All Dwarf'ed Up (Dwarf Bounty Hunter Book 3)

by Martha Carr

  Tommy grimaced in frustration. “Whatever happened to a—”

  “Hold on,” she muttered and stepped in front of him to hurry down the hall.

  He shook his head and gave her a few seconds’ head-start. There’d better be a reason for this cocky dwarf not answering my calls.

  The dog door clapped open and shut, and both hounds raced through the kitchen and into the hall. They skidded to a stop beside Tommy, crouched with their hackles raised, and snarled like they’d trapped wild game on a hunt.

  “How many times do you have to get your ass beaten before you get the picture?” Rex snarled.

  “Ass bitten, you mean.” Luther snapped his jaws at the agent. “You tell us when, Johnny. We’re all over this.”

  The agent stared at them with wide eyes, adjusted his tie, then bolted toward the living room. He stamped deliberately on the hardwood floor as loudly as he could.

  Without any instruction from their master, Rex and Luther turned and stalked slowly after him, ready to pounce if they had to.

  Lisa reached the entrance to the living room first and stopped. She didn’t need to read any of the documents strewn in a messy heap on the coffee table to recognize what the bounty hunter was doing. The second she saw the edge of the photos peeking out from beneath the envelope, she knew. “Johnny—”

  “What the hell are you trying to pull, huh?” Tommy stopped beside her, and she darted him a scathing glance before he recognized the contents of the huge file he had brought for the dwarf. He cleared his throat. “Oh. You’re finally taking a look, huh?”

  Johnny leaned forward slowly on the couch, the half-empty bottle of whisky dangling loosely from one hand.

  “Are you okay?” Lisa asked softly.

  The bottle thumped onto the table.

  “I ain’t got the time or the patience for stupid questions.” He stood from the couch, turned to face them, and glared at Nelson. “So I’m gonna cut to the important ones right here and now, understand?”

  “Shit,” Tommy whispered. “I’m guessing you found somethi—”

  “Oh, I found somethin’, all right.” He stalked toward them, his footsteps heavier than usual despite the straight line he maintained as he approached relentlessly. “A whole lotta bullshit, Nelson. A whole lotta coverup for a goddamn op that up and disappeared like a fart on the wind. Do you have any idea why the hell that happened?”

  “Hey, I didn’t take the liberty of going through that file first, Johnny.” The agent raised both hands in surrender. “That’s yours. It’s not my place to—”

  “Not your place?” The bounty hunter seized him by the lapels of his black suit jacket, shoved him back, and turned to thrust him against the wall.

  “Johnny!” Lisa shouted.

  “You mean it’s not your place to tell me what the fuck was going on?”

  “What are you doing?” Tommy muttered and squeezed his eyes shut when he was thumped against the wall again.

  “Uh-oh…” Rex and Luther uttered low whines and crouched even lower where they stood four feet down the hall.

  “I’m the one askin’ the questions, Nelson.” Johnny growled in the man’s face and even though he didn’t quite reach Tommy’s chin, he was no less menacing because of it. “You knew they bagged the motherfucker who shot her!”

  “What?”

  Johnny pushed him against the wall again. “You knew about Ben Hamilton, didn’t you? That she got sucked into his fuck-up trying to help the guy.”

  The man spread his arms in a helpless gesture. “Johnny, I swear, I had no—”

  “The whole damn FBI kept it from me, Nelson!”

  “Johnny, stop.” Lisa stepped toward them but paused when her colleague looked quickly at her and shook his head.

  “Listen to me,” Tommy said.

  “No, you listen, asshole.” The bounty hunter released his jacket with one hand and shoved a finger in the man’s face. “This whole time, I thought the trail simply went cold. I thought I’d failed. It turns out your people swept the trail right off the map when they couldn’t get the job done and didn’t say a fuckin’ thing. What did you know?”

  Spit flew from his mouth and tangled in his beard and his eyes were wild and glazed-over. The agent cleared his throat and endured the abuse without trying to free himself. “You’ve been drinking.”

  “Wrong answer!”

  “Johnny, let go of me.”

  “What did you know?”

  They stared at each other, and Nelson raised his hands slowly to try to pry the dwarf’s hand free from his jacket. It didn’t work. “I didn’t know anything.”

