Cut Off (Book 2): Cut Throat

by Dalton, Charlie

  “Good to see you,” Bill said.

  “You make it sound like we dropped by for a little chat,” Tanya said. “When we got your message from Owain begging for our help, what other choice did we have?”

  “I didn’t beg,” Bill said.

  “It very much sounded like begging to me.” Tanya chugged on her cup of coffee and wiped an arm across her lips.

  Ronnie didn’t look up from his plate. “Very much so.”

  “You need backup. Those were your words. Sounds desperate. But you called the right people. With us here to protect you, your enemies could call down an army on our heads and we’d still come out on top.”

  “And so humble too,” Aaron said.

  “And what do we have here?” Bill peered between his legs at the little dog sat under the table. He wagged his tail and stared intently at him.

  “He’s a dog,” Ella said.

  “Is he?” Bill fixed the pooch with a stern eye. “Looks more like a wolf to me. A hunting wolf.”

  If Scallywag was a wolf, he was the runt of any litter there’d ever been. The dog yapped happily and wagged his tail.

  “I think that’s a ‘Yes,’” Bill said, snapping off a piece of bacon and handing it to the dog.

  “We were hoping to keep him here,” Katie said. “He’s Ella’s.”

  Bill considered the dog. “Will you take him for long walks?”

  Ella nodded.

  “And feed him? Even if you have to give him food from your own plate?”

  Yeah, right. Like would happen, Katie thought. She’d give her own food to Ella before the girl had to give up any of hers.

  “Yes,” Ella said.

  “And you’ll train him to be a killer?”

  Ella hesitated with that one. She turned to look at Katie, who nodded. “Yes.”

  Bill chuckled. “I can’t wait to see that.”

  Katie was ready with a response for the day when the dog brought nothing back from a hunt: “He kills his bowl of food every time we put it in front of him. So, he is a killer.”

  “All right, he can stay,” Bill said.

  Ella pumped her fists in victory as Scallywag rounded the table, looking for scraps people might give him.

  There was never much risk of her grandfather turning a cute dog like Scallywag away. He liked animals. It was people he had a problem with. And there were a pair of new faces staring at her right now.

  They were big and hefty. A man and a woman, much too similar to be anything but twins. They tucked into a large lump of meat, ripping off chunks with their teeth.

  “Old man Bill asking for help.” Tanya shook her head. “We must be in dire straits.”

  “It turned out to be true.” Ronnie tore another hunk of meat off the bone and swallowed it whole. They were eating so fast they were making a mess on the kitchen counter.

  Katie had only ever seen pigs eat so much and make such a mess.

  “The only trouble we’ve got now is you eating us out of house and home,” Bill said.

  “You want our services, you gotta pay the price,” Ronnie said.

  He held up a hand so Tanya could high five it.

  “I’m glad you could make it,” Bill said. “I wasn’t sure you would get my message in time.”

  “What do you think we are? Fools?”

  “Did you bring what I asked for?” Bill said.

  Tanya’s eyes gleamed. “What you asked for, and more.”

  12

  Ronnie unclipped the clasps and hefted the lid of the great trunk open. Everyone gasped at the sight of its contents. It was the last thing Katie expected to see inside a dusty old trunk like this. It should have been bursting with an ageing actress’s old costumes.

  “Our enemies will have their own stash before long,” Tanya said. “Better we have our own before they catch us with our pants down.”

  Aaron picked up one of the larger assault weapons and felt its weight in his hands. “That’s disappointing. No anti-aircraft guns?”

  “We thought about it but with the recent EMP taking them out, we figured it was dead weight,” Tanya said.

  Aaron’s smile came half-formed. Were they joking or not? “Wait. What?”

  “How did you even get your hands on this stuff?” Darryl said.

  “We popped down to the shops,” Ronnie said.

  “What shop? We don’t sell weapons like these in the UK.”

  “Maybe not in the shops you go to,” Ronnie said. “You can get your hands on anything if you know where to go.”

  He shut the trunk and turned to Bill.

  “What’s for dessert?”

  13

  Ella took Scallywag upstairs for a bath. The poor little pooch had spent the past few days out in the wilderness. It was a wonder a bird of prey hadn’t swooped down and carried him off somewhere.

  Katie flipped the top of the shampoo bottle open and squirted a dob into Ella’s hand. Ella massaged the shampoo into the little dog’s fur.

  “How do you think he found us?” she said.

  “Dogs have a great sense of smell,” Katie said. “Maybe that’s how he found you.”

  “Really?” Ella looked at the dog with a new sense of respect. “Is that it, boy? You can smell me?”

  Scallywag wagged his tail and yipped happily. He tried to jump out of the bath and lick Ella’s face. She laughed and giggled.

  Katie hadn’t seen her this happy in days. Funny what a ball of fluff could do.

  “All right, all clean,” Ella said.

  “Not yet. Make sure to get all the shampoo out or it’ll be itchy for him.”

  Ella used a cup to rinse the rest of the suds out of his fur. “Is that better, boy? Is it less itchy now?”

  Scallywag yapped and tried to jump out of the bath again.

  “Hold on!” Ella said.

