by Laura Acton
Sitting in the wingback chair in front of the Christmas tree, Yvonne’s eyes misted. “I’m happy you enjoyed yourself. I know we talked about this before you left, but did you speak to Loki about setting up a video call? If you are available, we could do it about one before we all sit down to dinner.”
Dan’s heart twisted hearing his mother wistful voice. He almost wanted to come clean. “Yeah, I did. That sounds like a plan. If we’re on a call, I’ll contact you as soon as I can afterward.”
“That would be lovely. Not quite the same as you being here, but I’m looking forward to seeing you. Perhaps I can meet your teammates, too.”
The klaxon alarm sounded, and Dan hurriedly said, “Gotta go, Mom. Love ya. Talk to you on Christmas.”
Hearing the loud alarm, Yvonne recognized her son was about to go into danger. “Love you. Take care.” She hung up and said a silent prayer for the safety of the entire team.
Yvonne gazed at the tree as long-ago memories filtered in her mind. A Christmas when William sat in this very chair and made Danny’s heart-desire come true. Oh, if only my wish came true and Dan could be here for Christmas.
Standing, she went to the decorated tree and fingered her all-time favorite ornament. A photo of her three children sitting with Santa. Dan held baby Becca as he sat next to Santa and Sara sat on the opposite side. All three smiled brightly, and their eyes were alight with the magic of Christmas.
That was the year Dan found out Santa lived in all hearts, and he embraced the concept wholeheartedly. Yvonne still recalled the sadness in his eyes turning to utter joy when he spied William sitting in the wingback chair. A memory she would always cherish.
Yvonne sighed, wiped the tear from her eye, and put her maudlin thoughts aside. My boy is doing his duty, and I’m proud of him. I understood when I married into this family I would endure separations from those I love most.
Caterwauling, Exclusive, and Cookies
45
December 22
Near 11 Blackwatch Drive – 10:00 a.m.
Arriving in silent mode, the TRF SUVs stopped three houses away from the home of Mr. Jori Pìobaire. Alpha Team received a critical call when 911 transferred a concerned citizen. The caller, a neighbor of Mr. Pìobaire, had gone outside to retrieve her mail and reported she overheard sounds of someone or something being tortured.
Dan and Nick started up the porch steps of Mrs. Ima Dummkopf’s residence. Jon and the remainder of the team gathered to review the blueprints which Loki found online. The old neighborhood consisted of three-story, long, narrow, Victorian style, red brick homes. Each contained a basement and sported a covered porch. The houses were spaced approximately ten feet apart with no fences between properties. Nick knocked and they waited.
A portly, mid-aged woman in a thick, fuzzy bathrobe, and curlers in her hair opened the door. She shooed several cats away from the entrance as she slipped outside. Ima Dummkopf said, “Oh, thank goodness you’ve come. The shrieks are godawful. A person or animal must be dying a horrible death in the house three doors down. I think it might be a kitty. If so, you must save the poor thing.”
Nick asked, “Do you know your neighbor Mr. Pìobaire?”
Mrs. Dummkopf shook her head, and her curlers flopped back and forth. “No. He moved into the neighborhood about four months ago, and he is never home. None of the neighbors have met him. Do you think he is the one being slaughtered or the one doing the slaughtering? I hope he isn’t slaying kitties. I so love kitty cats. I own eleven. I’m frightened that if he is butchering cats, he will come after my lovies.”
Dan pursed his lips together to avoid chuckling as Loki’s snickering sounded over the headset.
Nick asked the homeowner several more questions, and when he found no additional useful information, he thanked the lady and told her to go back inside for her safety.
They joined the rest of the team at the SUVs, and Jon directed, “Bram, Lexa, check the back and cover the rear exit. Ray and I will approach the front.”
Nick looked at Loki. “You got a number for me yet?”
Loki tapped away on the laptop. “Sorry Boss, no landline at 11 Blackwatch Drive. Still searching for a mobile number registered to Mr. Pìobaire.”
“Keep at it. Jon, we need to locate where the sounds are coming from and assess the situation as best as we can from the outside before going in.”
Dan flicked his eyes to Jon expectantly, but his hopes were dashed when Jon said, “Loki, grab the parabolic microphone.”
