by M. A. Owens
Fire Claws scoffed. “Hah, you wish old dog. I came for the fun, not to kick around your scraps.”
Brutus nodded. “Alright, on my signal. Remember, get his weapon away first, then duke it out with him to your heart’s content.”
Fire Claws pumped his fist again, like a child who was just promised his favorite treat.
Brutus looked to Buddy and I, concern wrinkling his face. “Let’s get out of sight. The two of you use this time to catch your breath. We’ll need you for the other cats. They’ll be no slouches either. Probably the best Saint can spare him.”
We moved to the alley across and waited patiently. As hard as I tried to quiet my breathing, it took several minutes before I could. I still felt like I’d been breathing hot coals. Even though it was near midnight, the streets still radiated heat stored from the sun’s rays. My head was swimming, and my shirt was drenched like I’d just taken a dip in the river. Tempting as the idea was, the last thing I needed was to go for a swim in this river, where dead cats and dogs go to their final rest, concrete shoes fitted tightly. We just so happened to be right next to it. No doubt Saul used the river to make the weapons easier to find when he went back for them.
Right on time, the three cats approached from the main street, moving at a steady pace. Brutus brought down his arm, signaling Fire Claws to pounce. He shot out of the alley, paws clenched into tight fists, a perfect boxer’s stance, tucking his elbows. He pivoted on his leading foot, and with breathtaking speed and power landed his fist into Saul’s face before he had the chance to react.
No cat or dog in this city could stay standing after a punch like that. It would be a miracle if he didn’t die from the impact, if his skull was still holding together, if his brains weren’t pounded into paste. In my wildest imagination, I couldn’t even force an image of the cat, or dog, who could take a hit like that.
Unfortunately for me, imagination wasn’t necessary. After only two small steps backward to catch his balance, despite blood pouring from his nose, Saul stood steady, leaning into a counterattack.
21
Fire Claws was quick to adjust, not allowing his opponent’s toughness to surprise him. After all, this was what he was counting on, what he’d hoped for. The smile on his face made that clear. He pulled back his punch, but Saul nearly doubled his speed, grabbing his paw before he could withdraw it, flying forward with a knee to Fire Claws’ stomach, lifting him completely off the ground. Fire Claws was no pushover either when it came to taking a shot, steadying himself when his feet touched the ground again, pulling Saul forward into a headbutt. Saul hardly flinched, pulling him forward again, this time tucking his hips against Fire Claws, and flipping his opponent over his shoulder, slamming him hard enough into the hard street below that it made a sickening slap.
This all happened so quickly that the rest of us had only just now spilled into the street. I extended my shock stick, clocking the distracted cat closest to me in the back of the head, sending him down to one knee. A kick from Buddy finished the job, dropping him to the ground unconscious.
Brutus ran toward Saul, in an attempt to help Fire Claws, but was tackled to the ground by the other cat. Saul didn’t let go of Fire Claws’ arm when he’d slammed him onto the ground, leaving him lying stomach down. Saul kneeled down on his shoulder, bending his arm straight back, giving it a hard pull. Fire Claws gasped in pain. I ran behind Saul, leaped through the air, and brought down my shock stick toward the back of his skull. With lightning reflexes, he snapped his head around, catching my arm as I came down, extending it high above me, preventing me from doing anything other than trying to land a weak kick. Which, of course, he shrugged off as though it hadn’t happened. Still holding my arm, he punched me several times in the ribs. I felt them snap like dry twigs beneath my hide. An answer to a question I’d had in the back of my mind came forward. I was certain Lady hit harder between the two of them, though not by much, and I really wish I’d found out some other way.
He lifted me off the ground, as I choked on attempts to suck air back into my empty lungs. He carried me over to the edge of the river and threw me over the rail.
Desperately, I grabbed for anything I might use to keep from plummeting to my death. With all the luck I didn’t deserve, but always seemed to find at just the right time, a stone stuck out from the wall enough for me to grab on to, near to the top. I heard him unholster his blaster, and the familiar hum of the charge. He quickly leaned over, intending to shoot me as I hit the water, an extra precaution to be sure I wouldn’t be back this time.
