Lamp Black: Second Edition, Disaster, Preparedness, Survival, Awakening (The Gatekeeper Book 2) (51 page)

“Good, boy!” said Pete, with equal sternness. “Come!” He stood and the dog obediently approached. When Pete reached down to pat his flanks, the dog leaned against his legs for closer contact. The dog was entirely submissive, and Pete relaxed, glad for not having to kill him. “Well now, aren’t you just a big baby,” said Pete, as he scratched the brute behind his shortly cropped ears. After folding and putting away his knife, Pete patted the dog firmly on his flanks and praised him for being a smart fellow. “Are you hungry? All I’ve got is a protein bar. Do you want it?” asked Pete, as he fished the bar from his pocket, opened it, and gave it to the dog. “Here you go, boy.”

The dog took the treat from his hand and practically swallowed it in one gulp. “Now I’ve got work to do, so you be a good boy and don’t cause me any problems. Sit!” commanded Pete. The dog parked his butt in the ash and studied Pete with a tilted head. Taking the dog’s posture as permission to resume his mission, Pete walked to the back of the house. He was alert for any sign of activity in the house, anything that would give him a clue about what was going on inside. The dog followed Pete at heel, and he smiled. It wasn’t the first time he won the affection of a strange dog. Pete wondered how Bonnie would feel about him adding the dog to their party. Probably not very well since the dog would have to ride in the cab. He decided to drop the idea altogether. He couldn’t very well hope to adopt the dog, not after the speech he gave her about helping all the needy people she met.

With no noticeable sign of life in the house, Pete decided to take a more direct approach and returned to the front door. While standing off to one side, he knocked loudly and yelled, “Is anybody home?” Nothing. Pete opened the screen door and propped it open with a rock. As he suspected it would, the screen screeched loudly on its hinges. He turned the door handle and was surprised to find it unlocked.

Pete drew his pistol, and once again using the Graham technique with his flashlight, he entered the house and quickly scanned the dark living room. A strange feeling of foreboding, of oppression and anger, filled him when he entered the house. It sent a shiver up his spine.

He applied pressure to the base of his flashlight and a sharp, white beam of light cut through the darkness like a knife. The house was littered with trash, clothing and dirty dishes. The musty smell matched the home’s unkempt appearance.

“Is anyone home?” yelled Pete a second time, but with much more volume than before. Pete heard a faint thump and froze. “Hello!” Again a thump, but much louder this time. Pete thought the sound originated from the bathroom, but he quickly cleared the rest of the small house before approaching the door at the end of a short hall.

He stood back from the bathroom door and yelled again, “Is anybody home?” This time he heard a muffled groan from behind the bathroom door. Pete turned the handle and gently pushed the door open with his extended foot. He was careful not to expose himself to an attack from someone standing in the bathroom. But as his light played off the floor and walls of the small bathroom, it looked empty. He scanned the mildew stained shower curtain and said, “Hello?”

Pete was rewarded with another moan, but this one sounded more like relief mixed with annoyance, rather than terror and desperation. He swept the plastic curtain aside and found a woman sitting in the tub. She had been bound with a length of white electrical cord, gagged, blindfolded, and handcuffed to the water fixtures in the dirty tub. She looked unhurt, and her tan sheriff’s uniform communicated a very important missing piece of Roy’s story to Pete. He quickly holstered his weapon and removed the gag and blindfold from the woman. “Are you OK?”

The woman looked up at Pete and said, “Seriously? Do I look OK to you?”

Pete smiled and said, “I’m sorry. You’re not what I expected to find here. Am I correct to guess you were Deputy Morales’ partner?”

Her eyes narrowed and she said, “I was . . . yes. But he’s dead. That crazy asshole killed him.”

Pete nodded and said, “Here, let me help you up.” He dug out Roy’s key ring and settled on a handcuff key. Once the woman’s hands were released, she immediately began to untie her own feet.

“Please tell me you shot him,” she said, as she unknotted the cord from around her ankles.

“Not exactly,” said Pete, “but he’s secured. What’s your name?”

“I’m Deputy Freeman . . . Lynda Freeman. And you?”

“I’m Pete, but I’d like to keep my last name off the record, if you don’t mind,” said Pete, with a sly grin.

She rose from the tub and studied his face. “Pete, thanks for saving me. I don’t know how you came to be here, but I’m damn glad you are,” said Lynda.

