“How did you even know to come here?”
After Dominic had seen the addresses of the burgled veterinarians at the station, he’d spent the length of his drive home trying to talk himself out of pursuing this. When that hadn’t worked, he’d figured—fuck it, if he couldn’t drop this, he might as well commit to it.
Jasmine had needed to work, so Dominic had driven Carlos to his follow-up appointment with his surgeon. While he waited, he’d taken advantage of the office’s wifi to do some digging. The similarities between the three offices and their neighborhoods had been easily apparent, but it was the employees who had interested him most.
“All of the vet techs at the offices that were broken into are friends on Facebook,” he said to Levi. “They belong to a local organization for career networking and continuing education, so they all know each other. I looked back through their posts on social media for the past few weeks, and a fellow vet tech by the name of Christina Mercado had been subtly sounding them out about the frustrations of working in such small, low-tech practices.”
Levi’s brow furrowed. “Christina Mercado? Any relation to—”
“Eddie Mercado?” Dominic said, naming a known lieutenant in Los Avispones. “His sister-in-law, yeah. She’s good, too—it’s only with the benefit of hindsight that her comments come across as suspicious. Anyway, she’s been having similar conversations with a few other vet techs in the Valley over the past week, so I made some appointments for Rebel and went out to chat up the same ladies myself.”
“Chat them up?”
“People usually assume I’m straight unless they’re told otherwise.”
“How nice for you,” Levi muttered.
Dominic chose to ignore that. “It wasn’t as helpful as I’d hoped, but it did confirm a couple of places that would be easy targets. They do the legal minimum to secure their controlled substances; they’ve got no security cameras, weak alarm systems . . .” He nodded toward the office across the wide expanse of the parking lot. “This was my last stop.”
“They’ve been closed for over an hour,” said Levi.
“I know.” Dominic had sat here in his truck while the sun set and darkness fell over the emptying lot.
“Then why are you still here?”
“I . . .” Dominic smoothed a hand down Rebel’s back. “I was thinking that if the killer was still following me, I might be able to draw them out.” Before Levi could voice the outraged reprimand Dominic could see forming, he added, “What are you doing here?”
Levi pursed his lips. “We came up with a couple of likely future targets as well. I’ve been canvassing the neighborhoods.”
Dominic gave an exaggerated look around the dark, silent professional plaza. “This neighborhood? Who were you planning to talk to, raccoons and owls?”
“I’m under no obligation to explain myself to—”
A soft growl from Rebel cut Levi off mid-sentence.
Dominic turned to her, astonished by the display of aggression—but she wasn’t growling at Levi after all. Her attention was focused entirely on the strip of buildings across the lot, her body stiff and her ears flat against her skull.
Dominic and Levi both followed the direction of her gaze. Moments later, light shone behind the windows of the darkened vet’s office, bobbing unsteadily for a few seconds before abruptly disappearing.
A flashlight.
“Holy shit,” Levi said. “Is this going down now?” He unclipped the radio on his belt and held it to his mouth. “Two Henry five, Dispatch.”
“Two Henry five, go ahead.”
“Request backup for a 406 in progress at 918 Sunrise Professional Plaza. Number of suspects unknown.”
“Two Henry five, copy. Dispatch to all available units, assist two Henry five with 406 in progress . . .”
Levi returned the radio to his belt and drew his gun, starting toward the office.
“Whoa, whoa!” Dominic said, jumping out of his truck. “You can’t go in there by yourself. You have no idea how many hostiles there are, whether they’re armed, the layout of the building—”
“I can’t wait.” Levi glanced at Dominic over his shoulder. “The previous burglaries were smash-and-grabs, probably took less than five minutes. They could get away clean before backup arrives. I can’t take that risk. Stay here.”
He took off, stealing noiselessly across the lot. The man was impressively light on his feet.
Dominic hesitated by his truck as he watched Levi disappear around the corner of the building. Every instinct he had rebelled against the idea of letting an ally go into a dangerous situation unsupported.
