Shoving aside the memory, she looked at her group, pulled her pistol from the shoulder holster, and held it down to her right side. She noticed Kazz, who didn’t have a shotgun, do the same, and felt the woman’s light touch on her left, not dominant, shoulder. Lacey held up her left hand so everyone could see it, with three fingers up. One at a time, she lowered each finger, and when nothing but her fist was visible, she swung open the door and stepped into the opening in a single swift movement. The others fanned out behind her.
“Dallas police!” She bellowed.
Though the dogs continued to fight in the ring, the spectators and handlers turned toward her in surprise, and the shouting died down. A Hispanic man closest to her began to step in her direction, and she leveled the gun in her hand directly on his chest. He glanced down at the red dot of the laser sight, and obviously considered his options. Wisely, he put his hands in the air.
At that moment, Colton and his group burst through the back door, causing everyone gathered around the pit to look in that direction. Lacey waved her officers forward, gesturing to the last man, who carried a handful of long plastic zip tie handcuffs. These were useful in situations where there may be a lot of arrests, as they didn’t take up much storage space in a vehicle and were lightweight to carry. He began passing the flex-cuffs to the other officers nearest to him.
As if on purpose, Lacey and Colton both converged on the two handlers closest to the ring. Colton looked particularly fierce, holding his service pistol in his right hand and his little backup in the left. The sight of him, combined with the sounds of the dogfight behind her, almost made Lacey quiver. With her gun cradled in both hands and at the ready, she signaled to the handlers. “Get those dogs out. Now.”
For a moment, it looked like they were going to refuse, but one man turned to the pit and spoke loudly, “Aufenthalt,” the German word for stay. The other man did the same, and in less time than it took to breathe, both dogs went silent, each sitting on the bloody ground in different corners of the ring. Their tongues were hanging out and they were panting hard. Lacey took a glance at the animals, noticing for the first time that one was a brown and white mixed breed, the other a brindle, possibly a Mastiff. Colton had one of the trainers pinned up against the wood making up the ring, getting ready to put the flexi-cuffs on him.
“Wait a minute,” Lacey said, stopping him before he wrapped the cuffs around the man’s hands. “You get these dogs some water, and quick. Or you’ll be sorry.”
Tight-lipped, the man turned and pulled a gallon jug and a rubber bowl from the space beneath a folding chair. He filled the bowl with water and placed it inside the pit where the two dogs gratefully approached the bowl and began to lap noisily at the water. It amazed Lacey that, only moments ago, these two animals had been fighting to the death, and now, with a simple word from their trainer, were drinking out of the same bowl like they were the best of friends.
She turned and found Kazz in the group, who was turning over a handcuffed spectator to one of the patrol officers. Lacey jerked her head, and Kazz trotted over to her. “Call the SPCA, will you?” Lacey asked. She had noticed that one of the dogs was bleeding profusely from a torn ear, and both animals had numerous bites and cuts to their faces, necks, and chests.
“With pleasure, Lieutenant.” In disgust, Kazz turned her back on the ring and pulled her phone from a holster on her belt.
Suddenly, a loud, protesting voice could be heard over the general commotion, and Lacey glanced around, finally finding Colton and a patrol officer wrestling with a big, burly Hispanic man who was raving at anyone and everyone.
“What is the meaning of this?” The man roared, flailing his arms into the air.
Lacey stepped over to him and stuck her badge in the man’s face. “Dallas police, you asswipe. Is this your place?”
“Yes, I own this property. What right do you have to come in here without a warrant like this?”
“We don’t need a warrant,” Lacey replied sweetly. “We had a tip come in and when we arrived at the scene, there was the sound of a dog fight. In case you weren’t aware, dog fighting is a class A felony in the state of Texas. As the property owner, allowing this to occur, we can also throw in a charge for abetting. So, get used to being behind bars, you slime.” Anger raged inside her.
