“Maybe if we get lucky it’ll blow up in his face,” said Jack bitterly, ushering Danny out the door.
Danny’s silence as Jack drove to Rolly’s house betrayed his troubled thoughts.
“You’re quiet,” said Jack.
“Thinking about what you did with the piece back there.”
“Think it’s wrong? If he shoots at you it won’t seem wrong.”
“If we do find out Wizard and Rolly killed your sister’s kids, what do you plan to do?”
Jack parked a block down the street from Rolly’s house and they walked the remaining distance. It was in an older district that was heavily treed. A few street lights lit up the street, but the neighbourhood appeared to be asleep.
Only the top half of Rolly’s two-storey house was visible in the moonlight. It was completely surrounded by large cedar trees and was set back from the road. An eight-foot chain-link fence encircled the property at the edge of the treeline. Three strands of barbed wire stood out at an angle from the top of the fence, adding more height. A gate across the driveway was padlocked shut and bathed by floodlights.
Danny looked at the chain-link fence and then at Jack. “Well?”
“The gate’s out in the open.” Jack looked up at the fence and added, “My back and arm are still a little tender, but I can make it. It’ll be safer than picking the padlock. These trees should give us enough protection from the street.”
Minutes later, Danny was at the top of the fence. He flung his jacket over the strands of barbed wire before making his way down the other side. Jack eased himself over the top and climbed down to join him.
A low growl caused both men to leap for the fence. Danny reached the top as Jack yelled in pain. The German shepherd had its teeth clenched on a torn strip of his pants and he was slowly dragging the dog up the fence.
“He’s got me! Do something!” said Jack, gritting his teeth as the snarling dog shook its head in a frenzy while dangling from the torn cloth.
“I bet this is the dog the pervert used with Marcie! What do you think?”
“Christ! I don’t know! Do something!”
“Shake him off!”
“It’s all I can do to hang on! If I fall there won’t be enough of me left to make a stir-fry!”
“Want me to shoot ’im?”
“No. The noise will wake up the neighbours! If Rolly sees his dog dead…”
Danny watched as Jack tried to shake his leg. The cloth tore a little more, but then held fast at the seam at the bottom of his ankle. Danny eased back down the fence and kicked the dog squarely on top of the head. The dog didn’t let go, but Jack’s fingers slipped a notch.
“Don’t! Watch … Oh, great! Lights!”
Across the street a neighbour’s upstairs light had come on. Jack tossed his gun, keys, and one ankle boot over the fence as another interior light came on. Then he undid his belt. Seconds later, he clambered down the fence as the front porch light was turned on.
The door opened, and a man in a housecoat stepped out onto the porch and walked over to the railing and stood looking toward the fence.
Jack and Danny lay on the ground while Danny peered at the man from behind a tree.
On the other side of the fence, the dog took out its frustration by shredding Jack’s pants and grinding them into the dirt.
“What’s he doing? Did he see us?”
“I don’t think so. He’s just standing there,” whispered Danny, glancing back at his half-naked partner. “What should we do if he comes over?”
“Pretend we’re gay.”
Danny’s silent prayer was answered when the man went back inside.
“He’s gone. Now what?” asked Danny.
“Wait a few minutes to make sure he’s not still watching, then get the car and take me home. We’ve still got tomorrow night to come up with something.”
They watched as the dog quit growling, picked up Jack’s pants, and trotted back toward the house.
“Just like he’s bringing home a trophy,” said Danny.
Jack’s reply was inaudible as he limped over to pick up his gun, keys, and boot.
Jack glanced back inside the compound. The dog had returned, without the pants, and was standing over his other ankle boot, staring back, as if daring him to try to retrieve it.
A short time later, Danny eased the car over to the curb in front of Jack’s apartment, and Jack hobbled inside. With the interior light on, Danny saw the blood seeping through Jack’s fingers as he held his leg.
“You’re hurt!”
“He took a chunk out of my calf, but I don’t think it’s as bad as it looks,” said Jack, easing his hand off.
“You might need stitches.”
“Damn it!”
“Natasha?” asked Danny.
Jack groaned. “I guess I’d better. I’m not going to Emergency like this. She’s home now.”
“Great!” replied Danny enthusiastically.
“What do you mean, great?”
“I want to see how you explain losing your pants.”
Danny chuckled. “Almost makes up for dumping me in the park last night.”
“Slow down and make sure we don’t get stopped for speeding,” grumbled Jack.
Twenty-four hours later, Jack and Danny sat in a brown four-door sedan. It belonged to a Highway Patrol unit. There were no markings on the car, but with a thick Plexiglas shield between the front and back seat, most people could easily identify it as a police car. They slowly drove up the alley behind Rolly’s house.
They got out of the car and walked up to the fence. Jack picked up a handful of gravel from the lane and tossed it over the fence. The dog appeared instantly, pressing its jaws up against the fence to reveal a snarling, salivating mouth full of teeth.
“Good,” said Jack. “Keep him here for about ten minutes while I pick the lock, then bring him around front. Don’t stumble!”
“You don’t have to tell me,” responded Danny.
Ten minutes later, Danny made his way around to the gate while the dog, emitting a deep, low growl, stalked him on the other side of the fence.
Jack had positioned the car alongside the gate. Both back doors of the car were open and Jack waved to him from the front seat.
“God, I’m fucking crazy to be doing this!” Danny took off his jacket and swatted it against the fence. The dog snarled louder, leaping at the fence. Danny then raced over and crawled partway into the back of the police car.
“Okay, go for it!”
From the front seat, Jack leaned out the partially open window and shoved the gate slightly open. Danny, looking out the open car door across from him, shook his jacket once more as the dog lunged into the car after him. He immediately backed out, slamming the door. Jack slammed the door from the other side. Seconds later they drove off as the dog, realizing it was trapped, went into a frenzy and started shredding the upholstery with its teeth.
They parked the car a short distance from the house. As both men got out of the car, chunks of upholstery and stuffing rained down within.