15. Doolittle on the Job

Chapter fifteen

Doolittle on the Job

O n the way there, those of us not dressed appropriately were given coveralls to put on over our clothes. Not that I cared, but I was glad to see K protected. We hadn't had time to change before loading on the transport vans, being driven across Tampa, and then dropped off south of the big biodiesel plant at Manatee Port near Sun City. Everything around us was green shrubbery and telephone poles. It seemed like miles and miles of nothing but the same until we stopped at the meeting point not far from our target, which was merely a tiny dirt road beside a big field of dried grass. This was a part of Florida few ever saw.

We unloaded, and I was sent in ahead of everyone to scout around and get animal help. Everyone thought I would be able to get another flock of birds to do my bidding. It didn't work that way. Convincing animals to help was not easy. Being able to talk to them gave me an advantage, but that didn't mean they would listen. I'd gotten lucky so far but wasn't sure that luck would continue.

On the other side of the drop zone, I had to pass a large solar farm and then a railroad track cut through a thick forest of pine trees, oaks, and vines leading to the target port. It wasn't a hard walk along the track, but there weren't any animals around. I was going to have to go into the woods. The undergrowth was thick, and I didn't have boots on. Great. This was going to be easy. Not.

After I passed the line of telephone wires, the vegetation grew thick with palmettos, scrub oaks, more vines that covered everything and tried to trip me up, and Spanish moss dripping from the trees. Slap! And mosquitoes. Too bad I couldn't talk to bugs. "Fuckers."

A flush of noise to my right startled me, and I tripped over my feet, falling on my ass. Stupid wild turkeys. They were pretty big birds and not the best flyers. After fluttering a foot or so off the ground when I scared them, they hid in the brush. "Hey, gals. I'm not here to hurt you or anything. You're okay."

"Fuck off."

"Get away."

And a few other things I didn't quite catch. They obviously wanted nothing to do with me. Helpful they were not, so I got up, slapped the grass off my ass, and kept walking. The forest, or whatever you called this area, got thicker. It was more like a dry swamp. Or not too dry as I stepped in water that wasn't a stream or pond. It was more like shallow water sitting on the ground. I splashed through it, ruining my new sneakers and soaking my socks. I'd worn them to look good and impress K, but they wouldn't do that now, wet and muddy. I sighed. Where the hell was the wildlife?

I hoped like hell I was doing more than getting lost out here. Then, I made it to the path I had expected to find from the aerial view I'd looked at before heading into this mess. It was a little clearer of vegetation and sandy, uneven soil. I heard a woodpecker hammering into a tree, but spotting the bird would be difficult. Noise carried out here, and he could be miles away. I tried anyway, "Woodpecker! Can you come over here?"

Giggling caught my attention right before raucous caws. Two blue jays swooped down, landing a few yards away. "Woodpeckers not listening to you, human. Weirdo."

The other jay laughed and cawed. "Right. Weirdo."

"How about you, two? Can you help me?" I asked.

They looked at each other, then me. One took flight, but the other took a couple of hops closer. "You lost, Weirdo?"

"No. I want to spy on that little port by the coast. Can you help?"

He laughed and took flight, chasing his friend into the blue sky. Birds. Ugh! They were not going to be helpful. But someone else might. A raccoon poked its head out of the forest, watching intently, curious as a cat. "Hey. Little one? Want to help me?"

"Why?" The raccoon looked at me with its little masked face. "Birds not helpful?" A beat later, the little shit rolled on the ground, laughing. "Birds…haha…he asked stupid jays…"

"I can get you food. If you help." Bribery worked with Docks, so I figured I'd try it with this one.

But then it wasn't one. There were four more waddling out of the treeline. "Food? For all us?" The first critter asked.

"Yes. You have to spy for me. See what's going on at that port. Make a commotion, maybe."

"What kinds of food?"

A few squirrels jumped from the trees, scampered across the road, and climbed halfway up a tree on the other side above the brush. "Nuts? Nuts for us? We spy."

"Good. Yes. Nuts for the squirrels. What do you want, raccoon?"

"Frogs."

"And fish," another raccoon called. "Lots of fishes."

A big roly-poly one raised a paw. "Dogfood."

"I can do fish and dog food for sure. Not frogs. That one is beyond me."

The original raccoon looked exasperated, and I thought I would have to hit up a pet store for frogs. I didn't like that idea, but luckily, he caved. "Alright. We go look. Come on."

We made our way down the path and right to the edge of the port. "Okay, sneak in and around and see where the people are, then come tell me. Can any of you count?"

"Me, me." A little squirrel danced around. "Four, two, one. All the nuts. Yes, yes."

"No. Any raccoons can count?"

They all looked blindly at each other. That was hopeless. "Never mind."

Another voice from behind me, deep and purring, answered. "What do you want counted, human? And what do you offer me?" I turned to see the fluffy face of a bobcat. "How about a few of the squirrels?"

