The Hunter

by Gennita Low

  “These kafenas are crowded with UN soldiers,” Hawk continued.

  “He’s also making sure he’s surrounded by the blue army so you can’t simply throw in grenades,” Dirk said, referring to the blue uniforms of the UN forces.

  Hawk nodded. He had supplied them with details of his capture and escape.

  “He wants an exchange and then he’ll have his men capture me again. This time, he has Amber.” Hawk paused, glancing away for a second before meeting his men’s eyes. “Look, this is personal to me. It’s not for glory or country or any of that stuff. My woman’s in one of those whorehouses and…and if anything happens to her, I’ll kill every fucking one of them, blue army included.”

  Cucumber spat to the side. “If they’re in there doing what I think they’re doing, then they have no right to hide behind any uniform. Let’s go get them. I’m with you.”

  Jazz laid a hand on Hawk’s shoulder. “We aren’t here just to help you destroy those caches, buddy. We’re here for you. We’ll go save Amber and you can take down Dilaver any way you please. Just save a little piece of action for me. He owes me something for the wallop he gave Vivi.”

  Hawk recalled how hard Dilaver had punched Vivi, which reinforced his urgency to get to Amber. “I’m very familiar with all the back alleys and pathways in Velesta,” he said. “During the months here, I had thought of destroying these whorehouses before I finished up, so I’ve explored a lot in the dark, waiting for this moment. I have C-4 and wires ready in certain weak spots. All I need is to activate the fuse and every fucking one of the walls will fall down like cards. We start doing this at the same time except for the target area.”

  “Surprise attack,” Jazz said, nodding. “Everyone would panic inside. Each of us will go to different points and will keep in contact through intercom and wire.”

  “Estimated time thirty minutes,” Hawk said. He showed them the map he had drawn. “I’ll use a word when I give Dilaver the decoy. Pick one.”

  “Kaboom?” Mink suggested helpfully.

  “Make it a phrase to be sure,” Jazz said. “How about ‘It’s over’?”

  It’s over. “Yeah,” Hawk agreed.

  “Let’s party! We’re going to have what the Americans call a freebie. A very special freebie. Some of you might even know her and I’m going to be the first to show you how to have a good time with a blond bitch. Bring her.”

  “Hey, it’s the café lady!”

  Amber felt light as a bird. The voices didn’t frighten her. She recognized one of them but couldn’t quite place it. She didn’t care, although she knew she should. Something bad was going to happen to her, but it was all right. She wasn’t afraid.

  “Hey, Dilaver, that’s our boss’s woman you’re doing, man. We can’t let you do this.”

  “You’re going to have to. Look around you. You’re all surrounded by my men. And what’s more, you’re going to watch and report back to that son of a bitch what happens to people that raid my places.”

  “Fuck this, I’m here for a good time, not to watch you rape a woman.”

  A shot rang out. “There, you’re no longer watching. Gentlemen, you’re young. Got to toughen up a little. This woman is nothing. There will be more of her kind. After I show you what she’s got underneath those clothes, after you hear her moan from my taking her right here on our favorite whore table, you can all take turns. Who’s going to complain? Look.”

  Amber tried to focus. Something was happening.

  “You’re all gathering around, aren’t you? Come on, get closer. Come and watch. See? Lovely breasts. And you can all have her for free tonight. Let me get to the pants now. Don’t you want those long legs spread for each one of you? Amber, can you hear me? You’re going to feel something big and hard inside you.”

  It was as if she were floating above somewhere watching herself on the table. She should struggle. But she just lay there. She focused on Dilaver’s hand pulling at the zipper on his pants. She wanted to kick him in the groin, but she couldn’t remember how to move her legs. And she didn’t feel a thing. Shouldn’t she scream, like that girl she had seen not so long ago? Then she thought she heard more shots.

  “Well, if it isn’t another one of Amber’s men. Good to see you again, Hawk McMillan. How do you like my hand on your girlfriend’s breast?”

  Hawk! Hawk would come and save her. Didn’t Lily say that? Hawk was here. Amber moved her head, trying to see, but there were arms and legs and blue stuff in the way.

  “Let her go.”

  That was Hawk’s voice. She would know it anywhere. She strained upward.

  “Oh, look, she heard her lover. Come get her, lover boy. She’s lying here all lovely, waiting for you. Or me, ha! She can’t move very well, though. The other bitch delivered her full of drugs, something I hadn’t agreed to. Should have known I couldn’t trust a woman. These pants have got to go, what do you say?”

  “Make another move and I’ll detonate this and everything here will be gone.”

  “Sacrificing yourself for a woman? What kind of warrior is that? Aunt Greta said you’re probably a Navy SEAL. You know what? This is for your killing two of my best men. I’m going to fuck your woman and kill her in front of you. Here, let me hold her head up and you can see her pretty face one last time. Take him, men. Shoot his legs.”

  Amber still couldn’t see what was happening. Gunshots reverberated around her. “Nooooooo!” she managed, struggling against whatever that was holding her down. He was here for her. And suddenly panic rose in her and everything seemed to speed up, even her heartbeat. Hawk was in danger. “No!”

  It took every ounce of her energy. She turned her head. And bit down hard.

  She didn’t even know what exactly she was biting on, but Dilaver’s howl sliced through her consciousness like a wakeup call. Her head was shaken back and forth, but she refused to let go. Another hand grasped her throat, cutting off her air.

