Caleb (The K9 Files Book 11) Dale Mayer (thriller novels to read TXT) 📖

that he could probably jump up and pull himself into the attic cutout. However, if he couldn’t get through to her bedroom from the attic, what good would it do? He frowned as he thought about it, and then Graynor growled again, his voice rising.

On instinct, Caleb dove for the big dog and pulled him away from the door to the master. At the same instant bullets fired through the door and would have hit the dog right where he was. The dog froze in his arms, the two of them waiting for the bullet shower to stop, hoping Laysha stayed outside. She would have heard the whole mess, and the last thing he wanted was for her to barge in. He quickly sent her a text, saying the shooter was in her room, and they were both unharmed. She sent back a thumbs-up and a note saying she was calling 9-1-1. He pulled up Ansel’s number and sent him a text.

Caleb didn’t want the intruder inside to know they were here. Caleb wanted the shooter to open the damn door to see if he got everybody or anybody for that matter. Particularly the dog. Everybody around here seemed to be dog haters, and that made Caleb angry too. At that thought, he heard a footstep inside; he reached down and pinched Graynor’s jaws together, warning him not to bark or growl. They had to be silent. The last thing Caleb wanted was for this guy to realize his enemy still waited.

Right now Caleb was in a tough spot because he didn’t know who was on the other side, and he wouldn’t know until the shooter actually opened the door. As the footsteps cautiously came forward, Graynor stiffened. Caleb gently stroked him and pet him, trying to ease his fear, with his own gun out and ready. The two waited in silence. Caleb patted him gently, hoping the gunman didn’t have Laysha’s shotgun or .22 rifle. He didn’t want that much firepower against him.

As the footsteps reached the door, he could almost hear the gunman bending down, trying to see through the bullet holes. But it was pretty hard to see; there was enough shattered wood to make that an impossibility. And finally Caleb stood up slowly, not daring to breathe, waiting, because he knew the guy inside just couldn’t wait to figure out where the dog was at. And suddenly the door burst open and out came the handgun first.

Caleb jumped, his right leg kicking the handgun away, while grabbing the man in a chokehold, and dumped him on the floor. Then he called out, “Graynor, guard.”

Immediately Graynor came forward, sat beside the guy, leaning into the shooter’s face and growling deeply.

The guy started screaming. “Get him off me. Get him off me.”

“Hell no,” Caleb said, “you just tried to shoot him.”

“I didn’t. I didn’t,” he said. “It was an accident.”

“You’re a fucking asshole. Of course you shot at my dog,” he sneered. “We don’t really like animal abusers around this place. Besides, what are you doing in this house in the first place?”

“I got lost,” he said. “I didn’t know anybody lived here. I came in to check it out, but there was nobody to ask.”

“Right,” Caleb said, “try another excuse. You’re trespassing, and you know what we do to trespassers in this state?”

“Don’t shoot,” he roared.

“No, hell no, I don’t need to shoot,” he said, “but you can bet that the cops won’t give a shit.”

“No, no, no, no,” he said. “I’ll pay you to let me go.”

“You can’t pay me enough to let you go,” he said, “but I’d be happy to let you run because I’m more than happy to shoot you on your way out my door. You entered these premises illegally. You fired upon us illegally, and you tried to kill my dog in his own home,” he said. “As far I’m concerned, you’re done for.”

“No,” the guy cried out.

At that, Caleb eased back ever-so-slightly and turned him over onto his back, so he saw his face. Immediately he took photos and sent them to Badger and to Ansel. And then he sent it to Laysha.

She opened the front door and called out, “Can I come up?”

“Yes, carefully,” he said. “I’ve got your intruder here.”

She came racing up with the other dogs. She stopped with a gasp. “Oh my,” she said, “that’s the guy who followed me in the white pickup.”

Caleb looked down at the shooter in shock. “This asshole?”

“Yes, he’s the one who followed me from the cantina.”

“I don’t know you,” the stranger snapped. “I don’t know anything about you.”

Laysha pulled out her phone and showed Caleb the photos she’d taken. “Ansel was looking for him already.”

“Well, that’s good. Then we can tell him that we’ve got him. So now we have a stalker charge, and the B&E, and the shooting charge too.”

“Well, I doubt he has a license for that weapon,” she said. “Guys like him never do.”

The intruder dropped his act and sneered at her. “What do you mean, guys like me?” he asked. “You’ll never fucking hold me. I’ll be out in no time.”

“Well, thanks for the warning,” she murmured. Sirens were in the distance as she looked over at Caleb. “You okay if I go down and let them in?”

“Yeah, absolutely,” he said. “I’m just waiting for this guy to run.”

“I’m not running anywhere,” he said. “You’re not shooting me in the back. That’s not any way for any man to die.”

“And yet, that’s how you killed the man in the rental house,” she shot back as she turned and left.

The look of stark fear on the guy’s face made Caleb sit back. He murmured, “So she was right? Interesting that. We’ll have to make sure forensics has a really good chance to match you up. Now you look incredibly nervous.”

“I didn’t do anything,” he said.

“Well, the cops will let us know that pretty damn fast,” he said. “Pretty stupid location though for a body drop. Why the