FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Well, that should keep Ashley from being sold off to some offshore smutshop." Lazarus opined as he stood, "For tonight, at least."

Sean's disguise was a change of wardrobe to something rootin'-tootin' western schtic that felt horribly tacky. Dusty old Salvation Army jeans, a faded western shirt, floppy broad brimmed hat, and sunglasses all procured at the same shop left his face obscured from the easy gaze of overhead cameras. Taws was adorned in a less garish gold satin dress and, after a good grooming, looked far more regal than the cowpoke on her arm. As he was instructed Sean wove just a little drunkenly, leaning on Taws' arm, talked loudly in his blatantly northeastern drone, and made a show of chasing through whiskey after whiskey when, in fact, he was sipping the same snifter for hours.

While Oda and Lazarus disappeared long before they made their separate entries Taws and Sean were left to wander the countless, and mind-bogglingly confusing, rooms of the partially subterrainian casino. There were only four floors above ground; a sprawling gold-rush mining town of tourist traps and easy low yield slots. Once below ground the hallways and rooms took on the look of excavated rock. Naked faux-wooden beams bulked from walls and overhead and the cameras, of which they were assured were many, were stealthily concealed everywhere. Others, flat black spheres and circles, were more obvious with their telltale unwinking red lights gleaming in the gloom.

The gambling floors were sprawling and deafening with bells and whistles and voices. The patronage was mostly human, for the largest part, with nonhumans being present only as staff. No nonhumans worked the pits and the well-dressed collie on Sean's arm drew many unfavorable glances. Apparently the conventional expectation was that nonhumans remain servile to their furless 'betters'. Sean picked up on that within the first hour and, after a brief muttered discussion with Taws, began treating her more as a pet or servant than girlfriend. While sitting at the blackjack table he imperiously gave her orders to fetch drinks and, when another truly inebriated patron grabbed her ass, he choked down his instinctive desire to flatten the bearded man's florid face and guffawed. He moved Taws to stand on his opposite side, however, next to a nervous looking little oriental man who quickly left with a look as if expecting a disease to rub off.

With the excuse of hunting for a restroom Sean tested a few doors, many simply blank while others stated 'no entry' in blocky western script, to see if he could breach security at all. Through a couple of blank doors he found himself in service corridors, but the 'no entry' doors were always locked. Getting turned around down a hallway he boarded an elevator and blearily tried to make sense of the buttons having lost Taws in the crowd. They would meet at the roulette tables in ten minutes after he saw how deep the rabbit hole went.

The buttons went from +5 to 17, with no 13 and five sublevels; apparently meaning five floors above ground and seventeen below with service and parking sublevels in between. He was able to descend all the way to the fifteenth sublevel before the elevator stopped. When the doors opened a burly, tawny colored puma wearing a harsh looking suit with a casino nametag stood before him. The huge cat looked him up and down with a fierce, flat stare of bronze eyes.

"Where's yer keycard?" he growled, arms crossed over his chest.

Sean blinked at the cat's broad chest then myopically raised his head while leaning back to take in the face above. "Unh? Wh'r the fuck'm I?" he managed to get out a believable belch of whiskey tainted breath.

"No room, no ride, bucko. Ride yer drunk ass back up." Leaning into the elevator the cat stabbed a button. "I see ya down here again I'll fuck yer furless ass up." He snarled as the doors closed. Sean was not about to argue with the hulking brute and only fell back against the rear wall of the elevator car as it labored back up toward the main floors.

He met Taws at the roulette tables and berated her for disappearing on him, wagging a finger in her face while he swayed drunkenly. She ducked her head and backed her ears submissively, lush tail tucked against the back of her gown. No one took more than a momentary glance at the inebriated tirade though a couple of uniformed staff drifted closer. Once he was done with his apparent discipline he slapped a couple of chips down on a number and huffed against the table. A vibration against his breast prompted him to fumble his phone out.

Cute.

I expect I will see your friends with you?

Sean blinked at the text and, leaning back, looked around at the crowd. Taws glanced at the text when he angled the phone toward her and blinked, both ears lifting before dropping back again, still chastened by his previous outburst.

