by Dale Mayer
But Ethan straightened, laid a hand on his shoulder and said, “Good dog. We’ve got him.”
And suddenly the man broke and turned to run away.
Ethan took command and said, “Sentry, attack.”
Sentry took six huge jumps and threw himself eagerly in the air, landing on the man’s back, face-planting him into the ground.
Ethan was on him and said, “Sentry, stand down.”
Sentry glared at him.
And then Ethan reached out a hand, completely ignoring the fact that Sentry was in full attack mode, stroked his head and said, “We’ve got him. Good dog. We don’t kill anymore.”
Sentry slowly calmed down. Ethan had him sit at the man’s left arm while he placed Bella at the man’s right arm and slowly flipped the man to his back, holding him captive with his knees on his chest.
The man glared up at him. “What did you do to my fucking dogs?”
“Saved their lives, most likely,” Ethan said calmly. “Why would you try to change these animals? They’re perfect as they are.”
“We needed animals that would kill. If they can’t do the job, they don’t need to be around. Same damn thing for employees. If you can’t take that step, you’re too damn weak to be with us.”
“Yeah? And how many men have you killed because of it?”
The guy glared up at him and said, “Who the fuck knows. We’ve been doing this for a long time. It’s not our problem a lot of assholes are out there.”
Cinn managed to get herself into a sitting position and watched the men, now a good fifteen feet away. “That’s not an answer,” she snapped in a hard voice. She got on her hands and knees and slowly made her way closer.
Sentry, however, was between her and the attacker. He growled as she approached. She stopped and looked at Ethan.
Ethan looked over at Sentry. “Sentry, this is Cinn. You know her. She’s a friend.”
Sentry gave him a look as if to say, What the hell? As Cinn slowly, cautiously inched forward, Sentry subsided and let her approach.
She shook her head at Ethan. “Are you sure he’s safe?”
Ethan said, his voice sure, calm, “There are times when having that killer instinct is helpful.”
“See?” said the man pinned to the ground. “Like I said, killers are required.”
Cinn settled on her butt and looked at Ethan, wondering if he considered killer dogs as a requirement, and then she remembered his military background and what he’d trained the dogs to do. She nodded. “Just remember. We’re no longer at war,” she said gently.
He stared at her, his gaze hard. Then he slowly seemed to calm, and his hardness eased. He pursed his lips. “You’re right, at least not a war like I used to be in.”
She nodded and reached out a hand to Sentry, who sniffed and then nudged his nose into her fingers so she could pet him. “Sentry, same for you. There’ll always be assholes who we need protection from, but the least amount of force is the best.”
At that, voices came from behind them. She turned to see Flynn. She lifted her arm as he dropped down beside her to give her a big hug. “I’m so glad to see you,” she said.
Flynn called to Ethan, “Are you okay?”
And Ethan responded, “I’m good.”
Flynn rose, lifted her up to stand on her feet so fast that she didn’t get a chance to tell him that she couldn’t. As soon as her feet hit the ground, she cried out. Pain shot up her legs, into her body and up to her head. It was just too much between the headache, the pain in her feet, her thirst and the shock. She crumpled into his arms.
Ethan turned to see Cinn as she collapsed in Flynn’s arms. But already Levi and several other men raced to her side. The dogs growled and snarled at the new arrivals. It was all Ethan could do to hold them back and to calm them down. He got the leashes on both dogs and got them to sit under order.
Levi said, “It’s hard to believe you’ve known them only a few days.”
“Less than two days to be exact,” Ethan said with a crooked grin. “We’re still getting to know each other.”
Levi’s eyebrows rose. “I wasn’t so sure when we first arrived. Thought we might have a problem on our hands.” He motioned toward Sentry. “But it looks like things are under control.”
“They are,” Ethan said, “but they’re still new to being on the good side.” He motioned to the man on the ground. “These assholes were training the dogs to kill.”
“And did they?”
