The Pattels

by S. K. Hardy

  “What? I need you to stop it. Now.”

  “I’m sorry, I can’t. It’s too late, but...”

  Before she could finish, Hawk took off running to the exit that would take him to the tarmac.

  “Mr. Pattel, you can’t go out there!” The woman at the desk shouted after him frantically. “Sir, it’s a restricted area!”

  Throwing the door open, Hawk surveyed the runway. One plane was in transition, slowly turning and pointing its nose in the direction to takeoff. His eyes narrowed as he stared closer at one of the windows. He could just make out the shape of someone sitting in one of the seats with her head bowed. Raven.

  “Rae!” Heart racing, he waved his arms to get her attention. He took a few steps and shouted her name again. “Raven!”

  The plane started the accelerating run down the runway. Hawk ran with it. His eyes never left Raven. Then, by chance, she turned her head and saw him. She sat up in the seat and leaned closer to the window to peer out at him.

  “Raven! Raven, stop the plane!”

  There was no way she could hear him so Hawk used hand motions to try and get her to understand what he was telling her. However, seconds before the wheels left the tarmac, Raven turned her head and pulled the shade down over the window, effectively blocking him out...in more ways than one.

  Hawk slowed and came to a stop as the plane lifted into the air. Panting heavily, he watched it until the night sky opened up and swallowed it whole. Frustration ate away at him. If he had only been a few minutes earlier he could’ve stopped her. He would’ve dragged her off that damn plane if necessary.

  Hawk’s anger shifted to the person he felt it rightly belonged to: Angel. It was already going to be difficult to fix things with Raven; Hawk didn’t have a problem putting in the work. But Angel helping her disappear made it ten times harder.

  He slipped his hand in his pocket to pull out his cell phone. He needed to talk to Angel now and find out where she was going. However, his fingers had just touched his phone when he heard someone yell behind him in an aggressive tone.

  “Take your hand out of your pocket right now, got dammit!”

  Hawk frowned and started to turn around to see what the hell was going on but another barked order told him that wasn’t a good idea.

  “Don’t turn around! Do not turn around! Take your hand out of your pocket!”

  Hawk grimaced. The got damn police. Great. Just. Fucking. Great. Was there anything else that could go wrong tonight? His chest lifting in a huge sigh, Hawk slowly pulled his hand free and raised both of them in the air.

  “Turn around! Slowly!”

  His jaw ticking with anger, Hawk grudgingly did as he was told. His eyebrows lifted in surprise when he found himself surrounded by what looked to be the entire got damn police force. Apparently they called in back up.

  “You have got to be kidding me,” he muttered.

  “Lock you fingers behind your head and get on the ground.”

  “Look, my name is Hawk Pa–”

  “I don’t give a fuck what your name is! Now get your black ass on the ground before I blow your got damn head off!”

  But as soon as the order was given, someone shouted behind them. “Stop! Everyone put your guns down! Put your guns down now!”

  Hawk saw a larger man in a uniform, his face flushed from trying to catch his breath, hurrying towards them. When the officers were slow to comply, his voice deepened in a furious bellow. “Did you hear what I said? Holster your guns!”

  They quickly did as ordered¬–except the one who had eagerly threatened to shoot. Hawk’s eyes narrowed. He could see the cop’s finger resting on the trigger. If it weren’t for the witnesses watching and the cameras all around the terminal, Hawk had no doubt he would’ve shot him and later claimed he was reaching for a weapon.

  “Jackson, did you hear me?” The older cop with lieutenant stripes on his uniform blustered forward. “Put your gun down right got damn now!”

  Jackson hesitated a moment more then slipped his gun back in his holster. The look he gave Hawk was one of pure hatred. Hawk was so furious he trembled, but he deliberately gave the other man a taunting smirk. He’d meet this asshole again. He’d make sure of it. When he did, Hawk would give him an opportunity to make good on the visual threat he was issuing before he stomped his ass in the ground.

