Chapter 11

It was the final day of the final week-end of the summer season. This meant that this was the week when the park changed from a focus on tourists to a focus on school groups and when all of the summer help had to be worked through the end-of-employment process. So, the park staff meeting started early and was going to last a long time. And that was before Shaggy barged in. The people in the room were clearly annoyed by the interruption but quieted when Agent Harding followed him in dressed in a suit and tie.

Shaggy started off looking sheepish, "Hi guys. I'm afraid that I have some news."

Kyle stood, "Who do you have with you, Shaggy?"

Shaggy looked back at Harding, "He's with the County Sheriff's Office."

Kyle looked over at Harding, "I guess it's important, then."

Shaggy continued to show discomfiture, "Yeah, it is. It's important, all right." Every eye was locked on him. "Guys, the detective is here to arrest Ralph for the murder of Jerry Pollack."

"WHAT?!" Both Ralph and Billy reacted in unison and stood. Billy looked around and then sat back down, leaving Ralph on his feet. Ralph continued, "Why on earth would I want to kill Jerry?"

Shaggy stayed in his uncomfortable mode, "That's kind of the thing, Ralph. This is a little awkward. You know that I was assigned Jerry's bunk. I haven't exactly spent a lot of time there but I did have the opportunity to look through the place and found something stuck inside the mattress. Jerry kept a journal."

Shaggy watched Ralph's reaction. There was the briefest moment of concern that passed over the older man's face but it was covered quickly as Ralph came up with cover stories for all of the possible things that could be in such a journal. But he didn't know what was coming.

Shaggy drew it out, "That journal was pretty detailed. He wrote about something every day. There were days when he talked about nothing but listing all of the odd jobs he had around here. But then there were other days… There were days when he talked about the affair that you and he were having…"

"WHAT THE HELL?!" That was Ralph but Billy leapt back to his feet and this time didn't sit back down.

Shaggy pushed, "He talked about how he was confused about so many things and you showed him so many things and helped him to understand who he was. But then there were stains on some of the pages from tears where he realized that his upbringing and his early training were too much and he had to end it. It included a passage about how you told him that you loved him and when he turned eighteen that you would take him away and you two would make a life together. And he talked about how hard it was for him to say 'no'."

Ralph was quieter now, "This is all bullshit." But he wasn't looking at Shaggy. He was looking at Billy.

Shaggy nodded, "You'll get your chance to prove that but a grand jury has decided that given this motive along with everything else there is enough for them to issue a warrant for your arrest. And that kind of ends my part in this and the deputy will take over."

Everything hung in the balance.

Ralph continued to look at Billy as Harding grabbed his arm, "This is horseshit, Billy!"

And then Billy spoke, barely above a whisper, "You said it was because the kid found out about the tickets."

Ralph was panicking now, "Shut up, Billy!"

Billy's voice was rising, "You said that we had to do it to protect us! It was all about us and the future we could have if we just stuck together!"

Ralph was imploring, "Billy, please be quiet. You don't understand…"

"I DON'T UNDERSTAND?! I understand that we killed somebody. A kid. A nice kid with his whole life in front of him. And all because of a closet queen's jealous fit! You're pathetic."

Desperation was showing in Ralph's eyes, "Billy, I love you. You have to know that."

Harding stepped to the door and opened it. Two real deputies came in and took Ralph and escorted him from the room. There was no 'meddling kids' exit line. He just stared at Billy as tears rolled down his cheeks. The Sheriff himself stepped in next. He had been on the phone with Agent Harding through the night and then with Harding's superiors in Washington early this morning and he knew the part he had to play. He and Harding flanked Billy and each took an arm.

Harding spoke soothingly, "Billy, there's something that the Sheriff and I need to speak with you about before we take you down to the Courthouse." Billy's head was now hanging. He nodded weakly as they led him out.

The mood in the room was shell-shocked. Kyle's mind jumped to the worst-case scenario, "Shaggy, you don't think that Ralph was some kind of serial predator, do you?" The lawsuits and press from such a thing would be horrible… humiliating.

Shaggy shook his head, "No, he wasn't any kind of a predator. He was a member of a drug ring on the East Coast who used your park for money laundering."

"But the journal?"

"Was all bullshit. I made it up. As far as I know, Jerry Pollack was straight as an arrow and just a little shy around girls."

Kyle was now completely confused, "So, is Ralph gay? And Billy? Or not?"

"Yes, Ralph and Billy are gay. They met years ago before either started to work here and as far as I can guess have been together ever since."

"But wait… Ralph had the hots for Rachel. He even pushed me to hire Tommy to try and impress her."

