by Martha Carr
The Logree emitted a huge cloud of purple mist and splashed and rumbled as her child darted toward her through the water. In the next moment, the baby Oriceran was completely hidden by her mother’s thick knot of coiling tentacles.
“Thank you.”
“Uh-huh.” The dwarf folded his arms and nodded.
“Are you going back to Oriceran?” Lisa asked.
“We will find our way together and we will not return.”
He snorted. “Yeah, I don’t blame ya. Good luck.”
Una dipped below the surface and dragged her offspring lovingly with her. As they headed out into the gulf, one of the Logree’s giant tentacles emerged and unleashed another spray of thick purple goo at the speedboat. The slime sprayed over Terrance’s clothes and the speedboat’s seat.
The agent chuckled. “Hell of a way to say goodbye.”
“Look at that.” Johnny nodded at the retreating creature. “Look like she’s wavin’ to you?”
The chairman swiped the purple goo off his jacket and flung chunks of it into the marsh. “Disgusting.”
“Yeah, and you know exactly what that shit’s for, don’tcha? You’d best stay away from lighters until after you wash that stink off ya. I’d say that’s the smell of failure, by the way.” The bounty hunter stepped off the boat and offered Lisa a hand onto the dock. She holstered her weapon and they both stared at the disgruntled board chairman who sneered at them.
“You think you’re so smart.”
“Well, yeah. Your big resort and rental-property takeover plan was as dumb as shit.” Johnny hefted one of the rifles strapped across his chest and aimed it at the water—for now. “And you’re a pain in my ass. Make any other moves like this, and you know who I’m comin’ for first.”
Lisa leaned toward him and muttered, “We need to take him in for—”
He drew his knife, whipped the blade out, and sliced through the rope he’d tied to the dock. The speedboat bobbed away on the low tide that had begun to rise slowly again through the swamps.
“What are you doing?” she hissed.
The bounty hunter sniffed and jerked his chin at the man. “Hope that boat has GPS.”
Terrance glared at them and grasped the controls of the speedboat before he turned it again to make the long solo trip to Miami in the middle of the night.
“Honestly, I expected you to shoot him or at least throw him overboard or something.”
Johnny looked at Lisa and raised an eyebrow. “That’s addin’ insult to injury, darlin’.”
She stared at the rapidly receding outline of the speedboat and shook her head. “I know that’s generally your style, but what we should have added is a sest of cuffs and an indictment for kidnapping, arson, blackmail, and illegal racketeering. At the very least.”
“I already slapped him enough times for one night. He’ll remember that. And knowin’ I have his son’s face locked away up here is all the hurt I need to bring him to make a point.” He tapped his temple. “That asshole ain’t gonna push the line when his kid’s on it.”
“Johnny, it’s our job to push the line.”
“Then push it.” He headed down the road for the mile-long walk to Sheila. “You already know where he’s operatin’.”
Lisa cocked her head, then turned to follow the bounty hunter across the dock. “If he’s dumb enough to stay there.”
She followed with a mixed feelings of frustration and amusement and when they reached the Jeep and slid in, he started the engine in silence. As they drove quickly down the empty road toward the cabin, the dwarf tugged on his beard and grunted. “Feel like grabbin’ a drink?”
“At almost three in the morning?”
“Trust me, many places are still servin’ booze right now. You simply gotta know where to look.”
“It’s tempting.” Lisa stuck her hand out the window and trailed her fingers through the warm, muggy breeze. “We should go back to your place and check on Amanda.”
“Yeah…if she’s up. I don’t know if I can handle all that.” He pulled his phone out and found a text from Arthur.
Kid wanted to stay here for the night. Hope you’re okay with it. Still safe. Hounds too.
“Huh.” Johnny dropped his phone into the cup holder. “Never mind. She’s crashin’ at Arthur’s.”
“Oh. She’ll come around, Johnny.”
“I know.”
“It takes patience and understanding—”
“You can stop now.” He rolled his eyes. “I didn’t ask for a pep talk.”
