Dog Warrior (20 page)

“They call that a hill?”

“All the hills were taller once, I'm told. Again, before my time. Apparently since the first colonist landed, they've graded down all the hills to landfill the Back Bay and enlarged the city. They've always been big on urban development projects in Boston.”

That would explain the mass of road construction that the Pack found cutting off favorite streets, making the entire downtown traffic scene a snarled mess. Rennie had memories of the start of the project they called the Big Dig, but they were jumbled in Ukiah's recall with those of the original highway project in the 1950s that tore down complete neighborhoods to cut a swath through the heart of the city. After a century and a half, Rennie barely paid attention to the changing world except where it related to killing Ontongard. Born in a simpler time, Rennie found the world too complex and crowded to do otherwise.

Now that Ukiah thought about it, he had had much in common with Rennie even before the Pack leader shared memories with him.

Rennie had followed his thoughts and grinned now,
tousling his hair. “It will be time soon. Eyes sharp. Keep yourself safe.”

The Pack gathered loosely around Ukiah, far enough out to make it appear he was alone, but close enough to rescue him out of any trouble that might arise.

Ukiah settled on a park bench, watching the joggers. Max jogged on a treadmill every morning, along with lifting weights, to keep fit. He bemoaned the lack of a nearby park to run in—he would have liked the wide, level paths along the serene river. Even with the Pack around him, Ukiah missed his partner's sane, level presence.

Senses filtering for the unknown and thoughts on home, Ukiah missed Ru's approach until his brother's partner was nearly up to him.

“What are you doing here?” Ru asked.

The sight of Ru flushed Ukiah with surprising delight—it was like drinking down heady wine. True, Ukiah had grown to like the man at the beach house; Ru had shown him open friendliness. But somehow being exposed to his brother's memories during his test, Atticus's feelings had reinforced his own; Ukiah recognized what he felt was love—as deep and true as what he felt for his moms, Max, and Indigo. He smiled his honest joy at seeing his brother's partner.

Ru frowned at him with open hostility and suspicion.

Even as Ukiah's smile faded, Ru's anger changed to puzzlement.

“Why are you here . . ?” Ru paused, scanning the park to spot the various Dog Warriors mixed with the joggers and bicyclers. “I was going to say ‘alone', but that's not the case.”

“I'm . . . we're . . .” As Ukiah formed the words, he realized it might be a bad idea to admit their plan to trap the cultists. The Pack had insisted that they exclude Indigo, and reluctantly he'd agreed. Dealing with the Ontongard ruthlessly had been one thing—that the cultists were human put
her on unstable ground. “You probably would be better off not knowing.”

“Let me guess.” Ru studied the park for a minute. “You're waiting for someone and you expect trouble.” He turned to Ukiah and swept a gaze down over him. “You're the bagman.”

“How can you tell that?” Atticus's memories hadn't warned Ukiah how clever Ru was.

“You're at the center of the pattern. Who are you meeting?”

“You should just go.”

“Because what you're going to do is illegal?”

“Because I don't want you to be hurt.”

Ru looked surprised. “Why do you care what happens to me?”

“I like you. And Atticus loves you; it would destroy him to lose you.”

Disbelief and the desire to believe him warred on Ru's face. Abruptly he asked, “How's your arm?”

The question threw Ukiah off balance. “My arm?” Ukiah extended his hand to Ru and showed him how he could flex and bend his arm without pain. “It's all healed.”

Ru took his hand and ran his thumb up the bone, inspecting the knits. He gave Ukiah another measuring look. “Here, let me see in your ears.”

“My ears?”

“Yes, your ears.” Ru turned Ukiah's head to peer into his ears. “Ah, yes.”

“What?”

“There's something I want to check.” He held Ukiah's head still and peered into his eyes, making little doctorlike noises. Ru took out a small pen flashlight and made Ukiah wince by shining the light into his eyes.

“Ru, why . . . why are you doing that?”

“They say that the eyes are the windows into the soul.” Ru gazed into his eyes. “I'm looking at your soul.”

