Walton (The K9 Files #26)

Chapter 4

C helsea watched as the men walked back inside. She glanced over at Julie to see her fingers clench and release, clench and release. Obviously whatever had gone on had stressed her out already. Chelsea walked over to Julie, and, grabbing her hand, pulled her a few steps away, and whispered, “Is everything okay?”

Julie shot her a look, gave a tremulous smile, and nodded. “It is,… at the moment,” she whispered, which spoke volumes about where this day was going.

Walking over to the coffeepot, Chelsea poured two cups of coffee, for her and Walton. One of the other men sneered at her. She raised an eyebrow. “Sorry, did you want something?”

“Yeah, a cup of coffee,” he said.

She shrugged and pointed at the cups. “They’re right there.”

“Ah, aren’t you a great little woman?”

She stiffened but tried hard not to let him see it. Turning away, she carried the two cups over to Walton, who separated himself and walked toward her.

One of the other men asked, “Wow, are you guys sticking around long? You’re really putting a damper on our holiday.”

“It’s our holiday too,” Chelsea noted, with a nod toward Rick, who had just come in. “By the way, Rick’s my brother.”

At that, the men stiffened, looked at each other, then over at Rick. “She’s your sister?”

Rick nodded. “She is.”

“What the fuck, man.”

“You’ve got a problem with that?” Rick asked.

“I sure do, especially pieces of shit family like this one.” Chelsea rounded on him so fast that he backed up, hands out. “Okay, fine, that was uncalled for.”

“You don’t know me,” she declared, staring at him, “and not only was that uncalled for, it didn’t show a lick of common sense.”

“I don’t have to have common sense,” he replied. “We’ve had a shitty couple of days. We were doing fine until you guys showed up.”

“And you can leave anytime,” Rick declared, his arms across his chest. “They have every right to be here, as much as you do.”

“Yeah, well, we weren’t expecting to share accommodations with people causing us trouble.”

“I haven’t caused you any trouble,” Chelsea declared, wondering what had gotten their backs up.

“You and that shitty boyfriend of yours sure are.”

“Why is that?” she asked.

“Digging his nose into our business, that’s what,” Chad stated, with a dirty look.

“Not everybody’s,” Walton clarified. “Just yours.”

Chad stiffened at that, then turned to face him. “He’s been running his mouth about me and Brutus,” he explained, with a sneer.

“What about Brutus? He’s your dog.” One of his companions shot Walton a look and then turned back to Chad.

“How long has he had the dog?” Walton asked casually.

“About a week,” the same guy replied.

“Longer than that,” Chad corrected.

“No it wasn’t. You sent photos of him a couple of nights before we arrived talking about it, but it wasn’t all that long. I don’t even think it’s been one full week.”

“It was a fucking couple weeks already,” Chad snapped, glaring at his buddies.

One of them clammed up and shot a look at the others. “Okay, so it was a couple weeks. It’s no big deal, and it’s still his dog.”

Walton shook his head. “That’s a War Dog, and their histories and adoptions are heavily regulated by the War Department.”

The guy just looked at Walton with a confused expression on his face. “And?” It was completely innocent, as if there was absolutely no way his buddy Chad could do anything wrong. Yet something else was in his tone that revealed he didn’t have a clue whether his buddy had done something wrong or not.

Chad glared at Walton. “You keep your nose out of my damn business,” he snapped. “I don’t want to listen to any of this. We’ll take a packed lunch out today,” he declared, giving Julie an eyeful. “Better to be outside than to be anywhere around here right now.”

Rick lifted an eyebrow. “You will be civil while you’re here, or you’re not staying. You are all guests here. It’s just that simple. If you guys have problems with my sister visiting me while you’re here,… that’s on you. You keep it civil when on my property. Other guests and other people are here. And, by the way, you will be respectful to the women, or I’ll kick you out myself.” At that, he leveled his gaze at each and every one of the four men.

They all nodded, eventually even Chad. “That’s fair, but she stays out of my way,” Chad declared, looking scornfully at Chelsea.

“She doesn’t have to stay out of your way,” Rick replied. “She will be civil, as long as you are civil… or else.”

