Zero Dwarfs Given (Dwarf Bounty Hunter Book 4)

by Martha Carr

  She shrugged. “Maybe he’s trying to pull himself up beyond his means.”

  “With a senator’s pockets. Might be.” Johnny sniffed and headed around the side of the main building toward the sound of employee crews moving around, hard at work during what was still the beginning of a notably long shift. “Does that file say what Hugh was being blackmailed for?”

  “Brork’s demands. They weren’t all that specific.” Lisa frowned at him. “Blackmail is blackmail, and when it’s against a political figure with ties to the Bureau…”

  “Yeah, yeah. Real off-limits. I get it.”

  They rounded the back of the building and stopped at the edge of the open work yard. The loading-bay doors were open, and the yard teemed with undisguised Kilomeas. There were half a dozen huge, muscular men among them who looked human, but the dwarf caught the glint of one man’s eyes flashing silver when he glanced at the two partners.

  “Shifters, Johnny,” Rex muttered and sniffed the air.

  “Six of ʼem,” Luther added. “Maybe seven. Hey, how are we supposed to find one Kilomea in a whole horde of ʼem, huh? They all stink the same.”

  “That’s one reason I can talk and you can’t.” Johnny headed toward the workers hauling crates off the loading bays and stacking them in the backs of transport trucks.

  Lisa glanced at the hounds and shrugged. “I’m guessing that was aimed at you guys.”

  “Lady, you have no idea.” Rex trotted after his master and whipped his head from side to side as he entered the mass of workers.

  Luther sat and stared at Agent Breyer. “I know you can’t hear us, but Johnny’s got it all wrong. We can talk.”

  “We should stick close, Luther. Come on.”

  “Huh.” The smaller hound stared after her as she made her way around the edge of the workers. “You sure you don’t speak hound?”

  “I’m lookin’ for Yarren Brork,” Johnny said and raised his voice over the noise without technically shouting. “Is he in today?”

  “What’s a dwarf doing here?” A Kilomea with a chunk of hair missing from his forearm stopped to study the bounty hunter. “You little guys are as strong as shit, I’ll give you that. But most of these crates are half your size, man.”

  A handful of workers chuckled as they continued with their loading and stacking.

  “I ain’t here for a job,” Johnny replied. “At least not doin’ what you’re doin’. Yarren works here, don’t he?”

  “As far as I know.” A shifter with his uniform button-up removed and tied around his waist hefted another crate in his arms and grunted. “He didn’t come in today, though.”

  “How come?”

  “Beats me.”

  Johnny grunted and scanned the work yard. “Is the foreman in today?”

  The working magicals chuckled and didn’t pause in their hauling, stacking, grunting, and sweating.

  Another Kilomea turned his head toward one of the open loading docks and bellowed, “Rocky! Got a dwarf out here asking for ya!”

  “And a pretty little extra.” The shirtless shifter slowed on his path past Lisa and studied redheaded Stephanie with undisguised appreciation. “You lost, sweetheart?”

  She grinned at him. “Not at all, but you might be if you keep looking at me like that.”

  The workers burst out laughing. “It looks like you’re losing your touch, Omar.”

  “Shit, son. I’d back away from that redhead real quick. Nothin’ but trouble.”

  “Feisty.” The shifter winked at her and sniggered. “I like it.”

  Boots thumped slowly across the closest loading dock, and Johnny looked up as a massive Kilomea descended. His eyeteeth were grotesquely crooked and a scar zigzagged from the top of his head down the side of his face before it hooked under his square, fur-covered jaw. The huge magical folded his arms, the same uniform button-up as his workers rolled halfway up his forearms. “What?”

  Johnny acknowledged him with a nod. “Are you Rocky?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m lookin’ for Yarren.”

  A low growl escaped the forearm’s throat and his shaggy fur ruffled in the warm, muggy breeze blowing across the work yard. “He called in today. Yesterday too. Personal issues.”

  “Yeah, that’s one way to put it.”

  “Hey, aren’t you that bounty hunter?” A shifter asked and pointed at Johnny before he hefted another crate. “The one with the show, yeah?”

