By the end of the day, Cinn sat back, groaning. She’d been sitting at the edge of her seat. As she shifted in her desk chair so her lower back got support, she could feel the relief running through her spine. She checked the clock. “How did it get to be after five o’clock already?”
She shook her head when the dogs started barking. They raced to the front door, and, as she walked toward them, wondering who was out there, they both sat down and started to whine, their tails wagging like crazy. “What’s gotten into you two?” she asked in amazement. She peered out the living room window.
Of course. It was Ethan. Excited and nervous, she opened the front door. “Well, this is a surprise.”
He held up a bag that smelled absolutely delicious. “And maybe this is too,” he said. “But I thought I’d return the favor of friendship.”
She grinned. “Chinese food is a great way to return the favor, but you didn’t have to do this.”
“Can’t I be nice?”
“Sure.” She stepped back to let him in. Inside, he handed her the bag, then crouched to say hi to the dogs. As for the dog’s reactions, it was as if they’d missed seeing him for weeks. In a way she felt the same. He was a curious man. One with secrets. A loner maybe was a better description.
Shaking her head at her dogs’ antics, she walked into the kitchen. “You can sit there and play with the dogs if you want, but I’m eating.”
Soon the three followed her to the kitchen. The dogs sniffed the air, weaving around her legs.
She shooed them back toward Ethan, so she could set down the containers and grab some plates. “How did you know I liked Chinese food?”
“I didn’t know,” he answered. “I just hoped you did.”
“Well, I love it, so great choice. How was your day?” she asked as she opened each of the six containers. “I usually just order a combo,” she said with a happy sigh. “This is a luxury.”
“I didn’t know what you would want to eat,” he said sensibly. “Where are your forks?”
“Forks and chopsticks are over there.” She pointed to the drawer beside the sink.
He returned with chopsticks.
She smiled and dished up a plate for herself. The dogs were on their best behavior and lay down just a few feet away. As she was about to take her first bite, she stopped and said, “Thank you. I can’t remember the last time somebody did something so thoughtful.”
“Should happen more often,” he said. “I love to cook, but I haven’t had an inclination lately.” On that note he popped a bite of food into his mouth, handling the chopsticks like a master.
His comment brought up a thousand questions. “No inclination?”
He shrugged but didn’t answer.
She figured that was as far as she would get in that line of questioning. “So what did you do all day?”
Another shrug.
Not sure how to break through that wall of silence, she sat quietly and ate for a few moments. “I called the clinic to see how the shepherd was doing,” she confessed. “Louise said she’ll probably have to stay there for a few days, but she will make a full recovery. You did a good thing bringing her in.”
He nodded. But he still didn’t say anything.
Together they ate in silence. The food was fabulous, so she didn’t really mind the lack of conversation. As she served herself seconds, she asked, “You want more?”
He nodded. “I’m just waiting for you to get yours.”
“What, and then you’ll finish it?”
He shrugged again.
“Really, you can’t, surely.”
Ethan opened container after container and dumped the remainder on his plate.
She laughed. “So you must still be healing from your injuries if you can eat this much,” she said good-naturedly. “Although you look very capable. And I’m sure you wouldn’t be on this mission if you weren’t in good shape.”
“The accident was two years ago,” he said. He cleared his throat and then, as if rusty at sharing, added, “I spent the last six months working with Badger’s group. Helping out wherever needed, building Geir’s house and working at security. Basically any job they had for me I took.” He gave her a lopsided grin. “It helped me reassimilate into the real world.”
“Hey, understood. I can’t imagine.” And she couldn’t. It didn’t bear thinking about. She was grateful for Badger’s group, whoever they were. She’d have to ask Flynn sometime if he knew them. These men all seemed to have some kind of network. As she thought about such a concept, she realized, if they did, they were the lucky ones. To have a brotherhood of men? … Priceless.
“If you can’t take the shepherd after Louise gives the go ahead for her to be released, Anna could probably take her until she’s adopted out.” She didn’t know why she persisted, but she wanted to know the dog would be well taken care of.
He still didn’t say a word.
“Unless you’ll stick around this area,” she added slowly. Just what were his plans?
“I won’t be too far away,” he said. “I’ll be staying with a friend in Houston.”
Apparently she had to be satisfied with that. “Not very talkative, are you?”
He didn’t even bother shrugging.
She sighed. “A little conversation would be nice.”
He looked up at her and smiled. “A little conversation is what you’re getting.”
She groaned and rolled her eyes. “Okay, a little more conversation.”
He stared at her for a moment and then asked, “What do you do for a living?”
“I’m a project manager. I work for a company that does supercomputing for companies across the state. And, on the volunteer side, I arrange for the rescues of animals from other parts of the world.”
