The Divine Devils: Mystery Suspense Crime Thriller: Book 1 Page 4

  “You appear to be a smart person,” noted Hunter with a dismissive timbre. “I’m sure you did your research and know what happened. I doubt there’s anything I can add.”

  Jose frowned. “I have done the research yes, as has Paige. But we would like to know your side of what happened. Often those details are left out of any official documents.”

  Hunter turned his head scanning the room before staring back at Jose.

  “You say we, but I don’t see Paige here. Am I being interviewed for the job only by you?”

  Jose ignored Hunter’s curtness. “Paige will be in shortly. She’s working from her office on a conference call right now.” His frown turned to a more calming expression. “I didn’t want to leave you alone to think you had been forgotten. I was hoping to get to know you a little better.”

  It was Hunter’s turn to frown. “Not sure drudging up the past and digging into a dark part of my life is the best way for you to get to know me. Are you wanting me to admit guilt? If so, does that mean I won’t be hired?” Hunter stood up from the chair. “If that is the case, I’m happy to walk out now and save you from wasting your time.”

  The calming expression on Jose’s face turned into a full wattage smile before Jose waved for Hunter to sit down. Hunter took a moment to decide what he wanted to do but finally concluded to hear them out.

  “Paige warned me you’d be a tough nut to crack,” declared Jose shaking his head gleefully while sitting at the desk. “Please don’t run away in anger. All I’m trying to determine is if you will be the right person to protect our children from whatever…or whomever is trying to take them.”

  Hunter sat back down, sighing. “Mister Hawkins, my past mistakes aren’t relevant to what I’m here for now. Yes, I took the blame for a tragedy that happened several years in the past. Do I blame myself…yes. Was I to blame for what happened…no. I did everything humanly possible and yet it wasn’t enough.” Hunter pulled his chair closer to the desk leaning forward before he interlinked his hands on the surface.

  “Now you need to understand that we can build a solid steel wall around your kids and it might not be enough. An adversary with unlimited resources determined enough to get them will find a way. Considering that they will be out and about—going to school or playing with friends—will make it harder to protect them. We won’t be able to lock them away from the dangers of the world. I will do my best to protect them, but you need to understand that I can’t shield them from a foe who will use endless initiative to get them.”

  Jose nodded, leaning back in his chair, his hands behind his head.

  “If that’s the case, what can we do?”

  “I can put together a team to guard them, while I figure out who is trying to grab them. If we can identify the party and put them away the threat should be eliminated.”

  “If you identify the party are you willing to…kill them…to end this threat.”

  Hunter didn’t hesitate. “If that’s the only way to resolve the problem, then yes that would be an option. It is a dark road to travel down but I’ve done it before and I will again if necessary.”

  Jose nodded, pleased with what he’d heard, when his eyes locked on the doorway. Seeing his wife, he stood up, walking over, kissing Paige on the cheek, his arm now around her, as if to showcase their bond.

  Hunter rose from the chair putting out his hand, which Paige shook lightly after hesitating. Her emerald eyes glistened seeing a man she’d not seen in more than a decade. Her emotions were hidden, though her heartrate was elevated. She walked over taking her husband’s chair while smoothing out her ivory slacks and tugging at her mauve blouse, trying to smooth both out. Jose took station at her side, his hand resting on her shoulder, Paige finding it comforting to feel.

  Hunter sat back down while staring at her face. He remembered holding it in his hands and kissing those soft lips, nuzzling up to her warm passionate body as though it was yesterday. Time had been kind, her hair still a deep black—straight and parted in the middle, flowing down to her shoulders. There were a few wrinkles on her dark brown skin, more so when she smiled, but not bad for a woman of forty. Her neck was covered in a jade pearl necklace, matching earrings graced her lobes and her eyebrows were perfectly manicured as were her ruby red nails. There remained a spark in Hunter’s heart seeing her again, an emotion he needed to ignore. He wasn’t here to reminisce about the past, but to provide protection. Those feelings would have to stay hidden. Burying emotions and pain was a skill he’d become too familiar with through the years, and this was going to be no different. The invisible mask would remain in place until the job was complete.