“Sure.” Lisa dropped her head back against the headrest and turned to look at him. “How about that drink, then?”
“Kid’s not at the house…”
She laughed. “I mean only for a drink, Johnny.”
He cleared his throat. “I wasn’t thinkin’ anythin’ else, darlin’.”
“And then I’ll probably ask for a pillow and a blanket and sleep on the couch.”
“Fine plan.”
“Okay.”
“Uh-huh.” He sniffed and stretched his fingers over the steering wheel. “Feel free to let me know if you change your mind.”
With a grin, she swept her hair out of her face. “About what exactly?”
“The drink.”
“Yeah, okay. I’ll let you know.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The next morning, Johnny woke in his bed—alone—and scowled at the sunlight streaming through his bedroom window. He went to the bathroom first, then stepped into the hallway and stared at the fluffed pillow and neatly folded blanket on the couch.
Huh. Don’t usually see a sneak-off in the mornin’ when the friendliest a woman gets the night before is a toast and a glass of whiskey.
With a shrug, he scratched under his armpit and moved to the front window beside the door to check out front. Lisa’s rental car was gone too. Naw, she has her own life, Johnny. Like most folks, it’s better for her if she don’t have you twisted all up in it.
He went into the kitchen to fill a glass of water from the sink and his phone buzzed in the back pocket of yesterday’s Levi’s. It was Arthur and with a smirk, he answered the call. “Kid drivin’ you out the door yet?”
“Yeah, Johnny… Any other time and that would’ve been funny.”
The dwarf’s smile faded instantly. “What happened?”
“Amanda’s gone, man.”
“What do you mean gone?
“I mean gone gone, Johnny. The hounds with her.” He sighed heavily, accompanied by the banging of either kitchen cabinets or a lot of doors. “Look, she was here all night. I made sure of it. I stepped out to go grab some breakfast biscuits at the station down the road. Came back, and all three of ʼem were gone. I didn’t wanna bother you with it first thing, man, but it’s been ʼbout half an hour. Took me at least that long to get breakfast and drive back.”
“Shit.” The dwarf rubbed his mouth. “Thanks for the call.”
“Yeah.”
“If you see her or hear even a whisper about a girl—”
“And Johnny Walker’s coonhounds? Yeah, you’ll be the first fella I call.”
“All right.” He ended the call and grimaced at the kitchen counter. What’s that fool girl doin’ runnin’ off like that without a word? She could’ve given the old man a damn heart attack.
He pressed his hands onto the counter as his phone rang again. This time, it was an unknown number.
Johnny hated unknown numbers. “Fuck it.”
He accepted the call anyway. “Who are you?”
“Johnny?” Amanda said with a fearful yet relieved sob. “Johnny, I…I’m so sorry. I didn’t have a choice.”
“All right, kid. Calm down.” He ran a hand through his hair and paced across the kitchen. “Are you all right?”
“I…don’t know. I don’t think I’m hurt but I don’t think I’m okay, either. I need your help.”
“What happened?”
“I was in a fight. With…it seemed like there wer
e so many of them, but now I only…they’re all over—” The girl swallowed thickly and choked back another sob.
“Amanda, you listen to me, understand? Take a breath. Slow down. First thing. Did anyone hurt you?”
“I don’t think so. I—maybe I’m in shock or something?”
“Where are you?”
“I have no idea. Everything looks the same around here.”
The bang of a door opening and closing came over the line, followed by Rex’s voice. “Shit, pup. You came all the way inside for a phone?”
“Who you talkin’ to, huh?”
“It’s Johnny,” she whispered.
“Johnny!” Rex barked.
“Johnny! Hey! Can you hear us?”
I can fucking hear the hounds over the phone. The bounty hunter shook his surprise away and cleared his throat. “Do the hounds know where y’all are?”
“Guys, where are we?”
“Down by Odie’s, Johnny!” Luther barked twice. “Three houses down from his old pig barn. You know, the one with all the treats.”