Ru's eyes were black, almond shaped, with the elliptical fold under thick black eyebrows. There didn't seem to be anything mystical about them, and yet Ru seemed serious.

“What do souls look like?”

Ru leaned closer, as if to see better. “Oh, souls come in a range. Some are quite black. Some are dark blue. Others are red. The soul of a child is pure white.”

“What color is mine?”

“Are you worried about the condition of your soul?”

“I-I'm not totally sure I have one. Magic Boy had one—but there's more than one of us now.”

Ru winced. “You have one, babe. And it looks all nice and squeaky-clean to me.”

Ukiah stared at Ru, trying to tell if Ru was telling him the truth. Ru gazed back, unwavering, so close that his breath brushed warm against Ukiah's wind-chilled cheek. It was the directness of Ru's gaze that finally convinced him—Ru was doing everything in his power to appear truthful. “You're lying to me.”

“Of course I am.” The façade breached, Ru gave a mischievous grin. “But the fact you weren't sure only goes to prove I'm right.” He glanced off, over Ukiah's shoulder. “Are you hungry?”

Ukiah followed his gaze to the hot-dog vendor; just looking at it made his stomach clench up tight, reminding him that his body had been working on overdrive to heal him up. “The cult took my wallet. I don't have any cash.”

Ru eyed the hand that Ukiah had pressed to his stomach, trying to soothe away the knot. “That was an offer—I'll buy you a couple of hot dogs.”

“Thank you, but—Ru! Ru!”

The DEA agent had already started for the cart, ignoring Ukiah's protest. Rather than shout after him, Ukiah trailed behind, at a loss for how to handle the situation. The Pack had listened with their sharp ears and now radiated mild amusement. Affection seemed to be a viral thing for the
Pack—the Dogs had also been affected by Atticus's memories. It built on their gratitude that Ru's loving acceptance had kept Atticus mentally stable and provided a safe outlet for Atticus's sexual drive. That Ru was now treating Ukiah with kindness only sealed their opinion. It made Ukiah wonder about their affection for Indigo and Max—did his feelings make the Pack love them too? Was there a rebound effect, if his relationships soured? His moms talked about the difficulty of staying friends on both sides of a divorce.

He should keep it in mind.

Ru ordered him two chili dogs, fully loaded, and a root beer without asking his preferences—but it was what he'd normally order. He supposed that Ru—via Atticus—knew what he liked, just as Indigo or Max would know.

“Ru, there isn't time for this.”

“It's chili dogs.” Ru paid the vendor, collected the chili dogs, and handed them to Ukiah. “Not the Four Seasons. Eat them”—Ru cut off another protest—“before the chili falls off.”

Ukiah bit into the sandwich in his right hand. In his post-battering state, it was the best chili dog he'd ever tasted. He suspected, though, that anything short of roadkill would be appealing; it was a trick his body used to get him to cooperate.

In certain ways, Ru was no different.

“What are you doing here?” Ukiah asked around a mouthful of chili, cheese, and bun.

“I made a wrong turn and ended up driving by.” Ru waved toward the parking lot. The team's Ford Explorer with its Maryland plates sat among the cars bearing Massachusetts plates. “I saw you and thought I'd stop to talk.”

“Why?”

“Because I like you,” Ru echoed back Ukiah's reason; Ukiah wanted to believe he meant it. “And you're Atticus's brother—and much as Atticus currently wants nothing to do with you, that's important to him.”

Ukiah sighed. “This has been one screwed-up reunion. I suppose it could have been worse, but frankly I'm not sure how.”

“There's some rule of nature that says family reunions are supposed to be traumatic; I've never been to one that wasn't—but then, I'm gay, and that comes with interesting baggage.”

Ukiah thought of how his Mom Jo's extensive family treated his Mom Lara. When the two presented themselves merely as college roommates, everyone had warmly accepted Lara. Gatherings became quiet battlefields after his moms confessed their true relationship.

