Slave Hunter, Chapter Five.

Written by Wolfie Steel.

The journey to the night club was done in almost total silence, just the nervous breaths of three very jittery canine's breaks the silence. We finally arrive close to the alleyway where Matt will be dropped so that he can quickly get into character and find a cardboard box that will for a little while become his home.

There is no one around as we make the drop, before Matt leaves my sight I make sure that he has activated his wire device by doing one final test, as we pull away he speaks again and so now I know that the system is working well.

As Brandon drives us to our holding position I check in with all of our team via radio, all members report their readiness for what is about to take place. We pull up in our parking space and Brandon shuts off the lights and the engine, I look at my watch and see that we have just ten minutes to wait before the fun begins. I look to Brandon and see that his hand paws are shaking badly; in truth he is not the only one who is shitting himself at this very moment.

"Brandon, relax hon, just think of the kudos that the department will get after a successful raid on a child exploitation ring"

Brandon looks back at me and replies.

"Yeah, and just think what we are going to tell Matt's loved ones when he gets killed or injured in the line of duty"

I shake my head a little.

"Captain James, what Sergeant Wolf is doing he is doing of his own volition, we both gave him the opportunity to walk away but he chose to see it through, oh sure on the outside he looks like a mild and meek puppy dog, but deep down inside, I know that kid has balls of steel and he will do whatever is needed to keep the other kids in that club safe"

Brandon turns his head back towards the club, I then rest my hand paw on his left leg as if to offer him some solace but all I get for my trouble is a deep routed sigh.

I look at my watch again and see that it is now five minutes past midnight, as yet there has been no sign of any movement other than the usual night clubbers going in and out of the club, I train my eyes on the side alleyway and suddenly I'm rewarded with the first sight of a hooded figure walking from the alleyway and crossing the street.

As the figure reaches the other side of the street they seem to stop for a few seconds, probably checking that the area is clear of any police cars or cars that are out of place. Finally satisfied that all is well the figure continues on his journey and the direction that he is heading is directly towards the alleyway where a homeless Matt Wolf now resides.

Brandon now puts a shaky hand paw on top of mine.

"Well Daniel, this is it, I hope that wire holds up because I want to know the very moment when Sergeant Wolf calls out the trigger word"

I remove my paw from under his and I put it inside my jacket and then pull out a mini cassette recorder which is attached to my ear piece.

"Don't worry love, we will catch every word on tape for when this goes to court, the bastards won't walk away from this one"

After a few minutes I hear Matt Wolf's first groans, then there is the sound of a slight struggle followed by the sound of what must be a piece of duct tape being put over Matt's muzzle, after that all that can be heard are gentle whimpers coming from the Sergeants bound muzzle.

I climb into the back of the car where a video camera is set up and I activate it. I check on the digital screen that the camera has a good view of the front entrance to the club and also the alleyway beside the club.

Moments later I see the same hooded figure returning to the club, but this time he is not alone, this time he has the unmistakable figure of Matt Wolf with him. From this distance I can see that Matt is being led along as the hooded figure has what I'm guessing is a pretty tight grip on his right arm.

They approach the front entrance of the club and the bouncer just stands aside and let them in, well that is the first two offences straight off, kidnapping and allowing a minor into a bar, next I hear one of the captors say something to Matt in slightly hushed tones.

"Now kid, I'm going to remove the tape that I put over your muzzle, but you shout just once and it will be the last time that you do, do I make myself clear?"

Matt has obviously nodded his head as the next sound that the wire picks up is the sharp sound of tape being stripped off, Matt gives a slight whimper as the tape is removed but nothing more, and next I can hear a dull noise of chatter, it is the chatter of frightened youngsters.

It is then that Matt plays his first ace.

"Man why do I have to share a room with ten other kids? And why are there three guys with guns guarding us?"

I had to hand it to the young Sergeant, in just one utterance we now knew that we are looking at a pretty secure setup and that there is another ten kids being held within the room, the guy who has hold of Matt then unknowingly gives a little more of the setup away.

"The guys with guns are there to make sure that you kids do as you are told, in fact we need to make an example of one of them as he managed to lose us quite a lot of money"

The next sound that I heard from the wire is one that will haunt me for the rest of my days, there is a single gunshot followed by a soft thud and then silence. I grip the edge of the back seat of the car and begin to sob openly, now I knew that we had to end this and soon.

