Fort Worth Nights: A Collection of Cody PI Stories by Reasoner James

Author:Reasoner, James [Reasoner, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-07-25T00:00:00+00:00

In the Blood

The sound of raucous laughter blended with the growls and snarls of blood lust, echoing from the walls of the old barn. I looked at the people crowding around the pit in the center of the building and felt out of place and a little sick. There were only two of us who weren't eagerly looking forward to what was about to happen.

"I told you, Mr. Cody," Royce Short said in a low voice. "I told you what it was like."

I nodded, not looking at him. It was a spectacle, all right.

We were in an old barn on the Short ranch, a few miles outside of Weatherford , Texas . B etween seventy-five and a hundred people were there, their attention focused on the two men standing in the pit, struggling to hold their animals.

The dogs leaped and jerked on the chains that held them, but the two handlers had good grips. They were experienced at this sort of thing. The fighting wouldn't start until they were good and ready, but in the meantime the dogs were driving each other into a frenzy. Beads of saliva sprayed through the hot, still air, flung off their sharp-toothed muzzles as they shook their heads. They were pit bulls, sleek and dangerous looking, with death bred into them.

I felt sorry for them. I like dogs. I was going to enjoy helping put these people out of business.

A man in his late twenties dropped down into the eight-foot-deep pit that had been dug in the center of the barn. He didn't use the ladder leaning against the side, and you could tell his body was honed into fine shape. He wore ostrich boots, designer jeans, a gaudy western shirt, and a snow-white Stetson. The cowboy outfit didn't look right on him, though; he would have seemed more at home in a three-piece suit, carrying a briefcase with a cellular phone in it.

"I hope you folks are ready for some excitement, 'cause damned if we ain't got it for you today!" he called out, working hard at the accent. There was more than a touch of mockery in it. He waved a carefully manicured hand at the dogs and went on, "Yes, sir, we got some of the finest fightin' dogs in the whole great state of Texas here today, and you're goin' to see some first-class battles! To start things off, let's hear it for Kenny Riordan and his dog Chance, and Matt Sample and his dog Rocky. They'll be gettin' this show on the road in a few minutes, so you folks just go ahead and get your bets down."

He climbed out of the pit, using the ladder this time, as the crowd pressed around the low wall that surrounded the hole. There were all kinds, from blue-collar workers in jeans and khaki shirts and gimme caps to society types who were wearing sports shirts and slacks from Neiman-Marcus. The men out numbered the women by about four to one, but there were women there, l ooking just as excited and wide -eyed as their escorts.

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