“K9’s come in. K9’s.” The radio squawked downstairs early one morning.

  “K9’s come in. K9’s.” Paul’s voice repeated.

  “K9’s here, go ahead Lightening.” I responded still half asleep.

  “We have a medical issue here.” Paul said.

  “Doctor J here, go ahead.” Jillian said just over my shoulder.

  “Tooth infection, bad. Lots of swelling and a fever.” Paul said sounding concerned.

  “Bring him here immediately, leave now.” Jillian said partially excited.

  “Thank you.” Paul said.

  “Any medical history information will be useful, allergies and such.” Jillian said and what sounded like arguing could be heard in the background.

  “Is there a problem?” I asked.

  “We’ll explain later. Leaving now. Lightening out.” Paul said with conviction.

  “I hope I get to do a surgery!” Jillian whispered to me with enthusiasm. “I’ll start preparations. You get to be the ambulance driver.” Jillian said heading back upstairs.

  “I’ll start breakfast, and good morning to you too by the way.” I said sarcastically. “I’m sorry. Good morning!” Jillian said returning and giving me a kiss. “I’m just so excited.” Jillian squeaked.

  “Anything we can do to help?” Came Helen’s voice over the radio.

  “Good morning!” I said into the radio.

  “Ice!” Jillian yelled from the stairs.

  “Did you get that?” I asked.

  “Got it, anything else?” Helen asked.

  “Cheese.” I said.

  “We don’t have any cheese, except… why?” Helen asked.

  “To go with his whine, I bet he’s a big baby and faints at the sign of a needle or blood.” I said as I heard Paul’s voice chuckling in the background.

  “Is he mobile? Jillian asked buttoning her shirt.

  “Weak, he may need assistance. We’ll be about an hour and a half behind, if that’s okay. Can you recommend a nice hotel we can stay overnight? Paul asked.

  “Yes, but it is very expensive. Swimming pool, continental breakfast and the hostess is super-hot!” I said.

  “Is it clothing optional?” Rebecca asked.

  “It is right now as a matter of fact. No problem. We have plenty of room, provisions may be a little light.” I said.

  “We’ll take care of that. Lightening, out.” Paul said.

  “We’ll pick up the second batch, okay?” Helen asked.

  “Thank you, over and out.” I said as I started to clean and organize to prepare for our guests.

  “I’ll take Pete in your BMW. See you in a couple of hours.” I said as I kissed Jillian goodbye while she was reading a text book and taking notes. “Be safe.” Jillian said as I said bye to Ginger, telling her to take care of Jillian.

  I arrived at the marina and Helen and Scotty showed up shortly thereafter as I performed some routine maintenance on the boat. “We didn’t want to say anything, but just to be on the safe side of caution, we didn’t want you to be alone.” Scotty said from inside his vehicle.

  “Thank you, this is going to raise a few eyebrows.” I said referring to the military truck as Pete waited anxiously for Helen and Scotty to exit.

  “There she is. About thirty or forty minutes out.” Scotty said looking through his binoculars.

  “Tell Greg about your project!” Helen said as she gave Pete some dog cookies and going through the series of training exercises.

  “I was able to fire up the engine and I’m putting the final touches on the transmission to a big generator.” Scotty said excited.

  “Since the transmission is posi-track, maybe hook up two.” I said as I cast out a line hoping for some lunch.

  “Son of a bitch.” Scotty said quietly as he stood motionless, thinking. Helen and I fished from the pier as Scotty sat at a picnic table and talked to himself as he sketched in a note book. Pete paced up and down the pier waiting for us to reel in something. “Becca” was approaching so we made ready to receive her and the patient.

  “Good morning!” I said politely as she appeared red-faced and really pissed off.

  “NO! QUITE THE OPPOSITE! He fucking puked all over my boat and I’m ready to put a bullet in him!” Rebecca said as we boarded ‘Becca’ and assisted Reese to his feet stinking of vomit and looking pale, weak and swollen. Pete was excited and ran around as Scotty and I assisted Reese into the BMW.

  “You drive a BMW?” Rebecca asked as she handed me two large duffle bags.

  “We DO live in Malibu.” I said in an elitist tone and raising one eyebrow. This brought a partial smile from Rebecca.

  “I’m going to need Scotty to help with Reese.” I said.

  “I can walk.” Came a muffled and painful response from Reese inside the BMW.

