by Lexie Davis
* * * *
It’d been a long time since Autumn snuck out of her bedroom window like a love-struck teenager, a first for sneaking out of her own house. But this is where she found herself after making excuses to go to bed early.
She unlocked the window over her bed and slid it up. Thankfully she lived in a one-story house unlike her parents back when she was eighteen. She couldn’t count how many times she had to climb down trees outside her bedroom window to meet Jackson in the middle of the night. The man really could have been the death of her.
Once she jumped to the ground, she dusted herself off and pulled the window down. She parked her car to the side of the house instead of in the garage by pure dumb luck.
Autumn glanced around, knowing how her father was and how he had the ability to pop out of the shadows at any given moment. All was clear. She walked to the side and immediately noticed her SUV missing. Jackson. His truck was in the garage. Her brother’s were in the drive, yet she had no keys. And her father’s Lexus SUV sat at the end of the driveway beckoning her name.
Autumn smiled feeling like a cat burglar in the middle of the night. Her adrenaline spiked as she moved toward the vehicle. Her father always kept a spare key underneath in the fender. Being a country boy, and living on a ranch, he always forgot to take out his keys when in town.
She bent down and found the box and slid the key out. He was going to be so pissed at her, but she couldn’t help it. It was Jackson’s fault for treating her like a little kid and her father’s fault for imprisoning her in her own house. Once inside, she started the vehicle and pulled out of the drive.
She had overheard Davis mention something to Nick about a dog fight at Gallagher’s tonight. That had to be where they went. It’d been three years since she’d seen his place and she could honestly admit she never wanted to grace the grounds or Frank’s presence ever again.
So why was she going?
Autumn changed lanes. It didn’t matter. Jackson wouldn’t treat her like a little kid when she could and always had handled her problems herself. Her father may see her as the helpless victim as the rest of her family does, but she is perfectly capable of laying out Frank Gallagher all by herself.
“I’m ending it. . . . And I’ve stepped aside for the most part and watched you ‘handle’ it the entire time I’ve been here. . . . I’m not handling it, Autumn. I’m ending it. There’s a difference.”
Jackson’s words flooded through her mind along with his past. He took a gun. He shot his own father. She couldn’t help thinking his “ending” it meant the worst. Military trained. Dedicated to protecting his family. She worried about Jackson and knew it’d be up to her to keep him from hurting someone.
Amidst her thoughts a phone rang in the silence of the car. Autumn glanced to the side and picked up her father’s cell phone. The caller ID read Jackson’s cell number. Autumn picked it up and answered it.
“You just can’t obey orders for anything, can you?” He sounded angry. “Where are you, Autumn? And don’t you dare pull any bullshit with me.”
Autumn pulled down Gallagher’s street and slowed the car. “I’m close to Gallagher’s house. Why?”
“Turn around and go home.”
“No.”
“Autumn, turn the fuckin’ car around and go home.” His voice rose as she parked the car.
“Mind your own damn business, Jackson.” She clicked the phone off and he immediately called back. She turned it off and tossed it in the passenger seat. If he wanted to be an ass she could be a bitch. Simple as that.
The night was cold. Autumn climbed out of the car and replaced the key in its spot so she didn’t have to keep up with it. Darkness surrounded her. Only a few lights illuminating the drive as she walked up the gravel walk. Small pebbles crunched beneath her shoes, filling the silence around her.
Once she got closer to the people milling about, Autumn ducked into the shadows the trees provided. She moved toward a building that appeared to house the animals. A quick glance inside proved Jackson was right. Gallagher bred animals for the simple task of producing prime fighting dogs to win his competitions. She couldn’t help wondering if he ever sold any of the puppies to commoners or if he kept it within the dog-fighting cronies he knew.
The dogs started to growl at her, aware of her presence. She dodged behind the building. She heard Frank’s voice from a distance. He was informing someone about how the show was run.
“You pay your cash upfront and the winner splits the dough.” He opened the door to the puppy mill and the dogs started barking, growling and whining. Autumn listened as he continued to tell the person about his prime fighting dog, one he began to agitate.
The dog’s growl was anything but warning. It was out for blood and had it been loose, Autumn had no doubts he’d find blood to quench his hunger. How could someone dedicated and trained to help animals harm them in this vicious way? It broke her heart to think she helped him get to where he was today.
“What happens to the dead animals?” the other person asked.
“They’re tossed in the dump. No one ever finds out.”
Autumn moved to the edge in an effort to look around the building and came face to face with Frank Gallagher himself. At five-eleven and one hundred fifty pounds, Frank was hardly a threat to someone like Jackson. He was hardly a threat to anyone if Autumn recalled right. But the look on his face, the hatred, the surprise, the sadistic satisfaction that she was on his turf now gave her reason to fear him. The Frank Gallagher standing before her today was not the same man she knew all those years ago.
“Well, if it isn’t a blast from my past.” Frank came over to her with a sardonic smile on his face. “This is private property and I don’t recall inviting you.”
