I am so very sorry, Smudge said as she started to pick up more of the subtleties in the wolf’s accent. She understood everything Glasgow was communicating, but she didn’t know if she could fully appreciate a mother’s heartbreak. Glasgow surprised them when she asked about E’sra, and it was clear she identified the depth of Smudge’s grief in an instant. This time it was the wolf who approached Smudge to share her feelings through touch and low vocalization.
Your poor family. That’s an awful, painful thing for you to bear, Smudge said. With her head rotating under Glasgow’s chin she looked back at Spot. She hated that she and her brother had brought their troubles to this place. E’sra, Willie, the skiers, the rangers, and this sincere and majestic creature’s pack had been slaughtered by something they never should have been a part of. It all came through as she reached up to rub her neck against this sensitive, smart wolf.
Spot stepped forward and said to Glasgow, There may be more of those rogues coming if we don’t stop the humans that are making them sick. We need your help. We need to stick together, and if we do I think I have a way for you to stay in these woods and be part of a family again. You can lead your own pack and control your future. In time, things can be good here for you again, I promise.
Glasgow thought about that for a minute as she watched the other captive dogs and the humans caring for them. This strange mixed pack had saved her life, and they had killed these rogues. Not an easy task, and she could never have a safe family if there were more coming. She couldn’t hope to stop them herself.
I will join your pack, she indicated, and we’ll do what must be done. What is my place here?
Oh, we’ll fit you in somewhere, Smudge said, I think probably just under the lead Human, but above his runt male human.
The wolf thought that was acceptable, as long as mounting wasn’t part of the deal.
Chapter 72
At sunrise the sky lightened, but not significantly. It was January in the middle of Quebec during a snowstorm and the thick gray clouds still reached down into the treetops. They could see a little farther into the woods where shadows started to form under the trees but the snow was still falling heavily. Everything was dark gray instead of just black.
After they secured E’sra in the sled Hamish had decided to take the time to backtrack a little to the rangers’ machines and take their rifles before heading off again.
Ben tried the sat phone as they followed the river down the mountain towards the ranch, and towards Christa. For the few seconds he did get a signal there was no answer.
The Elkies had been running almost nonstop for twenty-four hours. Hamish and the pups had tried to get them to rotate into the sled for a rest but they refused. T’raf took over the vacant wheel position and Smudge ran in her place as a swing dog. Spot tried to get her to switch off with him but he didn’t push it when she refused. He could tell she didn’t want to be in the sled. She just wanted to run.
When Hamish pressed the dogs to take a break T’nuc would growl at any attempt to unclip her. She just repeated, Get to Christa, over and over, and the team would wait for the command to take off again as they puffed steam into the cold morning and stared back at Hamish.
Glasgow mostly stayed in the woods but would show up next to the sled every so often, seemingly coming out of thin air to run alongside Hamish. She would check in with Spot and then dart off into the thick brush again. The wolf didn’t appear winded and even in heavy forest had no problem overtaking the Elkies who were running at almost full pace. Ben couldn’t figure out how Glasgow could join them from either side of the trail without him having seen her cross it. She must be moving way ahead or behind them as she patrolled. He could tell the entire team was happy to have her protection. Even the sled dogs knew there wasn’t much chance they were going to get ambushed again.
The team continued to drop down into Christa’s valley, and eventually they arrived at the back of the large meadow behind the ranch. It was a treeless white blanket that stretched to both sloping valley walls, with the river running down the west side.
They scanned the back windows of the house through the rifle scopes and keen dogs’ eyes, but weren’t close enough yet to see any details through the blowing snow. The kitchen and great room were lit and there was smoke coming from the chimney of the big fireplace.
A few minutes later Glasgow came silently out of the shadowy trees behind them and stopped next to Hamish. She tended to just appear, and when Hamish lowered his rifle he jumped when he noticed her.
He said, “Could someone ask her to quit doing that? I swear she fucking does it on purpose.”
“Sure, Alpha,” Ben said, and then asked Spot, “What’d she find out?”
Spot and Glasgow chatted, and Spot signed to Ben who said, “There are five vehicles in the driveway but she didn’t see any humans.”
As they looked through their rifle scopes again Ben asked, “So what do you think, Unc?”
“I’m not thinking Christa’s having a barn burner and forgot to invite us,” Hamish said as he scanned the house and the valley, “I don’t like it my boy, I don’t like it one bit. I suggest we may not want to just go waltzing down there.”
He rubbed his frosty beard as he considered their options. If they snuck into the east woods they’d come out unseen behind the barn, but they wouldn’t be able to see inside the house until they were pretty close. They could cross over the river and loop around to the west as Glasgow had just done, but the front entrance wouldn’t offer any views into the house. The only way was to head into the blowing snow of the open meadow and hope they could get close enough to see what was going on before being seen.
