Chapter 14 #2
Lyle sighed. “I know. But she isn’t helping me.
Knowing the truth so I can deal with it is a lot easier on me than her surprising me when something is wrong.
But you’re right. I need to put all that aside and enjoy the afternoon with my boyfriend.
” He sat up, and the dogs all jumped to their feet. “So let’s do something fun.”
“We can take them for a walk around the lake. It’s too cold to go swimming, but the water is beautiful.” He began packing up everything and closed the cooler, then carried the supplies to the car and placed them in the trunk.
AFTER A GOOD long walk that wore the dogs out, they left the park and drove back to Lyle’s. They put the dogs inside, and they immediately went to sleep out on the floor “What do you think?” James asked.
Lyle looked him deep in the eyes. “Will you kill me if I say that I want to drive to check out that area where we think the fights were happening?”
James checked the time. “It’s a little before four, and it will take about twenty minutes to get out there.
It will still be light enough.” He wasn’t sure this was a good idea, but if they could find some evidence that dogfights were taking place there, they could take everything they had to the police and let them handle it.
Right now all they had were suppositions and a case of breaking into a man’s truck to free dogs he had stolen.
“Then we should get going.” Lyle locked the door, and they hurried out to the car. Lyle paused behind the driver’s seat to kiss James. “Thank you for doing this. I know you think I’m nuts.”
“Maybe a little. But one way or another, hopefully this trip will tell us if that’s the dogfighting location.
” James met Lyle’s gaze. “You have to promise me that if we come up with nothing, you’ll let this whole thing go.
We have the dogs, and that puts us one ahead.
If there is nothing there, then we bring this to an end before someone gets hurt.
You must promise me and really mean it.”
“Okay. If there’s nothing there, we let it go. But if we do find something….” God, he was such a goof.
“Then we take it to the police. Get pictures of everything, leave it all untouched, and get the hell out of there. Agreed?”
“Yes,” Lyle said before pulling out of the parking spot.
He drove around town to avoid traffic, and they soon found themselves at the back access road.
It seemed quiet, so Lyle made the turn and they followed it to where they had pulled off before.
They neither met nor saw anyone. “What do you think?”
“Go the rest of the way, but make sure you turn around in case we need to get out fast,” James said, and Lyle nodded before continuing.
Maybe a tenth of a mile later, the road opened into a cleared area of grass that had been trampled by car tires and people. Lyle turned his car around, and they got out. “This has to be where they parked.”
“And the trampled grass leads over there,” Lyle said.
They hurried over and followed a path through some trees to another open area.
A depression had either been dug or was natural; it was hard to tell.
James took pictures as they neared it. He could just imagine dogs down there with a crowd of people around it.
Straw littered the ground in places, and he could almost see the ring of bales that might have made up the edge of the fighting ring.
“They used straw. That’s an easy way to get the ring built and torn down quickly.” He walked the edges, his nose wrinkling. “Gasoline over here. This must be where they had a generator for the lights.” He took more pictures.
“Look,” Lyle said softly, and James followed his voice to the far side.
“What is it?”
“They dug a trench,” he whispered. “I bet that’s where they….”
James groaned and took more photos. “They put the losers. Yeah. Let’s not disturb it. We need to check out the ring itself. See if you can find blood.” He inspected one half.
“Or maybe worse,” Lyle said, and James hurried over to where bits of dog skin, maybe from an ear, rested on the dirt. James took more pictures, and they continued looking. He took lots of pictures of everything just in case.
“Let’s get out of here. Now. It’s getting late, and we need to be away if this is a fight night.
” He headed for the car, and Lyle followed.
They drove back down the access road to the main street.
Lyle was just about to make the turn when a truck came up on them from the north. It was too close for him to turn.
The truck stopped and the window lowered. “What are you doing back here?” the driver demanded.
James went into the story they’d come up and he noticed that Lyle had his phone up, ready to dial for help. “We heard there was a pretty lake and a trail out to it, but that must have been misinformation. Is this your land? If it is, we’re sorry.” James was ready to tell Lyle to take off.
