“I never had the money to buy it from you at full market value,” he went on. “So I decided it would be simpler if you died first. The will was already arranged. The poison should have handled it quietly.”
He glanced at Thunder. “But your oversized mutt ruined that plan. So now we do this the direct way.”
From the next room stepped a thin man with a face like dried leather stretched over bone. In his hands was a heavy pistol pointed straight at me.
The second Thunder saw him, he exploded into a savage roar, all teeth and fury. Some buried animal memory had clicked into place. This was the man who had killed his mother.
“Easy, beast,” Rivers said. “Or you’re first.”
Mike whipped the shotgun out from under his coat and leveled it at Rivers. Rivers swung the pistol toward Mike, and the whole room locked up tight.
“Nobody needs to die here,” I said. “Take the claim. Take it all. Just let us walk out.”
“Too late for that,” Dennis said coolly. “The paperwork’s already forged and notarized through people who know how to keep their mouths shut. I don’t need you alive. Dead, you’re much more useful.”
“The police will say robbers broke in, there was a struggle, and an old man got shot.”
I looked at him and asked the only thing left to ask. “When did you stop being my son?”
He gave a short, ugly smile. “I never was. I just played the part until the timing was right.”
Dennis gave Rivers a small nod.
Thunder moved before the man with the gun did. He slammed into me with his full weight, knocking me to the floor. A shot cracked overhead, punching into empty space where I’d been standing.
Mike fired his shotgun into the ceiling. Plaster rained down. “Next one goes through your head,” he shouted.
Rivers jumped behind the doorframe. Dennis dove under the table.
Thunder was on top of me, growling, covering me with his body.
And then, faint at first but rising fast, came the sound of sirens.
“Who called the cops?” Rivers shouted.
“I did,” Mike said evenly. “Radioed it in before we got here.”
“Move!” Rivers yelled to Dennis. “Now!”
They bolted for the back door, jumped into a vehicle hidden behind the house, and tore off into the storm.
We were left standing in the freezing room, breathing hard, the air thick with gunpowder and betrayal.
Thunder was still pressed against me, warm and heavy.
I buried a hand in his fur. “Thank you, brother,” I whispered. He had saved my life twice in one day…
