Jock laughed softly.“Nobody can escape you, Wildman.Thanks, man.I knew you’d have a contact.”His phone pinged twice, and he looked at the screen to see a message from Ace and one from Wildman.“Got it.I’ll call soon as I hang up with you.”
“Tell Tank he’s a good boy from me and Jussy.”
“Will do, brother.Thanks again.”
The call ended, and he looked at the messages.Ace’s was an update stating, “on the way.”Jock stroked the dog’s head again.“Won’t be long, boy.Hang in there.”
The other message was a name and a number that Jock read and clicked on immediately.Kent, no indication if it was first or last, and coming from Wildman, it could be the name of the vet’s dog.The call connected nearly before he could hear the ringing.
“I told you I’d do it, Wildman.Cut me some slack.”
“Not Wildman, but sounds like he’s already paved the way for me.”Jock found himself slowly stroking the dog’s head again.At this point it’s to soothe myself as much as to reassure the dog.“If there’s anything you need me to pick up on the way, let me know.”He smiled when the dog pressed its nose into his palm.“I’m Jock, and I’ve got a dog that’s in a bad way.Found it in an alley downtown.”
“Dammit.Damn Wildman to hell.I’m Kent, and I’ll send you a link to maps for my address.It’ll get you here faster.We’ll be at my vet practice. I should have everything I need here.See you soon.”
Jock laughed as the phone clicked again.“They might be brothers, for as straight a shooter he is.”
Speed dial pressed, he held the phone to his ear.“Wrench.”Wrench was the president of the Caddo Hobos, a man with strong connections through the community, and his club was the official owner of this territory.They never contested any IMC members coming into the area because there were a half a dozen businesses downtown that all the local bikers frequented.What was good for the town was good for the club.
“I’ll update more later.This is just a courtesy call to let you know I’m removing an abused dog from your patch.Ace is on his way to provide transport, and Wildman’s got me set up with a vet, but I wanted to let you know.This is straight-up abuse, and it’s fuckin’ bad, man.Gonna be something I want to follow up on.”
“No worries, Jock.I’ll see if anyone’s heard anything.Let me know if you need anything from me.”
“Will do.”This time it was him who hit disconnect on the call.He shoved the phone back in his pocket and stayed down on one knee near the dog’s shoulder, gentle hand on its trembling head, and hoped the beast wouldn’t die before he and Ace could get him to a good vet.
It seemed like he’d been waiting an eternity before he heard the grinding of tires on gravel as Ace’s truck pulled up to the curb behind his motorcycle.“Brother?”was called from the street, and he responded, “Here.”
“Jesus, fuck.That’s...”Ace’s voice hardened as he got closer and could identify the injuries, his rage growing deeper at seeing the dog lying in the alley.“And people wonder why I like animals better than I like people.Fuck.You see who did this to him?”Ace squatted next to Jock, their shoulders brushing as he crowded in to get a better look at the dog.“Goddamned assholes.I hate this shit, brother.”
“I did not.Wildman has a good vet on standby.We just gotta get the dog there.”Jock shook his head.“Dog fuckin’ licked my fingers a while ago, like he was thanking me for staying beside him, Ace.I don’t understand people any more than you do, and this?”He shuddered.“Makes me sick.I know this area belongs to you CoBos, so I went ahead and called Wrench.He’s gonna see if there’s been anything of note reported in this area.We find out who did this, we’ll deal with them then.Right now, we gotta see if we can get Maynard fixed up.”
“Maynard?”Ace held out a hand and let the dog sniff him, then caressed the fur across the top of the dog’s head.“Good name for a good dog.”He stepped away and reached back, bringing a carrier out from the shadows.“Lemme break this down, and we’ll lift him inside.”
They got the dog loaded without incident, Maynard’s head lolling awkwardly, turning Jock’s stomach as it wobbled back and forth.Jock followed Ace’s truck across town, sticking tight to Ace’s back bumper through the traffic, ignoring safer options.It bothered him being separated from Maynard, those hairs standing on end at the back of his neck.Some asshole had turned a good dog into a bleeding punching bag, and that just wasn’t going to stand.
Less than twenty minutes since they’d pulled away from the alley entrance, Jock was angling in beside Ace in a small parking lot.He dismounted quickly, beating Ace to the passenger door.“How’d he do on the ride?”Jock leaned down to look inside the crate, seeing the bright eyes of the dog staring back.He was striking, one eye brown, the other blue.
“Whined pretty badly until right now.”Ace said, reaching past him to grab a corner of the carrier.“Didn’t fight or fuss.Was just piteous until he could see you again.I think you found a friend.”
“You think he’ll make it?”Jock grabbed the other end of the crate and lifted, balancing the dog between them so he wouldn’t slide around inside.“He’s pretty bad.”
“Yeah, but he’s strong.And the animal has a misplaced trust of humans, but that’ll work in our favor.”Ace used his heel to rap against the vet’s backdoor, then stepped to one side as it opened from inside.“Work in your favor, nursin’ him back to health like you’ll need to do.”They crossed the threshold from the bright sunshine to the dim interior, and Ace said, “Hey, Doc.Glad you could see us.We got an abuse case.I’ve made some calls, and there’s no info about who dumped the dog in the alley, so you’re clear to make a report.”
“You talked to Wrench, then?”Jock stepped sideways around an examination table, settling the crate on the surface.The dog’s eyes didn’t waver from him the whole time, and he felt that stare like a weight.He heard a low whine that made his gut ache.The plea ofHelp mewas written on the dog’s face in the quirked eyebrows and the wrinkled skin between his tattered ears.“What’d he say?”Jock bent over and opened the door of the crate and laid his hand firmly on the dog’s head to keep him still.More tenderly than his barked questions, he told the dog, “Hush now.You’re gonna be okay.”
“Ace,” the vet said, pointing to the thumbscrews on his end of the crate.“You do those.I’ll take care of this end.What do we have, boys?”
“Pitty or pit bull mix.He’s got burns over a good portion of his torso and neck.Legs, abdomen, head, and tail seem to be spared from whatever it was.They don’t look like fire burns, Doc.Don’t smell like fire burns either.It’s got a bite to the scent.More chemical.”Ace rested his hands on top of the crate.“Whenever you’re ready.”
“He’s pretty well behaved.You think he’s shocky?”The vet nodded as a signal, and they lifted the top of the crate off, revealing the dog’s body.He took a deep breath as he stared.“Jesus.I hate people.”
The vet went to work on what he could see, and Jock felt the dog start trembling under his hand.“Easy, boy.You’re okay.”Looking up, he asked Ace, “What did Wrench say?”
“No video of the location available.I called Dyno, too, and he didn’t have anything.No witnesses and no feed means it’s unlikely we can catch whoever did this off one dump site.”Ace stepped backwards with a sigh, letting the doc cross in front of him, and then pressed against the table again.“If the cops have a pattern, they can match this to any other cases, and it would give them more ammo when they went to court.”
“If they go to court,” the vet interrupted, holding up his blood-and-fluid-covered gloves.“I need the dog out of the crate entirely.The good news so far is, it’s just dermal burns, no underlying tissue or deep burns I can see so far.It’s a mix of first and second thickness, which means he’ll recover and regrow his fur.”He paused, then said, “Probably.”He shrugged.“Mostly.The damage to the tail is healed, so that happened a while ago.”
Jock steadied the dog’s head, one palm pressed over his brow and one under the latch of his throat, while the vet deftly lifted the dog’s body and Ace slipped the crate out of the way.Brown and blue eyes never left Jock’s face, and the dog was calm, not even a raised lip to indicate the level of pain he had to be in.
