Chapter 13

B rittany sat back on her haunches and stared at him. He looked over at her with half a smile. "I was in intelligence," he added.

She nodded. "Of course you were." She shook her head. "Did your brother know?"

"To some degree. Not a whole lot of it, but he knew bits and pieces."

She looked down at the guy they had trussed up. "Did Brad know about this group, this Galloway gang?"

"He knew of the possibility of the gang's return to get their stolen goods," Baron shared, "and I forewarned him, as much as I could. We knew it was only a matter of time before the gang came looking. But the gang didn't know about that. These guys just knew that Brad and old man Gorman seemed to talk to each other a lot. Little did they know it was about the War Dog."

"So—"

"Yeah, I came home periodically over the past decade, always under some pretense. The recent hurricane gave me an opportunity too, and, no, I'm not part of the investigation anymore," he admitted, raising his hands, "and neither was my brother. He shouldn't have gone looking, and I don't know for sure that he did. I do know that he would have been more worried about the animals than the gold or the cash."

"That was your brother," grumbled the gunman. "What an idiot."

"He wasn't an idiot," Baron snapped, cuffing him sharply on his head. "He was a good man who found value in things other than money."

"Then he must be a man who had money because, without it, our world is pretty rough," the gunman snapped right back. "And somebody like you doesn't know the meaning of rough ."

She stared down at him. "You don't know anything about him," she stated, as she walked several steps away and bent down to hug Lucky.

"How is she?" Baron asked.

Something in his tone got her attention, and she looked over at him and gave him a reassuring smile. "She's fine." Thinking about what he'd revealed in this conversation, she asked, "You were the young punk they had as part of the Galloway gang, right?"

He nodded. "I was the one they planned to shoot in the back, just using me as a way to get intel and afterward to toss me away. Then they decided to keep me as part of the gang."

"We should have shot you dead at the beginning," the angry gunman snapped.

"Maybe so," Baron muttered. "Maybe you should have."

Baron pulled out his phone and made a call he didn't think he would ever make in his lifetime. When the commander answered the line, Baron introduced himself.

"You better have a good goddamn reason for calling me," he replied, his tone clipped and impatient.

"I do," he replied, then quickly explained.

Immediately the hard tone switched to a loud cheer in his ear. "Now that's a call I've been waiting for," he declared. "I'll get men coming your way right now."

"Good, but get here before the cops do because they'll want this guy too," Baron shared. "I'm also trying to figure out if he had anything to do with my brother's death."

"He may well have, particularly if Brad knew anything."

"Brad didn't know anything, but I still think there's a damn-good chance this guy may have helped him on his way."

"We'll get it out of him."

"I'm not sure he's military though, so he might not be your jurisdiction."

"He is. He's our mess because he was once one of us. He went out on a dishonorable discharge, so don't worry about it. He'll be coming back for a full accounting."

And, with that, Baron's phone went dead. He looked down at the gunman, who stared at him, wild-eyed. "I guess you won't like the next part of your life."

"No, I sure as fucking hell won't," he yelled, his gaze searching the area, frantic, looking for an escape.

"Don't bother," Baron said, "and don't forget we've got Kingston on you as well. You'll be alive if the military takes you, but, if it's up to Kingston,… he's ready to rip you apart."

"I don't give a crap about that dog," he grumbled, "and I'll kill the fucking thing if I ever get a chance."

"Like you did my brother?"

He turned, looked at him, and snarled. "As much as I would like to say that I did kill your brother, I didn't. I had stopped to talk to him and ended up letting out a bunch of the dogs, but people started coming, and I thought,… fuck it, I'm leaving," he said, "and that piece of shit dog was there too. When I turned to look back he was already in the river and it was too late to do anything."

At that, Kingston growled deep in the back of his throat. When the man growled right back, Kingston made one snap, and the man jumped back. "Shit, I hate these fucking things."

"You may hate them," Baron replied, "but they serve a great purpose, particularly when it comes to assholes like you."

"Maybe so"—he glared at him—"and, if I get loose, you know where I'm coming."

"I don't have to worry about you getting free, and I didn't call the regular military or the regular police for that matter," he shared, with a smile in his direction. "That's a call I've been hoping to make for a very long time."

"Yeah? You probably came snooping around here every time you visited your brother, didn't you?"

"I sure did. I did, indeed." Baron grinned. "And now you've given me closure that I hadn't expected either. I'm glad to know you didn't kill my brother. He did have a heart condition that none of us ever could quite understand. His life was bound to be cut short at some point, and you might have scared him into it, but—"

" Nah , he was pretty upset over the dogs and the animals and all the rest of that crap. I watched him scurry around, trying to collect all the animals he could. What a fucking miserable piece of shit."

"Brad met his maker in good graces," Baron declared. "You, on the other hand, won't be quite so lucky."

"Speak for yourself," he grumbled. "It's not like they'll shoot me." His eyes opened wide. "Wait. Who did you call?"

Baron grinned broadly. "You'll have to wait and find out."