Loki caught the disappointment on Dan’s face and gave him a quick pat on the shoulder. Light duty and Dan didn’t mix well, but he didn’t complain. Loki trotted to the back of the vehicle to retrieve the listening device.
Dan took over from Loki—relieved Loki refreshed his skills this morning, at least this part he comprehended. When a number popped up, Dan gave it to the boss. As Nick tried to initiate contact, Dan started seeking additional details, initially finding no criminal records, he expanded his search.
11 Blackwatch Drive – Outside – 10:10 a.m.
Lexa reported, “Boss, we’re hearing intermittent sounds coming from the basement. Terrible caterwauling. Mrs. Dummkopf is right, sounds like several cats yowling.”
“Fewer furballs with teeth and claws is fine with me,” Jon muttered.
Ray glared at Jon in disbelief.
At the disgruntled expression of his teammate, Jon corrected, “They shouldn’t be harmed though. Fewer cats, yes! Mistreated, no.”
Bram glanced at Lexa when the pitiful cries occurred again. “Jon, we must get in there. No animal should be treated inhumanely.”
As Jon approached the front of the house, his stomach turned hearing the same thing as Bram and Lexa. “Boss, we need to breach now.”
Nick tried to make contact several times with no answer. “First let’s see if we can pick anything up on the parabolic. I don’t want you going in there blind. There might be more than one subject.”
Jon bristled but held off. He hated, or more correctly, he feared cats and they hated him, always wanted to attack him. Like the damned snow leopard yesterday. But Jon could not abide the torture of any animal, even cats.
Loki approached a blacked-out basement window and set up the microphone, linking the device to their headsets so the entire team could listen.
The screaming stopped and a distressed and exacerbated male voice pronounced, “You’re massacring it. I’ve never, Christ … you are butchers. I can’t take much more of this.”
Another voice, one belonging to a young male, pleaded, “But, Mr. Pìobaire, you promised you’d teach us how to do this.”
A deeper yet still young voice said, “We want to kill it, this is cool. We watched a video of someone doing this. All we need is more practice. Let’s keep trying. We’ll get it right soon.”
The man said in a frustrated tone, “Okay. Alright. Position your bags. Bobby, check the mid-joint, yours seems to be broken. Let’s try again. Hopefully, you can kill this without making my ears bleed.”
Sickening screeching sounds filled the team’s ears, and Loki switched off the mic wanting to hurl at the thought of what the tormented creatures must be experiencing. Some calls haunted him, and this would be one of them.
Nick ripped off his hat. “Son of a bitch.” There are some sick people in the world. They’re practicing sadism. Nick ordered, “Go! Go now!”
Jon and Ray breached the front door. Bram kicked open the back door, and he and Lexa entered. The four officers met midway inside at the entrance to the basement, each trying hard to conceal their disgusted expressions and maintain professionalism, as the screeching and caterwauling sound increased inside and made them believe several cats were being skinned alive.
Dan got a ping on a search. “Boss.”
“What?” Nick turned to Dan.
“I don’t think this is what we think it is.”
Concern flared over what his team might encounter. Nick called out, “Hold! Jon, hold. Dan
has information.”
Viewing the website, Dan explained, “Mr. Pìobaire is a bagpipe instructor. What we’re hearing might be awful bagpipe playing.”
Nick instructed, “Go with caution. If this is a bunch of kids playing bagpipes, we don’t want to go in there guns up.”
11 Blackwatch Drive – Basement – 10:20 a.m.
“Stop! Just stop! I can’t take anymore. My eardrums are bleeding,” Jori Pìobaire yelled, as the door to his basement flew open.
Ray, Lexa, Jon, and Bram stared at eleven teens holding bagpipes and one man with his hands over his ears. They lowered their weapons.
Jori turned and was shocked to find four armed TRF officers at the top of his stairs.
“Mr. Pìobaire?” Jon asked as he started down the steps.
“Yes, I’m Jori Pìobaire. Why are you in my home?”
“We had a report of someone being tortured. We tried to call.” Jon came to a stop next to the confused man.
Jori snorted, shaking his head. “Well, they’re decimating my ears. Does that count? Should’ve never agreed to teach these boys to play ‘Smoke on the Water’ for the concert. This song is beyond their capacity at the moment.”
