Nick of Time (A Bug Man Novel) (35 page)

“He’s also the smartest.”

“He’d have to play the cello.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me. He’s a tracker—this dog can find anything.” Nick held Alena’s sweatshirt under the little dog’s nose and allowed him to sniff.

“Looks like he’s got the scent,” Brenton said. “Now what?”

“Now I have to find some way to tell him to ‘go find Alena.’ ”

“Here’s an idea.” Donovan bent down and addressed the dog: “
Go find Alena
.”

“He doesn’t respond to spoken commands,” Nick said.

“He’s not impressing me so far, Nick. He’d better be good at the cello.”

“He only responds to visual signals—that’s the way Alena trains them. First she snaps her fingers—that’s the operant command.” He snapped his fingers and the little dog immediately came to attention.

“What happens next?”

“I can’t remember,” Nick said. “I’ve seen Alena do it, but she’s taught them hundreds of commands—I only know a couple. Wait—I remember this one . . .” He made a fist with his right hand and lifted his little finger.

Ruckus raised his right leg and urinated on Nick’s shoe.

Brenton took a step back. “You’re not a chew toy, you’re a fire hydrant.”

“I think I remember now,” Nick said. He snapped his fingers again, then made a motion with his right arm as if he were pitching a horseshoe . . .

Ruckus took off like a shot in the direction of the trees. Trygg and Dante both leaped from the tailgate and raced after their tiny companion.

“Don’t lose them!”

Donovan and Brenton took off after the dogs while Nick waved to Pete back at the car. “Stay there!” he shouted. “When the police get here, tell them which way we went!”

“Where is everybody going?”

“Just tell them to follow,” Nick said, “and make sure they hurry.”

38

A
lena stood knee-deep in her own grave. She leaned on the shovel and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand.

“Hurry it up,” Malone ordered.

“Why don’t we take turns?” Alena said. “You take the shovel and I’ll hold the gun for a while.”

“Funny—now get back to work.”

Alena worked as slowly as she could, hoisting half-shovelfuls of dirt as if each one were enormously heavy. She worked so slowly that she had barely broken a sweat, but still she paused every minute or two to “catch her breath.” But the hole was two feet deep now and she was beginning to worry. She knew Malone didn’t need to bury her six feet under; it was the six inches of concrete that would forever hide her body, not a few measly feet of loose soil. Her grave only needed to be deep enough to cover her body until the construction workers came in the next day and covered the whole area with gravel and concrete—then no one would ever find her again.

She had stalled as long as possible to give someone a chance to come to her rescue, but she knew now that no one would. Why would they? Sure, she told Yanuzzi she was going back to the lake house, but what reason would he have to follow her here? Alena was the only one who knew what Malone had done; as far as Yanuzzi was concerned, Malone was a model citizen.

And as for Nick—he never even knew Alena was in town. As far as Nick knew, she was back home in Endor making wedding preparations and waiting for his calls that never came. That’s what bothered Alena most of all: She never found Nick— she never had the chance to look into his eyes and ask him if he really wanted to marry her. Was he running away from her, or would he really have come back just as he said he would? Now she’d never know. In her worst imaginations she had pictured herself standing in front of a packed church, staring at the back door and waiting for a groom who never showed up . . . Now she wondered if Nick would be the one left waiting. Maybe not—maybe neither one of them would show up. Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be.

But what absolutely tore at her heart was that she would never
know
.

Then Alena heard a
yip
and looked up; standing atop the back wall of the excavation, silhouetted in sharp relief against the moon, was a tiny little dog. She lifted her right arm high overhead and snapped her fingers—then she drew an imaginary line with her finger from the dog’s position around the excavation to the spot where she was standing. A few seconds later she heard the sound of panting and the padding of tiny paws as Ruckus bounded across the dirt toward her. She dropped the shovel and caught the dog in her arms, burying her face against its scrawny hairless body.

“Where’d that dog come from?” Malone demanded.

“Beats me,” Alena said. “Here, I’ll get rid of him.” Before Malone could say anything she set the dog down, quietly snapped her fingers, and waved him off in the same direction he came from.

“Was that one of the dogs from your truck?”

“Hard to tell—it’s pretty dark in here.”

“Get out of that hole!”

“What, after all my hard work?”

Malone pointed the gun at the center of her chest.

Alena opened her arms to him. “That’s right, go ahead and shoot—let everyone know exactly where we are.”

Malone stepped forward, grabbed Alena by the arm, and dragged her up out of the hole.

***

“Where’d he go?” Donovan stopped and stared wide-eyed into the darkness under the trees.

“I don’t know,” Brenton said. “I was following you.”

Nick caught up to them from behind. “I told you guys not to lose him!”

“He’s quicker than he looks,” Brenton said. “It’s like chasing a rabbit.”

“He was headed that way,” Donovan said. “Let’s keep moving.”

In less than a minute they reached the edge of the trees and stepped out into the clearing.

“Where are we?” Brenton asked.

“The lot next to Malone’s property,” Nick said. “Watch your step—there’s construction going on.”

“There he is!” Donovan pointed; halfway to the excavation site the three dogs sat waiting for them.

