Brothers in Arms

Chapter 06

Della hung up the phone. The line was still being checked for trouble. Just what could be wrong up there? And yes, she was sure there was something wrong. There was no way Perry would not have found a way to call her by now. She could not ever remember being this worried for if Perry was in trouble then so was Robert. It was of some comfort Robert was with Perry. After all, he was an experience police detective. Certainly, he had traveled with his service revolver. She could not imagine him not doing so. Some comfort, yes but not much. If someone was after Robert and she suspected that was what the problem was, that person would know they were not dealing with a private citizen but with San Francisco's most famous detective. They would be prepared.

The doorbell rang bringing Della out of her thoughts. She moved with her normal grace to the door. Upon opening it, Paul Drake pushed his way into her apartment. "Have you heard from Perry?"

Della closed the door. She saw the worried look on Paul's face. "No, I have not. Paul, this is completely unlike him. I am scared. Something is wrong. By now Perry would have found some way to contact me."

"Alright, don't panic but I'm worried too. Earlier I thought he and Chief Ironside probably just lost track of time but now I agree with you. He is crazy about you and he knows you would worry if he did not call and assure you he got there safely. There is something else bothering me. It is probably silly but it has been nagging at me all evening." Paul walked over and sat down on the couch.

"What are you talking about?" She asked him.

"The woman that came into Perry's office yesterday said her boyfriend, Tony Castle wanted to kill a police officer." Paul stopped and looked up at Della.

Della gasps. "You believe Robert may be the policeman Castle wants to kill?"

"Probably not but I am not about to just accept that he is not. I want it checked out. Let's call Tragg and see if he will help us." Paul got up, hurried to the phone and picked up the receiver. Just as he did, the doorbell rang. He returned the receiver to the base.

Della walked to the door and opened it to find Lt. Arthur Tragg and Hamilton Burger standing there. Both men pushed their way past her. Tragg looked over at Paul Drake. "I have a feeling you are here for the same reason as we are.

"We're worried about Perry and Ironside," Paul said.

"So are we," Hamilton agreed.

"I checked with the phone company. That line is completely out of order. There will be no calls going out or coming into the cabin," Lt. Tragg told them.

"Lieutenant, Paul thinks that Robert may be the cop that Tony Castle wants to kill," Della informed him.

"I have considered that myself. Right now there is no evidence to support it but I am not about to rule it out. I have men working on it right now. In the meantime, I have called the police in the area Perry and the chief are in. They are going to go up to the cabin and check on them first thing in the morning," Tragg said.

"Why not tonight?" Paul asked.

"They feel the phone lines in that area do not work well and they have no reason to believe there is anything else wrong. I had to do a lot of talking just to get them to check on them in the morning. It is better than nothing is at this point. I would feel a lot better if they had done it immediately but they refused to disturb them at this hour tonight." Tragg said with little conviction.

"In the meantime we all need to get some rest," Hamilton added.

"I am flying to San Francisco." Della went to the phone. She began dialing the number for LA International.

"Don't waste your time. We have already checked on flights. There is nothing tonight. The earliest we can get out is in the morning," Hamilton.

"We could drive," Paul suggested.

"We could but it would take a while to get there. San Francisco would not be the final stop. That cabin is about six hours further north." Hamilton stated.

"Well, I just can't sit here and do nothing," Della cried.

"Della, I have arranged for a private jet to take us up there in the morning. We will stop in San Francisco and pick up Ironside's people. I talked to Eve just a little while ago and they are just as worried about them as we are. So unless the police up there report that they are all right we are out of here at eight o'clock tomorrow morning." Tragg reported.

"Then I take it the chief had not reported into his staff either?" Paul surmised.

"No, they have not heard from him. Eve said he always checks in once or twice daily depending on what he pre-sets," Tragg answered.

"There is nothing further we can do tonight," Tragg said. "I suggest everyone go home and pack a bag for a couple nights and be prepared to fly out in the morning.

Hamilton started for the door. "Paul, maybe you should stay here with Della tonight."

"I already planned on it," Paul assured him.

Tragg and Burger left Della's apartment. Paul went over to Della and put his arms around her. "Don't you worry Perry and the chief will be just fine. You will see."

Della prayed Paul was right, as she knew sleep would be elusive tonight.

xxxxx

Perry smiled as he watched Otto continue to lick Ironside in the face. "Don't just stand there! Save me from this crazy dog," Ironside shouted with a grin on his face as he attempted to push Otto back.

Perry pulled Ironside's wheelchair beside his brother and the excited dog. After backing Otto off, Perry helped Ironside back into his chair. "Do you want to tell about this dog now?"

"First get the first aid kit. That paw of his needs attention," Ironside barked.

"So does my shoulder," Perry laughed, figuring he had just become second in line for medical help. He went and got the kit and brought it back.

Ironside looked Otto in the eye and said, "Otto, come." The dog instantly obeyed his friend. The chief reached down and took Otto's paw. The dog whined. "Easy, boy. I am going to take care of that." He put Neosporin on the wound and wrapped it up with gauze and medical tape while Otto licked his hand. When he had finished, he turned to Perry. "Your turn. Take your shirt off."

