I walked to down the beach with Michael on my right side. The wind from the water brushed my skin, tickling me pale. With each step I took was a struggle to conquer the attacking sand at my bare feet. I sighed.
"Oh, you must be getting used to this." I said. "Isn't there a part of you that's beginning to like Miami?" I laced my fingers in between his and smiled in the sunlight.
"It's fine." Michael said quickly.
"Fine? There are people who come here from all over the world. They don't have waterfront like this in Afghanistan."
"Doesn't rain as much either there. There are pleasant parts of Afghanistan. The mountains are nice."
"Maybe we can vacation there someday. Well, when you can travel again, of course." We arrived at the charger and stood in front of it. Michael stared out across the park. "Some special occasion. Speaking of which, it's my birthday in a few days. Did you get me anything?"
"Yeah, I got you something." I swung around in front of him and took his other hand in mine.
"You know, for someone who's worked as a professional liar for most of his career, you're not terribly good at it when it counts." Michael didn't say anything. He just stood there in front of me and stared past me. "What's he doing, your mystery man?"
"Getting heatstroke, it looks like." I pricked my ears and heard the guy gasp.
"Well, Michael, I'm pretending that I'm here for more than just tactical backup. We're suppose to be playing boyfriend and girlfriend." We turned to the left and Michael swung our hands side to side.
"Do you want me to get you a shaved ice, Dawn? I mean, I need someone, okay?" I turned and pressed my back up against Michael's chest and we faced the man again as I gripped Michael's hands in front of me.
"What's this guy's name again?"
"Cacturne Fur. At least that's the name he gave me on the phone."
"And he said he was here to review your status? That's desk jockey jargon for what now?"
"He may be able to get me off the blacklist, revoke my burn notice."
"And now you're about to piss him off on purpose." Sirens wailed and blue and red lights clawed the trees of the park as they surrounded Cacturne.
"Just a precaution, Dawn. I have learned to be careful." Cops got out and nailed the guy with orders.
"Briefcase down, briefcase down." An officer ordered.
"Well, look at him, Michael." I said. "He's a cubicle monkey."
"You can't look in that, sir." Cacturne said as one cop searched him and another cop opened up the case.
"I think he just passed your little test."
"All righty." The support behind me disappeared behind me and I stumbled backward a couple steps. I huffed as Michael climbed into the driver's seat of the charger.
"Well, aren't you going to go talk to him?"
"Now might not be the best time." Michael said. The engine revved and I let out a low growl. I shifted to dog and the heat clung to my black fur. Michael began to drive and I bolted forward, my tail almost catching under the tire. Michael honked and I grinned, racing ahead of the charger.
BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB BBBBBBBBBBBBB
"I have been more than patient, Mr. Westen." Cacturne said over the phone. I buried my head in my chest fur and flicked my ear in dismay. "I was willing to meet you in a public park, as you requested, rather than my office. I came down in the middle of my work day."
"I'm sorry. I must have missed you." Michael lied.
"Yeah, I-I had a conversation with the police… about a suspicious man matching my description. Y-You're not the first field op I've dealt with, Mr. Westen. Believe me, I've been vetted every which way."
"Maybe we can set up a new time."
"Yeah, I have enough of new times and-and places and tests. I hope I don't have to remind you that my recommendation… carries weight when it comes to removing you from this blacklist. And I expect a little consideration for my time."
"Y-yeah, I apologize. Uh, yeah. It won't happen again. It's just, uh—I talked with a man on the phone who burned me recently. He seemed unhappy."
"This is not about one N.S.A officer… who acted on information in a file. This is a departmental review in which I am—"
"Let's set up a new time, a new place to meet. We'll review the file." Cacturne sighed.
"I'll check my schedule."
"Thank you." Michael hung up.
"You keep pissing him off, Michael, you'll be in Miami forever." I mumbled.
"At least, I'll get an answer. The government sent him down here, and he's not gonna go back to D.C…. without getting a verdict on me. Not at his pay grade anyway."
"You think you could convince him that you were set up?" I rose my head to see Michael laying down on the bench, lifting weights. I laid my head on my paws and watched him, his muscles straining against his skin as he lifted. "I read the dossier. It's pretty convincing." Michael's phone rang and he dropped the weights to sit up and answer his phone. He sighed.
