A scream echoed around the walls. Joann! Riddled with a need to charge into the room beyond the open door in aid of her, I turned my face slightly to eye my escort.
“Be still, bitch!” the boxer’s voice fell out of the far room and filtered underneath the door frame to reach my ears.
Joann screamed unknown words, as if muffled in some way.
Hair standing on end, I forced my pads to slowly approach the closed entrance door and knock.
“What the?” an indignant but surprised male hollered.
“I'll get it, honey.” This was a female voice. “You enjoy my present.”
Paws curling into balls of barely-repressed energy beat against my thighs to give myself something to do until I could go into action.
The sound of a heavy blow followed by a cry of pain flowed passed the opening door. The snowshoe hare, Giselle Deville, pulled the door open only thirty centimeters {12”}, and placed her paws on the doorframe using her up right ears and barely-covered body in skimpy pink halter top and pink mini skirt to block any sight of the happenings in the far room behind her.
“Now's not a good time, honey,” she said without looking at my face, as her eyes took note of my unclothed, furry white chest. Those same eyes traveled down instead of up. If she had witnessed the dried blood on my matted fur, the next moments would've been different. But as she did not, her long ears perked up even more so upon seeing I wore no pants. Her lips parted, showing her long white incisors as her yellow eyes filled with lust.
I wanted to shove her aside. I wanted to deck her and charge in. Yet I did neither, for before I could think of what to say or do, Giselle shot a quick look behind her and stepped out of the work room in front of me to close the door. She threw her arms around me, burying her face in my chest. “Damn, you look gorgeous. I could eat you alive.”
“Ms. Deville…” I started stiffly.
Giselle surprised me by grabbing my crotch with her long finger paw and started massaging. “We've got a couple of minutes before he misses me.” She sighed deeply, enjoying how my furry chest felt on her face. Her ear twitched in front of mine when she heard growling. Giselle shifted to look at the stairs on my right. “Zak, Jack, what the hell are you two doing out here?” Giselle let go reluctantly. “Shoo, go back to your duties.” She released her hold on me and walked toward the dogs, motioning with her paws for them to turn around and head back to the room I'd come out of. The two Dobermans whined in their throats but held their ground. “Go on, I said. Both of you, or I won't give you your special treat.”
I chanced a look. The two looked at each other. Giselle grabbed a paw full of furry skin behind their necks and pulled them toward the stairs to get them going. “Let's go, boys. I've an animal to keep company.” Giselle gave me a wicked look in saying that.
Several paths lay open to me. Each with its own merits and downfalls. However, a muffled scream beyond the door ahead of me nixed them all save the worst choice. As soon as Giselle had the dogs descending the stairs, I quickly threw open the door before me and sprinted across the workroom to the next and sent its door crashing against the wall, startling the naked boxer who leapt up off Joann.
“What the hell? You!” he spat in surprise.
Though Joann lay on a couch, beaten and crying, she saw me and reacted in desperation. Face contorted in anger, she doubled up her powerful jackrabbit legs and kicked out with all her strength. Her pads nailed the boxer so hard that even I winced to the thud of his body hitting hard against the wall behind him.
From behind me, Giselle had come back in. She cried out, “Shit!”
I whipped around to see her standing inside the open entrance to the office a second before she yell at the Dobermans, pointing. “Get him!”
“Braxton!” Joann cried, bouncing up off the couch, arms reaching out.
“Stay back!” I yelled. I enforced my words with a raised paw, startling Joann. Briefly Joann's large gray eyes showed hurt at my denial of receiving her embrace. However, that was quickly squashed as I snapped my paws to either side of me, stepping back into the main room to gain freedom to move. Claws extending, I prepared for the worst.
On Giselle's orders, the pair of Dobermans charged in unison, deadly sharp teeth bared. I braced for the impact, digging in toenails. Savagery swallowed my face. Gut-churning knowledge of what was to happen had me change my odds. I charged. Adrenalin dumped into my system. Time slowed. Reflexes instigated instead of reacted. The dogs leapt. Joann cried out. Giselle stood by the open exit with a slightly upward curve on her lips. A combined weight of one hundred and twenty-four kilograms, {162lbs} hit my chest. My paws arrowed in on their throats that same instant. Claws dug into their throats as Doberman toenails raked my chest in our combined impact. A misstep. A leg out of place. Momentum changed and I toppled left. Doberman teeth snapped. I came down. Jaws wide, I bit down on legs.