“I’ve been trying to keep him away from those mushrooms, Johnny. Haven’t had a lotta luck so far—”
“Girl, you wait right where you are, ya hear me?”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t leave the property but get outta the goddamn house. I’m comin’.”
“Okay—wait. Johnny.”
The dwarf paused, gritted his teeth, and squinted at the countertop when her voice broke.
“Are you mad?”
The dwarf cleared his throat. “If anything happens to you before I get there, kid, I will be.”
He ended the call and wiped his mouth and beard. Some dumb motherfuckers picked a fight with the wrong kid. My kid.
With a low growl, he stalked toward his bedroom, shoved his socked feet into his boots, and marched out of the house toward Sheila.
Furious, he raced toward the property beyond Odie Madison’s pig barn in a haze. Fortunately, the road was mostly straight, but he wouldn’t have slowed even if he had to drive through rush-hour traffic across the Jersey Turnpike. And I’ve already done that a time or two.
Sheila’s tires skidded across the dirt drive of the empty property from which Amanda had called him. The front door of the sky-blue-painted ranch house on stilts hung wide open, and no one came out to greet him or threaten him with the usual around these parts—shotgun, crossbow, guard dogs, or electric fence.
Johnny slid out of the Jeep and paused.
Six bodies lay in the dirt drive between the house and the adjacent wood-and-tool shed. The whole strip of dirt was drenched with blood, most of it already having been sucked up by the dry earth and lightened as it baked under the sun. It seemed every one of the full-grown men in their thirties was missing at least one of their limbs—a severed hand here, a boot tossed there with the foot still inside it, or half an ear. One unlucky bastard’s head was barely still attached to his neck by a thin strip of gory sinews.
Guns were visible among the bodies, but he barely paid attention to those. She got in a fight, huh? I hope to shit she didn’t start it but she sure as fuck finished it, didn’t she?
In silence, he drew his knife from his belt and flicked it open as he walked slowly toward the mess of bodies while his gaze scanned the house, the shed, the overhanging trees, and the swamp behind all of it. “If anyone’s sneakin’ ʼround corners,” he called as quietly as he could despite his boiling anger, “I ain’t here to make trouble. It looks like this place has had enough of that as it is.”
A thump and scrabble sounded from the shed, followed by a warning yip.
“Johnny!” Luther bounded around the corner of the building and skidded to a stop. “That was fast.”
“You’re here. Oh, man, Johnny. You wouldn’t believe what—”
“Where is she?”
“The shed. She’s in the shed. Come on.” The dogs trotted around the simple structure, although their tails had lowered almost straight out behind them and didn’t wag.
“She’s okay, Johnny.”
“Yeah, physically. Pup put up a hell of a fight, that’s for sure.”
Johnny stepped around the back of the shed and tried not to let any reaction at all slide onto his face when he found Amanda.
The young shifter was huddled in the corner against a stack of firewood, her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped tightly around them. She was covered in blood and as naked as a jaybird.
Goddammit. The dwarf closed his knife and shoved it into his belt before he stepped inside. “Hey, kid.”
She was trembling, and when she looked slowly at him, tears spilled down her cheeks. “I didn’t do anything, Johnny.”
“I know. It’s all right.”
“They came out of nowhere, and I… They wouldn’t listen. They had guns and one of them threw a rock at Luther.”
Johnny glanced at the smaller hound, who sat on his haunches to scratch behind an ear.
“Not worth mentioning, Johnny. I’m fine. Took a chunk out of the bastard’s thigh, so I’d say we’re even.”
Johnny nodded. “You were defendin’ yourself.”
“Yeah…”
“And the boys.”
“Hey, we defended her too,” Rex added with a low whine. “It was technically a team effort.”
Luther stopped scratching and stood to sniff the coils of rope hanging almost to the floor. “Yeah, but she did most of it.”
He snapped his fingers and both hounds sat. “Ya’ll did good. All of you. I don’t wanna hear another word until we’re home and you’re cleaned up and a little less shell-shocked. Understand?”
“Yeah, Johnny.” Rex licked his muzzle. “Not another word. Got it.”
