Furtive Prey: A Jessica Anderson K-9 Mystery (The Jessica Anderson K-9 Mysteries) by D. L. Keur

Author:D. L. Keur [Keur, D. L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: D. L. Keur
Published: 2024-06-07T00:00:00+00:00

20 – Not Bluffing

LANDON TOOK Andy, Amy, and Jessie to lunch, the dogs crowded all the way in the back half of The Rhino. Nobody complained about dog breath, but then Landon rolled all the windows partway down and put on the air filtration. A city kid, Andy wasn’t used to the smells of animals saturating his breathing space.

They didn’t talk shop over food, except for Jessie’s revelation about Cooper watching them work SAR. Andy shared some funny stories about the goings on that had happened around the county while Jessie and Landon had been gone to Hawaii. “You missed a great fight between the city council and the county commissioners over the city wanting the county to pick up part of the tab for the city sewer plant …because county residents shop in town and contribute to what goes down the sewer to get processed.

Landon’s brow crinkled. “What?! That’s insane. They have their city sales tax that county residents pay when they shop in town. That’s enough.”

“Yeah, well, the commissioners then told the city that they could pay for the Tanner River Water Treatment Plant, since the city uses the majority of the water it filters and treats, all paid for by the county. They published the numbers in the paper.”

“I bet that went over well.”

“No, it didn’t. Now the county is talking about shifting the burden of the water treatment plant onto the city, anyway.”

“Oh, boy.”

Back in his office after dropping Jessie and her dogs home, Landon settled in again with the dossier, Amy again seated, blocking the door against unauthorized entry …not that there would be any, Landon figured. The only one of the HSI goons around was Cooper, and Cooper knew better than to leave the confines of FBI territory in the building, except for gaining ingress and egress through the closest door to their suite, unless he was with Andy Newsome.

On page three-hundred-eighty-five, now, his brain felt saturated, and it also felt violated. What DARPA was doing with human brain tissue, lab grown or not, was, in Landon’s opinion, not just unethical, not just immoral, but downright obscene. “This thing’s alive. They’ve grown it, enslaved it, and they’re torturing it—a new version of Frankenstein’s monster.”

“Sir?”—Amy.

He looked up. “Just grumbling, Amy. Sorry. Again.”

His phone alarm saved him. Grateful for the break, he marked his spot and locked the document away in his safe. Pulled out the complaints, all properly filled out, but not yet filed. Stood up. “It’s three. I’ve got to head for the jail.”

“You lead, I protect,” Deputy Vandertil said, getting up and shifting the chair she’d been using back into its usual place.

“Right.” Asked another thing that was bothering him. “Don’t you ever get tired of babysitting me, Deputy?”

She chuckled. “Nope. I haven’t done a thing all day, sir, ‘cept sit on my butt.”

“And that, sitting around all day, can be exhausting. I have to do it a lot.”

Again the look. “Rule in the military, sir, hurry up and wait. I’m used to it.

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