by Mary May
Blowing out a deep sigh, she rubbed hard at her throbbing temples. A headache would be announcing its arrival soon if she didn’t take something for it now. After swallowing a couple of Advils, she tried to go over the case. Rehashing bits of information she had gathered up in the last day or two, she felt too keyed up to concentrate on anything. It seemed like a thousand different scenarios ran through her mind at what Sloan could be dealing with right now. Unloading the dishwasher and throwing a load of clothes into the washer did nothing to take her mind off of it. Finally, unable to stand being cooped up, she called a cab company to take her to her car.
Once she had wheels again, Jaxon felt slightly better. Pulling into a parking spot at the police station, her slightly better mood faded fast when she saw Rawlings and Deputy Collins headed toward her with Higgins.
Thrusting the dog’s leash into her hands, he loomed over her as he spoke. “If you ever and I do mean ever leave that mutt unattended in my police station again, I will put you back to being a desk jockey and bury you in enough paperwork that you will be drawing your pension before you see daylight! Do you understand me, Malone?”
“Yes, sir. I understand completely, but why do you have him out here? I thought you put him in a cell.”
“Because when the devil can’t chew and destroy, he howls. Loudly!” He then walked to his car muttering something under his breath about her and dogs that Jaxon was sure wasn’t complimentary.
Jaxon groaned then looked down at the dog who was sitting at her feet looking as innocent as a newborn baby.
“You are going to get me fired or, even worse, demoted. You have got to get over this separation issue.”
Collins grinned as he knelt down to pat Higgins’ side gently. “You can leave him with me if you ever need to, Malone. He doesn’t seem to like the boss very much for some reason, but he is a sweetheart with me.”
“I noticed that. Why do you think that is? Rawlings seems to be the only one that brings that side out in him.”
Collins shook his head as he drew his brows together in thought. “I don’t know. That is odd. Maybe he reminds him of someone who was mean to him or something. Animals are a lot smarter than people give them credit for. They remember people who hurt them.” He stood up then gave Higgins one last pat. “I better get inside, but let me know if you ever need me to doggy-sit.”
As Collins walked inside, Jaxon stood there feeling as if she had been hit with a bat. Could he be right? Could Higgins be mistaking Rawlings for someone who hurt him? Or maybe someone who hurt Noah? And if so, was he really making a mistake? Unwilling to go down that road of thought any longer, she loaded the dog back in her car.
Once she had Higgins in her car, all she could think to do was drive back to the alley. Ignoring Sloan’s last order to stay put, she headed her car back to where she knew she needed to be. It wasn’t her fault that Sloan just didn’t realize it.
Parking her car across the street, she could see straight down the alley. It was empty and all was quiet. Sloan would probably be angry if he knew she was here. Scratch that. He would most definitely be angry, but technically she was across the street, not in the alley itself. So, no rules broken. Higgins was passed out in her back seat filling the car with his gentle snores and rumbles. She was really starting to get attached to the big trouble maker.
They had been sitting quietly for well over an hour, Jaxon watching the alley and Higgins napping, when he suddenly woke up with a low growl.
“What’s wrong, boy? Do you see something?” The last time she had heard him growl like that was the night she had her “visitor,” as Sloan called it. Getting to his feet, his growl deepened as he stared out the window toward the alley. Jaxon looked but couldn’t see anyone or anything that would be the cause of Higgins’ growling. Which meant only one thing. He was seeing or sensing something she couldn’t!
After checking her side arm to make sure it was fully loaded, she slid a round in the chamber. “Ok, boy, let’s go see,” she told the dog as she hooked the leash to his collar with Higgins keeping up his low steady growl. Once she opened the door, he jumped out and would have run straight to the alley if Jaxon had not kept a tight hold on his leash. As it was, she had to pull back with considerable effort to keep the dog from charging ahead of her.
