the type of people who could only arrange meetings at night because even their innocuous everyday actions looked suspicious.

Of course they were being suspicious when they met with Tom. Tom was being suspicious himself. He was out at the very edge of his property, deep into the woods that ran towards the beach. They told him they’d meet him by the water, by a spot Tom couldn’t drive to and that no one would casually pass. When Tom got there, he was alone, and wondered if this was a ruse. His wife and daughter were back at the house without him, without protection. What if this had been their sneaky, shifty-eyed plan after all.

“Com’on Tom, don’t doubt us.”

Tom turned around, startled at the noise coming from beyond the trees. Two figures draped in shadow strolled out onto the cold glow of the moonlit beach. As the reflected light peeled back the dark, Tom thought he saw fur receding along their faces.

“I wasn’t doing anything like that,” Tom said as they approached. “But, let’s be real, this is an odd place to ask me to meet you.”

The one who Tom knew was in charge brought his eyes upward towards the top of a rock standing hip deep in the water. “This is where we’ll meet from now on,” he said, not looking at Tom. “Tell me something: are we on your property right now?”

“My property ends in the woods,” Tom told them though that was sort of a lie. His property ended where the beach started, and the beach was isolated so it was essentially private.

The man’s eyes dropped to Tom’s. “So you do pretty well for yourself?” He smiled; Tom was struck by its warmth. “Building quite the empire.”

“Well, if we keep working together, you guys will be well taken care of it.:

Tom extended his hand to the first man while the other one glared from under a heavy brow. His face had a cracked mask of anger across it that made him look less intelligent. The other one was sharp and dark and obviously making decisions for them both.

“I’m not shaking his hand till we get the money,” the angry one said.

“Daniel, please.” The sharp one lifted a hand. “We’ll get the money.”

“Troy-”

“We’re having a conversation. You should stop being so rude.”

The sharp one turned back to Tom. Tom didn’t want to be the first person to say anything but he dug into his pocket and yanked out the stacks of bills he had. They were warm from being next to his skin, the rubber band holding them together tacky from body heat.

“I’ve got the money right here for ya,” Tom told them. “I wasn’t going to rip you off.”

“Nobody thought you were, Tom,” Troy said, wrapping his long, bony fingers around the stack. “Don’t listen to Daniel. He’s an idiot.”

Daniel scowled and started to slink back into the woods. He disappeared into the darkness while Troy and Tom were still talking.

Everything between these two men was an uneasy arrangement. Tom saw it as a necessary evil, not exactly the way he wanted to do business but an efficient route that got things done and kept his hands clean. He sat between worlds when he began working with Troy and found himself peering into an underbelly he didn’t even know existed. He often thought, the way humans will to justify the actions they know are wrong, that Troy wasn’t even the sleaziest person he had to deal with. Plenty of the guys in boardrooms and corner offices were engaged in deals that were little more than scams. At least Troy was upfront about it. He was aware of the type of man he was; how people like Tom and his colleagues saw him.

Tom noticed that Troy was watching him too carefully. His eyes were focused like a predator’s but he was hardly moving at all. It reminded Tom of house cats when they were about to pounce. Their sights on targets and their lithe bodies held tight in position.

“You do good work, Troy,” Tom said after a silence that crested long and awkward and he was sure to let Troy know who was really in charge here.

“Thank you, boss.”

“I’ll let you guys know when I need you again.”

“Please do.”

Troy didn’t move, still smiling at Tom. His lupine mouth was full of teeth in an inhuman fashion. But then again, there was nothing fully human about Troy or Daniel or anyone else they were attached to. Tom knew that much, though he didn’t ask anything specific.

“You got a family, Tom?” Troy inquired. He said it as if they were making small talk, just killing time out on the beach and watching the waves. As if everything was calm and in perfect balance. “A wife? Kids?”

“I’m a widower, unfortunately. But I do have children. Well, one child. A daughter.”

“A daughter,” Troy repeated, his tone bright.

Tom cleared his throat. “And, uh, what about you, Troy? Wife? Kids?”

A long low chuckle drawled out of Troy’s body without his mouth even opening. Those lupine lips were pressed tightly shut and his eyes narrowed as he stepped backwards away from Tom.

Troy followed in Daniel’s steps, taking one last look at that rock jutting out of the water. “You’re a very lucky man to live so close to such a beautiful beach,” Troy said before he sank into the mottled moonlight that managed to wriggle between the leaves of the trees. “Most people would kill to live in a place like this.”

The sentence hung between them but before Tom could respond, Troy was gone. Tom started the trek back up to the house, hurrying along briskly when he thought he heard the sound of howling in the distance.