by Dale Mayer
Tanya stared at her phone as it crashed to her lap. It was one thing to hate your mother; it was another thing to hate your mother and then find out she was dying. But was she? Because Tanya couldn’t trust anything that came out of her mother’s mouth. How sad was it that the first thing she thought about after hearing a statement like that was how she was afraid her mother had just lied to get sympathy and money.
She sent her siblings a text, asking them. The older two didn’t know anything about it because they hadn’t had anything to do with their mom in years, just like Tanya hadn’t, but the two younger girls confirmed it.
Six months was the first reply.
What about the boys still at home? Tanya texted.
No idea, wrote one.
Hoping somebody will take them. The reply from the other girl was more informative.
Not me, Tanya texted back.
Not you. But we don’t know who else, her sister texted.
At that, Tanya stuffed her phone in her purse, crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. As if it would erase this recent phone call to her mother and her texts to her siblings. Why had Tanya even contacted her mother? She could have gone another five years without finding out more about her mother. Then she wondered if anybody would have told her when her mother passed.
Under her breath, she swore loud, long and fluently. When she was done letting all the anger out, she sagged deeper into the seat and pinched the bridge of her nose. She was damn sorry for her mother because she’d had a shitty life.
Tanya didn’t even really know much about her mother’s childhood, her upbringing, but when her one and only husband had taken off on a job that had him running across the country as a trucker, it seemed like he left her pregnant every time. And, somewhere along the line, the last two kids weren’t even her father’s because her father had died in an accident when her mother was pregnant with the fifth girl. But still, her mother had managed to pop out the twins—even though her mother had no clue who the father was.
Maybe the father should come into play. She pulled her phone back out and texted, What about their father?
Any idea who he is? Her younger sister’s text was followed by a happy face emoji.
No, I don’t, Tanya replied.
And she really didn’t.
She tried to cast her mind back to think about who had been in her mother’s life back then, but there’d been so many men.
How old are the twins now? She texted her sister.
Fourteen was the response.
“Shit,” she whispered. And she shoved her phone back in her purse. But the story had gotten out now. There was no shoving it back into the recesses of her mind. What the hell was she supposed to do? Some of Lucas’s words came back to her. Was it that she hated being a parent, or was it that she hated the thought of failing as a mother?
It was failing as a mother.
Because she’d already failed as a sister. She’d walked away. She couldn’t handle it anymore—she had walked away and gone to college.
She had barely stayed in touch, shoving the responsibility back where it belonged—right on her mother’s shoulders. Her mother had picked up the pieces and become a parent again. Maybe Tanya should have walked away a long time ago.
She lifted her head to lean back against the headrest and spotted Lucas heading toward her, talking on the phone. As he hopped in, he turned on the engine and peeled out of the driveway before she had a chance to even ask him what was going on. “What’s up?”
“Andy’s on his way,” he said. “I saw him from the other side, leaving his second property. I’m pretty sure he’s coming here because he saw me.”
“See anything over there?”
“Oh, yeah,” he said. “Dogs in all stages of health, some are pretty rough. But I need backup, especially if Andy’s coming because he probably will not be alone this time.”
“Should you call the detective?”
“I did. I also put in a call to 9-1-1, in case the detective isn’t who I’m hoping he is.”
At that, she gasped. “You’re thinking he might be involved?” That was nothing she wanted to contemplate.
“It’s a pretty big dogfighting ring,” he said. “I wouldn’t be at all surprised if some cops are involved.”
“That’s disgusting,” she cried out, her heart aching at the thought.
He nodded as he turned left and raced down toward the neighbor’s driveway and parked a ways down the road, hidden in a small copse of trees. “I want you to stay here, and I’ll go back and see if I can’t confront Andy.”
“What?” she stuttered. “No. No. No. You can’t do that.” She reached out and grabbed his arm. “You’ll get hurt.”
“Maybe,” he said. “But we must protect those dogs.”
She swore. “Then I’m coming with you.”
He shook his head. “Absolutely not. This isn’t what you signed up for.”
“It doesn’t seem to matter what I signed up for,” Tanya said. “If I can help, I will.”
“Not this way.” He had hopped out but now studied her face as she remained inside the cab. “What’s going on? Did something happen while I was away?”
She shrugged. “Go. We’ll talk later.”
She watched as once again he took off. Luckily he seemed to be headed to ground nearer to where she was and farther from Andy’s driveway. Yet she couldn’t see the pens. Must be a tiny valley or recessed area. Maybe even a dried-up pond or whatever. As soon as he was out of sight, she slipped from the cab, the keys in her pocket, and headed up the road. She could see three vehicles coming in Andy’s driveway. None of them looked to be cops.
She called Lucas. “You’ve got three trucks coming up Andy’s driveway.”
“I see them,” he said. “I’m just about to let all the dogs loose. There are pens in the back. I’m trying to get into them.”
“What if some of the dogs are aggressive?”
“I don’t think it will be an issue,” he said. “Six more dogs are in crates that I can’t even get to sit up.”
“I think a cop car is coming now,” she said. “It’s heading up the driveway behind them.” She ran through the trees. “I’m approaching through the trees,” she said. “I’m not close enough, so I can’t hear what they’re saying.”