"Yeah, Sam." My head jolted up, my ears straining for words.
"Mike, I'm on my way over. There's that thing… I need you to help me look into right away." Sam said.
"Sam, I'm in the middle of—" The line disconnected.
"Really?" I asked.
"It's Sam."
"Damn straight." I got up and centered myself in the middle of the bed and laid down, curling into a tight ball.
"What's wrong?"
"Me?"
Yeah you."
"Nothing." I lied, stuffing my head into my fur. "It's nothing."
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU UUU
I walked around the courtyard of Darmanitan Kawena Mall. Sam got Michael wrapped around a gig about this guy's fiancée was kidnapped. The guy sat at the other end waiting for the kidnapper to call him so he could get a video of his fiancée's life. Fiona was looking at shoes a couple yards away from him. I stuffed my hands into my pockets and looked at collars through a window. In the reflection, I saw Michael on the second floor, looking at cards. My phone rang and I answered it on my Bluetooth.
"Are you buying me a birthday card?" I asked.
"Just window shopping, Dawn." Michael said. "You got eyes on Druddigon?" I stared into the reflection at Druddigon.
"Yes. All the way… from the escalators to the charming little lingerie store. They have a fabulous little teddy in there. Make a great gift."
"I've never seen you wear anything but a men's shirt and your collar to bed."
"Fair enough. There's a men's store on the third floor. Nice selection. The ones with the big buttons are easier to undo. And I just walked by a wonderful dog store."
"Focus, Dawn." I opened my mouth and gave a big yawn, my eyelids almost shutting down on me. "You sure you're ok, Dawnna?"
"Michael, it's cute that you're concerned about me but I'm just tired. Ok? Ok."
"Ok. Can you see people on my side of the mall? 'Cause I can't look at everybody."
"Yeah." I looked at Druddigon and saw him get a call. He answered his cell quickly. "Oh, Druddigon just got a call, and he's looking around. There he goes." Druddigon jolted up and walked up the steps, out of my sight. "Anyone looking curious?"
"There's a decent candidate at the café, gray shirt, on your two." My eyes slightly shifted over to the tables.
"Ah, I see. How's our ace operative performing?"
"Looking good. He's going to go get the package now. Okay, Druddigon. Walk away. Just walk away, Druddigon. No, don't—don't—He made me, Dawn." I hung up and sighed as the man pushed people away as and pranced down the steps with Michael close behind him. They rushed past me and I felt the air whizz in my ears. I groaned and shifted before following them out onto the streets. I skidded to a start almost getting hit by a car as Michael followed the guy into an alley. When the coast was clear, I bolted across and followed them. I turned to see the kidnapper standing over Michael with a gun and I leapt at him, pushing on his back with my front paws and pushing him down on the ground. Michael got to his feet. "Thanks." Fiona finally found us and helped us stuff the guy into Sam's car and drove away.
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRR
"Crucio." I mumbled and Electrode screamed as a wave of pain seized his body.
"You're getting used to your powers." Fiona praised me. "Good girl."
"I sometimes feel like it's too much for me though. I try to stay away from it as much as possible. But it's who I am, you know. It's a part of me. I have to practice in order to control it. Crucio." Electrode groaned and the door to the loft opened as Michael walked in.
"Get this crazy bitch out of here!" Electrode yelled.
"That wasn't very nice. It hurt my feelings. Crucio."
"Dawnna was just helping our friend Electrode into a more cooperative mood." Fiona said.
"Where's Sam?" Michael asked.
"Had to get some fresh air." Sam said, coming in front the balcony. "It was gettin' a little, uh, loud in here."
"So, what do we know about our new friend?"
Well, his name is Electrode Paw. Colombian national. He has got a rap sheet here and back at home. He and his brother ran an extortion racket in Colombia. His brother got caught, Electrode ran."
"Good to meet you, Electrode."
"You know what? Go ahead and torture me and use black magic all you want. I'm not gonna tell you nothing."
"Magic? Oh, no. We have something much better than magic. We've got an instant camera." Michael positioned the camera and Sam jumped in the frame as Michael took the picture. "Electrode, you need to think about your situation very carefully. You have been caught in the middle of a delicate assignment. Say we let you go and give you this photo to your boss—along with a cooperating witness statement…you're about to give to the F.B.I." Sam handed Michael a folder with F.B.I. papers in it.
