by Frank Perry
o’clock. Claire would leave the front door unlocked for them while everyone was away at the memorial service.
Even though there was no grave involved, Claire wanted to have an outdoor event. She and José had enjoyed hiking in the Sierra foothills with the children, and she picked a nearby park on Folsom Lake. It was a beautiful summer day and people began parking at the entrance lot an hour before the ceremony, just to amble through the trees or sit on the grass. The sky was clear, with thin cirrus clouds and a mild breeze through the pine and fir trees, scenting the air. It was the kind of day José loved when they would hike or camp in the mountains. Claire felt the beginning of finality and closure.
The Governor came along with most of his administration. Neighbors appeared that Claire and José barely knew. Jose’s large family all came. Claire and Hunter were the only ones from her side. John Richards came alone. In total, more than a hundred people showed up for the service. Father Joseph Priestley, Father Joe, delivered a warm and spiritual sermon even though Claire opted for cremation against church doctrine. Before the service began, Claire introduced Hunter to John Richards. He was Jose’s friend and now leading the state’s investigation.
A dozen people spoke, including the Governor, who cited Jose’s brave leadership to resolve the drug violence. A campaign that cost him his life before it could be completed. After the final tributes, Claire stood to meet everyone as people stood patiently in a loose line to wish her well and offer their support. Hunter and Laurie stood aside under a large Live Oak tree talking to John Richards. As they talked, Hunter detected a brief glint reflected from the far end of the parking lot, downhill, several hundred yards away. Someone was using a long-range camera. He excused himself quietly as John and Laurie wondered what he was doing. He said he need to check on something and would be right back.
Rather than walk directly to the parking lot, Hunter walked to a nearby public restroom built of rough-cut cedar and set back into the trees. Instead of going in, he passed by the men’s side entrance and continued farther into the unimproved brush areas, hidden from view. He tried to avoid damaging his only suit as he circled down the hill behind boulders and trees. At the bottom edge of the park, a frontage road formed the lower boundary. He walked along the edge of the road, toward the park entrance, below the parking lot. Dense undergrowth and fallen trees concealed the road until he was at the single-lane entrance.
He walked quietly up the narrow driveway toward the parked cars below where the cameraman was working. The sound of a camera shutter echoed between the first two rows. Walking as quietly as he could in dress shoes, he approached a utility van where he suspected the photographer was hiding. Rounding the back, he heard the shutter click several times before the man saw Hunter in his side view mirror. The van rocked slightly on its suspension and the engine started.
Hunter ran to the open passenger side window and yelled inside. “What’s going on here?”
For an instance, he was staring into the barrel of a handgun as the driver pushed the accelerator, lurching backward. The combination of jerking vehicle and Hunter diving to the ground caused the shooter to miss when he fired. The shot echoed up the valley, immediately alerting everyone. Hunter scrambled to his feet, chasing the van out the entrance, noting the license number. The driver didn’t stop to shoot a second time.
The first person to run down to the parking lot was John Richards. “Hunter! What happened?”
Hunter brushed dirt from his trousers. “That guy was taking telephoto pictures, John. I don’t think he was a naturalist.”
“Did you get a look at him?”
“Yeah. He was a skin head, mid-thirties, tattoos on his arms, not professional types – prison types. He wore an old sleeveless workout shirt and worn-out jeans.”
“You saw all that while he was shooting at you?”
“I only saw him for a split second then had to duck. His image is clear in my mind. I could pick him out of a lineup.”
Laura was the next to arrive, followed by several other people including Claire. The kids were somewhere up in the park with other people. Laura ran to him, wrapping her arms around him. “Hunter! What was that? Was it a gun? Did he shoot you? Oh, God, are you alright?”
She buried her head in his chest as he stroked her hair. “Laurie, I don’t know who it was. I just wanted to ask him some questions, and he got hostile.”
She asked, “Was that a gunshot we heard?”
“Yeah, it was. He didn’t appreciate my question.”
Hunter tried to remain calm. He’d been around gunplay before and had to kill people defensively, but Laura didn’t know this part about him.