The men just shrugged. Chad looked over at Julie and asked, “Can we get that packed-up lunch?”

“Of course.” She turned and headed into the kitchen.

“I’ll help,” Chelsea offered and followed behind her.

At that, Chad snorted, “Or not.”

She glared at him but didn’t rise to the bait, walking away.

“I don’t know what your problem is with my sister,” Rick said, turning on Chad, “but that was uncalled for.”

He shrugged. “She’s with him, and I don’t like him.”

“I don’t give a shit whether you like him or not. You are here on my property, and this is still my business. She’s here, and she will stay here. She hasn’t done anything to hurt you, and I’ve had enough of that crap from you. When you guys bring your asses back to the lodge today, adjust your attitudes beforehand.”

Chad glared at him and then shrugged. “Maybe, but we need to go out and shoot off some steam.”

“That’s fine. Just ensure whatever you’re shooting at is within your licensing.”

“Ah, come on.… You won’t be a stickler on that too, will you?”

“Absolutely I will,” Rick declared. “I run a legit business here, and you knew that ahead of time.”

Chad groaned. “Fine, we have tags, as you well know.”

“Sure, and you’re allowed to do what you want, within reason ,” Rick clarified. “Everything was fine yesterday. Don’t make today a shit show.”

“Too late.” Chad glared at him. The men headed into the kitchen to get their to-go lunch.

Rick walked over to Walton. “You sure stirred up all kinds of shit on your first morning here.”

He shrugged. “You also saw that Chad didn’t have a clue what to say about the dog.”

“I saw that,” Rick noted, “so you better know your rights too. I won’t say they’re dangerous, but I have a hunch these guys could make your life pretty hellish.”

“Yeah, just like a lot of other people in this world. These bullies pick on those they deem not as strong or as healthy as they are. I appreciate your requiring they treat the women right, but now that you’ve braced them, you’ll have to watch your back yourself.”

At that, Rick looked at him. “You think they’re dangerous?”

“Yes, I do. Something is majorly off about Chad, and I don’t like it. And let’s not forget that they’re all under suspicion of murder. That doesn’t surprise me at all, now that I’ve met them.”

Rick muttered, “Shit, I need this trip to go well. This is what I do, and my business depends on people having a great time, and, without it, I’m cooked. I was skeptical about their being trouble, until I saw their egos come out to play.”

“I understand,” Walton replied, “and I sure wasn’t planning on bringing this kind of trouble here.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Rick noted, “because, if I thought that you and my sister had done this on purpose, I would be pretty pissed.”

“Honestly, I wasn’t expecting such hostility,” Walton muttered. “And the thing is, that started before I even mentioned the dog. On the other hand, knowing that they’re here and that they’re taking the dog out into the woods, I’m not so sure what my next move is. Do you know where they’re going?”

Rick nodded. “Yeah, generally. I have some routine areas.”

“Are you going out as their guide?”

“Not this time. I showed them a couple places to set up in blinds. Why?”

“If you want to show me, I think I’ll head out and see what they’re up to.”

“Oh, Jesus, I wouldn’t do that,” Rick said in alarm. “I don’t trust them at all at this point.”

“Maybe not, yet I also need to know what’s going on with the dog.”

“You must really like this person who asked you to help out because I feel as if you’re heading into dangerous territory.”

“I am, and I do, but, most of all, that War Dog, and others like him, need a chance to relax and rest, not go out and be pitted against bigger animals for some assholes’ sick entertainment.”

“They keep joking about it, but I don’t know that it’s serious,” Rick shared. “I mean, guys like Chad shoot the shit all the time when they’re up here.”

“Of course they do,” Walton conceded. “I get that, but I need to keep tabs on what they’re up to.”

“Yeah, and what if they see you? If these guys get a few drinks under their belts,… they’re a whole different breed, particularly when they’ve got weapons on them.”

“So, they’ll be drinking out there too?” Walton asked, frowning at Rick.

“They’re not supposed to, but it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had somebody try it, and these guys would be just the type to do it. If it’s target practice, it’s one thing, and I tend to let it slide.” Rick shrugged. “Yet it’s something else entirely if they’re hunting. That’s a whole different story altogether.”