Levi had probable cause to enter the office, but there was no bounty involved here—would it be illegal for Dominic to follow? He had no idea. On balance, however, he’d rather accept the consequences of being arrested for trespassing than those of Levi getting hurt when he might have been able to prevent it.
His mind made up, Dominic adjusted the truck’s windows so they were both halfway open. It was a cool night, and he’d been comfortable sitting in the truck with both windows shut; Rebel would be fine like this for a few minutes. No way was he bringing her into an unknown environment where there was a chance of gunfire.
“Stay,” he said, and then shut the door and locked up the cab. Drawing his own gun, he hurried after Levi.
He found him at the office’s back door, which had been forced open and left ajar. Thumping and rustling sounded from inside, as well as multiple sets of footsteps.
Levi glared at him, his nostrils flaring, but he didn’t look surprised. Dominic shrugged ruefully.
With a roll of his eyes, Levi pulled a small flashlight out of his pocket, clicked it on, and held it with his gun in a textbook two-handed grip. He jerked his head toward the door and slipped through the gap without disturbing it.
Dominic considered the space between the door and the jamb, sighing—there was no way he could fit through there. He nudged the door further open as quietly as he could and stepped into the office behind Levi.
They found themselves in a long, narrow hallway that opened into a treatment area on the right, where two metal tables extended from a wall of cabinets and shelving. On their left was a closed door with a viewing window; a quick peek showed a line of kennel crates for housing animals during the workday. They were all empty now, of course.
The noises were coming from deeper within the office. Levi swept his flashlight from side to side as they crept down the hallway. Dominic moved to flank him on the right, so that anyone trying to make a break for it would have little hope of getting past.
They passed an alcove on the left containing an X-ray machine and approached a room whose windows were grated with mesh—the pharmacy, most likely. “Police!” Levi called over the banging and slamming that issued from inside. “Come out with your hands in the air.”
This was met with surprised yelps and cursing. A young man stepped out of the pharmacy, his hands lifted to shoulder height. He wore a pair of gloves but no mask, and his face was set in furious, resentful lines. A second man came out behind him; when he raised his hands as well, Dominic caught a glimpse of a hornet tattoo on his bicep.
“You’re under arrest,” Levi said. “On your stomachs on the floor, hands behind your heads. Now.”
There was a soft creaking behind them, and even as Dominic turned, he knew what it was—the door to the kennel opening. The room had looked empty, but they still should have cleared it—stupid—
The pistol in the third man’s hand was whipping full speed at the unprotected nape of Levi’s neck. Acting on instinct, Dominic threw himself sideways to shield Levi’s body with his own, and the butt of the pistol cracked against the back of his skull instead.
His legs gave out like they’d been cut off at the knee.
They both crashed to the floor, Dominic collapsing on top of Levi and pinning him to the linoleum. Their guns went flying, and Levi made the sick choking noise of someone who’d had the win
d knocked out of him.
Dominic’s consciousness deserted him in a rush of absolute darkness, then flickered back a moment later, jumbled and disoriented. His head throbbed with agony, and try as he might, he couldn’t coordinate his limbs. It was as if they were no longer connected to his brain at all.
The three burglars came forward, kicking Dominic and Levi’s guns even further out of reach. Levi thrashed beneath Dominic’s dead weight, struggling to free himself. The best Dominic could do was tilt himself a little sideways so Levi could shove him off and squirm away.
As Dominic sprawled out on his back, his stomach heaving, Levi leapt to his feet. He backed into the treatment area, drawing the men away from Dominic—which was nice of him, but there was no hope of escape. The hallway was too narrow, and the three men had it blocked from every angle.
“Just shoot him,” one of the men said.
“You crazy? I’m not shooting a fucking cop.” The man in the middle cracked his knuckles. “Besides, the big one’s already down. This skinny motherfucker won’t be hard to take out.”