Unable to hide his relieved smile, Jon said. “Do you often give bagpipe lessons in your home?”
“No. This is the first time. I had a studio where I gave lessons, but the complex burned down last night. Terrible fire. One fireman was injured. Their concert is soon, so I reluctantly decided to hold classes here.”
Loki, Nick, and Dan entered the basement with the rest of the team. No tortured felines, only eleven novice bagpipers.
Nick approached the bagpipe instructor. “I’m Sergeant Nick Pastore with TRF. Your neighbor Mrs. Dummkopf was quite worried. Perhaps you should contact your neighbors and inform them of your lesson schedule, so they don’t call 911 in the future.”
“I’ll make sure I do that,” the amused instructor nodded and then quipped, “You know, I think I would rather die from a cat bite than listen to these boys murder the song anymore.” Eleven bagpiping teens looked disappointed as Jori turned to them and shrugged. “Sorry boys, back to basics. After you improve, we can try again.”
The teens grumbled and pleaded with their instructor to reconsider as the team headed out, barely concealing their smirks and snickers.
TRF HQ – Briefing Room – 11:45 a.m.
“That’s what the guy said … he’d rather perish due to a cat’s bite. I didn’t make that up. Some guy did die that way. Damn thing sank its fangs into his thumb causing an infection. He died six weeks later. Cats! I’m telling you, the world would be safer without them,” Jon stated.
Nick chuckled. “Good thing you didn’t have to go into Mrs. Dummkopf’s place, she had eleven over-sized kitties.”
Jon shuddered.
Dan remained confused by all the joking about cats, definitely missing something here. He could tell Jon didn’t like them, and the others enjoyed harassing him, but no one explained. Dan gave up trying to figure it out, realizing the story must be for insiders, which actually troubled him. He believed he was an insider, but maybe not. Loki wouldn’t share with him yesterday, and now this whole cat business.
Loki tapped away on the keyboard with a high level of concentration, prompting Bram to ask, “What are you doing?”
Glancing up from the computer, Loki responded, “Looking for a video. Wondered if I could find ‘Smoke on the Water’ played by bagpipes.”
Bram laughed. “I don’t think that song can be played on bagpipes.”
“Ha! Yeah, found one! You guys wanna hear?”
Lexa shook her head. “Not particularly.” She glanced at Dan and noted he seemed a little closed off, his eyes shuttered, and arms crossed as he stared out the window. What’s up? She reviewed the day so far and couldn’t pinpoint anything off, other than he hated being sidelined in the call. If they had a quiet moment away from the team, she would inquire. Perhaps this has something to do with wearing Brody’s dog tag or with me stopping by last night.
“Hit play,” Ray said.
Loki clicked play. Strains of guitar started with the drums then bagpipes joined in. The kilt-clad rockers played to an enthusiastic crowd. The band began with ‘Smoke on the Water’ and transition to ‘No Awa Tae Bide Awa’ ending in a rousing rendition of ‘Scotland the Brave.’
“Whoa! He has a flamethrower on his bass guitar,” Loki exclaimed.
Jon laughed. “No cats killed by these pipers.”
Dan stiffened and clenched his jaw. The additional cat jokes were like claws on a chalkboard to him. His hand unconsciously sought out and rubbed Brody’s tag. Today started out so well. Why am I letting this bother me? He stood to go up to the roof, needing a few moments to clear his head. As the team focused on the video, playing it again, Dan ambled out as Nick said, “This is what bagpipes should sound like.”
Eyeing Dan as he left, Lexa said, “I wonder if this is the performance the boys viewed and why they wanted to learn the song.”
“Hey, Jon, instead of getting Joey drums, buy him some bagpipes and he can scare all the little kittens away from your home,” Ray joked.
Bram laughed. “Nice knowing you, Jon. Jen will kill you if you do that.”
Beaming, Loki teased, “We know where to find bagpipers to play at his funeral. No cats would dare attend.”
Nick enjoyed the banter. “No, we’d be charged with assault if we hired those eleven pipers.” As everyone chuckled, he noted Dan was missing. When did he leave? He glanced around the table. “Anyone see where Dan went?”