Hamish slung his rifle and backed away from the sled so the whole group could see him. “Right, lads and lasses,” he said as he clapped his mittens together, “here’s what we’re going to do…”
Chapter 73
Christa could see well enough from one eye to check her hand. It had stopped bleeding so she relaxed her cramped fingers. Tavish had cut down between each finger on her left hand, starting at the webbing and splitting it an inch past the knuckle. He had done it slowly whenever he didn’t like the answers to his questions. Initially he had been convinced she knew more than she was telling him, but he’d never met anyone who would still try to keep a secret by the fourth slice, especially after he held the knife to their other hand. It was pretty clear she didn’t know fuck all about what they were interested in.
Christa was pretty sure the blood had stopped flowing from the back of her head as well. She had hit the edge of the chair when the big thug, Ty, got frustrated with Tavish’s apparent lack of progress and decided to help before Tavish stuck his gun in the man’s mouth and backed him off.
For as big as Ty was Christa thought he hit like a little girl. Still, his punch had torn open her lid when his ring caught it and the cut flowed for a long time after it swelled closed.
She managed a smile at her dogs. They were the smartest, bravest dogs on the planet, especially Vuur who was bleeding from a graze wound to the cheek. The quick dog had turned away fast enough to miss most of Tavish’s intended head shot. There was a horrible few seconds when Christa thought he would shoot again, but Tavish must have been satisfied with drawing blood, and the terrorized look on her face.
She had signaled for the dogs to stand down, and that was exactly what they did. She knew there was no way they could break their leashes with one tug, and if one of them struggled to get free they would have all been shot. They had watched Christa get cut, and scream, and take a beating. They watched her attackers with simmering rage, but they hadn’t moved.
An Asian woman dressed in all black, Jia, had arrived at some point. She didn’t seem happy with the news that Hamish was away for several days. As her bodyguard removed her coat she became very vocal about wanting this business, whatever it was, finished before the storm broke. She apparently didn’t give a flying fuck about the weather but Tavish got her to agree they should
n’t leave before first light. They could potentially ride right past Hamish in the dark and not see him, and he could hear the snow machines coming before they could get close to him.
Tavish and the woman stood at the back slider for a long time, talking quietly until Christa saw the sky lighten.
As some point the rest of the thugs started moving around in the front hallway. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she heard Vic’s unmistakable mumble cutting in and out over their radio.
The thugs came and went through the sliders a few times and Christa could feel the cold breeze and snowflakes land on her hot skin whenever they slid open the doors. They crunched up and down the icy back deck stairs, and she heard her snow machines starting up in the barn.
The massively muscled short Latino man, Jero, and Jia’s bodyguard Lucy were standing at the family room slider, not far from Christa’s chair. They were watching the men in the barn filling the snow machines with gas and checking their weapons.
Jero put on his jacket and said, “Well Lucius, don’t get your nails dirty waiting for the men to bring home dinner.”
He added, “Mayate,” not quite under his breath as he looked down to start the zipper of his jacket.
Lucy said, “Paragraph, go do my bidding and shut your midget ass up.”
“Paragraph?” Jero asked, puffing up his formidable chest.
“Yeah fool,” Lucy said, smiling his full white smile down at him, “Paragraph, cause you aren’t a full essay.”
Ty came from the front hallway and said, “Shut up you two and come here.”
They joined Tavish and Jia at the kitchen slider and Ty said, “We’ll head to the mine route and then north on the east side of the park, where Peggy said Hamish and the runt should be camped.”
Jia said, “If she’s telling the truth.”
Ty looked over at Christa, snorted, and said loudly, “Oh, she wouldn’t lie to me, not anymore. Would you sweetheart?”
Tavish zipped up his coat and said to Jia, “We’ll bring them to the mine. You finish up here.” He looked down at his hand held radio and said, “I’m on seven, but doubtful you’ll get much until this lightens up, ma’am.”
Jia started to say something but Jero stepped in front of her and pointed a finger at the wide open snow field behind the ranch.
He said, “Mira alli, what the hell is that?”
Chapter 74
Spot was limping through the deep snow and favoring a paw as he crossed the white field and approached the ranch. He stumbled a few times, got up, and made it to the corral. His black coat was covered in snow and he was shaking.
The kitchen slider opened and Tavish stepped onto the porch with his pistol hidden behind his back. “Hey there my wee boy. Come on, come along now,” he called out to the dog, changing his accent back to friendly Glaswegian. He whistled and tapped his leg with his free hand.
Spot picked up the pace and limped to the path at the back of the barn. He noticed two of the barn doors were open and the four snow machines were idling just inside. There were two men with automatic assault rifles watching him hobble past. He flashed that back to Ben who was behind him somewhere in the snow and following him through his rifle scope.
Spot hopped up the back steps of the icy deck and into the house, pausing long enough on the slippery deck to pretend to steady his footing, and sign what he saw inside. He really did slip as he walked into the house and almost dropped the small red lock blade he held in his mouth.
Tavish closed the slider behind him and said to Jia, “That’s one of the lad’s dogs.”