Though Dominic couldn’t see the man’s face, he heard the anticipation in his voice. Levi held himself in a loose fighting stance, his right leg back with his balance on the ball of his foot, but he didn’t have his hands in fists—they were open, his palms facing the three men. His eyes roved over each one of them in turn.
Get up, Dominic raged at himself. Get up, get up, you useless sack of shit—
He pushed himself onto one elbow, then groaned as his vision swam and vomit rose at the back of his throat. It was no use; no matter how hard he willed it, he just couldn’t move his body. It felt like a thousand tons of pressure was being pushed down on top of him. Something wet streamed down the back of his neck.
Blood. He was bleeding.
God, these men were going to tear Levi apart, all while Dominic lay here helplessly and watched. No. No—
The men started toward Levi, but Levi was already moving.
In one blur of motion, Levi grabbed a glass canister of cotton swabs off the counter behind him, pegged it at the face of the man to his right, and planted his foot in the center man’s chest so hard that the man flew backward. The man to his left swung a fist; Levi flowed aside like water, redirecting the punch and simultaneously smashing the heel of his hand into the man’s nose.
As the man’s head snapped back, blood spurting, Levi threw him toward one of the treatment tables. Though the man managed to catch himself on the edge, Levi kicked him in the back of the knee and then grabbed his hair, slamming him face-first into the metal with a sickening crunch. He crumpled to the floor.
The man who’d been knocked on his ass by Levi’s first kick had recovered. He wrapped an arm around Levi’s throat from behind, but Levi jerked his head to one side and tucked his chin so the man’s arm pressed up against his jaw instead of his throat. He reached over his shoulder and jabbed his fingers viciously into the man’s eyes. While the man was reeling, Levi’s hands came down hard on his, loosening the choke. He rotated to face the man with a sharp snap of his hips and shoulders, still holding the man’s hands so that he had him bent over with his arms at an awkward angle, and slammed a knee into his groin.
Dazed and bloody from the blow he’d taken to the face, the first man made a valiant attempt at attacking Levi from the other side. Dominic didn’t even have to shout out a warning; Levi just lashed backward with one foot, nailing the would-be assailant in the groin, before he returned his attention to the man in his grip. He gave him a knee to the face this time, then let go and brought the side of his fist crashing down on the back of man’s head. The guy dropped like a pile of bricks.
Levi turned around just as the last man standing rushed him, grabbing him in a bear hug that was a clear attempt to take him to the ground. Flinging an arm around the man’s neck, Levi twisted with the momentum, throwing the man to the floor with enough force to rattle the cabinet doors. He landed on his back on the man’s stomach, smashed an elbow into his groin, drove his other elbow into the man’s face, and braced both his hands on the man’s head for leverage as he got to his feet. Then he kicked the man in the face.
Lights out, three for three.
Levi stood above the three unconscious men, breathing hard but uninjured. That had been the most precise, efficient, goddamn brutal fighting Dominic had ever seen.
It had taken less than twenty seconds.
“What the fuck,” Dominic said, and passed out.
When Dominic drifted back into woozy consciousness, it was to the sound of nearby sirens splitting the air and Levi urgently requesting an ambulance over his crackling radio. The lights in the office had been turned on; they speared through Dominic’s eyeballs and directly into his brain. He hissed in pain and shut his eyes.
“Dominic!” said Levi, who was kneeling by his shoulder. “Dominic, can you hear me?”
“Yeah,” Dominic grunted.
“You’re bleeding a lot.” Levi’s voice was thin with stress. “Can you move your extremities?”
Dominic shifted from side to side, testing his arms and legs. He could feel all his parts, but even that much movement made him dizzy and nauseated. His head lolled to one side as he teetered on the brink of unconsciousness again.
Levi tapped his cheek. “Dominic, stay awake. What year is it?”
“2016.”
“Do you know where we are?”
“Sunrise Professional Plaza. I’m not disoriented; I know what’s happening.”
