by Dale Mayer
“It doesn’t sound like they’re very nice at any generation,” he said. “Besides, I just want to know that the dog is safe and sound. If he’s not happy there, I will find him a place where he is happy.”
“We could take him together,” Diego said brightly.
Carter smiled. “I’ll take that into consideration, but it could jeopardize your job with Brenda.”
“I need another job. But it’s hard to get another job because I won’t get any references from her.”
“Can’t stand that kind of crap. Look. If I come up with another job for you, I’ll let you know.” Carter waved at him, then motioned Hailey back to the truck.
“Do you believe him?” Carter asked Hailey after he turned on the engine.
“I don’t know what I believe anymore,” she said. “It seems like a whole pile of slithering snakes is beneath my feet that I didn’t see before. My ability to judge is severely skewed now.”
“I hear you. Can’t say I’m too thrilled about it myself.”
“What will you do about the dog?”
“I’d love to take him by force,” he said, then sighed. “I really don’t know the extent of my authority. It’s official navy business, yet it’s not. I’ll talk to Geir about that, I guess.”
As if on cue, his phone rang. He looked at it and smiled. “It’s Geir,” he said. He reversed the vehicle and headed down the road as he answered it, putting the call on speaker phone while he was driving. “Geir, what’s up?”
“A parcel’s coming for you. Overnight delivery. You can pick it up at the post office today.”
“Will do. I also have heard that the dog was let loose at the airport,” Carter said, telling him what he’d learned.
“So,” Geir said, “the third time around, do you think you’re actually getting the right story?”
“I think the driver cares a lot about his family, and I think he was protecting his nephew,” Carter said. “The question is whether the dog is any better off where he is now.”
“Well, we can’t just assume. We need to make sure he’s not being abused.”
“I plan on heading into known drug territory. Apparently Harold is also a Longfellow. From the wrong side of the tracks though. Not well-loved by the rest of the family and part of a street hustle.”
“Right. Of course. And he’s looking for a big macho sidekick of a War Dog to make him feel like an even bigger man, I suppose?”
“I think so,” Carter said. “From what I’m hearing, that would fit. The thing is, according to Hailey, he’s dangerous.”
“Yeah, well, we know what that’s all about,” Geir said, sounding tired. “Wouldn’t it be nice if we actually had good guys involved for a change? And why can’t these dogs ever end up with somebody who’s busy making sunshine and smelling roses or something?”
“Yeah, that doesn’t seem to be the way of it,” Carter said.
“Maybe not, but it’s certainly something that would be nice to have as a change around here.”
“Anyway, I’ll have to check up on this new location and see if I can get a hold of him. Then we’ll see if we can come up with a solution.”
“Are you planning on just walking up to him and asking for the dog back?” Geir asked.
“You can bet he’ll ask for proof of ownership,” Carter said.
“You’ve got it all in the file. The adoption forms, his chart, and the other documents in his file—not to mention the tattoos. Maybe you should ask him for his proof of ownership.”
“Yeah.” Carter laughed. “It’ll be behind a nine millimeter. You know that.”
“You’ve been there before,” Geir said with amusement, “but it would be a good idea if you didn’t go alone.”
“Maybe, but backup isn’t something I have available.”
“Of course,” Geir answered, “because that would just be way too easy. Since you’ve already shared how the local law enforcement is infested with Longfellows, I’ll have to look farther out. I’ll get back to you when I come up with something else here. In the meantime, do some more fieldwork, but don’t take too much action if it’ll lead to trouble with the local authorities.”
“Gotcha,” Carter said before he hung up. He tossed the phone down beside him. “Do you know where this guy lives?” he asked Hailey.
“No, but anybody in the slums could tell you,” she said quietly.
“Direct me to that area so I can take a look at what I’m up against.”
She gave him the directions, heading back around town.
“What is the population count there?”
“About thirty thousand,” she said. “But that includes all the ranches surrounding the area too, for quite a few miles.”
“Right. So, the core of the town is what, twenty, maybe twenty-five thousand?”
“Less. Maybe half that. It’s big enough to have schools and a sheriff and several deputies but not necessarily large enough to have big box stores or anything else like that.”
“Of course not. You have to drive what? An hour and a half to get that kind of shopping and dining?”
“Yes,” she said. She motioned up ahead. “Turn here.”
He made the left turn, and she directed him around two more corners.
“Now you should recognize the area,” she said.
“When pawnshops start showing up,” he said, “it usually gives me the best indication that I’m in the right area.”
“I’m not sure if Harold stands on street corners himself now, but he has a lot of his minions who would likely be doing the deals on the corners.”
“But he’s not too high up in the street system, is he?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I used to go to school with him, but he’s not the man I used to know. Oh, stop! I think that’s him right there.”
Carter pulled off to the side of the road and watched as a big tattoo-covered male walked down the street. A shepherd was at his side with a studded collar on it. Carter looked at the collar with disgust, then checked out the dog more closely, and reached for the files on his phone. Once he found the photo, he held it up. He pointed it at Hailey. “What do you think?”