A single word comes over the team radio.

"BASTARDS"

Who it was that spoke it I have no idea, but I have no doubt that it was the same sentiment felt by everyone on the team. In a moment of madness my plan changes, I open the back door and quickly exit the vehicle, as I leap out I pull my service revolver from its holster and make sure that the barrel is full with ammo, I then run headlong towards the club.

Brandon sees me sprint passed the car and is soon on his feet and in hot pursuit and shouting into the radio for back-up. I get to the main entrance and the bouncer takes a swing at me, I put a bullet in his knee which makes him crumple to the floor.

I run into the club and I can hear the commotion from the back room as I know that the armed response team has broken through, there are more shots fired, and then come the words that I have been dreading.

"Officer down"

The patrons of the club are all running for the exits while I am running for the back room, in my rush I don't see a guard that is chasing me down until I hear a gunshot behind me, I spin around to find that Brandon has seen to it that the guard couldn't get to me.

I enter the back room to find that the three armed guards are all dead; I also see that Sergeant Matt Wolf is lying on the floor, blood pouring from a bullet wound to his shoulder. With the club now under control the paramedics are allowed in to begin their job of looking out for the frightened kids.

I kneel down by Matt's side as a medic rushes towards him, thankfully it is just a shoulder wound which he should recover from, I then look up and my eyes instantly fall upon the child that wasn't so lucky, a young Husky, no more than about twelve or thirteen years of age, I close my eyes and begin to cry again, I then hear over the radio that the team outside have taken a guy into custody.

My head snaps to the nearest exit, I stand and begin to make my way towards it, Brandon it seems knows exactly where I'm heading and tries to stop me.

"Hunter for the love of god, let the court rip the guy apart, give these kids at least some degree of justice, don't take it away from them by doing something stupid"

I break free from Brandon's grasp and quickly head out to where they are holding the captive, as I walk towards where the captive is being held my brain tells me to kill the bastard, but my heart tells me to let it be, in the end when I get to where the guy is being held I ball up my fist and let fly, a cool belly punch takes the wind from his sails but nothing else, I then growl out a promise to him.

"I will make fucking sure that your fur never sees the light of day again, even if it is the last thing that I do"

I then look up at the team members that are holding the guy.

"Get this piece of shit out of my fucking sight"

I walk back towards the rear entrance of the club and then lean weakly against the door frame, I then slide down the frame and collapse to the floor.

How long I have been out of it I have no idea, but when I wake up I'm in bed, but not my own, the sun is shining through the bedroom window, I hear the floorboards creek a little as someone approaches.

I roll over and I am faced with the beautiful features of Captain Brandon James, he has a stern look on his face, but I also see love.

"Hunter what the fuck went through your mind huh? You could have been killed and you could have cost those kids their lives too, as it is though only one child was killed, the rest are all in care. You do realise that by rights I should suspend your ass for putting lives at risk"

It is this moment that my water works decide to breach again and Brandon quickly comes to the bed and raises me up, he then hugs me tight and just allows me to cry.

After a few moments I manage to bring my tears under control.

"I'm sorry hon, but when I heard that first shot I just totally lost it, the kid did not deserve to die at the paws of those bastards"

I take a breath and continue.

"How is Matt Wolf?"

Brandon strokes me gently between my ears as he replies.

"Matt will live, just a shoulder wound fortunately, he will be reassigned to a desk job for a while, but he will be back, as for you I am putting you on extended leave with full pay, you need time to get over what has just happened"

I begin to protest but Brandon just silences me by holding up his paw and continues to speak.

"It's either extended leave with pay or a full suspension, it's your choice, the extended leave will last for a month after that you will be back on active duty, to be honest if I were in your shoes I know which one I would prefer"

I let out a gentle sigh of resignation.

"Okay hon, you win, I will take the extended leave, but I want to be kept in the loop with regard things in the office, and of course with regard to the case. I also want to be told when the case goes to court, because I want to be there to watch as the bastard that we caught goes down for a long stretch, me personally I would see him taken to the chair or hung by a rope, but those are both options that I don't have, so seeing him go down for life will have to do"

Brandon gently nods his head and then joins me in his bed, something tells me that we have a little more relaxing time to be had.