“Don’t get any closer,” he hollered into the phone.
She could hear dogs barking in the background on the phone. And then there were shouts from the gathering of men on the driveway. “What the hell’s going on?” She moved in closer, and, sure enough, there was no sign of the cop.
“Watch out,” she said. “I think the cop might be with them.”
“Shit,” he swore. “You stay hidden. Do you hear me?”
“I do,” she said. “You stay safe.” All she got for an answer was a dead phone.
Lucas could see the men approach from the driveway as he worked on freeing the dogs in the last two cages. The dogfighting men on foot and not knowing exactly where he was, gave him some time. As soon as he could free the dogs, they would all be out in the backfield. Then he just had to open up the fence to the other property, and they could get through. What he needed now was the police. The real ones.
He called the detective. “There’s a cop here, and he’s involved, so, if you’re not involved, you sure as hell better be on your way.”
The detective yelled, “Don’t you get involved. I have backup coming, but it’ll be a couple minutes.”
“You don’t have a couple minutes,” Lucas said. “I’ve released about sixty dogs, and some of them need major medical assistance.” He didn’t dare study the animals too closely, or he’d lose it. Some were barely mobile. “You can hear the mob of men in the background. There are three vehicles and a cop car parked out front.”
“I’m about five minutes away,” the detective said.
“You sure as hell better be on my side because I’ll have your head on a platter if you’re not.”
“Stop being a tough guy,” the detective snapped. “I want these guys as much as you do, but, even more, I want to know what cop is on their side because we can’t have this happening.”
“They’re coming now, so you better hurry.” And, with that, he ended the call, then pressed Record on his phone as he worked to get the last of the dogs out. Behind those two cages was yet another one.
Top Hat. And he was lying down, with barely enough energy to whine. But a whine was better than a snarl.
Lucas dropped down in front of the cage. “Hey, Top Hat. You okay, boy?”
The dog looked miserable, drool coming from his mouth. It looked like his shoulder was torn with blood matted on his fur. Lucas talked to him in a calm voice as he moved away the other crates. He had to get Top Hat down the neighbor’s property to his truck.
His phone rang again, Tanya telling him how more vehicles were coming up the road. He opened the crate with Top Hat, picked up the dog and headed to his truck. Not too long afterward he heard voices yelling again, probably because they found the pens were empty now, just as he arrived at his truck. He pulled down the tailgate with one hand, panting heavily, and loaded Top Hat into the bed and jumped in behind him. He pounded on the cab. “Gooooo,” he yelled. But before she could, four police cruisers came flying up toward them.
One stopped, but the others streamed by. The cop hopped out, and he said, “You Lucas?”
“Yeah, you David?”
He nodded. “What have you got there?”
“This is Top Hat. He needs a vet. He’s been shot. You go get those assholes. There are dozens of dogs that need help. Make sure you catch the assholes on the other properties.”
“We’ve got a huge net going down,” David said. “Go to the vet and then check in with me.”
Lucas nodded, pounded on the cab once more, and said through the open window, “I’ll give you the GPS directions off my phone. Go, go, go.”
Chapter 8
Tanya could hear him in the bed of the truck, calling his sister, trying to find a decent, reputable veterinarian in town.
He tapped the window and said, “Take a left two lights up.”
She slowed, got into the left lane and turned as instructed. Following his directions, she came to a large parking lot. She parked, hopped out and ran to the back of the truck. “Oh, God, he looks terrible. How could they do that to him?”
“Yeah,” he said, “I’m taking pictures, and then I’m going inside to the vet.”
“I’ll let them know.” She ran for the door.
“Meg called ahead.”
Tanya nodded and burst in through the door. “Hey, we brought in an injured shepherd from one of the dogfighting properties, and he is likely to be the first of many dogs to come.”
The receptionist nodded. “We heard.”
“Do you have a gurney or something? He’s pretty banged up and probably can’t walk in.”
A vet tech came out with a large trolley. “If you can get him onto this, that would help.”
Tanya led the way to the truck with the vet tech following. At the tailgate, Lucas had Top Hat ready.
The vet tech took one look and asked, “Is he aggressive?”
“Possibly,” Lucas replied. “He was shot, so that might have an effect on his disposition.”
The vet tech pulled something from her pocket and within seconds had it around the dog’s snout. Top Hat didn’t even flinch. “We’ll keep the muzzle on him for now, for everyone’s protection. He is probably in a lot of pain. Should I get something to knock him out first?”
“No,” Lucas said. “Let’s just transfer him.”
Top Hat’s body was limp and was slid onto the trolley without much fuss. He whimpered until he ran out of energy.
“Lead the way,” Lucas stated. They each took a side and gently pushed it forward, Lucas comforting Top Hat the whole way.
Tanya had never heard Lucas so caring or seen him so careful as he maneuvered the dog through the doors and into the back room. Nobody tried to stop him; nobody tried to tell him to stay out. She wondered if anybody had taken a look at Lucas’s face and realized it would have been useless.