“Is your head OK?” asked Pete, noticing the big red welt near her left ear for the first time.

“I’m fine,” she replied, as she tenderly explored the injury with her fingers. “Yup, I’ll be just fine. Thanks again for helping me. I thought it was game over for me.”

“Well, I’m glad to help. But right now, I need to go signal my wife to come up to the house. I think you should wait inside until I return. There’s a big dog running loose outside,” said Pete.

She flinched at mention of the dog, and Pete knew she had experience with him. “Can you leave me a gun . . . just in case I need to step out?”

“I won’t be gone long,” said Pete, and he left the house at a fast walk. He moved down the driveway, just far enough to where the cedar trees didn’t obstruct his line of sight to Bonnie, and prepared to signal. He noticed the dog following him and Pete stopped to scratch his head. “Hey, buddy. Are you staying out of trouble?” Pete stroked the dog’s massive neck and paused to send the attention signal to Bonnie. She quickly replied with her ready signal. He then sent her three long flashes, the signal to approach the house, and watched as she turned on the headlights and drove the truck to meet him.

With the dog at his side, Pete walked casually up the driveway. When he reached the sedan, Bonnie was just pulling up behind him. He met her at the driver’s side, and she rolled down the window to talk. “Hey Bon. It’s good to see you. We have company.”

She yelped as the dog stood up and put its paws against the side of Pete’s truck near the open window. “I see that,” she said with a scowl. “He looks hungry. You don’t plan on keeping him, do you?”

“No, I wasn’t talking about him. There’s someone inside. A prisoner. It’s a woman. She was Deputy Morales’ partner.”

“You’re kidding me. Is she OK?”

“Yeah, she’s fine,” said Pete. “I’m going back inside to get her. Do you have anything you can feed this guy while I bring her out?” asked Pete. “I think she’s had a run in with the little fella, and I don’t want to upset her more than she already is,” said Pete, as he scratched the dog’s head vigorously.

“I can give him one of your ham sandwiches,” answered Bonnie.

“That will work. I’ll be right back.” Pete returned to the house and found Lynda pouring water over her wrists from a water bottle. “OK, your ride is here. Are you ready to go?” asked Pete.

“Where we going?” she asked.

“I’ll explain in the truck. Come on out and meet my wife.”

Pete escorted Lynda to the truck, and he quickly got her in without the dog noticing. Lynda and Bonnie exchanged introductions, and Pete saw Lynda reach for her pistol when she finally saw the dog. “Do you know where your pistol belt is?” Pete asked. Lynda shook her head and watched the dog woof down another piece of sandwich. Pete looked at Bonnie and asked, “How many sandwiches did you give him?”

“Three,” replied Bonnie.

“What? You think we can afford that? Besides, I don’t want him following us down the road,” complained Pete.

“Oh, stop your worrying. I only gave him one, and just a piece at a time,” she said without looking at him. She was busy scratching the dog’s head when she asked, “Do you want to drive?”

“Yes,” replied Pete, in a matter-of-fact tone. He was annoyed that Bonnie managed to get him riled up over a sandwich, and tease him in front of Lynda. But Pete figured he deserved it, given all the stress he
put her through recently. “Good job with the signals,” he added, while climbing into the truck.

“Thanks,” replied Bonnie. She wrinkled her nose and smiled at him as she slid to the passenger’s side.

Pete turned to Lynda and asked, “Can you tell me what happened with you? I pieced together what happened with Henderson, but what’s your story?”

“Sure,” said Lynda, “it’s simple. We came here to arrest Henderson on suspicion of murder, but as we walked up to the house he shot at us from his living room window. My partner dropped with the first shot and I ran like hell. I heard something running after me, so I turned around just as his big ugly dog knocked me down. He grabbed my leg and wouldn’t let go.”

“This dog,” said John, as he cocked a thumb over his shoulder. “So that’s why you don’t like him . . . because he’s an accomplice.”

“Exactly. I actually tried to shoot him. . .”

“The dog?” asked Pete with surprise.

“Well, yes. Actually both of them, but definitely the dog first. But I didn’t have a chance.”

Pete wondered why she didn’t approach the house with her pistol drawn, which was normal for a felony arrest, but he wasn’t about to judge her actions, especially after having just lost a partner. It was a hard thing to endure, losing a partner. Pete knew the sting.