Walton didn’t say anything more, as Rick turned to watch the men as they packed up and headed out. Walton was still nursing the same coffee that Chelsea had brought him, and she now stood at his side. “I thought you were helping Julie.”

“She told me to get out of the kitchen.” Chelsea wrinkled up her nose. “I figured, given the sudden unpleasantness, that maybe I should do as she asked and stay out of the way.”

“Much appreciated,” Rick noted at her side.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t have any clue this would be the way things went down.”

“That’s good because I would kick your ass into tomorrow myself if I thought you did it on purpose.”

With a bunch of loud bangs of the front doors closing, the men finally exited the lodge. Silence fell. Walton walked over to the window and watched as the men headed out. “They’re just walking from here?”

Rick nodded. “A ridge is not too far that’s got great sites for hunting.” Walton just nodded, his gaze checking out the area. “You’ll really go after them, won’t you?” Rick asked.

Walton nodded again, without saying anything.

“You’re what?” Chelsea cried out.

He turned to her. “I just want to get an idea of what these men are like when they’re out on their own.”

“What they are is likely to shoot you in the back if they see you,” Chelsea exclaimed.

“That’s one of the reasons I want to go,” Walton confirmed.

“You want to go, so you can get shot?” she asked, staring at him in shock.

“No, I want to go so I can see if that’s really what we’re up against. Don’t forget that these men are suspected of a murder and, on top of that, the murder of one of their own friends,” he pointed out. “They operate a bit like a gang, and they’re all up here because they had a tough time with a bunch of interrogations.”

“I wonder why,” she quipped, staring at him. “You do realize that’s it’s suicide for you to go out there, especially when they’ve already shown how much hate they have for you.”

“We need to know if they are getting to the point of shooting somebody in cold blood. If they are those kinds of men, there’s a good chance that they’re guilty in that criminal case down in Mississippi, and that’s something I’ve got to find out.”

Rick added, “It won’t matter if they are or not, if you’re not alive to provide any evidence. You’ll be dead, and it won’t make a damn bit of difference.” Rick spat out some chew on the ground now that they were all standing outside, looking in the direction the men had gone.

“Maybe,” Walton conceded, with a shrug. “I don’t think they’ll be quite that bad. They are just blow-hard bullies when other people are around. However, I’m not so sure about that Chad dude.”

“He’s the worse of the lot,” Chelsea noted. “He just incites everybody into something so much uglier.”

“That’s how he feels powerful. He can make people do what he wants,” Walton pointed out.

“But why would they allow that?” Chelsea asked.

“Chad rules by fear,” Walton explained. “Whatever is going on here, did you see any signs of real friendship between them? I didn’t. I saw fear and plenty of it. Chad’s holding something over them, and they’re all here because Chad wanted to go on a hunting trip. They’re not here because they wanted to come kill things. They’re here because he ordered them to be here. Now the question is why, and what do we need to know about it?”

“How about nothing,” Chelsea suggested. “It has nothing to do with the dog.”

“I don’t know about that,” Walton countered, staring at her. “At the moment, I’m not sure that we can rule out anything.”

“Maybe not, but we also don’t know what the hell’s going on here, and you’re going out there after them. That won’t help.”

“I’m here to look after the dog,” Walton declared, “and that’s the job I will do.”

“And, if it gets you killed, do you think Kat wants that?”

“No, she doesn’t,” he agreed, “but she wouldn’t have asked me to do this if she didn’t think I could handle it.”

“What the hell does she know about what shape you’re in?” Rick asked from the sidelines.

“She knows better than anybody,” Walton replied. “She’s the one who designs and manufactures my prosthetics.”

“Jesus.” Chelsea scrubbed her face. “I also know that you’re not fully healed, and, if you go out there hiking, following the trail where those men have gone, that’s bound to be pretty rough terrain.”

“And they’ll end up overlooking a ridge, which won’t be the same thing as them tracking me down,” Walton pointed out. “Remember that this is the kind of work I always did.”

“What? Secret missions?” she teased.

He smiled at her and nodded. “Exactly.”