Time caught up. We hit hard. Blood and bone severed in my jaws upon impact with the floor. Howls of pain left two throats, the second being my own as teeth dug into my right shoulder. I rolled right from the injured Doberman, taking the one on my shoulder to the floor. In response he dug his teeth in deeper. I howled my pain as my right paw, still on his neck, was joined by the left. Paws combined, I pushed. He raked my chest and legs with all four toenails. He saw my muzzle go wide and he let go to spring away.
Giselle commanded. “Get him, Zak!”
I gained a knee quick-like, paws out front to catch the oncoming Doberman. Unfortunately, my thoughts were only on Zak. I'd forgotten about Jack, having nearly bitten off his front two legs. Even so, his jaws clamped down on my left calf. The searing pain caused my body to dump more adrenalin into my bloodstream. Time slowed. With the seconds of extra speed, I grabbed Zak by the throat and slammed him down on top of Jack. I grimaced to Jacks teeth as they sunk in deeper. He let go a long moment later, evoking a howl. Time resumed. Zak rolled up on his paws. I came down on mine, straddling Jack, and sought to end this with a growled promise. “I kill him if you attack!”
Jack whimpered.
Zak readied to renew his attack.
Jack whimpered louder.
Their eyes met, Jack's pleading. Zak's eyes sought mine. He gave a whine and closed his jaws. By his posture, I knew he was backing down. An agreement between us given and accepted.
Giselle, not understanding our communication, screamed, “Get him!”
Carefully I stood. My shoulder and calf were inflamed and bleeding. My chest reddened from rent flesh. Yet I managed to say, “Give it up, Giselle, they are mine now.”
Giselle shrieked and bolted out the open door.
Zak growled and snapped his jaws. The sound warned me, and I whipped my head to see him sag to the floor with a dart in his shoulder. I looked behind me and saw Joann, her back pressed against the doorframe, a pistol aimed. It spat out a second dart to deliver its payload into Jack's prone body. She looked at me. The pistol lowered. Her eyes asked questions. Her ears drooped, displaying relief.
My adrenalin rush subsided. My need for bravado over with, I limped to an office chair and sat heavily. “The Boxer?” I asked needlessly. She raised the pistol and displayed it sideways to me with a shake indicating he too dozed.
She laid the pistol on the desk. Her posture easily read she wished to hold me. Instead, she said, “I'll flag down a rickshaw to get you to the hospital.”
“Before you do.” I laid a paw on hers and squeezed it. “A Ms. Pierpont is locked in a cage below this office, in a store room. Could you please see to her release as soon as you get some clothes on?”
Joann looked down at herself. Though she still wore her purple and green halter top, it was pulled up over her breasts. Her matching shorts were on the floor in the other room. A burst of hysterical laughter escaped her lips. She clamped her mouth shut and covered it with her free paw.
Though tired and hurt, I still managed a slight smile. “Not that I haven't longed to see you this way these past days.”
To my quip, as I sought to lighten the mood, Joann was able to swallow her hysteria and regained a semblance of balance. She leaned over and our lips met. She lingered for more than a quick kiss yet shorter then we both wanted. She took a deep whiff of my scent and rubbed her nose on mine. “I love you too.”
She stood and pushed the pistol my way, but before she left me I caught her paw, having considered a problem might ensue that puts me in jail.
“Joann. A hospital may have to wait. Please, release Ms. Pierpont and bring her up here.”
“But you're hurt and bleeding?”
“I'll not deny this, but the circumstances that brought me here may have consequences.”
Joann knelt. She put her paws and head on my good thigh. “Oh, Braxton, what did you do to find me?”
