Dick by Law (21 page)

Chapter 4
2

130 Million Years Later

Horseshoe Bay, Bermuda

Gunshots chipped the mouth of the cave as Simon and
Horne
sprinted inside, dodging jagged rocks that thrust from above and below like teeth.
The smell of decaying sea life
washed over them, reeking of rotten fish, crabs, and seaweed.
It was as if they were running
through giant jaws into the belly of a great beast
, about to become its latest foul-smelling meal
.

And
soon
, the
ir pursuers
would run right in after them.

Even as Simon led the way inside,
splashing through puddles on the
lumpy
sandy floor,
he
realized just how bad
a hiding place
it was
. The cave was deep and dark, but if the
ir pursuers
had flashlights, they'd find Simon and
Horne
easily.
The cave wasn
'
t so much a shelter as a death trap...unless
, somehow,
Simon and
Horne
could turn the tables.

"Listen!" Simon
stopped and grabbed
Horne
's shoulder. "We need to ambush them!"

"Fuck that!"
Horne
's
kinky hair glistened with sweat in the dim moonlight trailing in from the cave mouth. His
face
was
more puffy and
flushed
than ever after the full-tilt run
for his life
.

"You take one side...I'll take the other." Simon
heaved for breath as he
pointed
at
the cave mouth. "We'll surprise 'em...when they
come in. Hit 'em...with
rocks
.
"

"Don't'cha think they'll be
expecting
that?"
Horne
shook his shoulder free. "I have a
better
idea."

Simon
watched sparks fly from the toothy rocks
near the entrance to the cave
as more gunshots zinged
the opening
. "What? What is it?"

"We'll play dead," said
Horne
. "When they get closer, we attack."

Simon was getting nervous. Time was running out. "What if they decide to make sure we're dead from a
distance
?
Shoot first
, check pulses
later
?"

"Trust me!" said
Horne
. "This'll work! I'm the
dick
, I should
know
."

A gunshot punched through the cave mouth and rocketed past Simon.
"Forget it
!
"
Being under fire was pushing him to the verge of total panic
. "The ambush idea's better!"

Horne
grinned. "There's always a third option. Ever hear of a Dick Wishfor?"

"No." Simon
was distracted
watching the cave mouth; the
gunmen
c
ould plunge through
at
any
moment
. "What's a Dick Wishfor?"

"
A sucker like you to throw to the wolves!" said
Horne
.

B
efore Simon could respond or react
,
Horne
reared back and kicked him in the chest, sending him sprawling on the
wet
sand of the cave floor.

 

*****

Chapter 4
3

130 Million Years Ago

China

Ragged, bruised, and blood-drenched, Grip
barreled
through the
sun-dappled
forest
as fast as he could. He
'd just killed two of the killer dinosaurs who'd surrounded him at the brook, but the third was
in close pursuit
,
crushing brush and flushing out screeching creatures with each mighty footfall.

Just moments ago, Grip had
stood up to the dinosaur with howling bravado.
Now, it looked like
the dinosaur was
about to end
Grip's campaign of revenge for once and for all.

But th
at wasn't necessarily true.
The truth was, Grip had a plan to defeat his enemy
, and they had nearly reached the end of it.

The killer dinosaur didn't know that, of course.
As Grip hurtled onward through the
forest
,
paws churning up the
litter of crunchy twigs and leaves
,
the ivory
male
dinosaur with the sky blue patches followed without hesitation.
Maybe, if the
dino
had been less enraged, less obsessed with the fur-covered dog-thing in front of his nose, he would have noticed the scent Grip was chasing. Maybe he would have realized the danger he was in, the role reversal that
was about to
switch him from hunter to prey.

But the
ivory male
didn't notice a thing. The only scent he could focus on was
that of
the blood of his dead
dinosaur pack-mates crusted in Grip's fur.

So the chase continued
through the rising morning heat
, winding around trees and boulders, up and down hills, through streams and puddles and pools.
Chattering creatures shrieked and leaped
and flew
out of the way, racing past as the
dinosaur's
bulk trampled the
brush
around them.

What the
ivory male
didn't notice
was that it wasn't
him
the creatures
were
running away from.
They were running from something else
altogether, something up ahead, out of sight
...something with a scent strong enough to drive away
almost everything in its path
.

But not
Grip
. He
kept
head
ing
straight for it
, f
ollow
ing
the scent like a bright beam of light, like an arrow.