  She lifted him out of the tub and placed him on a towel on the floor. She used a second towel to dry him. He wouldn’t stand still and kept sliding along the floor. Then he rubbed his head against Ella’s legs.

  Ella giggled. “What are you doing, you silly dog?”

  Katie bent over Scallywag and inspected him for ticks. He still had a few wild barbs curled in his hair but thankfully no ticks or lice.

  “You’ll need to comb him later,” Katie said. “See these barbs in his fur?”

  Ella frowned at Scallywag with concern. “Do they hurt, boy?”

  The dog yipped, his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth.

  Katie chuckled. “Doesn’t look like he’s in much pain. Just get them out and he’ll be all right.”

  Once he was mostly dry, they transported the dog into their shared bedroom. Scallywag sniffed every inch in his exploration of his new territory. Katie handed Ella a comb but the dumb pooch wouldn’t hold still. Katie held him between her legs and though he tried to escape, it made it much easier for Ella to brush out the tangles and burrs buried in his fur.

  Katie studied the little girl’s studious expression. “We haven’t sat down and talked for a while.”

  “We’ve only been here a couple of days.”

  Katie added up the days since they arrived at Bill’s farm and realised the girl was right. It felt a lot longer than that.

  She supposed after you grew used to spending every minute with someone – and in situations less than desirable – you tended to cling to them like a life raft and missed them when they weren’t there. Every time she turned around, she expected to see the little girl on her heels, and each time she had to remind herself that the girl was safe somewhere, even if she didn’t know exactly where she was. And that was a huge weight off her mind.

  At least, it should have been.

  “Grandfather said I should train Scallywag to hunt.”

  Katie blinked at her use of the term ‘grandfather.’ It seemed strange for a non-relative to call him that, but if it made Ella feel better, then more power to her. She looked at the dog, lying belly-up in Ella’s lap. He snapped at Ella’s fing
ers, his bite so gentle his jaw shook with the effort. She’d seen him struggle to hunt down the food in his own bowl, so she doubted his prowess with wild hares.

  “He’ll bring down wild stags in no time,” Katie said, giggling inwardly at the image.

  Katie enjoyed spending time with Ella. It helped her forget what was happening out there in the world. It was falling to pieces, but so long as Ella could always comb the knots out of the little dog’s fur, everything was right with the world.

  14

  They lost sight of the quad bike tracks several times over the last few miles but each time, the scouts managed to uncover them again. After a while, they used them like breadcrumbs to ensure they headed in the right direction.

  East. Always east.

  Captain Burgess removed his leather gloves and pressed his fingers to the dirt. As he stood, he peered across the flatlands to the warm yellow light emitted from soft candlelight in the upstairs window of the only house they’d seen in half a mile. The farmhouse sat perched atop a slight rise, giving it superior views in all directions.

  “There they are, Lieutenant,” Burgess said. “That wasn’t so hard, huh? Ready the men. We attack at dawn.” He turned to Second Lieutenant Finnegan. “Set up the camp at the foot of this hill. We don’t want them to see us coming.”

  “Yes, sir.” Finnegan took off to lead the preparations.

  Laurie knew better than to second guess his captain after their first meeting but he couldn’t ignore the bad feeling ruminating in his gut. “Sir, perhaps we should send someone in to speak with them.”

  “Negotiate with terrorists? I think you know the military’s position on that.”

  “Yes, sir. But we don’t know if they’re the ones responsible for the attacks on the supply depots.”

  “The tracks lead right to their front door.”

  “Maybe the terrorist cell stopped here and then kept going.”

  Burgess smirked at the notion. “They stopped by for a cup of afternoon tea after they conducted one of the most successful heists in our country’s history?”

  “I’m only offering an alternative solution, sir. If these people are the terrorists and we know they operate within a network, we shouldn’t try to take them out, but learn more about how their network operates.”

  The rapid deployment tents inflated within four minutes. As the men hustled with the captain’s effects and administered finishing touches, Laurie followed Burgess inside.

  “Our mission is to ascertain who attacked our facilities and take them down,” Burgess said. “There’s nothing in the mission brief about taking down a network.”

  “But sir, we might not get another chance at this. If these people are responsible, what harm would a little reconnaissance do?”

  “And risk giving away our location and our plans? We have the element of surprise on our side. You want to take that and hand it to them? We stick with the original plan.”

  Burgess sat just as a soldier placed his seat down behind his desk. “I’ve issued my order, Lieutenant. I expect it to be carried out to the letter. Is that understood?”

  Laurie ignored the tick in his jaw. “Yes, sir. Perfectly clear.” He did nothing to conceal the contempt in his voice.

  He saluted and turned on his heel to leave the captain’s tent.

  “What are our orders, sir?”

  Finnegan stood to one side of the entrance. Laurie was lost in his own little world and hadn’t noticed the man standing there.

  “You heard the captain. We attack at dawn.” The words stung Laurie’s mouth.

  “All units, sir?”

  Laurie left him hanging as he considered the situation.