“Hold on now…shhh… we don’t want to announce our arrival.” Patting the dog’s side, she got him to keep his growl down to a low rumble, but he wouldn’t stop. As they approached the door, the fur on the back of his neck and shoulders started to stand up and his stance got stiffer. Pulling him behind the dumpster, she placed her hand on his muzzle to try and keep him quiet. The growling stopped, but his eyes were glued on the rusty door. Jaxon felt almost itchy with apprehension. Patting her hip, she slipped the safety latch off her gun holster. It wouldn’t stop a demon but it would certainly stop a human. The tension in the air grew thicker as Higgins began growling again. Something was about to happen; even she could feel it coming.
“Steady, boy…we have to wait and let it come to us,” she murmured.
A loud scream tore through the air followed by a loud thud that sounded like a body hitting the door. Higgins went crazy snarling, snapping his teeth as the door busted open and bodies fell out on the ground.
The next few seconds were a blur of screams, swinging fists and attacking dog. When it all calmed down, Sloan had Higgins by his collar. Jaxon held Jazzy, and Zero was a bleeding mess on the ground. Sloan turned his gaze to Jaxon and he didn’t look happy.
“You know I could have sworn I left you safe at your house,” he commented with a fierce frown.
“Yeah, I bet you won’t make that mistake again, huh?”
“I’m not discussing this with you right now. Take Jazzy to your car. I will take care of him,” he said, pointing to the sniveling teen on the ground clutching his torn and bleeding arm.
“That dog is vicious! He attacked me and I will see that he is put down!”
Jaxon walked over and flipped out her badge. “Higgins is on official police business. He deemed you a threat to another person and I will vouch for his judgment, as will Officer Sloan. Besides, he wasn’t actually attacking you. Your body just happened to get in his way.”
Zero opened his mouth once more to say who knows what when Sloan allowed Higgins a little slack. The dog once more lunged at the terrified teen with his teeth bared.
“All right! Just keep him off me, man!” The boy held his hands up in the air.
“So, what do we do with him? You want me to call it in?” she asked.
“No, let’s take him to your place. We can patch him up there and see if we can get some answers out of him.”
Zero spat on the ground, sneering up in defiance. “Ain’t telling you squat, Copper. You might as well let me go.”
Sloan handed Higgins’ leash over to Jaxon then reached down and hauled the struggling boy to his feet.
“I will let you go right after you answer some questions, and trust me you will answer me.” Giving the boy a shake for good measure, they headed toward the car.
They all loaded up in Jaxon’s Mustang, which seemed smaller than ever with a nearly seven-foot angel, a ninety-pound dog, one hostile teenager, one teenager who still hadn’t spoken a word since the attack and herself. If this kind of thing happened on a regular basis, she was going to need a van.
Once they got back to Jaxon’s house, she ushered Zero into her bathroom to clean him up. Sloan took a still-quiet Jazzy into the living room to try to get her to tell him what happened.
“Just have a seat on the side of the bathtub. I’m not a nurse but I have had a few first aid classes,” she assured him as she started cutting away what was left of the sleeve on his shirt.
“So, what did you mean when you said that Cujo wasn’t really attacking me? It sure felt like it was me he was chewing on.” He winced and sucked in a breath when Jaxon pulled on a piece of shirt that was stuck to a piece of torn flesh.
“Sorry, I’m
trying to be careful.”
“It’s cool. So, what did you mean?” he asked again.
“Higgins was after what was inside of you. Apparently, he really hates demons.”
Jaxon looked up and saw that Zero had carefully blanked out his facial expression to look as innocent as possible. It was a classic move but one she saw right through.
“Let me guess. You have no idea what I’m talking about and you’re a choir boy singing in church every Sunday, right?”
The boy scoffed. “Not hardly, lady. I know what you’re talking about, but I’m thinking that you don’t know what you got.”
“What are you talking about?” Jaxon asked while she sponged the dried blood off his arm. While he had a couple of decent puncture wounds, she didn’t think anything needed stitches. Luckily, she knew that Higgins was up-to-date on all his vaccines.
“Your dog is what is known as a Perro Del Demonio or devil dog,” he explained.
Jaxon chuckled. “Higgins is a pain, I won’t deny that, but I wouldn’t go so far as to call him a devil dog.”