I see you, yes.

The hat was a good idea, but you should have left the phone behind.

Lifting the corner of his lip Sean tried not to look up at the ubiquitous black sphere above the roulette table. After the last message was a query to open attachments; four sequentially labeled image files. Tapping the accept tab he blinked again.

The first two were the expected pictures of him and Taws, but there were also a picture of Lazarus lounging at the bar glancing toward one of the 'no entry' doors, and Oda sitting like a statue at a blackjack table. He stared, aghast, completely oblivious to the play on the table in front of him. The ball rattled into a pocket on the wheel and a stack of chips was shoved toward Sean. Surprised by the dismantling of their ruse he barely paid the stack of chips any heed. Grabbing Taws arm he hauled her away from the table as she scrambled to gather up his winnings under protest. She stumbled along in his wake as he staggered, still trying to maintain his cover of drunkenness, for the bright square of lights he could see on the far side of the casino floor; the doorway out. The casino suddenly felt like a far more secure place than he had at first imagined; he felt like a prisoner trying to make his own escape, much less try to break someone else out at the same time.

They were stopped by security and Sean felt a moment of panic that was so intense he felt as if he might wet himself but they merely asked them to cash out before leaving. Vibrating with barely contained fear Sean swayed against Taws while she cashed their modest collection of chips, the largest number of them having just come from the roulette table. Paying no heed to the bundle of bills she got from the cashier he grabbed Taws' arm again and pretty much dragged her out, her protests at his manhandling more real.

Only after they had staggered a block away from the casino did Sean stop, dropping into the plastic chair of a roadside café. Taws scowled at him as she settled down across the small table from him. The desert sun beat down mercilessly even for the early season and the heat was a palpable force. Sean wiped his brow while Taws panted. "Sean, what the hell is going on with you?" she growled, rubbing her arm where his hand had clutched like a vice.

"We are completely fucked, that's what!" he snapped, pulling out his phone and sending it skittering across the table to her. The icy glare and snarled order for beer he gave the waiter who intended to drop off their menus was enough to get the man to beat a hasty retreat, leaving them out in the sun once more. He could see Taws' jaw hanging open in shock as she looked at the texts and photos.

"All of us? Were we so obvious?" she whuffed. Neither of them paid the waiter much mind as he returned and dropped off Sean's beer; both were quite occupied with their stewing over this latest development.

"He tracked my phone, that's how he knew I was there." Sean finally said before sucking down a large gulp of the beer. His throat was feeling parched at having done nothing but sip whiskey for much of the afternoon. It still left him feeling drunk, and at this point he was seriously considering getting seriously drunk. "If I had to guess, I'd say that Lazy and Oda were a shot in the dark. Since the majority of the clientele is human, they stand out in a crowd more."

Taws chuffed and shook her head. "Good shot."

"And since we'd need someone to meet with Ash, and she seems to cater to non-humans, it's reasonable to assume that NA figured we'd need some on the team. But, fuck! To get both of them like that! Who the hell is this person?"

"I guess we'll find out tonight." She offered gamely, stroking his arm across the table. The situation had left Sean rattled and feeling exposed. Under scrutiny that acute he had no idea how he was going to affect a rescue.

"Yeah." He sat back in his chair morosely and sucked on his beer once more, belatedly realizing that Taws had nothing for herself. At least the waiter was quick enough to return when waved down and soon she had a fruit daiquiri of her own to help her cool down.

Taws thumbed through the bundle of bills hidden within her clutch purse and smiled, looking up through the busy white fur of her brows. "Sean, were you even paying attention to that bet you made at the roulette table?"

Finished with is drink, his stomach too unsettled to want any part in the drink-his-troubles-away scheme from earlier, Sean glanced up from where he was viewing the pictures on the phone once more and shook his head, "I just tossed a couple of chips down, why?"

Taws grinned hugely and laughed, "Those were one thousand dollar chips, hon. You just pulled twenty grand on a spin of the wheel."

"Well, dandy that." But Sean felt little cheer.