Walton didn’t take a weapon with him. Some were at Rick’s place, but, if something bad were to happen, Walton didn’t want Rick interrogated over why he gave Walton a weapon. Instead he asked Julie about filling a thermos for him. “I’m just going out for a walk.” He knew it wouldn’t make them any happier. He smiled to see the look of concern on Chelsea’s face. Rick and Julie were also giving him that same 1ook. “You’re welcome to come for a walk if you want, Chelsea,” he offered. “It will blunt any theories of my following them and lend credence to my being out there, if they see us together.”

“Except that they don’t think much of my sister either,” Rick warned. “You won’t learn much about what they’re up to if they know you’re out there.”

Chelsea turned on her brother. “It does make sense though. It gives Walton some cover as to why he is out there. We would be just another couple, enjoying our trip.”

“What?” Rick asked them. “So, you’ll exacerbate the problem by going out at the same time?”

“But he’s right,” Chelsea noted. “It will provide something of an excuse. Besides, what else can he do to confirm the dog is okay?”

Rick shook his head. “They’ve got the War Dog out there. If Chad’s not allowed to keep it, just call the authorities and have them take it back again.”

“That’s what I’m here for. I will take possession of the dog, once I get some info back. I’ve got several inquiries into what’s going on with the original adopter,” Walton explained, “but I’ve heard nothing so far.”

“Which means you can’t do anything at the moment?” Chelsea asked.

“I can’t reclaim the dog yet, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t continue to collect my own information. Eventually I will have to act on behalf of the War Department.”

“What did you think of the condition of the dog?” Rick asked.

“He was good,” Walton noted, waving his hand. “Looks as if he’s had an injury, and that may well be why he was retired. But now Chad’s got me very curious as to how long he’s had the War Dog and what happened to the original owner.”

“You don’t think Chad did something to the legal owner, do you?” Chelsea asked.

“I hope not,” Walton replied, “but you saw Chad. Aggressive, ill-mannered, quick to fire, quick to get ugly, zero patience, zero control.… He could easily had been involved in the murder of his friend, so I do worry about the War Dog’s lawful owner.”

“Sure, but the death of their friend won’t be your problem, will it?” Chelsea asked, frowning.

“Not necessarily”—he smiled in her direction—“only if I make it so.”

“You’ve been talking to the Mississippi cops too, haven’t you?” Julie asked.

“Of course I have,” he confirmed, with a laugh. “It’s not in me to just watch Chad and his buddies out here, acting as they are, without checking up on them.”

“And you do know that’s sticking your nose into other people’s business?” Chelsea noted.

“Yep, I know,” he agreed. “It never goes well for some people.”

“No, it really doesn’t,” Chelsea declared, stomping her foot.

He smiled at her. “Wow, look at that—a temper.”

“Oh, she’s got a temper all right,” Rick stated, chuckling. “We used to call her Debby Dragon because she was such a spitfire.”

“And yet her name isn’t even Debby,” Walton noted.

“No, it isn’t. All the more of a shame.” Rick chuckled. “Look. I’m okay with your going out there, even the two of you just going for a walk, but you know that any confrontation with these guys will end up ugly.”

“I know,” Walton said, “but at least then it wouldn’t be happening here at your lodge. It is a win-win situation for you nonetheless.”

“Yet they will return to my lodge. Plus, they’re still on my property,” Rick pointed out. “So that argument doesn’t really work for me.”

“I’ll try not to get into any arguments with them. How’s that?”

“Good enough,” Rick muttered.

Julie walked out just then with a thermos. She handed it to them and added, “Please be careful.”

“Will do,” Walton replied. “We’ll just walk up in the direction where they are, confirm they are there, so that we know for sure. I’ll listen in a bit to their private conversations. Then Chelsea and I will walk in the opposite direction and maybe do a bit of a hike.”

“Oh, I like the sound of that better,” Chelsea shared, turning to face Walton. “We won’t just sit here and surveil them, right?”

“Nope, we sure won’t. In the meantime, I’m waiting for information from Kat and her husband.”

And, with that, they quickly packed up, put on the hiking boots they had brought, plus their heavy coats, and, with a final check on the weather, they headed out, following the same route as the hunters.

