Chapter 10

B rittany spent several hours puttering around the debris gathered at her grandma's house. She'd managed to fill a couple boxes with things she thought her grandmother would like and had called her a few times to ask her about several items. It would all be cleaned up one way or another, but these were things that were really special and would make it back to her grandmother, not into the bucket of whatever excavator came through here to scoop up the remnants of the lives torn apart all around her.

Her grandmother had okayed everything that Brittany had collected so far, with another warning about being careful. She'd smiled at that. Hopefully her grandmother didn't know all the details about last night because there would be hell to pay. It would really upset Grandma if she thought that her granddaughter was really in danger from armed looters and the like.

Almost anybody would say being at the blunt end of a gun was putting herself in danger. Not that Brittany had done it on purpose by any means. Again that wouldn't make a damn bit of difference to her grandma. She was alone, and the last thing she wanted was to lose the only other family member in her life. At the end of the day, things were just things, and Brittany understood that.

She struggled herself, as she wandered through the mess, deciding what her options were and what more she should do about rescuing the few items she would love to save for Grandma. Brittany definitely should take her grandmother into her home, which she would, and that was fine. She just needed a little bit of time to get used to the concept. Convincing her grandmother wouldn't be the easiest process either, but, if that's what needed to happen, well, that was fine too. Her grandmother had always been there for her. Thinking back to her conversation with Baron about insurance, she wondered if her grandmother was thinking about trying to get her own house back.

Britany sighed. That was a discussion they must have somewhat soon. Still Brittany dreaded it. Yet this change had been thrust upon her and her grandmother.

As Brittany wandered around, she kept looking at her watch, wondering how long Baron would be. She hadn't considered that, when she was ready to leave, she didn't have any transportation, not until Baron finished with his search.

Swearing at that oversight, she sent him a text, asking for a time frame. When no answer came, she stared down at her phone, then looked off into the distance, worried. If he hadn't answered by now, what was going on that was stopping him?

That was something she didn't even want to consider. Yet now that she hadn't gotten a response from him, it was all she could consider.

She put her salvaged items off to the side and started the short walk down the road. She came to the now-familiar stretch fairly quickly but still saw no sign of Baron. As she kept walking, she continued sending him texts, hoping he would answer, and she hadn't gone too much farther when she heard a bark.

Kingston.

She smiled, then picked up the pace, wondering whether Kingston was once again at work or something else was going on. Moments later she heard another bark.

She froze, trying to determine if it was another dog or if that had really been Kingston's bark. Going a little bit slower, she felt a bit more uncertain about what she was walking into. Reeling, as memories from the previous night inundated her, she came up to another house, looking around for any sign of Kingston.

As she watched, something darted across her path, and it was him. She smiled and called out to him. He came barreling toward her, jumped up, and gave her the greeting that she had been hoping for.

With her arms wrapped around him, she whispered, "Where's Baron? Good boy,… show me Baron." As soon as she gave him a little bit of wiggle room, Kingston was off and running again.

"Shit," she muttered in a panic, knowing that she couldn't keep up with him.

Would he care? Would he slow down long enough for her to catch up, or was she expected to maintain the same grueling pace?

She shook her head at that, knowing she wasn't in that kind of shape. She managed to keep him in sight, but only because he stopped several times to look back at her, giving her a look that seemed to say, Hey, what's taking you so long?

By the time she finally caught up to the War Dog, she stopped because he hadn't brought her to Baron. He had brought her to a female dog, who was curled up in a box, and a liter of newborn puppies were beside her.

"Wow, wow, wow," she exclaimed. As she bent down over the dog. Kingston jumped up beside her and nudged her away ever-so-slightly, not so much as a warning but more of a guideline on being careful.

She smiled at him. "I don't think they're your babies, buddy. I have a hunch that ability had been taken away from you a long time ago." Then she looked over at the female. "I also don't know if she's hurt."

Brittany approached, talking to the other dog, whose tail wagged weakly. "Yeah, we need to get you out of here too, sweetheart. Are you one of the dogs that went missing?" It would make sense in a way, especially if they were stuck for too long. If Kingston had managed to get out, then maybe this mama dog had followed him, needing a place to have her puppies. That could hold her for so long, but maybe it hadn't been quite long enough.

She stood and asked Kingston, "Now where's Baron?"

He barked several more times and then took off.

She groaned. "Okay, now hang on a minute. I can't just keep chasing you around this damn mess, particularly when something could trip me up and could break my neck with each step I take." With a promise to the mama dog and all her snoozing puppies, Brittany headed off again, chasing Kingston. The walking was heavy going.

