Ethan

by Dale Mayer

  “I’m not worried about it,” she answered. “But, if you’ll be hanging around, and you’ll be doing this a lot, you might want to pick up some more bandages and gauze,” she said, tapping a box of Band-Aids. “Those too.”

  He nodded. “Next time I’ll hit a drugstore.” He finished his coffee, stood, walked to the sink and, before she could stop him, he washed the dishes. He stacked them on the rack, grabbed his cell phone and keys, and said, “Thank you.” And he left.

  He stood out on the veranda on the top step, knowing he should say something else but not sure what. He heard footsteps across the floor, and she came to stand in the doorway behind him.

  “Will I see you again?” she asked.

  He turned to look at her. “Do you want to?”

  Her lips quirked. “Yes.”

  He could feel that sense of satisfaction roiling through his stomach. “Then, yes.” He smiled and walked over to his truck. She was still watching him as he turned onto the highway. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but it was nice to find somebody who didn’t ask too many questions.

  He’d been a loner for a long time, and it felt right. But he’d known he needed to get back to civilization, around people. His social skills were still rusty, his sense of humor still off. Interaction with anyone other than at work didn’t come easy anymore. That was why he always related better to the animals. He preferred them over people any day.

  When he drove into the vet clinic parking lot, a couple vehicles were here already, but it wasn’t too busy yet. He imagined Louise ran a pretty decent business, considering the scope of the ranching and farming in the area. He didn’t know if she did large animals as well, but she probably wouldn’t have a lack of business in that corner either.

  As he walked into the clinic, Megan smiled. “She’s really doing much better.”

  “Is she walking?”

  Megan nodded. “With help.”

  He frowned at that.

  She let him into the back, where the shepherd was still in the cage. “If you wait here,” she said, “it’s time for us to take her out. You can come with us.”

  The shepherd had yet to see him. He walked outside to the designated area and waited, loving the fresh air versus being inside the surgery area, with its chemical super-clean smell.

  When he turned around again, the door opened, and Megan and a vet assistant walked out with a band under the shepherd’s belly, supporting her.

  He pointed at the shepherd, frowning. If she couldn’t walk on her own, he wasn’t sure he could take her with him today.

  “She is walking. We’re keeping her from putting too much weight on that hip yet.”

  He nodded with understanding.

  The vet assistant stepped back, so Megan walked with the dog. The shepherd took several hesitant steps, then a few more. She still hadn’t seen Ethan. Megan walked her to the grass, where she very carefully managed to pee.

  He smiled. “She’s doing so much better.”

  The dog, hearing his voice, turned to look at him. Something in her gaze he didn’t quite understand. But she was still weak. Her tail wagged, and her ears went down, not in an offensive manner but in compliance. He crouched in front of her, giving her a chance to get used to him. She moved closer, one step at a time. When she reached him, she gave him the gentlest of licks on his cheeks. He could feel his heart melting.

  He scratched her under the chin. “You’ll be fine now, little one. I don’t know who did this to you, but you’ll be much better off now.”

  She nudged his hand when he stopped scratching. He chuckled and, with both hands, gave her a good head scratch. When he looked up, he saw Megan beaming, the vet assistant standing off to the side and watching the interaction.

  “How has she been with everybody in the clinic?” he asked. He was pretty sure he knew the answer. The shepherd was just too damn grateful for having been taken away from that horrible life and all the pain she’d been in.

  The assistant walked closer, exclaiming, “She’s a sweetheart. She’s never barked or snarled at any of us, even when we were hurting her, which we had to do to change her needles and her dressings,” she admitted. “But she’s been incredibly patient with us.”

  Ethan nodded. “What will we call you, girl?”

  “We’ve all been searching for names too,” Megan said. “But we haven’t found anything that’s perfect. If you’re taking her with you, then you get to name her anyway.”

  “Sally,” he said suddenly. “Her name is Sally.”

