by Dale Mayer
She bounded to her feet, looked at him in confusion. He pointed at the tea towel, and she wandered in that direction, sniffed, looking for something to fetch, and he said, “Higher.” Her nose went up a little bit higher. She grabbed the tea towel and brought it to him but obviously was not certain of her position.
He grabbed it, smiled and gave her a gentle pat. Then he praised her. “Good girl, Bella. Good girl. Now go back and guard.”
She returned to her position and sat down to watch the intruder.
Ethan ripped a strip off the tea towel and wrapped it around the intruder’s wrist, putting pressure on it to stop the bleeding.
“I need a hospital, damn you,” the man cried out. “Not some backward medicine.”
“What you need is a bullet,” Ethan said calmly. “And, of course, if Sentry had killed you in the meantime, I certainly wouldn’t have had a problem with that.”
The man glared up at him.
Ethan said, “How many people have you had these dogs kill?”
The man sneered. But the waves of pain were taking their toll on him.
“They’re just animals. And Boris is my number one tracker. But he’s nowhere near what my Billy was.”
“What happened to this Billy?”
“He was shot after he killed a man during a fight. Another guy got out a gun and shot him, but Billy got his man anyway. Unfortunately we had to put him down.”
“And how many men had Billy killed?”
The intruder shrugged. “Maybe a dozen. I don’t know.”
“And Boris?” Ethan asked, using the name the intruder used.
“He’s attacked many, but I don’t think he’s got any kills under his belt yet. But he’s young. By the time he’s six, he’ll be well seasoned.”
“Not if I have any say in the matter,” Ethan said cheerfully. “An animal like that, which gives you his loyalty, and all you do is turn him into a killer.”
“That’s why he was loyal. His predecessor loved the taste of blood. Don’t kid yourself. These animals love an opportunity to take something down and tear it to shreds.”
They both looked at Sentry, who even now had the baton in shreds of leather and padding. But he was still working off his temper, still growling and attacking it. As Ethan watched, Sentry calmed slightly and focused on ripping off every piece of fabric and leather on the heavy steel center.
Ethan shook his head. “It’s good therapy, isn’t it, Sentry?”
“Good therapy is giving him a bloody cat or a rabbit to eat, preferably still alive,” the man snarled. “You’re ruining these dogs. And you’ve got a hell of a nerve stealing these animals and changing Boris’s name. We all worked them and hard to get them to be the way we wanted them, and you are messing them up.”
“It’s not your problem anymore,” Ethan said. “You’ll go away for a long time.”
“For what?” the man sneered. “For breaking into my girlfriend’s house because she was having a little snit fit? Obviously she changed the locks, and I didn’t know about it.”
“It’s not that simple,” Ethan said. “You’re connected to the dogs. That puts you in the drug operation.”
“What do you know about the drug operation?” the man asked, his voice hesitant.
“More than you do,” Ethan said. He could hear a vehicle approach. He wasn’t sure who it was, but he hoped it was Flynn. He needed back up soon. This asshole, as much as Ethan didn’t want to get it for him, needed medical attention. Ethan was of the opinion a six-foot-deep hole out in the back would have been a perfect answer. But rough justice had gone out of Texas a long time ago. Too damn bad.
“You can’t know anything about it. That place has been operating in the shadows for a long time.”
Ethan nodded. “So true. Until she told me all about it,” he added with a smile. “Once I heard about it, then I couldn’t leave it alone.” He could see the confusion in the intruder’s eyes.
“Her? What are you talking about?”
But Ethan decided not to share. “Besides, it’s shut down now.”
“Yeah, but it’ll only grow,” the guy said. “It’s not like you’ll hit them hard enough to stop them.”
“If you want to share that information with the police, they might let you off a little lighter.”
“Not likely. I’ll get killed in jail anyway,” he said. “The bosses went through a bad patch a while ago. They should have killed off any loose ends. It would have saved them a lot of pain and money. Now it’s standard practice after that mess.”