Once he threw closed the blinds, the hotel suite was cool and dark, two things that Sean needed most right then. After what happened at the casino, and another beer for him on the patio, Sean was feeling more than a little at his wit's end. It was one thing to be going up against an organization that wasn't expecting him, it was another to be potentially walking into a trap. His thoughts were panicked, scattered, and drunk. All he really wanted to do was sleep.

"I think we could both do with a little rest right now," Taws said softly behind him. Turning, Sean saw that she had already doffed her satin dress and was once more all in the fur. "If tonight is anything like this afternoon, we'll need it."

With a deep sigh, Sean walked over to the collie bitch. "Come'ere," he muttered, enfolding her in his arms. His fingers slid through the lush fur of her shoulders and mane and his hot cheek rested on her head, his nose near one ear. He'd come to love the feeling of holding her close these last four months, luxuriating in the sensation of skin on fur. The tension drained out of his body as he slowly rubbed over her back and nuzzled against her head. "I'm sorry, love."

"For what?" she muttered against his chest. Taws' arms had wrapped around his waist in a loose embrace and she had picked his shirt out the back of his pants, though her hands had gone no further than rubbing over his back.

"For everything. For getting involved with Ashley again. For dragging you into this. For the casino." He rubbed over her ear. "Mostly for the casino right now."

"It's alright, it was an act--"

"It's not all right," he said, cutting her off. "It shouldn't be all right. Taws I... I never want to treat you like that again. You're too special, you mean too much." Sean huffed a deep sigh and then squeezed the collie tight against his chest. "I love you because you've always been a friend and a companion, never... never a servant or a pet," he said, spitting out the last part. "I want you at my side, not at my heel."

Taws squeezed her eyes shut and returned the hug, pressing her face hard into his chest. "And that's where I always want to be. That's why I'm here now. I love you too much to let you face something like this alone."

Sean could feel wetness at the corners of his closed eyes. Turning his head, he kissed the ear of the collie bitch that had so stolen his heart. "Hearing that, I wouldn't have it any other way."

The two continued to hold each other for some minutes, drawing strength from the other's company. There was no more need for words; they'd said everything that needed saying. Instead it was touch, caress, scent, and presence. The two stood and swayed in the darkened hotel room, comforted by the other's embrace, until Taws eventually spoke. "We need rest, love. Now. I have a feeling that tonight, we're going to need all we can get."

Reluctantly, Sean released his hold on the collie, though his hands stayed at her hips as he looked down into her amber eyes. With a smile and nod, they headed to bed.

Sean? W R U?

Sean glanced down at the phone while he rode in the back seat of Lazarus' rumbling truck, Taws' tail lightly brushing his knees. Oda sat beside him, behind Lazarus, and glanced over when he heard the phone trill.

Here. This number tapped. Careful.

No cliens 2nite. juiced. Com s.oon!

Juiced? What the hell did that mean? Sean glanced at Oda and showed him the text. The wolf held out one arm and pantomimed jabbing a needle to the inside of his elbow. Sean's jaw dropped and he winced. They were keeping her under control with drugs. He remembered her telling him that they had gotten her hooked, but he never imagined the truth of it.

Soon. Hang in.

Demerol and morphine, under almost medical control. It keeps them in line. NA

Sean frowned at the much more clearly understandable text of their mystery observer cutting into his conversation without any way to reply.

As there are no clients I assume the authorities found my information useful. Good. I see you are on your way. Good. Alone?

Despite wanting to separate themselves and hide in the shadows Oda and Lazarus were convinced it was a better plan to stick together rather than ambush the unknown contact after viewing the photographs that had been sent to Sean's phone. Both believed that the nameless messenger worked with the casino's video security and Sean could not imagine that he was not unless he had somehow hacked into the hundreds of video feeds and had the time to review each one to prize out the patterns of activity linking the four together.

Even Sean had not noticed either of the federal agents while he was staggering in faux drunkenness through the casino.

No

He held the phone in his hand and waited but there was no further missive from Ashley or Not Ashley.