  “Scotty and I will clean your boat, go with Greg and Reese.” Helen said to Rebecca after a hug and handing me the small cooler with ice. “It’s not necessary, but thank you.” Rebecca replied.

  “Patient secure.” Scotty said into the radio. “Affirmative.” Came two responses. Reese barely fit in the front seat, as Pete insisted that Rebecca pet him in the back seats.

  “Why does this car not make any noise?” Rebecca asked.

  “It does not run on gas.” I said.

  “It’s battery? With air conditioning?” Rebecca asked.

  “No. It’s a long interesting story. We just happen to come across these vehicles… I’ll explain all the details later.” I said. The enclosed car with the air conditioning on and the pungent smell of vomit was quickly making Rebecca and I very ill. It did not seem to bother Pete as I glanced at him in the rear-view mirror as Rebecca scratched his big head.

  “Sorry.” I said as I opened the windows for some fresh air. Reese just moaned and closed his eyes.

  “Wow! Nice place!” Rebecca said as our house and gardens came into view.

  “It’s like an oasis.” She exclaimed seeing Jillian and Ginger waiting in the driveway with a gurney.

  “Good morning!” Jillian said as she quickly revised her greeting opening the passenger door.

  “WOW! NOT GOOD! We need to get these clothes off.” Jillian said trying to assist Reese out of the car.

  Rebecca and Jillian helped Reese strip down to his boxers, revealing an array of tattoos, most notable a huge laughing skull on his stomach. “Burn those.” Jillian said to me referring to Reese’s pile of stinking clothes.

  “I’m going to need an assistant. Does the sight of blood bother you?” Jillian asked Rebecca. Rebecca just looked at Jillian with the ‘are you kidding me’ look.

  “I’m just asking.” Jillian said as Reese moaned loudly again as he laid on the gurney making our way through the house.

  “Let me know if you need anything.” I said as I started closing the door to the room that was converted to a doctor’s office.

  “If it’s not too much trouble, I have not had lunch…” Rebecca said as I interrupted. “No problem.” I said closing the door.

  After putting together, a huge tray of fruits, vegetables and flatbread and a new ‘dip’ Jillian was working on that I thought was just fabulous, the radio crackled to life.

  “Second batch secured, how’s the patient?” Scotty asked.

  “In capable hands. See you soon. Out.” I said.

  Pete heard the road alarms sound off and headed to the front of the house followed by Ginger. All three of us waited in the driveway as Scotty’s truck stopped.

  “Welcome to Malibu.” I said shaking Paul’s hand then gently embracing Susan and Elaine and finally shaking Sammy’s small hand.

  “This is absolutely beautiful.” Susan said looking toward the gardens with Helen.

  “I’m interested in your method for water collection, there, there, there, there…” Paul said pointing in different directions. “But first, how’s Reese?” Paul asked concerned.

  “Let’s go in and get an update.” I said as Sammy, Ginger and Pete were rolling around on the grass. Paul and I carried a huge white cooler that was very heavy.

  “Don’t peak inside it’s a surprise.” Paul said. The smell of fish was obvious.

  All of them looked around at the inside of our house as Sammy asked if he could go swimming. “In a minute Sammy.” Paul responded as I knocked on the door.

  “Everyone is here, how is it going?” I said as Rebecca opened the door in full medical scrubs.

  “He is doing fine, broken tooth, massive infection, she is having a great time, really kind of creepy.” Rebecca said.

  “What is that smell? WOW!” Susan said backing away from the door and covering Elaine’s face.

  “That’s the infection.” Rebecca said.

  “He also had three cavities. I’m stitching him up now, about twenty minutes. What’s for dinner?” Jillian asked holding up a stained gauze pad yellow and red with forceps.

  “Twenty minutes then.” I said closing the door.

  “DAAAAD!” Sammy complained out loud to Paul. “You can go swimming only if an adult is present. Okay?” Paul said to Sammy.

  “Great. That’s just great! Where are we going to find an adult?” I said as I stripped down and ran to the pool and jumped in. I was immediately followed by Ginger and Pete. Paul laughed as he helped Sammy off with his shirt as he showed Sammy the deep end and the shallow end of the pool. Ginger and Pete barked continually until Sammy walked down the ramp with Paul, who sported a very contrasted farmer’s tan.

  “I wanna jump in the deep end.” Sammy said.

