Underdogs The First Stories

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They had given back her clothes, which had been nice, but the handcuffs didn't make sitting in a car very comfortable. She was wearing a blindfold under a pair of wraparound sunglasses so it wouldn't look suspicious, other than the fact she was wearing sunglasses at dusk. She was in the cramped backseat of the Jeep pinned between the scary muscular woman and the smaller blonde. The blonde had a hand on the back of Dale's neck like a lover would, but the tension in her fingers was anything but affectionate.

The Jeep came to a stop and Dale was hauled out of the car like a bag of laundry. Her feet tripped over unfamiliar terrain, but the beefy woman kept her from falling over. She smelled a thick, unpleasant smell that she couldn't place and wondered how three canidae were able to stand it with their stronger senses.

She heard a lock being released and then chains fell to the ground. "In here," the redheaded leader said. She tried to place them from Ari's report she had typed up that morning. The leader was obviously Sadie. The blonde was Beck, she was pretty sure, and the other woman had to be Pen. Dale was shoved forward and the ambient light seeping around her glasses and blindfold disappeared entirely as she was taken inside.

"Can I ask a question?"

"Why not." Sadie's voice was flat.

"Which of you did Ari f*ck? Pen doesn't really seem her type, so I'm thinking it was you and--"

Someone punched her in the stomach and Dale went down. She wasn't proud of the sound she made, or the face that she immediately started to cry. She was unaccustomed to pain, and to be hurt by someone who truly meant to do you harm was worse than she could have imagined. She wondered how Ari had dealt with it earlier as she sobbed and tried to hold her stomach.

"I can't believe you two," Pen grumbled, keeping her voice low.

"Mind your business, Penelope," Sadie said. She knelt down and slipped something around Dale's neck. She heard it click, and felt two metal prongs against her throat. "Say your name."

"Dale Fr--" Dale's entire body convulsed as an electric charge pulsed through her body. She dropped from a kneeling position to lie prone on the floor, twitching as the last remnants of the current passed through her. She gasped, reaching up to touch what she now knew was a shock collar. Her fingers trembled as she felt the latch.

"Go ahead," Sadie said. "Call for help as much as you want. Someone's bound to hear you if you yell loud enough."

Dale's hands were chained to something sturdy and she was left on the floor again. The trio left the room and Dale heard the locks being fastened again. She pressed her face against her upper arm, too frightened to even cry for fear of setting off the shock collar again.

Hurry, Ari. I don't know how much more of this I can take.





#





It was night before Ari got back to the office. She dumped everything she'd gotten from Sadie's house onto the couch so she could go through it later. She was feeling ragged, rushed. She dropped behind her desk and turned on the computer. While it booted up, she began sorting through her treasure trove of Sadie's possessions. She was thumbing through a ledger when there was a quiet knock on the door. She realized she'd left the main door of the office standing open and cursed herself as she spun to face the intruder.

Natalie's eyes widened when she saw the state Ari was in. "Whoa. Big case?"

"What are you doing here?" She went to her laptop.

"I was looking for Dale. She's not answering her phone." She stepped into the office. "Is everything okay? You look kind of frantic."

Ari laughed without humor and rubbed her knuckle against one eye. "Yeah. That's as good a word as any. Dale is, uh... Dale is..." She drummed her fingers against the desk, wavering between lies and the truth. She remembered what Dale had told her about their last date. "Dale's in trouble, Natalie. And I'm doing everything in my power to get her safe."

"What kind of trouble? What's... I mean, is it something to do with the... uh..."

Ari looked at her and waited for the words to form.

"Don't be angry at her. Dale didn't betray you. But it's kind of obvious if you know what to look for. My father was an alcoholic."

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

Natalie said, "It's okay. I know what you're going through."

Ari straightened. "You really don't. I'm not an alcoholic, and I don't have any drug problems. Dale is in very serious danger, so if you don't mind..."

Natalie stared at her for a moment and then said, "Tell me what happened."

"I couldn't begin to explain it all to you. Please, just trust me, okay? I'm not going to let anything happen to Dale."