  At the name, Sally’s ears perked up. She reached up and nudged his chin with her nose. He chuckled. “Sally it is then.”

  “It’s not a very heroic name,” Louise said from behind him.

  He turned to look at her. “Actually, it is.”

  Megan handed over the leash attached to the belt around Sally’s underbelly, showing Ethan how to walk her with gentle support.

  He took her around, so he could get used to helping her. When he came back to Louise, he said, “How much longer does she need assistance?”

  “Animals heal incredibly quickly,” she said. “The issue will be that we don’t want her to overdo it. So maybe another day, two days maximum.”

  He smiled. “I’d be happy to take her now, if I thought she would be okay without you.”

  “Let’s give it another day,” she restated. “And how is the name Sally heroic?”

  He watched Sally being led back into the interior of the clinic. At the doorway she turned and looked at him. “It’s all right, Sally. I’ll come back and get you tomorrow.”

  She gave a bark and then went inside the clinic, as if fully understanding.

  He turned to look at Louise. “It’s short for something.”

  She raised an eyebrow but waited patiently.

  He smiled. “It’s short for Salvation.”

  Chapter 6

  Cinn couldn’t help it. She reached for her phone and called Louise. “Has he been there?”

  “He has indeed,” Louise said warmly. “He’s a man of hidden depths.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Do you know what he’s named the dog?”

  “No. What?”

  “Sally.”

  Cinn sat back and thought about that. “Well, it’s not a bad name,” she said cautiously.

  “If you know what it’s short for, it’s a fantastic name,” Louise said. “And he did tell me.”

  “Oh, do share.”

  “He named her Sally, short for Salvation.”

  Cinn gave a happy sigh. “He really is a good guy, isn’t he?”

  “I think you’ll find he’s exactly the same as the rest of the men we have around here. Rory, Flynn, Stone,” Louise explained. “I’ve talked to several of them about Ethan. They all know about him, but they don’t know him. He was in the US Navy K9 Unit, had an accident, recovered, but slowly. In the meantime he lost both parents and slipped into a major depression. When he came out of that, he was lost for a while. He’s part of a group, the same people who sent him here, but they are back in Santa Fe. He knows Gunner and some of Levi’s men too.”

  “Great! They seem to know each other all across the country. Which is good because they probably need that family connection. Brothers, so to speak.”

  “Very true,” Louise said. “Anyway, he’s coming to get Sally this afternoon, providing she’s good enough to go.”

  “Wow, that’ll be interesting. Man and dog do travel, I guess,” Cinn quoted badly.

  “I think he’s looking for a reason to stop traveling,” Louise said simply. “He just doesn’t know what it is and probably won’t know until he finds it. Maybe not even then.”

  Silence filled the air for a few moments.

  “Have you dropped a hint in there?” Cinn asked drily.

  Laughter peeled through the phone. “Not necessarily,” Louise said. “But, if something’s there that you want to explore in greater detail, don’t let him walk away. You don’t know wh
ere he’ll stop next.”

  “He’s heading into a whole lot more trouble and probably won’t be leaving except in a body bag, so don’t count on Sally having a home just yet,” Cinn said.

  “What?” Louise asked, the confusion evident in her tone. “What is he doing?”

  “He’s tracked down whoever did this to Sally. And I know he’s contacted Gunner to do something about it, and Gunner called the police. Ethan will make sure he stops this, and he doesn’t really care if he gets hurt in the process.”

  “Well, maybe Sally is a good thing then. Maybe she’ll encourage him to be safer, so he can look after her,” Louise said. “Otherwise he could be biting off more than he can handle.”

  After she got off the phone, Cinn chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, wondering what she could do to help Ethan. But she didn’t really have any options. She walked back into her office and stopped, looking out at the road. She saw a vehicle parked on the side of the highway. People didn’t stop there, unless they were broken down. Her driveway came off the highway to her place down below, so she didn’t hear or see much of the traffic—unless they parked on her side of the road. She watched and waited. Finally it turned and headed off again.