“Johnny, it was nuts—” Luther crouched low when his brother nipped at his neck in warning. “Okay, okay. Shutting up.”
Johnny glanced around the shed, snatched an old picnic blanket hanging from a hook on the wall, and draped it over Amanda’s shoulders. “Come on, girl. Let’s get you home.”
To spare her from the sight of what she’d done, he made sure to take her around the opposite side of the shed. They traveled home in silence punctuated only by the odd sniff from the girl and the dogs’ pants.
After a shower, a fresh change of clothes, and a cup of hot tea—into which Johnny added the tiniest splash of whiskey because he couldn’t think of a better way to help the kid out of her shock—Amanda managed to tell the rest of the story in more detail. Of course, the hounds put in their two cents as well.
She’d decided to go for a short run on her own that morning after Arthur left to get breakfast. Rex and Luther had stayed with her every step of the way—their pack of three, two hounds and a young gray wolf.
“Then a group of people just…attacked me. Guns and other stuff.”
“Locals?” Johnny asked.
“No way, Johnny,” Rex panted. “Not shifters. Not rednecks.”
“Not even from the Everglades,” Luther added.
Amanda shook her head. “They were something else. I assumed they wanted to hunt a wolf or something. Maybe they thought Rex and Luther were strays. I don’t know.”
Not likely with those collars.
“So I shifted to show them, Johnny. To tell them who I was. They said they already knew who I was.” The girl frowned and drank more whiskey-laced tea but didn’t comment on the extra flavor.
“They called her your ‘little bitch,’ Johnny.”
The dwarf glanced sharply at Rex, who lowered his head slightly.
“Their words. Not mine.”
“Said you crossed a line in Miami,” Luther added, “and now they were crossing it back. Drew guns on her anyway.”
“Yeah, and then the pup…did the rest.”
“That sonofabitch.” Johnny rubbed his mouth and tugged his beard angrily.
“What’s in Miami?” Amanda asked.
“Don’t you mind that, darlin’. It’s got nothin’ to do with you
.”
“Then why did they say it?” She set the tea down and stared at him.
“’Cause someone’s tryin’ to get at me.”
“I wasn’t trying to get into trouble, Johnny. Promise.”
“I know. You handled it and you did everything you had to do. I’m proud of you.” He squeezed her shoulder briefly. “And now, I’m gonna do what I have to do. Don’t you worry about any of it, understand?”
She nodded slowly and pulled her knees up to her chest on the couch.
The dwarf strode through the house, more enraged than he’d been earlier. That High Tide Resorts motherfucker. He couldn’t leave it settled last night and admit that he’s as stupid as his fuckin’ hired goons. No, he had to send more of the bastards after a goddamn kid and make it my fault.
He’s fucking with the wrong dwarf. Wrong shifter too.
The front door was thrust open and Lisa stepped inside with a to-go coffee caddy in one hand and a paper bag of breakfast in the other. “It took longer than I thought, but I assumed coffee would be a big help after last night. You don’t have a coffee maker, so—”
“Hey, lady!” Luther called from the living room, which of course went unheard by Agent Breyer.
“Oh, shit, Johnny.” Rex laughed and his tail thumped on the rug. “After last night, huh? You bring her home to—”
“Johnny?” Lisa’s smile faded as she stepped inside and kicked the door shut behind her with the heel of her shoe. “What’s wrong?”
His teeth gritted, the dwarf stared at the hallway floor and pointed behind him.
She saw Amanda in the living room and frowned. “She’s home. That’s supposed to be a good thing, right?”
“Lisa!” The girl leapt off the couch and raced toward her and she barely had enough time to move the coffee caddy to the side to avoid a hot coffee spill over both of them when she wrapped her arms around her.
“Hey, kiddo. What’s going on?”
“Terrance fucking Glaston needs to back the fuck off is what’s wrong,” Johnny grumbled. “I aim to deliver that message in person.”
As he stepped into the workshop to select a pistol and load his explosive disks, Luther and Rex each barked once and trotted toward the door.