"Ralph never had the hots for Rachel. He stayed in the closet because the syndicate circles in which he ran were about fifty years out of date in their social viewpoint. He sold pot in your park for years but probably decided that the chance of getting caught was too high for the return on investment and he needed some loser to come in and be the front man for him. So, he wasn't pretending to be interested in Tommy to get to Rachel. He was pretending to be interested in Rachel to cover his reasons for wanting to bring Tommy to the park."

Kyle was still worried about the impact on the park and on himself, "Drugs and money laundering? Honestly, I knew that the kids got together at night and smoked some pot. Hell, I did the same thing when I was their age. But I didn't know anything about any money laundering. You have to believe me. They can't charge me with anything, can they?"

Shaggy was tired and shook his head wearily, "Kyle, they are going to find you guilty of being a complete incompetent who let this happen under his nose for sixteen years and never had a clue. But there are no laws against being a dumbass."

Emma Jean looked back and forth between Kyle and Shaggy, trying to figure out which one was in charge now, "What happens now?"

Shaggy answered, "Right now, the Sheriff and a DEA agent are talking with Billy about becoming a witness for the prosecution. Witness Protection is being explained to him. He'll probably take the deal since Nevada is a death penalty state and this murder will qualify. When they give him the option between a new life or lethal injection, I suppose that's not a hard decision. They'll use his testimony to get search warrants for the front companies of the drug ring and then trace the money until they find and bring down the leadership. It will probably happen relatively quickly. Maybe a few weeks. You'll all be interviewed by the police and likely called on to testify. And when this is all over, Jerry Pollack will still be dead."

He stood and looked around the room. There were workers out on the site and the visitors to the park were already showing up. The people in this room had to find a way to get through this day before they had a chance to come to grips with the reality of what they had just witnessed. Heading for the door, he spoke over his shoulder, "I've got a plane to catch and a report to write. Thank you all for your assistance in this matter and I or the insurance company may be contacting you for follow-up or confirmation. Goodbye."

Shaggy was worried that he might fall asleep on the drive to the Las Vegas Airport but that was not a problem. He was wired. The trip went quickly since he wasn't hungry and never stopped. His plane amazingly took off on time and he settled in for the relatively short flight home. He was asleep before the wheels left the runway.

xXx

Velma woke up and dragged herself in to the kitchen to make coffee, "Scooby! You want some coffee?"

There was no answer.

"Scooby?" She walked down the hall to his room and noticed that the door was ajar. Looking in, she found that he wasn't there. She couldn't tell whether he had slept there the night before since Scooby wasn't much of a bedmaker. But there was no indication that he had. The most likely explanation was that he had slept at Amada's apartment. She returned to the kitchen and went ahead and made enough coffee for them both. The apartment was a bit of a mess and she wanted to get it straight before Shaggy got home later in the morning. That made her feel pretty domestic which struck her as funny. She would definitely get over that.

The electronic lock on the front door clicked and it opened to reveal Scooby, "Rood Rorning, Relma!" His spirits appeared to be improved.

Velma looked at him with a slight twinkle in her eye, "Walk of shame?"

Scooby didn't stand to shut the door with his paw and just shut it with his nose, "Harumph! Rye rould never."

"I know you would never, Scooby. It was just a joke."

Scooby cocked his head, "Rhat's odd."

"What's odd?"

"Roo told a joke and it ras almost funny. hehehehehehe"

"I've been working on my jokes. I am reading up on humor on the internet. Here's one… Why was the math teacher late to work?"

"Roo Rye have to say it?"

"Yes."

"Rhy ras the rath reacher rate to rork?"

"She took the rhombus."

Scooby stared at her.

"Wasn't that funny?"

He shook his head, "Ro. Rot at all."

"I'll keep working on it."

"Rye am sure rhat Raggy wants to hear them all."

"Do you think that Amanda might want to come over for breakfast? I can cook some normal food and you can make Shaggy/Scooby Chow."

"Ro, she is picking up Rettie."

While Velma got showered and dressed, Scooby cleaned up in the kitchen and put the clean dishes away. When he felt that the kitchen passed inspection, he left the rest of the place to Velma and headed toward the park. There were already some chilly breezes showing up and his trips to the park might be getting fewer and shorter as the colder, wetter weather descended on the area. But this was a beautiful Sunday morning and he wanted to make the most of it, even if Amanda and Bettie weren't involved.