He frowned. “Other parts of the world, not those that need help at home?”
“Both,” she said. “But, with global conflicts, the animals suffer along with the people. Everybody is out helping the people. They forget about the animals needing assistance too.”
At that, he looked interested. “Tell me more.”
She launched into a tale of how they’d been bringing animals in from all over the globe and how she farmed them out to other areas of the world. “Canada takes a lot of them,” she admitted. “A lot of centers here do the same.”
“And yet, so many centers are here that have animal-overpopulation problems.”
“Exactly, but I’m not fussy. An animal in need is an animal that I want to try and help.”
A warm light came into the depth of his eyes, and he gave her a gentle smile. “I agree. I’m surprised you don’t have dozens of your own here.”
She chuckled. “I have to really watch myself. I’d have every one of them here if I could. I have the two dogs. I used to have two others, but a friend of mine really wanted them, so I ended up giving those two to her. Every time I go to Anna’s place, I’m always afraid I’m coming home with one more.”
He nodded.
“Do you have any pets?”
He shook his head. “No. I don’t. Not now. Not since I left the military.” He paused, then added, “I lost my K9 partner at the time. It’s been hard to open myself up to that loss again.”
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “It’s hard to lose a pet anytime but, when it’s a working partner as well …” her voice trailed off.
They continued to eat in companionable silence, until he said, “Today I drove past the place you were talking about.”
She froze, her chopsticks in midair, a piece of broccoli perched precariously on top. She swallowed hard. “Why would you do that?”
“I wanted to see if the shepherd could have come that far.”
“And could she?”
He nodded. “Quite possibly. I did track her back that far. But I want to take another look. Maybe I’ll go after dinner.” He glanced outside. “I’ve still got a couple hours of daylight today.”
“But you can’t track twenty miles that fast,” she scoffed.
“I don’t have to. I know where the possible source is, so I need to pick up the blood trail and make sure it’s heading the right way,” he said neutrally. “I can cover a lot of ground in a short time.”
“Sure, but it’s easy to lose the blood trail.”
He shrugged.
“You’re pretty damn sure she came from there anyway, aren’t you?”
He nodded.
“What will you do?”
He didn’t say anything.
She groaned. “Please don’t do anything dangerous.”
He moved his empty plate toward the center of the table and gave her a fat smile. “I won’t. The shepherd needs somebody to look after her.”
“Thanks for the company,” he said smoothly, “At least you won’t have any dishes to do.” He quickly packed up the empty containers, putting them into the bag he’d brought inside and carried it out the front door with him.
“Are you leaving already?”
He could hear the worry in her voice. Worried he would go and do something stupid. Well, he’d done a lot of stupid things in his life. Finding the asshole who did that to the shepherd wasn’t one of them.
He walked to his truck, hopped in and started the engine. It had been a long day. The meeting with Gunner had gone well. Not only had Gunner wanted to hire Ethan to provide fully trained dogs for his place but Gunner had been full of ideas as to how to help with the injured shepherd and the one Ethan was sent to find. Hearing about the possible questionable property, Gunner had become full of fire and brimstone about bringing down that place. “I know that place,” he’d said. “You get the intel for me, and I’ll make sure something happens.”
Ethan drove away from Cinn’s place, checking in the rearview mirror. Sure enough, there she was, standing on the front doorstep, leaning against the doorjamb, her arms crossed over her chest, watching him leave. A strange start to a relationship so far. But, then again, he’d been the one who had come to her house twice and had left soon afterward. She probably didn’t know what to make of him.
Well, he didn’t know what to make of himself either. He’d been telling himself not to go to her place, even as he bought the Chinese food, knowing he had no business there.
What was he supposed to do with that? He didn’t want to be interested. He didn’t want to care about anyone. He didn’t want to care about anything. He’d already blown that with the shepherd. And he needed to come up with a name for her. But he sure as hell didn’t know what.
And now he started to care about Cinn.
There was something about her. He loved the rescue work she did. He loved that she’d cared enough to call the vet’s clinic to see about the shepherd. The attraction was there. And, because it existed, he had to deal with it—but how? He hadn’t planned to get involved, but it was already too late. Apparently he had chosen the dog already. From the moment anyone suggested he give her up and let somebody else take care of her, everything inside him had revolted. She belonged with him. Now he just had to find out how.
Gunner had offered Ethan a home at reduced rent in this little town. Said it would give him a place temporarily, and, maybe if he had a home, he’d stay in the area. Gunner wanted Ethan close by to train dogs.
He drove past the rental place, checked out the property, realized it would do just fine, pulled off to the side of the road and sent Gunner a text, saying he’d take it for a week or two. At least until he figured out what he was doing. The response came back almost immediately. It’s yours free for the first month. Then we’ll talk.