“So what? It’s my property, I can do what I want.” The man continued to argue. Lacey was about to step forward to help subdue the man when Kazz came out of nowhere, her face transformed into the head of a dog, but the rest of her body still human. If it startled Lacey to see her that way, it must have doubly scared the suspect. Kazz snarled viciously at the man, and all the fine hairs on Lacey’s neck stood up. While the man was still, Colton and the officer managed to get the cuffs onto him, using two sets because the man’s sheer bulk didn’t allow for his hands to stretch far enough behind him for a single pair to lock securely.
Once the man had been taken away, Lacey looked at Kazz, whose face was slowly morphing back to her human visage. Lacey had never known a Shifter to partially phase like that, but she never knew any on a personal basis and she now realized there was probably a lot to learn about them. But after watching her conduct on this take-down, Lacey had decided to ask the Commander to permanently assign Officer Kazz to the Undead Unit. She would make a great addition to the team and would be a good asset.
When all of the participants had been taken out of the barn, Lacey, Colton, and Kazz turned to the mess left behind. “You got an evidence kit in your truck?”
“No, I think I left the damn thing in Becca’s van yesterday.”
She tossed her keys to Colton. “Grab mine out of the trunk. We can start collecting evidence while we wait for SPCA to get here.”
“ETA is 15, Lieutenant,” Kazz interjected. “Or was, a few minutes ago, anyway.”
“Okay, great. Let me show you what kind of evidence we need to look for.”
The next ten minutes went by in a hurry. Kazz shadowed her, taking notes in her tablet. Lacey took pictures with her tablet while she waited for Colton to return with her kit. Both dogs seemed completely comfortable now, aside from their wounds; both were curled up in opposite corners of the pit, and though they were still panting, their breathing didn’t seem as labored to Lacey as it was before.
Peeking into a small room walled off from the main portion of the barn, Lacey called to Kazz. “Hey, come check this out.” What was likely a tack or feed room at one point in time was now converted to an office and veterinary station. A small refrigerator held an assortment of drugs in vials: vaccinations, antibiotics, tetanus, and rabies shots. A filing cabinet held files on various dogs; flipping through them, Lacey found a file marked ‘Morgan’ that had a picture closely resembling one of the dogs in the ring. She looked at Kazz. “All these files should be marked to go with SPCA.”
“You got it, boss.”
At a small desk, she found a business ledger open to the day’s date, with notations in the book pairing up dog Morgan with dog Jodie, and she assumed Jodie was the brown and white dog currently in the pit. “All this has to go,” she instructed her shadow. “All the drugs, syringes, dog tags, first aid equipment, and any documentation pertaining to the dogs fighting, training, or breeding. This appears to be a well-organized and large scale dog fighting ring we’ve put out of business today.”
Kazz murmured. “It’s too damn bad that tomorrow, another one will take its place.”
“Don’t tell me you want to work over at SPCA?” The animal welfare organization also had a team of certified police officers who handled the legal side of animal seizures, and over the years these officers had often been commended for the performance of their duties.
“No way!” The other woman protested. “It makes me so sick, I’d be afraid of what I might do to someone abusing animals. No, thank you, I’m perfectly fine in Major Crimes.”
“How would you feel about becoming a part of the Undead Unit?”
Kazz gasped. “You mean per
manently?”
Lacey nodded. “Sure. I’m impressed with your performance during this operation. I was going to ask the commander to assign you to the unit. But I wanted to know if it would even interest you.”
“Are you kidding? I would love it. And I know that I’m new and all, but I was one of the top students in my class. You can count on me.”
“All right, I’ll see what I can do when we get back to the station.” She sent Kazz to collect more evidence, and strolled casually up to Colton.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Colton watched with a touch of amusement as Lacey walked up to him. He, too, had been startled by Kazz’s sudden partial phase, but he’d known it was possible from talking with other Shifters. That look on Lacey’s face was priceless!
“What’s up?”