  “You have to learn how to swim first.” Paul said as he gave basic swimming instructions to Sammy as Ginger and Pete swam around them.

  Susan and Helen sat at the edge of the pool with just their legs in the water as Susan nursed Elaine under a small blanket.

  “INCOMING!” Yelled Scotty in his tighty-whities prior to each cannon ball off the diving board.

  Jillian and Rebecca emerged onto the patio wheeling Reese into the shade on the Gurney.

  “Some fresh air will be good for him.” Jillian said as she stretched her back and rubbed her shoulder.

  “Is it too early for a drink?” Rebecca said out loud.

  “Never. And make mine a double.” Jillian said stripping down to her bra and panties and jumping into the pool. Rebecca pulled a bottle of rum from a box on the patio table Susan and Paul brought, took two gulps and took off all her clothes.

  “What the hell you all looking at! This is California!” Rebecca said walking down the ramp and handing Jillian the bottle. Sammy yelled “All RIGHT!” and removed his spiderman underwear and tossed them outside the pool.

  “Who’s hungry? Besides Elaine.” Susan said handing Elaine to Helen who gladly accepted and held her lovingly in her arms with a big smile. Jillian and I got out of the pool to make ready for dinner.

  “I hope four is enough.” Susan said opening the cooler as I looked in amazement.

  “Lobsters?! Yellowtail, is that… tuna?” I asked.

  “I caught the tuna. Dad helped me bring it in.” Sammy said proudly.

  “You have to teach us how to catch tuna. We have had no luck.” Scotty said admiring the fish and fist bumping Sammy.

  Jillian recorded as Paul cut up the tuna and Scotty and I prepared the yellowtail. Susan and Helen prepared the lobsters for the grill as Elaine took a nap in her portable crib. Rebecca made sure I had taken notice of her and I commented on her artistic Golden gate bridge tramp stamp on her lower back. Rebecca had an absolutely beautiful figure, flawless skin, shapely legs and firm breasts. Jillian just laughed as she knew I was checking her out. Scotty pretended not to look, but he definitely appreciated her beauty as well.

  Reese started to stir as the seafood buffet aroma from the grill permeated the air.

  “Reese is going to be hungry; he hasn’t been eating much lately.” Susan said as she and Jillian set the table on the patio. Helen brought out a bottle of her cloudy citrus juice and placed it on the table.

  Stolen story; please report.

  “What is that?” Rebecca asked looking at the bottle as Scotty and I chuckled.

  “It’s very nutritious!” Helen said a little offended.

  “Reese is not going to be chewing much.” Jillian said.

  “But he’ll sure put a smile on Rebecca’s face!” Scotty said giggling.

  “What do you mean?” Susan asked.

  “It is very nutritious, but it has a…side effect.” I said.

  “Let’s just say, if he plays ‘rock-paper-scissors’ he’ll be choosing ‘rock’ for about four hours.” Scotty said with a big smile. “Five hours.” I said holding up my hand as Jillian high-fived me and said “hell yea!” This brought a very sly and crooked smile from Rebecca.

  Reese tried to sit up groaning in pain as Rebecca adjusted the gurney in a more upright position and handed him a cup of Helen’s citrus juice and Sammy gave him a hand drawn ‘get well soon’ card.

  “His fever is down.” Rebecca said touching his forehead.

  “Hungry.” Reese said quietly and carefully looking toward the grill in its full glory.

  “Good timing, were ready to eat.” Paul said cutting into one of the huge tuna steaks.

  The lobster was just fabulous, the tuna dipped in olive oil was outstanding and the yellowtail was firm yet flaky. Rebecca cut up tiny pieces of each and fed Reese as he gave us a thumbs up.

  “He’ll need to rinse out his mouth with salt water when he’s done.” Jillian said as Rebecca made him drink all of Helen’s citrus juice. Reese did not protest.

  Everyone was relaxing floating around in the pool. Sammy was doing well treading water and holding his breath and slowly making his way to the pools edge under close supervision by Paul. Susan held onto Elaine as she giggled and smiled a toothless smile as Susan bounced up and down causing small splashes. Scotty continually put sunscreen on Helen as I floated around in an inflatable chair with my sunglasses, bourbon and a cigar. Jillian was finishing up putting the fish and lobster carcasses in a utility cart bound for the garden.

  Reese was sleeping after Jillian administered some pain killers. Rebecca was inside the house, using the bathroom I think, when Ginger and Pete started barking.

