Book 1 Chapter 5

                                    

                                          

The Gathering of the Clans
Book 1 Chapter 5
Ian and Kyle's House
Nathan put Callum down in his playpen. "Well, Shane what do you say to a round of catch and tickle a kid?" Shane grinned widely "I like that game and this room has plenty of kids." They exchanged a look and took off chasing the boys, much to the boy's delight, tickling each one they caught only to let go of him and catch the next one.  "Wait! Wait! Did you hear that Shane?   Shane stopped tickling Evan and listened. The sound grew louder as more of the boys quieted. Screaming was coming from the backyard.
"Boys stay here!" Nathan and Shane ran from the room passing Michael climbing a chair by the fireplace. They burst out the back door to a terrifying scene. A dog covered in blood had Kyle pinned on his back. Kyle's hands were on each side of the dog's face frantically holding the dog back from attacking his face and neck.
The dog was growling and snapping at Kyle's face lunging forward with her hind legs pushing Kyle across the ground further and further from the safety of the house. Kyle was kicking his legs furiously as he fought to get the dog off of him. His arms ran with blood from the dog clawing at his arms with her front paws trying to get his arms out of the way of her attack. She lunged and came away with a mouth full of hair ripped from the side of his head and he screamed.
Nathan grabbed the heavy porch broom from beside the door and ran off the porch. He swung the broom handle hard at the dog's side lifting the dog off Kyle and sending it rolling. "Shane get Kyle to the house!"Shane rushed forward and tried to help Kyle up while pulling him towards the house as fast as he could.
Shane's hands kept slipping in the blood on Kyle's arms as Kyle's feet slipped on the grass. The dog got up slowly and turned back towards Kyle and Shane. A shot rang out and half of the dog's head disappeared spraying the sheets and the three men with blood. Stunned they turned to find Michael standing on the back porch, Kyle's rifle in his hands. "The next time Ian says everybody stays inside, Nobody... Argues! Everybody... Stays... Inside!"
The Pines Motel
The Sunset and the Pines Motels were right next to each other and shared a parking lot so the men decided to tackle the two of them together. They divided into two groups. Mason flipped a coin and Dan's group had the Pines Motel and Ian's group had the Sunset Motel.
Dan was rarely angry but this was one of those times. "What the hell do you mean you burned the registry?" Maxine had taken a hammer to her computer. Maxine Beasley was 50 years old with an upswept hairdo from her glory years in 1978 as a young woman. It was so bright a blonde you knew it came out of a bottle and not from nature. She was wearing a deep purple tracksuit, white sneakers with purple and silver glitter laces, smoking a cigarette, and obviously drunk.
"Don't you know it's in the Bill of Rights! I can do whatever I want with my own darned property!" Maxine staggered into the lobby counter bounced off it and into Dan. Dan eased the woman onto the lobby couch as she started singing an off-key tune to herself. "Come on guys we're gonna have to kick the doors in." This place was a twenty-unit motel. Mark walked to the maid's cart pushed against the wall and picked up a lariat with a swipe card attached. "Or we could just use the maid's key." Dan hoped Ian was having a better time than he was.
TheSunset Motel
Ian and his group headed into the Sunset Motel. The Sunset was owned by Gilbert Baxter. Gilbert had come to the old Swanhew place last night and would not be joining them this morning as his name was on Karl'slist of people to bury today. Which is what caused Dan to send Isaac to check up on the motel's guests. "Well, let's get this done. According to the registry we got five rooms to check. One with a family of three, 2 adults and one child since a crib is listed here, three rooms of single occupants, and one with two occupants. "Go in teams of two, pick a room, bang on the door, if no one answers we open them with the master and check them out.