Ethan smiled at that. It was so very Gunner. Then Ethan turned the vehicle back onto the highway and hit the gas.
As he drove, he considered his odd relationship with Cinn. He wasn’t sure how much to tell her. This last year he’d lived more or less alone as he had healed and rejoined life. Only through Badger and the rest of the gang had Ethan slowly felt like he was back to normal.
Maybe not normal in the fullest sense but enough that being around people was more comfortable. But not so much in a relationship … That was a new step to take.
Putting Cinn firmly out of his mind, Ethan refocused on the shepherd. He’d tracked her several miles from across the road where he found her. Once he had picked up the blood trail, it had been pretty easy to see the direction she’d come from. He used GPS and Google Maps to see what was on the other side of that long stretch of land, and what it was, was that same property Cinn was talking about. It was pretty easy to put two and two together.
But he needed proof. And, for that, Ethan needed to check out the place after dark. To think somebody was using that shepherd and other dogs as expendable tools just burned him.
He wasn’t somebody to judge. Not yet. Instead he was on a fact-finding mission. And, if he found out this was the place that had hurt that dog, well, … he’d come back, and he’d be on a revenge mission. He knew revenge wasn’t always right, but nobody got away with hurting a dog like that. And, if they had more dogs they were hurting, Ethan would release them too. And then he would shut down that place.
If they’d done something to K9:01 …
He stopped on the high ridge, two miles away from the property. With the truck parked behind the rise, away from plain sight, he hopped out, grabbed his cell phone and water jug, and headed toward the property.
Moving steadily, he stopped when the electric fence came into view. He crouched and studied the area. Twenty acres, Cinn had said. He did a slow perimeter search first. By the time he made it back to where he’d started, he’d seen that, although the fence was electric, still men with rifles were inside, dogs at their feet. But those dogs were healthy. Although lean, they looked to be fighting fit.
So, had the female he’d rescued not made the grade? Was she one that had failed to do her job, being distracted by something not allowed? Because that bullet said they wanted her dead and disposed of, not necessarily in that order. She hadn’t even deserved the mercy of a clean kill shot. Ethan studied the sentries, who were more concerned about talking with each other and smoking cigarettes than walking the perimeter.
The main house was set about an acre in. A double gate led to and from the main residence. There were other outbuildings, but he didn’t see much else on the twenty acres but drought-dried land. From the power grid and the solar panels, he figured something was going on underground. It didn’t have to be very deep underground, just enough to stay hidden. He crept along the front to the main gate, studying the electric fence system there.
It would be a little harder to get through the fence than he had originally thought. He walked around until he found a section where it looked like critters had dug along the fence line. From the fur caught in the wire, this was likely where the shepherd had made her way out.
He tossed a rock against the fence and saw sparks fly. Moving quietly, he carefully scoped out the spot where the shepherd had dug out a little bit deeper, a little bit wider. Then, on his back, he scooted under the charged wires, and, just like that, he was in. He shook his head. If the guards were any good, this should have been found immediately. The dog had been shot from a distance, a shot that hit her shoulder only.
Which meant they hadn’t even bothered to go outside the fence to find her, nor had they bothered to find out where she’d gone. Happy to have her all alone in the wastelands. He moved to the tree line and studied the outbuildings. The two sentries were off in a different section, and this area appeared to be deserted. He walked carefully, checking into the windows one by one on the rear of this particular building. He couldn’t see anything in the half-light, and he didn’t dare turn on a flashlight as he heard noises and dropped down.
A door opened—probably at the front of this building—and eventually he saw several women came out; more came behind them. They looked exhausted from a hard day’s work.
Two gunmen waited for them. But they seemed to be protecting the women, not holding them prisoner. The women moved slowly forward, around another corner. He crept to the corner and peered after the women to see two vans. The women were loaded up, and the first van drove off. A gunman locked the door, walking back toward the second van. He hopped in and followed the first van down the long track to the main road. They stopped at the gates and locked them behind them.
He crouched down and headed back toward the building they’d just exited. Ethan didn’t see any dogs, but the property was huge, so they could be anywhere. Including out in the miles of deserted terrain surrounding the property.
As soon as the others were out of sight, he picked the lock and crept inside the building. The upper building was empty, but the stairs descended on the right side at the back. He went downstairs and found a large drug lab, a working one it seemed. He took photos and crept back outside, locking up the building after him. Now he had proof, but he also didn’t dare get caught.
He sent the photos to Gunner and made his way to the next outbuilding. Nobody was there, and it wasn’t locked. He went inside, did a quick sweep of the room, didn’t see anything important.
Just as he was about to exit, he heard voices.
“We need a couple new gunmen for this next shipment.”
“Why?”
