Slave Hunter, Chapter Seven.

Written by Wolfie Steel.

A new morning has dawned and again I find myself in the arms of my lover Captain Brandon James, he is sleeping soundly with such a warm and elegant smile upon his muzzle, suddenly the peace and tranquillity is shattered as the phone begins to ring, I get a groaned sentence from my lover.

"Sweets, can you get that please and whoever it is chew them a new hole"

I let out a small chortle as I reach over onto the night table for the phone, as I pick up I look at the caller display, OFFICE, I put the phone to my ear and answer the call.

"Hello Battersea Dogs Home, Ralph speaking how can I help you?"

The voice of Sergeant Cale is what greets me.

"Yeah right Ralph, first off what are you doing using the Captain's home phone?"

I let out a slight growl.

"Sergeant Cale, the reason for my being at the home of Captain James is none of your goddamn business, now what do you want?"

I hear what I think is the word "Asshole" from the Sergeant's end of the line but I bite my lip as Cale makes his reply.

"Can you hand the phone to the Captain please; I have something that is for his ears only"

I hand the phone to Brandon who groans louder as he takes the handset and puts it to his ear.

"Cale, I'm warning you if this call is for anything that is not important I will ask Detective Hunter to feed you your tail inch by furry inch"

The first part of Cale's conversation I couldn't hear, but he must have said something because Brandon shot upright in bed.

"Hang on Cale, Detective Hunter is sitting across the way from me; let me put you on speaker phone"

Brandon takes the phone from his ear and then activates the speaker function and puts the handset on the bed between us.

"Okay Cale, say that again from the top so that the Detective can hear"

Sergeant Cale clears his throat and begins again.

"We have had a telephone call from a Mr. And Mrs. Atkins; it seems that the Husky that was shot in the raid on Bo Jangles was none other than their son Christopher, apparently he left home on Sunday evening to get some milk from the local store, but he failed to return, they called the local police who were as helpful as the weather. Guys the pup was just fourteen years old, just fourteen fucking years old"

I see Brandon's eyes close and a single tear trickle from them, Cale then continues.

"His parents would like to meet the three officers that found their son"

I give an audible gulp, just as Brandon replies.

"Where is the boy's body at the moment Sergeant?"

Sergeant Cale sighs gently.

"He's in London City Morgue Sir"

A look of determination spreads across Brandon's face.

"Sergeant Cale, requisition a pool car and collect Mr. And Mrs. Atkins, take them to see their son and then take them back to the office where they will meet me, Hunter and Matt Wolf"

Sergeant Cale acknowledges the Captain's order and then hangs up; I replace the phone back on the cradle and look towards Brandon.

"Well babe, at least we know that he wasn't a runaway or an orphan"

Brandon gently nods his head, and then he gets a steely look in his eyes, that both scared me and amazed me.

"Hunter, I hope you have a black suit, because the team at New Scotland Yard are going to give that young pup a decent send off at least him and his family will still hold a shred of dignity"

Knowing that we were both going to be meeting the young pup's parents, we both get dressed in our best work suits, I then call Matt Wolf and tell him to dress up smart as he will be joining us.

Two hours later and three solemn dogs sit in an office awaiting the arrival of some very upset Huskies. The silence is broken by a gentle knock on the door; I walk to the door and open it, Sergeant Cale leads Christopher's parents into the Captain's office, he then turns slowly and leaves the office, shutting the door behind him.

The Female Husky is dabbing her eyes with a tissue and Christopher's father appears to be shaking, whether its anger or just because he is afraid I can't really tell. Brandon steps forward slowly and holds out his paw to the male.

"Sir, my name is Captain Brandon James, the Husky to my right is Detective Daniel Hunter and the Dalmatian behind me with his arm in a sling is Sergeant Matthew Wolf"

The male Husky takes Brandon's paw in his own.