Another fifteen to twenty minutes later, all of a sudden, his barking stopped. She frowned as she crept forward once again, now feeling completely ill at ease over whatever was going on here.

The fact that Kingston had been barking, almost as a guiding light for her to follow and to get somewhere, but then stopped so abruptly, made her incredibly uneasy. She didn't have a specific reason to be worried, except for everything that had happened yesterday evening and the fact that Baron hadn't responded to her texts. She crept forward slowly now, not hearing Kingston anymore. As she waited between steps, she thought she heard a voice, then a yelp, and the voice again. Then a much harsher yelp and a much harsher voice.

Not sure what was going on, she edged forward. As she crept around part of a still-standing structure that looked to be an old shed, she turned to see Kingston, a rope partially around his neck. He wasn't fighting it, but he looked very confused. Beside him was a man she didn't recognize, but something about him she instinctively didn't like. Maybe it was the fact that he was yelling at Kingston now.

"You stupid dog, why do you keep coming around here? You'll get me in trouble."

She looked around, wondering what had happened to Baron. He was now uppermost in her mind. She didn't think the rope around Kingston's neck would hold him. She frowned as she considered that. Then, off to the side, came a loud noise, obnoxiously loud, as if something fell to the ground, maybe part of somebody's roof. The man was startled, and Kingston jumped free and took off running. She sighed as she saw that because the chances of her getting close to the War Dog now weren't good.

If he couldn't lead her to Baron, what was she supposed to do?

The stranger stood there, glaring off in the distance. "You stupid fucking dog, don't come back again. If you do and if you bring somebody with you, you can bet I'll pop you one."

Hearing that, she sank back ever-so-slightly, wondering just what was going on here. She looked around, trying to sort out what part of the neighborhood she was in. It shouldn't have been hard to determine, but, with all the landmarks down due to the hurricane, and the roads hardly passable, she was definitely turned around.

When she stopped next, she noted she was close to where Brad's house was, which meant it was also close to the spooky Gorman house. It had been called the spooky house since she was a kid. She had never really thought anything about it until now, as she realized that this angry guy was near the spooky house. She wondered if he had any right to be there.

She supposedly had no right to be at her grandmother's place, and she wasn't listening to the warnings to avoid this area, so she could hardly blame anybody else who owned property here either.

She took a good look at the angry man's face and then slowly retreated. As she stepped back a little bit more, she stepped on Kingston's paw, getting a yelp. Immediately the angry man charged in her direction. She bolted around several more piles of debris, trying to hide, as he continued to yell at the dog.

"What the hell is your problem? Either get over here or get lost. Don't keep hanging around here. I've got shit to do, and you're in my way."

She wasn't sure what he was looking to do, but absolutely nothing was friendly about him, and she didn't recognize him as being from the area at all. She didn't live too far away, but she was just far enough removed that she didn't know everyone who lived here. Still, she did know a lot of them.

She wanted to ask him questions, to pin him down, and to see who he was, but he seemed dangerous, and he definitely was pissed. The last thing she wanted was a confrontation with somebody who was out of sorts with his life, and this guy seemed to be out of sorts with everything. Then it occurred to her that he could also be the missing partner from last night. She had no way of knowing whether he was or not.

Following Kingston again, she tried to stay on ground that didn't make any noise, but it was damn hard. Everything creaked and groaned right now, and shit kept falling down, making it damn hard to stay quiet. As she came around another weird structure that was still standing, she came face-to-face with the stranger.

He looked at her and glared.

She glared right back. "Have you seen my dog?"

His eyebrows shot up. "You're looking for that mutt?" he asked. "He's been a pain in my ass."

"Where is he?" she asked, looking around frantically. All she wanted to do was get away, but she also needed a good excuse for being here, and Kingston had provided her one.

"He's here. Somewhere around here anyway, and, every time I turn around, he's in my way."

She shrugged. "He's probably just trying to help."

"He can help by getting the hell out of my life," he snapped, glaring at her, "and you better get the hell out of here too."

She stiffened and replied, "Nobody's even supposed to be here."

"Yeah? Well, that's nice, lady," he replied, a sneer on his face. "So what are you doing here then?"

"Looking for my dog," she repeated.

He rolled his eyes. "You should just shoot that thing."

"That's totally inappropriate. How could you even say that?" she asked, as she turned around to leave. "What are you even doing here?"

"I have my house here. What are you doing here?"

She kept walking away, her back stiff, tingles running up and down her spine, as she worried about the idea of his coming after her. "I'm looking for my dog. I already told you that."