“We’ll be moving a double load this time. We have a new network, and it needs to be secret. But, because we’ll be moving so much product, they want a couple more guys on it.”
The other man said, “We can grab some of the men we’ve used before.”
“They have to be expendable,” said the first man said, his breath catching in the back of his throat.
“Damn. We use them off and on because they’re good.”
“Yeah, we need a couple who aren’t so good. Or else we sacrifice these.”
“Do they have to be terminated afterward?”
“Yes. The boss doesn’t want any loose ends.”
“Sure, but it’s probably not a one-off, so somebody will have to know.”
“Maybe, but you know what this business is like.”
The second man sighed. “Well, the two brothers are around.”
Silence followed for a moment. “Good. They’re screwups anyway. Maybe, if they do a good job this time, he’ll decide not to kill them.”
“Nah, he’ll kill them. I don’t understand that. It’s like he wants to bloody the first trail every time.”
“And maybe it’s a ritual for good luck. I don’t know, but no way I’ll argue.”
The two men separated, but one of the footsteps walked toward him. Ethan crouched low in the far corner behind the door, just in case the man came inside. Ethan had taped the conversation the best he could with his phone, but he couldn’t guarantee the quality.
The door opened, and a flashlight shone inside. Yet the flashlight did only a quick pass. Then, with nothing to see, the door slammed shut, and a lock popped on the outside. The footsteps slowly moved away.
Under his breath Ethan whispered, “Shit, shit, shit.”
The door hadn’t been locked when he’d entered, so he hadn’t considered that end to his escape later. He could bust down these walls, but he didn’t want to let anybody know he’d been here.
He did a quick search and, at the back, found a panel of the wall was already half warped. He applied gentle pressure and ripped loose the bottom of the boards. Dropping to his belly, he managed to squeeze through, scraping his back in the process. He couldn’t stick around any longer.
His back burned, and he dared not leave blood behind. With a hand holding his shirt tight around his waist, he stayed close to the trees, following the tree line back to where he’d gained entrance under the electric fence. This time he went down on his belly to avoid leaving blood on the ground, being extracareful not to touch the wires either. As soon as he was on the other side, he stood again and shoved a bunch of rocks in the hole under the fence. It would be easy enough to find next time. But, just in case, he took a GPS reading, tracking the exact spot where he’d entered, and then he ran away from the property. He could hear voices behind him, but there wasn’t anything for them to see now.
And nobody shouted. No lights were turned on. So Ethan figured, if there was some security alert, it had nothing to do with him.
Back in his vehicle, he put the transmission in Neutral and let his truck roll back down the hill, the way he’d come. He was miles down the highway before he turned on the engine and lights. He pulled to the shoulder, stopping so he could call Gunner.
“Did you get the pictures I sent?”
He was spitting mad. “Yeah, I did,” Gunner said. “I’ve already talked to a couple cops. They’ll set up a raid on the property.”
“Good. I managed to get in through a spot in the fence. Looks like the shepherd dug a low-lying spot under the fence. It’s a little hard to get in and out, but I made it.”
“Are you sure nobody saw you?”
“I’m sure. My back is bleeding, but I don’t think I left any blood behind. Yet there’s always that possibility. I’ll get that bandaged.”
“Get yourself fixed up. The police are on this. I’ll light a fire under them to make sure it happens fast.”
“They’re moving product. I’ve got audio of it. I hope it’s audible. Let me send it to you.”
He clicked off from Gunner and listened to the information he’d recorded, then forwarded the audio file to Gunner and called him back.
“I sent you the audio file. Make sure you listen to it. Not a ton of detailed information is there, but it will help explain what’s going on.”
He ended the call and sat here. His back still burned. He could feel wetness along his spine as sharp pains dug at him. He was afraid he’d gotten a good splinter in there under his skin. If it had been anywhere else but his back, he could take care of it himself. Given where it was, chances were he would need help.
With that thought uppermost in his mind, he picked up his phone and called Cinn.
When she answered, her voice was slightly distracted, as if she’d been doing something. He asked, “Am I disturbing you?”
Her voice turned brisk when she heard his. “No, I was almost asleep. What’s up?”
He hesitated, then said, “I don’t want to disturb you. I’ll talk to you in the morning.” He ended the call.
Almost immediately his phone rang. It was her.
“Don’t do that,” she snapped. “You had a reason for calling me. Now what is it?”
He hesitated again, then said, “How are you with first aid?”
She gasped. “Are you hurt?”
“Not badly but I think there are splinters are in my back.”
“Then get your ass over here.” And she hung up.
He grinned. He really loved that temper. It was very refreshing and honest. And he had had very little honesty in his life. With that thought in mind, he turned on the truck and headed toward her place.
