Page 28 of Killer Moonshine

Vishon had been right. The still, bar, and track were almost within sight of their property line. Had it not been for all the trees, you would have easily seen it from the small community they’d built a few years back.

“I’m surprised comms didn’t see the smoke coming from back here,” said Ian.

“Wind is blowing out to the Gulf, so they wouldn’t have caught sight of it,” said Gaspar. “They damn sure have a death wish pushing it so close to our property.”

Docking the boat at the community docks, they stepped off, waving at a few folks they knew all too well. When they began traipsing through the brush, the dogs became eerily quiet, sniffing the air, then the ground. Trak patted their heads, whispering something in Navajo to them.

“Do the dogs speak Navajo?” asked Ghost. Trak stared at him as if he’d gone mad.

“Dogs don’t speak anything,” he frowned. “They understand everything.”

“Right,” nodded Ghost, staring at the others. There were some days they were terribly concerned with Trak’s mental health. Other days, he was the most sane of them all.

“Shit,” whispered Nine. “There must be fifty people in that bar.”

“Which is why you assholes should have waited,”said Miller. Nine looked around, seeing the familiar faces on the other side of the clearing.“We figured you could use some help.”

Sure enough, Miller, Antoine, Jean, Angel, Rory, Tailor, Alec, Max, Gabe, and Piper were hidden in the trees.

“They brought Piper,” frowned Ian. “Why?”

“Because there are women in that group. Again, if you’d waited, comms would have told you that they deployed a drone, and we saw all of this. Besides, she’s a fucking badass and wanted to come out.”

“Fine. We’ll just – wait, what the fuck is Trak doing?”

Trak was walking casually into the clearing, the two dogs at his side. Men and women turned, staring at him and then down at the behemoths covered in fur.

“You’re abusing the dogs,” he said calmly.

At first, no one said anything, then the group began to laugh. Trak scanned the crowd, his eyes catching with a few locals who knew all too well who he was and who those damn dogs belonged to. They left so fast no one even noticed.

“Friend, you’re in the wrong place. This is invitation-only. Unless. Unless you want to race your dogs against mine.”

Trak smirked at the man, calmly unleashing the two dogs. He gave two clicks of his tongue, and the dogs stormed forward, ramming into the man and pinning him to the ground. Goliath had his teeth wrapped around his throat. Beast was a little further south. As men drew their weapons, Trak released two knives at the bodyguards, killing them instantly.

That’s when the team slowly appeared, their weapons drawn.

“You are so fucking impatient,” growled Nine. Trak shrugged, calling back the dogs for a minute.

“You’re dead!” yelled the man as he got off the ground, gripping his saliva-covered throat. “You have no idea who you’ve fucked with!”

“Cassius Hugo. Blah, blah, blah,” said Ghost. Everyone stared at them, then looked back at the one bodyguard left alive.

“I-I don’t know who they are,” he muttered.

“I’m your neighbor,” said Jean. “All the property that way, and that way, oh, and that way, is mine. Well, mine and my parents and siblings. And friends. It’s ours. Don’t worry about the semantics.”

“This isn’t your property!” yelled the man.

“But it’s within the zone of protection,” said Gaspar.

He watched as Trak walked to the dog kennels, letting each one out and guiding them to the boat. When they were seated with water and food, he commanded Beast and Goliath to watch over them, then returned to the group.

“What the hell is he?” asked a woman.

“I am a man. A man who values animal life more than human life. Unless it’s my family. You are not my family.”

“Nine,” whispered Angel, walking toward them. “You may want to see what they have in that shed.”

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