"I'm Tyrone Atkins and this is my wife Martha, Captain thank you for agreeing to meet us, we felt it necessary to meet at least part of the team who tried so very hard to rescue our son, we are deeply indebted to you and your fine colleagues, I just wish that we could be meeting under happier circumstances"

Mr. Atkins then let's go of Brandon's paw and walks to Matt Wolf, he shakes the uninjured paw of the spotted dog.

"Sergeant Wolf, I understand that you took a bullet to the shoulder while attempting a daring raid on the place where my son Christopher was being held, sir you are a credit to the service"

Next the male Husky turns to me, he approaches me and then in a sudden outpouring of emotion he wraps his arms around me.

"Detective Hunter, I have heard that my son's death affected you quite badly, something about as soon as you heard the shot you went charging into the place without a thought for your own safety, I have also heard it said that you in some way blame yourself for the death of my son, please be under no illusion Detective Hunter, my wife and I do not hold any of this fine department responsible for what happened to Christopher, in point of fact you and your team helped rescue nine other kids from the paws of those beasts, there was nothing you could have done to help Chris"

I just stand there and take in everything that Mr. Atkins says, a stray tear falls from my right eye, and its then that Brandon clears his throat.

"Mr. Atkins, first of all I know that I speak for the whole department when I tell you how sorry we are about your tragic loss, unfortunately most of the kidnappers met their own deaths in the raid, however, we have arrested one of the gang members and we fully intend to see that the sunlight never again hits his fur, we have also arrested the doorman from Bo Jangles. Secondly, and please don't think I'm muscling in on your grief here because that is the furthest thing from my mind, but I would like to offer you and your wife a chance to give your son a dignified funeral courtesy of Scotland Yard, obviously all of your family will be welcome, but I have no doubt in my mind that everyone in this department would also like to attend"

Mrs. Atkins gives a gentle sniff but then nods her head, Mr. Atkins then answers for his wife.

"Well we don't have much in the way of money so we were going to have a small low key gathering, but I would have also liked you and your team to attend unfortunately our budget would not allow that, so if you are serious about your kind and generous offer, then we would like to accept it...thank you so much"

Mr. and Mrs. Atkins say their goodbyes and head through the door of the office, as they do I ask Sergeant Cale to take them home and sit with them for a little while, the German Shepherd solemnly nods his head and carries out my request.

With Sergeant Cale and Mr. and Mrs. Atkins now gone, Brandon gently closes and locks his office door and takes a shaky seat at his desk, he looks at both Matt and I and then begins to break down.

"You know guys, that was probably the hardest thing I have ever had to do in all my years of service, oh sure I have had to go to the homes of adults to tell their loved ones that they won't be coming back, hell its part of the job, but when you meet the parents of an innocent fourteen year old pup who had his life taken so brutally, that is when I start questioning my life here at Scotland Yard, and I don't care how hard hearted you are I know that even then you won't fail to fall apart"

I know that none of what Brandon had just said was directed at anyone in particular but I still felt the hit from the final part of his speech, and furthermore what Brandon has just said is true, over the years my heart has become like a solid piece of granite and is totally impervious to most things, but I stand here now and I can fully admit that right at this very moment my granite heart has been smashed to smithereens.

/////////

It is now a week since we met the parents of Christopher Atkins, I am standing in the meeting room at Scotland Yard in my best black suit, I am not alone though, the whole team who worked on the Bo Jangles raid is here and dressed similarly, from the hard as nails armed response unit, to the highly dedicated paramedics, today there is no rank, today there is no Scotland Yard or Paramedics or Armed Response unit, we are all here for one reason, to help support two very upset Huskies on the day when they lay their loving son to rest.

Brandon looks at his watch and then looks back at the full room.

