Judy headed over to where she had buried her shirt and shorts. Hopefully they were now covered in enough mud that the deer wouldn't be able to pick up her scent. She figured that at this point they would be less of use as clothing, and more useful as a means of camouflage. Biting into the shirt, she carefully made various small rips and tears to use to stick in bits of nearby grass and twigs. It wasn't long before she had a disguise that looked pretty darn convincing in her eyes. Then again, she wasn't from around here; to the trained local eye it might seem entirely obvious. However, she didn't have a lot of time to worry about that.

There was more evidence to collect and she needed to figure out who this puma was. Noting that she wasn't going to be able to hear very much if she kept her oh so conspicuous ears folded down, she carefully arranged two bunches of sticks and lavender to help make her ears blend into the landscape. She finished everything off by securing the vegetation with zip-ties and a fresh layer of mud. Pulling the shirt over herself she realized that the very last thing that she was going to be today was comfortable. The zip-ties and plants poked at her from every direction, but there was nothing she could do about that.

With everything in place Judy laid on her stomach and started inching towards a ditch near the edge of the property. With a little luck, and an immense amount of patience, she would be able to get a clear look at the front of the cabin and see the goings on. Waiting for what felt like hours on end she would cautiously snap pictures of everyone as they took bags full of catnip into the little cabin, and then exit carrying duffle bags that Judy could only assume were filled to the brim with the little balls from earlier. She did her best to try and record the license plate numbers from the trucks and vans that came and went, but through all of it she never could spot that puma the doe had mentioned.

As the sky began to turn a shade of orange though it seemed that Judy's luck had changed. Up the gravel road Judy heard yet another vehicle, except this one sounded different. It didn't sound like an old truck or a rusty van. This car was electric; its arrival was actually a bit of a shock to Judy who hadn't realized just how close it really was. Everything about the car felt predatory, but at the same time reserved. It's light gray exterior gave the impression of a low hanging storm cloud, while it's electric motors made an almost imperceptible whine. The small grill seemed to give the car a modest look, but the massive rear tires gave it the impression that it was ready to pounce on any smaller cars foolish enough to stand in its way. Judy figured that whoever owned this car was different from the rest of the deer and occasional moose she saw working the field behind the cabin. She was positive that this was the car that the puma drove.

Upon seeing the car, the deer who seemed to be in charge called to the others, ordering them to line up for El Patrón. Judy got out her phone and trained the camera on the car and the others who were now lined up single file outside of the cabin. Pulling up to the edge of the line the car stopped, and out of the rear passenger side emerged a puma in a white suite. His stature was more than a little intimidating, a clearly athletic individual whose suit seemed like an attempt to hide his fitness rather than exaggerate. He reached out his massive paw to the foreman, who seemed to be shaking slightly. If he found this annoying he didn't let it show, addressing the workers with a bold but refined Spanish accent.

"Buenas tardes mis amigos! Tell me, how is my property?" The foreman looked up at the puma nervously, taking a noticeable gulp before replying to the overly friendly remark.

"It's all going well sir! We have more catn- " Judy took a sharp breath as she watched the paw of the puma shoot out towards his neck, clutching him and holding in the air while he addressed him.

"I'm sorry señor, I don't recall ever asking you about, what was it? Ah yes, catnip. No, I was asking you about the condition of my property. Tell me, how is my land por favor?" The deer was still being held in the air, his hooves searching around for the ground in vain. He struggled to choke out a response.

"Very… Good… Sir… Plenty of… Water… P-p-please let me… down sir…" The puma seemed to roll his eyes in aggravation.

"So sorry, I didn't catch that." The deer's eyes were bulging at this point, he looked like he was about to pass out.

"El… El P-P-Patrón… Put me down… Por… Favor…" The big puma dropped him to the ground. He fell to the ground clutching at his throat, gasping for air. Several of those around him moved to help him but they froze when the puma shouted at them.

"Don't! What you are seeing is the price of a poor choice of words. Do not make me demonstrate what the price of a poor choice of actions is." The rest of the deer fell back in line, a few of them visibly shaken by what they had just witnessed. Satisfied with his show of force the puma once again addressed the group.

"I believe that you owe me the rent now. Please, one of you go fetch it for me."

Two of the deer sprinted towards the cabin, coming back less than a minute later with a large duffle bag. A dingo emerged from the driver's side in an all-black driver's outfit and collected the bag, nodding curtly towards El Patrón before putting it in the trunk. He then moved back towards the driver's side of the car and stood at attention. The puma let the ensuing silence hang for a moment as he casually inspected his claws, pretending not to notice the nervous glances that the deer were casting towards each other. In a more conversational tone, he now addressed the rest of the group once again.

"Ah, one more thing. I heard that Buck was planning to, how do you say… Quit? Is that right?" The foreman, who was now standing back up cleared his throat. His voice cracked as he attempted to respond to El Patrón's question.

