Let Slip the Pups of War: Spot and Smudge - Book Three

by Robert Udulutch

  Ben stuck his hand into the air and blindly signed, Your turn, Spot.

  Dan and Aila heard another thunk on a nearby tree trunk as they continued to crawl away, choking and coughing through the acrid, low hanging smoke. The second canister popped near them and they scurried faster, blindly scrambling away through the caustic fog.

  Harley smiled as he reloaded the launcher and heard the targets coughing and retching. He stood, checked his tranq gun, and as he took the first step into the woods the horn on his van started to blare one long constant tone.

  From the back yard Harley could only see the outline of the van through the smoke. He held the gun to his hip and sprayed the woods again.

  As he sprinted for the front of the house a dog started a long, low howl from somewhere in the woods to the north.

  At first Harley thought it was some neighborhood dog that was howling in response to the van’s wailing horn, but then another howl joined in from the distance. And then more howls came, and then more, and as they blended together Harley was sure they were moving in the forest, and getting closer.

  He picked up the pace and mumbled to himself, “Just keeps getting better and better, what is it with these fucking dogs?” as he sprayed the woods again.

  Chapter 50

  Marty wasn’t familiar with the scope and it took him a moment to turn it to infrared. He scanned the tree line behind the goat pen and saw a dozen heat signatures moving fast towards them across the field. He could make out two large coyotes leading the charge, with a phalanx of smaller wild dogs spread out at their flanks. The animals weren’t running in exactly straight lines, and their deliberate evasion tactics left Marty staring with his mouth hanging open.

  He turned to Katia who had also raised her scope when the howling started. Marty could see the glow around her eye change from blue to orange as she also switched to thermal sighting. She jerked back from the scope and looked back at him.

  Mimi stood and saw One Ear leading the charge of coyotes. They were coming fast from the dark of the tree line and running in Hamish’s zig-zag pattern. “Well it’s about bloody time,” Mimi said with a big smile.

  She and Comina pulled Hamish to his feet. When he saw the big wild dog and her mate pounding through the snow he yelled over the hood of the smoking Wagoneer, “Hey Katia, my wee dogs have come to eat ya! If you give up now and tell me where my niece is I’ll not let them tear you into bitty rooskiy kuski.”

  Katia stood in the driveway for a long moment staring at the shadows behind the white Jeep.

  “We gotta go!” Marty shouted at her. He shouted twice more before she reacted.

  Katia dropped the gun to her hip and flicked it to full auto. She sprayed a long sustained stream at the Walker vehicles as she walked backwards towards the van.

  Thumbing her mic Katia said, “All teams eva, repeat, eva. T-one check to the north for incoming heat sigs, T-three burn the clinic and get the hell out.” She hadn’t yet clicked off her mic when she added, “Fuck,” at the end.

  Her assault rifle spat out another long stream of bullets as she walked to the passenger door of the van. The remaining tires of the maroon truck blew out, and a trail of glassy bits flicked up from the Jeep’s windshield. She turned and sprayed the ground in front of the advancing coyotes. The wild dogs parted momentarily, and then sped up.

  Katia pulled herself into the van, wincing at the pain in her shoulder as she slammed the door closed and Marty gunned it down the driveway.

  Comina and Mimi leapt from behind the Jeep. They leveled the shotgun and snub nosed pistol at the retreating van as they chased after it, but held their fire. As the van speed away they stopped together in the middle of the snowy driveway, and dropped their guns as sirens wailed in the distance.

  Comina didn’t think they should be anywhere near the farm when the local authorities arrived. Maybe the town cops would pursue Katia and help them to find Kelcy, and maybe they wouldn’t. Regardless, when the local cops got a whiff of the gas and saw the fires, and the firepower being used, they might get a little spooked. She didn’t want any stupid, tragic accidents. Either way she didn’t think it was safe for the family to be detained for any length of time. It certainly wouldn’t help them to get back Kelcy and Smudge.

  At the burning Hogan house Harley ran for the black van with his assault rifle raised to his cheek. His mind raced about the blaring horn and all he could come up with was Boba had somehow crawled out of the inferno and made it to the van.