I grimaced for more reasons than one. I rubbed my neck, acknowledging it hurt as well as wishing for better circumstances to tell her. I used my paw to raise her head so she could see the truth in my eyes. “First of all, I want you to have no doubts I love you. But the truth is I didn't know you were here until I caught your scent in climbing the stairs.”
An ear rose halfway, “But…then…” She moved her head away from my outreached paw.
“The circumstance that brought me here I'll explain later. In the meantime, you need to understand my fight with the Dobermans was because I heard you scream beyond that door.” I pointed to the room where within the boxer lay sleeping.
Joann stood quickly and backed some steps. She folded her arms around herself. Her ears layback behind her head and she snapped, “You're still looking for that archeologist. That's why that snowshoe hare lured me here…”
“Joann, please…”
“I…oh shit.” Joann's eyes went wide then narrowed just as quickly. “I was abducted and nearly raped because of your case!” Her heated words fell heavily on my shoulders. Joann's paws curled into fists, her arms fell stiffly to her sides and she stomped into the next room to get her shorts.
“Joann, please hear me out.” I stood, though presently doing so was not a good idea.
“Can it, Braxton. I don't want to hear it.” Tears erupted on her cheeks and she slammed the door to have a barrier between us while she got dressed.
“Joann!” I pounded on the door she'd locked. “I'd tear into a pack of wolverines to save you. You've got to believe me, I'd never have willingly taken a case which I knew could ever endanger you!”
“And yet you have. Did! Even after I begged you to quit!” her muffled words of hurt fell into my ears from beyond the door.
“But I did quit!”A half-truth. But it would've been the whole truth had not Ms. Pierpont gone missing.
“Bullshit!” The door rattled and I stepped back. She opened it, having pulled up and buttoned her shorts. “That hare brought me here to be abducted by this boxer.” She pointed at the comatose animal behind the wall before she pulled down her halter top. “As a warning for you to back off!”
“A warning perhaps, but not on my account.”
“What do you know about it?”
“For one thing, I've been locked in a cage for the past day or so in that storeroom I mentioned.”
Her right ear twitched. That told me she was at least running that over in her mind.
Carefully I reached up to hold her arms with my paws. “Circumstances forced me to pack up my business, but before I could get my pads wet in unemployment, another P.I. agency tracked me down to aid them in finding Mr. Sullivan as their lead P.I. Ms. Pierpont had gone missing. The owner's thoughts were that since I'd been already looking in on the matter, I'd find Ms. Pierpont first. I believe she would then have taken over as lead investigator, with me as back-up. I then received a threat against your life, at which time I resolved to quit. Right as I decided on that, I got a message Ms. Catharine Nelson had supposedly been animal-napped and Mr. Nelson wished for my help. I found out too late that her being missing had been a ruse to get me out of the public eye so he could safely tranquilize and cage me here.”
Joann digested this. Her ears rose. “If…this is so, we need to go to the police and report it.”
I shook my head in denial. “I can't, at least not yet. You see, I killed an animal in self-defense”—Joann's eyes grew wide—“But Catharine's brother, Mr. Nelson, I'm sure has spun a different tale to the police in order to explain the death in his house. One that involved my actions as unprovoked. A story that holds more plausibility, given he's a respected red fox in his business. Compounded, of course, by my disappearance. A fact the police will weigh heavily as admission of guilt.”
“Then we can explain it to them,” she snapped, regaining her anger.
I shook my head sadly. “You don't understand police mentality concerning Private Investigators. We're nothing but bottom feeders. A blight in any city. Always under pads and mucking up their investigations no matter how many cases we solve. They would rather believe a criminal's story over the truth. Any story really, if it'd get us off the streets.”
“Then why do it? Why put up with it?”
“Because I'm good at it.”
“If that's true, why haven't you ever tried to join the force? Surely from there you could do just as well.”
“True, I'll grant you that. But then I'd be working cases they want solved, not cases I'd like to solve.”
Joann looked confused and pulled out of my paws. “You're making no sense. What's the difference?”
“The difference is in who they benefit.”
Her face contorted in bewilderment.