What he caught instead was my baton, which I’d somehow held on to against all odds, across his knuckles. He dropped the blaster, and I watched it plummet at near slow motion toward the rapid flow of water, splashing when it landed.
He shrieked and nearly fell over the railing trying to catch it. His eyes wild, he reached for me, looking to exact a quick revenge. Brutus must have broken free from the other cat, because he was now hanging from Saul’s neck behind him, his massive arms trying to choke him out. Saul seemed to sag for a moment, but his discipline kept him thinking clearly. He didn’t panic. He turned, slammed Brutus into the railing, then dropped onto his back. I couldn’t see what happened, but Brutus must’ve let go. I hit the tip of my shock stick against the wall, collapsing it, then stuffed it into my pocket, using the free arm to grab on to the edge of the wall above. I pulled with everything I had, before feeling a heavy foot stomp on my paw.
Saul was still focused on me, gasping as he pulled in precious air Brutus had kept him from taking.
“Goodbye, Trigger,” he said, stomping hard on my paw. I cried out in pain, losing my grip with that paw, still clinging onto the stone with my other paw, my grip slowly slipping. Saul leaned over the rail, reaching toward me. This time, Buddy stopped him, pinning his arms behind his head, growling with all his strength. Saul’s face contorted as he tried to withstand the pain of his arms being torn from their sockets and his neck bent forward. His eyes bulged as he again sagged toward the ground. But again he stayed calm, waited for his opening, and found it.
He stomped down hard twice on Buddy’s foot, causing his grip to loosen just enough for Saul to slip from it, throwing an elbow into Buddy’s face, sending him tumbling backward out of my sight.
Saul stumbled this time, struggling to steady himself on the rail. He surveyed the area behind him before turning his attention to me, not allowing himself to be careless again. Gravity would kill me soon, anyway. I barely had any grip left on this rock at all.
Had we failed? Even with Fire Claws helping, Saul had proven too much. What a lousy way to die.
Saul didn’t turn to face me, instead leaning on the rail and watching the other direction. Had Buddy stayed in the fight after all?
A red-furred arm swung fast toward Saul’s face, but he dodged it, landing a punch of his own against Fire Claws’ jaw. He stayed standing, his right arm hanging limp by his side.
“Hold on, detective! About to wrap this—” he shouted, before Saul landed another punch to his face, cutting him off. Saul’s confident smile shined across his face. Fire Claws must have been the last one standing of all of us, and in awful shape.
“Go on, take your best shot,” Saul said, motioning for Fire Claws to swing. Without hesitation, he threw a brilliant left hook, catching Saul, fatigue finally making him too slow to dodge such a fast strike. Saul stood rigid, stared for a moment in stunned disbelief, stumbled and tried to steady himself against the rail before sliding down onto the ground.
Fire Claws dove under the rails, as my nails slipped away, the last of their grip on the stone. Just as I felt myself let go completely, searing pain shot up my entire arm, Fire Claws having buried the length of his claws through my paw, and I hung limp.
“Sorry, can only use one arm. Bear with it,” he said. He took a deep breath and pulled me up as far as the bottom rail before his strength gave out. It was close enough. My fingers were broken, but I could still wrap my arm around
the rail.
Brutus struggled to his knees, and crawled to the rails, pulling me the rest of the way over. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Saul stirring, reaching for something on his belt. I dipped my bloody paw into my pocket, retrieving my shock stick, making one hard swing to extend it, and falling into a second swing that caught him in the head. He finally flattened onto the hard street, out cold.
I fell back onto the ground, looking up at the sky. We did it. We actually did it!
We looked like a bunch of dogs… and a cat, that had fallen off the roof of a building about ten times each, but we did it.
Buddy sat up a bit, propping himself on his elbow. “Trigger, there something you’re not telling me? That cat fought just like Lady.”