Smooth, Autumn. How are you going to get yourself out of this one? She crossed her arms over her chest and glanced around at the massive amount of people attending Frank’s ‘show’.
“I just thought I’d come to see with my own eyes the monster you’ve become. I can’t believe that after all your training and education, you’d do something so horrible to these helpless animals.”
Frank propped his arm on the building, forcing her to meet his eyes. “And what are you here for? To save the world?”
“I’m here to tell you to leave me the hell alone. Stop threatening me. Stop destroying my life to satisfy your meaningless one. I’m sick of it.”
Frank grabbed her arm in one hand and pulled her close enough that their foreheads almost touched. “You’ve destroyed my life. Why shouldn’t I return you the favor, huh?”
“Frank, show’s about to start,” someone yelled.
Frank’s cold expression changed before her eyes to a half-assed grin that was laced with nothing but malice. “We’ll be right there.”
He pulled her toward the walk. “Let go of me!”
“No. You wanted to see the show, you’re getting front row seats.” Frank dragged her to the crowd where she was greeted by over a hundred questioning faces. He leaned in and whispered, “They’re not used to me bringing my bitches to the show so this is a real treat for them.”
“Let go of me.” Autumn jerked her arm from him and scanned the crowd.
Jackson and her brothers were nowhere to be seen. Surely she hadn’t mistaken Davis’s message? She figured since Frank was here tonight this is where Jackson would go. Great. How are you going to get out of this mess?
Her cell phone buzzed and she jumped, forgetting she put it on vibrate. Frank cast her a glance and paid her no mind when she narrowed her eyes at him. She glanced at the screen to read the text message. It was from Nick.
Are you okay?
Autumn typed in ‘yes’ and hit send. She glanced back to the cage where two men held the two dogs that were to fight. Both were pit bulls, one brown, one white like Dodo. Both were jumping, lunging at the other in an aggressive form of attack. Autumn knew what was about to happen and didn’t dare allow herself to react emotionally. Frank was
baiting her, and if she wasn’t careful, she’d take the bait.
The dogs were released into a sealed, fenced cage. Autumn stared into the crowd, trying to avoid watching the viscous animal cruelty. The men in the crowd cheered as if they were rooting for their favorite football team. The sight sickened her almost as much as the blood spilling from the brown dog did.
You don’t have to be here. You don’t have to watch this. Just get up and walk out of here. Autumn took one last look at the animals and immediately wished she hadn’t. The white dog ended the charade, leaving the brown lying limp in its own pool of blood. The white dog lifted its bloody face to the crowd with pride. She gasped, the urge to vomit striking her like a truck running into a brick wall. Never had she seen anything like this.
“Quite a show, huh?” Frank asked, leaning toward her. “That white one is mine. I bred her myself from only the finest dog lines and she just won me a quarter of a million dollars.”
Autumn stood. “You’re a sadistic bastard for treating these animals this way. I’m leaving.”
He grabbed her wrist in one hand and held a gun in the other. “I don’t think so.”
He pulled Autumn down beside him and poked the gun in her side. “Now, which one of the next two do you think will win, huh? The German shepherd or the black mix mutt? My money’s on the shepherd.”
Autumn stared at the man holding the German shepherd and tears formed in her eyes at the recognition. The dog was Bear, the cancer patient’s beloved pet that her brother saved from the fire.
* * * *
From where Jackson stood he had a clear view of Autumn, his damsel in distress. Damn it all to hell and back. Beside her sat the one and only Frank Gallagher with a gun pressed into her side. Jackson’s blood pressure spiked as did his adrenaline and fear for her safety. Why couldn’t the woman listen to him for once and stay home?
“What’s the plan, Jack?” Davis glanced around at the crowd. “Jeff is bringing the whole fuckin’ police crew, but I have a feeling we can’t wait until then. How do you suggest we get her out of this mess?”
Jackson kept his eyes on Autumn. She looked sick, like she was about to puke all over Frank’s expensive shoes. Fear wasn’t on her face but he could tell the love for animals she had was shining through. The longer she sat there watching them, the larger the emotional scar would be. A scar because she couldn’t help the animals.
“Keep your eyes on Autumn. We’ll wait until Jeff gets here, but if she moves all bets are off and we go in for her.” He looked at both Davis and Nick. “Got it?”
They nodded.
Damn this was fucked up. All he planned on doing was punching Gallagher around a little bit, then throwing him into Jeff’s arms for the police to handle the rest of the matters. He should have known Autumn wouldn’t back down. And he should have prepared for this predicament. He was a damn fool for provoking her into this mess.
He watched the fight while keeping an eye on Autumn’s face. She sat like a zombie staring at the bloody battle of the two dogs who went round after round in the enclosed cage. Unlike the first fight which was over in ten minutes, this one dragged out, dog whimpers and screeches filling the air over the crowd’s cheers.