"How can I trust you? Whatever happened, Dale is in trouble because she works here. How could you let someone--"

"Let someone?" Ari's voice was almost a growl. "You've known her for two months? How dare you talk to me like I'm some bad influence? How dare you act like you care about her more than I do? I loved Dale a long time before you came along. Don't stand there and glare at me like you're going to hurt me if something happens to her, because if it comes to that, I'll fall on my own sword long before you get a chance to do anything. Dale is my best friend. She's the only family I have in this world. So you can be damn sure I'm going to pull out all the stops getting her back. Or die trying."

Natalie backed away. "I'm calling the police."

"Do that and she dies for sure. Just let me do what I have to do. I'll get her back."

"How?"

Ari started to admit she had no idea, but then she took in Natalie's outfit. Under her leather jacket, she was wearing pale blue scrubs. "You have nitrous."

"I have what?"

"In your office. You have nitrous oxide."

Natalie started to back away. "You're insane."

"It's for Dale. I just need one tank to even the odds a little bit. Please. I'm going in there with nothing to beg for the life of my best friend. I need this. Don't do it for me, do it for Dale. Let her see what you're willing to do to keep her safe."

"That's not fair."

"Nothing about this is fair," Ari said, her voice breaking. "I realize what I'm asking you to do, but I'm asking anyway. I'm begging."

They stared at each other until Ari's phone started to ring. She didn't break eye contact as she answered. "What?"

"I'd watch my tone if I were you, Ariadne." Sadie's voice was trembling with anger. "I see you dropped by. If I'd known you would be here, I would have stuck around to greet you properly."

"Let me talk to Dale." Natalie stepped closer to the desk.

"No snide comeback? Please, Ariadne, that's the thing I liked most about you. That quick wit and your devil may care attitude. Have you given any thought to how you're going to get my money? You have less than twenty-four hours now. Even taking the easy route of stealing you're going to have to hustle to get that much money."

"I'm getting your money now. I won't need the full twenty-four hours."

"Really."

"I'm not going to let you hold Dale for an entire day, damn it. I'm getting the money together now and I want to end this as soon as possible. Let me talk to Dale."

"That's not possible. We moved her to a safer location. Looks like we did it just in time, too. You'd better not be playing games, Ariadne. I am deadly serious about what I'll do to her if you cross us again. You won't find any of us in a very forgiving mood."

Ari was staring at Natalie across her desk. "Cut the scare tactics and tell me where to meet you."

"You want to end this tonight, fine. Do you know where the NEST Landfill is?"

Ari typed it onto her laptop. "I'll find it."

"Be there at two tomorrow morning. That should give you enough time to accrue the rest of your money. We'll make the exchange there. Come alone, come unarmed."

Ari looked at the clock. She had six hours. "That shouldn't be too difficult. I want proof of life before I hand over any money."

"Of course. This is just business, after all."

"Right." Ari hung up and resisted the urge to hurl the phone at the wall.

Natalie finally found her voice. "Tell me what's going on."

"They have Dale. They want half a million dollars for her. I'm willing to hand it over." She did a search and found the landfill in Northeast Seattle. Then she did a second search, looking for a name. When she found it, she copied down the information and folded the paper. She slipped it into her pocket and looked at Natalie. "The nitrous. If you want to just turn your back, I can break in and take it myself."

"No. How much..." She shook her head. "I only have a couple thousand in saving. A few hundred more in my checking account. Let me try to--"

"I'm not paying them," Ari said.

Natalie blinked at her. "They'll kill Dale."

"That's not what they threatened..."

"What, then? Maim? Torture? Rape? If they want money, then let's go get it..."

"We're meeting them at two in the morning. You know any banks that have really lax security? No? Then they're not getting their half mil."

Natalie blocked Ari when she tried to leave. She grabbed Ari's arm and squeezed. "You're toying with her life."

"Never. If I walk into that landfill with five hundred grand, I'm not leaving in one piece. I'll wind up in the trunk of some car, and Dale's body will be buried right next to mine. I'm not the one playing games. They want me running around thinking about this money. I'd be an idiot to take them at their word. Right now, Dale has until the deadline. I plan to use every second coming up with a strategy to get the upper hand."