"Guantanamo Bay? As another ‘forever prisoner'? You can't do that. You can't drop me there. You can't hide me away, then forget about me."

"Oh, they could pop you into a couple different prisons and throw away the key. You know there won't be a trial. There won't be anything. You'll just disappear from the face of the earth, and nobody will even notice."

"No, no, no, they can't do that."

"Why not?" he asked with interest, as he watched him. "I'm sure you know other guys who had the exact same thing happen to them."

The man started to panic. "You don't understand."

"I do understand," Baron corrected, "and, just in case you have any doubts about who I am, I remember your code name too. Bennie ."

The man stared at him, frowning, trying to see Baron's younger self. "No, no, no. It can't be you. You were just a fucking ass piece of shit."

"Yeah, a fucking ass piece of shit partner, who you wanted taken down, instead of splitting the payout with. You just didn't know who I was."

"But I heard you got hurt in some accident."

"Yeah, he did," Brittany interjected, "but he's back on top again, so don't you worry about him."

"It really is you, isn't it?" the gunman asked, staring at him.

"Yeah, it really is."

"Shit, I guess I didn't really know anybody involved on that job."

"It was a pretty risky job in the first place," Baron pointed out, "but the military knew. They knew about it from the start, which is why I was even there."

"But we saw the gold, the stones. We—"

"Yeah, but it wasn't real gold, not genuine gemstones either," Baron shared, with a knowing smile. "It was a setup right from the start."

At that, Bennie ranted and raved. He was still ranting, raving, and practically frothing at the mouth over it, when a call came from the front door.

Baron looked over at Brittany and asked, "Could you go get them, please?"

Brittany raced to the front door but not Kingston. Kingston stayed right beside Baron.

When two men in black suits stepped into the backyard, they looked over at Baron. After one handed him an ID, Baron nodded. "Here's your prisoner."

They scooped him up, patted him down, making sure he had no more weapons, then replaced the zap straps with handcuffs and leg irons. Giving both of them a quick nod, one tipped his hat to Brittany. "Ma'am." And, with that, they were gone.

Baron settled on the grassy spot, taking the pressure off his ankle, swearing at the joint once again, knowing he would have to speak to Kat about it. Then his phone rang.

"So," Badger began casually, "I just got an interesting phone call."

"Yeah, I wanted to follow up on that," Baron replied. "It's all good. They just picked him up."

"Seems that you probably got closure on quite a bit then. What about your brother?"

"Well, Bennie didn't kill Brad, so, for that, I'm very grateful."

"Yes, I would think so. And Kingston?"

"Kingston has broken a lot of hearts," he replied, turning to see Brittany with her arms around the War Dog, hugging him tight. "He's also found a girlfriend."

"A girlfriend," Badger repeated, with a chuckle. "Now that's interesting."

"She's one of the dogs my brother had. She'd been abused and was in pretty rough shape but proceeded to have puppies out in the rubble after the hurricane hit, after my brother died. Nobody knew what the hell had happened to her, and that's where Kingston was the whole time, protecting her."

"Ah, now who doesn't like a really good love story," Badger said, chuckling.

"I don't know how much of a love story it is," Baron stated, as he walked over to where Brittany now hugged both dogs, "but it's definitely good to see all the changes around here."

"You think you'll be okay there now?"

"Yeah, I do," he stated. "I'll give you a full report in a little bit, but right now—"

"It's all good," Badger noted. "I'll need a report of course, but, as long as Kingston's fine, and you're fine, we're good to go for now. We do have to find a solution for the War Dog's long-term care going forward though." Pausing, he waited, then added, "Unless of course you're looking to keep him."

Baron snorted. "Do you blindside all your guys that way?"

"Don't have to. Most of the time, as you may have guessed, they're jumping at the chance to keep these War Dogs."

"I don't know what I'm doing just now," Baron admitted. "Is it true that Kingston's owner, old man Gorman, is dead?"

"Yes, he didn't survive the surgery," Badger confirmed, "so the War Dog's future care is definitely up in the air, but I have the authority to appoint a new owner."

"Right," Baron said, with a grin. "I suppose that, given the circumstances, I could probably keep him."

"Okay then." With a note of laughter in his tone, Badger added, "So what will you do with his girlfriend? And how many puppies did she have?"

"Six," he replied, with a groan.

"Well, there you go. So, if nothing else, for the next little bit, you've got puppies to look after. I reckon that makes you a K9 nursemaid."

"Oh, great . Thank you so much for that flattering job title."

"You're welcome. We'll talk in a bit." And, with that, Badger rang off.

"Did I hear him say something about a K9 nursemaid?" Brittany giggled, her hands over her mouth.

He walked over, scooped her into his arms, wincing as the leg complained. Yet he hugged her and then set her back down gently again. He lowered his head and gave her a light kiss on the lips. "You did, but I'm not answering to that job title."

"I think it's great," she declared, still laughing.

He shook his head, then walked over to Lucky and asked, "How are you doing, girl? You're okay, and it will be all fine now." He looked back at Brittany. "How are you holding up?"

