Walton (The K9 Files #26)

Chapter 6

T he three of them stayed at the lake for a couple hours, talking, laughing, and playing. They went for a swim in the freezing cold water, even Brutus. Of course Walton had to take off his prosthetic. They weren’t in the water for long. When Chelsea came back out, having gone in wearing just her underwear, she was shivering. Even running around to dry off as much as possible, which Brutus thought was a fun game, she still shivered. When he looked at her with concern, she shrugged.

“I’ll be fine, but I do think it’s time to go back.” She quickly pulled on the rest of her clothing, as they had no towels.

Walton looked over at her and laughed. “I never thought you would be one to jump in the lake like that.”

“I wouldn’t have thought I was either,” she admitted, “but there is something about you.”

“I think it’s something about the atmosphere here,” he noted, with a grin on his face. “It’s very freeing. It’s very open and caring.”

“Except for those guys.”

“Yes, except for those guys,” he admitted. “But they won’t be here forever, and it’s really nice to see you in a more relaxed environment.”

“Am I always uptight to you?” she asked curiously, as they walked back at a rapid pace, compared to earlier, just because of the cold and being wet.

“No, I think you’re just always hyper focused on the task at hand,” he explained. “It’s a very intense focus, which is what makes you so good at what you do.”

She was still smiling and laughing when they walked back into the yard of the lodge.

The men were standing around discussing something in low voices, and silence fell when they saw them. As soon as Chad saw Brutus, he called him over in a harsh tone. Brutus walked over sedately, as if completely unfazed.

Chad spun on Walton. “What the fuck are you doing with my dog?”

“Your dog was out in the woods,” Walton began. “You could at least say thank you that we brought him back with us.” Chad looked down at the dog and raised his hand. Walton stepped forward and snapped in a waspish tone, “No, you don’t.”

Chad looked at him and glared. “You think you’ll fucking stop me from disciplining my dog?”

“Until you show me papers that confirm he is your dog,” Walton stated, pointing to Brutus, “I will guard that dog, the same way I did when I was in the military and trained these animals.” His tone was hard and stern. “You will not abuse that animal.”

“It’s not your fucking animal.”

“We can make a phone call right now and let the War Department sort it out. How’s that?” As Walton spoke, Chad stumbled backward. Walton continued on. “What we’ll do next is tear apart your life, as we look for anything incriminating as to how you got this dog, since his owner of record is in the hospital, after having the shit kicked out of him and his place robbed.”

An ugly silence behind Chad was broken, as one of the men muttered, “Shit.”

Chad turned and glared at his friend. “Just shut the fuck up,” he roared. “And you,” he said, turning back to Walton, “I had nothing to do with it.”

“Yeah? Then where the hell did you get the dog?”

“You didn’t have that dog a few days ago,” noted Hawk. “We all saw you then as we flew in over a couple of days for this trip and you didn’t have it.”

Chad turned on him and asked, “What do you know? It’s not as if you saw where I was staying this last month. You don’t know shit about me.”

“No, I don’t, and for a hell of a lot of good reasons too,” he muttered, as he walked toward the front doors of the lodge. “It was a fucking mistake coming up here.”

“It was supposed to be a chance for us to let off some steam and to bond a little bit,” Chad snarled, glaring at him as he continued to walk into the house. “Don’t you ever fucking walk away from me.”

At that, Hawk stiffened, then turned to face him. “Is that a warning? Or maybe I should ask if it’s a threat? Because I really need to know just what the hell is going on here. At one point in time, we were all good friends.”

“Yes, and then somebody killed Rudy,” Darren stated, stepping forward, “and now we’re at each other’s throats.”

“That’s because the cops think one of us did it,” Hawk snapped, “and I know I didn’t, and I sure as hell don’t want the cops looking at me for it.”

“I didn’t do it.” Chad glared at Hawk. “You know me. Hell, you all know me.”