She nodded. “That looks like the dog.”
Carter hopped out of the truck and darted through the traffic to approach Harold. The guy looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “Dude, what can we do for you?”
Instead of answering, Carter made a sharp whistle and gave a couple hand commands. Immediately the dog’s head and ears went up as it sat down and then lay down, pulling the leash farther away from Harold’s hand.
Harold jerked the leash hard. “What the fuck did you just do to my dog?”
“Well,” Carter said with a smile, “he answered a couple questions for me.” He reached down and ordered the dog to stretch out. Carter took a look at the inside of its leg. “I’ll be reclaiming Uncle Sam’s property now.” With a sudden and swift move, he disconnected the dog’s collar and let it drop, releasing the dog.
The man swore at Carter and chased the dog, trying to hook him back up. “What the fuck did you do that for?”
“That dog was shipped here specifically for an adoptive family. It was accidentally freed. I’d like to know how you have US Navy property in your possession.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve been good to him. Giving him food and all kinds of good treatment.”
“Except for the fact that it’s not your dog,” Carter said. “It’s a War Dog. I’ll be taking him back with me.” He called the dog to him, and it came like lightning. He bent down and gave his head the cuddle and the chin scratches he probably missed. The dog was overjoyed because now somebody spoke his language. Then, without giving the other guy a chance, Carter walked to Gordon’s truck, opened the door, and ordered the dog up.
“Thanks for looking after my dog for me,” Carter said before he hopped in and drove off.
Chapter 8
Hailey stared at Carter. “I’m not sure you should have done that,”
she said, twisting so she could look out the rearview window.
“Maybe not,” he said. “But enough shit is going on here that we need to figure out how it all is related. I wanted to take the dog out of the equation. Plus you gotta stand up to bullies.” Matzuka sat behind him, head forward, almost between the two of them. “How are you, boy?”
He gave a light bark, seemingly perfectly happy.
“You took the leash off. Don’t you need the collar for him?”
“Not if he’s a properly trained K9,” he said. “Their training is crazy.”
“How did you know those commands?”
“I used to work with dogs. We raised dogs too in my family growing up and my ex-wife and I had two dogs, both of which she took when she left. But, when I knew I was coming here, I contacted a friend of mine and learned some more commands that Matzuka would be used to. One of the biggest things my friend said was that my commands had to be issued with absolutely no hesitation. Make sure you give the command with the expectation of being obeyed because, as soon as the dog hears any doubt in the command, he takes advantage of it. In this case, these dogs should know better than that. But Matzuka hasn’t been around the K9 unit for a very long time now.”
“Did you double-check the tattoo?”
“Yes,” he said. “Didn’t you see me order him to lie down? I checked his tattoo then.”
“So, what now? You’ll have multiple Longfellows after you.”
“Harold is the one they don’t like, so chances are the others will just laugh at him, and that’ll make him even angrier. If he knew the dog was meant for Brenda to begin with, that would explain why he took it. But chances are good he just found the dog without knowing or checking on its history.”
“And what about Brenda? Doesn’t she get rights back to the dog?”
“No, she signed off on official US Navy papers, saying she never received Matzuka, which means she has no liability for or responsibility to the dog.”
“He currently doesn’t have an owner then,” Hailey said curiously.
“Sure, he does,” Carter said with a big grin. “Me.”
She shook her head. “Wow.”
“Wow what?”
“When you move, you move fast,” she said. She settled into the passenger seat and turned to look at the dog, a shepherd, although slightly bigger. Its tongue lolled out to the side. “So, do you think he’ll be happy? What if he bonded with Harold?”
“I doubt it,” Carter said. “Did you see how he was pulling on him?”
“Oh, no,” she said in a deadly voice, “his shoulders and back have welts.”
He shot her a hard glance, studying the dog closer but keeping an eye on the road too.
“You probably didn’t get a chance to notice earlier,” she said, “but it looks like he’s been beaten with a belt or something.”
“All the more reason to make sure Harold loses him permanently.”
“Are you expecting him to come after the dog?”
“No, but that doesn’t mean he won’t. It also depends on whether he saw you or not.”
She sighed. “It’s possible. I mean, I’ve spent my lifetime here, and I went to school with him.” Just then her phone rang. Unknown caller. “Hello?” she said cautiously.
Harold’s voice blasted through the truck. “Give my fucking dog back, bitch!” And he hung up.
She stared at the phone in fascination. “Well, I guess he does remember who I am.”
“Good,” Carter said. “Do you have his caller number there?”
She held it up and nodded.
“Hit Dial and hand me the phone.”
Hailey sighed but did what Carter asked. She didn’t want to get caught up in any more Longfellow disputes.
As soon as the angry voice answered on the other end, Carter said, “This dog belongs to a department of the US military defense system. I verified its War Dog tattoo, and you have obviously beaten this very expensive animal. Charges will be pending.” And, with that, he hung up. He tossed the phone back to Hailey.
Shocked, she wasn’t sure what to think. “Are charges pending?”