When they got out of sight of her brother, Chelsea looped her arm through Walton’s and asked, “What are you not telling me?”

He frowned at her. “What do you mean?”

“It definitely feels as if you’re hiding something.”

“If I am, I don’t really understand what it would be,” he said. “Look. I have suspicions and all kinds of thoughts about what’s going on here, but I don’t have any insider knowledge yet.”

As they walked, his phone buzzed. He looked down at the text on his screen and smiled. “Now this gives us another reason to be extra careful, but also another reason to check up on the dog.”

“Why is that?”

“The owner’s in the hospital. He was beaten up at his house one night. His caregiver stopped by the next day and found him on the floor, and the War Dog was gone. They rushed him to the hospital, and he’s been there ever since.”

“Well, shit.” She came to a dead stop. “You think it was Chad?”

“It’s a definite possibility,” he agreed, with a nod. “He’s certainly got the temper for it.”

“Oh, Christ,” she muttered. “What kind of man is Chad?”

“One who’s up on suspicion of murder, remember?”

She winced. “I don’t really want to even think about that.”

“Of course not.” He chuckled. “Still, we need to be aware that Chad could be dangerous as hell. If he hurt that old man in order to get the War Dog from him, then Chad has no scruples, and that will show up very quickly when we’re dealing with him.”

“It’s already showing,” she noted. “Honestly, just being close to you makes me feel safer, even though we’re out here. Chad turned on me pretty damn fast back there.”

“I’m glad Rick put him in place, but I don’t know that it will be enough.”

“I have my doubts too,” she agreed. “Chad just seems to be angry about so much.”

“Of course, and whether he was behind the killing of his friend or one of his other friends did it, Chad feels as if he’s caught in the middle.… So it’s still an ugly place to be.”

“You really think one of these guys killed their own friend?”

“When you think about it, this bunch of guys were the only ones nearby. I think the problem the police are having is that they don’t know which one did it or if all of them are involved.”

“So, a conspiracy then?”

“I don’t know that it’s a conspiracy,” he hedged, with a smile. “The thing to remember is that just because somebody told the cops something, it’s still a mess to really find out the truth.”

They walked along in the early morning light, content to just be outside.

“Is this really the time that most people hunt?” she asked.

It wasn’t necessarily the right time for hunting, and he was surprised the hunters had gone out at this hour. “It depends on whether they’re planning to sit in a blind all day or just getting out and wandering around,” he shared.

“I don’t think I would like hunting much anyway, but sitting in a blind all day sounds terrible.”

“There are different ways to hunt, and, for a lot of people, sitting in a blind is perfect.” He smiled at her. “Everybody has their preferences, and some are very particular about the way they go about it.”

“Of course,” she muttered, “especially these guys.”

As it was, where the men were planning on hunting wasn’t very far ahead. They heard them well before they got there.

She muttered to Walton, “Do they really expect to hunt something when they’re talking so loud?”

He placed a finger against her lips and pulled her off to the side, whispering against her ear, “It sounds as if they’re arguing, and I want to get close enough to hear what they’re saying.”

She looked up at him and then nodded. “Do you want me to stay here?”

A ghost of a smile sneaked out, and he nodded. “Yeah, kind of. I can get there pretty quietly if I’m traveling alone.”

“Even with your leg?”

He frowned as he looked down at it and nodded. “Yes, even with my leg.” And, with that, he tucked her up behind one of the many trees and told her, “I’ll be back in twenty.”

“And what if you’re not?”

“If I’m not, you head back to your brother.” She frowned, clearly not understanding. “If I’m not back by then, I’m probably not able to get back at all.”

Her eyes widened in shock, but he quickly disappeared, not giving her too much time to argue with him. She wasn’t great at following orders to begin with, and this would likely be a request she really struggled with. As it was, Walton had only gotten another ten or twenty feet away, still in sight of each other, when they heard crashing through the woods and more yelling.

“Jesus fucking Christ. I can’t believe you made us come up here, Chad. You know we don’t like hunting.”