"Y-yes sir. He told me that he would talk to you about it before he took the other bucks to the bar for the night run." The puma seemed intrigued by this.

"Really? I must give him credit, I thought that he would simply run off into the night. But, it seems that he is better than that. Good to hear. Well, don't mind me. Please, get back to your work." With that the other deer all scattered and ran back to the field behind the cabin. Judy had seen them work with speed before, but now they worked as if their lives depended on it. In all honesty, they probably did.

Judy waited patiently as the sun continued to set, eventually turning the sky a dark shade of blue. Her phone had just a sliver of battery left, but she had to save that so that she could contact Nick when she got back to town. As she felt the cool touch of night the truck that she had hidden in the night before pulled up towards the cabin, buck in the driver's seat looking visibly shaken. By this point El Patrón was now sitting on the porch, his paws crossed neatly, looking down the drive. Buck stepped out of the truck, knees looking a little weak, and nodded towards the puma in the white suit. He unfolded his paws, gesturing for Buck to come over to him.

"Come, come amigo! I hear that we have much to discuss, no?" He motioned towards the dingo to give his next directive.

"Crowley, fetch us some wine and some glasses por favor." The dingo nodded sharply towards the puma and set about reaching into the large car to get the aforementioned items.

Buck tried his best to look tough, but even in the dying light Judy could tell that he was nervous. His knees buckled more than they should have and he kept looking at the ground instead of ahead. Every footfall sounded unsure, tentative, it seemed that of all the people Buck must have known, El Patrón scared him the most. He sat in a chair next to the puma who was now holding out his wine glass to be filled by his driver, suggesting that Buck should do the same. After taking a sip from the wine glass the puma opened the conversation.

"So I hear that you want to quit. Is this true Buck?" Buck took a large gulp from the wine glass, trying to avoid looking at the eye of the puma which were now boring into him.

"Yes El Patrón." The puma gave a small mirthless chuckle, apparently unimpressed with the deer's manners.

"Tell me Buck, did you have a job three years ago?"

"No."

"Did you have enough money to feed yourself?"

"No sir." The puma's voice now raised somewhat in intensity.

"Did you have ANYTHING of value before I gave you your job!?"

"No sir."

"And yet… You ask me if you can quit?"

"Yes El Patrón." The puma shifted slightly in his seat and sipped his wine. He sat there for a long moment letting Buck quietly simmer in the silence.

"How is your family Buck?" This seemed to catch Buck a little off guard.

"They're doing well enough." The puma nodded towards him.

"Glad to hear it. You have a daughter yes?"

"Yes." The puma nodded again towards Buck.

"That is good. Now, listen carefully Buck. I did you a favor giving you this job, and now that you have decided to repay that kindness by quitting, I want you to know that you now owe me another favor for letting you leave. If you decide to not return my kindness though, well. I will let you decide what the cost is. Comprende?" Buck swallowed hard.

"Yes El Patrón." The puma finished off his wine and looked back out towards the drive.

"Good. Now tell the others that they can go home early and never show your face around here again."

Buck stood up as if the chair had burned him. He went over to the field and told the others that they were free to go as soon as they finished packing the catnip. He then said that he was going to be picking up the other bucks and take them to the bar before he retrieved the product, as usual. With that the others went inside to finish the final preparations on the night's shipment and Buck got in his truck and left, El Patrón watching him the whole way. After watching him leave down the gravel road, the puma glanced over towards where Judy was. He seemed to be searching for something.

Could he have smelled me?

A second later his eyes passed over her, and then they met. The puma shook his head and gave a small laugh. Judy felt her heart beat quicken.

He couldn't have seen me. There's no way!

The puma motioned towards his driver who immediately opened the door to the car for him before getting in himself. Judy felt a wave of relief, he hadn't seen her. Then the car started to move down the fence, heading directly towards where she was. Judy felt her breath quicken, and her heart race. She tried to breath slowly, to force herself to calm down but it only made her feel more threatened, the urge to run rising with every inch the car came towards her. The car slowed down and then stopped, the back window directly above her. Judy heard the sound of that window rolling down and it took all of her willpower not to either turn around and look, or make a break for it. El Patrón's cool Spanish accent dripped down to her ears, flowing through them like warm tea.

"Your disguise is very good my dear. However, next time do something about those lovely amethyst eyes of yours."

She heard the car start to drive away, but not before a business card landed right in front of her nose. As the car drove away Judy let herself actually start to breathe again, gulping air as if it were water. Whoever this puma was, Judy did not feel like sticking around to learn more about him. Watching the grey car round the last corner she carefully collected the card, and started to crawl backwards into the woods. With a little luck, she ought to be able to get to town in a few hours by following the road. Whether or not she would be able to fall asleep within the next week though was another matter entirely.