He felt like he was celebrating a victory. It had been a hard few days and he had come face to face with bigotry and hatred. It had knocked him for a loop and the bigotry and the hatred were certainly still there. But he remained Scooby Doo. He treated others with love and forgiveness and was optimistic and upbeat. He was who he wanted to be. The haters had not robbed him of that. Although they had come closer than he liked to admit.

Running in the park was, as always, glorious but he skipped his cooldown time next to the playground since Amanda and Bettie weren't there and Shaggy was about to get home. He didn't have to rush and trotted home at a leisurely pace. Church bells were ringing which was a nice sound. As he passed an emptying church parking lot he heard someone whisper, "Hey! That's Scooby Doo." The experience in the restaurant was beginning to fade. That's not who people were. This is who they were. Pointing and laughing with each other. Haters were an aberration – just a tiny percentage of the whole. Not worth worrying about.

When he opened the door to the apartment, he had to do a double take. Velma was wearing make-up… on a Sunday morning. Scooby hoped the weather would hold because he might have to take another trip to the park this afternoon.

"Has Raggy checked in?"

She nodded, "He landed about thirty minutes ago and should be here anytime."

Scooby could sense that she was tense. Not tense… excited. The two emotions were very similar in how they made humans smell. A tiny sheen of perspiration which a human could not see or smell but was obvious to Scooby. While there was no visible show of emotion, this was the level at which Velma exhibited her excitement over Shaggy returning home. Maybe he would have an effect like this on Amanda someday. He remembered the sound of her running to the door when he knocked and the pummeled pillow.

The lock clicked and the door opened, revealing an exhausted Shaggy. Velma ran across the room, leaped up, threw her arms around his neck, and then wrapped her legs as far around his waist as they would reach. She then kissed him deeply and stuck her tongue into his mouth. The kiss lasted for several seconds before they both needed to breathe.

Shaggy rubbed his lips together, "That was new."

She continued to hold on, "It's something I've heard about my whole life and never really tried. It's incredibly unsanitary. Did it turn you on?"

"Compared against your legs wrapped around my waist, it's a distant second. This is quite a greeting."

"I'm trying to embarrass Scooby."

Scooby had padded up and was waiting patiently, "As Rye've said before. Roo reople are animals. Rye'm used to it."

Velma kissed Shaggy again this time sans tongue, "Well, then I'm also trying to compete with Lipsy McDancerlegs in Nevada."

This brought a full laugh, "That's not quite her name but close enough. You know that's not even a competition."

"I've read some articles that say I need to be jealous sometimes or you'll think I'm taking you for granted."

"You're not reading Scientific American anymore, are you?"

"Scooby." The voice which came from the open door was a choked whisper.

Scooby had to lean sideways to see around Shaggy, "Aranda?" Amanda was holding Bettie in her arms. The little girl had her arms wrapped around her mother's neck. Amanda's face was stony and a pale grey color. Velma recognized it immediately, Amanda was experiencing a rush of emotions beyond her ability to cope.

Amanda choked out two more words, "My door."

Velma jumped from Shaggy and gently took Bettie from Amanda's grasp. The tiny girl didn't want to let go and reached out for her mother as Velma pulled her away. Scooby broke and ran from the apartment. My door. That could only mean one thing. He hoped he was wrong. He had to be wrong. Shaggy followed behind, lagging as Scooby sprinted ahead.

Scooby mounted the breezeway stairs four at a time and arrived at Amanda's door. He stared at it. Wanting to not believe what his eyes were telling him. Shaggy caught up with him and stood by his side, also staring at the single large black spray-painted word that covered the door.

BITCH

Rage cascaded through Scooby starting in his non-dog mind as it interpreted the word sprawled before him and translated its meaning, its intent, and its effect on Amanda. It flowed down into his dog half, reaching into his most basic instincts and drawing them out. A deep, rumbling growl came from deep inside. His whole body shook with the rage, the desire to lash out, to attack.

Next to him, Shaggy was aghast, "Scooby, like, I'm so sorry. I can't believe…" As he spoke, he absently reached out to stroke and comfort his best friend but as soon as he made contact, Scooby erupted in motion. The growl turned into a ferocious roar as Scooby turned and attacked. The rage remained but something went off inside. This was Shaggy. This was Shaggy. This was Shaggy. He tasted the blood in his mouth. Shaggy's blood.

He immediately released his friend's hand and his tail went between his legs and he backed against the wall, whimpering.

Shaggy dropped on his knees and wrapped his arms around Scooby's neck, "It's okay, pal. It's okay." Blood dripped from his wounded hand and soaked into Scooby's fur.

Scooby shook his head violently, "Ro, its rot!" What was he becoming?