“I don’t give a shit what you like,” Chad bellowed. “I know one of you fucking assholes killed Rudy, and I want to know which one of you did it. This was a great cover to get us all out here, in the middle of nowhere, so we can talk, and so nobody can hear us.”

“Really? You think one of us killed Rudy? And yet you brought that stupid dog. Where the hell did you get it anyway?”

“Doesn’t matter where I got it. It’s mine,” he declared, his tone defiant.

“Not if the guy back there has any say about it.”

“I don’t give a shit what he says,” Chad muttered. “And just to be clear. I don’t really give a shit what you say either. Yet, if you fucking killed Rudy, I’ll pop you too.”

“Oh, for Christ’s sake, Chad. None of us killed him.”

Walton thought Darren was speaking to Chad, but it might have been Hawk.

“The cops seem to think I killed him,” Chad noted.

“What the hell?… You say the cops are looking at you, but I thought you did it too,” Darren quipped, with a laugh. “Are you telling us that you didn’t?”

“No, I didn’t,” Chad declared, “but, if you did,… that was a shit move. Rudy had a wife and kids.”

“Like you give a fuck about wives and kids, man. Every time you even see a woman, you practically go off on her, screaming and hollering that she’s toxic to the world, some poison to be wiped out.”

“They’re all fucking poison,” Chad snapped.

“Because your wife left you?… Jesus Christ, Chad. They’re not all that way.”

“The hell they aren’t,” Chad argued. “You just don’t believe it.”

“No, I don’t believe it. No reason to be treating them as you are. It just makes you look damn suspicious.”

At that came dead silence. “Suspicious of what?” Chad snapped, as he stormed closer to his supposed buddy.

Walton slipped around a tree and climbed up so that he could see, at least getting a visual of who was arguing with whom. As he stopped in the tree about midway up, he caught just part of the scene, although not all of it. He quickly jumped up to the branch above his head and climbed up another level. Peering through the branches, he had a much better view.

The four men were squared off against each other, dispelling all thoughts about being on a hunting trip. The trouble was, they were all more or less in a circle, and it was damn hard to see who was speaking because Walton couldn’t keep his eye on all of them at the same time.

“I’m not saying you did anything, Chad,” Hawk replied in exasperation, “but, Jesus Christ, knock it off, will you?”

Darren added, “Nobody killed Rudy. It was an accident.”

“Maybe it was an accident,” Chad conceded, “but I still think it was one of you guys.”

“Then why did the cops think it was you?” Darren asked, staring at him.

“They had some insider tip, and that’s just bullshit because I didn’t do it.”

“That’s fucking fantastic, man,” Hawk said. “If you didn’t do it, you’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“That’s bullshit, and you know it,” Chad argued. “The minute the cops get their eyes on you, it’s pretty hard to shake them off.”

In a sad way, Walton understood that because sometimes it was hard to shake off the authorities long enough to even consider looking in another direction when trying to find the real criminal. Still, that didn’t mean this Chad guy was innocent. Yet it sounded as if Chad himself may not have done anything, and that was too bad because Walton would be quite happy to lock that guy up. And, with this group, there was still the possibility that they had a murderer among them.

Chad had such a shitty attitude on life and women that the poor War Dog would have a hell of a life with him, unless Walton could get Brutus free of this man. Walton wanted to know what really happened with the valid owner too.

“Another thing,” Hawk added, “what the hell is the deal with that damn dog? You didn’t have the dog even a week ago, so why are you so defensive, and why is the guy back there all over you about it?”

“Shit, man,” Darren noted, “if you stole the dog just a week ago, and this guy came down on you this quick, I can only imagine what’s happening behind the scenes.”

Walton witnessed Chad starting to sweat.

“It ain’t nothing,” Chad muttered. “I won him in a bet, that’s all.”

Hawk shared, “I don’t think this guy will think very highly of that because winning a goddamn War Dog in a bet doesn’t mean the transaction was scrutinized to a tee. Besides, you already have a criminal record, so the government or the military would probably never even let you have a damn War Dog for real.”

“What does that even mean?” Darren asked. “Christ, he is a broken-down dog, not a War Dog.”

