Jack leaned close to her and whispered, “Meanie face.”
Lady’s teeth flashed and her ears lay flat on her head as she barked.
The brothers’ eyes went wide.
Jack held up his hand and Lady stopped barking.
“Now, Jay-Kay, just to let you know, American police dogs are trained to take down a suspect by grabbing their arm. But my partner here was a German police dog. They don’t have all the laws we have here in the good old US of A.”
They nodded.
Jack held up his hand. “She’s trained to go for the groin.”
Both men gulped.
“Wait a second.” The guy on the left held up one hand while he kept the other one low and in front of himself. “How’s she going to tell us apart? Even our DNA’s the same.”
“But not your scent.” Jack’s mouth curled into a broad smile. He held up the bright orange jumpsuit. “Recognize this, Kayden?”
“Wait. Where’d you get that?”
“They bag them for DNA now.” Jack held the shirt down in front of Lady and whispered, “Crazy bark.”
Lady’s barking boomed across the deserted parking lot and echoed off the building. Her head rolled back and forth. She reared up, clawed at the sky, and let out an enormous roar.
“I’m Jayden,” the one on the left squealed as he pointed at his brother. “He’s Kayden!”
Kayden turned and bolted.
Lady took off after him.
“LADY,” Jack bellowed. “Stay! Halt! Kayden, stop! Heel! I don’t know what she’ll do to you. Honestly.”
Lady galloped after the fleeing man. Kayden didn’t even make it out of the parking lot. Lady bounded by him, turned, and barked ferociously. Kayden dropped on the ground and curled up in a fetal position.
“Keep it off me! Keep it off me!”
Jack ran over and grabbed Lady’s collar. “Shut up or she’ll change her mind.”
Lady looked up at Jack expectantly. Her brown eyes were bright. A huge grin burst across Jack’s face. He patted Lady, and she pranced a little in place.
“Who’s the best bounty hunting dog, huh? It’s you, girl. Stay.” Jack walked forward and frisked Kayden.
Jack pulled Kayden to his feet.
Lady barked again.
“Quiet down, girl.” Jack grinned as he clicked the cuffs on. “We got him now.”
“Keep it away, man. Please!” Kayden pulled forward but Jack held onto the cuffs.
“Shut up, Kayden.” Jack pulled him over to the Charger.
Lady walked just behind them, growling the whole way to the car.
“Thanks for nothing, Jay,” Kayden spit toward his brother.
“I told you it was a stupid idea,” Jayden yelled back.
Jack put Kayden in the backseat, and Lady jumped in after him. Kayden wiggled himself up against the door. “This ain’t safe. It’s going to eat me.”
Jack got into the driver’s seat and closed the door. “No she won’t. She won’t bite you—unless you keep talking.”
Kayden pressed his body harder against the door.
Jack pulled down the rearview mirror. “Sit back and relax.”
Kayden whimpered.
Lady rubbed her head against Jack’s shoulder. “This song’s for you, girl.” Jack pushed in a CD. “Bad To The Bone” blared over the speakers as the Charger sped out of the parking lot, with Jack grinning all the way.
Chapter 24
~
She’s a Girl
Jack and Lady walked through the apartment door. Lady took off into Replacement’s room, but returned a second later. Jack heard the shower running. He looked at the clock on the stove. 9:45 a.m. Lady came to stand in front of him and whimpered.
“It’s okay, girl. You can brag about what an awesome bounty hunter you are when she gets out of the shower.”
Jack took Lady’s vest off and set it on the floor. He took out his phone to check for messages. A strange dragging sound made him turn around. Lady had snagged her vest in her mouth and dragged it into his bedroom.
He smiled. “You liked that? Feels good getting the bad guys, huh?” Jack rubbed her head as he headed for the kitchen.
A minute later, Replacement hurried through the living room wearing a cream blouse and tan slacks. She grinned when she saw him. “I’m so late. Does Lady need to go out?” She headed to her bedroom.
“No. She’s good.”
“Are you coming with me?” Her eyebrows arched. “Please?”
“Sure. Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” She darted into her bedroom. “I’m just worried. The list of stuff that needs to get done is long.” She called out, “Did you get a lead on the guy you’re after?”
“I did better than that—I got him.”
“Got him? This morning? That’s awesome.”
Jack’s chest puffed up. “Thanks.”
“That’s really great.” She came out holding a notebook, her laptop, and assorted papers. “I really appreciate you helping me. It’s so much work. Phillip’s going to be running a cable to the guesthouse, and he needs help. It needs to be underground.”
Jack did a double take. “What? I didn’t know I was going to be a ditch digger.”
“It’s not far. Do you want me to do it?”
Jack held up his hand. “Yeah, like I’m gonna let a girl—” He stopped himself right after he said the word.
“That sounded sexist.”
“No.” He shook his head and hoped she’d just let it go. “It’s just that I thought I’d help you today. I still have to see Titus.”
“This is more important than seeing Titus.”
“I need to pick up that check and deposit it. There’s a bunch of bills coming due.”
She waved her hand as she looked through the pile of papers. “I’m making more money. I’ll just get an advance from Pierce.”
Jack’s jaw clenched.