"And you just cut your planning time in half."

"I cut down the time Dale will have to spend in whatever hellhole they've shoved her into. Get your hand off of me."

Natalie let her go.

"Look at me, Dr. Regan. Do you honestly thing I'll walk out of there without Dale? Either we both survive tonight, or I die along with her. And I would really, really like a tank of nitrous oxide to help level the playing field a little bit."

Natalie reached into the pocket of her sweater and pressed a key into Ari's palm. "In the back supply room. The big blue tanks. Be careful. It's heavy."

"Thank you." Ari turned and began gathering the things she'd taken from Sadie's house.

"If she gets hurt, I'm going to come find you to make you pay."

Ari sighed. "If she gets hurt, you won't have the chance."





#

Ari got the nitrous from Natalie's office and carefully loaded them into the backseat of her car. She found an all-night ATM and took out two hundred dollars, then repeated the withdrawal at different machines. When she had a few thousand dollars, she started hitting bars. She exchanged twenties for singles whenever she could, taking the occasional five or ten. When she was finished, she had a Hefty bag full of small bills that hung like it was full of a lot more. She stuffed that into the backseat and drove back to Lake City.

The NEST Landfill was on the west side of the neighborhood. Ari drove the perimeter a few times until she spotted Beck's yellow Jeep in the parking lot. She parked well away from the Jeep and grabbed her things from the backseat. She had changed into a baggy white T-shirt, vest and torn jeans. She had her hair pulled back into a ponytail to keep it out of her eyes and keep her peripheral vision clear.

She had a large duffel bag that concealed the nitrous tank, and she had it strapped to her back so she could carry the bag of money and keep one hand free. The section of the landfill she was in was home to a multitude of discarded appliances, cars in varying states of decay. Ari scanned her surroundings as she walked, not eager for a sneak attack from Pen. She reached a clearing with a small wooden shack at the far end of it. Portable lights had been set up and Ari knew she'd reached her destination.

Ari dropped the bag of money and slipped the duffel bag straps off her shoulders. She gauged the wind and opened the tank. Then she pushed the bag over, letting the wind carry the fumes away from her. "All right, I'm here." She turned in a slow circle and searched the now imposing towers of refuse all around her. "I'm a little early, but hopefully you won't hold that against me."

"Not at all." Ari turned and saw Sadie coming out of the shack. She had a gun held down by her side, but Ari knew she would be able to draw it in the blink of an eye. "I like promptness. You really would have made an excellent addition to our pack."

Ari heard footsteps on the gravel behind her, but she didn't turn. "Pen, go join Sadie over there. I don't want you behind me."

"Yeah. I bet you don't." Pen hesitated but, after a slight nod from Sadie, circled her and walked toward the other side of the clearing. She lifted her head and looked back at Ari as she walked. "What's that smell?"

"You're standing in the middle of a landfill. You really have to ask?"

"Enough games. Did you bring what I asked for?"

Ari shook her head. "No."

Sadie brought the gun up. "My mistake. I thought you liked Dale."

"Oh, I love Dale. I didn't bring what you wanted. I brought what you needed." She opened the bag with her money and took out a leather-bound ledger. She held it up so they could see it in the light. "Recognize this? Really stupid to leave one of these ledgers lying out when you have a guest in the house." Sadie's eyes widened in recognition. "I knew that you would take Dale with you if I forced you out of the house this afternoon. But I wasn't after her. I wanted these ledgers." She opened it and flipped pages. "Nice details. What did you say your boss was called? Vicki? Think she would be upset if she found out you guys had skimmed, ah..." She flipped to the back. "A hundred grand, judging from this book. I think she might be a little annoyed at all of you. Be a shame if someone told her."

"You don't know--"

"I'm talking. I said it would be a shame if someone were to drop by Victoria Fennick's home and drop off a few of these ledgers. Or put them in a package addressed to her home in Mount Baker, or her offices in Beacon Hill. Packages that are set to go out unless I call them before eight tomorrow morning and stop them."

Pen laughed and Sadie twisted to look at her. She turned back to Ari and glared. "You just killed your friend."

