The Marigold room was in full swing tonight. The entire house was full of glittering lights, beautiful gowns, well dressed tuxedoes, extravagant smells, dogs and cats alike, and a whole lot more. Jenni was in a luxurious black sparkly cocktail dress. She was standing next to Mordecai who was in a dark blue suit with a white shirt, in contrast to his usual colorless outfits.

"Trying out Rocky's color scheme I see." Jenni smirked.

"Marley gave it to me as a gift. Claimed it was an early wedding gift. It would've been rude to not except."

"Looks good on you. Marley knows her suits."

"The texture is actually exquisite. You know, for someone who talks as much as Rocky, Marley's one of few who is actually listening to."

Jenni checked her watch, 9:05. "He's late. That or he's blending in."

"You said he's a husky?"

"Yes. Whatever you do, don't make fun of his eyes. I already cleared that with everyone else."

"What do you mean? What's wrong with his eyes?"

"He's...you'll see."

"Jenni Graves!" cried a British accented male voice. The two cats turned around to see a tall red wolf approaching them. The wolf had red and white fur, blue eyes, and was wearing a red vest, white shirt, black jacket, and a tall top hat with a red ribbon around it. Jenni gasped, "Timberline Lupus. Well, well, well, it's been some time." Timberline took Jenni's hand and kissed, "My lady it has!" Tim's eyes darted to her partner, "Ah, you must be Mr. Heller." "You know me?" "Only by reputation, and what a reputation you have my good sir."

"One of your old employers?" Heller muttered. "Lucky for him, no." Jenni muttered back,

"Uh, Mordecai, this is Timberline Lupus. He's an associate of my brother. He's an environmental lawyer."

"I'm not an associate to your brother, I'm his friend."

"So, Tim, what are you doing here?"

"Your sister called me. She said it was an emergency."

"Oh Marley, there's no emergency Tim. Just having someone over."

"Must be important. May I ask who?"

"Promise not to freak out?"

"Promises, promises Ms. Graves."

"Ok...It's Howler."

Tim's ears perked up, "I beg your pardon, Myles Howler?"

"Yes."

"Oh god, why did you invite him?"

"I didn't. He invited himself."

"Hmm, no wonder Marley called me. You need all the help you can get if you're dealing with a Howler."

"He just wants to talk. Nothing else."

"With Myles Howler, it's always something else."

"Jen!" a female called out, causing Jen to jump. It was Marley. She was in a luxurious red and black dress with Rocky in his blue suit on her arm. "Hey Jen, Mordecai." "Marley. Rocky." the two said together. "Hey guys." Rocky said. "What a night. Huh?" Marley smiled at the scene. "It is." Jenni said. "Ah! Marley Dash! How have you been my darling?" Tim said, kissing Marley's hand. "Actually, I'm Marley Rickaby now. This is my husband, Rocky." "That's right!" Rocky said, pulling Marley into him and growling at Tim, "She's mine! So beat it!" The wolf just laughed, "Well I am happy that you have found someone to love you Marley, finally." Jenni and Mordecai glared at the wolf.

"Excuse me, Ms. Graves." a guard came over and whispered to Jenni, "Mr. Howler is here." "Thank you." Jenni nodded. Her ear twitched. Tim's face morphed into a startled expression. He quickly looked up and spotted Mr. Sable talking with Mitzi, "Oh Wick! Old friend! Sorry Jen, I must have a word with Mr. Sable about...something...take care now!" Tim hobbled quickly away. "That was peculiar." Jenni muttered, "Myles is an intimidating guy but I wouldn't think someone like Tim would be that scared of him." Mordecai pushed his glasses, "Maybe it was me." "Doubt it. You have more history than Myles does." Jenni stated. "As long as that rich pompous jerk stays away from my Marley." Rocky growled,

"No offense, Mordecai." "None taken. I wouldn't be as impertinent as that wolf." "What do you think he meant? When he said he's glad I've found someone to love me?" "Screw him, Mar." Jenni said, "Most rich folk are like that. They look down on others because they think they have more." "But you're rich." Rocky said. "That's why I said 'Most'. And I'm not rich. I come from a wealthy family. That's all." She looked around the ballroom vividly. She saw most of her friends chatting and talking with other patrons. After a few minutes, Mordecai put his hand on Jenni's shoulder. He looked in the direction of the door. Jenni looked that way and saw a tall, well-dressed husky standing in the doorway.

At his flanks were two tall, slim, identical Dobermans. "That's him." Jenni growled. Marley and Rocky stood stiff as they looked at the husky. Rocky noticed the husky was wearing spectacles. His left eye was blue and the other was brown, "Ah, now I know why you didn't want me to make fun of his eyes." "Yes, he has heterochromia. His eyesight is very poor as a result." Jenni explained. "Is that why everyone is so frightened of him?" Rocky asked. "No, it's not him everyone is frightened of. Myles Howler is the son of the famous casino thief, Billy Howler." Jenni explained.

"Billy Howler?" Rocky's ears perked up in fright, "Now, that's a name I've heard. The first person to rob 3 casinos with only 2 men in 1 night!" "Those 2 men, were himself and his son." Jenni said. "I've met Billy." Mordecai glanced at Jen, "He was rather pleasant to be around." "Normally, it's not the person that is frightening, it's the crimes they are capable of committing." Jenni replied. Myles directed his eyes at the black footed cat. Jenni's eyes locked with his. They stared at each other for a while before Marley chimed in, "Everything ok?" "I don't know." The Husky made his way over to the group of cats, "Jenni Graves. It's been a while." "Myles Howler. Pleasure to see you again."