  “Are you a fan?” the dwarf asked.

  “Not really.”

  “Good.”

  “It looks like he brought the whole damn crew with him, though.” A Kilomea with thick black hair tied in a topknot nodded toward the side of the building. “Boss?”

  Rocky hopped off the end of the loading bay with a loud thump.

  Luther skittered away from the huge magical and snorted. “Jeez. Look where you’re stepping, huh?”

  The foreman peered around the side of the building to see Cody and Dave inching toward the work yard, followed by the rest of the crew. He shook his head. “No cameras.”

  “It’s part of the show returning,” Lisa said and stepped toward him. “You can request that we keep everyone’s identity anonymous if you like. Blurred faces and everything—”

  “No cameras.”

  The bounty hunter smirked. “I’m right there with you, brother. Get back to the lot.”

  Cody stepped forward and turned to pan the camera.

  “Man, you got shit in your human ears?” Rocky stormed toward the cameraman with another growl.

  Cody stepped back but didn’t stop filming.

  “You want us to step in Johnny?” Rex asked.

  “Yeah, we’ll chase off anyone. I’ll get the big guy. He almost squashed me.”

  “Naw, let ʼem work it out.” Johnny folded his arms and tried not to grin.

  “This is private property,” Rocky roared, “and I don’t give a shit about your home videos. Keep moving.”

  Howie uttered a piercing whistle. “Everyone out front!”

  Phil stared at Rocky with wide eyes, then gestured around him toward the work yard full of magicals without any illusion at all. “Do you know how many shots there are of businesses with nothing but magicals working out of—ow! Jesus, what are you doing?”

  Howie yanked the man by the ear and turned toward the front of the building. “It’s either my hand on your ear or your arm ripped out of its socket, Phil. Would you prefer the other option?”

  “Ah-ah-ah!” The director shrieked as Johnny’s old friend yanked him away.

  Then, Howie banged his cane against the chain-link fence lining the driveway behind the building. “Let’s go, people. We can catch Johnny on his way out.”

  Cody kept filming but almost dropped the camera when Rocky lurched toward him again and pounded a fist into his other hand. The man tucked his equipment protectively under his arm and turned to scatter with the rest of the crew.

  “Pain in my ass,” the foreman growled. “All of ʼem.”

  The dwarf nodded. “On a different day, I reckon you and I would get along just fine.”

  Rocky grunted and turned toward him. “Why are you lookin’ for Yarren?”

  The bounty hunter spread his arms as if to indicate that the answer was obvious. “Bounty. I’m tryin’ to do my job like the rest of y’all. He’s been out for two days?”

  The Kilomea’s tongue flicked against one of his crookedly protruding teeth. “Yep. He hasn’t called off a shift in ten years so I assumed it was something important. What did he do?”

  “Trying to change his circumstances, I reckon.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with his circumstances.”

  “Did he say anything about why he took the personal days?” Lisa asked and stepped toward them. “Any sign that something was off before he called in yesterday?”

  Rocky turned toward her and studied her in an offhand way. “You practicing to play a cop role in that movie of yours?”


  She lowered her head and pressed her lips together to suppress a smart quip. “I’m simply curious.”

  “Who are you?”

  “My assistant.” Johnny cleared his throat and raised a hand to warn Lisa to hold off. “But she’s on the right track with the questions.”

  Rocky growled. “He’s a good worker and never complains about a shift or a heavy load. Always shows up to clock in and stays late if he has to. But times are hard.”

  “How’s that?”

  “If you can’t tell by looking around, dwarf, you’re not gonna find it.” The Kilomea hawked and spat at the chain-link fence.

  “Whoa!” Luther darted toward the slimy projectile but stopped short when Johnny snapped his fingers.

  “Do you have any idea where we might find him?”

  “Someone’s paying you to take him in for something, huh?”

  “I’m tryin’ to do my job.”

  “Yeah.” Rocky shook his head and turned to stride toward the loading bays. “I got nothing else to say.”

  Johnny wrinkled his nose and shrugged. “Then we’re done here. Fellas.” He nodded at the magical workers who had watched the exchange between the bounty hunter and their foreman. Some of them nodded in return. A few cast crooked smiles and winks at the redheaded Stephanie, but most simply returned to their work.