Chad groaned. “That’s because the dog came from an overseas war where he did time, like that piece of shit guy who’s poking into our business. We should just pop him and put him to rest,” Chad suggested, venom in his tone.

“Would you stop going around telling everybody you’ll pop them?” Hawk glared at Chad. “It just makes us sound like murderers, and I didn’t have anything to do with Rudy’s death.”

“Neither did I,” added George, the fourth man in the group, who mostly remained quiet.

“Then what happened to Rudy?” Chad asked suspiciously. “He was right there with all of us, then suddenly he was dead.”

“You tell me.” Hawk glared at him. “You were the last one to see him.”

“No, I wasn’t.” Chad turned and pointed to Darren. “What about you?”

“What about me? I was with you,” he said begrudgingly. “You’ve been going off half-cocked over this ever since.”

“Yeah, because the cops are breathing down my neck. I did time once, and they’re always looking at a fucking criminal as if we have nothing better to do than go out and cause more hell.”

“Maybe that’s what they’re thinking, and it’s because of your criminal record,” Darren pointed out, “but that doesn’t mean that we did anything to make it happen.”

Chad asked, “So why can I easily imagine one of you guys pointing a finger at me? With the way it happened and the way the cops are on me, it makes my life miserable. Jesus Christ, what the hell are we even doing here?”

“I thought we were coming out to have a nice visit together,” George replied.

“No, you didn’t.” Hawk turned, shaking his head at George. “That’s complete bullshit,” Hawk declared. “You know damn well you came up here out of curiosity, George, trying to figure out what the hell is going on.”

“That’s true. I did.” George laughed.

But the high note to that laugh made Walton sit up straight and listen.

Hawk added, “You’re all just going off half-cocked. What did you do, Chad? Beat up some guy to get the damn dog? If so, you’re nuts. That’s the kind of stunt that’ll get your ass pulled into jail,” he muttered, as he looked first at the dog and then back over at Chad. “Whether you did anything to Rudy or not, I don’t know, but, Christ, Chad, did you really steal a War Dog?” Hawk asked, on a roll now. “They are chipped, you know? There’s a paper trail as to ownership, and it ain’t easy to be approved to have one. These fucking War Dogs are locked down like you wouldn’t believe.”

“I did try to get one,” Chad muttered, “and they denied me.”

“Ever wonder why?” Hawk asked. “You’re probably not stable enough for one. Not to mention your criminal record. That’s part of what the military does, you know? They try to find out who is stable enough to handle one of these dogs and who’ll treat it right. Christ, I wouldn’t give you one either.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” roared Chad, as he charged Hawk.

Hawk laughed, did a quick sidestep, then tripped Chad and dropped him. “I’ve told you before, Chad. Don’t even fucking come at me like that. I came up here to see what the hell was going on and which one of you popped Rudy and what we would do about it. Because if anybody comes after me with any accusation, you can sure as hell bet that I’m not taking the fall.”

“I didn’t fucking shoot Rudy,” Chad grumbled.

“Neither did I,” Hawk said.

“Neither did I,” Darren added.

“And neither did I,” George stated.

All four men stared at each other.

“If it wasn’t us, who was it then?” George asked. “The cops are looking at us as being the only suspects, and they’re following us every damn place we go, and that sucks. I don’t really want the cops on my ass all the time. We came up here to solve this, so let’s solve it.”

“How will you do that?” Chad asked, as he sat cross-legged on the forest floor, staring up at him in disgust. “You think we haven’t tried? What is it you want to do? It’s not as if we have any answers here.”

“One thing’s for sure.… If somebody here did it, they’re trying to hide it,” Hawk suggested. “So everybody work out where you were, and maybe, if we figure out who it was, which one of us did it, at least we know who we can throw the book at, when we get back home again.”

“So, hang on a minute. You want to figure out which one of us killed Rudy, and then you’ll turn someone in?” Chad asked, his tone rising in anger. “What kind of friendship is that?”

“I’m not a friend of any asshole who pops one of our friends,” George interrupted in that same lazy tone. He seemed to be not so much a leader but the one who steps to the side, his gaze strong and watchful, as he studied the rest of them. “If you guys think that killing our friend and then going on a trip is okay, I’m telling you that something is wrong with all of you.”