  “Mr. Pattel, I’m sorry,” the lieutenant in charge was saying. “We didn’t know it was you driving the car, sir.”

  Still staring Jackson down, Hawk noticed the exact moment the other man made the connection with the last name and realized who Hawk was. Even in the dim light, Hawk saw the way his skin paled and went completely white. The hatred in his eyes transitioned to out and out fear.

  His anger still idling high over Raven, Hawk’s glare turned deadly. Ignoring the lieutenant, he walked up to Jackson and leaned his face close until the two of them were inches apart. The sound of Jackson gulping was audible. He tried to hold Hawk’s aggressive stare but wisely dropped his gaze.

  “That’s right. You work for me.” The majority of the police force was on the Pattel’s payroll. “Tried to tell your ass who I was. Would’ve saved me a whole lot of time and you a shitload of trouble, but now? You ain’t got nothin’ but trouble. You done fucked with the wrong mu’fucka.” Hawk took his time and raked his eyes over the man. “I’ll be seein’ you again, Officer Jackson. Count on that shit.”

  Hawk waited a full ten seconds to let that marinate before stepping back and looking at the lieutenant. “Where’s my fuckin’ car?”

  “It’s still parked where you left it. We, uh, we ran the plates. That’s how we found out who it was registered to. Is there anything you need us to take care of here?”

  Hawk glanced in the direction the plane had flown off in with Raven. There was only one person who could fix this. “No. Nothing.”

  Heading back in the direction of the lounge area, Hawk pulled his cell phone from his pocket and found the number he was looking for. The line rang several times before it was answered.

  “Hello, Hawk.”

  Hawk’s lips tightened when he heard Angel’s unbothered tone. It was obvious he’d been expecting Hawk’s call. He took several deep breaths but it did nothing to ease his anger. Seeing no need to beat around the bush, he got straight to the point.

  “Where is she?”

  “What the hell happened tonight?” Angel countered in response.

  “Even if I had time to explain, I wouldn’t. This is between me and Raven. Angel, I gotta fix this but I need you to tell me where I can find her.”

  “I can’t do that.”

  “Can’t or won’t.”

  “Both. I gave Raven my word that I wouldn’t tell you and I won’t.”

  “Got dammit, Angel! This has nothing to do with you.”

  Angel’s voice cooled several degrees. “This has everything to do with me. Raven is my wife’s sister. If it affects Nicole it affects me.”

  “Angel–”

  “No, listen to me. Raven called my home practically hysterical. By process of elimination all signs pointed to you being the cause. Am I correct?”

  Hawk thought about the scenario he walked in on earlier tonight. “Something like that.”

  “What do you mean ‘something like that’? What the fuck happened tonight?”

  Hawk closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was honestly torn. He needed to talk about this to someone who might understand, but... he couldn’t. Revealing something so personal would divulge family business. Yeah, he was pissed off about what his father and uncle did, but he couldn’t involve someone outside the family.

  “It’s not something I can get into,” Hawk finally replied in answer to Angel’s question.

  “It’s not something you can get into,” Angel repeated slowly. “You sure that’s the way you want to play this?”

  “Quite honestly, no. It’s not. But I don’t have a choice right now.”

  “We always ha
ve a choice.” The silence stretched between the two of them until finally Angel said in a brisk tone. “Fine. You do what you have to do and so will I. Goodnight, Hawk.”

  “Angel! Angel, wait, we’re not finished...” But Hawk was speaking to dead air. He dropped the phone to his side. “Got dammit!”

  Hawk stood in the same spot for a few moments. He was exhausted from lack of sleep but there was no way he could rest until he found Raven. And he would find her. It would just take a little longer since Angel wouldn’t tell him where she was. After staring into space, he blinked and let out a sigh of resignation. Looking at his phone, he dialed another number to start the legwork which would be the first step to finding her and getting her back.

  CHAPTER 5

  “Eddie, the money I paid for this new software could’ve fed a small village. Why the hell am I not seeing a return on my investment?” Hawk sat at his desk glaring at his manager. “This was supposed to bring our costs way down, right?”