“Quite possibly,” Ethan said. “And I can tell you one thing, if you ever come back here, I’ll kill you myself.”
The man glared up at him, then he said in a low voice, “I still don’t understand what woman you’re talking about.”
“And I won’t tell you,” Ethan said. Hearing footsteps at the front door, Ethan slipped back slightly out of view. A heavy knock came at the door. “Flynn?”
“Yeah, it’s me. You okay here?”
“Come on to the kitchen door. Turn on some lights. This asshole is bleeding all over the floor.”
As Flynn approached, Sentry stood, growling in the back of his throat. Flynn stopped in the doorway and put up his hands.
Ethan said, “Hit the light switch.”
Flynn followed his instructions. Light flooded the living room so Ethan could see Sentry with his haunches up, standing over the absolutely destroyed baton. But it also showed Ethan beside a man bleeding quite badly on the floor.
Flynn’s eyebrows rose. “Is she still asleep or is she upstairs hiding?”
“Believe it or not I think she’s asleep.”
Flynn looked at the dog in front of him and said, “This must be one of those big rescues you took on.”
“It is. This is Sentry.” Ethan let out a sharp noise, then said, “Sentry, Flynn is a friend.”
Sentry wasn’t listening.
“Sentry, stand down.”
Sentry gave a hard shake.
Ethan looked at the smirking intruder. “You think it’s funny you created a dog that’s a killer?” He motioned at Bella. “Bella, stand guard.” And then Ethan slowly straightened and walked over to Sentry, who stood in front of Flynn. Ethan walked up beside Flynn and stood at his side.
Sentry looked at Ethan and then back at Flynn.
Ethan reached down a hand, put it on the dog’s fur, reached out his other hand toward Flynn and said, “Give me your hand.” He did so, and Ethan told Sentry in a firm voice, “Friend. Stand down.” His voice brooked no argument, but it was also calm and orderly.
Sentry slowly quieted, the hairs on the back of his neck easing down as he studied the new arrival.
Flynn brushed his hair off his forehead and said, “Wow.”
“It should be safe for you to approach.”
Flynn looked beyond them into the kitchen and said, “Good thing because your intruder’s trying to escape out the door.”
Ethan turned and saw the guy getting to his feet to make it to the kitchen door. “Bella, attack,” he ordered.
Bella spun and jumped on the intruder’s back, clamping down on his shoulder, bringing the man to the floor again.
Ethan walked around Sentry, who was already heading toward Bella, looking for some fun himself.
In the kitchen, Ethan ordered both dogs to stand back, which they did surprisingly enough. He grabbed the intruder, slammed him onto a chair and asked, “Do you want to go for another round?”
By now his shoulder welled up with blood too. He stared up at the two men, pain glazing his eyes.
Ethan turned to look at Flynn and said, “Do you want to call the cops for me?”
“I already did,” he said. “I figured that, if you had an intruder, you probably would take them down, and we’d need the cops eventually.”
Ethan checked the intruder’s shoulder. “You’ll be fine,” he snapped.
“I’ll fucking shoot the dogs,” the intruder said. “You just
wait. I’ll get another chance, and I’ll take them both out.”
Sentry lunged forward as if understanding what the intruder had said.
Ethan held up his hand and ordered Sentry to stop. He didn’t look like he would for a long moment. With his growling up the back of his throat and his hackles raised, Ethan stood strong. But he didn’t use force.
Finally Sentry calmed down. As if giving the intruder a disgusted look, Sentry gave his head a shake and turned to join Bella sitting off to the side.
Flynn approached quietly. “Are you sure he’s safe to have around?”
“He’ll be the best damn guard dog anybody could want,” Ethan said. “But we have to let him know most people aren’t mean assholes, like this guy.”
“If you say so.”
Ethan laughed and sat on the floor between the dogs. He reached up to scratch them under the chin.