  The howling was definitely getting louder. He swept the gun through the woods as he approached the front yard. In the thermal sight he saw the white and yellow blooms of the hot animals bolting through the snowy woods and along the sides of the road. They were little more than dots but they were closing at a full run. They also weren’t running in a straight line, and often paused behind the cold trees where they disappeared from his sight. Harley shook his head, not wanting to think about what that meant.

  With the van horn still blaring he swung wide in front of the house, braving the heat from the blazing front porch so he could approach the driver’s door from the side. He had left the door open but someone had closed it, and he didn’t see anyone behind the wheel.

  As he moved closer to the van door the horn stopped and Harley paused before yanking it open.

  From what he had heard over his radio it was clear the situation at the farm was also a fuck-show. At that moment it occurred to Harley he had accomplished one of his grandfather’s goals. He had found out what had happened to his mother, his aunt, and his cousin Liko…they had angered this fucking family.

  He lifted the handle, pulled open the van door and poked the rifle inside. It was empty, and the passenger door was wide open. He quickly leaned over the center console and swept the short rifle through the empty back of the van.

  Something yanked on Harley’s boot.

  He looked over his shoulder and saw a small grey and brown face poking out from under the van. It reared back and took another bite, this time clamping down painfully on his leg just above his boot. As he yelled the little dog tugged hard, trying to pull him backwards out of the van. Harley spun and grabbed the van’s center console as he kicked hard at the dog biting his ankle. The little animal yelped and let go but immediately bit down again. Harley turned back and made a grab for his rifle as a black dog wearing a white camo vest leapt into the passenger seat. It snatched the gun’s strap in its mouth and yanked the rifle right out of his hands when it jumped out of the van.

  An instant later the black dog jumped back onto the passenger seat without the rifle. It looked plenty pissed, and as it prepared to lunge Harley drew his double barrel pistol. The dog backpedaled and leapt out of the van before Harley could get off a shot.

  He heard it bark from just out of sight.

  The little dog clamped to his ankle let go and disappeared under the van before Harley could turn and shoot at it.

  Spot and Lum crouched in the shadows of the woods at the side of the road. He kept Lum from charging the van again as the Tzeng man leaned out from the passenger door and shot randomly above their heads before pulling the door closed.

  Harley fired up the van and lowered the driver’s window to unload his hand cannon at the Hogan’s vehicles. Double flames shot from the twin dragon barrels as the tires on the cars blew.

  The van spit gravel, swerved into the road, and shot away to the south. As it disappeared down Morgan road Birl and the lead female met up with Spot and Lum in the middle of the street. A half-dozen other coyotes sprang from the woods and joined them an instant later.

  Harley’s stinging ankle bled into his boot as he slammed the gas pedal to the floor. While the van gained speed he held his wounded shoulder and watched the circling dogs in his rearview mirror. He clicked his mic and said, “Hey T-three, make sure you grab that crazy black dog before you leave the fucking clinic. T-one wants it tested for rabies.”

  Katia’s voice came over the radio, “T-two fucking secon
ds that.”

  Chapter 51

  Mimi brushed away another tear from both of their faces as she pulled Ben closer to her. The boy leaned back against his warm grandmother and held his dad’s hand. They were huddled under a canopy of overhanging pine branches in front of a small fire near the coyote’s den.

  Aila finished cleaning Spot’s shoulder wound and stuffed the alcohol and gauze back into her bag. She wasn’t surprised to see he didn’t need a bandage. The deep slice had already closed and started to scab over. He gave her a lick before walking with One Ear to Ben’s side.

  The two dogs had just returned from checking the clinic. It was engulfed in fire and all of the front windows had been blown out. The entire rear half of the building had also collapsed. There were fire trucks and police everywhere so they couldn’t get too close but there was no sign of Kelcy or Smudge, or the black vans.

  Spot came around the fire and leaned against Ben.

  Without looking up Ben raised his dirty hand and signed.

