War Dog

Chapter 49

"I must apologise, amigo." Alejandro caught my attention. "We have long had our eye on Gareth for some time, but he was always a low level drug dealer in our sights. We never... We did not expect you to walk in on that horror show." I saw Alejandro as he swallowed hard. "If we had known something else was happening, I would have given you a heads up."

"I believe you Ale. If you weren't investigating him as a high priority,  I could see how it would slip the surveillance when you have seemingly bigger fish to fry." Ale breathes a sigh of relief that I believe him. And I truly do. His scent had remained truthful. A low level drug dealer wasn't at the top of anyone's lists except the local police forces. Special forces would be significantly more interested in the boss of the boss of the boss of the boss of Gareth. Not Gareth himself. Probably a cartel helping run the drug market. 

"So, what do we do from here?" I asked hesitantly, really not wanting to go back to the house again.

"We are running through the photos of the documents that you gave us Pequeño Lobo. If there is anything useful, we will use that to get to the people you're after and hopefully it's the same people we're looking for. Either way, Pequeño Lobo, you have the support of the Los Vaqueros behind you. After sending you into that situation, it's the least we can do for you and Ghost."

"Thanks, Alejandro, it's appreciated. Let's see what can be found in those documents first and see if we can nail a few people to go along with him."

"Ghost is right, and we might get something on the mics if we leave it for a couple of days. This was always meant to be an Intel gathering mission, not an assassination." I don't like saying those words, we makes bile rise up my throat and I have to swallow down hard and push the visceral memory of the smell making its way into my mask.

A hand creeps along my back, rubbing soothing circles with the thumb. I glance at Ghost grateful for the anchor back to reality. My breathing evens back out again and I take a deep breath to steady my nerves.

"Pequeño Lobo, is this your first time experiencing something like that?" Ale asked, concerned.

"No. But it is the first time since I got enhanced senses. And it's the worst I've seen. Such slow decomposition. It was like he had a body of every stage down there." I shudder as the memory branded into my memory becomes brighter as I actively recalled and I shudder, feeling green underneath my fur.

"Please excuse me," I mutter feeling claustrophobic under the mask. I stand up and stride away from the table, the look in my eyes telling everyone in the way to move. I make it back to the room, the cold air not penetratiting through my layers of clothing. I rip Ghosts balaclava off, hyperventilating. My fingers clutch at my shirt, trying to undo the buttons, instead my clumsy attempts rip the shirt and I pull the sad remains up over my head and dropping them to the floor. The soft whoosh of the air-conditioning mixing with the sounds of my own blood thumping through my ears. My heart beat straining under the speed of the thumping. 

Arms wrap around me, pulling me in tight against a hard broad chest and the familiar scent of Ghost surrounded me. The scent of cigarettes and whiskey ever present regardless of what Soap he used. Today's flavour had been whatever the base supplied. Something like cold ice, that smelled so strongly of mint it burned my nose like freezer burn. 

He pulled me down to the ground, literally grounding me while he held on tightly, the pressure of his grip just on the wrong side of painful. He started talking. He was pointing out different colours and things he could see, drawing my attention to each item. He started pointing out things he could hear. The things he could smell. The things he could taste. He kept talking to me gently until the hyperventilating slowed and eventually stopped, and then he kept talking more, just rambling nonsense. The sound of his voice soft even with the growl of his rough accent reassuring me. Eventually, I fell asleep. Or passed out from sheer exhaustion. I stirred slightly as Ghost lifted me up cradling me to his chest as he placed me into the bed, but otherwise the next thing I knew I was waking up late the next morning.