Cowboy Gangster 03 - Outlaws of Love (28 page)

Clint raised his weapon. “If that fucker comes out of there after us –you
both
get a bullet.”

“He’s restrained,” Dodge assured and opened the bedroom door.

The sight before them stopped both men cold in their tracks. The dog –a Rottweiler mix –was chained to the wall with a three to four foot reach. Before him was a small cage with an opening just large enough for the animal to get his snout through. And inside the contraption –a tabby kitten pressed up against the far side of the cage, bristled and hissing and spitting as the dog thrust its face inside, snapping and growling. The opening only allowed for the dog to get a portion of its snout through and hindered its mouth from fully opening. Blood trickled from multiple scratches on the dog’s nose as the terrified kitten slapped at it in a frenzy, nearly getting its tiny paw snapped between the canine’s teeth.

It wasn’t the plight of the
live
kitten that turned Clint’s stomach –as much as the shredded, bloodied carcass
outside
the cage that was surely all that remained of the kitten’s “cell mate”.

“We use puppies and kittens to get the dogs riled up,” Dodge said, unaffected by the gory scene. “Gets ‘em in the right mind set for a fight.” He sniffed and wiped his nose, drawing Clint’s attention to reddened, slightly scabbed skin beneath his nostrils. “Right before a fight, we toss a kitten or puppy into the pit with the two dogs and let them go at it.” He snorted. “Really jacks them up.”

Clint glanced at Cochise. The Egyptian’s eyes were stone and locked on the dog and kitten. Clint breathed deep and released it slowly, and put away his gun. He looked at dodge. “We’re here about Ryder.”

“Ryder?” Dodge looked at him sharp, some of his fear dissipating. “Do you know where he’s at? That fucker. He owes me a shitload of cash.” He scoffed. “If he took the fucking money and bolted, I swear to Christ I’ll kill the fucker.”

“What money?” Clint asked.

Dodge started to answer then studied Clint with uncertainty. “You guys aren’t cops, are you?”

“Do we fucking look like cops?” Clint snapped. “Ryder owes us, too. What fucking money are you talking about?”

“He took a job,” Dodge said. “Him and his fuck friend, Tucker. He was fucking bragging that he was getting paid twenty fucking g’s or something for offing a guy. Said he would be back to pay me what he owed me when it was done. Haven’t fucking seen him since.” He shook his head. “Motherfucking liar.”

“Who hired him?”

Dodge shrugged. “Fuck if I know. He didn’t say. Just said he was going to enjoy it because the guy got some friends of his arrested.”

Clint stiffened. “What friends?”

“I don’t know,” Dodge waved his hand absently. “Bunch of junkies-”

Clint slammed him against the wall, hand clutching his throat. “
What
friends?” he hissed in his face. “What were their names?”

“Fuck,” Dodge choked, fear creeping back in. “I don’t know…I think one of their names was Tim. And…and I think I heard him mention…Wade. I’m not sure.”

“Wade?” Clint’s breath surged through his nostrils. Dodge nodded. Clint released him. “Did he have anything to do with the job?” Ryder hadn’t mentioned Wade or anyone else. Was it possible Axel’s brother was somehow mixed up in it after all?

“I don’t know,” Dodge mumbled, rubbing his throat. “But whatever, Ryder probably fucked up the job anyway. I mean how fucking hard is it to whack some worthless motherfucker? I swear, if I knew who hired him, I’d take the job and do it right.”

Clint stared at him, eyes narrow. “Would you now?”

“Fuck. For twenty g’s, I’d chop the bastard up and feed him to my dogs.” He smiled, lips twisting unpleasantly. “Or maybe I’d just throw him to the dogs alive. They live for the kill.”

Clint nodded slowly and looked at Cochise. The Egyptian walked over.

“Anything else you can tell us about Ryder?” Clint murmured.

Dodge shook his head. “Just…if you find him, tell him I want my fucking money or he will pay in other ways.”

Clearing his throat, Clint rubbed his mouth. “Oh, I think you’ll be seeing him before we do.”