  Spot shook his head, split his paw open and signed back, I was trying to find the right time to tell her.

  Ben signed, There’s no good time, and we don’t know how long we have here. Tell her about her daughter.

  Spot nodded, and gave Ben’s sooty wet cheek a lick before leading One Ear to the edge of the clearing.

  He nudged under her chin and moved his body against hers, yapping and shaking his head.

  After a few moments One Ear turned and faced south. She was looking at the trail to the farm, the one that crossed Morgan Road. The large wild female dog stomped the ground. She circled, agitated, and her movements drew the rest of the pack around her and Spot. All of the coyotes, old and young, rose up from their resting places and joined around their female alpha. They pressed in tight and moved as one large mass, pushing against her, and each other. She drew a deep breath, threw her head back and looked up into the dark of the falling snow as she let out a long, sorrowful howl. The rest of the pack joined in, each offering up their own despondent, trembling wail.

  One Ear’s whole body stiffened and her tone rose until it became one long, blue note that split the night.

  Spot leaned against her, closed his eyes, and let loose.

  Bolstered by their leaders the pack unleashed, adding a surge of anguished howls.

  Ben had been in the den when his pups howled proudly with the coyotes as an act of celebration or simple bonding, but he had never heard these howls of mourning. Each dog’s pained cry felt like it was stabbing right into his heart, and he couldn’t watch Spot’s tortured face. He dropped his head and sobbed into his hands.

  Hamish had seen wild packs of dogs howling as well, but only from a distance. He and Lum were staring at each other as the runt leaned against his brothers. His ears were laid back on his head and his ribs shook as everything he had to give came out of his little quivering snout. The primal energy of his expressive baying was riveting, and he held Hamish’s eyes for a long while until the shifting sea of dogs swallowed him up again.

  Hamish watched the faces of the circle of humans and could tell this was a new, eerie experience for them. Even Jean and the parents were mesmerized, and they’d spent a fair amount of time around these animals. He read Comina’s face as utterly gob smacked. She shot him a quick look and he could see the mix of awe, curiosity, and emotion in her eyes. He assumed that wasn’t a common state for the tough FBI agent.

  Comina saw the old Scot was reading her like a comic book, and she tried to blame her tired, adrenaline soaked analytical brain for wearing her heart on her brow. She couldn’t help but be captivated by the beautiful complexity of the packs howling, and the emotional power behind it. She saw the positions and timbre of the pack members mattered, and their combined tonality pulled at something deep and instinctual in her. She watched Spot’s pained face and knew the little black dog understood both the humans’ tears and the wild dogs’ lamentations, and she marveled at the bridge those insights must have opened up for Ben and Hamish…and Kelcy.

  As if he had read her thoughts Spot opened his eyes and looked at her. He drew another big breath as he and One Ear continued to point their rounded muzzles at the sky and howl together.

  Mimi had watched her smart little black dogs’ expressive faces since the day they were born. Smudge had always been the more sensitive of the two, but she could clearly see the hurt on Spot’s face, and she could feel him howling for Smudge, and for Kelcy, and for little Piff.

  When Spot looked at Mimi she was cradling Ben’s head, and weeping openly.

  The wild dogs continued to move against one another in different combinations as their mourning songs wailed and their bodies shared their grief. After several long minutes the howls devolved into chopped yaps, and eventually all went quiet.

  One Ear licked Spot again, and then she disappeared into the woods alone. The panting pack returned to their napping places, spinning in circles around each other before dropping down into several furry warm piles. Birl walked back to Aila and plunked down between her legs as Lum draped himself over Hamish’s lap, and Racket curled up next to Mimi. All of the adults’ eyes were filled with fresh tears as they stroked the young hunters.

  Aila wiped a sooty streak from her cheek and smiled as Ben looked up at her.

  “Damn tear gas,” she said.

  He nodded as he wiped at his own wet eyes.