“We also know that you’ve got one hell of a temper,” George snapped at him. “If I find out you fucking beat up that old man to get his dog, I’ll take you down myself,” he vowed. “That old man was a war vet. I know that you really hate them, and it’s all because you were turned down for entrance into the damn military, but you sure as hell shouldn’t be going off and beating up people to get their goddamn dogs.” And, with that, George turned his back on Chad deliberately and walked inside, right alongside Hawk.

Chelsea didn’t know what to say; she was frozen in place. It was like watching a horrible play happen in front of her. Yet it was information they all needed, including the cops. If it ever came down to it, she and Rick and Julie and Walton would all likely be called in as witnesses to this nightmare. And Chelsea wasn’t too thrilled about that either. As soon as she could, she raced inside and away from the chaos.

Julie met her in the kitchen. “Are you okay?” Julie asked in a low voice.

Chelsea nodded. “I am, but things are rough out there,” she muttered. “Lots of accusations, nobody really fessing up to anything yet, although Chad doesn’t have any ownership to the dog that he can prove.”

At that, Julie glanced backward, with a worried expression on her face. “He’s one of those dangerous guys with a short fuse and an unpredictable temper.”

“I know,” Chelsea agreed in a low tone.

“Would you mind putting on some tea?”

“I’m freezing. Let me go get into some dry clothes first.”

At that, Julie looked at her. “What happened?”

She grinned. “I can’t believe it myself, but we went for a swim.”

“You what?”

The look of horror on her sister-in-law’s face made Chelsea realize just how ludicrous it was to go swimming in freezing-cold water. “Honest to God, it was so much fun to just be out there,” she shared, with a laugh. “I don’t remember the last time I had a holiday where I could just forget about all kinds of crap. Even the dog enjoyed swimming with us. Then we come back here and found those guys fighting among themselves, and it’s just horrifying.”

Julie nodded. “Go on up and get changed. I’ll get the teakettle going. We don’t want you getting sick.”

“No, I sure don’t want to get sick,” she agreed, with a laugh, “but I’m having a lot of fun, so I’m really glad I came.”

At that, Julie smiled. “I’m really glad you came too.” Then she stopped and winced. “But I wish you hadn’t brought trouble with you.”

She nodded. “I wish we hadn’t either, but this was still a good thing for Brutus.”

“Chad really doesn’t have any rights to that dog?” Julie asked, peeking out the window.

“None that Walton can find, and Chad sure as hell isn’t offering any proof. And any mention of the military or the cops coming to inspect what Chad was up to sends him into a tizzy.”

“I wonder why,” Julie noted in a wry tone.

Chelsea nodded. “He’s not the kind of guy you want hanging around.”

“No, he really isn’t,” Julie confirmed.

And, with that, Chelsea reminded Julie with a quick glance and a one-word question, “Tea?” Then she broke out laughing, as she raced up to her room.

Walton stared at Chad straight-on, knowing perfectly well this man was not somebody you ever wanted to turn your back on. Walton was surprised and yet pleased when Rick came outside and stepped up beside him.

“Any problem here, gentlemen?” he asked in a calm, controlled tone.

Walton smirked. Rick used to be a counselor for children of all ages, but mostly for high school kids. It was pretty easy to see why somebody might want a change of career after doing that for many years. Yet it appeared Rick had picked up some valuable skills too. With two of the men inside, that left only two outside, Chad and Darren.

“No problem here,” Darren noted, as he looked over at Chad. “Chad, you good?”

“Sure, I’m good, but this guy’s trying to take my dog.”

“If you think I have wronged you, let’s talk ownership then,” Walton suggested. “You give me names, dates, places, and documentation, all showing me that you are authorized to have this War Dog.”

He glared at him. “It was a deal between friends,” he muttered.

“What friend was that?”

At that point, Chad appeared stumped.

“Shit,” Darren muttered. “If it isn’t your dog, just give it back to him, man. You don’t seem to give a shit about the dog anyway.”

“What do you mean I don’t give a shit about him?”

“You wanted him so you could play with him in the woods,” Darren explained, “and it wasn’t even sporting. You were always wondering what a War Dog could do against a bear or something. Jesus Christ, Chad, he’s injured. You know he can’t do anything to fight off a bear.”

