Monsters in the Midwest (Book 2): Northwoods Wolfman Read Free

the
beer-soaked bedroom carpet. Unfazed by the squishing between his toes, he
wobbled upright, staggered toward the bathroom, and started another day.
    Mornings were usually
like this. In the month or so since he’d killed his best friend, Dallas had
done an excellent job of pickling his liver. It wasn’t like he’d planned to
party and drink all the time. He just didn’t want to think about that night. As
it turned out, sex and alcohol made that very reasonable goal much more
attainable. Shaking his head to clear away the memories, Dallas made his way
downstairs.
    Time
heals all wounds, he reminded himself. Although in his case, ‘time’ had been replaced with
whiskey and beer. Speaking of which, it was time for breakfast. A glance at the
clock reminded him he needed to be quick about it. Jerry’s furnace was on the
fritz, and Dallas had to save the day.
    When he finally
arrived at Jerry’s house, Dallas was feeling fine. Jerry seemed a little sick
though. He kept covering his nose and turning his head away.
    “Whassa problem,
Jimmy? Flu?” he asked.
    “Ah, it’s Jerry,
actually…”
    “Whatever. You said
the fan’s broke?”
    “No. I think it’s the
thermostat. Seems like it doesn’t kick on until the temp gets about eight or
ten degrees below what we set it at.”
    “Thermostat?
Bullshit. Blower fan. Guaran-frickin-tee.”
    “But the fan works
fine. It’s just that,”
    “Who’s the goddamn
furnace guy here?” Dallas snapped. His good mood was slowly giving way to a
grinding headache. When Jerry didn’t respond, he nodded. “Thought so. Now
where’s that furnace?”
    A few hours later,
Dallas had replaced the thermostat, blower fan, filter, electric pilot, and
vacuumed out the vent stack. At least, he thought so. While he’d been working,
he’d also emptied the flask he kept in his toolbox. Looking to Jerry for
confirmation, he shrugged. “Guess I got a little carried away, huh? So I guess,
I mean. Well, ya know. I’ll only charge you for the…”
    “Thermostat.”
    “Right. That, and
the…”
    “Thermostat,” Jerry
stated flatly. “I didn’t want the other stuff and told you repeatedly not to do
it, so I’m not paying. Pam would kill me.”
    Dallas’s blood
pressure pushed up a few points, causing a vein to pulse in his forehead. He
really needed a drink. “Shit. Well, you know.” Dallas shrugged in resignation.
“Tell your friends I did a damn good job, and we’ll call it even.”
    Jerry nodded and
turned to find his checkbook. After working his way through the office,
bedroom, and kitchen, he returned, looking perplexed.
    “Huh. I know it’s
around here somewhere.”
    Patting down the
pockets of a couple of coats hanging on the wall, Jerry noticed his briefcase
sitting innocently on the bench by the door. Leaning over, he flipped the
latches and popped it open. After pushing a few miscellaneous brochures out of
the way, his hand emerged victorious with a checkbook.
    As the two men
dickered again over the price of a thermostat with additional free services,
neither noticed the small tick climb out of the case, fall to the floor, and
wriggle toward its next unsuspecting meal.

Chapter 2

 
    Mandy
was gone by the time Dallas got back from Jerry’s. Unfortunately, so was his
buzz, and some right unpleasant thoughts were starting to creep in. Pulling
open the fridge, he popped the tab on his last Milwaukee’s Best and drained it
in one long pull, throat working industriously to move the beer from the can to
his stomach. With a loud sigh, he eyed the empty can with disappointment. He
didn’t have any other service calls for the day and figured a trip to
Steinknocker’s was in order for a real lunch.
    Pushing
his way inside the local bar, Dallas shouldered past the regulars, nodding in
response to the usual greetings but doing his best to get to the bar without
actually engaging anyone.
    “That’s
him!” he heard an unfamiliar voice say in a loud whisper. “Says he killed