"Okay everyone, thank you for turning out today, now I know that I don't need to tell you that today is going to be hard for all of us, but that is going to be nothing compared to what Tyrone and Martha Atkins will be going through, now this is their day and I don't want anything to go wrong so let's keep things dignified, young Christopher deserves that much"

I look out of the office window and I can see that two large funeral cars have just pulled up outside, I look to Brandon and give a gentle nod, Brandon begins to lead us from the office and to our cars, Brandon and I will both be driving fully marked police cars, Brandon will lead the cortege while I will bring up the rear, both cars will have their lights flashing but no blaring sirens will be heard.

Once the cortege is ready I call Brandon over the radio, he then acknowledges my message and begins to slowly drive towards the church. We drive slowly through the streets of London, people in the streets all stop what they are doing and bow their heads as a mark of respect as we pass.

It truly is a measure of how hard this event has hit everyone, this kind of cortege is usually reserved when one of our own passes on, but for today Christopher is one of us, and so it is only right and fitting that he be given a proper service send off.

After half an hour the cortege turns into the driveway of the church, it then takes just five minutes to complete the journey. I stand ready with three of my fellow officers, Sergeant Cale, Captain Brandon James and Sergeant Matthew Wolf, ready to carry the young pup's coffin into the church.

The coffin is removed from the back of the car and is then lifted up onto the shoulders of four now very emotional officers. With everything now ready we lead the mourners into the church at a slow pace, Captain James calling out a slow cadence so that we all stay in step.

We continue our walk down the centre of the church; once we arrive at our destination we lower the coffin onto the stand and then respectfully walk back to our seats. As I walk past the first set of pews I look to my right and can see two crying Huskies, at this moment in time it is all I can do to stop my own tears from falling. We eventually find our seats and the service begins.

After twenty minutes the reverend hands the pulpit over to Brandon, who it seems has prepared something to say at the funeral, he stands at the pulpit and clears his throat; there is now silence once more.

"We are gathered here today to honour the untimely passing of Christopher Atkins. Christopher was I'm sure a loving and wonderful son, and I bet as with all teenagers he could also be a little bit of a handful at times, the thing is though, he had a long and wonderful life ahead of him, a life where I have no doubt he would have graduated from High School and maybe gone on to University, he would have probably had pups of his own in later life, but now through the actions of a few...I hate to use the word men for them, and so I will just call them things, so through the actions of 'things' none of Christopher's dreams will now come true. I stand before you now and I make this solemn oath, Christopher's death will not be in vain, even if it takes me a hundred years I will see to it that my team and I clean London's streets of the scum that dare to breath our air"

Brandon sniffs back a tear and takes a deep breath before continuing.

"On this day, young Christopher Atkins becomes an honorary police man, and as such he will be afforded a true hero's burial"

Brandon now completely breaks down at the pulpit and so I quickly run to him and lead him back to our seat. The reverend continues the service to its conclusion and then as our final act towards a fallen comrade my three colleagues and I carry the coffin slowly to its final resting place.

As the reverend says his final prayer, we finally lower the young Husky's coffin into the ground, we then stand back at a respectful distance and allow his family to say their final goodbyes.

Once everything is done, I stand by the side of my police car and wait for everyone to get ready to leave; as I wait Mr. and Mrs. Atkins come to me, Mrs. Atkins stands there for a few moments, her blood shot eyes boring deep into my soul, she then breaks and throws her arms around me which catches me completely off guard.

"Detective Hunter, you and the guys have made today a dignified and bearable one, I won't lie to you, but my faith in the police was seriously dented after the way we were treated by our local force, however, you have all earned the undying love and respect of both myself and my husband, you went above and beyond the call of duty with Christopher's funeral, I have also been told that it was you that rushed into that night club after the...shot that took my sons life was heard. You could have lost your own life in doing that but all you cared about was getting those poor children out of that place, I know that it means nothing coming from me but if it were up to me, you would so be getting a medal for your actions"

I'm sure that I am blushing profusely after hearing such praise, but for me I know that I don't do the job for praise, I do the job to try and rid the streets of London of as many lowlifes and as much scum as possible.