  “OH SHIT!” I said as the dogs ran out of the pool to greet Mom and Sam, who appeared on the side of the house with noses sweeping the air.

  “Oh my God! Holy Shit! What do we do?”, was heard as I quickly made my way to exit the pool. “I need everyone to relax.” I said as calmly as I could. Jillian quickly went into the house to get a bucket of water. Mom playfully roared at Ginger and Pete as they barked, sniffed and greeted Mom and Sam.

  “Hello Mom.” I said affectionately looking directly at her and kneeling down to check Sam’s paw as he presented it to me.

  Mom. Sam. These are friends. They mean you no harm. They brought food for all of us. They are part of my family. I said without talking as Mom slowly made her way over to Helen and Scotty.

  “Hello Mom. Sam is getting to be a big boy.” Helen said softly as Mom smelled her and started licking her hair like it was a lollypop. Our guests just gasped as Helen sat laughing. “I love you too Mom.” Helen said with her eyes closed.

  “Sorry Mom. I don’t have any cigars today.” Scotty said softly as she turned her attention to Scotty and sniffed him all over. Sam headed into the pool and Mom turned and slowly walked down the ramp. I entered the water as well.

  “No sudden movements.” I said calmly to the very nervous group. Mom went under water as Sam went over to Paul and Sammy at the pool edge.

  “Sam. This is Sammy.” I said. Sammy slowly held out his hand so Sam could smell him. He was completely unafraid as Ginger and Pete swam alongside of Paul and Sammy as he sniffed and licked Sammy’s arm. Mom emerged next to Sam as he inspected Paul and Sammy.

  “Hello Mom. You have a beautiful cub.” Paul said more calmly than expected. As Mom smelled his hair and face then smelling Sammy’s hair and face.

  Mom let out a roar as Sammy did his best to imitate her, laughing. Mom made her way to Susan and Elaine. Susan was very nervous and scared as Mom just sniffed the air and went near Elaine’s head and then immediately backed away.

  Jillian came out with the water bucket and the dog cookies that caused the dogs to frantically exit the pool, drawing the attention of Mom and Sam. Rebecca stayed in the house behind the glass sliding doors and it looked like she had one of my larger rifles.

  “Sit. Sit.” Jillian said as the dogs were already sitting and each received a cookie. Sam was playing with Pete’s tail as it whipped back and forth and Mom just roared as Jillian said ‘Sit.” And held a dog cookie.

  Mom looked like she was actually ready to sit when she noticed Reese lying on the gurney. I approached Reese next to Mom. We are helping him. Just like we helped your baby. We need to help each other. Again, I did not speak these words out loud, but I received a responsive look from Mom who smelled Reese up and down and focused on his mouth. I placed my hand on Reese’s bald head. “He is going to be okay.” I said looking at Mom and smiling softly.

  Mom returned to the bucket of water and drank most of it. She nosed around the patio table nibbling on a few of the table scraps before going to the utility cart, knocking it over and helping herself.

  “Don’t you eat all of that! It’s for our garden!” Jillian said as Mom just ignored her and crunched away. Eventually Sam joined in as everyone was more relaxed.

  “Greg can communicate with animals.” I heard Helen say to Susan and Paul.

  “Animals respond to body language and emotional energy.” I said.

  “Right. You are an animal whisperer.” Scotty said confidently.

  “Mom does not see us as a threat to her or Sam. We are nothing more than a curiosity and a water and cookie source.” I said as we watched Mom and Sam feeling comfortable laying in the shade with Ginger and Pete as Jillian brought out another bucket of water.

  Sam came over and drank from the bucket, followed by Mom who then both slowly walked out of the back yard quietly as Ginger and Pete watched.

  “THAT WAS SO COOL!” Sammy said to Paul and Susan, who both looked relieved and issued a heavy sigh.

  “Wolves and Bears.” Paul said shaking his head as Rebecca came out on the patio and was looking at me very strange.

  “You guys are friends with Bears and Wolves. You drive a military… whatever that is.” Rebecca said looking towards Helen and Scotty. “A black… whatever that is in the garage and a BMW that makes no noise, that is not gas or electric and has air conditioning. You said you would tell me the ‘Long and interesting story’, well time is one thing we have plenty of.” Rebecca concluded demanding an explanation.

  “Well, first, the wild animals and the vehicles are not connected.” I said as I put on some dry clothes.