She let the papers go and moved over to him. “Sorry. That came out wrong.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“I do worry about it. I’m sorry.” She clasped her hands together and batted her eyes. “Will you help me? Please?”
“Fine.”
“Is that an I-love-you-and-I’ll-help-you fine?” She grinned.
He nodded and kissed her. He went to pull away, but her fingers grabbed the lip of his jean’s pocket. She pulled him closer. Her lips were soft. Jack could taste cherry. The warmth from the shower still heated her skin as his hand stroked her arm.
She stopped kissing him and put her head against his chest. “I really wanted to go with you.”
He smiled and stroked her silky hair. When he touched it, he always found himself running his fingers through it. The brown strands glided over his skin, and his chest felt warm.
“You’re helping out Gerald and making us some money. They’re both good things.”
“Why won’t you let me help you with the bounty hunting? We could be a team?” Her green eyes grew larger as she gazed up at him.
“It’s too dangerous.”
“But I could help.”
“No.”
She laid her head back against his chest.
A strange dragging sound made them turn around. Lady trotted out of his bedroom, dragging her ballistic vest.
Jack grinned. “There’s my girl.”
“What’s that?” Replacement walked over to Lady.
Lady dropped the vest with a loud thud and raised her head proudly.
Replacement picked up the vest. Her arched eyebrows slowly inverted into a glare as she read the text on the side. “Is this a bulletproof vest for a dog?” Her muscles strained as she held it toward Jack.
“Ah…yeah.” Jack crookedly grinned.
“You bought this for my dog?”
Jack exhaled. “I didn’t buy it.” He smiled. “Benny let me have it.”
“The point isn’t if you paid for it or not.” She stomped her foot. “Did you take Lady with you?”
“Yeah.”
“You won’t take me, but you take the dog?”
Jack’s shoulders slowly rose.
Replacement’s eyes narrowed.
“She’s good. You would have been so proud—”
Replacement’s hands vibrated at the sides of her head. “Without even talking to me first?”
Jack rubbed the back of his head. “I told you the guy I was going after was a cakewalk. She wasn’t in any danger.”
“You took her instead of me?”
“I needed her to smell the guy.”
“What?”
“You see, there were these twins. I couldn’t tell them apart—”
“I don’t care why. It’s not about that. I want to be your partner, but you don’t want me.” Her lip trembled.
“Don’t.”
He took a step forward, and Replacement held up a hand.
“I got you some more Taser cartridges,” Jack said.
She glared. “Seriously, Jack? I can help, but you can’t see that, and that’s wrong. You treat me differently because I’m a girl.”
“I do not.”
“You do too.”
“I took Lady. She’s a girl.”
“Not funny, Jack.” Her nostrils flared and she stood up tall. “Fine. You don’t have to help me, either.” She leveled her glare at him. “I’ll have Pierce help me.”
“You didn’t just go there.”
She turned and stomped toward the kitchen.
Jack rubbed the back of his neck. “You’re blowing this whole thing out of proportion, and now you’re trying to make me jealous.”
“I am not. If you’re jealous, that’s on you. I need the help, and Pierce wants to help me.”
“Okay. I’ll call your bluff. Have the boy billionaire dig a ditch.”
“He would. He likes being around me.”
“He likes being around you a little too much. Listen, I want you to be safe. How am I supposed to watch out for both of us while we’re running down crackheads?”
“You won’t even try! You’ll bring Lady but not me. What’s wrong with me?”
“It’s not you.” Jack took a step forward, and Replacement backed up.
She shook her head. “No. It is. You don’t want me as a partner, and you don’t want me as a lover.”
“Now you’re kitchen sinking it. One has nothing to do with the other.”
“Don’t they?”
“Look, I just need to slow down this freight train—”
“Call it what it is, Jack. You want to stop. Not slow.”
“Not stop. SLOW.”
“FINE.”
They both glared at each other the rest of the morning. Neither of them spoke on the drive over to the estate.
Chapter 25
~
Right Away, Boss
Jack watched Replacement as she stood at the keypad to the server room. When she had to retype her password, he knew she was tired. He’d forgotten how little sleep they both had since they’d been up late at the hospital.
The keypad light turned green; she opened the door and gasped. Jack instinctively wrapped his arm around her and pulled her back. There was dried blood on the floor.
“Why don’t you let me get some of this cleaned up first?” Jack asked.
“Do you mind?” She turned her head away.
“Nope. Can you get me some cleaner?”
Replacement hurried off. Jack looked into the small room. Two tall metal racks had once faced each other. One still stood on the left side of the room while the other lay on its side. Wires hung down and a patch panel had been pulled halfway off the wall.
Jack walked over to the top of the fallen rack. It was quite heavy. He barely managed to lift it up and stand it back in place.
Replacement opened the door. She handed him some cleaning supplies.
After a few minutes, he called out, “Alice? It’s all set.”
She peeked in and smiled up at him. “Thank you.”
“It’s still a mess. I don’t know where anything goes.”
Replacement moved to behind the rack and made a face. “A lot of the plugs were ripped out of the wires. I’ll have to make new ones.”
“You know how to make cables?” Jack asked.