She shrugged and waved a hand in the direction of young Officer Moss. “She’s finishing up collecting some evidence. Any word on SPCA?”
“Yeah, a minute ago they called out that they were five minutes away. They should be here any time.”
“Good, I can’t wait to get out of here. This place gives me the creeps.”
He nodded his understanding, acknowledging her anger toward the men who had organized the dog fight, as well as the deep memories of her family being destroyed by a Wolf pack hundreds of years ago. His Wolf pack, or rather, the ancestors of his pack, were responsible, and that fact would cause him embarrassment for the rest of his life. “Geez, I know how you feel.” He glanced at his feet while he spoke.
“Oh, see Officer Moss there? I’m going to talk with the Commander, to ask if I can have her assigned to the unit.”
He raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Kazz? She’s just a rook, isn’t she? Fresh out, if I remember right.”
She nodded as she spoke, and her tone prompted him to think, shit, Little Sister, did you expect an argument from me? “Six months now. But she’s got a good head on her shoulders, said she graduated near the top of her class, and evidently has no problem whatsoever in going toe-to-toe with anyone, man or woman, even if they’re bigger than her. Especially if they’re bigger than her. She impressed me today.”
“Hell, Little Sister, everyone’s bigger than she is!”
One side of her mouth tipped upward ever so slightly. “Nonetheless, she certainly has the confidence to make a good officer. But you are the second in command of the unit. If you don’t agree, then I won’t ask the commander to transfer her to us.”
“Oh, I’ve got no problem letting her on board. This means someone else gets to do all the grunge work for a change.” He seemed gleeful.
Lacey smacked him on the shoulder in play. He made a half-hearted attempt to dodge, but still felt the sting when her hand connected. Wow, I’d hate to feel it if she really wanted to hurt me. But he gave her a crooked grin and said, “Hey, look, the cavalry is here.”
They both turned in the direction of the large open barn doors to see two officers from the SPCA approaching with their usual animal catch poles in hand. It was a humane yet safe way for the officers to secure dogs, as well as wild animals such as raccoons and opossums who were still common even within the city. Colton glanced into the pit and saw that the two dogs had laid down and their breathing seemed to be easier now. He had worried that they might suffer heat stroke before the humane society officers could get to them.
Colton recognized one as veteran officer Paul Kelso, who had been a regular fixture with the SPCA for as long as he could remember. Paul had a deep, spiritual connection with the Earth and all of her creatures, and had dedicated his life to bringing to justice those who were cruel and abusive to animals.
As he watched the pair cross the expansive area of the barn, he took a good long look at Paul Kelso. The man was tall and slim, with blond hair so light it was almost white, deep blue eyes, and perfect porcelain skin. The air around him seemed to shimmer like a mirage on hot desert sand. Paul was an Angel, so named not because they actually came from Heaven, but because the humans perceived them as beautiful enough to have done so. He once confided to Colton that they were more closely related to the Elves of Old World lore, and he was distinctly uncomfortable with the religious connotation that the term Angel gave to his species.
He strode confidently up to Colton and Lacey, and stuck out his hand. “Hey, Colt, how’s it hanging?”
With a grin, Colton shook the man’s hand. “Another day, another dollar,” he replied. “This is my partner, Lieutenant Anderson.”
“I think we’ve met.” He inclined his head in a show of respect. “Good to see you, Lieutenant. This is my partner, Salli. She’s kind of new.”
Colton glanced over toward the fighting ring, where the uniformed woman was leaning over the wooden barrier and cooing at the dogs, who both responded with goofy, tongue-hanging grins and furiously wagging tails. It never ceased to amaze him how friendly fighting dogs were to humans, when they seemed to be so fierce with one another.
“Don’t let them fool you,” Paul said to his kind-hearted partner. “They are still fighting dogs.”
“Oh, I know,” she said with a whine. “But they seem to be so sweet.”
