Library
Home / Beowolf / Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Hey Bob, you have a go-pack ready?" As Thorn drove off, Nutsbe wandered over to the sidewalk where Bob and Beowolf were waiting.

"It's already in the vehicle." He nodded to the SUV manned by an Automotive driver at the wheel and another in the back seat. "Beowolf's ready for bed. He got fed for tonight and had his exercise. He's also had a bath." Bob fobbed open the hatch and then handed the keys to Nutsbe. "He smelled like a sewer when you dropped him off to me."

"Puke. He was lying in a cramped space where I was doing CPR."

Beowolf loped over, sniffed, then turned to sit beside Nutsbe.

"Hey, there, buddy," Nutsbe swiped his hands from neck to chest in a rhythm as he dropped a kiss on Beowolf's wrinkled brow. "You had a bath? All fresh and clean? I'm going to introduce you to Henrietta, and she's a lady. So it's good that you're all spiffed up."

"CPR at the sniper event?" Bob asked. "You've had a rough day. Vomit says the person revived. Are they doing okay?"

"I haven't checked the news yet." Nutsbe left his hand resting on Beowolf's head.

"And you? How are you doing?"

"Better than I might have expected. Olivia and Beowolf were with me. We made a good team. I still have some heightened awareness, fatigue from the adrenaline. All in all, I moved through the double crisis, and it feels like it's in my rearview."

"Glad to hear it." He nodded toward Beowolf. "Beowolf's never really bonded with anyone." Bob slid his hands into his pockets as he observed the K9. "He's buddies with everyone. Loves people." He looked up to catch Nutsbe's gaze. "Didit brought him in and started his career here when they didn't click. He was always a good dog, mind you. Just not her dog."

"I get that." Nutsbe wriggled his fingers into Beowolf's fur, and Beowolf leaned heavily into Nutsbe's leg. He could almost feel the stabilizing mechanism engage in his prostheses. "I've seen that in my family. Our pet dogs were either Mom's or Dad's. If it was Mom's dog, that dog would only listen to her and ignore Dad and vice versa."

"Same with Beowolf," Bob said. "We always talked about him as kind of a lone wolf. Unusual for a bullmastiff, really." He pulled his chin back to consider Beowolf as Beowolf lowered himself to lie down. "I've been working with him since he was a puppy, but look where he is. He's not on lead, so he can go wherever he likes. He's lying at your feet, looking out away from you. That means he trusts you and is protecting you. It's un-Beowolf-like. He usually likes to plop down in the middle of the room, so he's the center of attention. Normally, I'd find him here." Bob pointed at the sidewalk between them.

"He's been heroic, Bob. When you hear the whole story, you'll be very proud. But," Nutsbe patted his pocket to check that his phone was in place, "it's going to have to wait. We're going to retrieve Olivia's car from that lot."

"Good enough."

"Listen, Bob, I was wondering if you had the name of a good sensor collar for dogs to move through a locked doggy door."

"Why would you need something like that? Are you planning on getting a pup?"

"I'm not planning, no. I'm considering. But this is for my neighbor's dog, Henrietta. She uses my fenced-in yard. I thought it would be good if Hen could come and go on her own. Say, for example, if it was raining or something."

"It would take some training first for her to use the door, and she'll need to learn a command telling her to go from where she was standing, across an area, and through the door. I'm not saying it can't be done. What breed?"

"Cockapoo."

"Ah. Well. That? Hang on." Bob turned and went into his headquarters building.

While Bob was away, Nutsbe loaded Beowolf into the back of the SUV.

The beeps warning that the hatch was lowering sounded as Bob came out with a box in his hand. "Cockapoos are about fifteen inches. My wife, Anna, got this for her chihuahua, checked the wrong size at the website, and forgot about it until it was too late to return or exchange." He held it out. "Good brand. If this works for you, take it. It's been sitting back in our supply room for over a year, so if it came with a battery, I'd change that to something fresher. You can set it so Henrietta can only go in and is held in that area. Otherwise, what good is the fence if she can dash out and get into the road?"