"Yeah,… well, don't bother coming back around here," he ordered. "No dog is here, and I don't give a shit if one is."

She shook her head and glared at him. "Whatever." And, with that, she picked up her pace and raced away. Only after a few minutes, she turned around to see that hateful man running right behind her.

Baron sat up slowly, rubbing his head. He wasn't sure what the hell had happened, but he'd been walking through the area, when the next thing he remembered was seeing stars. When he woke up, he was on his side. All sorts of debris surrounded him, all potential weapons to knock him out.

His head pounded. He slowly got up and heard Kingston barking in the distance. He let out a sharp whistle, but then came silence. Just silence, which was odd.

Maybe the War Dog was coming anyway.

He slowly walked to one of the few utility poles still standing in the area and leaned up against it. He reached up a hand to lightly brush his head, checking for soreness, for blood, as he tried to figure out how long he'd been out. He checked his watch and saw all of the texts from Brittany.

He sent one back. I'm fine. Of course he wasn't fine, but he would be. He couldn't tell her that his head was mush.

When she came around the corner of a nearby building, running as fast as she could, while looking behind her, obviously in a panic, he forgot about his headache. Reaching out, he snagged her into his arms and pulled her up behind him. She screamed, but, when she saw who it was, she threw herself into his arms. Unsteady, it almost toppled him to the ground.

"He's following me," she muttered, trying to catch her breath.

He braced himself for whomever was about to come around the corner, only nothing happened. He looked down at her, and she remained frantic.

"He was following me right up to a few minutes ago," she whispered, her hands trembling in a complete panic.

He nodded. "Let me take a look." He peered around the area but saw nothing. He heard footsteps stomping away though. "Seems he's leaving."

"Where were you?" she asked. "I kept texting you, but you didn't answer." He winced, and she noticed the blood on his forehead. "What happened? Oh my God, your head is a mess."

"I'm not sure what happened," he admitted, looking around the place. "Honestly I don't know whether I got hit by someone or something just came down on top of me," he muttered. "At the moment, I've got a doozy of a headache."

She sighed. "That's why you shouldn't be here alone."

He gave her a crooked smile and replied, "Yes, Mom ."

She rolled her eyes. "The last thing I am feeling is motherly toward you," she declared, with a snap. "Fatherly, maybe,… in the sense that I might smack you for it, but I understand that whole need to do things concept. But when I texted you, and you weren't answering, I came looking. Thankfully I ran into Kingston, who ran ahead, and led me to a mama dog and her puppies. We have to go get them, Baron. Then when I saw Kingston next, this really strange man had a rope around Kingston's neck. The man was angry and yelling at Kingston."

"Interesting. So obviously Kingston got free."

"He did, and we left together in a hurry. When I turned to check, the guy was running behind me and catching up. That's when I lost track of Kingston, but I sped up and came around the corner here, where I barreled right into you."

"Well, it's a good thing you did because it was one thing for our angry guy to attack a solo female but quite another to consider coming up against two people."

She nodded. "And yet if he finds out that you're hurt…"

"I'm fine," he repeated firmly.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, of course you're fine." She sighed, quiet for a moment. "You do realize how irritating that is?"

"I do," he stated, with a quiet chuckle, "but honestly I feel pretty good. It knocked me out but no permanent damage. I'm just fine."

"If you were knocked out in any way shape or form, you should go to the hospital to get checked out." He now rolled his eyes at her. "You yourself said that very same thing to the officers last night."

"I know, and I did say that," he agreed, raising a hand in defense.

"You're just as stubborn as they were."

He grinned. "I won't say that I'm not, yet I would be very grateful if the headache would stop."

"Sure, but it won't," she stated pointedly. "You've been knocked out, so now your body's got to be screaming for a chance to heal. We need to go."

He nodded. "I think that would be best for right now."

As he turned and led her back toward the truck, she shook her head. "Hell, I totally forgot. Turn around, we're going this way."

He followed her lead, realizing just how much his head was off-kilter, also that his sense of direction was not quite right. "I don't want to leave without Kingston."

"Then call him," she suggested. "Now that we have the truck here, I don't know if this angry guy is likely to come after us or not."

"He also needs a reason to come after us," he pointed out.

"Sure, but I don't think this guy gives a crap about a reason," she muttered. "He's scary. I did wonder if he was the missing partner our gunman from last night was looking for."

Baron nodded. "Could be. So you didn't recognize him at all?"

"Nope. Not that I know every neighbor, but this guy was a complete stranger to me."