  Lisa followed him down the drive toward the front parking lot. “You didn’t try very hard to get more information.”

  He shrugged. “Yarren’s boss ain’t gonna give him up just like that if he has no reason to doubt the guy. And I ain’t fixin’ to take on a squad of hairy bastards and half a dozen shifters so they can tell me they don’t know where he is. These are workin’ folks, darlin’. They ain’t done nothin’ wrong as far as I can tell.”

  “I agree with you there.” She looked over her shoulder, but the open yard behind the building was now out of view. “But something doesn’t feel quite right.”

  “Because those fellas ain’t fixin’ to turn in one of their own?”

  “No. Because the foreman said Brork hasn’t called in or missed a shift in ten years. So the guy’s been visiting Senator Hugh on his own time after work to make his threats.”

  “Maybe it’s somethin’ of a weekend hobby, then.”

  “Sure.” She frowned. “But blackmailing a senator repeatedly takes considerable guts, time, and planning. Not to mention the fact that Hugh’s statement in the case file said Brork’s been after him for weeks. And the guy starts missing work only now?”

  “It might be he’s startin’ to crack down a little harder. So we showed up at the right time.”

  When they reached the lot, Phil clapped and twirled a finger in the air for the film crew to get everything in their next shot.

  Rex growled when one of the team moved toward them. “You heard the old guy, two-legs. Fifteen feet.”

  Luther went straight up to Cody and snarled, which made the cameraman step back quickly despite the fact that he kept rolling with the camera centered on Johnny and Lisa. “Hey, Johnny. Did we get upgraded to bodyguard status? I’ll chase him anyway. Just say the word.”

  The dwarf forced himself to not look at either of the two cameras closing in on him and Agent Breyer as they returned to the rental truck.

  “The bounty’s not at home and not at work,” Phil shouted and jogged in a wide circle around the cameras and mics and low-growling hounds. “Where will you look for him next?”

  Johnny stopped beside the truck, jerked the driver’s door open, and grunted. “You’ll have to keep up and find out.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Senator Richard Hugh lived in Guilford, and after the case file’s description of Yarren Brork’s multiple visits to the senator’s home in the last few weeks, that seemed like the next best place to look.

  Johnny killed the truck’s engine in front of Hugh’s large, Victorian-style house and nodded. “If the Kilomea ain’t inside, I reckon Mr. Senator will be more’n happy to illuminate whatever we’re missin’.”

  “Do you think he’ll know where Brork is?”

  “Maybe.” He shut his door, whistled for the hounds to jump out of the truck, and hooked his thumbs through his belt loops as he started up the clean, smooth driveway. “Not that I trust a word comin’ from a politician’s mouth, but there’s an art to readin’ between the lines.”

  The doors of the film crew’s vans rumbled shut as everyone took their places to follow Johnny toward the front door.

  “Stop, stop, stop.” Howie pointed at them with his cane. “Not here.”

  “This is part of the show, old man—”

  “Sure. If you want to get your asses majorly sued by a Maryland-raised senator. Turn the cameras off.” Howie snapped his fingers at Cody. “I mean it.”

  “And how are we supposed to get enough for this episode?” Phil blustered. “If we keep getting told to turn the cameras off, we won’t have anything to—”

  “Oh, come on and quit your yammering.” The old man rolled his eyes. “We stay here, and I’ll make sure Johnny stops to answer some questions before we move on. Fair enough?”

  Phil rolled his eyes and scowled at Johnny, Stephanie, and the hounds walking up the driveway. “All right. Everyone stays. Keep the senator’s house out of it. We’ll wait.”

  “Whoa-ho-ho, Johnny.” Rex sniffed at the rows of hedges along the driveway. “This place has everything.”

  “It’s huge.” Luther snapped at a small white butterfly flittering from flower to flower in the bushes. “Hey, if we get this Kilomea, do you think the two-leg who lives here will be grateful enough to give us snacks?”

  “Only way to thank a hound, Johnny.”