  “But they made you promise not to tell me, didn’t they? Whatever you found out. Did you sign an agreement for that? Huh? That you wouldn’t—”

  “Do you honestly think I would have risked my neck to pull that file out of the damn basement for you if I’d signed something like that?” Tommy yelled. “Really? Think about it, man. I’m the only one helping you right now.”

  “You’re fuckin’ lyin’ right to my face, Nelson.”

  “No.” He gave up trying to get the bounty hunter’s hands off him and leaned against the wall instead. “How much have you had to drink?”

  Johnny growled.

  “Don’t go down that road again, Johnny. Come on.” The man frowned and tilted his head. “I was here to pick you up off the floor fifteen years ago. Do you think I did that ’cause I wanted to keep you in the dark? Wake up. Whatever you found in that file, it’s not worth sliding into that hole again. Do you hear me? I swear on my mother’s grave, Johnny, I knew as much as you did back then and right now, you know a hell of a lot more than I do.”

  The dwarf narrowed his eyes and leaned closer to stare into his face. “On your mother?”

  “Do you want me to say it again?”

  With a grunt, Johnny shoved the man against the wall again but finally released him and stepped back. Tommy rolled his shoulders and jerked to straighten his lapels before he unbuttoned the garment. “If I find out you’re full of shit—”

  “If you do, I give you full permission to rip me apart, okay? But you won’t.”

  “Fine.” He fixed the agent with a warning glare, his upper lip curled in a snarl.

  “What about now, Johnny?” Luther asked softly and growled at the visitor. “You want us to pin him now?”

  “Just say it, Johnny.”

  The dwarf snapped his fingers without looking away from Agent Nelson, and both hounds sat instantly. “I want everything there is on Deadroot.”

  Tommy’s eyes widened and he glanced at the coffee table in the living room. “Johnny, Dawn’s file was in the box for Deadroot. Everything that exists is right here in your living room.”

  He sniffed and ran a hand through his thick auburn hair. “Then why the fuck are you here?”

  With a sigh, Nelson glanced at Lisa and shrugged sheepishly.

  “We have another case, Johnny,” she said and watched the bounty hunter warily.

  “Bad fuckin’ timin’, Nelson.” He shook a finger at the agent and turned toward the couch.

  “Honestly, I think it’s the perfect time.” Tommy stepped into the living room. “Why don’t you put the bottle down and—” A helpless sigh escaped him when Johnny lifted the bottle to his lips and took two gulps.

  The dwarf jammed the lid on, thumped the bottle on the table again, and spread his arms mockingly. “And what?”

  “And take a look at this case.” The man nodded toward Lisa, who pulled the file out from under her arm. “It’ll give you a chance to clear your head. Something else to focus on for a—”

  “I don’t need nothin’ else to focus on,” he retorted. “And I ain’t interested.”

  “It’s not the usual,” she added and moved forward to stand beside Tommy. “It might take a little more work on our part, but that shouldn’t be a problem. We’ve had eight reports from Portland—”

  “Portland?” He scoffed and waved dismissively. “No
way in hell am I truckin’ out to Portland. There’s nothin’ but hipsters and beer out that way, and I ain’t fixin’ to run around in all that. Forget it.”

  “The case is in Portland too.” Lisa set the file on the side table next to the couch’s armrest. “That’s what’s there. Tommy and I think it’s—”

  “Tommy and you, huh?” The dwarf glanced from one to the other and his eyes narrowed in suspicion before he lowered himself onto the couch. “Are you two goin’ over all your plans together? Teamin’ up ahead of time so y’all can come bustin’ into my house and show a united front or some shit?”

  The agents shared a knowing glance. “We tried to bring you into the briefing an hour ago,” she said, “but you didn’t answer your phone.”

  “Yeah, for a reason. I still ain’t interested.”

  “Johnny, this is—”

  “I ain’t changin’ my mind so don’t even try.”

  The living room fell into a heavy silence as he leaned back against the couch and closed his eyes. If they don’t leave in the next thirty seconds, I’ll throw ʼem out.

  Tommy turned to scan the hallway and ignored the hounds as he tried to peer into the kitchen through the workshop doorway. “Where’s the kid?”

