Cahill

I could hear the din from the bar as I exited my SUV and I was still almost a block away. What a shame! I knew from long experience that would change as soon as my foot crossed the threshold. I tend to have that effect on people. I’m six feet six inches tall and I weigh an even 250 pounds—all of it broad shouldered muscle. My Body Mass Index at my last physical was less than four percent. My light brown hair is styled exactly the way it’s been for the past fifteen years—ever since I first joined the Navy. Sure enough, no sooner had I taken my first step into the bar than the noise died. When I turned left and stepped up to the bar the people there couldn’t back away fast enough. I took a stool in the middle of the empty space and sat down, waiting for the bartender to approach. “I’m not looking for any trouble.” “Good…neither am I. Give me a ginger ale.” He reached under the bar for a glass and some ice. Twenty seconds later he slid the glass in my direction. I pulled a fiver from my pocket and dropped it on the bar. He ignored it and walked away to draw a few beers and pour some wine. It looked to me like this was a pretty cheap crowd. Checking up and down the bar all I could see were longnecks and drafts. I reached into the lower left pocket of my cargo pants. Like almost everything else I was wearing they were a true deep navy blue. My heavy shoes were black as was my wide belt. My belt said as much about me as the bold white lettering across my chest. Just below the American flag over my heart were the letters that were my life—U. S. MARSHAL. On my right hip was my nickel plated .44 Magnum Colt Python, just behind two speed loaders in addition to the twenty-four rounds on the belt. On my left hip was my ASP Talon baton—every bit as deadly a weapon in my hands as the revolver. A pouch at the back of my right hip held my stainless steel handcuffs and its partner on the opposite side held my radio—my link to my backup team. I placed the photo flat on the bar as the bartender returned to me. “I’ll have another,” I said in a loud voice, continuing so I wouldn’t be overheard. “Don’t pick it up and don’t make a production of looking at it. I’ve been told that he comes here a lot. Is he here tonight? If he is and he escapes because you’ve given me away I’ll see to it that you’re arrested for obstruction of justice.” He gulped a few times but did as he was told, nodding slightly in response. I continued almost at a whisper. “If my nose is pointing to twelve o’clock, my right ear to three, the back of my head to six, and my left ear to nine, tell me where he is. Again, don’t point or do anything obvious and we’ll be fine.” He pretended to wipe the bar as he whispered, “About 4:30 with his back to you.” I picked up the reflection in the mirror then asked, “Red shirt with black and white stripes, looking away from me?” He nodded again. Now, in my normal tone of voice I asked, “Where’s the men’s room?”

Fredrick_Udele · Fantasía

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69 Chs

CHAPTER 5

They stayed with Max while I ordered a club sandwich on white toast with extra mayo and a Coke. When asked if I wanted fries or chips I opted for the chips. The ones I had that first night were great. Once the waitress had gone I looked aimlessly out the window. I didn't like what I saw there. Two men got out of their car. They were wearing raincoats, which was to be expected considering the weather. What I didn't like was seeing them go to the trunk and emerge with their right hands inside the other side of their coats as they looked up and down the street.

"Girls, you have to go back to your parents right now and stay there. You can play with Max again in a few minutes, okay? Go now." Once they were gone I gave Max the command that would put him on alert. I also moved him to the floor under the table where he was less likely to be seen. I shrugged my arms out of the parka, but kept it over my shoulders.

Max looked up at me as the two walked through the outer door into the vestibule. I tapped him twice on his ear which put him at the ready. He would move at the exact instant I did. My pistol was ready with the leather strap undone and the safety thumbed off. I turned my body so I was sideways to the table just as they entered.

"THIS IS A STICKUP," the one to the right yelled as he stepped up to the counter right in front of us. He held a rifle in his right hand. His partner had a shotgun and both were pointed up at the ceiling. I made my move immediately and as I did, Max exploded from the booth. After a single step he leaped up wrapping his jaws around the man's wrist. He screamed in pain and his partner would have come to his aid if only I didn't have my revolver jammed into his ear. I spoke just as the rifle fell harmlessly to the floor.

"Don't even think about it. One false move and your brains will be all over the ceiling. Move your finger away from the trigger and lay the weapon on the counter. Slowly, now…slowly. Lucy, get out of the way. I don't want any accidents." Once she had moved I grabbed the asshole's collar and pulled him to the floor. My knee on his neck, I quickly handcuffed him and left him there while I attended to his partner.

Dogs were very successful hunters long before they were domesticated thousands of years ago and they killed their prey by grabbing it by the neck and shaking it violently, breaking the animal's neck in the process. When Max bit into the perpetrator's wrist his instincts told him to shake it as his ancestors had done ages ago. The action destroyed the man's wrist, breaking several bones in his hand as well as his forearm within the first three seconds. Since then his wrist had been completely obliterated. "Off, Max…off," I said in a calm voice. Max released him and stepped away until I snapped my fingers and pointed to the one I had dealt with. "Hold, Max." He ran to the other robber and wrapped his jaws around his neck, not biting, but holding him in place.

"Lucy, do you have a towel? Even a dish towel or two would be a help." She returned a few seconds later with two dish towels. "Please call 9-1-1 and ask for police and EMT's while I bandage this guy's wrist." I wrapped the first towel tightly around the area where the blood flowed freely from his wound. I tore about half of the second towel down its length then applied it over the other. Finally, I tied the two torn sections into a strong knot. Using two of the plastic wrist cuffs I was able to restrain him just above the elbows. He had some limited use of his hands although it was unlikely that he would do much with his right hand ever again.

Pulling the one I was working on up, I forced his legs apart then bent him over the counter while I searched him. He had a 9mm semi-automatic and a knife that I laid on the counter next to his rifle. "Don't get any stupid ideas. Max will be right behind you in a second." I left him then, returning to the one I had dealt with. Max rose when I got there and walked behind his partner, growling menacingly as he did.

I could hear sirens in the distance as I searched the remaining robber. He, too, had a 9mm and a knife. Leaving him over the counter I unloaded the shotgun and the pistol as I had his partner's. I smiled as I spoke to the patrons. "I'll bet you weren't expecting all this excitement when you decided to eat out today, did you? I'm Matt Cahill, U.S. Marshal and this is my partner, Max. Right, buddy?" We'd done this several times before so Max woofed his agreement before returning to his guard duties.

I could hear sirens coming from two directions so I released Max. "Go and play with the girls, Max. I have this covered." German Shepherds are among the most intelligent dogs and Max is the smartest dog I'd ever encountered. He woofed once and capered down the aisle until he had reached his two friends.

They were eager, but their father held them back. "Is this dog really safe?"

"What Max did here today he did on my exact orders, nothing else. Did you notice that he took this man's neck into his mouth, but didn't bite? I told him to 'hold,' nothing more and that's exactly what he did. He would have bitten and broken the man's neck if I or any of you were seriously endangered, with or without my instructions. That's just how good he is, but none of you are in any danger from him." Then, looking at the older girl I told her, "Honey, put your arm into Max's mouth. Go ahead. He won't bite you. I promise." She was a bit tentative as she slid out of the booth, but laughed when Max licked her face. Standing with him she pushed her arm between Max's jaws then grinned wildly when he stood calmly with his mouth wide open.

That encouraged other kids and their parents to join her and soon Max was the center of attention as several dozen people were petting and rubbing him. That was the scene that greeted two sheriff's deputies who entered the diner with their guns drawn.

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