Zero rolled his eyes. “No, it means he can sense or maybe even see evil spirits. Most animals can, but what makes a devil dog different is they aren’t afraid of them. I have heard of them but always thought they were a myth.”
That had Jaxon staring at the kid like he had grown a second head. For one thing, Higgins had most certainly seen the shadow figure in her bedroom and, secondly, he definitely wasn’t afraid of it.
“Sloan! Get in here!” she called out.
Sloan’s body filled the bathroom doorway within seconds of Jaxon calling for him.
“What’s wrong? Is he giving you trouble?” he asked.
Jaxon shook her head. “No, not exactly. Have you ever heard of a devil dog?”
“Perro Del Demenio is what I have heard them called as well. Why do you ask?”
“Is Higgins one?”
“Without a doubt. I figure that’s why you ended up with him. The Lord knew you would need him. He always supplies our needs even if we don’t know we need them.” He nodded toward Zero. “Was he torn up bad? Does he need a doctor?”
“No, I patched him up pretty good. Just a couple of deep puncture wounds. So, when were you going to tell me this? About my dog?”
Sloan leaned against the doorframe and folded his arms across his chest. “So, he is your dog now, huh?”
Jaxon tossed the bloody rags and strips of shirt into the trashcan before turning a frown upon Sloan. “You know they gave him to me.”
“Yes, but this is the first time you have claimed him.”
The dog in question was sprawled out on top of Jazzy, who had fallen asleep in the one remaining chair in the living room.
“Well, clearly there isn’t anything nasty lurking in her. Poor kid, she looks beat,” Jaxon commented.
“No, Jazzy is your typical troubled rebellious teenager, but it’s all her. No demonic activity.”
“So, what do we do with him?” she said pointing at Zero, who held his injured arm and kept an eye on the sleeping dog.
Sloan pulled a kitchen chair into the living room then pointed at it.
“Sit,” he ordered.
Zero slumped down into the chair, lifting his chin a few notches just to let them know he was not always going to be so obedient.
Sloan flipped another kitchen chair around and straddled it after removing his glasses. “So, kid, I know you’re not the top of this food chain. How about you tell me who is?”
“Why don’t I just sign my own death warrant? If I tell you that, I will be dead before tomorrow, Dude. Pick another question.”
“I got one. What do you know about Noah Wallace?” Jaxon asked.
The boy shrugged. “Not much really. He was a loner that was home schooled. He had some kind of social problem, I think. He was there one day and dead the next.”
“Do you know why he died?” Sloan questioned.
“The same reason a lot of people are dead lately. He tried the Hash and it didn’t like him.”
“Didn’t like him? That’s a strange way of saying he overdosed,” Jaxon said with a frown.
“I didn’t say that, did I? I said the Hash didn’t like him. If it likes you, then you live, but you are hooked and you will be its slave, but if it doesn’t like you then you’re a goner.”
“It’s a drug. It’s not a person to like or dislike someone, Zero. You’re not making any sense.”
The boy looked up at Jaxon with a small smile. “Lady, you asked me a question and I answered you. I even told you the truth. It’s not my concern if you don’t care for my answers.”
“What about the girl? What was she doing there and what were you doing with her?”
Zero looked at Sloan with hooded eyes. “Jazzy is a wanna be. She wants to be in the group but hasn’t performed all the required tasks. Some just don’t have the stomach for it.”
“The stomach for what?” Jaxon asked with a sick feeling in her stomach.
“For sacrifice,” he said with a gleam in his eyes.
“Are you saying that you are the one responsible for the rash of murders lately? Bleeding out the victims for your sacrifices?”
“Now I wouldn’t be very smart if I admitted to such a thing, now would I?” he taunted.
“Zero doesn’t kill the people. He tells the people who want to be in the group which ones he wants and they go do it,” Jazzy said from the chair where she was now awake and petting Higgins.
“You better zip it, little girl, if you know what’s good for you,” Zero whispered.
Sloan turned to Jazzy. “Who did he want you to kill, Jazzy?”