"Well, now I know who is the most important around here," Perry complained halfheartedly.

"His wound was worse than yours. Quit complaining and get that shirt off," Ironside ordered.

"Do you ever ask anyone to do what you want or do you always order people around?" Perry asked as he removed his shirt.

"Habit," Ironside said. "It comes with the job. Besides, I enjoy it." Ironside grinned at Mason.

After he finished with Perry's shoulder, Ironside wheeled his chair into the kitchen and pulled a bowl out of the cupboard. He then wheeled into the bathroom and dipped the bowl into the bathtub. After setting the bowl of water in his lap, Ironside wheeled back into the living room. He set the bowl down in front of Otto who immediately began drinking.

"That dog must be pretty special to you," Perry observed.

"He is. He saved my life once," Ironside said.

"So how is it you have a dog that does not live with you and how did he come to save your life?" Perry asked.

"There was a series of robberies where guard dogs had been rendered useless. While investigating the robberies I discovered a simple clicker was used to back the dogs off. The man responsible for the robberies had an attack Doberman dog, named Jinx. He ordered the dog to attack a guard who died in the attack. The dogs that were rendered harmless in the robberies were owned by a kennel who trained guard dogs as well as war dogs. The man's name is Dunlap. I convinced him to allow me to train with Otto."

"We found out where the next robbery was to take place. Otto and I went in. He saved my life and we were able to capture the man responsible. Ever since then I visit Otto and work with him. I hope to bring him home to live with me eventually," Ironside finished.

"Then I take it that Otto is a guard dog trained to attack on command?" Perry said.

"That's right," Ironside replied. "And he obeys me completely."

"Where is this kennel located?" Perry asked.

"Just outside of San Francisco," Ironside answered.

"Then just how in the hell did he….."

"Get way up here?" Ironside interrupted.

"That is exactly what I was going to ask," Perry asked.

"There is only one way he could have. He had to have been stolen from Dunlap's kennel and brought up here."

"Which means the maniac out there is trying to kill you," Perry said.

"And take you with me in the process."

"But why would he steal Otto? He could not possibly think he could use that dog against you. The dog is trained to obey your commands," Perry pointed out.

"I doubt the man knew anything about Otto. He likely just took the dog, which means he has knowledge of training war dogs. He probably thought he could control Otto." Otto was sitting beside Ironside while he scratched him behind the ears. The dog's tail thumped on the floor with contentment.

"Bob, this dog just might be an asset to us to aide in our escape from here," Perry said.

"Not might be an asset, he is an asset. Before he arrived, it was the two of us against one man. The odds were completely in his favor as I suspect he was at one time a special forces expert. Now it is three against one. Otto will do whatever I tell him to do. He will be that element of surprise," Ironside said.

"So what is your plan?" Perry asked him.

"We are going to allow our maniac to come right in here and when the time is right it will be Otto who disarms him.

"How can we be sure our maniac will not provide the element of surprise himself? He could come barraging in here anytime without any advance notice," Perry said and then he thought a minute. "No he can't, not now."

"That's right. Otto will let us know when he is close by. He can't get anywhere near this cabin without Otto alerting us," Ironside grinned.

"Bob, I know you love that dog but I don't think we should completely rely on him to protect us," Perry said.

"I don't intend to. After all, I want ALL THREE of us to get out of this mess alive. So let's start making plans. You are a brilliant lawyer with outstanding deductive reasoning. What do you think we should do first?"

"Figure out a way to hold on to that gun. He will know we have one thanks to me and the first thing he will do is attempt to disarm us. Does the commissioner by any chance have one hidden in this cabin?" Perry inquired.

"As a matter of fact he does. I was about to suggest we get it. When our friend gets here, that will be the gun we give to him. I will hold on to my service revolver in case Otto fails," Ironside said.

"Alright, where is his gun?" Perry asked.

"I don't have the faintest notion," Ironside answered.

"Then I suggest we put our best friend to work locating it. You pull out your service revolver and I will go get a piece of the commissioner's clothing to rub his scent on your gun." Perry was the one doing the ordering now.

Ironside grinned. "It's too bad you decided to become a lawyer. You would have made a hell of a detective."

"You should be glad I did not. Had I become a detective you would not be known as the modern day Sherlock Holmes, I would," Perry teased.

Ironside grunted. "That will be the day. I would beat you at detective work as easily as I beat you at poker."

"I thought we agreed on a rematch. You have not beaten me at anything yet. Just remember it was me that broke down David Martin and Damon Richards in the courtroom that led to freeing Whitmore and Randall," Perry pointed out as he headed for Randall's bedroom.

"With the evidence I supplied you," Ironside countered raising his voice to be sure his brother heard him.

Ironside patted his lap and said, "Up boy!" Otto gladly jumped up landing his front quarters in his lap. Ironside scratched his ears and ruffled both sides of his neck. Otto's tail wagged as he grabbed his friend's hands, careful not to clamp his teeth down on them.

Moments later Perry returned with a shirt in his hand. "Does this belong to the commissioner?"