  “School.” He grunted. “Now get out. Both of y’all.”

  “Won’t you—”

  He snapped his fingers and pointed at Tommy as he muttered, “If y’all were waitin’ for the word, boys, this is it.”

  Rex and Luther snarled at Agent Nelson. “You heard the dwarf.”

  “Better get a move on, asshole.”

  “Johnny.” The man stared at them and sidled down the hall along the wall. “Come on, man. These dogs are nuts.”

  “Might eat some nuts if you don’t start moving,” Rex growled.

  “Yeah. Yours!” Luther barked sharply, and Tommy jumped before he raced down the hall toward the front door.

  “Johnny, I’m serious! Get these dogs—ah!” He managed to leap away from Luther’s snapping jaws before they came down on his finally healed ass cheek, then threw the door open and bolted out.

  Rex yelped when the door shut firmly. “Aw, shit. Asshole nearly took my nose off.” He pawed at his snout and snorted.

  “Is that a real thing?” Luther growled at the closed front door. “Can it come off?”

  Rex shook himself from head to toe, snorted again, and padded slowly down the hall toward the living room.

  “Hey, wait. Johnny said to get him.”

  “Johnny wanted him out.”

  “I said both of them,” Johnny muttered.

  Lisa frowned and turned to look at the dwarf. “Who?”

  “You. Both of y’all.” He leaned forward on the couch and stared at the hounds. “You missed somethin’, boys.”

  “Come on, Johnny…” Lisa folded her arms.

  “You want us to chase the lady out too?” Luther asked and he panted and wagged his tail as he and his brother entered the living room.

  “Not her.” Rex sniffed Agent Breyer’s pant leg and leaned against her. “She’s one of the good ones, Johnny.”

  “Yeah, probably the best.”

  Lisa patted Rex’s back and stood her ground against fifty-five pounds of coonhound leaning up against her.

  Luther tried to get in on the petting action, but his brother shifted to block him out. “Not cool. How come you get all the attention?”

  “I’m smarter.” Rex’s reply rose as a groan of enjoyment in Johnny’s head. “Everyone knows that but—oh, yeah. Johnny, she scratches better than a tree trunk.”

  As she removed her hand from the hound’s back, Lisa stared at the dwarf sulking on the couch. “Look at the case, okay? I know you don’t want to—”

  “Damn straight.”

  “But I think it’s something worth looking into. These people in Portland need our help. And you need a distraction, especially after the last month you spent building that school.”

  He slumped forward and rubbed his face with both hands as he sighed heavily. “I don’t need a distraction, darlin’. Everythin’ else has been a distraction—from this.”

  After a glance at the coffee table, he shut his eyes again quickly.

  Lisa tilted her head, hoping he’d look at her. “Remember what I said when you first brought her file up?”

  “Yep.”

  “I meant it, Johnny. Whenever you’re ready to put whatever’s in that file to use, I’m here.”

  “I’m ready right fuckin’ now.” The dwarf glowered at the floor. But I have no fuckin’ clue where to start.

  “If that were true, you’d already be gone.” Lisa pointed at her case file on the side table. “Take a look. Call me after that with whatever you decide.”

  The only reply she got was another grunt.

  Without another word, she turned slowly and walked down the hall, giving the bounty hunter plenty of time to say something before she left if he felt the need to.

  He didn’t.

  Johnny waited until the sound of tires crunching across gravel faded away before he snatched the bottle of whisky off the table and stood. All he wanted was to down it all and leave the rest to chance. Instead, he marched across the room and set the bottle firmly in its place on the kitchen counter.

  I need to get out of the house and clear my head, and it ain’t gonna be with a case in fuckin’ Portland.

  Chapter Five

  Half an hour later, Johnny stood in front of the giant propeller on his flat-bottomed airboat and cruised through the swamp at less than half the speed he usually preferred. Rex and Luther sat in the bow and their tails wagged while their tongues lolled from their mouths.

  “What are we going after this time, Johnny?”

  “Hey, I smelled raccoons back there. What about raccoons?”

  Rex lowered his head toward the water breaking in front of the boat and sniffed at the floating vegetation. “What would he do with a raccoon?”

  “I don’t know. Let us eat it?”