“It still would have been fun to see.”

“No, it fucking wouldn’t have been,” Darren muttered. “You need your head examined.”

“No, I fucking don’t.” He slammed his buddy with a fist to the gut.

Darren just blocked the hit and shook his head, then spoke to Walton. “Look. Chad hasn’t had the animal for long, but I don’t know that he’s responsible for what happened to the owner.”

“He better come up with a perfectly good reason why he’s got the dog and how the owner ended up in the hospital,” Walton stated. “That is definitely not something the government will let Chad walk away from, especially not when the Alaskan police are actively looking for the assailant of a war veteran.”

At that, Darren winced. He shot his buddy a sideways glance. “I sure as hell hope it wasn’t you, Chad, not when we’ve already got trouble.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Chad said in a dark tone, “and it would be nice if somebody would ever fucking believe me.”

“It depends on whether you deserve believing or not,” Walton stated. “If you think about it, so far, we haven’t heard anything but lies. I’m all for hearing the truth, but I’m not up for any more of your shit talk. Since you’ve been here, you’ve been nothing but a pain in the ass. I get that you think your shit doesn’t stink and that the world should revolve around you, but it doesn’t, and it won’t. So, right about now, nobody wants to listen to any more of your crap.”

Darren’s eyes widened, and he hurriedly stepped away from Chad, as if afraid an explosion was imminent.

Walton crossed his arms over his chest in a lazy move and just eyed Chad steadily. “So, speak up, or lose the damn dog right now.”

“You can’t fucking take the damn dog from me.”

“Why? You don’t have any proof that the dog is yours,” Walton repeated, “so I really don’t give a shit what you say.”

Darren’s jaw worked, and Chad curled his lips. “You don’t have any fucking proof of all this bullshit that you’re spouting either,” Chad declared. “You just saw my damn dog and wanted it.”

“It’s not your dog.” Walton pulled out his phone and quickly dialed.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, who are you calling?” Chad asked nervously.

At his nervous tone Walton smiled at Chad. “You were looking for proof,” Walton replied, with a casual glance, “about who I am and what I’m doing here. I will give you to my boss, Badger.”

“ Badger ,” he scoffed, “nobody fucking calls himself Badger.”

“Yeah, do you know what a badger is?”

He frowned, “Yeah, I do. It’s one of the fucking most dangerous animals in the world, and you never want to cross them. I’m not an idiot. I know what the fuck that is.”

Walton gave him a slow smile. “Exactly.” Badger answered his call, and Walton put it on Speakerphone. “Tell this dog-stealing asshole who I am and who I’m working with.”

“The US War Department, asshole. Hand over the dog before things get worse for you. I hear you are under investigation for murder too. Did you also attack the War Dog’s owner and send him to the hospital? The Alaskan cops want to know.”

Chad blinked several times, as comprehension dawned. “That’s fucking bullshit,” he said nervously, but he took a step back.

“No, it’s not bullshit,” Walton argued. “We take our animals seriously.”

“You can have the thing then,” he snarled at him. “Fucking thing doesn’t listen anyway.”

“He doesn’t listen because you don’t know what you’re doing with him.” Walton snapped his fingers and gave a downward hand signal. Brutus, a name Walton would have to change, raced over and dropped to the ground beside him.

Chad stared at Walton, his eyes widening.

Walton nodded. “These dogs are not to be trifled with. They’re well trained, but they aren’t something that you get to just have out here for sporting fun. What was that you said earlier?… Something about pitting him up against a grizzly bear or some such nonsense?”

Chad frowned at him, looked at the dog, and shrugged. “It’s just fun, man. What the hell? It’s just a dog.”

“And that’s why we know that you would never have been given this animal,” Walton stated, with a wave of his hand. “ Never , that’s not what these War Dogs are bred for.”

“So what? To hell with it and you.… I don’t give a shit.” Chad stomped up the front steps of the lodge. “This has turned out to be one fucking waste of a holiday.”

“Did you get all that, Badger?”

“I sure did.” And he ended the call, swearing a blue streak.

“You’re the one who came up here to shoot things,” snapped Chelsea from the doorway.