They hurried over to the dogs and looked down at little Ruckus.

“Why’s he just sitting there?” Donovan asked.

“I don’t know,” Nick said. “Maybe he forgot what he was looking for.”

“Brilliant,” Donovan said with a groan.

“He’s got a brain the size of a golf ball,” Nick said. “What’s your excuse?”

“Maybe he just needs a reminder,” Brenton suggested. “Give him that signal again.”

“Good idea.” Nick was just about to send Ruckus off again when he noticed that the dog was carrying something in his mouth. He pried it out and examined it—it felt smooth and round except for a thumb-sized indentation on one side. He held it up to the moonlight to get a better look . . .

It was a buckeye.

“It’s Alena’s,” Nick said. “It’s a clicker—she uses it to train dogs. She must have come this way. Maybe she’s still—”

Donovan suddenly raised his hand and signaled for everyone to be quiet; he pointed to the excavation.

“In there?” Nick whispered.

“That’s what I’d do.”

Donovan drew his Glock. He signaled for the other men to remain where they were while he eased up to the edge of the excavation and peered down at the bottom fifteen feet below. The left half was hidden in darkness, but the right half was illuminated by the moon—and at the edge of the shadows he saw Malone dragging Alena up out of a hole.

“Federal officer!” Donovan shouted. “Lay down your weapon and release the woman immediately!”

Malone responded by hooking his left arm around Alena’s throat, shoving the muzzle of his gun against her right temple, and dragging her back into the concealing shadows. “Don’t come any closer!” he shouted up from the darkness. “I’ll kill her—I swear I will!”

Donovan stepped back from the edge and turned to the other men. “He’s got her and he’s armed.”

“Let me see if I can get a shot,” Brenton said.

“No,” Donovan said. “You can’t see a thing down there and I don’t want him to spot that rifle of yours. He can’t go anywhere—he’s boxed in on three sides. Head down toward the lake. See if you can find a tree or something—get some elevation and signal when you get a good position. I’ll try to talk him out, but if he won’t do it and you’ve got a clear shot— take it.”

Brenton hurried off in the direction of the lake while Nick and Donovan worked their way around to the open side of the excavation. Just as they were about to round the corner and step out into the open where Malone could clearly see them, Nick put a hand on Donovan’s arm and stopped him. “No—I’m doing this.”

“Nick—I’m the one with the gun.”

“So what? You can’t see any better than I can in this light.”

“I know what I’m doing.”

“So do I. This is the second time tonight I’ve put your life in danger, Donovan. The first time was just pretend—this is for real. Alena’s my fiancée—it’s my call.”

Donovan reluctantly nodded.

Nick turned and stepped out into the open.

“Don’t come any closer!” Malone called from the shadows.

“Alena,” Nick called out. “Are you all right?”

“I’m okay,” she shouted back. “It’s Malone, Nick. From the lake house—”

“Talk to
me
!” Malone screamed. “I’m the one in charge here—talk to her again and I’ll put a bullet in her head!”

“Take it easy, Malone. Nobody has to get hurt here.” Nick raised his arms and slowly turned around. “I’m not armed—see?”

“Where’s the guy with the gun?”

Nick pointed to his left. “He’s right over there, staying out of the way—I’m handling this.”

“Tell him to come out where I can see him!”

Donovan stepped out next to Nick. He rubbed his nose and whispered, “Can you see where he is?”

“No—it’s just a solid wall of black. His voice seems to come from different places—I think he’s moving around.”

“He’s scared,” Donovan whispered.

“Show me your gun!” Malone yelled to Donovan.

“Show me yours.”

“I’m not kidding around here! Take out your gun and drop it!”

Donovan leaned closer to Nick. “Still got that .40 caliber?”

“You took it from me, remember? To break that window.”

“Crap,” Donovan said. “I left it back at the truck.” He took out his Glock and held it up so Malone could see it, then tossed it aside.

“What are you doing?” Nick whispered.

“We need him out in the light where Brenton can see him— he won’t come out if he thinks we’re armed.”

“Now I want both of you to lie down on your faces with your hands behind your heads!”

“This is moving too fast,” Donovan whispered. “Brenton needs time to get into position.”

Nick took a step forward. “Leave the woman, Malone. Nobody cares what happens to you—just leave her where she is and we’ll let you walk right out of here.”

“Yeah, right!”

“I didn’t come here looking for you—I came for her. She’s my fiancée, and we’re supposed to get married tomorrow. I can’t have a wedding without a bride, now can I?”

“She’s coming with me!”

“You’re a smart guy, Malone—think it over. Your only chance is to move fast, and she’ll just slow you down. You think the cops will go easier on you if you take a woman hostage?

They’ll tear you to pieces.”

“He’s right,” Donovan called out. “Trust me—it’s a guy thing.”

“Shut up, both of you!”

“So you did a bad thing three years ago and now it caught up with you. So what? You’ve got money—get yourself a good lawyer and fight it in court. You might pull it off—it happens all the time.”

“He’s right about that too,” Donovan shouted.

“But if you hurt that woman in any way, the authorities will be all over you. And believe me—they’ll be the least of your worries.”