“Yeah, it’s my land.”
“We’re sorry,” James said. “You have a nice day.” Lyle made the turn once the truck backed up, and they headed down the road. The truck turned onto the access road, and James craned around to see if the driver decided to follow them.
“I don’t think he was happy that we were there. I wonder if he knows what’s been happening.” James wondered if he was ignorant of the goings-on or a part of it.
“He didn’t seem angry or anything, just curious. I suppose if he had been part of the dogfighting, he would have given us more trouble, and he’d likely have blocked us from leaving. I’m in the camp that he’s in the dark. But I suppose you never know.” He sighed. “So where to now?”
“The police department,” James said. “We have to turn over what we have and do it fast. Let them take it from here. I’m not going to confront these people.”
“I’m not either.” Once they reached town, Lyle turned toward the north side, drove to the police station, and parked in a visitor spot.
“Good. Remember, we say nothing about taking the dogs. Just tell them what you saw in the guy’s backyard. Nothing more.”
“Got it,” Lyle said, and they entered the station and went up to the desk.
“Can I help you?” an officer asked. James almost took a step back. The officer was huge and… well, intimidating as all hell. But he straightened his shoulders.
“Yes. I’m James Groves, and this is Lyle Summers. We have some information regarding a dogfighting ring in the area. This information includes the location of the fights, pictures, and at least one of the men who is doing the fighting. We need to speak with someone.”
The officer actually smiled. “That would be me.” His name tag said Redmond. “Officer Red Markham.” He pulled out a notebook. “What can you tell me? I’ve been on the trail of these fighters for two months.
“We have plenty,” James said.
Red called back for another officer to take his place at the desk. Then Red ushered them inside and into a conference room. “Why don’t we start with your names and contact information.” James provided his, and then Lyle did the same.
“We can show you on a map where the fighting has been happening,” James said, and then told Red the whole story. How the man came into the shelter, and how that raised their suspicions. Lyle provided the address of the fighter and the conditions of the dogs in his care.
“He was loading dogs in the back, fighting ones, so I called James and we followed him… here….” Lyle indicated on a map.
“We were just there a little while ago and took these pictures. We didn’t touch anything.
” James pulled out his phone and went through the images.
Lyle sat quietly and let him explain everything.
“We think this trench is where the losers were disposed of. The ground was soft, but we didn’t dig.
There is blood on the ground, and we found where we think they brought in a generator.
They spilled fuel. And they use straw to build the ring.
” He went through picture by picture. “I can send you all of these.”
“And you just came from there?”
“Yes,” James answered. “We wanted to see if there was anything there, and we did it during the day. The landowner approached us on the way out. We told him we were looking for a trail to a nonexistent lake and then left. I don’t know if he’s involved or not.
But he was in his seventies at least.” James felt like the world had been lifted from his shoulders.
Red seemed a little overwhelmed. “Okay. Is that all you have for me? I’ve been on the trail of these guys for months. Dogs have been disappearing all over town, and there have been rumors, but nothing more.”
“We don’t know how much longer they are going to use this site. If the owner isn’t in on it, he’s not going to be happy,”
“I can check to see if there have been any calls.” Red stood. “Thank you both. We’ll be looking into it.” He seemed sincere, but James wondered just how serious this was.
“You know these people steal dogs for training purposes.”
Red stood, his expression serious. “I do, and we’re going to get to the bottom of this. I don’t want to sound ungrateful, because I am, more than I can tell you. But honestly, the sooner you leave, the sooner I can get with my partner and check all this out.”
Lyle smiled. “Okay,” He extended his hand, and Red shook it.
“We just want this to end. Thank you for everything.” They left the conference room and went out to the car.
“I’m almost tempted to wait and see if they really do anything.
” He climbed inside as a car pulled out of the lot from behind the building.
“I think you have your answer,” James said as a second car followed. Red’s figure behind the wheel was unmistakable. “Let’s get home, okay? We’ve had a busy day, and I think we both deserve some quiet time.”
Lyle turned to him, eyes dark and deep. “And exactly what kind of quiet time did you have in mind.”