“It’s a long story, Buddy. For another time. We need to go back to the gym.”
Fire Claws stood to his feet and screamed to the top of his lungs. “Woo hoo! Whatever that cat’s been eating, I’m adding it to my diet tomorrow. I feel awful,” he said, his last three words contradicting the enormous smile across his face.
“Quiet boy,” Brutus whispered. “Since you have so much energy, pick him up and put him over your shoulder. We’re going to my old gym.”
“Oh! Secret hero hideout? This was an official Detective Trigger case, wasn’t it? Oh boy, what a night. How’d I do, detective?”
“You did good, kid. Going to give you five out of five stars. Ace detective level,” I said, intending it as a joke, but his smile only grew wider.
We all struggled to our feet, leaning on one another for most of the way, nursing our wounds as much as possible as we walked.
I could tell Fire Claws’ adrenaline had finally run dry, and he was feeling the pain now, because he shut up for the rest of the trip.
When we got in sight of the gym, I ran ahead, nearly falling as I flung open the back door. Lily’s eyes met mine, and I ran toward her just as she ran toward me. I grabbed her in my arms and spun her around, hugging her so tightly I was afraid I might hurt her, and really, really hurt myself. But I couldn’t resist.
Kerdy looked awful, covered in fresh bandages, most already bloody, sitting on the ground with her eyes closed. I wasn’t sure she was even breathing.
“Is Kerdy…” I asked, my voice cracking.
“I’m alright, you puppy,” Kerdy said, keeping her eyes closed, taking in slow and deep breaths. “I was meditating. Until you interrupted.”
“You’re covered in blood,” I said, pointing to her bandages.
“Most of it isn’t mine,” she said, with a vicious grin, opening her eyes just in time to see Fire Claws step through the door with the others, holding Saul on his shoulder.
“We had some last-minute help,” I said, nodding to Fire Claws.
“How do you do, mam? Name’s Simon,” he said, nodding to Kerdy.
“Simon?” I asked, tilting my head.
“Fire Claws is just my boxing name. You didn’t think that was my actual name, did you?”
I choked back my embarrassment. “What? No! Of course not.”
“You didn’t kill him,” Kerdy said, watching Saul take shallow breaths as Simon dropped him not-so-gently onto the hard floor.
I shook my head, smiling. “No, we didn’t kill him. The weapon he was carrying was swept away in Arc River.”
Kerdy nodded. “I have means of recovering it later. That weapon is too valuable to lose and should be used for the right cause. I’ll find out from Saul where his scavenged weapons are hidden. I suspect old world technology.”
“Old world what?” Brutus asked.
Kerdy shook her head. “Never mind. My problem to deal with later. A much smaller problem that I can handle on my own. Thank you, Trigger, and… thank you for taking him alive.”
I reached out my paw. She smiled, taking it and shaking it firmly.
“Case closed,” I said.
22
My eyes slowly opened against the late morning sun, and I tried to sit up. A bolt of pain surged across my side, and I bent forward, wincing. Two paws grabbed my shoulders.
“Oh no you don’t, Trigger. You are under my care, and I’m afraid I simply cannot allow you out of this bed today,” Lily said.
I pouted my lip at her. “Pretty please?”
“No! You pretend you’re only joking, but the moment I turn my back you’ll be running out the door trying to tackle this or that hooligan to help Chief Petey out.”
“Come on,” I pleaded. “I’ve already been stuffed in this tiny room for a week. I’m feeling a lot better, honest. What if the entire district is on fire out there and I’m the only one who can put out the flames?”
“Oh, in your dreams. Petey has things well in paw, you should know. They transferred Harvey back to Black District hospital. Did you hear Rick signed his business over to Harvey just before being arrested? Harvey’s not even been released yet, and already he’s meeting with associates from his hospital room, despite the protest of the nurses.”
I laughed.
Lily picked up a wet cloth sitting on a table beside her, chucking it at my face. A direct hit.
