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“Okay, so it’s not about saying goodbye, and it’s not about talking about your dad. What’s the real reason you’re calling? Otherwise, I have to go, because my wife is walking around in her underwear. You know that only lasts for a little while, and then she starts putting clothes on. When she gets her running shoes on, well, then it’s too late, if you know what I mean? Let’s hurry this up.”
“I gotcha.” Harper knew it was the right thing to call Hamish. “It looks like the guy who did Lydia is still out there. Now you didn’t hear this from me–”
“Fuck me. How did they screw that up? You hit that son of a bitch right in the middle of his forehead. I saw the fuckin’ pictures. That dude was dead. You mean to tell me he lived?”
“Yes, he lived. Because we hit the wrong guy.”
“Okay, that changes things a little bit. But aren’t they going to put a team together to go after him? And that would be something we would certainly do for you. Why would they call you? Unless they want you to try to attach to our team. You think about joining Team 5, Harper?”
“No, Sir. I like where I’m at. It would be something else, like a TDA. And you can’t breathe a word of this to anybody.”
“Understood. No worries there.”
“But I still got to ask you, do you think that’s something I should consider if they give me an opportunity to insert, take a small team with me, and go after this guy? I mean, I don’t even know if it’s really going to happen, but I have it on good authority—”
“Which means Kyle called you, right?”
“I’m not saying, but that is a good guess, Hamish. I want to hear you talk to me about this. And, Hamish, I want you to try to talk me out of it.”
“Oh, that’s a stupid idea. You want to off the guy, right? Why couldn’t they just keep an eye on him, track him, and then when you guys are back in rotation in six months, you guys can get all biblical on him. And he’ll wish he was dead before you get there. That’s how it should happen. What’s the emergency?
“I’m wondering the same thing, so I guess there are more details I’m going to find out about. Help me with the questions.”
“It doesn’t sound like anything we don’t do every day, Harper. You’re saying they’re going to call you and not go through the Navy or your liaison or Kyle?”
“Okay, that’s the first question. Yeah, I want to ask that. What else would you want to know?”
Hamish gave a big sigh, sounding halfway annoyed. “Well, I guess it all depends on where he is. Is he going through a location that’ll be easier to get him now than later? Depends on where he hangs out. If you tell me he’s a Russian or Ukrainian or former KGB agent, I’m not going to commit to any kind of behind-the-Russian-border thing. Maybe that’s what they’re talking about. Maybe it wasn’t an African after all. Guess you just need more information, like who he is and where he is living and why the urgency.”
“Fair enough. Okay. Anything else?”
“I might have some other ideas. Right now, just to be honest with you because you’re my very best friend, I need to get close and naked with my lady. And there ain’t nothing in the world as important as that. So you hang on, and maybe in about five hours I’ll be ready to talk to you. Okay?”
Harper laughed. “You’re an asshole, Hamish. But you’re my kind of asshole. Have a good time.”
“I intend to. No doubt about it.” Hamish hung up before Harper could shoot back something smart and disrespectful.
Venom alerted to something going on up on the hillside. It was outside of his fence line, but something definitely was making its way through the forest. Harper could hear the sounds of twigs and small branches breaking. It was possible it was a pack of coyotes or maybe one very big boar. But there was something out there, something Venom sensed was an enemy.
He leaned over and patted the dog’s head. “What did you see out there, Venom? What is it?”
Venom scrambled to his feet and nearly pointed in the direction of where he heard the noise. They both listened carefully. Again, there was a rustling of leaves and brush. A flock of quail flew up into the sky, having been spooked by some animal or a man.
Harper went inside the kitchen, and leaning next to the back door on the inside was his rifle with a high-powered scope on it. He got it out, and from the shadows inside the house, he looked through to see if he could discover a form, especially a human form. Finally, he zeroed in on a thick clump of branches moving. As Venom jumped off the deck and ran down into the canyon to head up the hill to the fence line, Harper saw what it was.
She was the largest mountain lion Harper had ever seen in this part of the county. She was wrestling a small deer to the ground, and when she looked up, the deer still struggling in front of her, her face was bloodied from her nose all the way up to her ears on her left side. At her feet were two small cubs.
He watched Venom run up to the fence line, barking and jumping as if he could scale over all ten feet plus the barbed wire casing on top. The mountain lion studied him as the cubs sat, fully alert and facing the house. Venom was barking uncontrollably. Through the scope, Harper could see she was bending to yank the carcass one or two more times to end the life of the small deer and then begin to drag it away with the little cubs in tow.
“That’s a good mama, providing for your babies. That’ll keep them fat and healthy for a week. I’m not going to mess with you, Sweetheart. You’re just doing the right thing,” he whispered.
He sat his rifle back down, leaning it against the door frame, came out to the back deck, and whistled for Venom to return. Dutifully, he didn’t stop barking, but he turned around and ran back in Harper’s direction, stopping every few yards to jump, turn around, and face the mountain lion’s position before continuing on his path toward Harper.
“That’s a good boy, Venom. It was just mountain lions, a nice healthy female and her cubs. She’s just doing what she’s supposed to do. And hell, Venom, we got so much deer around here she could take one a day and we still wouldn’t be depleted. Those cubs deserve a good start and lots of fresh meat. She’s a good mother. You leave her alone, okay?”
Harper swore the dog knew exactly what he’d just told him.
He returned to his online studies—a new research on dementia and treatment for early onset dementia, all the stages and signs, medicines, and therapies that might slow the process. But just as he knew from his previous research, there was no cure for it. It was a losing battle.