“Both of his dogs went out last night,” Christa said in a weak dry whisper without looking up, “I saw them chasing a deer into the woods. They must have gotten lost in the storm. I wasn’t exactly able to call them back, was I?”
Spot limped over to Christa and nosed her good hand before hobbling around the couch and thumping down heavily on the floor next to Sholto.
Jia waved Christa’s comment away and said to Tavish, “Okay, you better get going.”
Tavish, Ty, and Jero left through the slider and went down the back steps towards the barn.
Jia and Lucy were joined by the three thugs from the front hall. They watched the men leave and stood chatting near the back slider.
Spot got up and stretched, and yawned, drawing a quick look from Lucy, but he turned back to the conversation as the black dog nosed and sniffed each of the tied up dogs, who seemed oblivious.
Spot walked around the kitchen table and drank from a water bowl in the corner. Christa flashed him three numbers with her good hand, and then looked at the lock box on the counter.
Spot nodded, and looked at the kitchen clock. When no one was looking he touched his wrist and then tapped the floor five times.
Chapter 75
Glasgow appeared in the meadow with her head held high. She pranced and stomped and ran around in circles in the center of the snowy field. She was almost exactly two hundred meters from the back of the ranch.
The men in the house and the barn didn’t notice her.
Glasgow stopped and looked behind her. Smudge’s head popped up from the deep snow just enough to be seen over the drifts. She was all white and had on her winter camo vest. She knew Glasgow could see her, and hoped those at the house couldn’t. She gestured to the wolf.
Glasgow turned back to face the ranch and barked. It was one big bark, and then she pranced around again in the falling snow.
The men in the barn were just about to mount the snow machines when one of them pointed past the corral fence. He came out of the barn, and then waved the rest of them over to the low post and rail fence.
Ty said, “Is that one of ours?” as he raised his goggles and brought up his assault rifle.
“No,” Jero said, looking through the scope of his own rifle, “Ours are dark gray and brown, this one’s much lighter.”
Jero noticed Ty was visibly relieved. His big supervisor put up a good front around their caged wolves, but Jero knew he didn’t care to be close to them. He wouldn’t go near Jia’s infected pair after they had started to bloat and turn aggressive. Ty had refused to go with Jero to release them, even after he had eaten a fist from Vic for his insubordination.
Inside the house they had also heard the wolf’s bark. Lucy and Jia turned to look at it through the slider as the other thugs stepped out onto the icy deck. Lucy slid the glass door closed behind them to cut off the cold and snow swirling in.
Christa signaled to the police dogs. Spot had unclipped their leashes and they silently spread out around the living room.
A man on the deck wearing a quilted brown vest said, “It’s a big fucking wolf,” and they all raised their assault rifles to get a better look through the scopes.
Down at the barn Tavish joined the men at the corral fence. He asked, “Might I assume that is not normal wolf behavior?”
“Fuck no. Es locochon homes,” Jero said, “Is that shit she gave our wolves contagious?”
Lucy had just asked Jia the same question inside the house as they watched the animal dancing around in circles far out in the snow field.
“No,” Jia said, “They told me the infect-”
“Don’t move,” Christa said from behind them as she pulled the hammer back on the pistol.
Jia and Lucy heard the click and put their hands up.
“Turn around, slowly,” Christa said softly, but with the unmistakable grit of an ex-military police officer.
Jia and Lucy turned, slowly.
What had been a beaten down and bloodied girl taped to a chair had somehow become a standing muscular woman in an instant. She also had a big gun and a really pissed off, and yet calmly chilling look in her good eye.
Christa had pieces of cut duct tape hanging from her sleeves and pants legs. She was holding a large revolver in her bloody hand and a little red pocket lock blade in the other. The lock box on the kitchen table was open.
Lucy and Jia noticed Ben Hogan’s
black dog was standing next to her, wagging. The larger dogs were spread around the room and they were not wagging. They were slowly closing on them with curled upper lips.
“How the fuck?” Lucy and Jia said at the same time.
At the barn’s corral fence a man with a gray chin strip and ponytail looked through his rifle scope and said, “Should I cap it?”
“No, he’s all mine,” Ty said as he lowered his head and started to track the wolf’s movements.
Tavish said, “Ty, wait,” and raised his assault rifle to scan the field at the edges of the trees.
Ty wasn’t waiting and started to pull the trigger just as Tavish yelled for them to get down, but it was too late.
They heard a chopped whistle and a thump. The camo jacket of the man standing next to Ty puffed out and he dropped to his knees.
The crack from the rifle echoed around the valley as he fell backwards in the snow.
Before the man hit the ground Tavish had darted away and rolled, coming up behind one of the sled dogs’ small metal igloos. He tapped on it, satisfied it would deflect a bullet.
He looked at the back deck of the ranch and realized it wasn’t one rifle shot he’d heard, but two simultaneous shots.
A man wearing a brown vest grabbed at his neck and fell forward over the railing. He tumbled down the slope behind the house spraying blood across the snow each time he rolled.
The Glasgow Gray: Spot and Smudge - Book 2 Page 34