  “We were looking for a better way of communicating and stumbled across a bunker, I guess it could be called. Masquerading as a furniture warehouse. Anyway, there was this guy inside, his name was Todd. Because we compromised his position, he, for whatever reason was compelled to drive to Oklahoma.” I said. At the mention of Oklahoma, I noticed Reese’s head move.

  “He told us about the vehicles and the special fuel they use.” I said.

  “This technology has been around since the seventies and only available to the Government, apparently.” Scotty added with disdain.

  “The most interesting part is the fuel. You can get three hundred miles per gallon.” I said as Paul, Susan and Rebecca just looked at each other. A long moment of silence was broken by Paul.

  “Three thousand miles on ten gallons.” Paul said shaking his head in disbelief.

  “What does that mean Dad?” Sammy inquired.

  “You know how we always have to be careful driving around, then we have to wait for the Sun to charge the batteries on the golf carts?” Sammy nodded his head yes. “With this type of fuel, we could drive around the island for about three years, without waiting.” Paul said as Sammy seemed confused.

  “How many vehicles are there?” Susan asked as I looked at Scotty and he said: “We can give you two of them.”

  “Where do you get the fuel?” Rebecca asked.

  “Light blue colored storage tanks, typically located near Government installations or National Guard depots.” I said.

  “We have those on Catalina! It takes a special adapter. It has no color; no smell and it leaves a thin slick film on your fingers that takes days to wear off because nothing will clean it off.” Paul said. “That’s the stuff!” Scotty added.

  “We thought it was water at first, we tried lighting it on fire and nothing happened. We pretty much gave up on it as a resource.” Paul said.

  “You probably have a couple of these vehicles already on the Island.” Scotty said hoping to persuade him to not take us up on the offer. I knew Scotty wanted his project to remain a secret by utilizing the engine as a generator and he was not keen on making the offer of the two vehicles.

  “You said it was a furniture warehouse. What is the name?” Paul asked hesitantly.

  “Sofa-King.” I said as Susan turned and looked toward Paul. “I think I remember seeing that name somewhere.” Susan said.

  “You may want to be very careful though, you might have a resident living there.” I said.

  “We’ll have to give it some thought.” Paul said.

  “We have someone else living on our island?” Sammy asked Paul in a slightly frightened tone. Paul sighed.

  “Sammy, you do not need to worry about that. Okay?” Paul said as he touched his head. Sammy gave an unconvincing smile. A long and uncomfortable silence loomed as the Catalina group exchanged glances and Scotty made a proposal. “What do you say we all show up with full K9 force and storm the place?”

  “Hostility is contagious, if anyone is there and see us as being aggressive, they might retaliate. What would you do? Consider fight or flight? Since flight is probably not an option… well…” I said.

  “What if we all investigate the Sofa-King here, learn what we can about the layout and surveillance used, ya know, poke around a bit.” Paul proposed.

  “I bet the layout is the same.” Scotty said looking excited at the prospect of an adventure. I stood up and said “Let’s rock.”

  “Right now?” Susan asked.

  “We’ll stay here with Reese. You have about four and a half hours of sunlight.” Jillian said looking at her wristwatch.

  “I’d like to go.” Rebecca said with every intention of us agreeing.

  “We’ll take Rebecca and Pete and be back before sundown.” I said.

  “Dad. Can I go?” Sammy asked Paul in a sad pathetic tone.

  “No Son. We need you to stay here and take care of Mom and Elaine. Okay?” Paul said to Sammy. Sammy’s disappointment was evident as he hung his head low and sat down next to Susan who held him close. Ginger was just as disappointed as I put Pete’s back pack on and told her to ‘Stay.”

  I opened one of my gun cabinets and grabbed the AA-12 and my Desert Eagle. “Pick your poison.” I said to Rebecca and Paul as they made their selections.

  “Why do you have a grenade launcher.” Paul asked.

  “Because I’m lazy and it hurts my shoulder if I throw more than three of them.” I said rubbing my shoulder. Paul just laughed. We grabbed extra head lights for everyone, some food and water for two days as we all got in Scotty’s military vehicle and did a quick radio check.

  We pulled up slowly to the entrance to the underground garage and Scotty hit the button and the door slowly went up and stalled half way.

  “Sofa-King is across the street.” I said pointing as we all looked in different directions for surveillance equipment.