  She forgot about it until a couple hours later, when she looked up, and possibly the same damn truck was parked once more on the roadside, facing the opposite direction this time. She got up with her cell phone and took a picture. It was too far away to show any details. Even if something funny was going on, who would she call? There was no reason for anybody to be watching her. The only thing different in her life right now was Ethan. And the dog.

  Her breath caught in the back of her throat. She walked to a different window and peered out. It was just past noon, and she hadn’t seen Ethan for hours. What if these men were looking for him? What if they’d seen him come to her house?

  Unnerved, she went to call him, then stopped. Should she call him or not? She didn’t know what he was doing. Not second-guessing herself, she hit the Dial button. When he answered, his voice sounded distracted.

  “Any chance somebody followed you here?” she asked.

  “What?” His voice was sharp. “Why would you ask that?”

  “About an hour after you left, a truck parked out on the road. I thought I saw somebody looking down here at me. I didn’t think anything of it because the truck started up and drove away. But, a few hours later, the same truck, or what appears to be the same truck, has parked up there again. I tried to take a picture of it, but it’s pretty far away.”

  “Send me the picture, and I’ll call you back.”

  She shrugged and sent him the picture with a note. I told you it was far away.

  She went in the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee, hating the tension coiling inside. She didn’t want to think he’d brought trouble to her door, but then she knew she couldn’t blame him. Not only was he the kind to walk into trouble, he was the kind to deal with trouble nobody else wanted. And he had gone looking for it. He’d gone to help save Sally.

  Just as the coffee was done, her phone rang.

  “Stay in the house. Lock it up. I’ll come back this afternoon.” He disconnected.

  She glared at her phone and tossed it on the kitchen counter. The last thing she wanted was to be given orders.

  She looked outside and saw the truck moving away again. She smiled, grabbed her phone and sent Ethan a text. False alarm. Truck’s leaving.

  Order still stands came the instant response. Let me know if it comes back.

  “Like hell I will,” she said aloud good-naturedly.

  She headed back to her office and her work. She had tons to do, and, if she was lucky, she would get something accomplished. She had another mess of emails and phone calls to make. She wanted to get through her business work and get back to her dog rescues. Just because Ethan was focused on saving Sally didn’t mean other animals weren’t desperately in need of her assistance.

  Staring at the property, two cops at his side, more stationed close by, a dozen in all, Ethan hated to think somebody might have followed him to Cinn’s place. He’d kept a careful eye out the night before and hadn’t seen anyone. But it was possible the owners had a lookout. Once at the property, he’d been so focused on the sentries there that he’d forgotten more could be higher up.

  He froze, thinking about that and then swore softly. The two cops beside him turned to look at him. “When I was here last night,” he said softly, “I think a lookout might have been up on that peak.” He turned to look at the hill where he’d been parked. “I parked up there and came down here. If somebody up on the top saw me …” He let his voice trail off, looking at the text on his phone.

  “Why are you thinking about that now?”

  “Because a truck is parked on the highway, watching a friend’s house where I’d been last evening. It disappeared, then it came back. I want to make sure nobody from here followed me to her.”

  “Then go look after her,” urged Matthew, one of the two officers.

  “She says it’s gone now, and she will stay inside locked up.” At least he hoped she would. He motioned at the property in front of them. “I need a chance to help these dogs.”

  “Not if she’s in danger, you don’t.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t think she’s in danger. But it could mean somebody’s out there looking for me.”

  The signal came just then. The men moved out. Ethan’s military training kicked in, and he already knew where he was due to be. As he approached the front, he kept behind the policemen. His best defense was getting those dogs on his side. He just had to get to them before the place exploded in chaos.

  Just then one of the armed sentries called out, “Stop. This is private property. You’re trespassing.”

