Ultimate Courage (True Heroes #2)(51)
“Time to work.” At his words, Souze’s posture changed from easygoing to alert.
It was a familiar phrase, one Rojas used at the beginning of every training session with Souze. It let the big dog know they were getting to serious business.
He and Souze made their way around the front of the building. At this time of the morning, there wasn’t a lot of foot traffic since most of the stores didn’t open for a couple more hours. But there were a few people walking along the main road and a few joggers.
The two of them walked the length of the row of cars, stopping at Elisa’s and cutting between the driver’s side of her car and the one next to it. Rojas paused, mimicking searching his pocket for keys as he let Souze sniff around the cars. The big dog put his nose to the ground, followed a scent trail practically under Elisa’s car and up the side of it.
Either the GSD had Elisa’s scent or the man who’d placed something on her car.
Rojas faked looking in the window of the car he was facing, doing his best to look like a man who’d locked his keys in his car, then led Souze away. They headed straight out of the parking area up to Revolution MMA and went inside as if they belonged. Because they did. And it was much more natural-looking than their not-friend snooping around the cars the previous day.
Stopping at the drink station, Rojas snagged a cup and let it fill with water. He wet his throat and then held the cup low for Souze. Summer heat was lingering even through the early fall and Souze’s nose would be more sensitive if the dog was well-hydrated. Besides, Rojas wanted to give anyone who might be watching time to relax somewhat after he’d been near the car.
After a few minutes, he and Souze went back out the rear entrance and swung around the shopping strip from the opposite direction.
“Such.” Rojas issued the command quietly, with a firm tone. The German word sounded like “tsuuk” where the K was almost silent. It was short, sharp, and Souze responded immediately.
The big dog moved ahead of Rojas, stretching the lead. Systematically, the dog moved in a zigzag across the sidewalk as he first scented the ground then lifted his nose to catch what he could on the air currents.
German Shepherd Dogs were extremely versatile and very good in a broad range of skill sets. Souze, in particular, had a good knack for scent work. Good enough for K9 or military if he didn’t have other behavioral issues holding him back. As it was, Rojas was glad he hadn’t completed Souze’s rehabilitation yet because the big dog was proving himself a real asset now and a solid companion.
They’d progressed at a slow walk about halfway to Revolution MMA when Souze froze. Rojas studied the way Souze kept his nose to the ground, staring intently at the pavement. The person in question had to have walked across the pavement here.
“So ist brav.” Souze responded to Rojas’s praise by relaxing from his frozen stance and dropping his lower jaw to let his tongue loll out.
Rojas took in their location, right in front of the entrance to a Cluck U. If he was a betting man, and he didn’t need to be to recognize a sure thing, he’d bet his target was conducting surveillance from a car of his very own and came into this place at least once to use the facilities and fuel up on grease-covered protein.
Not that he could blame the guy because the chicken strips were great and the wings could be amazing. Boom loved the potato wedges covered in melted cheese. And they had these fried dough things that could feed a hobbit for weeks.
Boom would’ve mentioned if she and Elisa had made a stop here, for sure, so he was certain he had the trail he was looking for now.
All right. They had a trail. Rojas didn’t want to spook his man until he’d had a chance to circle around and locate him, so he gave Souze’s lead a gentle tug and the two of them continued forward as if they were on a normal walk. Anyone watching them would probably assume Souze had paused at the smell of food like a normal dog.
As they walked, Rojas scanned the parking lot. More cars had arrived, mostly employees coming to open up the stores. There was one luxury sedan with tinted windows parked on the far side of a beat-up pick-up truck about midway down the aisle from the Cluck U. It was a straight path to the fast food place and back, minimum time away from his point of surveillance. Convenient.
First of all, no man owning such a nice car would park next to a truck whose owner obviously didn’t care about it when there were dozens of other parking spots to choose from. It was just asking to get dinged up, or its paint scratched, or worse.
Second, the tinted windows weren’t a thing in this area. A car with them stood out almost as badly as an ominous black SUV could.
Rojas took Souze out to the end of the strip mall and around the far end of the parking lot as if they were taking a lap around the perimeter. A couple of joggers had done the same thing. He kept his pace easygoing and casually kept his gaze on what was in front of him as they closed in. Keeping an eye on the car of interest was easy, too easy. He looked beyond the car for what was less noticeable. Once he found what he was looking for, he had Souze turn and head back across the expansive blacktop.
When the two of them came around, Rojas kept the beat-up pick-up truck directly in the line of sight to cover his approach.
When they got within a few yards, Rojas gave the track command again, “Such.”
Souze moved forward a step, maybe two, toward the luxury sedan and froze.
Positive confirmation.