All my helpers took off, and I wasn't sure they'd come back. "Well, hello. I'm not feeding you my helpers."

"They can't even count. Stupid rodents." He sat and licked his paw, very much like Mr. Wiggums, only bigger. Remarkably bigger.

"Can you?" The cat ignored me. "Do you have a name?"

"What do you offer?"

"Fish? Chicken?"

"Chicken? That's a bird?" The cat stopped licking his paw and stared at me with yellow-green eyes and incredible markings that made him nearly blend in with the landscape. At dusk or dawn, he'd be impossible to see.

"Yes. A big, plump bird. Or a turkey. Did you see those turkeys back there?" I pointed to the way we came.

"Yes. A big, plump turkey."

"I'll even pluck it for you." There had to be a grocery store close by where I could get a turkey. "If you can tell me where everyone is and how many people there are." I pointed toward the docks.

"Bob."

"What?"

"Name is Bob. And I'll tell you. Wait here." Bob slinked off into the woods.

I pulled my tiny radio out of my coverall pocket and radioed in. "Doolittle to tag team. Surveillance underway. Stand by."

"Ten-four." The answer sounded like K, and that made me smile. Oh fuck. I was falling in love with his goofy ass and floppy hair. No time to consider the implications. I shoved the thoughts aside.

"May need a stop at the store for nuts, fish, dog food, and a turkey."

"A turkey?"

"Yep."

"Uh, Ten-four." That last one sounded exasperated. Well, the price for animal help was apparently going to be food. But I didn't know if the squirrels and raccoons would come through now that Bob was stalking toward the target.

After a few minutes of waiting, I wondered if Bob would even come through. I also thought about the next time we did this, pre-stocking food for whatever kinds of animals we might come across. A little research would help.

A rustling caught my attention, and Bob slunk out of the tree line. He stretched out and rolled in the sand before looking up at me. "Three evils walking around. The smell of them everywhere and horrible." He blinked a few times, perhaps to get the thought of evil out of his head. "Big greens watching the water. Watching the woods. Didn't see me. Five on one side, five on the other."

I relayed the message back to the team, then asked. "What about normal people. Huddled together?"

"I think there were people in the box. Couldn't see them, but I heard."

"That was fantastic, Bob. Thank you. After our people go in, we'll get you that turkey. You'll wait?"

"I'll wait. Maybe I'll claw an evil." He rolled in the grass again.

I liked cats more than I would admit. But I sure as hell wasn't telling Mr. Wiggums that.

After relaying the last of the message, the team came in. Before they moved in though, a little raccoon head popped up near me. "Psst. For fish we make raucous in the port?"

"Yes. Go now."

K caught up with me and put his hand on my shoulder. We were the rescue team, going in behind the first strike, and we had two others with us. "The raccoons are going to make a commotion, then we go in."

A minute later, there was yelling from the port. "Go. Go. Go." Someone on our team called.

We ran in, K and I stayed low. I pointed to the cargo shipping container on the far side. It looked like it was about to be loaded on a barge. We ran toward it. Like Bob said, I could hear people inside. But the door was locked. "We have to get this open."

One of our team stepped up. "We need bolt cutters. I think we have some in one of the vans. I'll go get them." The man ran back the way came.

"That's going to take a while." K looked around. "We need to stay out of sight."

All around us, squirrels and raccoons ran around. Our troops were fighting with the armed men the triplets had stationed, but it looked like they had the upper hand. We outnumbered them and had a few powers at work. And we all wore the contacts, keeping the triplets from hypnotizing us.

"You." The voice was wavery and pissed off. But there he was. One of the triplets. He stalked over, a purpose to his march and white-blond hair flowing behind him. At first, I thought he was coming for me, but he grabbed K's arm.

Fury raced through my veins, and I was ready to leap at him. But before I got the chance, K dropped low to the ground, kicking out, and swept his legs, making the triplet fall back on his ass with a thud. I raced over. The fight wasn't done. He got up quickly, again grabbing for K.

"Oh fuck no." I round-house kicked him in the side.

He turned and glared at me. "The two of you have caused me nothing but trouble." He hissed, not unlike a cat. Then he came at me, but he didn't get far.

Bob jumped on his back, full claws out.

The triplet screamed, and K swept his legs again. This time, he fell forward while trying to reach behind him to get at Bob. Something cracked, and I was pretty sure it was his elbow. He screamed again, and I grabbed the one I thought was hurt, pulling it behind him. Bob finally let go, and I put my knee in his back. "Call someone to contain him."

K radioed for help with wide eyes as he watched Bob sitting next to us, licking his paw like an overgrown house cat.

I gave him a little smirk. "This is Bob. He's our new friend. We're going to get him a big mother fucking turkey. Maybe two."