“Anyway, when I tried to go for my service pistol the damn dog grabbed my shirt sleeve and started dragging me toward the house. Then Henderson showed up . . . out of nowhere . . . and clubbed me on the side of my head with his rifle. When I woke up I was in his tub, and he was sitting on the toilet staring at me like I was a side of prime aged beef. You wouldn’t happen to have some water would you, I’m very dry.”

“Sure, here you go,” said Bonnie, as she removed a bottle from the cooler and handed it to the woman.

“Ah, that’s heavenly. Thank you so very much,” replied Lynda, after taking a long pull on the bottle.

“You were saying,” said Pete. His insistence that Lynda continue earned him a nasty look from Bonnie, but Lynda continued without noticing the couple’s silent interaction.

“So . . . I’m bound up in the tub, and he says to me, “My . . . you’re just perfect.” And I say, “Perfect for what?” And he says, “Perfect to start my survival colony.” Well, I start laughing something fierce, and he gets all mad and starts slapping me around and screaming at me. Remember, my hands are cuffed to the tub faucet, so I just have to take it. Well, when he saw that I wasn’t all tears and fears, he stops, looks at me, smiles, and says, “I’m gonna go fetch us a truck. When I get back, you and me, we’re going to load up and head to Louisiana.” Now ain’t that the craziest thing you ever heard in your entire life?” finished Lynda.

“It’s at the top of my list,” said Pete. “What did he do with your weapons? I saw that the cruiser’s shotgun was missing.”

“We didn’t have a shotgun with us,” replied Lynda. “It was all hands on deck, and the weapons were redistributed.”

“Oh, that explains it,” said Pete, “so do you want me to take you back to the cruiser?”

“Yes, I would appreciate that very much,” replied Lynda. “But are you gonna tell me your side of the story?”

“Let me get you something first,” said Pete, and he got out of the truck and patted the dog’s big head as he stepped down. “If I were you, I’d take off. When she gets a gun she’s likely to shoot you,” Pete said to the dog.

“I heard that,” yelled Lynda from inside the truck.

Pete chuckled softly and reached under the tarp to retrieve the pistol belt he had earlier taken from Roy. He returned to the truck and handed it to Lynda. “I believe these were Deputy Morales’ keys,” he said, as he tossed her the set. Lynda thanked him and slipped the pistol belt around her waist after adjusting its length. Pete noticed how happy she looked to be armed once again. He certainly understood the feeling, especially after being ambushed and taken prisoner.

As soon as he turned the truck around to leave the driveway, Pete began to tell his story to Lynda. He left nothing out, including his military police observations, and the finger breaking exercise, which disturbed Bonnie, but thrilled Lynda. Pete managed to finish his story just as they reached the dirt road to the creek bed.

Lynda nodded and thanked Pete. “I guess I should consider myself a lucky woman,” she said with a smile. Pete felt a rising blush response and quickly pushed it down.

“That’s what I tell him all the time, but I usually don’t get that kind of response,” said Bonnie with a smile of her own. Pete knew she was enjoying his reaction to Lynda’s attention, and he laughed it off. He never understood the finer workings of women, but he could see they enjoyed making him squirm, so he wasted no time getting out of the truck when it reached the cruiser.

Pete noticed the two women embrace before Lynda joined outside. Together, they cautiously approached the cruiser. Roy appeared to be sleeping in the back, or at least acting like he was sleeping. Pete yelled, “Wake up, cop killer! I’ve got a surprise for you.”

Roy sat up and his eyes grew instantly big when he saw Lynda. She pointing a pistol at his face and said, “Just give me one good reason why I shouldn’t shoot you in the balls right now, you piece of crap.”

Roy moaned loudly and collapsed back onto the seat. Pete looked at Lynda and asked, “Are you going to be OK with this guy?” asked Pete.

“Yes. I can handle him,” she said, and looked hard at Pete. “I . . . I don’t . . .”

“Don’t mention it,” replied Pete. “You take care of yourself, Deputy Freeman.”

“You too, Pete Nobody,” said Lynda with a smile. After a firm and professional handshake, Pete returned to the truck and climbed in. He drove far enough to turn-around, and when he returned to the cruiser Lynda had already backed it out and was ready to roll. Pete followed her to the road, and they both waved as they went their separate ways.
“That was a worthwhile interruption in our travel plans, wouldn’t you say my little sweet potato?” cooed Pete.

Bonnie snorted and laughed. “You think it’s safe to call me that now that you’re some kind of hero?” asked Bonnie.