Flynn stared in astonishment. “You’re braver than I am. How did you know they would let you do that?”
“Both dogs are good animals,” he said quietly. “They will take to affection as much as they’re running away from the brutality of this asshole.”
“They’re our dogs, and you’re ruining them,” the intruder roared. “I came to get them back, not sit here and watch you destroy them.”
“Oh, interesting,” Ethan said. “I thought you might have been here for other reasons. Regardless, you’ll be disappointed on both counts.” He tilted his head to the side and studied the man. And then looked at Flynn. “What am I missing?”
But Flynn’s face had shifted and had locked down into a much harder, colder man than the one who had first arrived. He stepped backward, flattening against the wall as he sidled up to the window. “Did you have a chance to see if this guy came alone?”
Ethan froze. Then he hopped to his feet and moved forward. “Bella,” he ordered, “with me.” At the bottom of the stairs he turned to look at Sentry and said, “Sentry, guard.”
Sentry snapped to attention, his ears up, and returned to the intruder on the chair.
Ethan ran up the stairs with Bella, wondering if this had all been a distraction, and he’d missed the main event. Knowing he would wake her and terrify her, he shouldered open the barricaded door and stepped in regardless. With his heart in his throat, he stared at the empty bed, his worst thoughts confirmed. Bella raced forward and searched, but she ended up at the window. The window beside a door that led to a deck with a nice set of stairs down the back to the bottom deck.
Somebody had kidnapped Cinn.
Chapter 11
The pain woke Cinn first. She moaned. Feeling her head pound, she rolled over onto her side, curling up into a fetal position, her hands clutching her temples. When she felt something wet and sticky, she pulled her fingers away and slowly opened her eyes. Her lids were heavy, as if she’d been crying nonstop. Her body throbbed, achy, but it was her head and her bloodstained fingers that were her main concern.
Her hands were free but she was lying on the floor in what appeared to be an empty room. A ramshackle room. There was a door but no windows that she could see. The area was small, maybe a ten-by-ten-foot space. There was enough light to see she was into a new day, yet still early.
What the hell?
Not sure what had happened, she propped herself on her right elbow, then cried out at the pounding in her head. She collapsed back down, gasping for breath, shuddering as her shoulder took the force.
Her shoulder throbbed. Slowly memories filled in the blanks in her mind.
Ethan had sent her back to bed. She lay here, frowning as the memories filtered back in. If this had happened to her, what had happened to Ethan? She was pretty damn sure he’d have been a hell of a watchdog. For her to be here now, something calamitous had to have happened to him.
She rolled over gently, trying not to cry out in pain. Between her head and her shoulder, she was mess. Where was she? Was she truly alone? Or were more assholes waiting outside for her?
The door was to her right. Moving gently so as not to further jar any of her injuries, she leaned on the wall beside the door. She reached up with one hand and tried the knob. It was not locked. She frowned, wondering if it could be that easy. Using the door for support she slowly made her way upright.
Once stable, she leaned against the wall for several moments as her breathing calmed. She listened through the crack in the door but heard nothing on the other side. Frowning, she pulled the door open enough that she could stick her head out—finding herself in a shed in the middle of a large property. But she noted other sheds were here too. This made no sense at all.
A larger building stood in front of her. She didn’t recognize the area. She didn’t recognize the buildings. She had absolutely no clue where she was. But she hadn’t come on her own. Those people had to be around somewhere. She had to get out of here, and she had to get out fast. She crept around to the back of her shed and surveyed her options. A fence was ahead of her, but it had rolled barbed wire over the top as a major deterrent. Not to mention it could be electric. She’d only find out the hard way.
The fence appeared to go all the way around on all three sides she could see of the property. She moved to the left side of the shed and still couldn’t see another way out. What were the chances this was a compound, and she was caged inside with just the one escape route? Maybe, with her injured arm and head, she could climb up to the barbed wire, but she wouldn’t make her way through the big coils at the top.