The Galaxy View was just as its name explained; a secluded location for stargazers to explore the night sky. It was on a flat plateau on the back side of a ridge that blocked the distant city lights of Vegas from view except for a general glow on the horizon. A sign near the gate asked that headlights be turned off and to drive slowly with parking lights or with someone on the ground leading the way. Under those blackout conditions with only a yellow glow lighting the road ahead they navigated along a wall of boulders. The rough gravel road had been paved with pale stone; caliche and granite which was easier to see at night.

Rounding the end of the boulder wall they came onto the broad flats of the View. Stretching westward away from them was the darkness of the desert unbroken by a single light as far as they could see. Distant cities were dim bubbles of light and, behind the ridge to the east, Vegas might as well not have existed. The sky above was a sparkling wash of stars bisected by the Milky Way stretching at an angle across the sky.

Sean had never before in his life seen such a spectacular sight. He found himself gawking from the back seat, for a moment completely forgetting the gravity of their situation. Even Taws gaped in awe for she, too, had never seen a night sky so amazingly pure. There were no clouds and the moon was a hint of sliver lost somewhere behind the ridge shielding them from Vegas. The truck rolled to a halt with a crunch of gravel under its weight and the engine gurgled into silence. Rock music drifted on the still desert air but Sean could not see its source.

Somehow Lazarus had disabled the interior lights so that when they opened the doors nothing blinded them. They climbed out while the rock group Lakes of Plague hammered a heavy bass-beat from the shadow of a truck some distance away. There were a couple of cars not far from it and the shadows of people milled around. The raucousness of their conversation could not be missed but, under the general thunder of the music, could not be understood. They were of little concern to Sean or Taws beyond noting their presence as the two stood, each with one arm about the waist of the other, and gaped up at the speechless beauty of the view that stretched out millions of light years before them.

Billions. He'd once heard there were more stars in the heavens than grains of sand upon all the world's beaches. Tonight, he could believe it.

It made Sean feel mighty and miniscule at the same moment; like the first primitives to look up at the night sky and wonder at its majesty and think themselves its master, yet knowing that the light from the nearest of those motes had been cast into the void before he was born. A lambent red swath of light stretched across the sky tipped by a dimly glowing mote; the Tala C/2011-12 'Nightfire' that was reaching the height of its albedo somewhere in the orbital range of Mars.

"Spectacular," he breathed. Taws' cool nose touched under the line of his jaw as she leaned close against his side. Laughter not far away caused one of Taws' ears to twitch at the corner of his perception; a ghostly shape atop the star lit paleness of her fur. Three shadows were weaving toward them from the distant crowd, laughing boisterously.

One of them waved an arm and hailed them with a slurred "Ahoy there!"

Lazarus waved back but offered no response as they watched the trio approach. Was this their contact, or contacts? The four of them stood near the truck and waited while the threesome continued their ungainly approach, Taws and Sean having broken their embrace in preparation of this indeed being who they were waiting for. They were twenty feet away before one of them lurched to a swaying halt and held a hand up to his eyes as if shielding them from sunlight.

"Mutha fuka," he hiccupped laughter, "Dey's doggies!" he cackled. The other two staggered to a halt several feet closer and swayed in place. Sean could see that one wore a baseball cap backwards on his head and was dressed in jeans, a warm shirt against the cool night air, and a tattered sleeveless jacket that jangled with loose buckles. The person beside him ignored the cool air with just a wifebeater and dark colored pants that could have been any material. From one hip dangled a chain that looped up toward his butt; likely a wallet. The third wore a puffy jacket and similarly indistinguishable black pants over heavy boots.

"Wotcha doin' ou' 'ere, poochies?" one of the closer pair snorted without a shred of humor. Sean sensed sudden drunken belligerence. The man staggered closer, puffing himself up aggressively. Oda and Lazarus moved slightly forward and closer together, both instantly ready for action without revealing the fact; twin predators facing aggressive intruders on their turf. "An whatta we got, skinny boy wit' em." He pointed inaccurately in Sean's direction.

His partner moved up to stand at his side, leaning with one hand on the first one's shoulder while the third slowly dropped to his knees to be violently ill. "Gabe, looks like we gots us a doggiefucker, here." The second man chortled.