“I agree with that,” Darren replied. “What the hell are we even doing here?”

Hawk shook his head. “That was not my question at all. I want to know what we’ll do to get out of this mess with the cops.”

“I sure as hell don’t want to shoot a deer in order to prove that we’re here,” George muttered.

“Oh, fuck off. You might not want the meat, but I do,” Chad declared. “So, if we’re out here hunting, the least we can do is make good on it.”

“Why?” Darren asked. “I don’t particularly even like deer meat.” One of the other men laughed, but Walton couldn’t see who it was.

“That’s just great,” Hawk muttered. “Here we are on a hunting trip. A couple of us don’t even like to hunt and don’t even like to eat deer meat. This is some sort of mockery.”

“It was a chance to sort ourselves out,” Chad stated defiantly, “and each of you came willingly enough.”

“I’ll admit I came,” Hawk shared. “I don’t know about how willing I was since you threatened me, told me that you had something on me and that, if I didn’t come, you would tell my wife.”

At that, George laughed and looked over at Chad. “What the fuck, man? You can’t blackmail friends like that.”

“I wanted to know what he was up to, and I didn’t know if he’s the one who threw me to the wolves about Rudy,” Chad replied. “So I had to make him come. How else would I get him here?”

“You did the same thing to me, threatening to tell my boss whatever you think you know,” Darren stated, “and I sure as fuck don’t appreciate it. Now we’re all here, and somebody shot Rudy, and you set up a hunting trip so we’re all carrying weapons? What the hell, man? I didn’t come up here to die.”

“I didn’t either,” Chad snapped, staring at him, “but I sure as hell didn’t come up here to have the cops thrown my way either.”

“The cops already came your way, before this trip,” Hawk pointed out, “and nobody here had to do anything. You’ve got a criminal record, and that automatically made you the number one suspect.”

“Maybe, but I didn’t do it,” Chad declared. “So whichever one of you guys did pop Rudy, you need to fess up, so I can get cleared.”

“Hang on a minute,” Darren said. “So now you want us to fess up as to who killed Rudy and then what? You’ll take us back on a citizen’s arrest?”

“Maybe,” Chad said, with a glare. “That’s better than my going to fucking jail for the rest of my life for something I didn’t do. It’s one thing if I did do something, but it’s another thing entirely if I didn’t, which I did not,” he snapped.

Just then the branch that Walton sat on snapped, tumbling him to the ground. Swearing under his breath, he quickly ducked into the brush off to the side, but already the four men raced in his direction.

“What the fuck was that?” Darren asked.

“I bet you it’s that fucking dog lover,” Chad swore. “What if he fucking heard us?”

“We didn’t say anything,” Darren noted. “I mean, if we didn’t kill anybody, we didn’t kill anybody. So, it’s no fucking big deal.”

“It is a big deal if we did kill somebody,” Chad noted, looking from one to the other. “That’s the thing. Did one of us kill him, or was it somebody else?”

“If it was somebody else, who the hell was it?” Hawk asked.

“Did you ever think that maybe Rudy offed himself?” Darren asked in a wary tone. “I’ve been over and over and over this. If none of us killed him, maybe Rudy did it to himself.”

They all sat very quietly at the same spot where Walton had just dropped. He was barely ten feet from them, and he desperately needed to send a message to Chelsea to let her know that they were coming her way. Hopefully she had the smarts to stay hidden if the men did come in her direction because these guys were already upset and angry. If they saw her, there was no guarantee what they would do.

One thing Walton would never do was trust men who were drinking, angry, armed, and afraid. Primal fear was at the base of Chad’s anger. He was afraid that he would get slammed for something he hadn’t done. But, if he didn’t kill Rudy, who the hell did, and how would this all play out?

Another question popped into Walton’s mind, and that was a possibility too. Had somebody pinned the murder on Chad?

He made a great patsy. Walton would have done it himself if there was any reason to. The man obviously had some big temper issues and a chip on his shoulder to boot, but still, if Chad didn’t kill their friend Rudy, somebody else did, and Walton would still bet it was somebody in this group. The question was, who did it?