"Better now," she said. "I have to admit you came into my life alongside that hurricane and stirred it up completely. I'm not sure it'll ever be the same again."

"Does it need to be the same again, or are you okay to have something completely different?"

"Completely different works," she confirmed with a smile, as she walked closer. "Are we still up for dinner on Friday?"

"I think we should have dinner Friday, and maybe Saturday, Sunday, and Monday too. I don't know about you, but I'm good to fill up every day of your week."

Her eyes widened, and she wrapped her arms around him. "I don't think I've had a nicer invitation."

He leaned over, kissed her gently, and added, "I'm glad to hear that. It's been a pretty rough couple days."

"It has." She hesitated, then looked at him. "Will you be okay if, you know…" Then her voice dropped off.

"There you go again," he said. "Letting your words drop off midsentence."

She smiled. "Well, that's just one of the things you'll have to get used to."

"Or you'll learn to be so comfortable in your own skin that you'll know you can say exactly what you need to say." Her eyes widened, and he nodded. "That happens when, deep down, you don't think that whatever you need to say will be well received, but you can always tell me anything."

She smiled. "I'm glad to hear that," she muttered, "because I'm not sure that's something I've ever really had."

"Probably not," he agreed, with a smile. "Maybe with your grandmother, maybe not, but she's old school, and sometimes it's harder for old school to deal with today's issues."

"She's definitely old school, but she's also pretty modern." She looked up at him. "Will you live in your brother's house?"

He nodded. "Yeah, and it's only a few blocks from yours."

"Well, it's only a few blocks from where my grandma's house was," she clarified, with a sigh. "I'm a little farther away than that."

"Not enough to count," he stated, "and, on a good day, it will make for a great walk. Besides, I suspect we'll be spending a lot of time at my house."

"Oh, will we? And why is that?" she asked, with an eye roll.

"Because it's bigger, and the dogs will be there, and it's got a big yard for a family."

Her eyes widened. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. I don't know what you're talking about there," she said, raising her hands animatedly. "Let's just slow down there, soldier."

He smiled. "Let me clarify. It's big enough for a puppy family."

She blinked and collapsed into laughter. "Oh my gosh, being around you is like being on a damn roller coaster. I never quite know what you'll say next."

"And that's okay too," he said. "I wouldn't want you to get too complacent."

"Well, a little complacent would be nice," she muttered, as she smiled up at him.

"Besides, it really does have a nice family-size yard."

She shook her head. "That is a discussion for later, definitely not today."

"Ah," he replied, as he glanced down at her, "but you are interested in the discussion, I hope."

She sighed. "Maybe."

"Nope, no maybes about it," he declared, as he pulled her into his arms and held her close, "but I know it's fast."

"It's not just fast. It's stupidly crazy fast."

"Okay, so I know it's stupidly crazy fast," he confirmed, still holding her, "and I'm definitely not saying that's where we have to end up, but I am saying that's a place I would really like to go."

She wrapped her arms around him and whispered, "You know something? I wouldn't mind that either."

"So, why don't we both go on this relationship journey and just see how we come out?"

"Sounds good to me," she replied, as she went up on her toes and kissed him. "But I don't know if I'll be a decent mother or not."

"And I don't know if I'll be a decent father," he added, looking at her.

They both turned, looked at Lucky, and Brittany smiled. "I guess when it comes to parenting, we've got a chance to try it out on the dogs first."

He chuckled. "If you're around me, you'll need to handle lots of dogs," he shared. "I'm not sure what I'll do with my life, outside of getting my brother's will sorted and…" His voice dropped. "I found out something else that my mother and my brother were keeping from me." Then he told her about his mother's health.

Tears filled Brittany's eyes, and she whispered, "I'm so sorry."

"Well, at least I know now and can make the best of whatever time we have," he noted, "and the same goes for your grandmother."

"Right," Brittany agreed. "So, we can appreciate the people we have in our lives, while we work on building our own. Got it." She slipped her hand in his and added, "You know something?"

"What?" he asked, as he looked at the dogs and back at her.

"I think I could use a nap."

"A nap?" he asked unsurely.

She winked at him. "Yes, and how about now?"

He frowned and asked, "Are you sure? We would have to leave all the animals on their own."

"Nope, we can just leave the door open." He stared at her, and she shrugged. "Now that all the trouble is over with."

"What about the gunman's partner?" he asked. "Have you forgotten that?"

"Nope. I'm pretty sure Bennie took out that guy."

He nodded. "I'm pretty sure he did too. We just need to figure out where and get that confirmed."

"No," she disagreed, placing a finger against his lips. "Remember how you're not active military anymore? You've done what they really needed you to do, and now you're off the hook." She stepped inside and added, "Besides, even if you were to have a look, you can't go right now."

"Really, and why's that?" he asked, as he followed her inside.

"Because of that nap ," she repeated, with a big grin, "one we definitely need." Then she raced up to her bedroom, and he followed closely behind.