“Maybe. Probably not though. Nobody ever seems to give a shit about animal abuse, which pisses me off. But, if Harold causes any trouble, you can bet I’ll bring down his little street operation.”
“You really think you can?”
“I can. The problem is, as soon as I do, ten more heads will pop out of the shadows to take over for him.”
“But still,” she said, “I’ve heard he’s gotten a lot worse lately.”
“Worse in what way?”
“Just the way he’s treating people on the streets. He does have the same blood as the idiot student who beat up Diego’s granddaughter.”
“You have enough things to worry about,” Carter said. “You let me worry about this one. As soon as we get to your house, we’ll take a look at the dog and see if he needs medical treatment. I don’t know if you can trust a vet around here who’s not a Longfellow though.”
Hailey brightened up. “There is one. She’s relatively new to the area and bought out a practice the Longfellows didn’t like.”
“Did they run the old vet out of business?”
“More or less. I already told you how crossing them is never a good idea.”
“Then I have doubts about the new vet not already being tainted if the Longfellows allowed her to take over the practice.” Carter shook his head. “Sounds like a real shake-up is needed in this area. The Longfellows are out of control. Somebody has to stand up to them.”
“Maybe,” she said. And then she sank back in her seat. “I just don’t know who’ll make that happen.”
She closed her eyes and wished she could go back in time a week or two. She wished her friends hadn’t died. She wished—hot breath invaded her space. And then, a nose nestled against her neck. She smiled, but she ignored Matzuka until his muzzle turned to nuzzle against her harder. She chuckled and reached up a hand to let the shepherd know he was getting the attention he craved. Or maybe he thought she needed the cuddle. As she glanced over at Carter, she caught him with his lips tilted up.
“Just because I like animals,” she said, “doesn’t mean I like your method of doing things.”
“Maybe not, but it gets things done.”
“True, but it reminds me a little too much of the Longfellows. They just reach out and take whatever they want.”
“The same thing maybe but for entirely different reasons,” he said. “I came here on a mission to make sure the dog was being taken care of. Being beaten wasn’t being cared for.”
“But you didn’t know that before you took the dog,” she protested.
“I didn’t need to,” he said. “The spiked collar and the way Harold yanked on the leash were enough red flags. That dog was being used for intimidation tactics. If Harold ever learned the commands to make the dog kill, then we would have had a whole new issue here. And this dog could have been put down because of Harold’s misuse of those commands.”
“Are there really commands for that?”
“You better believe it. Attack commands. We don’t want these War Dogs to kill. But, if one of our own men were in trouble, the War Dogs’ specific training to counter that attack wouldn’t be aimed for a shoulder. It’d be for the throat.”
“They really are man’s best friend, aren’t they?”
“They can be,” he said with a nod. “Unless you’re on the wrong side of that best friend.”
“And in the hands of somebody like Harold …”
“Exactly. We really don’t want to get into an argument with the local street thugs, but—”
“Too late,” she said. “But then, by now, I think you’ve gotten into a war with several people around here already, haven’t you?”
“No. Not at all. Not if you compare it to the true war coming up.”
Just something about his voice had her looking at him in worry. “You won’t get too badly invol
ved, will you?”
“Nope, not too badly. I find it much better to nip this in the bud first.”
“Nip what in the bud?”
“Intimidation, bullying,” he said. “Because obviously way too much of that is going on. Somebody named Longfellow decides they want something, and they get it. That’ll stop now.”
In a gentle voice, she said, “I hate to be the one to tell you, but you’re using the same tactics.”
“Sure, but for different reasons, different purposes. I know right from wrong,” he said cheerfully, “and I know what’s mine and what’s not mine.”
Carter chuckled to himself, knowing Hailey didn’t understand his military training was more of an offensive bent than a defensive maneuver. He had been trained to stop the opposition, not to let them continue on. He had learned a long time ago to seize life with both hands and to make it happen. Sitting around and waiting for it to happen would never sit well with Carter. That had been part of his problem with his recovery in the hospitals—waiting for his body to heal, something that was out of his control, outside of giving it as much rest, nutrition, and as little stress as possible. He’d been impatient, wanting his body to fix itself and fast.
His thoughts returned to the present situation. Since he’d arrived, he’d realized the town had gone to shit over the last two years, and some serious repercussions need to happen in response to all that. One of those was the fact that his buddy’s ranch was in serious trouble with these Longfellows cutting fences to poach cattle and probably to squat on Gordon’s property. The Longfellow family had been here in this area for probably over a century, who all seemed to be genetically born with the idea that everyone else here were their serfs and that the Longfellows could do what they wanted.
Carter wasn’t too worried about the minor street thug, Harold, who was also a Longfellow. If need be, Carter would have a little talk with him. Now the more pressing matters were the land-encroaching issue and, of course, the murders of Hailey’s two partners, which Carter highly suspected were all about bringing her down. Not necessarily bringing her down in terms of killing her but by destroying her business with the deaths of her partners, thereby losing clients, maybe even leading to lawsuits against her company, forcing her to pay out any judgments rendered against the company.