  “Yeah, and belly rubs.”

  “Heads in the game, boys.” Johnny’s boots thudded onto the wide covered porch with a two-person swing hanging from chains at the far end. “We’re here for a chat. If Yarren happens to be here at the same time, we’ll catch him in the—”

  “Back up, asshole!” The muffled shout came from inside. “This will not go well for you if you don’t start listening!”

  Johnny pounded on the door with a fist. “Richard Hugh?”

  Someone roared inside the house, followed by the thump and bump of a scuffle before something shattered.

  “Hey! What the hell? This wasn’t part of the deal—”

  A gunshot went off, and Johnny snorted. “Fuck privacy, then.”

  He pulled two black explosive beads from his pocket, crushed them, and stuck them on either side of the doorknob. When they detonated, the brass knob popped in its setting. He kicked the door in before the piece of hardware landed on the porch.

  Out on the street, Phil circled his finger in the air and took off running. “We gotta get this, people. Let’s go!”

  Johnny and Lisa raced inside and the hounds darted through the foyer with them. “Definitely Kilomea here too, Johnny.”

  “Yeah. Unless it’s the senator.”

  Johnny turned at the sound of light footsteps trailing behind him. Cody darted through the doorway first, his camera rolling, quickly followed by Dave with the boom and two other crewmembers trying to squeeze through all at the same time. “Do you have any brains at all? This is real violence. Get the fuck outta here!”

  Two more shots were fired at the back of the house, followed by more shouts. Johnny sneered at the film crew, then spun to race toward the noises with Lisa and the hounds.

  “Get him down, man!”

  “This fucker’s lost his mind!”

  “Drop the gun. Hey, hey—”

  Removing her Stephanie illusion, Lisa drew her firearm from her shoulder holster beneath her lightweight overshirt. The second she and Johnny reached the end of the long hallway and darted into the massive living room in the back, she raised her weapon and shouted, “FBI! Drop your weapon and put your hands in the air!”

  “Get them!” The shouting man pointed at two Kilomea and a half-wizard fuming at him from across the living room
. “Get those animals out of my house!”

  “Animals? You’re the one who—”

  “Hey!” Lisa shouted. “I said drop your weapons!”

  But there were no weapons to be dropped. The only firearm lay in the center of the living room between the portly Senator Hugh and his blackmailers.

  The half-wizard hissed and summoned a fireball in one hand before he hurled it toward Hugh. Lisa’s fireball was faster and struck the assailant in the wrist to make his attack fly wild. His spell streaked into the bookshelf behind the senator’s head and he turned toward her with a snarl.

  Both Kilomea roared and turned toward Johnny and the hounds. “We got ʼem, Johnny.”

  “Which one’s the one we want?”

  “Which one of you is Yarren?” Johnny shouted.

  The closest Kilomea with flecks of white tipping the fur around his face charged and swung a huge fist to knock the bounty hunter aside. He ducked and spun behind the giant magical to deliver a perfectly aimed blow to his kidney.

  The other blackmailer bellowed and flailed, dragging Luther through the air by the hound’s jaws clamped around his wrist. His opposite leg kicked out and struggled against Rex’s vicious grip as the bigger hound whipped his head and jerked his target’s ankle in every direction.

  Lisa ducked another fireball from the half-wizard and raised her firearm again. “This isn’t the way you want to go! Hands up!”

  Rather than comply, he darted behind the long white leather sectional and hurled a fireball at Johnny.

  The dwarf yanked the detonating beads out of his pocket, crushed a handful, and slapped some of the gooey substance on the back of the white-tipped Kilomea’s legs and the rest on his huge back before he leapt away, drew his utility knife, and flicked it open.

  In a series of sputtering pops, the crushed beads detonated one by one and threw the large magical forward with a grunt. He collided with the glass coffee table and shattered it to spill shards over the Persian rug and the wooden floors.

  Ducking another fireball, Johnny raced after the downed Kilomea, leapt onto his back, and wrapped a thick forearm around his target’s throat. He pressed the tip of the blade against the side of his neck and leaned down to mutter, “If you ain’t Yarren, I ain’t here for you.”