  “Dome cameras, there, there, and there.” Rebecca said pointing and taking pictures of each.

  “These are all your tracks?” Paul asked looking on the ground to the slight foot and tire witness marks in the dirt.

  “Yes.” I said as Pete’s nose focused on the area Paul pointed to on the ground.

  We entered the underground garage and felt the cool stale air. Three clown cars, two subcompact sized cars, one late model Mercedes, one full sized cargo van and the Escalade.

  “I’ve got dibs on the cargo van and one of the clown cars.” Scotty said.

  Rebecca and Paul made their way to the Escalade. “You don’t want this one?” Rebecca asked looking at Scotty and I.

  “Maybe we can borrow it once in a while?” Scotty asked.

  “Sure, no problem.” Rebecca said as she opened the door and adjusted the driver seat.

  “It contains a GPS locator and it looks bullet-proof.” I said. “Bullet Resistant!’ Scotty said correcting me. “No such thing as bullet-proof. It all depends on the size of the bullet.” He added.

  “I have all the operator manuals at home, two binder’s worth. Lots of neat features!” I added as Rebecca observed the unique interior.

  “Where’s the key?” Rebecca asked looking for the ignition.

  “Just hit that button.” I said pointing as we heard a click and the blank button showed ‘On’ as Scotty disconnected the cables from the front bumper and gave a thumbs up. Rebecca closed the door with a heavy thud and pulled out of the garage as Paul selected a Blue sub-compact and exited behind her.

  Scotty got in the Cargo van and parked it next to the other dust covered vehicles. We all went back in the garage as we all took note of the layout and we showed Rebecca and Paul the elevator which was not operational. Our voices echoing through the dimly lit chamber.

  We exited and walked across the street to the Sofa-King. The key card swipe LED no longer lit and the door still propped open. We arrived at the second small waiting room and could go no further, door locked and card swipe inactive.

  “This is where ‘Todd’ lived.” I said as Scotty looked at me sideways.

  “He must have shut it down when he left.” Scotty said, still looking at me.

  “How did you get inside? No signs of forced entry.” Paul asked looking at the condition of the door.

  “’Todd’ opened the door for us.” Scotty said, drawing curious looks from Rebecca and Paul that required explanation.

  “Helen’s Ex-husband worked here.” Scotty said with no particular emotion. “We mentioned his name and, well, he opened the door.” This information should have launched a flurry of questions, but Rebecca and Paul fell silent.

  “Like we said before, we were just looking for a communication devise.” Scotty said as a matter of fact.

  “Pete. Come.” I said as Pete made his way through the crowded room. I pulled ear plugs out of his back pack and inserted them in my ears.

  “Fire in the hole.” I said as Rebecca, Paul, Scotty and Pete went outside.

  “Freeze Motherfucker!” I said as I unloaded into the blank hinge area of the door, and a final blast to the door handle finished the job. The bitter taste and acute smell of success proceeded by a forceful kick; the door fell to the ground with a crash. “CLEAR!” I said out loud. The soft light from outside was broken by shadows and light beams issued by each of the head lamps amplified by the smoke.

  We entered the ‘Stinking Nerd Nest’ looking for anything of interest as Rebecca’s camera flashed and illuminated everything momentarily with each picture.

  “Breaker is in the ‘on’ position.” Scotty said against the back wall.

  “Hello!’ Paul said.

  “What’s up?” I asked.

  “A couple of CD’s and low-capacity thumb drives.’ Paul said in disbelief.

  “Possibly early 2000 vintage. They were deep inside the desk, when I pulled the drawer out, they were in the back.” Paul said as we all pulled out all desk drawers to look into the depths of the desks.

  “Some old computer games. ‘Prince of…Persia, Doom II, Civilization’?” Rebecca said unfamiliar with the names.

  “Put them all in Pete’s pack please.” I said.

  “JACKPOT!” Scotty said enthusiastically from across the room. We all converged on a flat file cabinet filled with old school blue prints and drawings. Scotty leafed through them.

  “Either of you wouldn’t happen to be an electrical engineer, would you?” Scotty asked smiling broadly.

  “No, but Reese is a mechanic and there is a book shelf with about five volumes of similar text over there.” Paul said pointing.

  “I’ll start loading up the truck.” Scotty said.

  “We should all stay together.” Paul recommended.

  “Right, everybody grab something.” I said as we headed outside.

