“Brilliant idea. This way, we can also run into the exact same problem.” I gave Roscoe a slap on the arm. “Do you even think before you speak? I can’t just add more people to the list of roommates. I got so nervous that I listed you as my fiancé, and I have to keep the whole kuu thing secret, remember?”
Roscoe grinned. “Fiancé, huh? Sweet! May as well make it legal. What do you say?”
“Are you really proposing to me right now?”
“Yeah, what the hell? Let’s do it.”
“How romantic. How about hell no,” I said sarcastically.
“It was worth a shot.”
“You’re going to die single. I just want you to know that.”
Adam snapped his fingers. “Hey. About to be institutionalized here, which I think trumps… whatever the hell this is.”
“Maybe Roscoe’s onto something,” I said.
Roscoe’s ears perked up and his tail wagged, which meant he was about to say something stupid. “Fuck! I’m gettin’ married! Too bad the folks are dead. Although, if they weren’t dead by now, this’d probably do ’em in.”
I said nothing for a moment, staring dead-eyed at Roscoe before continuing. “I have a feeling they audited you because they are trying to get werewolves and half-turns out of the city and into the surrounding counties. I wasn’t able to find a house anywhere around here, and there were plenty a few weeks ago. Maybe call up the department and see if it would be legal for you to move there.”
“I’d have to list Austin the same way you did for Roscoe, and I can’t do that or they’ll take him.” He turned to the huge werewolf sitting next to him. “Then that’s it for my future.”
“Yourfuture? Are you forgetting they’ll probably kill me?” Austin shouted. “You know, in case for a moment you thought about anyone else but yourself.”
“Oh, isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black? The only thing you see me as is a fleshlight.”
“What else are you good for?”
“All right, I’m getting pissed,” Darryl said, turning toward Roscoe. “I thought you didn’t have a social security number.”
“I don’t,” Roscoe replied.
“Last name?”
“You know I forgot that years ago.”
Darryl looked back at me. “How the hell did you put this guy on a state contract?”
“Well, I kind of made shit up.”
“And they didn’t say anything?”
“Not a thing.”
Darryl and I both smiled and looked over at Austin and Adam.
“You mean to tell me all this time I could have just invented an identity and those idiots wouldn’t have questioned it?” Austin asked, growing increasingly irritated.
“For housing? I guess so, but for anything else? Don’t push your luck,” I said. “They didn’t seem particularly interested in knowing more about Roscoe. They just wanted us both out of the county.”
“Well, a loophole’s a loophole,” Darryl said. “It’s still a little risky. Call the auditor, tell them you’re interested in moving to Norwich, list Austin under some bullshit name, and bam! Get a place to live.”
“I don’t know,” Austin said, his ears off to the side. “What if Cody’s was just a fluke, and they find out who I really am? They’ve got my picture in the system and everything.”
“They didn’t ask for a picture of Roscoe,” I said.
“Yer sure this was the government you were talking to?” Roscoe asked. “This is starting to sound kind of—” He picked up a grilled cod’s head and silently mouthed the word “fishy,” which made everyone groan.