  Chapter 5

  “Hunter, I appreciate you flying in here on short notice,” noted Paige, ignoring the tension she felt between them. She was only interviewing the man for the job, she told herself.

  “I’m happy to help,” Hunter replied, keeping his sentiment hidden. “Give me the details of what is going on.” As with Jose he wanted to get down to the business at hand.

  “Jose, why don’t you find a chair and sit down,” remarked Paige to her husband. “It may take a while to cover everything and I know your knee aches when standing for too long.”

  Jose nodded, walking out of the room to find another chair. Hunter looked Paige in the eye, which made her uncomfortable, their past coming to bare in her mind. She glared at the doorway waiting until her husband wheeled in a desk chair and sat down next to her. She then glanced back at Hunter, though her eyes kept shifting away as she spoke. Locking on to them added to her discomfort.

  “Several weeks ago, Olivia was out on a date with a football player,” she stated, getting straight to the business at hand. “What was he, a safety?” Her head pivoted towards her husband. More small talk to mask her worry about her kids.

  “Yes, he was,” replied Jose, adding to the filler. “And a damn good one. Has a legitimate shot at playing at CU on a full-ride scholarship.”

  More detail than Hunter needed, but he remained patient, knowing the seriousness of the circumstances.

  “We met the boy, since it was a first date,” added Paige. “One of those demands I make of her—always meeting the boy before they go out. Being a mother I’m still overprotective of her.”

  Jose nodded. “As am I. I know how these boys think, I was one myself back in the day. At that age and being an athlete, they often have conquest on their mind. We want to make sure that any guy who dates our daughter understands to treat her with respect.”

  “He appeared to be a nice young man,” continued Paige. “Courteous and respectful. They went off to dinner and then a movie. They were supposed to be home by midnight since it wasn’t a school night. But it was at around 11:30 p.m. when we got a call from the police. When they identified themselves my heart sank. I feared the worst.”

  Paige turned to her husband asking for a tissue which he grabbed and handed to her from a container on the table behind him. She dabbed at her eyes, tears forming, fear of what was happening affecting her.

  “My first thought was that the boy had hurt her,” declared Jose, anger showing on his cheeks. “I was ready to drive down and grab him by the throat.” He held his hands up, as if choking someone.

  “We both jumped to conclusions,” added Paige. “When we drove down there, the officers explained what had happened. We were both relieved and at the same time shocked by what they told us.”

  “Which was?” queried Hunter, ready for them to get to the meat of what happened.

  “That two men had tried to grab her and drag her away.” Paige blew her nose, the words clearly upsetting her.

  “Where did this happen at?” inquired Hunter, happy they were getting to important details.

  Jose looked at Paige and she nodded for him to answer.

  “They were at one of those locations kids go to park and make out, if that’s what they still call it. We know it can go further than that the way young kids are these days. All hot and bothered, hormones ragin
g.”

  “We were not thrilled when we heard that part,” continued Paige. “I asked Olivia what she was doing there, but she wouldn’t say for certain. Could be she was embarrassed to tell us. But we could hazard a guess it was more than simple conversation.”

  Hunter wanted to get past the uncomfortable moment for the parents.

  “They were parked and then what happened,” he inquired.

  “Olivia told us someone started tapping on the window, saying they were the police,” explained Paige. “She then went on to explain that it took a minute to gather themselves, it would seem they were in the backseat, possibly in a state of undress.” She paused, quivering at the thought. “When Elroy rolled down the window, the men from the van had a flashlight and told him to get out of the car with Olivia.” Paige paused, then spoke to her husband. “You tell him the rest…it’s too hard for me to say out loud.”

