Chapter 2 - The Command Brutus Remembered
Brutus froze.
Not completely.
But enough.
His massive body remained rigid over Toby, his teeth still buried in the thick jacket, yet one ear turned toward Mave.
Declan noticed.
So did every armed man in the room.
Mave lowered the tray.
"Nobody move."
Scar-Eyebrow stared at her.
"Lady—"
"Shut up."
The room went silent.
Mave slowly crouched.
Declan was still gripping Brutus's collar.
"Let go of him."
Declan's head snapped toward her.
"What?"
"You're choking him. You're making him panic harder."
"He'll tear the kid apart."
"He hasn't bitten Toby."
Toby whimpered.
Mave pointed at his shoulder.
"The jacket. He's holding the jacket."
She was right.
There was no blood.
Brutus had enough jaw strength to crush bone, but his teeth had closed almost entirely around fabric.
He was panicking.
Not hunting.
Mave wet the towel again with water from an overturned pitcher.
Then she tossed the tray aside.
The metallic clang made Brutus twitch.
Everyone held their breath.
Mave moved closer.
"Mave," Toby sobbed.
"Don't pull away."
"I can't—"
"Don't pull."
She reached the dog.
Brutus growled.
Declan's grip tightened.
Mave looked straight at him.
"Let go."
For perhaps the first time in years, Declan Gallagher obeyed an order from a waitress.
He released the collar.
Several men raised their weapons.
Mave placed the wet towel gently across Brutus's shoulders.
The dog flinched.
Then she did something stranger.
She sat down.
Right there on the filthy floor.
Her legs folded beneath her.
Her body turned sideways rather than facing Brutus directly.
"No one's fighting you," she murmured.
Brutus's breathing came in harsh bursts.
"That's it."
Her voice changed.
The command vanished from it.
It became low and monotonous.
Almost boring.
"Easy."
The dog's eyes shifted toward her.
"Good."
Brutus loosened his jaw.
Toby gasped.
Mave didn't touch him.
"Stay."
Brutus released the jacket.
Toby immediately tried to crawl away.
"Don't!"
He stopped.
Mave reached slowly beneath the dog's chin.
Brutus's enormous head trembled.
Then, unbelievably, it dropped into her palm.
The entire Copper Anchor went silent.
Mave rubbed her thumb once beneath his jaw.
"Good boy."
Brutus sat.
Toby scrambled backward.
Two waiters dragged him away.
Declan remained kneeling several feet from Mave, staring at her as though she had just performed surgery with a butter knife.
Brutus leaned harder into her hand.
Then the dog sneezed.
Mave exhaled.
"Well," she muttered, "that's embarrassing."
A nervous laugh escaped someone near the kitchen.
Declan didn't laugh.
He was staring at Brutus's collar.
More specifically, at something beneath it.
His expression changed.
"Hold him."
Mave frowned.
"What?"
"Hold his head."
Declan reached beneath the thick leather collar and pulled something free.
A small black cylinder.
Scar-Eyebrow stepped closer.
"What is that?"
Declan twisted it open.
Inside was a tiny electronic component.
Mave knew almost nothing about electronics.
She knew enough to recognize wires.
Declan's face became terrifyingly calm.
"That's not ours."
The rival men near the entrance began backing away.
Declan looked up.
"Doors."
His men moved instantly.
The Copper Anchor was sealed.
Nobody left.
Arthur emerged from behind the bar looking ready to faint.
"What exactly is happening?"
Declan stood.
"Someone put a device on my dog."
Mave looked at Brutus.
The animal's trembling was subsiding.
"What kind?"
Declan handed the cylinder to his lieutenant.
"Find out."
Scar-Eyebrow examined it.
"Could be a tracker."
"No."
Mave spoke before thinking.
Every face turned toward her.
She swallowed.
"If it were only tracking him, why hide it where it rubs against his neck?"
Declan stared.
Mave gently pushed aside Brutus's fur.
There was a small irritated patch beneath the collar.
And something else.
A puncture.
Declan's eyes hardened.
"Needle mark."
Mave's stomach turned.
"You think somebody drugged him?"
"I think somebody wanted him unstable."
Across the room, the ponytailed rival stopped moving.
Declan noticed.
"So," he said quietly. "Do I."
The man raised both hands.
"Gallagher, don't be stupid."
Declan walked toward him.
"Interesting choice of words."
"We didn't touch your animal."
"You arrived twelve minutes before he lost control."
"Coincidence."
Declan stopped inches from him.
"I don't believe in those."
The rival smiled nervously.
"You going to start a war because your dog got scared?"
"No."
Declan's gaze moved toward Toby's torn jacket.
"I'm going to find out who tried to make me kill an innocent kid."
That sentence surprised Mave.
She had expected rage over Brutus.
Not Toby.
Declan turned.
"Mave."
She stiffened.
It was the first time he had used her name.
"How do you know dogs?"
The question landed harder than it should have.
Mave looked down.
Brutus had placed one enormous paw across her shoe.
"My father trained them."
"What kind?"
"Police. Military. Security."
"Name?"
Her throat tightened.
"Doesn't matter."
Declan studied her.
"Everything matters tonight."
Before Mave could answer, Arthur interrupted.
"Mave."
His face had gone strangely pale.
He was staring toward the restaurant entrance.
A man stood beyond the locked glass doors.
Gray coat.
Baseball cap.
Hands in his pockets.
Mave stopped breathing.
She knew him.
Or thought she did.
The man lifted his face.
Twenty feet of glass separated them.
He smiled.
Mave's knees almost gave out.
Declan noticed immediately.
"You know him?"
"No."
The answer came too quickly.
The stranger tapped two fingers against his temple.
A tiny salute.
Then he turned and disappeared into the rain.
Declan's gaze returned to Mave.
"You just lied to me."
She stood.
"I need to go home."
"It's one in the morning."
"I know what time it is."
Declan stepped into her path.
Mave's eyes sharpened.
"Move."
His men looked astonished.
Declan didn't.
"Who was he?"
Mave's hand tightened around her apron.
"Someone I haven't seen in seven years."
"Name."
She hesitated.
Then whispered:
"Caleb Voss."
For the first time all night, Declan Gallagher looked genuinely shocked.
Scar-Eyebrow swore behind him.
Mave looked between them.
"What?"
Declan's voice dropped.
"Caleb Voss died six years ago."
Mave felt the floor disappear beneath her.
"No."
"I attended the funeral."
"You're wrong."
"I watched his coffin go into the ground."
Brutus rose.
The dog moved beside Mave and pressed his enormous body against her leg.
Declan looked from the dog to the terrified young woman.
Then his phone vibrated.
A photograph appeared on the screen.
Mave saw it before he could turn it away.
It showed her apartment building.
Taken minutes ago.
Beneath it were five words.
SHE SHOULD HAVE KEPT RUNNING.
Declan slowly lifted his eyes.
"You're not going home."
Mave's fear instantly became anger.
"You don't decide that."
"No."
He handed her the phone.
"But whoever sent this already decided someone is waiting there."
Her face drained of color.
Then another message arrived.
This one contained a photograph of a woman sleeping in a hospital bed.
Mave's mother.
And beneath it:
BRING ME THE GIRL AND THE DOG.
Mave stared at the screen.
Declan's voice became deadly quiet.
"Now we know what they want."
She looked at him.
"No."
Declan frowned.
Mave looked down at Brutus.
"They don't want me and the dog."
May you like
Her eyes lifted.
"They want whatever my father taught us both."