"Uh?" his partner grunted after looking back at the man noisily heaving up his nightly allotment of alcohol, "Dem beetches... uh huh, fucks em all, dem beetches do - hooorruf!" he let out a gust of air when a flurry of white shapes bowled him over with a snarl. Clad in dark clothing only Oda's head, hands, and paws shone white like disassociated ghosts in the light. The two crashed to the ground in a tumble, Oda coming up with one knee on the startled human's chest and a gleam of polished steel pressing his hairline. The man's partner could only stagger and sway as he spun to track the unexpected swift motion from the wolf.

"That's my blood-sister, pale-face." The wolf snarled furiously down at the startled human, "Dis her and you dis me. And I bite." His teeth flashed white in the darkness and clicked savagely together an inch from the whimpering human's nose. Turning his head he glanced back at Lazarus, rocking the edge of his blade lightly back and forth against the man's brow, "I scalp'um pale-face, Kemosabe?" He growled dangerously in that deep Native American accent. His eyes were twin motes of gleaming darkness at the apex of his powerful muzzle.

"Hold up there, Tonto." Lazarus growled with equal threat though to Sean it sounded as if he was trying not to laugh out loud. They could hear yells and running feet under the thunder of the distant music. "We've got plenty of man-skins on our wall. Drunk assholes are lousy trophies." Stalking over to the single man still on his feet reeling in confusion at the sudden turnabout of events Lazarus raised one arm to hold his hand a few inches in front of the man's face. The bronze of his badge gleamed in the starlight. "Time for you folks to be getting on home, kid."

Oda released the man's scalp and thrust that gleaming length of polished metal between his thighs firmly enough to make the startled drunk squeal in fear, "How 'bout some long pig? Ain't had no man meat in too long."

A throng of humans created a wide half circle around them, some yelling angrily and others trying to make sense of the situation and halt things before a war erupted. "Federal Agents!" Lazarus barked loudly, his badge held aloft, while Sean and Taws clung to each other in shock at the swift rise of violence in the darkness. "You people need to leave, now!"

Several people were helping the heaving man to his feet and others stopped a few feet away from the furious white wolf crouched over his prey. "We're going, shit all dog!" one of them protested, "Let him up, he's just drunk."

"Stupid fucking drunk." A woman snapped irritably, "You god damned dogs have no place -"

"You should know your place, mutts!" a man bellowed from the safety of the crowd. A rock whistled through the air but missed by a wide margin to clatter away into the darkness. There was a lurch in the crowd as several people converged on one with urgent hisses for their victim to shut the fuck up.

"We are Federal Agents," Lazarus growled dangerously, "And unless the lot of you want to spend the night in lockup on the dozen violations you've committed so far you best get moving." With a last poke of his knife Oda rose and stepped back, all dangerous grace and implied violence, to stand near Lazarus. Three people hastened forward to haul the man to his feet, awkwardly because he was clutching his crotch asking people to see if he was in one piece, and dragged him away. Two others rounded up the last of the confused trio and, with many angry grumblings over their shoulders, led them all away.

Letting out a frightened gust of breath Sean sagged against Taws. Dimly he began to note a quiet, steady noise that, after a few moments, he realized was the sound of one person softly clapping. Turning to look over Taws' head he saw a shadow standing at the rear of the truck. Lazarus sidestepped wide of them to spot the newcomer while Oda circled around the opposite side of the truck.

"Bravo," growled the shadow, stepping forward with his hands held out from his side non-threateningly. "And no, that was not a test. They simply never saw me arrive as they did you." Still walking slowly with his arms out he turned to face Sean. "So you're the gallant White Knight come charging to the rescue. Sir Sean the Savior." There was no sarcasm in the speaker's voice. As he neared, Sean was able to pick out the ears on the top of his head, foreshortened shadows where they tipped forward. The form resolved into a black and white canine similar in many ways to Taws and her brother but patterned in stark black and white.

A border collie.

