Alex sifted through the loose papers that littered the floor of Don’s office. The carefully contained chaos had exploded into a sea of flotsam and jetsam. Alex leaned over and picked up a book whose leather binding had been ripped in half. Pages drifted to the floor like autumn leaves.
"I figured you'd be hot on the heels of that three-tailed bastard."
Alex turned towards the door. Don leaned against the wall and Alex worried that its support was the only thing keeping him upright. "Not much use. I'm sure he's long gone by now."
Don shrugged, then coughed and rubbed at his chest.
"Need me to call a Healer?"
"No. I'm just sore. Can't say as I expected your fox to be packing a Taser."
"You’re lucky it wasn’t a gun.”
"Nah,” Don said. “He needed us alive in case he couldn't find what he was looking for."
Alex set the book in his hands on top of the desk. They'd need ages to catalog everything and discover what Charlie had taken. "Wonder what he was after."
Don pushed himself off the wall, swaying a bit with the first couple steps, then picked his way across the room to the closet. He pulled out a large leather cylinder and handed it to Alex. "There's only one thing here worth risking such a farce."
Alex ran his fingers along the runes tooled into the leather. Without even opening it, he knew the jewel of Don’s map collection no longer slept inside.
"In retrospect, tying the map’s protections to those on the property might not have been such a good idea," Don said. The Seeker surveyed the room. "Leave it. I'll deal with the mess later. I may even let Dustin turn his OCD loose in here."
"He'll have the place organized in no time." Alex followed Don down the hall and out to the front porch.
"On second thought...."
Alex perched on the top step and looked out over the property. Mike lay in a patch of sun halfway down the drive along with Don’s two Catahoulas. Their heads were up, eyes and ears focused on the world beyond the farm.
"Dustin okay?" Alex wondered if Don was as tired of answering that question as he was of asking it.
"He's fine. I notice Jamie hasn’t joined us.”
A winged shadow swept across the yard and Alex glanced up, squinting against the afternoon sun. A vulture circled high overhead.
"Don't worry, she'll come around," Don said.
Alex scoffed, shaking his head. "I may not be great with women, but I'm pretty sure pissing them off isn't exactly the way to win their affections."
"You had her best interests at heart in your own way. Jamie's smart, she'll figure that out soon enough."
The vulture drifted off, carried along by a distant wind.
"I hate to mention it, but have you spoken to your father lately?”
Alex closed his eyes and wished they'd go back to talking about Dustin. "No." The word came out more resigned than he'd hoped.
"It might be time."
Alex thought back to the stack of evidence boxes in the Captain's office. The Grimoire of Malthas...a map of the Center of the Universe.... Alex had a pretty good idea what came next.... "I don't think I can."
"I don't think you're going to get a choice."
"What do we do about the map?" Alex asked. He didn’t like the direction this conversation was headed.
"It will find its way back home."
"Before or after Charlie uses it for his own purpose?'
Mike barked and Alex opened his eyes, hoping to see Jamie’s Prius. Instead a black, extended cab pickup drove down the lane. Mike and the dogs ran alongside as it approached the house.
"Go home and get some sleep, Alex. We'll start tracking your kitsune in the morning." Don slowly made his way down the stairs and across the grass towards the truck.
###
Thanks to all the animal welfare officers, who face worse things than Hellhounds on a daily basis…most of them two-legged.
Thanks to Amy Sakovich, Melanie Metz Goble, and Anne Ramsey for suffering through the initial drafts and helping me bring this story to life.
Help keep indie authors in business!!! If you’ve enjoyed this story, please take a few minutes to rate and review. Reviews are vital to the success of independent authors and your support is always appreciated.
Works by J. R. Burnett:
Trapped by Light and Shadow
Wolf Moon (Furred, Feathered, and Fanged #1)
Ashes to Ashes (Furred, Feathered, and Fanged #2)
Outfoxed (Furred, Feathered, and Fanged #3)
Sanguine (Improbable Truths #1)
Connect with J. R. Burnett online:
E-mail: burnett.author@gmail.com
Website: http://www.jrburnett.net
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jrburnettauthor
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/jrburnett
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