War Dog

Chapter 43

"Pleasure to meet you, Cerianis." Kate Laswell stuck her hand out and I grasped her hand firmly in my own.

"Laswell, Ghost has told me a bit about you. It's a pleasure to meet you as well. I must ask though. what brings you all the way out to this Gods forsaken place?"

"Well, I'd flown into London when John received Soaps phonecall. So I decided to come up and supervise. Make sure John didn't kill anyone else in the process. I was here anyway, might as well make use of my time." She eyed me up and down, keen eye to attention not missing a beat, I bet. "You hide your physical attributes quite well. I would never guess if I didn't already know what to look for."

"Thanks. The wonders of modern clothing, masks and gloves can hide a lot. It's a bitch going through civilian airports though."

Kate laughed, a short burst of surprised sound. "I'm not surprised. Now, if any of these 141 brutes are giving you a rough time, let me know. I'll sort them out for you. Least I could do seeing as though I'm the one who set them on you."

"Don't give her the help, Laswell. Between the two of you, you'll beat all of us to a pulp and leave the building razed to the ground," Soap interjected with a mock irritated tone.

"Ah, so she's got you all figured out, eh Soap?" Laswell grins knowingly at him.

"Don't know what yer talkin' aboot Laswell."

"Of course not."

"Alright ladies. Get into the cars. It's time to go." Prices voice was quiet but commanding, instantly ceasing all chattering amongst us. Laswell hopped into Prices car while Soap and I jumped in Ghosts car, still seemingly waiting for him to join us.

"Wolf, where's your handler got to?" Price asked me in that gruff voice of his that indicated annoyance.

"No idea Price. He said he would just be a- there he is. Coming now."

"Where the bloody hell did you get to?" Price asked as Ghost made his way over to the car.

"Just reaffirming that no one messes with what belongs to me and gets away with it."

"Ghost," Price warned sternly.

"No, Price. He didn't get nearly enough to warrant what he did."

"Get in the car. We need to leave before they decide they want to keep us here for longer." Price stalked off towards the car Laswell had gotten into and Ghost got into ours and started the car up.

I leaned up against Soap who had decided to sit in the back with me instead of the front, my head resting on his shoulder. His arm wrapped around me and pulled the hood down to scratch behind my ears, my tail wagging lazily against the seat. 

"So, think we'll be invited back any time soon, L.T?"

"Negative. Don't care. Not like we've had any promising signs of recruits in all the times I've been out here, or Price either for that matter. We got what we came for; Wolfs ability to withstand torture is enough to buy us time to find her."

As Ghost spoke, Soap's arms squeezed tighter around me and I felt a slight shiver run through him. I pat his thigh gently to remind him that despite being temporarily dead, I was in fact still amongst the living.

"Did you really have to sit in the back, Johnny? I feel like a damn chauffer with the pair of ye in the back."

"Well you took your sweet ass time getting out to the cars, you could have ordered me to sit in the front but no, you had to go exact plans of revenge."

"It wasn't revenge."

"Oh yeah, what was it then?"

"A reminder."