“Look, Joann, the police are paid by the city. However, it's the wealthy who truly control the city. So only cases that affect the wealthy are really looked into. Simple animals like you and I would never get any justice if it weren't for private detectives like me.”
While Joann considered, I carefully approached and engulfed her in my arms, really needing the contact, regardless of the pain. After a short moment she returned the hug.
In my ear I heard her reason, “You're done now, right? You're dropping this case?”
I hugged her as tightly as I could bear before pushing her out to arm's length. “Joann,” I whispered sadly and watched her eyes and ears drop. “I'm so very sorry about having involved you in this. But we'll never be safe until the reasons behind all this is exposed.” I gently laid a paw on her cheek. “However, we're not in the dark anymore. Mr. Bryn Nelson showed his complicity in this case by animal-napping me. Also, the owner of this warehouse has to be complicit as well. This gives us two avenues to investigate. Besides, we have Ms. Deville by the ears in her involvement and Ms. Pierpont's help. Since we both work for the same agency we can bring to bear all its resources.”
Joann looked into my eyes and saw how much it was costing me to stand there and talk to her. She took my paw and kissed the palm. “Okay, love, I trust you.” She led me back to the chair. “You sit here and I'll get Ms. Pierpont. Between the two of us we'll get you medical treatment and take this fight to whoever started this.” Joann first gathered up a blanket from the other room to cover my lap before she left to find the arctic fox.
****
Chapter 10:
Obscurity Could Work
It turned out Mr. Sahaja Palan was efficient. By day's end, I was resting comfortably in a private hospital known to be discreet for its special clientele. Joann laid next me, possessively. With her curled up sleeping beside me, I understood our separation had made her more cherished in my heart then I ever expected another animal could ever be.
Out in the city, the newsstands were going to be the recipient of quite a story by morning. Though Mr. Palan had unbelievable pull in the city, I'd written a letter to Lieutenant Fergus Barkly and had Ms. Pierpont take it to him. This pretty much guaranteed a raid on the warehouse before the criminal organization got wind of it. As for that red fox, Mr. Nelson, I'd imagine once he got word, he'd be inconsolable for days, unknowing if an arrest warrant would be posted for him. In truth, I considered
, he should tuck tail and run. But I don't really believe he'll do that. His personality is more likely to hunker down and dig in. I'm in hope he does, 'cause he and I have unfinished business to attend to.
A short time into my thoughts, a white-nosed coati nurse pushed the curtain aside, eyed Joann and I, shrugged and pricked my skin with a needle. “This will let you sleep through the night.” She then left us to ourselves.
My injures were severe enough to warrant I remain in the hospital for three days. On the day of my release, Ms. Pierpont showed up, causing Joann to hug me tighter to her side.
“I got word you were being discharged today,” she said.
“Yeah, though the place has done wonders with my injuries, it's time I got some exercise to bulk up so I can face Mr. Nelson.”
“Yeah, about that…” Zoe began. “Mr. Palan wants you to forget about your revenge and help me find Mr. Sullivan. The fox is still missing and our client is getting pissed about our lack of results.”
Joann stepped in front of me. “That fox's disappearance is no longer his priority. Clearing his good name is.” Joann shooed Ms. Pierpont out of the room with a wave of her paw. “So you can just go away.”
“I mean no disrespect, but Mr. Snow owes—”
“He owes nothing!” Joann cut in. “Braxton told me all about that deal. Because of it, he was nearly killed. So that slate is clean.”
Zoe's face took on stubborn lines. Her tail twitched and her ears shifted to indicate she was getting irritated. “Look, Ms. Uh—”
“South,” I supplied. “Ms. Joann South.” I put my good paw on her left shoulder and added. “That is, until we get married.”
“That's right.” Joann placed her paw on mine. “That's why his priority is to clear his name, so we can have a public wedding. A wedding I can invite my family and friends to.”
“Look, Ms. South,” Zoe sought to reason. “I'm sorry. Though he was hired in a roundabout way to find and help me, his being in the same predicament by other sources doesn't, as you say, clear his debt.”
Braxton Snow P.I. (The Snow Adventures Book 1) Page 16