Ethan didn’t really want to admit it. He shrugged and said, “Depends if you can believe what this guy says. But it’s possible.”
Levi nodded. “We both know dogs in the military that had to do the same thing.”
Ethan felt something inside him relax at that because Levi knew. Just like Ethan knew. He nodded his head, his emotions stronger, feeling on firmer ground. “Yes. It’s all about discerning when it’s necessary.”
“Exactly.”
Levi turned and frowned at Cinn, held closely in Flynn’s arms. He walked over as Ethan approached with the dogs at his side.
Ethan explained, “Her feet have run down to nothing. When Flynn stood her up, it was too much.”
Flynn turned so Levi could see the soles of her feet.
Levi winced. “That’s just plain hamburger stuck to the end of her bones.” He motioned toward the vehicles. “Let’s get her to the hospital, where we can get her treated. Where’d you leave your vehicle?”
Ethan pointed back where he’d come from. “About three miles that direction.”
Levi said, “If you want to ride in the back of the truck with the dogs, you’re welcome.”
Ethan grinned. “That’s the perfect place for the three of us.”
Together the large crew walked back out of the trees, leading Cinn’s attacker to the vehicles.
“We heard gunshots,” Ethan said, studying Levi. “How bad is the damage?”
“On our side, none,” Levi said cheerfully. “On the other side, three dead.”
Cinn’s attacker roared and stopped walking to look at them. “What?”
Levi nodded. “If you’d stayed, you would be dead too. Maybe it’s too bad you didn’t.”
But that was enough said. The man fell silent as he contemplated the fate of his friends.
Back at the truck, Ethan got the dogs into the bed, and he sat down against the cab with them. He continuously worked on their commands, letting them know they were still in working mode. Within five minutes they were at the spot where he’d parked his truck, and he transferred the dogs.
Then he got into the driver’s side. He needed to take the dogs back home first. He would have to deal with the police and check on Cinn at the hospital.
So first things first, he started up the engine and headed home. He didn’t know if it was all over for sure, but he could damn well hope so. He figured this mess was, but there would always be a new one out there to deal with. Still, with the dogs at his side, he wasn’t against being part of the fight.
In his driveway, his phone rang. He hopped out of his truck, pulled out his phone and answered it. It was Sergeant Mendelsson.
“I hear you had fun this morning.”
“I’m not sure that’s what we’d call it,” he said, “but the dogs found Cinn, and she’s relatively unhurt, so that’s what counts.”
“How do you think you’ll do with their training?”
Ethan wondered if he’d be plagued with those questions from now on, but, in a steady voice, he explained how well both Bella and Sentry had done, how they both needed some training, to work on fetch, find, search-and-rescue work, but that Sentry had been called off from taking down and killing the attacker.
“Is this something you want to stick around and work on?” the sergeant asked curiously.
“I’d like to think so,” Ethan said. Gunner has asked me to train some dogs for him.”
“Well, if he thinks you can do it, then that’s a pretty decent referral right there. I spok
e with Levi, and he backs up your story. Nice to know you had control of the animals at the scene too.”
“I did. Obviously the relationship between the three of us is still young, but it’s there. And Bart and Sally are great additions too.”
“Good. So are you interested in doing contract work? Because, if you are, get those dogs up and running, then give me a call.”
Ethan grinned and gave Bella a good stroke. She dropped her nose to shove it into his face. “I think we could do something like that. I’ll have four able-bodied dogs here pretty soon.”
“Then it sounds like you might need another handler.”
Ethan shrugged. “If somebody else with the skills comes my way … In the meantime, I can handle four myself.”
“Good, we need someone like you,” he said, “But it’s not just us. Consider the airport, consider private security. I think you’ve got yourself quite a business right here.”
After the sergeant hung up, Ethan pocketed his phone, reached for the tailgate, let the dogs out, led them around to the back, where Bart happily greeted them all. Ethan gave them all food and water and walked inside. He kneeled beside Sally and asked, “How are you doing, girl?”