As soon as they were in an examination room, the vet tech said to her, “You need to go out to the waiting room.”
Tanya understood the sense of that but had no intention of leaving Lucas. She might not be able to do anything to help, but she wanted to stay with the man and his dog. As a compromise she stepped out of the way, near the door.
The vet tech looked to Lucas and said, “Do you have any control over the dog?”
“Hard to say,” Lucas admitted. “I have some military War Dog training, but he has been treated badly.”
Just then a vet came in. “I heard we may be getting a few more animals in.”
“Yes,” Lucas said. “I released over sixty dogs so far today.”
The vet looked at him approvingly. “How many were injured?”
“Some of them badly,” he replied. “Between lacerations, what looks like broken legs and open wounds, a lot of banged-up animals.”
“I keep hoping somewhere along the line I’ll see the last dogfight victim.” He looked at Top Hat. “This is a completely different case.”
“I think he was shot,” Lucas said. “He’s a relatively new arrival. He jumped over a six-foot fence, and I’m pretty sure they tracked him down and shot him.”
The vet tech whistled. “Bet the cops don’t like to hear that.”
“Why did they keep him?” asked the vet tech. as another vet joined them.
“No clue. But likely to put him in injured and to let the other dogs have a go at him,” the vet said. “Unfortunately we’ve seen it a lot. Let’s set up an IV line and get some fluids into him with pain meds and get an X-ray done to see what we are dealing with.”
Lucas stepped back to let them do their work.
Tanya reached out a hand and touched Lucas. “Come with me to the waiting room. We’ll be in the way, and they need to do their jobs.”
He looked down at her hand and nodded as he slid his fingers in with hers, squeezing tightly. He turned to look back at the two vets and their helpers working on Top Hat. “Thank you,” he said.
She wasn’t sure they’d heard him, since they were so intent as they worked on the dog.
Back in the waiting room, she sagged onto the bench, pulling him with her, and said, “It has been a hell of a Saturday.”
“Yeah. It’s late. The last thing they want is dogs in need like this showing up at this hour of the day. There’s no way Top Hat gets to leave tonight, not after a bullet hole like that. He’ll probably need emergency surgery.”
The receptionist interjected. “Most of us won’t leave tonight, not after hearing how many animals are coming.”
Lucas nodded. “I’m the one who helped them escape, but the shape of some of those animals …”
As his words failed, Tanya wrapped an arm around him. “Come here. How about I pour you a cup of coffee while we wait?”
He nodded. “Sometimes I really hate people.”
She nodded. “Hey, you and me both. Remember the reason why I don’t want to have a family?”
He crooked his lips and tucked her in close. “I do,” he said, leaning back and resting his head against the wall behind the bench. “When was the last time you talked to her?”
“About an hour ago,” she said. “After you suggested I call her, I called to see how she was.” She turned to look at him, to find that steady gaze of his studying her, looking for a reaction.
“And?”
“Got hit with another shot of reality,” she admitted. “She’s got stage four breast cancer, and there is nothing the doctors can do. She has about six months.”
His eyebrow shot up. “What?” he asked. “Damn. That’s shitty.”
Tanya bent her head and mumbled, “Karma.”
“I don’t know. Either way it’s a rough ending to her life.”
“We didn
’t exactly have words but neither did we have a good conversation. I didn’t know anything about the diagnosis, so I wasn’t exactly culling my words before she blurted out the truth.”
“You rarely hold back as it is.”
“I hope I’m not mean regardless,” she said quietly. “Although I don’t think my call was what she needed today.”
“How many kids are at home?”
“Just the twins—they’re fourteen now.”
“What about their father?”
She gave a broken laugh. “Nobody knows who he is. He’s had nothing to do with them all these years. Neither have I. I’m as much of a stranger as their father is.”
“Can one of the other siblings take them on?”
She shrugged, hating to consider all of them were in various stages of their own lives and not likely to need or have the opportunity to take them. “I don’t know,” she said. “My two oldest sisters didn’t know anything about my mother’s diagnosis—just the middle two sisters. And they didn’t tell anyone.”
“Your mother probably wouldn’t let them. I’m sure she had a certain amount of pride.”
“What does she have to be proud about?” Tanya exploded. “I get it. She had a tough life, and I hold a lot of grudges I’m trying to let go of … particularly now.”
“Now is a good time to let it go because pretty soon you won’t have the chance.”
“Argh,” she whispered. “That’s not the way I wanted to look at this.”
“If you want to make peace with your mother and your childhood,” he said, his voice steady, “then I suggest you do it in the next six months.”
She nodded slowly. As she was about to speak, several vehicles pulled up to the vet clinic. The receptionist stood up and said, “And here come the dogs.”
Beside her, Lucas bolted to his feet and walked out to see if he could help. Tanya just stared as dog after dog came in, some walking, some being carried, some in cages. The receptionist, her face set in stone, sucked in her breath as she watched the parade of sad animals.
She separated them into various treatment rooms. Those that looked to be not as bad were left in the waiting room to be dealt with last. Lucas carried in a very large bulldog that looked like part of his jaw was damaged and also had signs of extreme scarring. He was in a cage and whimpering.