“Oh, you think that’s funny, don’t you? Think of how his wife must feel, trying to make a stubborn dog like that take his much-needed rest. I think I must know how she feels!” Lily shouted with mock rage. At least I really, really hoped it was mock rage.
“Sorry,” I said, easing back down on the bed.
“You should be, Trigger. By the way, Kerdy has been waiting to see you all morning. I’ll send her in to keep you company while I make you tea.”
Lily left the room, and Kerdy stepped inside. Despite her wounds looking much worse than mine just days ago, she now looked as though she’d never been wounded at all.
“How…” I started, pointing at her.
“I swear, if you tell anyone what I just did, I will drown you in Arc River myself,” she said.
“What you just di—ouch!” I grunted as a needle plunged into my arm, Kerdy squeezing the plunger and emptying the contents into my body.
“No questions. No comments. Not one word. I’m serious. Do you understand?”
“Not even a—” I smiled, but her scowl only intensified.
“I’m serious,” she repeated.
She really was serious. “Yeah, sure thing, Kerdy. Don’t even know what you’re talking about.” I winked.
“Saul is secure with my people. I will return soon to interrogate him, and we’ll determine his fate.”
“Good,” I said, unsure of what else I could really say to bring her any comfort.
“You asked me once about Lady. I think you deserve an answer after all you did to help me. My people are just about all cats. Lady is one of the few dogs to see the outside, and I raised her as my student… as a mother, in a way. As I did with Saul, and so many others. Lady was crippled and weak at birth. Her parents were cruel and threw her over the wall to dispose of her. Her body was broken even further when she landed on the other side, but she still breathed, dragging herself along the ground. I found her. I couldn’t believe that pup’s will to survive. I was so impressed, that I took her with me. We healed her. First her injuries, then her abnormalities given to her by birth. She always felt she had something to prove, and she was always bitter. I thought she had abandoned her feelings about Arc City. That was my mistake… I sent her after the Grand Gobbler, but when she saw her chance to stand above those who live here as one of them, she took it. Others believe she failed me, but…”
“You think you failed her,” I said.
She sniffed, wiping at one of her eyes, nodding.
“I wish I could tell her I miss her. I think I would say ‘the ninth commander releases you from your oath’ and let her go.”
I perked up my ears. “Ninth commander? So, you are a leader.”
“Something like that. So long, Trigger. We may not see each other again for a while, so I’ll be direct and not hide my feelings. I think of you as a friend. That thing I didn’t just do
, that was not your payment. That was a bonus. The favor you’re entitled to, take your time to think about it. When we see one another again, I’ll settle my account with you.”
“So long, Kerdy. Thank you for everything, and good luck.”
Kerdy stood and walked out. Not long ago I said I’d be happy to see her walk out the door and now seeing it made me feel deeply sad.
The feeling didn’t go away, only intensified as I sat quietly in the room by myself, going over the events of the last few days in my mind. I had dealt with Saul, and Lily was safe. Petey had used his new power as Black District Chief to push back against Saint’s influence on the police. Patches had planned this brilliantly. Because Black District was now independent of the ACPD, Saint’s reach as an Adria District representative, and even the mayor’s own orders to the police, stopped at the Black District gate. Petey’s Black District police could act as they saw fit.
Lucky for me, because the warrant out for my arrest rivaled the one that had been out for Rico all those years. I’m told the wanted posters were going up everywhere, offering a handsome reward to anyone who would risk crossing into Black District to retrieve me. Petey dared them to, and, at least for now, there were no takers. Considering what we’d just done, and Fire Claw — oops, I mean Simon’s passion for telling the story like I was a comic book hero deterred the typical for-hire street thug from wanting to get involved with anything that had my name on it.
The press, now pandering to Saint more than ever, did not come by to take my photo. Not least of all because someone with a pile of warrants out for their arrest for such charges as… well, being a traitor, did not make for good press unless it was about their capture.
My mind lingered on the thought for a moment.
Why didn’t Rick go into hiding when he sent me to reveal his identity to the broker?