"Yes. I made sure he packed it in his suitcase the last time we were up here. That is the ugliest shirt I have ever seen. I wanted to make sure he was never seen in it in public."

Perry laughed. "It is indeed ugly." He handed the shirt to his brother. Otto jumped down, landing on three of his four feet.

Ironside pulled the gun out of his suit pocket and wrapped it in the shirt. He rubbed the shirt vigorously on the gun and then removed it. Handing the shirt back to Perry, he said, "Put this back where you found it."

While Perry took the shirt back, Ironside took the commissioner's gun and called Otto over to him. "Smell, Otto," he said. Otto sniffed the gun. "Good boy. Smell gun, Otto!"

Perry returned to the room. He watched as his brother instructed his dog. Ironside looked the dog in the eye. "Search, Otto! Find gun! Go Otto, Search!" Otto whined. He left Ironside and began sniffing around the room.

"It's going to work," Perry said.

"Of course it is. What did you think he was going to do…eat the gun?"

"He would if he was just half as hungry as I am," Perry answered.

Otto wandered around the room sniffing. His tail wagged as he went. Ironside and Mason watched, as the dog did not leave one area, chair or object unchecked. Otto began to whine again.

"It is not in this room," Ironside barked. "Perry, take him into the kitchen."

Perry took hold of Otto's neck and guided him into the kitchen. After a few minutes the results was the same as the living room. Perry guided Otto to the utility room. Ironside followed his dog and brother.

Otto went around the utility room sniffing every nook and cranny. All of a sudden, he began barking and his tail wagged back and forth a feverish pace. The canine pawed at the floor with his uninjured front paw as he barked. "Perry, it's under the floor board. Find something to remove the board with," Ironside yelled.

Perry looked around the room. Ironside commanded, "Otto, come." The German Shepherd returned to his side, panting and wagging his tail. "Good boy."

"There is nothing in here. I will try my pocketknife." Mason kneeled down on the floor and placed the blade of the knife between the floorboards and applied pressure fully expecting resistance. The board popped right up just missing hitting him in the jaw. "It was not even nailed down."

"Makes it a lot easier to get out in a hurry," Ironside said.

Perry set the board aside and reached down in the hole. When he brought his hand out of the hole, it contained Commissioner Randall's service revolver and a box of bullets.

xxxxx

Sgt. Ed Brown opened the door to Chief Ironside's office and came down the ramp. "Any word from the chief?"

Mark shook his head. "No, nothing."

"Something is wrong up there. Did you call Della Street to see if she has heard from Perry Mason?" Ed asked.

"I talked to Della. She has not heard from Perry either. What did you and Dunlap find out Ed?" Eve asked.

The phone rang. Ed hit the speaker button. "Chief Ironside's office."

"Ed, its Paul Drake. Lt. Tragg and Hamilton Burger just left. I am at Della's apartment. Before Perry left for San Francisco, a client came into his office and claimed her boyfriend was going to kill a police office. Because the claim was made here in Los Angeles, Perry told me to check it out and follow the man to make sure he did not harm any of our police officers. We assumed it would be a LA police officer. I asked Tragg to find out about the guy. He found out the man was an assassin in Special Forces, who worked with war dogs. Ed, it is a long shot but there is a chance that the man could be after Chief Ironside. We have no evidence of it so far but we are going to do everything we can to find out."

"Tragg has called the police up where Perry and the chief are staying. He could not talk him into checking on them tonight but he is going to go up first thing in the morning. We have already booked a private jet out of here for early in the morning to San Francisco. We will pick you and your people up at the airport and head to Commissioner Randall's cabin unless we hear from the police that both of them are alright."

Ed, Eve and Mark digested what they had just been told. "What's the man's name?" Ed asked.

"Tony Castle," Paul replied.

"I think we have found some of the evidence you are missing," Sgt. Brown said.

"What evidence?" Paul inquired.

"The chief's dog, Otto, a German Shepherd. He is a trained attack dog. Chief Ironside trained with the dog a while back on a case. He has been visiting the dog ever since. Paul, the dog was stolen recently from the kennel that trained him. We have a description of the man that was seen coming from the direction of the kennel the night the dog came up missing. Can you get a picture of him sent over to SFPD headquarters right away? It is possible we can come up with a positive identification to prove Castle is the one that took the chief's dog. If so, there is a damn good chance Castle is after Chief Ironside."

"You have that picture within the hour, Ed. I will call Tragg and see to it. Call me back at Della's apartment. If it is Castle, we will be leaving here as soon as possible. We are not waiting for morning," Paul said and hung up the phone.

xxxxx

I apologize for the long delay in posting this chapter. My elderly mother was in the hospital and then a rehab center for a month. Then I stepped down on my foot wrong, rolled the ankle and tore the ligaments all to smithereens. I have been off work for two weeks with a lot of pain trying to figure out how to operate crutches and carry things at the same time…..without much success I might add. Then on May 1st, I got a call from my niece telling me her mother had found my nephew dead in his home. I was very close to him. The last few days have been very painful both physically and mentally. I will try to get back on schedule.

Kaleen1212