We’d been moving for twenty minutes when Jolly froze.
Not slowed. Not hesitated. Froze—every muscle locked, his head oriented toward something ahead and to our left. His ears flattened slightly, and I saw the ridge of fur along his spine begin to rise.
I held up a closed fist. The team stopped instantly.
Ethan materialized beside me, his movement so quiet I felt rather than heard him arrive. He followed my gaze to Jolly, then looked at me with raised eyebrows.What’s he got?
I touched my ear, then pointed in the direction Jolly was focused.Voices. That way.
We waited. Seconds stretched. Then I heard it too—the low murmur of conversation, Spanish words I couldn’t make out, somewhere in the trees ahead. Two voices, maybe thirty meters out. Right in our path.
Ethan’s jaw tightened. We couldn’t wait for them to move. The mission window was already tight. And we couldn’t go around—the terrain to either side was too dense, too noisy. We’d lose time we didn’t have.
He looked at Jolly, then at me. A question in his eyes.
I nodded.
Ethan held up two fingers.Two hostiles.Then he made a gesture I’d seen a hundred times in training but rarely in the field—an open hand closing into a fist.Take them down. Silent.
I dropped to one knee beside Jolly, my mouth close to his ear. “Packen,” I whispered. The German command for bite and hold. His whole body vibrated with restrained energy, but he didn’t move. Not yet. Not until I released him.
Ethan and I crept forward, using the jungle noise as cover. The voices grew clearer—two men, complaining about the late shift, about the cold, about someone named Carlos who’d cheated at cards. Cartel scouts, running a pattern they’d probably run a hundred times before. Bored. Complacent.
They never saw us coming.
Through a gap in the foliage, I spotted them—two figures in dark clothing, rifles slung carelessly over their shoulders. One was lighting a cigarette, his face briefly illuminated by the flame.
I caught Ethan’s eye. Pointed to the one on the left.Mine.He nodded and oriented toward the right.
Then I touched Jolly’s shoulder and whispered the release command. “Fass.”
Ninety pounds of Belgian Malinois exploded out of the darkness.
Jolly hit the cigarette man before he could scream, jaws clamping onto his weapon arm with crushing force. The man went down hard, his rifle clattering away, and Jolly’s snarling finally broke the silence—a terrifying sound that would haunt these men’s nightmares for years.
The second scout spun toward the noise, his hand scrabbling for his weapon, and that’s when Ethan and I moved.
I was on my target in two strides, my arm snaking around his throat before he could process what was happening. His hands came up instinctively, clawing at my forearm, but I had the choke locked in tight. His body bucked against mine for five seconds, six, seven—then went limp.
I lowered him to the ground as Ethan finished with the other one. Jolly was still holding the man’s arm, his growl low and continuous, even though the scout had stopped struggling.
“Aus,” I commanded softly.Release.
Jolly let go immediately, backing up but keeping his eyes fixed on the unconscious man. His tail was low, his body still vibrating with adrenaline, but he’d followed the command perfectly. Always did.
I knelt beside him, running my hands over his muzzle, his chest, his legs. “You okay, buddy? He get you anywhere?”
Jolly licked my face once—his version ofI’m fine, stop fussing—then returned his attention to the downed scouts.
Ethan was already pulling a small injector from his vest. A quick jab to each man’s neck, and they went from unconscious to deeply under.
“They’ll be out for hours,” he murmured. “And when they wake up, the only thing they’ll remember is a big angry dog.”
“Wild animal attack,” I said, dragging my guy off the trail into the dense undergrowth. “Happens all the time out here.”
“Exactly.” Ethan helped me move the second man. By the time anyone found them, we’d be long gone. “Jolly’s got good instincts.”
I scratched behind Jolly’s ears, feeling his body finally start to relax. “Best partner I’ve ever had.”