“When we got here, they were in the process of tearing each other apart.” Lacey had joined them, and the brindle dog made his way to her side, actually sticking his nose under her hand in a not so subtle way of begging to be petted. Colton was surprised; it had been his own observation that dogs usually didn’t warm up to Vampires. But this one showed no fear of Lacey at all, and he allowed a small grin to cross his face when he saw her usually tense hand relax a bit as she stroked the dog.
“A lot of that is in their training, though,” Paul was saying. He leaned against the pit in a nonchalant way. “It used to be that the agency wouldn’t even adopt out dogs if they were seized during anything connected with dog fighting. It was thought to be too dangerous.”
“It used to be?” Lacey echoed his words.
“Nowadays, we’ve found that the behavior can usually be trained out of the dogs, or channeled into tasks that will give the dog an outlet for their aggressive behavior. We’ve also stepped up the education of potential adoptive homes, and we do a thorough screening on anyone who adopts one of these dogs. There have been a few over the years that were clearly unsuitable for re-homing, and those are always put to sleep. But, for the most part, we’re able to socialize the animals and get them out to permanent, loving homes.”
“Look, I think, according to the records I found in the office, that this one’s name is Morgan.” At hearing Lacey speak his name, the brindle dog looked up at her with adoration shining in his honey-colored eyes. Lacey had the dog with both hands behind his ears, roughing up the smooth fur along his neck, while the dog grinned with tongue hanging to one side. Colton was amazed. He’d never figured his partner to be an animal person, and he was acutely aware that most animals didn’t warm up to Vampires, or to Werewolves either, for that matter, as both were meant to be top predators. But there was something he couldn’t quite believe in Lacey’s eyes, something akin to budding love. “What’s going to happen to him?” She asked, standing to face the two humane officers.
“We’ll take them both back to the shelter, have them checked over by a vet. It seems like they’re both okay on first look, but there’s no way to tell if they have any internal injuries. They’ll both probably get X-rays, then we’ll get them bedded down. It may take a few days or a week before they can be evaluated behaviorally. Then we’ll have a better idea of where they could be adopted.”
Paul and Salli gently placed the loop on their catch poles around each dog’s neck, and tightened them down appropriately. The dogs followed along amiably, as if they were going out for a walk on a leash. Neither one voiced a single protest as they were loaded up into the back of the air-conditioned truck.
Colton noticed that Lacey watched them with a wistful look as they backed out of the long driveway and headed back to the shelter. “What’s up?” He asked his partner.
“I know. It’s been illegal for how long now, and people still think they can get away with it.”
“The punishments are too lax,” she replied as she turned toward Kazz. “And really, the only ones punished are the animals. See you back at the house.”
5
I hear and I forget, I see and I remember. I do and I understand. ~~Chinese proverb
The power deep inside him was ambrosial. Xiong basked in the warm glow radiating from all his body’s cells, feeling the power throb in tune with his heartbeat. His nerve endings sizzled. This soul was even more powerful than the last, and he rode on the high shooting through his system. He learned a long time ago about the potency of the human spirit, and once he experienced it first-hand, it was even stronger than he expected. The rush punched through him with the ferocity of an explosion, and he knew at that moment he was addicted.
With a smile, his thoughts turned to his mentor. The path of the Reaper was long and arduous, and he knew that she was more than ready to pass the torch to him, so she could move on to whatever awaited her next. It had been during his time with Ling that he discovered the wash of power as he harvested his first soul. Ling stood behind him, one small and gentle hand on his shoulder, easily guiding him through the capture and release of the spirit. The euphoria had so energized him that they spent the next ten hours in a frenzy of sexual pleasure.
Xiong grinned at the memory. Ling was now long gone, moved onward to whatever fate would meet all Immortals at their eventual end, but she left behind a legacy of sorts, in him. She could never have known that, from the first moment she had touched him, she would awaken his destiny.
Souls of the Reaper Page 5