"No, no, no, no. I never made no statement."
"Here's the form." Michael held up a piece of paper before putting it back into the folder. "Looks real, huh? We'll fill it out, sign it on your behalf. Sam's good with the computer."
"Thanks, Mike." Sam said. "It's just photoshop."
"Oh, look here. You have a summons. It means you're going to testify in court against your boss." Sam and Michael let out an 'uh-oh' whistle. "So anyway, we take the photo, we put it in the file. Sam here has ties to the F.B.I. and other government agencies, just in case your boss does his homework. I have to say, you guys look pretty tight here." Michael held up the photo for Electrode to see. "My guess is he won't feel right until you're dead."
"What do you want, man?" Electrode asked.
"You now work for us, Electrode. You tell us what we want to know, and you do what we say, and that is how you will stay alive. Where's Holly?"
"I don't know."
"Cruc—" I began but Michael waved me off.
"You don't know, Electrode?"
"No, no, no. I swear. I swear. I don't know. Houndour keeps everything separate."
"Houndour, your boss."
"I find people, uh, in clubs, in rich neighborhoods, and then Houndour, he does the job with two other guys. Someone else guards the hostages. Everything is separate. Nobody knows each other. He does that for security. Let me be clear here. The girl dies, you die." I shifted and on top of a bookshelf like I was some kind of cat. Just thinking about it offends me. "If you're lying, Dawnna here—"
"I'm not lying, all right? Now I need to check in with Houndour right now. I'm already late. He's gonna to know that something is wrong."
"Fine. Call him. You broke your foot walking down the stairs at the mall. You forgot to call."
"Broke my foot? I didn't break my foot." I fell from the bookshelf and landed on his left foot. He yelled in pain.
"There you go. There are a lot of little bones in your foot, so you'll be able to walk." Michael cut Electrode free of the chair.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN NNN
"You want to borrow the Mercedes, man?" Druddigon asked. Fiona and I sat side by side at the bar counter in one of the houses that Druddigon watched. Michael stood to the right in me and Sam was on the other side of the counter, making a drink of course.
"Yeah." Michael answered.
"Just please try not to scratch the car. It's an S550 A.M.G. worth, like, 120 grand."
"And we need a house."
"There's a penthouse downtown that I watch. What do you need it for?"
"We need to find where Holly is being kept. Electrode doesn't know. His job is just finding target for Houndour, so we're gonna have Electrode bring him a new target—a rich society wife."
"Enchanté." Fiona said, indicating that she would be the new target.
"And a disgruntled bodyguard."
"Ya bitch." Sam smiled. "Talk to Houndour, tell him I'm willing to help him pull the job. But he's gotta show me where he keeps the hostages."
"Hopefully, they'll bring Sam to where Holly is and we can grab her. But we gotta move fast. And we need a target that will make him drool."
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I heard Druddigon sigh from the couch.
"Is that a longbow?" I asked, looking at the bow in the glass cabinet.
"I don't know. The-the-the guy who owns this place… is into weapons and stuff.
"Well, that's a soviet-issue sidearm from 1951, I think. It's a piece."
"I guess, yeah." Druddigon buried his head into his hands. He was getting more worried by the minute. I needed to distract.
"How big is that?" I pointed to the flatscreen.
"It's, uh, sixty inches, I think."
"Quality's nice. Is that satellite?"
"It's, uh, DirecTV H.D. That's why the picture's bigger. What the hell are we talking about?" Druddigon jumped up from the couch. "I know that you asked me to stop talking about it… and just to stay here and watch TV, but I can't watch anymore. Are you gonna be able to save her? Please say yes." I heard the door open.
"We're working on it." Michael came into the room, hands stuffed into his pockets. Druddigon began to sob into his hands and Michael stopped and looked at me. He turned to walk out of the room, obviously not wanting to deal with Druddigon, but I couldn't take this guy anymore. "How did we do?" Michael turned back around and glared at me as Druddigon shot his head up.
"Uh, I bought us forty eight hours." Michael said.
"Ah."
"Yeah. I'm setting up a meeting with, uh, Electrode tonight. Electrode's gonna set up a meeting with Sam, and Sam will get them to tell us where they keep the hostages. And we're gonna finish this." Druddigon smiled at that.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOO
Michael came out of the house with a black bag and walked down the steps. He handed the bag to Fiona.