He glared at her. “Get the fuck out of my way, bitch.” He nudged her aside, and, in an instant, Walton was right there between him and Chelsea.

“She’s a lady, and you’ll treat her like one,” he uttered, his tone lethal and low. “If this is how you get along in life, I’m surprised you’re not already behind bars, and that attitude will get you killed one day.”

Chad stiffened and glared at him. “You don’t know fuck about me. Now you’ve got your fucking dog, so get out of my fucking face.” And, with that, he stormed inside and slammed the door.

Walton slowly turned and looked over at Rick. “You cool?”

Rick shrugged. “I wasn’t expecting that to happen,” he said, uncrossing his arms and approaching slowly. “You know he’s dangerous.”

“He’s definitely dangerous,” Walton stated agreeably, “as long as you know it too.”

“Hell, as soon as I saw these guys and heard them, I understood they would be nothing but shit customers,” Rick muttered. “But sometimes the shittiest of customers tip well, and I’ve got to tell you that business ain’t what it used to be.”

“Yet you told me everything was fine,” Chelsea chided him. “I could have helped, you know.”

“Helped with what?” he asked, looking over at her, his lips quirking. “I mean, you have the money you make, but it’s not as if you have spare cash, and we’ve already accepted a lot of help from you.”

“What about the marketing?” she muttered.

“We did get some bookings from that,” he admitted, “and I’ll talk to Julie more about it. The problem is, we didn’t have the money to spend in order to market it properly.”

“And if you don’t spend the money, you don’t get the guests, so you can turn around and market again.”

He burst out laughing, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Let’s go in and grab some coffee.”

“Julie is making me a hot cup of tea,” she said, looking over at Walton. “I went up and got changed,” she muttered. “I was starting to get chilled pretty good.”

At that, Rick looked down at her, then over at Walton. “Shit, you’re wet.”

“Yeah, I will get changed myself.” Walton snapped his fingers, and Brutus raced to him, his tail wagging, happy as hell to have somebody talking to him in a language he understood.

Rick looked at him in amazement. “Is it really that easy?”

“No, it’s not easy at all,” Walton joked. “A hell of a lot of training goes into it.”

Rick flushed. “I didn’t mean it like that,” he muttered, “but he looks to be a hell of a nice dog to have around.”

“He is a nice dog to have around,” Walton agreed. “He’s got excellent training and really good instincts. I’m really happy that I’ve got him out of that ugly scenario.”

“I can’t believe Chad let you just have him,” Chelsea noted, frowning at him.

“Oh, I wouldn’t say we’re out of the woods yet,” Walton cautioned. “I would say that Chad is pretty damn dangerous, and we’ll have to watch every step we take to ensure Brutus here doesn’t get an accidental bullet.”

She stared at him, then glanced down at Brutus in horror. She crouched down, opening her arms as a signal to the dog. Brutus looked up at Walton for permission first, and he nodded. And Brutus raced toward her, looking for cuddles. “Oh my God,” she said. “He’s freaking beautiful.”

“Isn’t he,” Walton agreed, “and incredibly well trained, even after those assholes tried to mess him up.”

“Is he yours now?” she asked Walton.

“No, he’s not.” The saddest expression crept over her face, and he burst out laughing. “It completely depends on what’s happening with his owner.”

“Right, the poor man who got beaten up.”

“Exactly. I don’t know what the deal is there, and we do need to find out more about that, but, in the meantime,” he added, “it will be a delight to have Brutus around.” Walton gave a whistle, and Brutus raced over to him. “Almost everybody changes the name of the dog when they get them, usually something cuddlier than the original name,” he explained, with a smile. “ Brutus isn’t a name we want him to have, but again it depends on his rightful owner.”

“Right,” she murmured, “let’s hope he’s got something a whole lot kinder.” He looked over, then smiled. “At least a name that is a whole lot more realistic because he’s not a brute, and also he’s injured,” she clarified, walking closer, studying his back leg. “We can probably do a lot to get that leg working a little bit better.” She squatted beside the dog, checking his back leg.