  Comina had kept it together until Spot circled the fire, stopped in front of Ben, and reached a paw behind the boy’s head to pull their foreheads together. She watched the cunning boy and his smart dog as they stood frozen with their faces touching, and then she caught Jean looking at her. Comina’s eyes welled up when the grandmother smiled, and nodded to her. As she sobbed quietly she rolled her phone in her hand, and thought about VB. She hadn’t been able to reach him and he was never, ever out of touch. As she stared into the fire she thought about Barton’s wife and children. Several years ago VB had made Comina memorize a message for Vicky if this day should ever come. They always knew it was a possibility. Every agent and every spouse did, but knowing didn’t make it any easier. She thought maybe it made it worse, and she didn’t know if she could actually dial Vicky’s number. It wasn’t the first time she’d had to make that call in her career, but for some reason she just couldn’t make this one. Not yet, anyway.

  She had listened to VB’s voicemail several times but it was less than encouraging. He hadn’t said a word the entire message, and she heard sporadic gunfire in the background before the call disconnected.

  As she listened to it again Spot left Ben and walked to her side. He leaned in and brought his black face right up against the phone pressed to Comina’s cheek. She could smell the dirt and smoke on his muzzle.

  Spot closed his eyes and signed as Ben translated, “Single pair of shoes running on concrete. Large room with hard walls, metal door chattering, medium caliber handgun fire, three shots, whizzing sounds, Spot think it’s the tranq darts…burst mode automatic rifle fire, definitely the Tzeng’s small caliber assault weapon, body hitting concrete…silence, nothing… heavy footsteps. It’s very faint but there’s a deep voice yelling in Russian...stoyo bat?”

  “What the fuck?” Comina said. She looked around the ring of people and said, “That’s what cheto yebat means...What the fuck.”

  Spot moved his cheek away from the phone and looked at Comina. He signed and Ben translated, “That’s all there is. I’m sorry, I can’t make out anything else.”

  The agent touched Spot’s face and another fat tear rolled down her cheek. As she looked into Spot’s caring, intelligent brown eyes she was struck by an urge to howl.

  Comina shook that off and thanked Spot. She set her phone down, and motioned for Ben to hand her the little bullpup assault rifle he’d taken off the dead assassin in the back yard. She looked the weapon over, running her fingers down its sleek sides and over the tranq and grenade launchers. It was a deadly looking thing. Something about its small size made it see
m more insidious than the family’s larger assault rifles.

  Ben’s satphone rang somewhere near Hamish and Lum groaned as he moved the little coyote aside to hunt for it. The exhausted runt had been enjoying the deep rubs Hamish’s strong fingers had been giving him. Hamish found the phone, looked at the number, and tossed it to Dan.

  “Andi?” Dan said after hitting the answer button, “Yeah, its Dan…No, this is my son’s phone. Thanks for calling me back so soon. Sorry about texting so late, did I catch you in the middle of a shift?...Okay well look, I need a big favor…” he turned a little to avoid Aila’s stare as he said, “…Unfortunately, it turns out I was right…”

  Chapter 52

  A nurse met Johann at the back of the black van. She waved over two large female security guards who were standing watch on the dock’s platform. They hesitated, but then slung their weapons and came down the ramp to help her lift a muscular Asian man and place him onto a gurney.

  As Johann and the nurse pushed the heavy gurney up the ramp he caught her worried look and said, “He’s just been knocked out, a cocktail of acepromazine, haloperidal, and a little etorphine just to make it a happy experience. He’ll be fine.” As they turned the gurney at the top of the ramp he added, “Sorry about the long drive, did you have any trouble finding this place?”

  “Not at all,” the nurse said, “and there was no traffic from the city this late.” She lowered her voice and nodded at the two guards holding rifles as she asked, “What is this place, Doctor? After these two let me in all they said was to wait for you to arrive.”

  “Listen Meg, just do what you’re told and keep your mouth shut,” Johann said, “And I’ll double your per diem. Room seven.”

  Nurse Meg nodded and they wheeled Tian through plastic curtains and into a long central hallway that ran the length of the discrete single story concrete office building. Halfway down the corridor she pushed through a large door and clicked on the overhead lights as they angled the gurney into a large treatment room.