"No. You asked me if Dale's life was worth half a million dollars to me. She is worth so much more. She is worth your life, and Pen's, and Beck's. I will destroy all three of you if Dale is even scratched. I'll bury you all. Now put down the damn gun and go get my friend."

"I think you need to stop making demands, wolf." Ari and Sadie both turned toward Beck's voice. She came in from a second entrance, the barrel of her gun pressed against the soft flesh under Natalie's chin. Beck smiled. "Who is this lovely young thing? Your backup? Was she supposed to cover you with that peashooter she had in her car?" She sniffed Natalie's neck and said, "She smells like the redhead. Maybe Sadie and I weren't the only threesome you've had recently. Hand over the ledger, Ariadne."

Ari tossed the ledger she had been holding into the center of the clearing. She was inwardly cursing herself for saying the name of the landfill out loud while Natalie was in the room. "You shouldn't have followed me, Natalie."

Sadie moved forward and picked up the ledger. "Where are the others?"

"Give me Dale."

"You're negotiating for two now," Beck said. "Unless you want to take Dale home and let us take care of this little inconvenience for you. What do you say? You and Dale, mourning together? Falling madly in bed." Beck's lips split in an insane grin. "It might be kind of sweet, actually."

"Oh, my God." Pen was almost in hysterics. Tears were streaming down her face as she pointed at Natalie. "She's a dentist."

Sadie said, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Laughing gas," Beck and Pen said at the same time.

Over the next few seconds, all hell broke loose.

Sadie and Beck both aimed their guns at Ari.

Natalie, freed from gunpoint, balled both hands into fists and twisted at the waist to bury her elbow in Beck's stomach.

Beck went down, firing blindly at some point between Ari and Natalie.

Natalie nearly fell but scrambled to the relative safety of one passageway between towers of trash.

Ari dropped to all fours and began to transform, while Sadie and Pen did the same.

Transforming while clothed was like trying to run inside a sleeping bag. While the cotton tried to retain the form of a typical human, the body within it was shifting, shrinking and rearranging in a violent progression. Ari kicked her jeans away with canine legs, shaking her fur in a futile attempt to get the T-shirt off. Fortunately it was big enough that it didn't impede her movement.

Pen, in full boxer form two full seconds before Ari's transformation was done, raced across the clearing. Ari twisted to face her and ducked at the last second. She scooted under the bulk of Pen's body and bucked upward, knocking Pen off her trajectory. She landed in a heap behind Ari, who was already racing across the space toward Sadie. They collided in an explosion of brown and red fur, Ari raising on her hind legs as she swiped at Sadie's face with her forepaws.

Beck came from the right and viciously bit Ari's back leg. Ari yelped and felt blood on her fur, but she just dropped her hips and kicked with both back legs. She caught Beck on the chin and knocked her aside, a part of her brain realizing that the three of them were mimicking the position they had taken the night before.

Ari's back foot had cut open part of Beck's snout, and blood darkened her muzzle as she went in for another attack. Ari closed her teeth around Sadie's throat but didn't bite down. It was just a warning, a threat of what she could do if she wanted to. Call them off.

We'll tear you and your friend both to pieces.

Ari tightened her jaw and felt the points of her teeth sinking into soft flesh.

Get back, Sadie thought loud enough that it was like a spike in Ari's brain. Pen and Beck growled as they backed away. Ari saw her blood on Beck's muzzle, mingled with her own blood from the cut next to her nose.

Dale. Dale. Dale. It was all Ari could think, and she knew the message was getting through because Sadie began to back away.

Ari stayed with her, growling as she kept her jaw closed around Sadie's throat. It forced them to move awkwardly, Ari occasionally tripping over her hind legs as she backed toward the small shack. She turned her head as much as she could and saw Beck following at a safe distance. Pen was lagging behind, her head down as she brushed her snout with her front paws and sneezed as the gas continued to affect her functions.

The gas was starting to diffuse in the open air, but Ari could still smell it. They reached the shack and Sadie bumped the door open with the top of her head. It swung open and Ari looked inside. Dale was sitting on the floor, her hands cuffed to a wooden support beam. She was wearing a collar, and she sat up straighter when she saw who was at the door.