“They’re easy. I should use new cable, though. Can you hand me that spool?”
“Right away, boss.”
She flashed him an I’m-so-glad-you’re-here grin.
Jack smiled as the memory of their fight dissolved away. He picked up the wire.
“Once I get everything hooked back up, I’ll cross my fingers and turn it on.”
For the next hour, Replacement crimped cable while Jack either handed her plugs or worked on pulling the broken ones out of the patch panel. As he stood there, Jack kept looking at the tall rack.
“What’re those two black things in the bottom of the rack?” he asked.
“UPSs. They’re a backup power supply if the house loses power. They last long enough so everything shuts down nicely.”
“They’re heavy.”
“They’re super heavy.”
Jack walked to the front of the rack and grabbed the rails. Replacement stuck the last patch cable in the back.
Jack slowly pulled the rack forward.
“Hello!” Replacement darted out from behind the rack. “We just got it back together, and I haven’t even turned it on. Can you try not to knock it back down?”
“How did this tip over?”
“It’s tall. Maybe Gerald pulled out the top server?”
“Pulled it out? How?”
Replacement walked to the front of the rack and reached up. She held both sides of the flat server and pulled. Like a kitchen drawer, the server slid forward. “It slides out. Maybe he was working on it?”
“Pull on it more.”
“It’s out as far as it can go,” Replacement said.
“I know but...try. Humor me, okay?”
“Make sure it doesn’t tip. That’d blow if we knocked it over again.” Replacement shook her head but grabbed both sides of the rack.
Jack saw the muscles in her arms tense as she pulled on the rack and put all her weight on it. The rack stayed where it was.
Replacement exhaled. “Well…he’s a guy.”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t get what you’re getting at, Jack.” Replacement shrugged.
The lock on the door clicked, and the door opened.
“Hi, Alice.” As Pierce stepped into the room, he smiled at Replacement, until he saw Jack. “Oh, Jack.” Like switching channels, his smile clicked off and then on again but the new polite smile to Jack was thin and strained. “You’re here too.”
“Morning, Pierce.”
“I came to see if I could help.” Pierce looked to Replacement.
Jack was about to answer no, but Replacement beat him to it.
“Sure. But do you have time? I thought you had a company meeting.”
“I postponed it to later.”
“Well, I was about to go over Gerald’s plan, and I do have a few questions.” Replacement picked up Gerald’s notebook.
“Sure. I called the hospital about Mr. Mathis,” Pierce said. “All they’d say is that he’s resting comfortably.”
“That’s what they told me too,” Replacement said.
“How can I help?”
Replacement opened the notebook and clicked her pen. She went through the list of outstanding tasks and then started to add all of the things they needed to do in the server room. Jack watched as her list filled one page and she started another.
Someone knocked at the door. Replacement opened it, and the three of them walked into the hallway.
“Hey.” Bruce nodded.
Phillip stood a couple of feet behind him and waved.
“Perfect timing, guys,” Replacement said.
“Sorry we’re a little late. How’s Gerald?” Bruce asked.
“He’s pretty ba
d. But he’ll be okay. I know he appreciates everyone’s hard work. He asked us to finish the job, so that’s what we’re going to do.” Replacement looked down at the to-do list. “Bruce, you were snaking the cable in the basement yesterday?”
“Yeah. Sorry, I left everything out. When Gerald got hurt, it was just pandemonium.”
“I’m just trying to figure out where everyone left off.”
“Oh, yeah. I got about a quarter of it done.”
“Phillip, you were running the lines for the APs yesterday?”
“I only got one done. They’re really long runs. I was trying to hustle, but I kept having to snake some and then go back to the spool,” Phillip said.
“Well, Jack can help you with that. Pierce and I’ll check the server and power it up. Once that’s done, we still have to configure it.”
Jack slapped a thin smile on his face and looked at Replacement with a slightly raised eyebrow.
“Sure.” Phillip turned to Jack. “I’m working on the living room upstairs. Ready?”
“Just give me one sec,” Jack said.
“Back to the dungeon.” Bruce waved and walked away with Phillip.
“I’ll go check the connections before we power it on, boss.” Pierce tipped his head and then went into the server room.
Jack frowned. “I thought I was going to help you today.”
“You are.” Replacement looked puzzled.
“I mean work with you. I don’t even know what an AP is.”
“It’s an access point. But that doesn’t matter. Phillip is running cables for it. I just thought you could help with that.”
“I’d rather work with you.”
“But I have to configure the server and…I need Pierce’s help.”
Jack smiled but not with his eyes. “Fine. I’ll go help Phillip.” He made a popping sound on the last P.
Replacement pulled him down and kissed him. “Thank you, thank you.”
He let out his breath. “You’re welcome, welcome.”
Replacement headed off to the computer room while Jack started up the stairs. At the top, he looked left and then right. He guessed left.
Every room he passed was immaculate. Each piece of furniture screamed expensive. He started to total up the cost but quickly gave up.
A woman in her late thirties wearing a dark blue business suit walked down the main staircase. Her heels clicked on the marble. “Morning.” She brushed back an errant strand of her short sandy brown hair.
DATA JACK Page 11