If only he could
reach
it in time. Behind him, the
ivory male
dinosaur
suddenly surged forward, snapping at his tail
,
biting off the tip of it. Grip yipped and ran harder, his little legs churning
litter and
dark soil in a furry blur.

His goal was just up ahead, through the break in the trees. The scent flared like the sun
there
, blazing
with
power, outshining all other scents around it.

Grip was in the final stretch...and then the
dinosaur
found his second wind and sprinted out around him. The
ivory male
skidded to a stop and spun to face Grip, claws and fangs flashing.

Grip hurtled
toward
him without slowing, then zigzagged as the
dinosaur
slashed at him. One of the claws connected, slicing through the meat of Gri
p's back...but Grip kept going, bolting right between the
dino
's legs.

T
hen, as the
ivory male
shrieked with
frustrated
rage, Grip made it through the break
in the trees
. A
sun-drenched
clearing opened up around him, full of high grass waving in the warm wind
, buzzing with insects
.
Thick
with the scent of the one he'd brought the killer to meet.

Grip plowed forward through the grass, heading for a huge mound at the center of the clearing. The
ivory male
charged after him, howling.

Grip raced closer and closer to the mound...then peeled away
at the last second,
just before reaching it. The
ivory male
, with his greater bulk, couldn't make the same sharp turn.
He ended up stumbling and slamming into the mo
und, crashing against it with
shuddering force.

Grip knew what was coming next. He had done his job well.
Dashing to the far side of the clearing, he jumped up on a fallen tree to watch his handiwork. He was so excited, he wagged his tail and
barked in anticipation.

Meanwhile, in the middle of the clearing, there was a moment of peaceful stillness. A moment when the ivory male
must have thought losing his prey was the worst that had happened.

But only a moment.
The
dinosaur
pushed away from the
big
brown
mound and straightened, sniffing the breeze. He trotted back and forth, looking around
...and then he clambered up
onto
the mound for a better look at his surroundings.

He stood there, gazing down at everything from
atop the mound
, turning in a circle...and he stopped when he caught sight of Grip.

Grip hopped up and down
on his fallen tree, yapping.
The
ivory male
hissed and squawked
, baring his teeth and slashing his claws with murderous promise.
He intended to leap down from his perch
, race across the clearing through the tall grass,
and
kill the dog-thing, that much was clear.

But he didn't get the chance.

Suddenly, the mound lurched, throwing
the
ivory male
down on his belly on top of it. The mound lurched again,
more violently than before, heaving one way and then the other.

As the mound continued shifting, t
he ivory male dug in his claws and hung on.
At first,
it looked like he might be all right.

Then, the mound started to rise. The whole thing lifted up from the ground and kept going
. Dirt showered from its surface as it rose higher, ever higher.

I
t
was
unfold
ing
. It had been curled up in the grass, and now it straightened
...and the ivory male's position became clear. No longer was he standing atop a mound.

Now, he was hanging on to an upright
,
nearly vertical surface
. His legs
dangled in midair, and his foreclaws barely
clung to their purchase.

He didn't get the
full
picture until a moment later, when the thing he was holding on to shook him free. The
ivory male
plunged to the ground, landing hard on his back with a
loud
crack
...and then his former perch turned.
T
ower
ing
above
him, high as the treetops,
it
slowly
turned.

And looked down at him.

It was a dinosaur,
too,
but that was about all it had in common with him. It was gigantic and fearsome, more like the
king
of the dinosaurs.
It communicated with him in only one way...and in so doing, revealed one more thing they had in common.

Its message was simple. While the ivory
dino with
the
sky blue
patches
, killer of Grip's family, stared helplessly from below, the behemoth bent down. Lowered its steaming snout to his level.

And then its jaws opened
, a
nd it scooped him up
before he could run away
.
It c
hewed and swallowed him.

Its message was simple. The thing they had in common
, other than both being dinosaurs,
was this:

They were both meat eaters.

The great monster belched like thunder. Grip danced in a circle on his fallen tree, chasing his tail with joy.

T
hen, before the behemoth could gobble him up, too, Grip hopped from the tree and scurried off into the
forest
. Killing five of the killer dinosaurs was not enough.

He still had work to do.
He still had o
ne more to destroy.

Once Grip got clear of the overpowering scent of the behemoth, he picked up the trail. The scent of the last of the killers hung in the air
like sweet perfume
, pointing the way.

 

*****