Oda circled around from the back of the truck; a hunter on the prowl moving with disquieting silence. Lazarus held one hand up slightly and the wolf stopped several paces behind the collie. "And who, then, are you?" Lazarus growled quietly. The music faded away abruptly with the coughing growl of engines starting. Blinding swaths of white light spilled across the plateau and swam about crazily as their sources churned up dirt and stone. The foursome and newcomer all clustered closer to the truck as several of the cars roared past on all sides, insults and beer bottles hurled from open windows. Glass shattered from the ground near Sean's feet but, other than a few shards bouncing from his pants, he was untouched.

Night blinded by the headlights the four waited until the last of the glowing red tail lights disappeared behind the boulder wall. "Bryant Ingram," offered the dark shadow of the newly arrived collie, a soft Scottish brogue to his voice. He was still just a vague, dark form in the inky darkness to Sean's blinded gaze. "I'm head of security for the Diamond Mine Casino."

Lazarus grunted with a nod, "I figured as much after those photos landed on Sean's phone."

Bryant's laugh was a soft yipping. "I figured it the best way to get your attention." His voice turned serious once more. "I also figured you'd have been out at the airfield to meet your distinguished guests. Instead they got an FBI task force, my-my. Now if you're not FBI, I have to know if you can handle something of the magnitude this involves."

Reaching into his pocket, Lazarus produced his full ID and handed it over to the other collie without a word.

"Ah, INS. Most unexpected, but if you can get the Bureau to scramble that quickly for you, I'm sure we can work out an accommodation." After returning the ID he kept his hand held out towards Lazarus who, after a few moments consideration, reached out and grasped it back.

"So what do you want?" Lazarus inquired after their hands released. Deciding that the border collie was not an immediate threat Oda leaned against the back of the truck with his arms crossed.

"Ah, what I want, what I want..." drawled the collie, his accent becoming thick again. "What I want ere the streets of Glasgow, rolling green hills of th' countryside. I want home, but I can never have home again."

"Why?" asked Taws.

"Mistakes were made, dearie, the wrong people crossed," Bryant replied with a shake of his head. "With people there I did much the same job as I do now; moving things. But, those people got on the wrong side of other people and are no more. I was the clever one then, got out and came here. I figured, hey, who would look for me in the fucking desert? I can leave here in a little while when things have cooled own."

He snorted and shook his head, tail lashing behind him before settling his gaze on the dark horizon. "That was fifteen years ago. Fifteen years of hot and dirt and desert. Now, as I said, I've worked for people of Sharpson's type before, so I was able to get in with their counterparts here. Not exactly difficult to find them in Vegas. At first it was fine; stolen goods, contraband, narcotics. The network I managed and grew could move anything required. Two years ago, though, the bosses move in Sharpson. And that's when it all changed.

"You see, Shapson wasn't content with moving just... things," Bryant explained, spreading his hands, his gaze drifting amongst the four. "He wanted to move people. Willing people. And unwilling people. Now the goods I never really had a problem with; but I draw the line at sentient trafficking. The prostitution, the slavery, kidnapping all of that Sharpson brought with him. So if I can't have home," said the collie, his ears pricked up high on his head, "then want I want from you is to blow that place wide open, shut it all down."

"And I assume some kind of deal for you," replied Oda in a slow drawl. A bright streak lanced across the sky growing ever brighter before winking out in a brief cascade.

"Blanket immunity, witness protection and relocation," Bryant told him with a nod. "Standard package. And in return," he continued, slowly raising a hand to dig into the breast pocket of his jacket which caused Lazarus and Oda to straighten up with heightened alertness, only to produce a small stick, a USB data fob, "I give you the whole network. The smuggling ring alone spans several states, Florida to California. The sentient trafficking one has global ties, at least thirty countries involved. There's even access codes to Sharpson's personal encrypted data space, where I'm sure you'll find more." He paused, his tail a piebald sweep behind him as he looked between Lazarus and Oda. "This is the kind of stuff that careers are made out of, for you and your bosses. And I'm giving it all to you, on one highly encrypted platter."

Sean finally spoke up from the back. "Where does Ashley fit into all of this?"