"Oh, yesss… fat birdsss," Bob purred, making me chuckle. But before I could explain to a confused-looking K, our help arrived, taking our prisoner off our hands. But the chaos continued. And our teammate hadn't arrived with the bolt cutters.

A raccoon came running around the shipping container, skidding to a halt when he saw Bob. "Oh shit, oh shit." He started backtracking.

"He's not going to get you. Right, Bob."

Bob rolled over on his back as if agreeing without saying a word.

The raccoon rubbed its hands together but wouldn't come closer. "The evils on boats. Going away."

"They're getting away. Shit. Come on." I tugged at K's coveralls and we ran, following the raccoon. Sure enough, the other two of the triplets were getting on a small boat. It was away from the main dock and nearly hidden.

Then I spotted an alligator lounging at the edge of the shoreline, deep enough for his eyes to pop up, but the rest of him was beneath the water. "Hey, buddy. Can you stop that boat? Bump it or tip it?"

The alligator blinked.

"I'll make it worth your while. What do you want? Food?"

"Chicken?" The alligator asked. "It's been years since I had the chicken. Yum, yum. You get me chicken?"

"Yes. I'll get you a chicken. Two if you tip that boat and stop them."

The gator moved faster than you'd think an ancient reptile could. He zipped across the water in a burst of speed, headed directly for the escape boat. It wasn't far off, but we had no other way to follow them. We hadn't counted on a water-bound getaway. Stupid! We should have. "I'll bet that's how they got away the first time."

"Yep," K echoed my thoughts. "We should have had boats out there to stop them. Why did we overlook that?"

I shrugged. "We can't think of everything."

"Oh!" K pointed and jumped. The gator was slinging his tail into the side of the boat. But it wasn't helping. The triplet at the wheel pulled down on a lever and the boat picked up speed. I didn't know what kind of vessel it was, not knowing much about boats, but it looked like it could hold a maximum of four to six people. It had a rolled-up awning over it that looked like it could cover at least half of the boat. It was probably between fifteen and twenty feet long. Less than twenty, for sure.

And it had a bit of speed. It got away, and a sad gator slowly swam back to the shore. "It got away. I tried."

"I know, buddy. I'll still get you a chicken."

"We friends? I miss peoples friends. I left my peoples nest and no more chickens."

"Yes, we're friends. I'll get you chicken. Don't worry."

"My name is Howey." He opened his mouth wide.

K took a step back and gripped my arm. "Uh…Doo…"

"It's alright, K. This is Howey and he's a friend. I think he lived in captivity when he was younger, then turned loose. Bastards. We're going to get him some chicken. In fact, we'll be back to give him chicken regularly. Maybe find him a new home. He misses people." Okay, maybe he missed a cushy life where he was fed regularly and didn't have to actually catch his own food. I didn't know. But it didn't seem right to abandon him.

"Well, we have a pretty long grocery list. And we have someone shopping now. I'll radio to add a couple of chickens."

"And get an ETA on that bolt cutter."

While K was on the radio, I checked in with my animal friends, reassuring them that food was on the way.

The armed men had all been taken out, killed, or subdued. The mission was winding down, and I felt that adrenaline spike dropping fast. The guy with the bolt cutters arrived and let the people out. I used my power to snap them out of their trance, but it wasn't terribly difficult, having done it before.

I'd wanted to show off for K. I wanted to be the hero. I didn't think I was. K and Bob took down the one triplet we had managed to capture. I couldn't take credit for that. But at least K was safe. If that asshole had hurt him, I would have lost my fucking mind. Yep, totally falling for him, and there was a little niggle in the back of my mind wondering if I could or should continue working with him under the circumstances. Weren't we compromised now? Was this bad? Would SPAM split us up if they found out we had a relationship beyond friends? Sleeping together was one thing, but these emotions? I didn't even know what the fuck to do with them.

And did this thing actually go beyond friendship? What the fuck, even? Was I worried that we were only friends with benefits? Fuck buddies? What the hell was happening?

One of the transport vans pulled up, thank the gods of Egypt. Because I surely didn't need to stew in my emotions. They unloaded the food for my animal friends and loaded up the victims we rescued.

Thankfully, the guys who picked up the food also brought coffee for everyone. After I saw the animals fed, I sipped mine while looking around at what was left of the docks while we waited for another transport to pick us up. K nudged up beside me, rubbing his shoulder against mine.

"Good job, Doolittle."

"Eh…I think I got lucky. These are good animals. Especially Bob. But honestly, it's the food." I waved my arm around.

"Well, the case isn't over yet. There are still two bad guys on the run."

"They'll turn up."

"You think?"

"Of course." I had more faith now than before. SPAM wasn't perfect, but we learned a lot from this raid. At least I had.

K sipped his coffee. Then he chuckled.

"What?"

"We're going to have a mountain of paperwork to do tomorrow. And this time, you're not getting out of it."