“What-” Dodge grunted as Clint’s fist caught him in the ribs. He gasped and doubled over. Clint kneed him in the face and the man dropped, blood gushing from his nose.

Clint squatted next to him. “You should learn to shut your mouth while you’re ahead,” he told him. “You might have survived this.”

Standing beside him, Cochise withdrew his knife. “Dogs sound hungry.”

“No…” Dodge gagged on his blood and tried to scoot away. “Please…”

Clint rose to his feet and looked at the kitten in the cage…the mangled remains of the other. The tiny animal trembled violently. Clint was struck with the memory of holding Axel the day after his attack…his body shaking with fear, trapped in his own form of a cage. He walked over and slid the cage well out of reach of the dog and with the toe of his boot, nudged the small door closed over the opening to prevent the kitten from rushing out and, in a panic, racing toward the dog instead of away from it.

Clint walked back over and ripped dodge up off the floor and shoved him through the doorway. The man screamed when Clint dragged him over to the barred door and jerked open the bolt lock.

“No!” Dodge fought him in a panic. “Fuck! Don’t!”

“Prepare him for dinner,” Clint told Cochise.

The Egyptian tore open the front of Dodge’s shirt. Clint secured Dodge in a head lock and pinned his arms as Cochise went to work on him. The man screamed and writhed as the Egyptian carved shallow cuts across his chest and stomach, slicing in just deep enough to make him bleed without mortally wounding him.

“That’s good,” Clint muttered once Dodge’s torso was drenched. “Get ready with the door.”

Dodge shook his head wildly, eyes bulging. He tried to scream again but Clint’s muscular forearm squeezed his windpipe. Cochise put his knife away and withdrew his handgun, pulled open the black bar door then gripped the handle of the door behind it. Clint looked at him and nodded.

Cochise opened the door quickly, deafening barks and a horrid stench bursting out. Clint thrust Dodge inside and the Egyptian slammed the door, then the metal bar door, fastening the bolt lock. Screams erupted from inside as the dogs went savage and it took only minutes for the animals to silence the man’s wails.

His chest heaving with a rush of adrenaline, Clint released a hard breath and shoved his hand through his hair.

“What’re you thinking?” Cochise asked low.

Clint shook his head. “That this fucker is going to keep us running in circles, chasing our fucking tales. He isn’t stupid enough to leave anything behind that will lead back to him.”

“Maybe he’ll try another face to face,” Cochise said. “Like at the hospital. That had to have given him some kind of rush.”

“Maybe,” Clint mumbled, his face tight. “But I have a feeling he’s going to keep throwing out breadcrumbs that will lead us down one dead end trail after another.”

“You don’t think we’re going to find him,” Cochise murmured. “Until he wants us to find him?”

Clint exhaled and looked at the man. “Yeah. That’s what I think.”

Clearing his throat, Cochise rubbed his face. “Do you think Wade is involved in this?”

“What?”

“He would have a vendetta against his brother,” Cochise said. “For turning on him, help getting him locked up.”

Clint sighed. “I might think so…if it wasn’t for the money. This is too high end for that gutter trash.

Silence gripped the Egyptian. He leaned against the wall, a pinch to his brow. “You gonna take any chances on that?”

Clint stared at him. “We can’t afford to take any chances.”

“No,” Cochise murmured with a strain to his voice. “We can’t.”

Glancing around the apartment, Clint muttered, “Let’s get the fuck out of here. It smells like the fucking Grotto in here.” He started for the door then stopped when Cochise hesitated. “What?” Clint frowned.

The Egyptian cast a fleeting look toward the bedroom where the dog continued to bark and the kitten hissed and cried inside the cage. Cochise walked toward Clint. “Nothing,” he mumbled, but hesitated again at the door.

Clint stepped into the hall and looked at him, one eyebrow cocked.

With a grunt and a scowl, Cochise strode back through the apartment and into the bedroom, emerging moments later with the small cage and frightened kitten. He shot Clint a deadly look as he shoved past him. “Not a
fucking
word.”

