The second group — Nuru’s — had just tripped the sensor over at the pool and training house. Bad timing. Creed wouldn’t be able to give both his attention.
Creed felt sweat slide down his back. The gear hanging from his neck suddenly felt heavy and in his way. He swung it slowly and quietly around to hang down his back instead of his chest until he needed it.
“They aren’t even barking at us,” the surfer guy said. “Look at them. They’re so quiet and calm. Do you think they’re drugged or something?”
The other two guys looked nervous. Even the giant stopped grinning and started craning his neck to examine the balconies above.
On his iPad, Creed could see Nuru’s crew of two enter the pool and training house. He noticed that Nuru had already left them, and he couldn’t help but smile and think silently to himself, Good dog.
“His apartment is supposed to be on the second floor of this place.” The big man pointed his chin at the landing in the middle of the atrium. “Looks like there’s a door.”
Creed watched the two men inside the pool and training house. They both wore red — one a red bandanna and the other a red ball cap. Either they were bold enough to wear red or too stupid to know how well it showed up in the dark. Now in the pool and training house lights he saw how young they looked, even with the black paint smeared on their faces, and he decided “stupid” was probably correct rather than “bold.” Although either one was dangerous when you combined it with semiautomatic weapons.
“No one’s around,” the surfer guy said down below. “Maybe the other guys are having more luck in the house.”
“Oh, he’s here,” the one in the Kevlar vest told them. “Falco said he followed him home. Watched him go from his vehicle into here.”
Creed had noticed the tail, although he had to admit, Falco was good. He wondered if Falco was the one who was waiting at the end of the driveway.
He saw that the red bandanna and the red ball cap had reached the duffel bag he had left on the floor in the middle of the training facility. Just as they came up on either side of it, Creed clicked his remote twice. He didn’t have the sound turned on to hear their screams as the floor opened up and swallowed them.
Deep graves under floorboards were always an excellent training tool for cadaver dogs.
Two more down.
The three in the kennel warehouse were right below Creed now. Two of them started climbing the stairs at opposite sides of the building.
Creed put the whistle to his lips and blew. Only the dogs could hear it. They came out of their kennels and headed for the dog doors. The electronic buzzes startled the men.
“What the hell?”
“They decided to leave.” The Kevlar vest guy thought it was funny and started laughing. “They probably don’t like the way you smell,” he told the giant, and the surfer guy laughed now, too.
That was a better reaction than Creed expected. The dogs’ leaving would actually make their jobs easier.
Last dog out the dog door was Kramer, a Maltese who Creed didn’t use as a scent dog because he was too small, even smaller than Grace. He was one of those heartstring dogs that Penelope Clemence had talked Creed into saving. Andy had trained Kramer to do a number of tricks, and before the dog left the warehouse, Creed gave two short blows and one long blow on the whistle. Kramer leaped up and tapped a small box about three feet off the ground.
“What did that dog just do?” The giant noticed and swung the rifle off his shoulder.
On the other side of the warehouse, the garage door they had come through started to close, and all three men jerked their heads in that direction as Kramer scurried through the dog door.
“Did that dog just close the door?” It was the surfer guy.
All three men came back toward the door, eyes and guns darting across the warehouse. Yet none of them retreated or even tried to stop the door.
As soon as Creed was certain that all the dogs were gone, and when he heard the door hit the floor, he put on the contraption that had been hanging from his neck. Then he used his remote once again. Two clicks and the sprinklers in the ceiling burst open.
“What the hell.”
Creed watched the clock on his cell phone. It would take several seconds for the men to realize it wasn’t water being sprayed down. He poked up from his hiding spot to sneak a peek at them down below. The giant saw him and raised his rifle. Creed had to duck as bullets ricocheted. They dinged off the metal railings on the balcony. Something ripped open Creed’s cheek under his right eye. More bullets slammed into the metal bin as Creed belly-crawled back to his hiding place.
Okay, too soon. That was stupid. And he squeezed himself against the wall behind the bin.
“Stop, Adam. We’re not supposed to kill him.”
“Damn it! What… the hell is this… stuff.”
Creed could hear the Kevlar vest guy struggling to get the words out. He stayed tucked away and watched the clock. His gas mask protected him. The other men should be knocked out in less than a minute. But he hadn’t calculated someone as big as the giant. Adam, the giant, would probably take longer.
And that’s when Creed heard someone coming up the steps.
67
A huge mitt of a hand grabbed Creed by the ankle and began to pull. The man didn’t seem fazed by the mist that should have at least started to knock him out.
Creed kicked at the fingers with his other foot, smashing his own ankle but not discouraging the giant’s hold.
“You bastard,” the man cursed at him, and Creed noticed the words weren’t the least bit slurred.
He let go of his electronic devices to free up his hands. But instead of grabbing onto anything, Creed allowed the man to drag him out from his hiding place. And he did it as roughly as he could, seesawing Creed’s leg and sending his head bouncing against the floor.
But out in the open, the gas mask surprised and stopped the man. Creed took advantage of the brief slip. He balled up his fist and slammed it into the giant’s throat. The guy gasped and grabbed his neck, finally letting go of Creed’s ankle.
Creed scrambled to his hands and knees as the man reached for him, again. Only, this time he collapsed. Finally the fumes had overcome him.
He gathered up his cell phones, leaving the iPad behind. By his calculation, there was one man left to deal with — the guy sitting in the vehicle at the end of Creed’s driveway.
He had already switched off all the dog doors so none of the dogs could come back in until he could air out the building. With his gas mask still in place, Creed collected the three men’s weapons, patting them down and finding knives and brass knuckles in boots and back pockets. He left each man where he had fallen to save time, but zip-tied their hands and feet, then duct-taped their mouths.
Finished, he stood over the pile of their weapons. He’d learned a long time ago that only a fool depended on weapons to save his life. But an even bigger fool wouldn’t take advantage of one given to him. Creed picked up a pistol he actually recognized, though they had only recently been issued to the marine special ops. The Colt M45 was desert-tan and felt small in his hand. It was meant to be a close-quarters battle pistol, which was exactly what he needed right now. He lifted his sweat-drenched T-shirt and slipped the gun in his waistband.
He was already headed for the back door when he heard dogs start to bark. He froze in his tracks. Barking was not good. Every single dog had obeyed his commands all night. Barking was not allowed. Creed had gotten through this far with anger fueling him, but now for the first time panic kicked him in the gut.
The dogs’ outdoor pen ran the length of the warehouse. He continued to use the back door as planned, letting himself out and keeping his body pressed against the building. He pulled off the gas mask, setting it down and sucking in the humid but fresh air. A gentle breeze reminded him that he had also gotten soaked by the spray. He filled his lungs with the damp night air, then he moved on.