  Jose started rubbing his wife’s back, trying to comfort her.

  “They both got out together from the same side,” continued Jose. “One of the thugs then threw Elroy to the ground, while the other grabbed Olivia around the waist and tried to pick her up and carry her away.”

  “They must have failed getting her,” remarked Hunter.

  “Not without some damage. Elroy came after the man holding Olivia, trying to stop him. The other punched him in the face, then started kicking and stepping on him while he was on the ground. Olivia was able to get loose when she bit the guy holding her on the arm, then she kicked him in the shin before running away yelling for help. Luckily she found another car nearby that was also parked. They were able to call 911 and the two men knowing they had failed made their escape. The place was somewhat remote, but the police arrived within a few minutes.”

  “What happened to Elroy?”

  “It was horrible,” replied Paige, her eyes closed as if in pain. “He had a broken jaw, lost a couple of teeth and suffered a broken forearm from the man stepping on him. He is doing better now, but his injuries were bad.”

  “Was Olivia injured?” wondered Hunter.

  “Thankfully, she only sustained scrapes and bruises, and her clothes got torn and dirty,” answered Jose. “She was scared to death but was fine other than that.”

  “We were scared to death as well,” added Paige. “We really weren’t certain what happened and why.”

  “Was there any description on the attackers?” questioned Hunter, making mental notes.

  “Only the basic stuff. White males, probably in their thirties. Over six foot and between one sixty and one eighty pounds. They were wearing jeans, leather jackets and gloves. But there is not much else to go on.”

  “Did either of the kids get a description of the vehicle?”

  “Only that it was a black panel van. The police stated that it wasn’t much to work with. Doubted they’d find who was involved.”

  “You then took this as a threat and hired protection?”

  Paige nodded. “Yes. We weren’t going to take this lightly since there had been one other incident a week earlier. We didn’t think much of it at the time, believing the first event was random.”

  “What happened?” queried Hunter, his interest piqued at the prospect of more fulfilling employment than what he’d had for ages.

  Paige dabbed at her eyes, doing her best not to smear her makeup, hating having a messy face around company. Looking her best had always been important to her, drilled into her head by her mother.

  “Olivia was out shopping,” explained Paige. “As she was coming out of one of the stores a man approached her and her friends saying that Verizon were giving away free iPhones at the store around the corner, just for answering a few questions.”

  “Sounds suspicious.”

  Paige nodded. “Yes, it was. She mentioned he was a good-looking guy and she thought what the hell, a new iPhone would be cool. But as they went around the corner, he started heading towards the parking lot and not the store. Olivia and her friends stopped, asking where he was going. He said he had the free phones in his van. Oliva mentioned that they got nervous when he came towards her, while another man got out of the black van he’d been leading them too. Olivia and her friends didn’t hang around to find out what was going to happen. They ran into the Verizon store asking for the manager.” Paige shuttered at the details of the event. “He told them no one was working outside giving away phones and when the manager looked the van was gone. After that the manager called the police, but there wasn’t much they could do, though they did make sure the girls got home safely. The police assumed he was a predator possibly looking to attack one or more of the girls. But after the incident yesterday, we know there’s more to it.”

  “And what about the incident yesterday,” wondered Hunter, absorbing all the details, his mind sharp when he was sober.

  “Oh my, it was scary,” declared Paige. “It was such a violent and daring attempt. Every school day Lance would take the kids…” She gave Hunter the details of what happened, with Jose filling in any area she missed, leaving Hunter surprised by the extreme nature of the undertaking.

  “Lance was the lead member of your security team?”

  “Yes,” answered Jose. “We hired him after the attempt during Olivia’s date. He saved the kids’ lives by not giving into the attackers demands, paying a big price for his bravery.”

  Hunter nodded his head, knowing danger was afoot. He moved around in the chair, uncomfortable from sitting for so long. He would never have been happy working a job as a desk jockey. His throat was parched and his wits in need of a drink. Alcohol at a high proof level would be his first choice, but chugging rum wouldn’t look good in front of potential clients.