Sobering, Lexa stood and caught Boss’ eye. “I’ll go look for him.”
“Try the roof,” Jon suggested.
Lexa nodded and briskly strode out of the room.
“Why’d he go? Do you think he hates bagpipes?” Loki asked.
The guys all shrugged, but Bram said, “Being in the truck doesn’t sit well with him, he probably went for some fresh air.” They all concurred, each comprehending at least that one thing about Dan.
TRF HQ – Rooftop – 11:50 a.m.
Dan stared out at the city, the chilly breeze reddening his cheeks. He shoved his hands into his pockets to keep them warm. Quit being so sensitive. You belong here, and they are your family. You know this … this is just … only …
“Dan?”
He froze at Lexa calling his name. Get your act together, Broderick. They can have their inside joke. Doesn’t mean anything. He turned to Lexa. “Yeah?”
“You alright?” Lexa wrapped her arms around her and rubbed to warm up. Should’ve grabbed my jacket.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Dan deflected.
“Well, you left the room. Not like you. Something I can help with?” She stopped next to him and peered up into his eyes.
“Needed a bit of air. Cooped up inside … not used to that.” Dan spoke the truth, but not the whole truth.
What’s he not saying? She leaned on the wall. “Yeah, I understand that.”
Dan seized the opportunity to turn the conversation away from why he came up here, not willing to admit his childish thoughts or hurt feelings. “Yesterday, what did Boss want with you in the locker room?”
Her brows shot up. Damn, I didn’t figure out something to tell him. Think fast and say something truthful. “Well, this time of year is a little rough on Loki.”
“Yeah?” Dan thought about yesterday in the tech room.
Lexa nodded. “Don’t want to tell tales not mine to share, but you’re already aware Loki’s ex-stepfather is a first-class jackass. Loki’s always been like a kid in a candy shop at Christmas—absolutely adores all the magic of the season. Well, the SOB decided to ruin the holiday for him. A week before Christmas, he told Loki’s ma he was filing for divorce. It really threw Loki for a loop.
“His ma cried all through Christmas. The bastard had many choice words for Loki too, viciously destroying Loki’s self-esteem. Essentially, he blamed Loki, declaring the divorce was all h
is fault because he couldn’t stand being stepfather to a loser any longer. All crap, but the man knows how to wound with words. Loki grew up dealing with it his whole life. Something deeply ingrained can be tough to tune out.”
Dan tilted his head. “I can relate. So Boss … he asked you to keep an eye on Loki?”
“Yeah, something like that.” Lexa blew out a breath. “I’m freezing. How can you be so warm in this weather without a jacket?”
Dan stepped forward and pulled Lexa close after a quick glance at the rooftop door. He allowed his body heat to warm her. “Training.”
“Riiiight. You lived in the Arctic.” Lexa pulled back. “We can’t do that here. No one can find out we are dating.”
A lopsided grin grew as Dan stared incredulously. “We’re dating?”
Lexa blinked and realized she had assumed Dan understood what her coming to his apartment meant. “If you would rather see other women then no, but …”
“No. Exclusive?” Dan cocked his head to the side.
“Yeah.” Lexa smiled but shivered. She wasn’t sure whether it was from the cold air or from their conversation.
Dan wrapped an arm around her shoulders and tugged her towards the door. “You’re freezing. Let’s head back in.”
As Lexa reached for the handle, Dan placed his hand over hers stopping her from turning the knob. He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Just teammates here.”
“And more at home,” Lexa finished. She rose on her tippy toes and pecked his cheek. Dan gifted her with a WOW smile.
TRF HQ – Dispatch Desk – 12:05 p.m.
Tia waved to Lexa and Dan as they exited the stairwell and as they approached she said, “Hey, can you take these in to Loki?” She pointed to a few boxes.
Lexa grinned. “More cookies from the ballerinas?”
“Yep. The one from Bianca looks like homemade Florentines.” Tia indicated another box. “Dan, these are for you from someone named Clara.”
Dan glanced at the name attached to the box of cookies and groaned. Clara addressed her gift to Sinner. He opened the card, scanned the message, and positioned the paper so Lexa could read without being obvious.