"Exactly." Nutsbe held up the box. "Thanks. I'll bring Beowolf back tomorrow after court if that's happening or in the morning if it's not. The time depends on how things play out with the judge."

***

It was harder than anticipated, heading back to the sniper scene. Nutsbe thought that that pool of blood would probably be there until the fire department came in. It had been a point of dread the whole way.

When they pulled into the lot, Nutsbe was relieved to see that the police tape was down and any biohazard had been cleaned.

Parked, Nutsbe handed off Olivia's keys to the guy in the back. I'm going with you in her car. We're listening for a thunking noise." He turned his head to the driver. "And you're following us?"

"Affirmative, sir."

Standing next to Olivia's car, Nutsbe was convinced that either he or Olivia was the target. And he was leaning on Olivia being the one in the crosshairs. Nutsbe had been exposed for too long while he wrapped the tourniquet and dragged the judge without getting shot for the sniper to have been targeting him.

Instead, the next set of shots hit the windshield and the mirror of the car next to Olivia's. If Nutsbe had been the sniper and had lost view of his target, those were the shots he would have taken to move his rabbit out into the open or maybe hoping for a fortunate ricochet.

Before the bullets hit, Beowolf had grabbed Olivia and was moving her.

Nutsbe looked at the placement of the various bullet holes. The sniper wasn't a rando; he was well-trained.

Sure, he was considering the soon-to-be-ex. But terrorism was the bell that Kennedy had started clanging in Nutsbe's head. Surely, Olivia knew the dangers of taking on a terrorist organization.

Nutsbe walked forward, tracing Olivia's path.

She had been in the lot's drive space—out in the open—when the next bullet flew. Now, a wind gust very well could have thwarted that shot trajectory. Olivia dove behind the cars, then Nutsbe was dragging Judge Greenway as the second bullet hit the judge's leg.

The tourniquet was in place, and no more blood lost.

The essential information was that the sniper didn't aim for the judge's center mass. And he didn't have Nutsbe's head as the target, though he was right there, upright and the most exposed of the three.

Kennedy called it; sniping was not the Russian way.

And again, while Olivia thought the wind buffet caught the bullets, these holes weren't random. From the sniper's vantage point, the car bodies had to be blocking the three of them. The bullets peppered the windshields of the vehicles around them.

Nutsbe was confident that the sniper was trying to unnerve the group and get them running for cover farther away, or even for the shelter of a nearby business.

And after walking this through, Nutsbe was even more confident that Olivia was the target.

The driver fobbed Olivia's car unlocked, then held the back door open.

Nutsbe pointed his finger to the back. "Beowolf, load."

Beowolf stopped to consider the back bench seat, sniffing and tipping his head before finding a way to get into the space. Poor guy didn't quite fit on her back bench seat and had to put one of his back paws on the floor.

Walking around Olivia's vehicle, he saw there were no bullet holes. He also didn't see anything easily located that would make the noise that Olivia had described. He opened the passenger door and climbed in.

As the driver pulled out slowly, they both listened closely. "You?" Nutsbe asked.

"Nada," the guy said. "Maybe when we get some speed.

The driver was right. As soon as they hit the highway, Nutsbe heard the tire thwack. Not like a flat, just something bizarre and loud. The driver pulled off on the shoulder and put on his hazards.

With his phone flashlight, Nutsbe lay on his back and inched himself under the trunk. There, he discovered half of a bungee cord. The hook was stuck in the wall of the tire and the cord would smack the undercarriage with each rotation.

He called Olivia and told her he was stopping by the tire shop to get it patched.

"I got called into the office, puke suit and all. Can you text me when you think you might be back home so I can be sure to be there? I'll try to time the dinner arrival. Italian? I need a heavy dose of calming carbs."

Comments

0 Comments
Best Newest

Contents
Settings
  • T
  • T
  • T
  • T
Font

Welcome to FullEpub

Create or log into your account to access terrific novels and protect your data

Don’t Have an account?
Click above to create an account.

lf you continue, you are agreeing to the
Terms Of Use and Privacy Policy.