  “It has. I’ve been able to keep tighter inventories as well as cut food and beverage costs, but prices have increased astronomically. That’s something we have no control over. We’re still making a profit that’s well above the average, Hawk.”

  “And I’m supposed to be satisfied, is that what you’re sayin’?”

  “Of course not. I agree. We could be doing much better.”

  “Then why aren’t we?” Hawk shot back in response. Hearing the door to his office open, Hawk pulled his eyes away from Eddie ready to verbally annihilate whoever walked in without knocking. When he saw that it was King, he brought his full attention back to his manager. “I’m waiting on an answer. Why the fuck are the numbers looking like this?”

  Eddie shifted uncomfortably in the chair. “Hawk, I’ve been trying to talk to you about this for the last month but you–”

  “But I what?” Hawk sat up in the chair and drilled his eyes into Eddie. “I pay you a shitload of money to take care of problems and fix issues when they come up, don’t I? That’s what you’re here for, right? Right?”

  “Of course. I’m not saying–”

  “Exactly, you’re not sayin’ shit! Bottom line, if I need to be here to hold your hand and guide you on every single decision that has to be made, then that’s defeating the purpose of you being my manager. Now if you can’t do the job, let me know. I’ll find somebody that can.”

  Anger clouded Eddie’s eyes before he dropped his gaze. He was furious, but Hawk didn’t care. He wasn’t there to coddle his employees. Eddie had been the manager since the restaurant opened, but that didn’t exempt him from getting his ass lit up.

  “Well?” Hawk arched his left eyebrow as he waited for a plausible answer to his question.

  “Sorry. I, uh, I’ll take care of it.”

  “Make sure that you do. Get back to me on this before the week is over.”

  Eddie nodded before getting up and leaving out the office and closing the door behind him. Hawk picked up the glass of Hennessy he’d been sipping on and looked at King. “They sent you to come get me?”

  “Yeah,” King drawled. “It was Lorenzo’s turn, but since he’s stuck in a meeting, we took a vote and I lost.”

  A scowl slashed across Hawk’s face. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “It’s means you’ve been snapping everybody’s heads off for weeks so nobody’s anxious to be around your ass if they don’t have to be.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Hawk muttered, looking away and bringing the glass to his lips.

  “Oh yeah? What do you call what you did to Eddie just now? That was foul, Hawk, and you know it.”

  “What’s foul about wanting my manager to do his job?”

  “Eddie’s good at what he does. One of the best, but he’s not the owner. If he thinks there’s a problem that needs to be brought to your attention, maybe you need to take your head out of your ass and pay attention.”

  Hawk slammed the glass on the desk. “You know what King? Why don’t you just stick to crunchin’ the numbers and let me worry about running the restaurant, okay?”

  King shrugged in unconcern. “Hey, I’m just sayin’. Don’t get mad at the messenger because you don’t like the message.”

  Hawk threw the rest of his drink down his throat and stood up. After tucking his shirt in his pants, he grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair. “Is he here?”

  King immediately knew who Hawk was asking about. “Angel? Yeah. His car just pulled up.” Hawk nodded and came around the desk, but King stopped him just before he reached the door. “Hey, I know you two got some shit goin’ on right now but this isn’t the time or the place to air out your grievances. We got a lot of business to discuss tonight.”

  “I’d say it’s the perfect time and place. Because of Angel flying Raven to that damn island of his, I haven’t seen or spoken to her in over a month.”

  “No, you haven’t seen or spoken to Raven because of Pops and Uncle Isaac...and yourself. Angel is doing what he’s supposed to be doing: taking care of his family.”

  “So now she’s his family. He didn’t think that when he came to me to provide a distraction to keep her out of his business, did he? I’m the one who called that off because I wanted...” Hawk bit off the rest of his sentence before he revealed more than he intended. “Look, I know I fucked up. I own that. But all I’m saying is the longer she stays away the more difficult it’s going to be to fix things between us.”