He finished the first chili dog and asked, “Does your family know about Atticus?” Do they accept him? Or do they blame him for making you gay?” Which was what Mom Jo's family accused Mom Lara of.

“I figured out in junior high school that I was gay, and I told my parents then.” Ru opened the can of root beer and held it out to Ukiah. “They wanted their kids to be unprejudiced, so I was kind of clueless about what I was announcing to them. Gay people were okay in my parents' book, so I thought it would be okay for me to be one. After that little bomb went off, they were a little more specific as to what ‘okay' constituted. You know, Catholics are nice people, but don't marry one.”

Ukiah took a deep gulp of root beer and felt it wash sugary goodness through his calorie-starved system. “What is wrong with Catholics?”

“I'm not sure! Part of my parents' ‘unprejudiced' campaign was never telling us anything
bad
about other religions and races. After I told them I was gay, though, it became clear that they only wanted me to marry a straight, Japanese Buddhist—they were hoping this being gay stuff was a phase I was going through. High school was rough, and I made it rougher by rebelling against the norm at every step. They were afraid to send me to college—that either I'd
self-destruct or the big wide world would chew me up and swallow me down without a trace. By the time Atticus showed up, they were glad to see him. He grounded me back to someone they could relate to.”

“I'm glad then.” Ukiah finished the second chili dog and the last of the root beer. “I wish I could have been there for him when he was growing up. Being alone nearly destroyed him.”

Ru gazed at him for several minutes, as if searching for some truth in his eyes. If he loved Ru because of Atticus's memories, what did Ru feel, with Ukiah having Atticus's face? “What about the future?” Ru broke his silence. “Are you going to be there for him from now on?”

“You said yourself, he doesn't want anything to do with me.” Ukiah stood. It was nearly ten. He held out his left arm to Ru as a reminder. “He made himself fairly clear on that point.”

“He was scared, and that made him angry.” Ru clasped Ukiah's hand. “I could talk to him—make it right between the two of you.”

Possibilities unfolded for Ukiah. He could be the brother that Atticus always wanted. He could share with him Magic Boy's memories. They could go to Pendleton together, and meet their many nieces and nephews, giving Atticus all the family he always wanted, had desperately needed as a child. “You could?”

“You'd have to work with me.” Ru tightened his hold on Ukiah's hand. “Tell me what you're planning. Keeping us out is not going to build trust, and I think that's all that's needed here. Honesty and trust.”

What Ru said felt right; Ukiah couldn't argue that.

“We've set up a trap,” he said reluctantly. “For Ice—he's the leader of the Temple of New Reason. I'm the bait.”

“Are you insane? After what they've done to you?”

“They want me to translate some . . .” Ukiah paused as he felt a distant jolt of fear and surprise. He turned to gaze
across the river, reaching for Atticus and finding a tight knot of Ontongard Gets.

“What is it?”

Distant gunshots thundered and a flash of pain came from Atticus.

“Atticus!” Ukiah cried, and started running.

“Cub! Cub, no!”
Rennie's will pushed against him, trying to get him to stop.
“Stay; we'll deal with it. We can't risk you falling to Hex too.”

Ukiah paused, recognizing the wisdom of what Rennie said, but he could sense Atticus pitching a running fight, heading away from him. Already Atticus was at the edge of what he could sense, and he was the one most connected to Atticus. His brother lacked the bonds Ukiah had with the Pack, from Rennie's blood mouse to months of close acquaintance; the Dogs were reacting to Ukiah, not Atticus. Wait—Ru might know where Atticus was. Ukiah turned back, surprised to see he'd covered a city block and stood at the foot of the bridge. The park bench was empty and the Explorer was gone from its parking space.

“Shit.” Ukiah ran a hand through his hair, looking back across the bridge to the sprawling city where Atticus was. He could sense the Pack already across the bridge, racing toward Atticus. His brother was a more experienced fighter than he was, he reminded himself. Still, he started across the bridge at a sprint, dodging pedestrians.