And his heart smiled as she rolled over and struggled to her feet. He led her a little way outside, so she’d go to the bathroom. She walked over to him afterward and nudged his hand gently. He bent down into a squatting position and spent a few moments just loving her.
“You know what? Maybe that is a good idea. Start with rescuing dogs, then retraining. We could train in many different specialties—drug-sniffing, bomb-smelling, guard dogs. Who knows what else we could do?” he murmured into her fur. “Maybe it’s a new beginning for all of us.”
Sally barked gently, and the other three dogs ran over. Ethan chuckled. She barked again, nudging at his coat pocket. And he laughed because, of course, he had dog treats in his pocket. Every decent dog trainer had treats. He reached into his pocket and pulled out four and gave them each one. Maybe he was finally home. Just like for the dogs, something was here for all of them.
Now all they had to do was convince Cinn that she belonged with them too.
Chapter 14
Cinn woke up, lying on the backseat of a twin-cab truck driving at a steady pace. She listened to the conversation going on around her. She couldn’t be too badly hurt because nobody was crying over her. But her feet sure hurt.
As she struggled to sit up, Flynn, who was sitting beside her, put a hand on her good arm, telling her to lie back down. She smiled up at him. “Where’s Ethan?”
“He’s taking the dogs home. I’m sure he’ll be at the hospital soon.”
She winced at the term hospital. “My feet?”
“I suspect so,” Flynn said with a bright cheerful smile. “At least if that’s what you call them. Levi said they look like hamburger on sticks.”
She groaned. “Please tell me that they’re not that bad. I’ll be bedridden for weeks.”
“They’re that bad,” Levi said from the driver’s seat.
Soon the big hospital building rose up in front of them.
Levi parked in front, and Flynn got out. She struggled to sit up and made her way to the edge of the seat. She was not looking forward to getting down. As a matter of fact, just the thought sent waves of nausea to her stomach.
As she tried to stand, Levi arrived at Flynn’s side. “No, you don’t,” he said. “That’s what this is for.”
They had a wheelchair. Levi reached up, and she put her good arm around his neck. He scooped her off the seat and plunked her gently onto the chair. Then they did something to the footrests so her legs stuck out straight.
She said, “I don’t even know what they’ll do for them. They’re so dirty.” She looked down at herself. “I mean, I was buried in the dirt, so I guess all of me is a huge mess.”
“And for that reason alone,” a smiling nurse said, greeting them at the doorway, “we may just take you in the wheelchair into a special shower and see what we find underneath all that dirt.” The large portly woman smiled down at Cinn. “I hear you’ve had a rough morning.”
“Tough night and a rough morning,” Cinn said with a smile. “But this is a much better-looking afternoon.”
At that the woman laughed, got behind the wheelchair and pushed Cinn forward. “We’ll get some information from you, but we really won’t see anything until we get you cleaned up.”
“Are you serious about a shower?”
“Can you tell us if you’ve got any other injuries?”
“My head was bashed in.” Cinn thought about it and said, “I don’t know how bad they are, but there’s some scrapes and bruises. And, of course, a previously treated gunshot wound to my shoulder.”
“In that case, yes, just to be sure. You were kidnapped, and you’ve got a head injury. If the doctor okays it, I think we’ll get you cleaned up first, get those feet soaking, and we’ll see what else might need to be done.”
And that’s what they did. It took a good thirty-five minutes though before she was okayed, and the nurse took her into a completely different area of the hospital, pushed open a door to let her into a series of bathrooms with a large wheel-in shower. With the nurse’s help, she was undressed and, still in the wheelchair, put into the shower.
There, the nurse helped her shampoo until they could check the head wound. “I feel something running down my face,” Cinn said. “Please tell me it’s shampoo.” She felt so much better just being clean.
“No, it’s not,” the nurse said. “That’s blood from the head wound.”
“I was hoping it wasn’t that bad.”