  “Could I get a liquid refreshment?” asked Hunter. “This dry Colorado air always leaves my mouth feeling like sandpaper.”

  “Absolutely,” replied Paige. “Honey can you get Hunter a drink. What do you want?”

  Hunter wanted to scream out Old Monk, but smiled and said, “a bottled water would be great.”

  Jose left the room, leaving Paige and Hunter alone. There was silence for a whole ten seconds before Hunter had to speak. He thought his heartbeat was echoing throughout the room and needed noise to mask it.

  “You’re looking good Paige,” he stated, not certain if it was appropriate or not.

  “Thank you. I know you are being kind…the stress is wrecking my face.”

  Hunter gazed at her closely, seeing a few lines, though well hidden under a thin layer of makeup. Time had been kind to her, though older Paige was still in great shape with no signs of gray hair or a midlife bulge. Her nearly six-foot frame had the same muscle tone showing in her legs and arms that he remembered from the past. She was still attractive, the same strong woman he’d fallen for all those years ago. But that ship had sailed, but oh, what a year it had been, reminisced Hunter. The passion they had shared had been intense, the visions of her naked body on top, underneath and beside his, were still vividly recalled.

  “I’m sure Olivia has changed a lot since I last saw her,” he said, though it was a silly remark since she had only been a year old at the time. Hunter needed to switch the subject to shake the memory of lust from his head.

  “Yes, she’s all grown up. Soon she will be turning eighteen and it kind of scares me as I know what I was like when I reached her age.”

  Hunter knew the story, he’d heard it while they were together. Paige had been raised in a conservative household, where it was forbidden to date boys before the age of eighteen. Once she was out and away at college, she felt the need for discovery, the calling of hormones begging her to explore herself with the young men she was attracted to. Eventually it led to Paige getting pregnant in her last year of college with a man she shortly married, and soon after regretted, quickly ending it. Although the marriage didn’t work it did produce Olivia, who Paige loved with all her heart, being the only good thing that came from her time then.

  “I’m certain she’ll be fine,”
stated Hunter. “Growing and evolving from her mistakes, much as you did. Besides you appear to have turned out on the quality side of life.”

  Paige smiled, enjoying the compliment. “I’d prefer she didn’t have to fight and claw as I did to make it in this world. But I don’t want to hand her things either. It will be better if she earns them herself, with me behind her in case she fails.”

  Looking at the house, the size and the wealth of items filling the space, Hunter knew it would be difficult for Olivia not to feel slighted having to live in less than the luxury she was used to. And unless her mother handed her over a small fortune, that was going to be the case once she moved out, especially in college where dorm rooms are cramped and usually shared with another person. But Paige was right, stepping back into the real world and seeing how most people lived might make Olivia appreciate the grandeur afforded her and work hard to achieve it for herself.

  Jose stepped back into the room, handing Hunter a bottle of cold Evian, before sitting back down in his seat next to Paige. Hunter was uncertain if their closeness was real or an act for him. The investigator side of him wanting to know.

  “What is your profession Jose?” asked Hunter, after a long drink.

  “I’m an investigative news reporter working for the local NBC affiliate here in Colorado Springs.”

  “Have you made any enemies in your investigations?”

  Jose snickered. “Absolutely. It’s a long list. Do you think this might be related to what is going on?”

  “All possibilities are on the table right now. I will need a list of anyone who’s threatened you. Same with you Paige—every enemy, either personal or business needs to be looked at. And I need to talk with your ex-husband, if you know where he is.”

  There was no hint of surprise on Paige’s face at the question.

  “No idea. Haven’t heard from him in an eternity. It’s not like he ever paid any support. It’s as if he fell off the face of the earth or is dead. Neither notion unpleasant for me to learn.” Paige seemed overjoyed at the thought.