A faint gleam of teeth flashed from the collie's muzzle as he turned and offered a half-smile, "Weakness, perhaps? I watched her come in proud and strong and arrogant, utterly clueless of the fate awaiting. I watched them juice her until she could barely lift her head. I've watched them breaking her, little by little, for months." He sighed with a shake of his head. "I'm an old dog, Sean. At least I feel old. I've sat in front of the monitors for years now. I've watched them come, and break, over and over again, without doing anything, for far too long now."

His hand cut angrily in the air, "I'm sick to the core of it. When she looked into the camera and begged for help, that was it for me. I got her that burner phone; I watched her cry out for help." His dark eyes gleamed in the starlight, momentarily reflecting the red slash of the Nightfire comet and galactic swath of stars. "And I watched you answer, Sean. You answered and, though you have a new love," he said, sparing Taws a quick glance, "you came anyway. There is still some good out there, some White Knights."

Bryant's head tilted slightly and he grinned, reaching out a hand to press a claw tipped finger against Sean's chest, shoving lightly, "And your girlfriend is a dog, man. When I saw that I nearly gagged on my Alpo. Fate truly does have its paws shoulder deep in this shit." Lowering unexpectedly to one knee he bowed and extended both hands, wrists up, theatrically toward Sean and Taws. Yet when he spoke, it was in all seriousness."I want to wash this stain from my old heart."

Reaching out a hand Taws brushed white furred fingertips lightly across the penitent collie's upraised palms, "I forgive your past, Bryant." She crooned with a soft voice. Snuffling slightly he stood, wiping the back of one furry forearm across his nose.

"Damn that feels good." He dug into his pocket with another sniffle, his voice thick with emotions. Taking out several items, a phone, another USB fob and several smaller items, he handed them over to Lazarus. "The fob contains the blueprints, security procedures, and access codes for the Mine. Those passkeys are to the thirteenth floor. That's where they keep their stable and where they entertain - clients." He spat the last with a snarling wrinkle of his muzzle. "They'll get you into the Red elevator. There's only one security guard on the floor near the elevator, and the concierge. I can get three of you on the visitation roster, and I can schedule Ashley as your servitor. But I need one of you to help me blank the security video. I am not the only one who can view it; I'm merely the security supervisor." He looked from one of them to the other, "There is a problem, though. Ashley's still 'in training'; she's not allowed to service humans." His gaze came to settle on Sean. "Or even associate with them in any way."

Sean winced at Ashley's terrified fear that she would be elevated to servicing equine clients, "Then you three will go, and I'll deal with the video."

"But, Ashley -" Taws protested.

Sean gave her hand a squeeze, "Text, remember? I tell her to expect you, and go with you. Once you three have her you get out while the video is down and, bang, we're outta Dodge." He glanced over at the border collie, "I never saw a thirteenth floor on any of the elevators, though."

"Red elevator, you wouldn't have. You were never in the Foreman's Room, where the high rollers throw millions on a dice." He frowned, ears dipping and tail falling a bit, "They gamble the fates of Sharpson's chattel on the turn of a card in ways that leave my heart cold." Bryant sighed with a shake of his head before looking up again, "Those passes will get you in, but the only other way out is via the fire escape. There's nothing I can do about those alarms." His gaze shifted to Lazarus, "Unless you kung-fu canines think you're bad ass enough to fight your way out through the main casino floor."

"Doubt that." Oda observed laconically.

"Be a hell of a show, though." Bryant drawled, and flashed them a smile with a mouth full of teeth. "You'll need that walkie I just gave you; the video room is shielded so regular cells won't work there, only the Casino's relayed internal communications." He dipped his head toward Lazarus who still held the assortment of items he had been given. "I've got to haul tail, though. Office hours wait for no one, especially the one who makes everything run. When you folks are ready, give me a ring," he concluded, miming a cell phone up to his head. He pointed toward Sean's pocket, "No more hiding." With a last bow of his head the border collie turned and padded slowly off into the darkness. A minute later a car purred to life, yellow and red lights glowing, and crept away with the sound of crunching gravel.

Sean settled onto the old blanket and leaned forward to rest his elbows over his knees and stared off into the distance.

*Previous <- Beginning -> Next *