Dominic forced his eyes open, squinting against the light, and blinked. Though Levi’s expression was full of worry, his eyes were shining and his cheeks rosy, his face animated in a way Dominic had never seen before. He was still panting a little from the fight.
God, he’s gorgeous.
The thought took Dominic by surprise, and in his muddled state, he almost spoke it aloud. Instead, he looked past Levi to the foiled burglars. All were still knocked out; one man sported a pair of handcuffs on his wrists. The rest of their wrists and ankles were bound with . . . dog leashes?
“I don’t like the look of your eyes,” Levi said. “Your pupils are really constricted.”
Dominic lifted an unsteady hand to his temple. For the first time, he became aware that there was something soft folded up beneath his head. Levi must have put something there to help stem the bleeding.
“I think I have a concussion,” he said slowly.
Levi let out a startled laugh. “No kidding.” Settling a gentle hand on Dominic’s jaw, he said, “You took a hit that was meant for me.”
Dominic glanced again at the three bound, insensate men and snorted. “I think we can call it even. What was that?”
“What—oh, the fighting? Krav Maga.”
“You must have been training for years.”
“About a decade, yeah.”
“I’ve never seen anything—”
They were interrupted by shouts and running feet as Levi’s backup finally arrived. Levi stood to greet them, and Dominic drifted away again.
He faded in and out while the cops were joined by paramedics who fussed over him and asked him endless questions. They bundled him onto a stretcher, but when they started wheeling him out, his eyes snapped open. “Wait! Levi . . .”
Trying to turn his head made his vision swim. Levi came to stand at the foot of the stretcher, saving him the trouble.
“Rebel,” Dominic said. At Levi’s confused frown, he added, “My dog.”
Levi’s expression cleared, and he rested a hand on Dominic’s ankle through the blanket the paramedics had tucked around him. “I’ll take care of her. Don’t worry about it.”
“Could you . . . I hate to ask, but would you take her to my neighbors? Carlos and Jasmine. They live in the apartment next to mine. 2G.”
Dominic belatedly realized that Levi didn’t know where he lived, but talking hurt his head more and his tongue felt thick and awkward. He moved to pull out his wallet only to be frustrated by the
strap binding his upper body to the stretcher.
One of the paramedics came to his aid, undoing the strap and helping him fetch his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans. Levi flipped it open to study Dominic’s driver’s license, nodded, and handed it back. Dominic passed him his keys as well.
“I’ll take your truck home with me and give it back to you tomorrow, all right?” said Levi. “I’ve got your gun, too.”
Dominic had forgotten all about it. Fuck, his head was messed up. “Thanks. Rebel won’t trust you, but if you let her smell me on you, she might calm down a little. She’s very well-trained, so she’ll understand pretty much any basic command you’d give a dog. If she’s really agitated, try telling her to ‘settle.’” Stringing that many words together was a Herculean effort that drained the last of his energy.
Levi squeezed his shoulder. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Feel better.”
The stretcher started rolling again. Dominic closed his eyes, stopped worrying about Rebel, and worried instead about what his mother was going to say when she heard about this.
After Levi had signed the crime scene over to the detective from Theft, ensured the arrested men were receiving medical attention under police custody, and asked a uniformed officer to bring his car back to the motor pool, he went out to Dominic’s truck. He was still vibrating with energy from the fight, endorphins soaking his brain and a primal sense of satisfaction sinking deep into his bones, but he kept himself under a tight rein.
Rebel was pressed up against the driver’s side, her head poking through the half-open window. She whined low in her throat as Levi approached, her body stiff and anxious.
“Hi, Rebel,” he said, his voice low and soothing. “Everything’s okay.”
Moving with extreme caution, he extended his hand palm-up. Rebel must weigh a good hundred pounds, and even a properly socialized personal protection dog would never genuinely trust any human except the one they’d been trained to protect. If she decided he was a threat, she could take his arm off.
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