Claire knew all about Hunter’s past. She talked to Richards then came to her brother and hung on his shoulder as Laura continued holding him. “John said a man was taking our pictures, Hunter.”
“That’s what I saw, sis.”
“Why? Why would he take our pictures?”
Hunter looked at John, but not the two women. “I don’t know, Claire, but I think it’s time to be extra careful.”
John stood a few feet away without speaking, agreeing completely.
People began leaving the park a few minutes later. Some drove to Claire’s house, but not everyone. The Governor was escorted away without talking to Claire.
John followed Hunter, driving Claire’s car. Claire’s children tried to ask about the gunshot, but it was described as a car backfire. They didn’t believe it, but understood that the adults weren’t going to tell them anything else.
The drive took less than fifteen minutes, and the caterer was all setup when they arrived. Claire and José bought their home new when she was pregnant with JR. It was more than they could afford as young state-employed attorneys, but both expected their incomes to rise quickly in their early years. It was in an area of El Dorado Hills popular with professionals, convenient to the Capital and to the Sacramento Airport. It was designed for entertaining with a huge family room-kitchen combination, extending to a patio in the back. Fifty people could be entertained, and they had a few more than that.
Hunter became the de facto bartender, and Laura helped when she wasn’t pulled away by curious friends and family. It wasn’t long before rumors of Hunter’s impending marriage were circulating. He smiled at the thought, and she didn’t seem to mind, enjoying his discomfort about discussing it. Hunter was known to be a free-spirited adventurer in his youth, and many of the guests were amazed at the transformation in him since he moved to Washington.
Sue Ann Kohl was Hunter’s first cousin, four years younger, who had a crush on Hunter since she was barely able to talk. “Hunter! Pour me a glass of red wine, please.”
“Hi Sue Ann, it’s nice to see you.”
“So, cous’. I met your girlfriend. She’s nice. How did she tame the wild beast?”
Sue Ann knew about Laura from her visit to Washington the summer before. Hunter let her stay in his townhouse with him for three days. He showed her some of the highlights, but she also ventured out on her own when he was away. He kept a front door key in a hole on the side of his brick steps. She tried, at least once to get him aroused, but he kept her away and talked to Laura on the phone most of the time.
“I’ve changed, Sue. Ain’t no wild beast any more. I wear a shirt and tie and fight with words now days.”
“Yeah, right. How long’s that going to last?”
“No, really. I sowed my wild seeds and just want to be a respectable bureaucrat.”
Sue Ann sat on a stool opposite the breakfast counter serving as the bar. “So. When are you and Laura getting married?”
“We haven’t talked about it.”
She smiled coyly, “You gonna pop the question soon?”
“Why so interested?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Just still living in my fantasy world, I guess.”
He chuckled, “So, Sue. What’s going on in your life? You got
a job yet after college or anyone special in your life?”
“Yeah. I work for a software company in San Jose and date a few guys. I’m not in any hurry. I thought they would change the law, and I could marry my first cousin, but I guess it’s not going to happen.” She was smiling at him as she took a sip of wine.
“No one serious?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Most of the guys I know are too nice. I don’t always want nice.” She was teasing him.
Laura walked up. “So, Laura, I guess you’ve met my favorite cousin Sue Ann.
She smiled and sat next to Hunter’s cousin. “Yep. We met out on the porch. She told me all about her hero cousin, the Navy SEAL and Border Agent. You’ve been holding out on me.”
“I’m not as bad as Sue Ann makes me out. She has a habit of fantasizing.”
Both women smiled and Sue Ann winked at Laura. “He ever tell you about Pakistan?”
Hunter interrupted, “Alright, I’m closing the bar and going out back to mingle. You girls can speculate all you want. I couldn’t talk about it even if it was a lie.”
Sue Ann giggled and Laura stayed sitting by her while Hunter took his beer and departed.
Outside, near the back of the yard, John Richards was alone, looking into space toward the mountains. Hunter wanted to talk to John away from everyone else.
He patted John on the back and stood next to him looking in the same direction, away from the house. “So, John. I appreciate