Autumn held her emotions in really well, Jackson noticed, though her eyes spoke volumes on how she felt. Even though he was beyond pissed with her, she didn’t need to see the action taking place. She didn’t need to be put through this after going through weeks of hell prior. He clenched his fist and waited. Jeff would be here soon and then Autumn would be out of this mess. She would be in his arms before he knew it and he made a vow to see she never left them again, no matter how stubborn they each were.
“Dude, Autumn’s getting up.” Nick pushed Jackson’s shoulder and pointed.
She rounded the cage with Gallagher at her side poking the gun against her. She came to the opening and Jackson held his breath as the man in charge of entering and exiting the fighting cage opened the door for her to enter. Gallagher gave her a rough shove, and she stumbled inside with the two fighting dogs.
Jackson was on his feet in two seconds. “Get your brother here now because I’m fixing to kill the bastard.”
Chapter Seventeen
“You want to play doctor, go ahead,” Frank taunted. “Be my guest.” He shoved her inside the cage and locked the door behind her.
Autumn’s heart thumped against her ribs almost painfully while fear gnawed her deep inside. Never in her life had she been honestly fearful of an animal until now.
Bear stood above the wounded mutt nipping at it to make it yelp. He taunted it like Gallagher taunted her. What did he expect to come of this? Me eaten alive with all these witness to my death? Autumn clutched the chain link fence behind her, looking for an escape. Is this what they do? When dog fighting gets boring they go all Roman on each other and throw people into the lions den?
Bear lifted his head and turned toward her, done playing with the wounded dog. Although his mouth was dark she could still see the blood lining his lips. This wasn’t the dog she knew and took care of. This wasn’t the sweet, lovable creature that helped a child cope with cancer. No, this was a dog reacting to malicious treatment by its owner—the man who gave life to the small child dying with a horrible disease eating her insides up.
So what am I suppose to do?
Her first thought was to stay right where she was until Jackson arrived. She knew Jeffery was involved and knew the police would raid the place soon enough. Surely she could wait it out until they arrived.
Bear barked at her, clearly a warning, she knew. She saw that the dog remembered her, sniffing the air in her direction. She hated being vulnerable. She hated she had a stupid stubborn streak that ran miles high and miles wide. But mostly she hated that the outcome was probably not going to be as well as she intended.
“Dr. Callahan?” Troy, Bear’s owner, asked her when he recognized her. “What are you doing here? What are you doing in there?”
She clutched the fence harder. “Oh, I just thought I’d drop by and stand in the middle of a cage with a possessed dog for fun. What are you doing here?”
His eyes widened and if she hadn’t been fearing for her life she would have laughed. What an idiot.
“Go on, Autumn. Show everyone the work of the good doctor.” Frank grabbed the megaphone one of his cronies held. “Listen up, everybody. This here is the legendary Autumn Callahan, who is not only a fuckin’ goddess to all who hail her but a fuckin’ dog whisperer as well. She’s going to talk Bear down from his frenzied state.”
Bear growled at him, and Autumn smiled. “I’d let you bite him if there wasn’t a cage between us.”
Bear walked around toward the far side, away from Autumn, growling at the people that gathered around. Nobody stayed in their seats. They wanted to get closer to see what would come of her being in the cage with the sadistic dog.
“What’s wrong, Autumn? Have you finally met your match?”
“No. But you have.” Jackson pulled Frank back and slammed his fist into his face.
All hell broke loose after that. Autumn watched while the police raided the area making arrests and breaking up fights. Davis and Nick battled their own with Gallagher’s men. Bear went crazy in the commotion, climbing the fence and growling at the men on the other side.
Autumn watched Jackson and Gallagher while doing her best to keep an eye on Bear. Davis finally broke free from the fights and ran over to the cage, Bear following him along the way. He growled at Davis, snapping at the chain link with slobber flying from his gnashing teeth.
“It’s okay, big guy.” Davis watched Autumn as he talked to the dog. “You don’t want to hurt me or Autumn.”
“Davis, he feels threatened.” Autumn scooted farther back in the cage as the dog came closer to her. “He’s scared of his surroundings and is poised to do the only thing he knows to protect himself.”
“What do I need to do to get you out then?”
“Dig a hole on the
other side?”
Davis gave her his Marine look. “Not funny, Autumn.”
“Distraction?” She flinched when the dog jumped up on the cage, the chain link clanking loudly along with the surrounding noise. “Unlock the door and go to the other side to distract him.”
Davis did as she said and started to agitate Bear at the other side of the cage. Once he had his attention, Autumn made her move and ran for the exit. Freedom never felt better than closing and locking that door behind her.
“Where’s Jackson?” she asked once Davis joined her again.
“With Gallagher. I don’t know where they are.” Davis grabbed her arm and led her through the commotion which was starting to clear out some as people tried to escape. From what she understood, the police surrounded the property.
Autumn’s adrenaline spiked as she scanned the crowd looking for Jackson. The last time she saw him, he and Gallagher were fighting and she remembered they both were carrying guns. She clutched Davis’s hand against her arm, and he pulled her closer to him.