♦

The lack of business since opening the office that morning was a blessing to Kane. He hadn’t quite recovered from the previous night and wasn’t entirely sure what to make of it –or the Egyptian. Even so, he continued to berate himself for his final words to the man. Why the hell would he tell him that he was glad he came back? Of course, there was always the possibility that his words would prevent Cochise from returning. They had sure as shit chased him away.

“That’s good,” he mumbled as he sat at the front counter and filled out an order form. It troubled him deeply to think about their final bout of sex. There had been an intimacy in it that frightened him. If he never saw the Egyptian again, that was surely best-

The entrance door opened with a chime. Kane finished jotting down a special order request at the bottom of the form, then looked up with a smile that instantly froze on his face. He was forced to wonder if he was hallucinating as he stared at the Egyptian standing just inside the door –carrying a small wire cage that contained an extremely disgruntled tabby kitten.

Kane sought words but nothing came to him. This was even more surreal than the sight of the man holding the puppy the first time he’d entered the vet office. Kane cleared his throat and stood up slowly as Cochise approached the counter. It was upon closer inspection of the kitten that kicked in Kane’s professional side. The tiny animal wasn’t
disgruntled
–but terrified. Its chest heaved and body trembled, hissing and spitting at every movement. Its eyes rounded orbs of stark fear.

“Where did you get this kitten?” Kane asked with concern, adopting his
doctor
tone. “It’s traumatized.” His brow tightened when he noticed blood in the cage. “Where did this blood come from?”

“The one that didn’t survive,” Cochise muttered. When Kane stabbed him with a hard look, he added, “It was being used to rile up fighting dogs.”

Kane’s stomach knotted. He’d treated bait animals in the past. Some came in missing ears, an eye, even parts of a jaw, others with broken or missing limbs. Many had to be put down. One young dog had died of shock on his exam table.

“What the fuck is wrong with human beings?” he whispered tightly. “I swear to God, the ones who do this shit should be thrown to the dogs.” He looked up at Cochise. The man just stared back at him, though Kane thought he detected the slightest twitch at the corner of the man’s mouth. Kane glanced away and picked up the cage. “Come with me,” he told Cochise as he was overcome with a powerful sense of déjà vu.

To his surprise, the Egyptian didn’t protest and silently followed him into the exam room. “I’ll pay the bill,” he murmured. “But I’m not taking the cat. You do whatever you want with it.”

Kane set the cage on the exam table. Cochise walked around the other side. When the pup had been brought in, Kane had told them that they couldn’t just drop it off and leave. In this case, he thought he might have to make an exception.

He gave Cochise a half nod and pulled on a pair of fitted leather gloves, then opened the cage door. The kitten pressed up against the rear bars, hissing and slapping at his hands as he reached inside. “It’s all right, darling,” he said soft and calm. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He gently grasped the kitten and removed it from the cage as it continued to hiss and squirm. Kane nodded at Cochise. “Set the cage on the floor.” The man did as he was told, and Kane wrapped a cloth around the kitten, restricting its feet and then handed the animal to the Egyptian. “Hold her for a moment.”

Cochise hesitated then took the kitten. The man didn’t seem nearly as rigid with the kitten as he had been with the pup, though he still appeared none too eager to handle the feline.

Removing his gloves, Kane walked over to a cabinet with glass doors. “I’m going to give her a very mild sedative,” he said and took out a small bottle and syringe and returned to the exam table. “If I don’t calm her down, she could go into shock. Lay her down and hold her still.”

Cochise secured the kitten while Kane administered the shot. In moments, the kitten lay still though remained awake.

“She doesn’t appear to be physically injured,” he said. “But I’ll give her a full examination and x-rays, just to be safe.” He folded the cloth away and stroked the kitten soothingly. He looked at Cochise. “I thought you didn’t care about animals.”

The Egyptian stared at him. “I don’t.”

“Your actions speak louder than your words,” Kane murmured. Cochise didn’t respond. “Were there many dogs at the residence?”