  Colonel Fitz tasked him with finding the terrorists. He was the one responsible for leading the attack, an attack every fibre of his being was screaming at him to abandon. He was there to utilise the gut instinct that’d saved him and countless missions from utter failure, but it meant breaking the line of command and going his own way. Control had been handed to a stiff pencil pusher educated in the same old worn – and failed – military process without considering better approaches. Laurie made his career doing what his superiors disapproved of. He identified a logical approach and pursued it whether his commanding officer liked it or not.

  “Attack whether I’m here or not,” Laurie said.

  Finnegan appraised him. “And where might you be if you’re not here, sir?”

  Laurie looked him in the eye. “Checking the perimeter.”

  Finnegan checked over his shoulders. “Burgess isn’t going to like this.”

  Laurie drew up to the smaller man and looked down his nose at him. “Isn’t going to like what?”

  Finnegan weighed his words carefully. “He’s not the kind of officer who likes his orders ignored. Maybe it’s best to carry them out.”

  No ‘sir,’ no salutes. This was a warning from a man looking out for a fellow officer. He was taking a great risk doing this. He knew Laurie as well as he knew him. Not at all.

  How much should he trust this man, Finnegan? Until a friendship was put under pressure, it was difficult to know who to trust.

  “You don’t know what I’m about to do,” Laurie said. “None of the men do. Let’s keep it that way.”

  Finnegan nodded. “As you wish, sir. If I might make one suggestion? These people might be armed killers. Are you sure you don’t want to take a knife?”

  “If they’re half as good as I think they are, they’re going to check me for weapons at the front door.”

  Finnegan shook his head. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  For about the millionth time in his career, Laurie was putting his life and his future on the line. But he couldn’t sit by and watch as potentially innocent people were butchered and do nothing.

  15

  Katie sat at the kitchen dining table while her grandfather held a piece of bread in a pair of tongs and moved it in small circles over the fire from the gas stove. He was making toast. Katie pressed her hands to her coffee cup and was grateful for the heat it gave off.

  “How long do you think it’ll take before we hear back from Owain?” she said.

  She’d been on tenterhooks the whole time since they returned from the house down the road. She was thrilled and at the same time terrified that her mother was out there, somewhere. Exposed to the elements and the dangers associated with it.

  At least she’s not alone, she kept telling herself. Steve’s with her. She didn’t know him well, but she trusted her mother and her judge of character. She wouldn’t have taken him with her if he was going to be dead weight.

  “Soon,” Bill said. “Owain has a lot of contacts out there. The man is a spider in the centre of a giant web. Toast?”

  Katie shook her head.

  Bill switched the hob off and liberally spread butter over the toast and joined his granddaughter at the table.

  “Once she hears we’re at your farm, she’ll change direction and come here for sure,” Katie said.

  “That was the plan, wasn’t it?”

  It was, but now that she had a moment to think, she couldn’t say she felt relieved. From where she was in the mountains in northern Wales, it was a lot further for her to come down to the farm than to go up to the lodge.

  “You regret sending her that message?” Bill was always good at reading people’s faces.

  “A little.”

  Bill bit into his toast and let the crumbs fall where they may. “You made the best decision you could based on the information we had at the time. We made a plan and we’ll stick to it. Don’t second-guess yourself. It’s the best anyone can do, given the circumstances.”

  Katie found herself shaking her head. Taking advice from Old Bill. It was never something she thought she would ever find herself doing. How times change.

  A noise. Like heavy footfalls above their heads.

  “Must be Darryl,” Katie said. “He moves like an elephant stampede.”

  The stompi
ng continued. Bill listened intently before shoving the last of the toast in his mouth and washing it down with lukewarm tea. He tucked a pistol in the back of his trousers and got to his feet.

  “It’s not Darryl,” he said.

  “Then what is it?”

  “Tanya. Someone’s coming.”

  Her grandfather had set up a watch on both the front and back of the house. He organised a rota so they would all take turns throughout the day. It would take up a lot of good manhours but there was nothing else for it. They had to keep an eye out for dangerous people.

  Aaron entered the kitchen from his sleeping position on the squeaky living room sofa. He rubbed at his bloodshot eyes.

  “Expecting anyone?” he said.

  Bill lifted a handgun from off the top of the fridge and handed it to him. “No one I would want to see.”

  BILL APPROACHED the door and peered through the peephole.

  “Who is it?” Katie said.

  Bill put a finger to his lips and gestured for her to take a step back. She edged a little further back to the entrance to the front room. She bumped into Aaron’s hard stomach.

  “Easy now,” he said.

  He held the pistol behind his leg, ready to bring up at a moment’s notice.

  Where’s mine? Katie thought. She wasn’t the best shot but she’d feel a lot safer if she had a gun on her.

  The wood creaked above her head. Ronnie was getting into position too, preparing to cover them from above if anything happened.

  Bill nodded to Aaron before cracking the door open.

  “Lost, friend?” Bill said.

  Katie couldn’t see the figure on the other side, only a thin sliver of the road and field opposite.

  “You could say that,” the man said. “My car broke down and I’ve been walking for the past thirty minutes. I haven’t seen another house or working car that whole time.”

  “You travelling alone?”

  “Yes. I only need to make a phone call for the AA to pick my car up.”