  “I understand that, but you need to tread lightly. The way to get what you want isn’t by making demands. You know as well as I do that nobody tells Angel what to do. Talk to him, man to man–but after we’ve taken care of business.”

  Hawk stared at King with a pensive expression before nodding reluctantly and opening the door. “Fine. But I don’t know why ya’ll always think I don’t know how to conduct myself,” he mumbled. “For the record, I know how to act like I got some sense when I need to.”

  “Yeah, but sometimes, you acting like you got some sense is the calm before the storm. Know what I mean?”

  Hawk looked over his shoulder with a scowl as they walked out into the main dining room where their customers were enjoying their meal. Once in sight of the restaurant’s patrons, they automatically switched their demeanors to that of the gracious co-owners of Pattels. The restaurant opened almost four years ago and had steadily made a profit. The location in LA followed soon after. Miami was up next.

  On the way to the private dining room where the meeting would be held, Hawk stopped at one of the tables to exchange words with a couple of guests. At the exact moment he happened to glance up, Hawk saw the hostess leading Angel and several of his bodyguards through the restaurant.

  Angel, who’d been casually chatting with the smiling hostess, turned his head in Hawk’s direction. Brown, turbulent eyes clashed with icy green ones like swords coming together in a dual. The visual connection only lasted about three seconds but it was long enough for the two men to know where they stood with one another. Hawk’s gaze conveyed his anger and frustration with Angel. Unfazed, Angel’s aloof eyes raked over Hawk with disdain. It was clear that Hawk’s presence was of little to no consequence to him. To reiterate that point, he turned his head and continued on to the private dining room.

  Hawk’s eyes narrowed at the blatant dismissal. Aware of his surroundings, he forced his attention back to the couple seated at the table. He nodded in all the appropriate areas until he was able to extricate himself from the conversation.

  Once he entered the private dining room, everyone was seated waiting on him. His father gave him a disapproving glare, which Hawk promptly ignored. Angel sat back in his chair, smoking a cigar and observing Hawk through a swirl of smoke.

  “Thank you for finally making an appearance, son.” Joseph’s voice overflowed with sarcasm.

  Hawk deliberately answered in the same tone. “No problem.”

  Joseph’s eyes burned with anger, communicating with Haw
k that they would talk about his attitude later. He turned to the others in the room before settling his attention on Angel. “Now that everyone is here, let’s get down to business. As you well know, the price of our product has increased almost six percent within the last several years. It’s starting to affect our profits. You said you’ve spoken to Antonio Cruz?”

  Angel puffed on his cigar and released another cloud of smoke before answering. “Yes. I brought our concerns to him and told him if this continues, we’ll have to look elsewhere for what we need.”

  “And what did he say to that?” Isaac scoffed. “The bastard knows that if we go somewhere else we’ll be paying an even higher price for product that’s substantially subpar.”

  “Which is why I dug a little deeper to find out exactly what the hell is going on. Apparently, after they formed their new conglomerate the honeymoon between the Juarez and Loera cartels didn’t last long. There’s a power struggle underway and it’s affecting everyone they sell to. From what Antonio told me, they’ve decided to part ways, which means the cost of product will more than likely increase instead of leveling out.”

  “This is completely unacceptable,” Joseph answered. “Those two cartels practically dominate the drug trade in Mexico.”

  Lucas nodded in agreement. “We all knew that this was a possibility when we agreed to work with Antonio Cruz. He’s incompetent and nowhere near the businessperson his sister was. Things are suffering because of that. Melania was high tech. She ran one of the most sophisticated drug and arms dealing organizations in the world. The Juarez cartel became a financial powerhouse because she reinvested their profits in strategic areas of their organization. With her gone, the entire business is coming undone.”

  “Melania was very intelligent, but she let her power convince her that she was invincible.” Angel’s eyes turned a cool, wintry green. “When she made the decision to come after my family, she sealed her own fate. Her death was a reminder to all that no one is untouchable and that stupid actions like the one she took have deadly consequences.”