Page 19 of Refuge for Flora

Radio P

Baton P

Pepper spray P

Cable tie restraints (10) P

Vest P

Snake boots P

Kevlar gloves P

Catch poles (6) P

Jumbo dog crates (6) P

Animal control would take the dogs, but he had a feeling he and the other KDFWR officers would wind up carting off the coyotes. Animal control wasn’t going to touch them. He’d talked to Kirby, and there was a veterinarian from the college who’d be there to euthanize the coyotes after they’d removed them, because releasing them after they’d been held by a human just wasn’t possible. Who’d get the job of digging holes and burying them? Oh, he was pretty sure they’d have to do it. Nobody else would.

A staging area off HardmoneyRoad had been chosen and from there, it was just a mile to the site. They’d meet the deputies at the base of the hill ten minutes before the bust would go down. He’d been sitting there for about five minutes, totally engrossed in a video of two bikini models, when the truck door opened without warning and Kirby appeared in the doorway. “Son of a bitch! Scared the shit out of me!” Barrett yelled, his handgun drawn.

“Holy fuck, put that thing away! I didn’t mean to startle you.” Kirby climbed up into the seat and closed the door. “I put my crates in the back of your truck. Catch poles too. Can we take it?”

“Sure.”

“Yeah. I forgot to fill mine up.”

For the love of god, this is the ignorance I have to deal with, Barrett grumbled in his mind. Kirby was a good officer, but sometimes he was clueless. “Who’s dealt with the booby traps?”

Kirby’s eyes went wide. “Somebody’s dealt with the booby traps?”

“Are you shitting me?” Barrett keyed up his mic. “Central dispatch, this is KDFWR unit four twelve. Advise on MCSD units in my area. HardmoneyRoad. Over.”

“Unit four twelve, this is central. MCSD units fifteen eighty and nine eighty-four. Copy?”

“Roger. Copy that. KDFWR unit four twelve to MCSD unit fifteen eighty. Copy?”

“Roger that, KDFWR four twelve.”

“Hey, anybody deal with the discouragement devices on site? Over.”

“Roger. Sweep was done at midnight last night. Over.”

“Copy that. And you’re confident? Over.”

“Roger.”

“Unit four twelve standing by.”

“Roger that, unit four twelve. Central dispatch, out.”

Barrett sat back in the truck’s leather seat and tapped his lip with his thumb out of pure nervousness. If there was just one booby trap they hadn’t found, he or Kirby could be walking into a disaster. “You watch. If they ask?”

“KDFWR unit four twelve, this is MCSD unit nine eighty-four. You taking lead on this? Over.”

Barrett shook his head as he glared at Kirby. “Yep. I knew it. Fuck that shit.”

“Yeah. Fuck that shit.” Kirby reached for his own mic. “MCSD unit nine eighty-four, this is KDFWR unit seven twenty-five. Unit four twelve is here with me. That’s a negative. MCSD units will have to lead. Repeat, MCSD units will have to lead. As this is primarily drug-related, we’ll be taking the lead on the canines. This agency will not be making arrests. Repeat?this agency willnotbe making arrests, detaining suspects, or performing an investigation. Our function, as we understood it, was to take possession of any and all canines on the property and make proper dispensation of same. Per our superiors, that is our only function in this operation. Over.” Kirby rolled his eyes. “Well, they’ll be pissed now.”