At around midnight, Bruno drove his pickup truck downtown and left it in a quiet side street slightly north of the central square. Then he slunk through a maze of backstreets, being careful not to be seen. It wasn’t too difficult, as this part of town was usually deserted late in the evenings. He walked past Lori’s old shop. He wasn’t surprised she’d been shocked to see it. It was in a terrible state. It looked like the kind of place you could buy illegal firearms – another world from the tasteful, quirky boutique she’d described so affectionately. There was a heavy metal mesh over the window, and it was padlocked shut in the middle, and the stainless steel front door was also padlocked shut at five separate points. If those guys were trying to look suspicious, they couldn’t have done a better job. And it helped him out a lot – confirming what he already suspected: they weren’t home. The scent of werewolf was unmistakable, but it wasn’t strong, indicating that there wasn’t one of them within a half-mile. This should make things a lot easier.

He walked past the store, and took the next turning on the right. Another sharp right brought him to a narrow alleyway separating two rows of buildings. He counted five buildings, which brought him to the werewolves’ store. There, he undressed and laid his clothes on a trashcan, and shifted quickly. His bear was raring to go, almost bursting out of him. He relaxed into his animal form, taking a moment for the endorphins that always flooded his body at this moment to pass. Then he leapt over a low wall, clung onto a drainpipe, and scaled it easily, climbing up two stories. He jumped off it and onto a low roof. It looked fragile and in need of repair, so he was careful to walk along the supporting beams. He stepped lightly on the pads of his paws, on the off-chance that he’d been mistaken, and one of the biker crew was still on the premises.

There was a big steel plate near the apex of the roof. It looked like a skylight that had been nailed over. He hooked his powerful claws under it and applied pressure. With a lot of effort, it came away. He balanced it on a chimneystack and looked down through the gap. It was a full moon tonight – which explained why nobody was home. They were probably out trying to seduce as many innocent women as possible and drag them into their mating frenzy. He bared his teeth in disgust. He hated bikers, and werewolf bikers were the worst of all. They gave shifters a bad name. By the light of the moon he was able to see all the way inside the room he’d just uncovered. It looked like a chemistry lab. Everywhere there were gas canisters, buckets and tubes and big glass bowls clamped onto metal structures. And an acrid stench filled the room, obliterating any scent of werewolf. “A crystal meths lab,” he muttered. This was unthinkable in Hope Valley. He roared in fury. How dare that biker filth infiltrate this clean-living community with that evil drug? He considered his options. He knew plenty about starting a fire. He could slip down into the room, and create a small, isolated explosion, and leave it to be reported and investigated. But he didn’t like this idea. They were very dangerous criminals and he didn’t want to get local law enforcement involved. They’d have no idea how to deal with them, and some innocent people would inevitably get hurt. With all the chemicals in the room below, there was also a small chance that it would turn into a much bigger explosion than he’d anticipated. He’d seen the aftermath of a crystal meths lab explosion before, and it wasn’t pretty. No, with his professional contacts, he could be a little more subtle than that.

Bruno slipped through the hatch and dropped to the ground. It was a good distance – at least 13 feet – far enough for a man to sprain or even break something, but nothing at all to a bear. He landed almost noiselessly on his pads. Jesus! That stink was appalling! How have they not gassed themselves cooking that shit up? he thought to himself. He peered through the gloom. There was a door leading to the front of the property. It didn’t have any visible locks on it. It must be bolted on the other side. On the opposite side of the room was a door leading outside. It was heavily bolted and padlocked. He slid the five bolts open. Only the padlock remained. He looked around for a key, but couldn’t find one. Maybe it was in the front, which would make it almost impossible to get hold of from where he was. Instead, he looked for something he could use as a lever. There was a wrench leaning up against the other door. It was the kind used by mechanics to fix cars, and used by criminal gangs to intimidate their victims. He picked it up in his teeth and carried it over to the door, slipping it beneath the lock. He braced one end of the wrench against the steel door panel, took a deep breath, and summoned all of his strength, focusing it into his powerful front legs. At first, nothing happened, but then the padlock burst open. He dropped the wrench and pushed the door. It swung open easily. He picked up the padlock in his teeth and went out of the back door, leaving it swinging in the breeze. He picked his way through the filthy, littered backyard, leapt over the wall and shifted again beside his clothes. Then he sauntered back the way he’d come.

Bruno calculated that there was no real rush; the werewolves would likely be out all night. He waited until he was safely back home, and far from the scene of the incident before he called up the DEA and got put through to Richard Adams, an old associate that he’d met at a previous crystal meths fire, who didn’t sound overjoyed to be woken up in the early hours of the morning. He apologized and explained he’d been answering a complaint from local residents about foul-smelling smoke coming from the premises. He’d just checked it and discovered the back door had been left open, and a manufacturing plant was clearly visible inside. They were both well aware that an open door meant no warrant was necessary.

“On our way!” Richard said, the grumpiness in his voice quickly replaced with glee.

Bruno calculated it’d take them around an hour to get there. They’d go through the back door and lie in wait for the criminals to return. He left his radio turned up high and went to sleep.

He was woken at 7am by discussions between members of the Hope Valley Fire Service preparing to go to the scene. Then he called Kristin.

That afternoon, the story was splashed all over the Hope Valley Echo. Federal agents had completed the biggest ever bust of a manufacturing lab in the state. Four suspects had been apprehended and held for questioning. The DEA praised the work done by the Fire Service in securing the scene. Hope Valley residents expressed their delight that the dangerous criminals were being removed from the premises and the town, and hoped that the store could return to being the lovely place that it had been in the past. Bruno smiled in relief. After the pain he had caused Lori, he was very glad that he’d done something to make her life a little better for her.

But, less than 24 hours later, he’d realize that he’d made a terrible mistake.