Ari let go of Sadie's throat to bark a greeting, unable to restrain her happiness as seeing Dale relatively uninjured.

"Ar--" It was all Dale could get out before she cried out in pain. Her body bowed and her hands fought the cuffs in an attempt to grab at the collar and pull it away from her skin. The reason for Dale's warning was Pen, who closed her jaws around Ari's tail and dragged her back out of the cabin. Ari yelped and twisted onto her back to see droplets of blood fall from Pen's mouth. Beck pounced on Ari, knocking the wind from her.

Sadie got to her feet and raced into the cabin, baring her teeth as she ran straight for Dale.

Ari panicked. Her transformation was half over before she realized it had started, and she rolled onto her hands and knees and ran for the fox. Sadie opened her mouth wide, saliva glistening on her fangs as she lunged for Dale's exposed foot.

Ari clubbed Sadie on the head, and the fox went down heavy and hard. Beck slammed into Ari from behind and the three of them fell, rolling with Sadie wrapped in her arms and Beck clinging to her back. Ari slammed Beck against the wall, her hands closed around Sadie's muzzle as she fought to get free.

Pen stalked toward Dale. Dale had pushed herself back up into a sitting position, recovered from her electrocution if a little foggy. She kicked with one foot and caught Pen on the muzzle, but Pen just shook it off. She closed her jaw around Dale's ankle.

The room became extremely still. Ari felt Beck's teeth digging into her skin, felt the blood drip. So far Pen hadn't bitten hard enough to draw blood, hadn't started the procedure. Ari licked her lips and released Sadie. Sadie slid away from Ari, shook her fur, and moved across the floor to where Dale was sitting.

The weight of Beck sitting on her was becoming uncomfortable. Sadie transformed back into her human form, rolling her neck. She was naked save for her tattered underwear and blouse. She looked between Dale and Ari. "Well. It was an admirable attempt, but look where we are. Right back where we started. Tell us how to stop the ledgers from going out, and I'll tell Beck to kill you slowly."

Beck growled; she obviously wasn't keen on that deal.

"Let Dale go now. Right now. And we'll discuss it."

Ari was shaking her head.

Sadie nodded to Pen, who released Dale's foot and backed slowly away. Once she was a safe distance from Dale, too far to lunge and bite her again, Ari reached back and grabbed a handful of Beck's pelt. She flung herself forward like she was going to do a somersault and tossed Beck over her. Beck's nails tore Ari's skin and blood flowed freely down her back, but she didn't stop to focus on the pain. As Beck tumbled through the air, Ari staggered forward and tackled Sadie. They hit the ground as Beck landed on Pen, and the two canidae yelped and twisted as they tried to get away from each other.

The door to the shack opened and Natalie stepped inside. "What the... God in..."

"Get Dale," Ari said. "Get the collar off of her and don't let anyone bite her."

Natalie stepped around Pen and Beck, whose canidae minds had taken over and caused them to start grappling. Ari only had seconds before they came back to their senses. She grabbed a handful of Sadie's short red hair and held her still before headbutting her. The impact left them both dazed, but Sadie was worse off. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she went limp. Ari looked up as Natalie got Dale's hands free and the two of them started for the door.

Beck twisted and snapped at Dale's leg as she walked past.

Dale kicked her in the head.

"Dale! What--" Natalie twisted toward Ari in time to see her transformation begin. She screamed as she watched Ari's skin ripple and tear, becoming thicker and haired as she crouched on top of Sadie's limp body. Dale pushed Natalie out into the fresh air. She shut the door behind her, the latch clicking with a sense of finality.

Ari, fully wolf now, looked at the two dogs scowling at her from the door. Just us bitches now.

Beck and Pen got to their feet and Ari climbed off Sadie's body and backed into the corner. She bared her teeth in a snarl as she thought about what they had planned to do to Dale. Behind them, she saw Sadie roll over onto her stomach and touch her forehead. It would only be a matter of seconds before she was recovered enough to transform into the fox again. Ari had that long to end the fight with the shepherd and boxer before the odds got even worse.

Bring it on.

The dogs howled as they pounced on her.