“They tend to bleed a lot. A couple stitches should put that one to rights, but the cleaner we can get it and everything else, the better it’ll be. Otherwise we’ll have to cut away a bit of your hair there.”
Gently avoiding the head wound as much as she could, she scrubbed down, loving the water streaming down her body. As the nurse noted, several of Cinn’s ribs were pretty bruised, but nothing was as bad as her feet.
When she was all cleaned up, she sat with her feet out, letting the water run over them. “I don’t think this is getting the soles.”
“No,” the nurse said. “We’ll have to soak them in hot soapy water with antiseptic. Then the doctor can take care of your head.”
She was soon on a bed, wearing a hospital gown with a robe over it, sitting up with her feet in a big bucket of warm soapy water with antiseptic. The doctor sat on a stool, poking and prodding at her hairline. Needles went in for numbing, then sutures closed her scalp wound.
Finally the doctor said, “Now let me check the rest of you, see what has happened. The ribs don’t appear to be broken. You’re banged up. The shoulder wound, … well, it’s a little worse but will hold. We can get the feet back in good shape, so you’ll be just fine.”
She smiled up at him, the fatigue of the day hitting her hard. “Honestly, if I could sleep for a few hours, I think I’d feel a ton better.”
“And sleep is what you need. But those feet have to be cleaned up first.”
She nodded. “How bad do they look?”
He lifted one up and took a look and then sighed. “Let’s just say, you won’t like the next hour or so.”
She sat bolt upright and said, “Why not?”
“Because soaking has taken off a lot of the dirt, but rocks are embedded in the cuts, and we have to clean out lots of little bits and pieces. I’ll put some numbing gel on them, and I’ll give you a shot for the pain.”
By the time they were done, she was in agony. The tears had flowed, and she lay on her belly, her feet elevated. The nurse finally put a soothing ointment over Cinn’s soles. Just her touch made Cinn cry again.
The nurse finally said, “There, you’re done.”
Her muscles relaxed. She hadn’t realized how tense she’d been. She lifted her head and gave the nurse a watery smile. “Thank God for that.”
The nurse, obviously
distressed at the pain she had put Cinn through, nodded. “It is one of the worst jobs I have to do. I’m so sorry.”
Cinn shook her head. “It’s not your fault. Thank you for cleaning them up.”
As the nurse cleaned up the mess from the medications and the bandaging, she said, “Now you just lie there and rest. Close your eyes. When you wake up, if you’re in pain, we’ll give you some more medication.”
On that note, the nurse walked out. Cinn lay here, wondering what had happened to Flynn and Levi. But then she didn’t care because sleep dragged her under, and honestly, it was the only place she wanted to go.
Ethan walked into the hospital and headed to the reception area. “Cinnamon Michelson was brought in this morning with damaged feet. If she’s still here, may I see her?”
The receptionist nodded. “She was brought in this morning. She’s still in emergency, I believe.”
Frowning, Ethan made his way over to emergency and was stopped by an orderly. He explained who he was and who he was looking for.
The orderly held up a hand and said, “Now, that little girl needs sleep. Let me go take a look.” He turned and peered through a curtain and studied what was probably Cinn on the bed, then he came back. “She’s still sleeping.”
Ethan nodded. “May I sit beside her then?”
The orderly looked at him and frowned. “Family?”
“No,” Ethan admitted. “But maybe soon.”
At that, the orderly chuckled. “In that case, you go right in, but don’t wake her. Understand?”
Ethan nodded and stepped behind the curtain. One chair was at Cinn’s bedside. He pulled it up closer and sat down but not before he took a solid look at her feet. He sucked in his breath at the lacerations and the bloody pulpy look to them. Cleaning the wounds had to have been the worst. Though they would heal, it would take time.
From his chair he reached out, sliding his fingers into hers. He sat here and waited for her to stir.
It was another ten to fifteen minutes before she lifted her eyelids and smiled. “Ethan. How’s Sentry? Bella?” she asked, worry tinting her voice. “And Bart? Sally?”