Moving as fast as she could, she slipped over to the next shed to get a better view of what was on the other side. She peered around the corner to see a road and a gate. She tapped on the shed behind her, wondering if anybody was there. She didn’t hear anything. She found a slight hole in one of the wooden planks. She lowered to her knees and whispered. With no answer and not seeing anything through the odd knot in the wallboard, she wondered if the other sheds in the area were empty. Then she caught sight of something hanging.
She peered at different angles, trying to look up, but couldn’t see what it was. It appeared to be plants drying. She straightened slowly, studied the area around her, wondering if she was on the drug property that Ethan had worked to bring down. In a twisted way it made sense. And notched her panic up that much higher. She needed to get the hell out of here. But there didn’t appear to be any breaks in the fence or any spot where she could slide under. Then she reconsidered that. Directly behind her, along one of the fence posts, was a little bit of a hollow, with rocks filling the gap.
Could she stay hidden long enough to clear that hollow enough for her to get under? She wasn’t very big. She crept over, crouched down flat and started removing the rocks.
As soon as she thought she had enough room, she flattened and scooted under headfirst. By the time she got her hips through on the other side, she could feel her panic choking her. Finally she’d managed to scrape her way to her feet, and then bolted as fast as she could away from the fence.
Every step made her want to cry out, but the fear of getting caught won over her pain.
There was a rise ahead of her. She climbed it, her heart pounding hard inside her chest. She crested the rise, skidding down the first few feet on the other side. There she came to a stop amid the dust. All she could see was more of the same. Sand, rocks, tumbleweeds even. There was vegetation, but it was wild, unkempt, uncultivated. All around her was miles of raw land.
She stared in awe at the vastness, wondering how the hell she was supposed to know which way to go.
The smart thing to do would be to follow the road. But it was also likely a way to bring her in contact with somebody she didn’t want to see. If she could keep the road in sight, she could follow it from a distance. It had to lead somewhere.
With that thought uppermost in mind, she crept up to the next rise, so she could study the property below. It was large, fenced, secure and very private.
If it was the drug property, it was also the same property Ethan had collected the
dogs from. She searched for her phone, but of course she didn’t have it. Neither did she have much in the way of clothing. She was wearing a long T-shirt, of all things. And bare feet.
She stared down at her bleeding feet in bemusement. She hadn’t even considered that. She was out here in the middle of nowhere in the thinnest clothing possible, with nothing to protect her feet, not even socks. “Shit. Shit. Shit.”
And she had no way to contact Ethan. He was definitely the one she needed to call. She considered returning to the shed to see if anything would make her walk a little bit easier. Shoes? Water? A cell phone? But she was afraid she’d run out of luck and get caught. She turned to study the miles of rough land around her.
Once the sun rose higher, her feet would burn in the sand too.
Keeping just under the rise, so nobody could see her, she moved in the direction of the road. The rise dipped down, almost flattening up ahead as it came along the road.
Grimly she pressed on. Time was of the essence. Had these men replaced the dogs Ethan had taken? If they had, the dogs would find her in no time.
Moving as fast as she dared, she kept going until she could see the driveway turning away from the property, heading toward town.
About a half hour later she had to sit down, gasping for breath. Not only was her head booming again but the pain of her feet now added to it. With all the jerking and slipping and sliding in the rocks, her shoulder was on fire. Oh, for a sling. Even worse she’d barely covered any ground. The property was still in sight. Thankfully she saw no sign of anyone. She figured, if she did see any strangers, it had to be the men who had kidnapped her. Her head throbbed at that thought. They must have hit me, knocked me out, then taken me here.
Grimly she searched over the rise to see if there was any activity at the property. But she couldn’t even see a vehicle, which surprised her. Had she been dumped here and left alone, not one guard on duty? If so, when were they returning?
She was just coming around to the side where the front gate was. She was tempted to go into the guard house and see if she could call for help. But who would she find there? Was it suicide contemplating doing that?