  Ethan’s gaze zoomed in on the dog at his side. Her hackles were raised, and she snarled. She wore a prong collar, and it was all the guy could do to hold her back. Ethan knew, with a minimal touch, she’d go at the first intruder. Quickly using his fingers, he whistled a high-pitched tone that he’d used on his own dogs in the military—a tone that animals could hear much better than humans.

  Silence followed.

  The dog’s barking stopped as if cut off with a knife. Her ears went up, and she turned, looking toward Ethan, her gaze intent. The handler was so focused on the men at the front gate that he didn’t notice the change in the dog’s behavior.

  Good. Because they would need every advantage they could get.

  Darkness dropped as heavy clouds moved overhead. It added a somberness to the situation. His focus was on the dogs, but he knew the other men were focused on not getting shot as they took down the operation. Not part of the inner workings of the police team, Ethan watched as they all moved into position.

  On the other side of the fence, two more men arrived with two more dogs. One a big male. Was that K9:01?

  The dog he had whistled to no longer pulled on her leash. She looked around, confusion in her eyes. He let out a light whistle, easing the tension in her system. She gave a headshake, as if not quite sure what was going on. Her lips curled, and she snarled again. Her handler pulled back on her leash. Ethan watched as her neck was jerked to the side with more force than necessary. Her lips curled harder, and the snarls could easily be heard from where Ethan hid.

  Matthew, still beside him, asked, “Why don’t we just pop a bullet in her? It’d be easier. She looks like she’s ready to eat one of us.”

  Ethan shook his head. “Her collar has metal spikes that are digging into her neck, probably cutting her throat right now. She’s been trained on torture and mishandling. It’s not her fault.”

  “It might not be her fault,” the guy said sarcastically, “but I sure as hell don’t want to be at the receiving end of those teeth.”

  Shots fired from the left. After that, chaos ensued inside the compound. There were shouts, sirens, and the dog lunged in a frantic frenzy. Ethan knew, once the attack dogs hit that blood rage, it wou
ld be hard to control them. He had to get them away from their handlers.

  One of the men lost control of his dog. It jerked hard, jumping at the fence. Instead of going after the dog, he pulled his rifle from over his shoulder and fired at the police team.

  Ethan crouched below the hillock. He didn’t think this was the way it was supposed to go down. For some reason he’d expected this to be a simpler operation. But, once they’d been sighted, instead of more talking, the compound had fired at them.

  As quickly as it started, it stopped.

  Silence hushed over his ears. He looked at the man at his side. He talked on his walkie-talkie.

  Matthew bounced up, nudged Ethan and said, “All clear. One dog is injured. I don’t know about the other two. We’ve got six shooters down and secured. You stay behind me the whole way.”

  Ethan did as instructed, happy to be in the background on this one. As they forced open the gates, another alarm went off, causing the dogs to howl. Ethan pulled the ropes and leads he had brought with him out of his backpack, and, with his hands well-gloved and his forearms wrapped, he headed in to the left, as all the men went to the right.

  One of the dogs headed toward the policemen. The officer turned, lowered his rifle and called out at Ethan, “She’s got one chance. Then I shoot.”

  Ethan stepped in front of the rifle. The dog jumped at him, her mouth wide, teeth shining bright. He twisted at the last moment, shoving his padded forearm in her mouth. He gravitated as her weight hit him. He went down with her, flipping her to the ground, putting his foot on her neck and grabbing control of her leash. The dog released her chokehold on his arm and lay on the ground, quivering.

  He looked at the officer, still pointing a gun at him. “She’ll be fine.”

  The officer stared at the dog and then at Ethan with disbelief. He shook his head and said, “Better you than me. Watch out for the other two.”

  Ethan nodded as two more dogs approached. They were confused with their teammate on the ground. Ethan released his gentle but effective hold on her neck, waited for her to get up. With a special training collar firmly in place, he tied her to the open gate so she had no choice but to stay down. With her neck at an angle, she couldn’t lunge at anybody. It was temporary until he could get the other two dogs under control.