  “That bigass ʼgator’s still out there, Johnny.”

  Luther yipped and spun in two tight circles before he stopped to face his master. “We’ll get him. We’ll sniff him down, then flush him out, and you can blow him to smithereens!”

  The dwarf glanced at the smaller hound, then returned his attention to as far downriver as he could see. “No huntin’ today, boys.”

  “What?”

  “Seriously?”

  “Johnny, what’s the point of being out here if we’re not hunting something?”

  He rubbed his mustache and scanned the swamp. “It clears my head just fine.” But does the opposite for a couple of hyped-up hounds, I guess.

  “Aw, man. Is he serious?”

  Rex turned to look over his shoulder at their master. “Looks serious to me.”

  Luther slumped to his belly on the deck. “This sucks. I thought we were hunting game.”

  The only game I aim to bring down now is the Red Boar. The whole damn network.

  For two minutes, a calm, blissful silence reigned as the craft cruised downstream. Only the buzzing drone of insects and frogs in the early July heat rose above the trickle of the tide along the banks and the low, steady whir of the fan. No talking dogs and no talking shifter kid intruded. Johnny swallowed. I gotta quit thinkin’ ʼbout the kid.

  “Hey, Johnny.” Luther’s tail thumped on the deck. “Hey, what’s that?”

  “We know that guy.” Rex’s ears perked up as he stared downriver at the small fishing boat and the man seated in it. “Don’t we?”

  Johnny adjusted the throttle to the lowest speed and changed direction slightly to approach the portside bank where the second boat was moored. As soon as they were close, he cut the throttle completely and let them drift.

  The man straightened and cupped a hand over his eyes to look upriver. “Well, I’ll be. What’s good, Johnny boy?”

  “Ronnie.” He raised a hand in greeting before the airboat thumped gently against the ban
k.

  “Where’s your kid at, huh? E’rytime I see that boat, I see that young’un sittin’ up there with them hounds. She ain’t feelin’ good or what?”

  As he hopped off the boat into the squelching mud and waterlogged reeds, the dwarf sniffed and turned to catch the docking rope. “I sent her off to school.”

  “School?” The wizened Wood Elf tittered and shook his head as he returned his attention to drawing the trap lines out of the water. “Done figured you’d be schoolin’ her yerself, nah. What with all that girlie’s lived. Reckon that school’s got all them basics? Readin ʼn writin’ ʼn ʼrith-o-matics?”

  Luther cocked his head and stared at the dripping lines Ronnie pulled hand-over-hand from the water. “What the hell did he say?”

  Johnny hopped onto the airboat and moved to the bow. “The school’s got everythin’ she needs. Math included. The girl already knows how to read and write anyway.”

  “Oh, sure. Sure. She’s way ahead o’ the game, then. It ain’t that public school out in—”

  “Naw, it’s private. There’s a slightly different process than other schools, but she’ll make her way through.”

  The Wood Elf nodded and hauled up a crab trap, the bars laden with weeds and soaked fronds and mud from the bottom of the swamp. “Hey, lookie here!”

  The square cage thumped onto the seat of his fishing boat and splashed water everywhere. Five large crabs crawled over each other, jerked their hard-shelled legs, and snapped their claws angrily. The Wood Elf snatched his wide-brimmed hat off his head and smacked it against his thigh. “Hoo-ee. I tell you what, Johnny Boy. I been out here crabbin’ since you was a little-un runnin’ ʼround with yer old man, and I ain’t never seen no one set them traps like you. How do you get them to pull every time, huh?”

  He fished in the water on the starboard side of the airboat and caught one of the trap lines before he pulled it up slowly. “It’s practice.”

  “Practice! Ha. No sirree, boy. If I ain’t known better, I’d reckon you been usin’ some kinda magic on them traps.”

  The dwarf smirked. “If I were, you’d be in serious trouble, wouldn’t ya?”

  With his hat returned, Ronnie stretched over the side of his boat for another line connected to the floating buoy marking its place and chuckled. “Reckon I would. Sure. Wrinkled ol’ Elf with all the time in the world to brush up on rusty magickin’ oughtta know by now how to cast a crabbin’ spell. But somehow, I ain’t—whoa!”