To Tame The Soul 3.

By Wolfie Steel.

Once I arrive home I head into the kitchen to begin my task of cooking my dinner, well I guess a microwave ready meal is not actually cooking, but when you are a loner like me the meals serve you well, no point in spending good money on a full fridge and freezer when there is only one mouth to feed.

Working for the Vixen and her son has been very taxing on my energy, but has also been rewarding, the thought that I am giving something back to the community does give me a sense of pride. Who knows maybe one day I will admit certain things about my life, you see there is a reason behind the fact that I was once a bully.

The fact of the matter is that I am a closet gay, I know that many of you will say something like “Oh yeah there is a surprise” but the truth is that I am gay and I am still alone, well who would want a re-formed bully as a lover right?

I’m brought out of my thoughts by the ping sound from my microwave, I open the door and remove the steaming contents and close the door, I serve my meal and head towards the living room where I will sit in my arm chair watching the news while eating my meal for one.

As I sit there something strange happens, the image of the Husky begins to filter into my mind while I am not asleep, I begin to think about ways of finding out who the Husky is, I need to know who he is because the guilt of what I did all those years ago is something that I find I can no longer live with. I am not getting any younger, there are more years behind me than there are ahead of me and I need closure, I need to know that I have made peace with the Husky before I finally slip my leash of life.

The sound of a ringing phone destroys my thoughts and so I put down my now empty plate and head towards the side table where my phone rests, I lift the handset from the cradle and answer the call.

“Caldwell Services, Lance Caldwell speaking how may I help?”

On the other end of the line is the sound of a shaky male voice.

“M...Mister Caldwell, thank god I have managed to call when you are home. M...My name is David Lowe and I live in London, normally I don’t need to call guys like you because I usually have a happy and safe life, but right now I am desperate, I think that somebody is trying kill me, or at least drive me to suicide...Please, I...I need your help”

I look at my watch and see that it is 9:30pm, normally I would get the guys address and then visit him first thing in the morning, but something in his voice is telling me that he might not be around in the morning.

“Okay Mister Lowe, calm down, please tell me your address and I will come to meet you”

There is a small pause before he speaks again.

“But sir, it is 9:30pm; surely you won’t come and see me tonight”

I let out a gentle sigh as I reply.

“Mister Lowe, in my line of work I find that I don’t keep 9 to 5 hours, an assassin won’t look at his watch at 5pm and call it a night, he works through the night until he has accomplished his goal, and so I must do the same, at the moment I can hear fear in your voice and I know that it is true fear, you fear for your life, so tell me where you live and I will be there as soon as I can”

The guy gives me his address; it is in a part of London that I know all too well. I know that I am a fifteen minute drive away.

“Mister Lowe, I want you to lock all your doors and windows, and don’t answer the door to anyone until I get there, you will know it is me because I will push one of my business cards through your mail box”

The guy acknowledges my instructions and then hangs up the phone. I replace my phone handset in the cradle and head to my gun cabinet, normally I leave my gun in the cabinet, but tonight I decide to take it with me, and then if it all kicks off at least I will have some protection.

I head out to my car making sure that the house is locked up tight before I leave. Fifteen minutes later and I pull into a parking space fifty yards away from the guys’ house; I check that my gun is loaded and that the safety is on before I get out of the car.

I head towards the guys’ house, my eyes and ears scanning the area for any signs of danger, once I arrive at the door I knock gently upon it and then slip one of my business cards through the mail box, the door opens slightly, just enough for me to squeeze through the gap and into the house.

“Now shut the door and lock it”

The door is closed and a myriad of locks and dead bolts are applied, I look the guy over, what I see is a tall and lithe greyhound, he is shivering all over and it isn’t from the temperature.

“Now then Mister Lowe, what makes you think that you are being targeted by some body?”

He leads me into the dark living room where we sit on the couch; he then begins to outline his story.

“It all started the day before yesterday, I reversed my car out of the driveway so that I could travel to work, I hit the brakes to stop my reverse but there was nothing there, I ended up reversing into a wooden fence post, fortunately no real damage was done as I wasn’t going that fast, and so I came back into the house and called for a tow truck to collect my car to take it to the garage to be repaired”

He takes a shaky breath and continues his story.

