Hell Hath No Fury - Book One

Breach of Contract

Theo and Cooker were exhausted by the end of the aftermorning. After securing a job they went about the second half of their business in Niveal, checking up on the establishments under Theo's care. Xyra was the one that usually came but Cooker was known to tag along from time to time. They made quick work of most of the brothels and other places that employed a large number of women. Theo acted as their protector of sorts, ensuring that owners and employers were paying fair wages, ensuring good working conditions, and putting rules in place for the safety of the women. It was not always easy to get the owners to cooperate but somehow in Niveal they always had an easy time. Problem was, most of the establishments on Stumbler's Row fell under Theo's protection. While the check-ins were easy and friendly, the number of businesses made it tedious and strenuous work.

They had an easy time, no problems. They had visited every single business that was under their jurisdiction except for one. They were greeted with friendly conversation and gifts from both employers and employees. The only one they had left, Wolf's Corner, was left last for a reason. Wolf, the owner, was a scumbag of the highest degree. He was difficult, rude, insubordinate, and nasty. Theo had half a mind to throw him into the bay with ten bricks tied to his legs every time they finished interacting with him. She wasn't a tyrant though and for the most part, Wolf followed the rules. She could not kill someone solely because they annoyed her.

Upon walking in, Theo found the nearest employee and stopped them, "Good aftermorning, I am here to see Wolf. He's expecting me."

"Captain Theo?" the woman asked and Theo nodded. Her eyes a little wide, having never met the pirate legend before, "Aye, Master Wolf had to head out. He told me to let you know he will be back shortly."

Theo thanked the girl then turned back to Cooker and rolled her eyes, "Fucker is going to make us wait."

"Wouldn't be anything new," Cooker grumbled and led them to go find a seat.

Wolf tended to disappear anytime they would come around. Theo had been in Niveal for four suns and every owner under Theo knew she came around on the fourth sun to check-up on everything. Wolf would make them wait for hours. Theo couldn't explain why. Perhaps he wanted to make them wait just to inconvenience her. Maybe he thought if he made them wait long enough they would leave. It never worked, they always stayed but he just kept doing it. Wolf was amicable compared to some of the other nightmares she had to deal with.

Wolf always ended up screwing himself over by making them wait. Without his threatening presence in the room, it was a lot easier to get the girls to talk. When he was out and it was only his second hand that was around, it was easier to take the girls away for a talk. Like the employers, the employees at these establishments also knew on the fourth sun of The Captain's stay on Niveal was the time to air out their grievances. Theo, Cooker, and Xyra had been doing these check-ins for so long that they had a system of being able to distract whoever they needed and pull who they wanted to speak to. With Wolf gone and his secondhand always holed up in a room with women, they didn't even need to sneak anyone away.

"We'll be here a while," Theo said, "I'm going to grab a drink at the bar and talk to some people. Go do the same."

Cooker walked to the staircase, going to interview some of the women that lived upstairs. Theo ordered a mug of ale and then began to walk around the room. She said hi to various of the girls she recognized and spoke with them a little. What she was hearing was not promising and she called all the girls that weren't working to join her at a large seating area. She sat back and began to ask questions. Theo was growing increasingly more angry at hearing what Wolf had been doing.

Wolf had a fucked up power thing and when Theo first came to know this place he had the girls call him Master. That was the first thing Theo made him change, she made it clear that the women were not his property but Wolf was at it again. He was paying the women the agreed-upon nightly right but was not honoring the paid night off the women got. He also wasn't honoring the agreed-upon limit of clients a woman could see in a night. He was being verbally abusive and overall breaking every code they had put in place for the safety of the women. Wolf had broken one or two rules in the past and it was always annoying to try and get him to fix it but it was never so many at once. His escalation was worrying and Theo did not have a good feeling about it.