  Pete immediately started to growl as our eyes adjusted to see two Mountain Lions or Cougars (I don’t know the difference) fixing on our position snooping around Scotty’s truck across the street.

  “Pete. Easy.” I said as we all slowly put down what we were carrying and made our weapons ready. One was large, in full predatory mode, the other was thin, slightly smaller.

  “Pete. Easy.” I repeated as his hair was standing on end and looking as terrifying as possible.

  “Safeties off everyone.” Scotty said as four clicks simultaneously sounded as one.

  “I only see the two.” Rebecca said looking around us and in all directions.

  “Everyone; arm’s length apart and start moving slowly forward.” I said quietly.

  The big one was not showing any sign of backing down as we moved forward. The small one ran in the opposite direction.

  “I hope he’s not going to get his buddies.” Scotty said quietly as Pete was showing excellent discipline as he stayed just in front of me completely transformed into a beast.

  “Easy. Steady.” I said as we closed the gap. We could now hear the snarls and warnings as we looked into the eyes of this magnificent creature who was definitely not backing down. All I could sense was rage, fear and ferocity coming from her. A truly frightening feeling.

  “Still all clear.” Rebecca whispered as she continued to scan the perimeter of our position, now in the middle of the street.

  The creature lunged forward as Pete engaged. Pete and the creature collided as Paul fired a single shot as Pete grabbed it by the throat and thrashed violently. Pete continued his assault on the lifeless body as we approached.

  “PETE! PETE!” I yelled to break his concentration and focus.

  “YOU GOT HER! GOOD BOY PETE!” I said as he withdrew a little covered in blood. The creature raked Pete’s side, shredding his backpack as it hung by only one strap. His ear was bleeding a lot.

  As his adrenaline subsided, reality came back into focus. Pete sniffed his victim as his heavy breathing caused him to lie down. I took off his backpack and inspected him. Three superficial lacerations on his side and a bullet hole through his ear. The creature had a single bullet hole right between the eyes.

  “Accountant my ass!” Scotty said looking at the precision, then at Paul. I dropped everything and picked up Pete.

  “CALL JILLIAN! MEDICAL EMERGENCY!” I yelled as I clumsily opened the passenger door of the blue car and placed Pete inside. Scotty was running toward his truck as I tore out of the parking lot in a cloud of dust. Pete was panting heavy interleaved with whimpers as I held on to his ear that was pouring blood everywhere.

  “You are the bravest dog ever! She was twice your size!” I said looking at him as his breathing slowed.

  “LEFT, HERE!” I heard from the back seat, scaring the shit out of me; William.

  “Just Drive!” He said calmly as he held Pete’s ear and Pete just looked at him.

  “Two more streets. Right then a quick left.” William said as I did not protest his directions. I looked down for a moment and noticed a familiar scar on William’s arm.

  “HARD RIGHT!” William said as I just barely missed a huge crevasse in the road. I could not tell if Pete was relaxing or dying as I made the final ascent to our house.

  “Thank you, William.” I said looking in the rear-view mirror. He was gone.

  “Helen, Susan (Holding Elaine) and Reese were waiting in the driveway. I held on to Pete as I braked hard and stopped. Helen opened the passenger door and Reese picked up Pete and ran into the house. I stopped for a moment to catch my breath, taking note of all the blood. Helen’s voice was silent as I looked at her yelling at me. A swirl of white noise and her voice came into focus.

  “…GREG! YOU OKAY?!” Helen yelled as my right hand was shaking as I touched my forehead, only realizing that it was covered in blood. Ginger was sniffing the seat and looking at me as Susan pulled her out of the way and closed the passenger door.

  “My Friend! I have to be with my brave friend!” I said as I exploded out of the car as Ginger tried to get some information from my clothes.

  “I didn’t want to give him too much sedatives. He didn’t like the local near his ear too much.” Jillian said snipping off the remaining piece of flesh hanging loose from his ear as Reese was shaving his side.

  “Let me do that!” I scolded as I grabbed the razor from Reese in my bloody hand. Reese just gestured for me to give back the razor.

  “We got this sweetie. We will do our best, I promise.” Jillian said concentrating and Reese placing a hand on my shoulder and giving me a smile of reassurance.

  I pulled up a chair and placed my head against Pete’s big head as Jillian stitched him up as I closed my eyes and flashed back to the moment, I met Ginger, Pete and their mom, remembering what I said. “I will do my best.”