The girl lowered her head, watching her hand smooth out Higgins’ fur over his ribs.
“Jazzy?” Jaxon pushed her to answer. Jazzy lifted her head and tears were brimming in her green eyes.
“You, Jaxon. He wanted me to kill you.”
Chapter 10
Sloan had the boy up and shoved against the wall before Jaxon could even blink.
“Why? Why her, and you better answer me!” His face was a mask of cold fury. Zero struggled to get loose from his strangle hold but all that did was make Sloan hold on tighter, causing the boy’s face to turn a deep red.
“Sloan! You’re killing him! Stop!” Jaxon begged as she tugged at his arms with all her strength, but it was like she wasn’t even trying for all the good it did. Finally, some sanity seeped through the red haze of Sloan’s fury and he loosened his grip enough that Zero could draw in a ragged breath. Bringing Zero’s face within a half inch of his own, Sloan repeated his question through clenched teeth.
“Dude, I knew she wouldn’t do it. Besides, it’s not my call to make. I know I tell everyone that it is, but it’s not. I’m not the one you need to be slamming against walls.”
“Then who is it? Give me a name or I promise I will let Higgins chew on you some more.” At the sound of his name, Higgins walked over to where Sloan still had Zero pinned against the wall. As if on cue, he started his low rumbling growl.
The fear in the boy’s eyes grew as the dog approached. “All right! Look, I’m just a kid. Do you really think a kid like me calls the shots on something this big? I’m nothing but a front man, a recruiter. All I can tell you is the one who I report to is called Ramon. You gotta talk to him to get the name of who he reports to because I don’t know.”
“What makes you so sure there is someone higher up than Ramon? Is he the one who tells you who to take out next?”
“Yeah, he gives me a list of people that are to be sacrificed. As far as why I know someone is higher than Ramon, when you meet him you’ll know why. Ramon is the muscle but not the brains.”
Jaxon walked over from where she had been standing staring out of the window. “If someone doesn’t take out the person they were given, does someone else get that name? Is someone else going to come after me? How did I end up on the list? What is the connection between me and the others?”
Zero sh
rugged. “I really don’t know. Maybe Ramon knows, but I doubt it. Like I said, he is the pit bull, not the master.”
“Is someone else going to be coming after me?” Jaxon repeated.
Zero glanced down at the floor before looking up at Jaxon and answering, “Yes.”
Jaxon met Sloan’s eyes over the boy’s head. She saw concern in his and knew he saw fear in hers. All of this was so far outside her realm of experience she had no clue how to defend herself against something like this.
“What are we going to do with him? I don’t see taking him to the station. The Chief would have a heart attack if we bring him in and tell him what’s going on. But we can’t turn him loose either.”
Sloan stood up and pointed a finger at the kid in the chair. “Don’t move, don’t even breathe deeply. Jazzy, if he moves, you yell, got it?” When she nodded, he walked down the hall, motioning for Jaxon to follow. He stepped into her bedroom, closing the door behind her.
“Listen, I have a plan but you’re not going to like it.”
Jaxon gave a short bark of laughter. “Since when has that bothered you? Just tell me what it is.”
“I want Zero to stay here.”
“Here? With me?” Jaxon hated the way her voice squeaked, but he couldn’t be serious!
“Yes, but you won’t be alone with him. I can bring in someone to help watch him and make sure he doesn’t escape or try to harm you…” He stopped when Jaxon raised her hand.
“Ok, two problems with that. First, it’s illegal it’s called kidnapping. Two, I already have a bulls-eye on my back. If we hold him hostage, don’t you think they will come looking for him?”
“That’s the plan. Make them come to us. We will have home field advantage.”
“It’s still kidnapping,” Jaxon pointed out. “I’m sure he has parents somewhere. Even devil worshipping, human sacrificing little punks have parents.”
Sloan shook his head at Jaxon’s last statement. “Zero is eighteen and has been estranged from his parents for more than two years, and with everything he is involved in, I doubt he will be the one to call the police.”