"Go. You don't have much time." Michael said.
"I'm not excited about you seeing Houndour by yourself." I told Michael as we walked to the Cattilac and Charger.
"Someone needs to stall him in case you guys need more time."
"Mike, nobody's got your back." Sam said. "This goes bad, Houndour could get tipped off."
"The only option for backup is Druddigon. You guys like that idea?" We all hung our heads in shame. "Call me when you got Holly." Michael got into his car and drove away. Fiona and Sam got into the Cattilac and I ran alongside it, going to the place where they had Holly.
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT TTTTTTTTTT
Fiona taped the bomb that Michael made to the wall and we stepped back. When the bomb went off, Fiona cocked her shotgun and I bared my teeth. I looked at Sam and he nodded. With a growl, I leapt at the door and knocked the door down, Sam rushing in with Fiona behind him.
"Drop the gun!" Sam yelled at the two men and woman. "Get down! Get down." Fiona attacked the woman who was reaching for the shotgun. I heard a growl behind Sam and turned to see a black female dog. She made a leap at Sam but I whipped out my tail knocking her aside. She landed in a pile a lumber and didn't bother to get back onto her paws. "Thanks." He turned back to the man who kicked over his gun. "Attaboy. You're not as dumb as you look." A girl moaned on the bed and Fiona went over to her to untie her.
"You're safe." Fiona soothed her. "We're gonna untie you. You're safe. Look at me. You're safe."
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We arrived at the house and I shifted back as Holly came out of the car and Michael came out of the house.
"All set, Mike." Sam told him. "Hospital checked her out. She's fine."
"Is Druddigon here?" Holly asked.
"He's inside." Michael said.
"You guys should talk." Fiona said.
"Ok." Holly replied. Fiona and Holly went to the house.
"Cakewalk, huh?" Michael questioned Sam.
"Aw." Sam mumbled. "Look, Mike, if you ever want to borrow my Caddy, uh, it's yours."
"Thanks." Druddigon came out of the house and met Holly down the steps.
"Druddigon." Holly greeted.
"Babe." Druddigon said back. Holly flicked her wrist out and slapped Druddigon across the face.
"Oooh," Michael, Sam and I said together.
"You lied to me!" Holly yelled.
"Baby, I love you." Druddigon cooed.
"You lied to me!" She slapped him again.
"Ooooh," We said in unison again.
"Another happy ending." Sam said.
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I sat cross legged in front of Michael on his kitchen floor, trying to fix the cupboard that he broke. Apparently his mysterious man tried to kill him last night. People these days.
"Mike, the cops found your assassin in an alley this morning." Sam told Michael over the phone. "He bled to death. No I.D. on him." I touched the broken pieces of the cupboard.
"Repario." I muttered. Nothing happened.
"His fingerprints didn't show up in any government database. So, officially, I guess the guy never existed. Must have been impersonating the real Cacturne Fur."
"Repario."
"You think the guy who burned you sent him?"
"Not a bad guess." Michael said. "Thanks, Sam." He hung up.
"You were right about him, you know?" I said. Michael started to fit the pieces in the frame of the cupboard. "You must feel a little proud of yourself?"
"I wanted my burn notice resolved, talked myself into denying my instincts. That's nothing to be proud of." I touched the cupboard and focused on the new cupboard door.
"Repario." The cracks vanished and the pieces mended together.
"You getting good."
"I have learned it's all about focusing. But I still fear my own strength." I looked at the thick red line on Michael's neck. I reached out my hand and gingerly touched it.
"I'm fine, Dawn."
"You almost died."
"That's happened before." I sighed.
"So, I'm not allowed to be concerned, to worry?"
"You can worry about me."
"Like Druddigon worried about Holly?" I leaned back on my hands.
"Hopefully, not exactly like that."
"Oh, he was head over heels in love."
"I talked to him about what I should get you for your birthday. Close your eyes." I obeyed. "Open." I opened my eyes to see Michael holding a sapphire blue and silver long bow and a quiver.
"A longbow."
"He said you would like it." I took it from him, held it up and pulled the string back.
"Is it the same?"
"Druddigon convinced his boss to see it to me at a discount." I lowered the bow and took the quiver full of arrows from him.
"Thank you, Michael."
"Happy Birthday, Dawn."