Baron then let out a long, sharp whistle.

"Wow," she said, "I wish I could do that."

"I can teach you," he volunteered.

"I don't think it's that easy," she muttered. "I've never been very good at whistling."

He smiled and shook his head. "You can't give up before you've even tried, but we'll save it for another day." He heard barking in the distance, and he whistled again, the same high-pitched sound.

"Don't tell me that you worked with K9 dogs when you were in the military."

He smiled. "Sometimes, yeah. I sure did."

"See? Just like I told you before. Now that you're out of the military, you should just keep working with the dogs. They need somebody who understands them."

"That's my intent, but we'll see," he replied.

She looked like she would pound the point a little more, but just then Kingston flew around the corner and barreled right into them, as the dog pounced on Baron, he went down hard. The War Dog was obviously ecstatic to see him. "Well, look at that," she muttered, from the sideline. "You should ask to keep him."

"Somebody else has a prior claim, remember? I won't even have a choice in the matter, unless something has changed."

"Right, but if you do have a choice in the matter?"

"Look who we have here," snapped a man from behind them.

She stiffened, then turned around.

Baron looked up to see a stranger staring at them. "Hey," he greeted him in an unnervingly friendly tone. "Glad to see he is out making friends."

"This is your dog?" the angry man asked. Baron nodded, and the guy snorted. "That thing is a piece of shit, and it's always in my face, always disturbing me, always causing trouble," he complained. "So, if it's your dog, just keep it the hell away from me, or I'll shoot it."

At the sound of the angry man's tone, Kingston turned and growled softly, coming from deep in his throat.

"Yeah, you," the angry man snarled at him, "Keep that piece of shit away from me. Where do you live anyway?" he asked, as Baron stood up.

"Where do you live?" Baron asked.

"None of your fucking business."

"Yet it is part of my fucking business, as I'm part of the crew who keeps an eye on this area. You give me an address where you live, so I can check that out, or else I'll be bringing in the cops."

Instantly the silence around them grew thick and ugly. The angry man stared from her to him and muttered, "Pretty cocky now, aren't you? You've got the dog, and you've got the girl. You must think life is pretty damn sweet." All of a sudden, he had a gun in his hand. "Well, guess what?" he began, waving the gun. "Life ain't that sweet. In fact, life is a bitch, and, if you don't figure it out when you're young, the world eats you up and spits you out."

Baron asked, "Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed today?"

Brittany muttered, "More like he's always on the wrong side of it."

"Shut the fuck up, and don't you fucking dare ask any questions. Don't you get in my face about anything," he raged. "I'm here for a reason, and I'm not leaving until I find it."

She considered him for a moment, then told Baron, "He does sound a little on the sincere side."

"Yeah, ya think?" the angry gunman snapped. "You told me that you were here for your lost dog, and now you've got your dog, so get the hell out, and take your injured, weak-ass boyfriend with you."

At that, Baron stiffened, but then relaxed. In a lazy tone, he replied, "I see you're one of those guys . One of the punks who sits on the sidelines and knocks everybody else for doing their duty?"

"Oh God, save me, will you?" he yelled, with a mocking look. "Get lost or this bullet will find another sorry ass to land in."

"Another one?" Brittany asked. "Have you already shot someone today?"

He glared at her.

"Yeah, he probably shot his partner," Baron muttered ever-so-softly—but not as softly as he thought.

The other man spun fast. "What was that about a partner?"

"We ran into a man here last night, looking for his partner," Baron explained. "Not too gentle either, so it seems like maybe you're a perfect match."

"Where was he?" he asked.

She pointed to where they'd found the downed officers last night. "He was over there." She then waved her hands. "Wait, why? Are you missing a partner?"

He just glared at her, his gaze searching. "Get lost. I've got work to do." And, with that, he took several steps backward, motioned with the gun, and said, "Go." Then he turned and hurried away, as if he needed to get out of here and fast.

She watched as Kingston and Baron took several steps in the direction the man had gone. She reached out and grabbed his hand. "No, no, no, no."

He frowned at her. "You do realize that these two gunmen seem to be from out of town and are looking for something. They both are probably intent on stealing whatever it is that they came here for."

"I no longer care," she replied. "Whatever is between these two gunmen, that's their problem. And, if it involves whatever was here even before the hurricane started this nightmare, that's also not our problem."

He flashed a bright smile at her. "What? So, you want to go back home, where it's safe and sound, and not try to solve this mystery?"

She nodded emphatically. "Yes, that is absolutely what I want to do, but, for that, we have to be alive."