“And then yesterday I had this note come through my mail box”

The Greyhound hands me a piece of paper, I open it out and find a standard death threat note, bits of newspaper and magazine cut up to form the words “Lowe you bastard, your time is near”

There is now no doubt in my mind that the Greyhound is the intended target, he then continues.

“Well, yesterday afternoon I got a call from the garage where my car had been taken, apparently they tell me that my brake lines had all been cut... I just wonder what will happen next? Will the guy continue until I’m dead or will he just simply give up?”

I gently shake my head.

“I’m afraid guys like this tend to keep going until their target is out of the picture”

I pull my automatic pistol from my shoulder holster, the Greyhound looks visibly shocked at this, and so I try to ease his nerves.

“As a rule I don’t carry my pistol with me, the fact that I have brought it here is testament to how serious I’m taking this threat on your life, let me reassure you sir, I may not use the gun very often, but when I do, I never miss. Now I know that you haven’t slept in two days so I want you to go to bed and have a good sleep, I will sleep down here on the couch with my gun at my side. I am a very light sleeper, so no one will get into the house without me hearing it”

I can tell that the Greyhound is still a little unsure, but he eventually nods and heads off to bed. I take up my position on the couch and begin to sleep. I have been asleep for about an hour when my ears pick up a sound, the sound is almost like someone is trying to get in through the rear door of the property.

I quietly stand from the couch and release the safety catch on my pistol, I creep towards the living room door, and using it as cover I slowly peek around the door and look towards the rear entrance. The sound is louder now and my original suspicions are confirmed, someone is trying to gain entrance.

Suddenly the door opens and standing in the doorway is a large figure, with the limited light I can just make out that it is some kind of Horse, what I can see clearly though is the fact that the guy has a large knife, the moonlight catches the blade and  it glints in the darkness.

I silently stand clear of my cover and point my pistol directly at the Equines head, while my free paw fumbles for the light switch. I find the switch and flip it on which surprises the Horse greatly, but not as much as the fact that he is facing an automatic pistol.

“Okay hoss, you got ten seconds to drop the knife and kick it over to me”

At first the Horse stands his ground, but then I begin my countdown and I get to eight and he finally drops the knife and kicks it to my foot paw, using my foot paw I kick the knife behind me.

“That’s probably the cleverest thing that you have done in a while”

I stand next to the Horse and point my gun at his head at point blank range.

“Okay now start walking into the living room and be warned, don’t try anything stupid because at this range when I pull the trigger you will die”

The Horse lets out an audible gulp as he begins to walk towards the living room. Once we enter the room I flip on the lights and motion for the Horse to take a seat which he does without question. The commotion has woken up the Greyhound and he is now standing in the doorway looking with shock at the Horse.

“What the hell, Trevor what are you doing here?”

I look at the Greyhound and reply.

“So you know this guy?”

The Greyhound looks at me and nods.

“I should do, I have worked with him for five years”

I walk into the kitchen and pick up the knife that the Horse had dropped, I then take it back into the living room and show it to the Greyhound.

“Well I think you need new workmates my friend because this one just forced his way into the rear of your house while holding this knife, I think it is pretty obvious that he was going to do you some damage”

The Greyhound looks back at the Horse as if looking for some kind of explanation, the Horse sighs as he knows that he will end this visit in a prison cell.

“Okay you want to know why I came after you and why I cut your brakes and sent you that letter, well here is the reason, you took the promotion at work that I was pretty much counting on and so I just flipped and wanted you out of the frame so that I would get the position”

David stares deeper at the Horse as he makes his reply.

“You did all of this because of a job, for the love of god was it worth it?”

As the two guys talk amongst themselves I take out my cell phone and dial the number for the police. After making the call I put my phone away.

“Well Mister Lowe, I will wait until the police arrive and then I will take my leave and head home, I will send you an invoice for my time”

The Greyhound just nods his head in acceptance. Five minutes later and the police are at the front door, I answer the door to give them access and I hand the knife to the officer in charge. I then head back to my car and slip away into what is left of the night.