Myles glanced at Jenni's friends, "Ah, Marley Dash. Pleasure to see you again." "Pleasure to see you too." Marley blushed. Rocky growled. "Mr. Howler, you remember Marley. And that's her husband, Rocky Rickaby." Jenni said, gently patting Rocky's arm. "Mr. Howler, it's an honor sir." Rocky bowed respectfully. "You are a very handsome man, Mr. Rickaby. Marley should count herself lucky to have someone as well-mannered as you." Rocky grinned at his wife. "And, I assume you've already met my fiancé, Mordecai Heller." "Fiancé? What happened to never having a love life?"

"Well, we just matched each other and...one thing led to another...it's a long story." "I see. Mordecai, haven't seen you in a while either." "Myles." Heller said, shortly. "So...You're working for Marigold now? What happened to Atlas?" "He was murdered." Jenni said. "Oh...haven't heard, I'm sorry. I'm surprised at you, Heller. You were so loyal to Atlas, and yet you decided to turn to his biggest adversary after he bit the dust. Disgraceful." Myles scowled at the tuxedo cat. "You know nothing of that." Heller growled.

"Myles please." Marley whispered, "I don't think that's an appropriate topic of discussion right now." "Seems suspicious to me." Myles growled, "How do we know you didn't kill him?" "Careful Howler." Heller snarled, "Or you'll be following in Atlas's footsteps in death." "Enough!" Jenni hissed, "Now, Myles. You said you wanted to talk to me about something?" "Yes." Myles growled, "But not here. Let's go to that corner over there. Please." "Of course." Jenni said. Myles walked away and Jenni started to follow but Mordecai grabbed her shoulder and pulled her towards him.

"If he does anything, let me know." he whispered in her ear. Jenni shivered a little at his voice and pulled away without responding. Jenni met Myles in a secluded corner,

"Sorry Myles."

"Is he always that uptight?"

"Basically."

"Remind me why you're marrying him."

"So people don't try to get at us."

"Oh, so you don't love each other?"

"We do. He's just not good at showing it."

"How did you two meet?"

"I first saw him staring at me out of his bedroom window when I first arrived here."

"Creepy."

"He was a bit of a stalker. It wasn't because he liked me, it was because he was suspicious of me."

"Well, I'm sorry you had to go through that. Did he give you that scar on your cheek?"

"No. That was from a mission. We were intercepting a transport of alcohol and things went awry."

"Where's Mr. Sweet? Did Mordecai kill him?"

"No. Remember Ms. Pumes?"

"Yes."

"She got a hold of some evidence that stated he was involved in my father's death...and Atlas's death."

"I wonder how she got that."

"Just a small taste of revenge. Atlas was also involved in my father's death but it seems the universe has placed Karma on him."

"Maybe Sweet killed Atlas because he killed your father."

"That's a good thought."

"So, he's in jail?"

"We broke him out. He's on the run now."

"Speaking of deaths of fathers..." Myles pinched the bridge of his nose and started to breathe heavily. "Myles?" Jenni said, concerned. She caressed his arm and back.

"I'm sorry hon, I just...I promised myself I wouldn't cry but...oh god."

"What happened?"

"My father was murdered two weeks ago."

"What? Oh my god."

"I appreciate you throwing a ball for my arrival. You're a good friend, Jen. That's why I came here. To ask your help."

"What do you need? Anything."

"I want you to help find my dad's killer."

"Myles, you're one of my best friends but I'm an assassin, not a detective. Les would be great for the job."

"I want you to kill the person who killed my father. Please, Jen. You're the person I can turn to."

"Myles I..."

"You saved my wife and daughters. I will forever be in your debt for that. I promise, find the bastard who killed my father and I will give you half of my business's profits for life."

Jenni glanced up and saw Marcus and Mordecai staring at her. Marcus had his hand on his belt that appeared to have a dark holster on the side. "I don't want your money Myles. It wouldn't be fair of me to accept profits from a son who just lost his father. Tell you what, if I help you, you have to promise to make peace with the Jags family and never form conflict with them again." "That's it? Yes...Yes, I accept those terms." Myles said quickly. Jenni glanced up again and shook her head. Marcus nodded and removed his hand from his belt.

"I appreciate you doing this Jen." Myles said.

"Any leads?"

"No, none yet. But my boys are working on it."

"I'll contact Ms. Pumes. She has more experience in this line of work than I do."

"I beg to differ."

"I beg your pardon."

"Never mind. Just a joke. You seemed cross when you were looking at your friends over there."

"I appreciate the attempt at humor. Things have changed since Asa left and Mordecai took over."

"I see you have less troubles here. I thought Lackadaisy and Marigold were at war or something."

"We've been sorting things out."

"If there's anything I can do to help, I'm more than happy to."

"Thanks, but let's focus on finding clues regarding your father's death."

"I have a lab in Oregon, you can come out there if you want. Bring your gang if you like."

"Oregon? That's a day in a train. Sierra will freak out...I guess she doesn't have to come."

"Let me know what you want to do my darling. And Jen...I'm counting on you."