War Hawk: A Tucker Wayne Novel by James Rollins, Grant Blackwood Read Free Book Online Page B

strides down the driveway, then stepped off into a patch of oak trees. Kane kept to his heels as he dropped to one knee on a thick bed of damp leaves. He dug his night-vision monocle from a side pocket of his pack and panned it across the front of the house.
    He counted four motion-triggered spotlights along the eaves, all evidence that Sandy likely had an alarm system.
    But was it still operational?
    Time to find out.
    Twisting to the side, he powered up Kane’s comm system, then donned his headset. He palmed the shepherd’s cheek and pointed to the house.
    “S COUT ,” he whispered aloud, then circled a finger in the air. It was a command that Kane knew well: CIRCLE AND RETURN .
    Kane took off toward the dark house, running low, already sweeping wide to make a full pass around the grounds. Tucker had worked alongside other military war dogs. He knew their capabilities, but Kane outshone them all, with a tested vocabulary of over a thousand words and the comprehension of a hundred hand signals. And while Kane’s brain couldn’t interpret full sentences, he could string together words and commands to complete a linked sequence of commands. But best of all, after working in tandem since Kane was a pup, the pair had grown to read each other beyond any spoken word or motioned signal.
    They had come to trust each other implicitly.
    Tucker watched proudly as Kane swept over the lawn, a dark arrow through the warm night. He also noted that none of the motion lights activated as the shepherd passed.
    System must be off .
    Suspicions jangled through him.
    As Kane vanished around the corner of the garage, Tucker slipped his satellite phone into his hand. He thumbed on the feed from Kane’s night-vision camera. A bobbling, washed-out image of tree trunks flashing past appeared on the screen.
    When Kane reached the far side of the house, Tucker touched the microphone of his headset and sent a command to his partner’s earpiece: “S TOP .”
    Kane immediately obeyed, dropping down onto his belly. The shepherd kept his focus—and the camera’s—on the rear of the modern château.
    Tucker stared at the screen for several long breaths.
    All seemed quiet.
    “C ONTINUE ,” he ordered.
    Kane pads through the damp grass, angling around bushes and flowing through the deepest shadows. Ears stand tall, swiveling to every noise: the whir of insects, a distant feline hiss, the rumble of a car on a neighboring road. His nostrils flare with scents both familiar and strange in this new place.
    A squirrel darts from his passage, but he ignores the fire to give chase.
    He remains on the path given to him.
    He circles around the house and back into the woods out front. A faint breeze carries the tang of familiar sweat. He moves swiftly toward it. His body craves the warmth behind that scent, the promise buried there, of pack and home.
    He finally reaches his partner’s side.
    Fingers find his scruff and welcome him with their touch, with the dig of nails.
    He leans closer, nudging the other’s thigh with his nose.
    Together again .
    “Good boy,” Tucker whispered in both greeting and reward, acknowledging their partnership.
    With Kane panting lightly at his side, Tucker sat back on his heels and debated his next move. He had come here in the hopes of searching Sandy’s residence. With the house dark and the outside motion detectors off, it might be safe to proceed, but such a move was not without risk. Still, it wasn’t in his nature to lie back.
    “On me,” he finally ordered.
    Keeping close to the trees, he headed toward the rear of the house. During Kane’s surveillance, he had spotted a back door into the garage. He approached it cautiously, only to discover it was locked. But the door’s upper half was made of mullioned glass.
    Using a small penlight, he searched through the window for alarm wires and found none.
    Good enough .
    From his pocket, he withdrew a spring-loaded glass punch. He folded a bandana over its steel head