  There were more shots. She could hear men shouting. Gunshots. She didn’t care about them. She concentrated on Dilaver instead. He had hurt Hawk and he was going to pay.

  Hawk had been told fury could fuel a human bomb ticking and he would always remember the moment of explosion. That was all he could recall for debriefing, even months later. The moment he laid eyes on Amber on that table, everything important ceased to exist except to get to the man standing there, his filthy hands mauling her.

  He had hated that table worse than anything else in the kafena. There were so many times he had to walk by it, following Dilaver out, and not look at the girls left there after a “free” night. Sometimes, when he did look at an empty table, he would still see glimpses of faces and hear the screams. And there had been nothing he could do then.

  Not now.

  Not this time.

  It didn’t seem possible, but somehow he reached Dilaver across the expanse of the room without getting shot. Maybe some of the UN soldiers present had their conscience pricked at seeing a woman they knew laid out there on the table for them. Maybe someone up there was protecting him. He got to the big Slav as he was bending over Amber, screaming, trying to shake her off. A part of his mind registered that her mouth was clamped on some part of Dilaver’s hand.

  Hawk curled an arm over Dilaver’s beefy throat from behind and snapped his head back. The snarling man immediately released Amber to pry Hawk’s arm from his throat.

  “It’s over, pig,” Hawk said into Dilaver’s ear. “My turn to show you how to have fun.”

  The Slav was strong, pulling at Hawk’s arm as he jammed his elbow into his injured ribs. Hawk felt the pain but forced himself to apply more pressure.

  The roar of multiple C-4 being set off added to the confusion around the table. There were shouts as people fell to the ground, covering their heads in fear. Screaming girls ran out from the back. Hawk felt the ground shake from so many explosions around the city. His SEAL brothers were doing what they did best.

  “I’ve wired every one of your places in Ve
lesta and they are coming down tonight,” Hawk said as he swung a punch into Dilaver’s face. He punctuated each blow. “Every. One. Of. Them. Gone.”

  Dilaver wasn’t going down easily. He matched Hawk’s blows with several of his own. He had gotten free of Amber, blood splattering all over as he went for Hawk’s throat, pushing his thumbs inward.

  Hawk let out a roar and rammed his body against Dilaver, pushing forward until the other man hit one of the supporting beams in the room. The blood made everything slippery and the hold on his throat loosened. Dilaver landed a vicious fist on the side of his face. Hawk straightened up and resumed punching at his target like he did to his punching bag in his room, going for the face and neck area. He cut upward into the groin. He head-butted him. Dilaver roared and struck out one last time. Hawk smashed a fist into his face so hard, the other man’s head whipped backward and hit the beam with a loud crack. Even then he continued pounding as Dilaver slid down the beam.

  He was still beating and kicking when someone pulled him off. It was Jazz, holding him from behind, cuffing him from the underarms.

  “It’s over, buddy, hey, it’s okay, he’s done.”

  Hawk finally stopped. He looked down at Dilaver. He had just killed a man with his own bare hands. “Let go,” he said. “I’m fine. Where’s Amber?”

  Jazz released him and he turned to the table, stumbling over debris and bodies. He caught sight of her blond hair.

  “Amber! Amber!” He turned her over. There was blood all over her chin and the front of her shirt. Her eyes were open. He pulled his precious package into his arms, hugging her tightly. “Where are you hurt?”

  “I’m…okay. I think I bit off part of Dilaver’s thumb. Hawk…Lily…oh God, Hawk—”

  “Shhh…it’s going to be okay. I know, I know,” Hawk told her, wiping her face and mouth with his sleeve. She wasn’t hurt so far as he could see, thank God. He lifted her and started to head out toward the entrance. “We’ll talk as soon as we get you taken care of. Jazz, we’re snatching a vehicle and going to the hospital. Call headquarters. They can land something at the UN base or wherever, I don’t give a fuck. Get them to transport her out of here!”

  “Aye, aye, sir!”

  “You came for me, Hot Stuff.”

  Hawk looked down. “Of course I did. Don’t you know I love you yet?”

  She smiled weakly. “I love you, too. Don’t leave me alone at the hospital, Hawk. I don’t think I can stand being without you.”

  “I’ll never let you go,” he told her.

  Lily looked at the buzzing cell phone on the passenger car seat. It lay there beside the small explosive device. She picked it up to check the ID. Brad. She frowned. Not who she was expecting. He shouldn’t be calling her. Dropping it back on the seat, she ignored the sound and continued driving. The cell kept buzzing. She glanced at it several times as the minutes continued. Finally, she reached for it again. Why would a man who should hate her call? Just to tell her he despised her?

  “Shouldn’t you be in the hospital?” she asked levelly, keeping her eyes on the mountain road.

  “Surprised I’m not dead?” His familiar voice was low.

  “I called your housekeeper to make sure she showed up early, you know. I couldn’t let you die.”

  “I know what you’re doing, Lily. You can’t do this. I know what you are.”

  “What am I?” she asked calmly.

  “You’re a CIA sleeper. They used your anger and hatred and programmed you. They channeled all your emotions into looking for a sister you don’t have so you could have a purpose in life, and then they put a trigger in that they could set off when the time’s right. All those cell calls you have been taking…don’t let them use you, Lily!”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “You don’t have a sister. It’s you all along! You know this! Stop lying to yourself, Lily.”

  Lily frowned. “Llallana,” she corrected. No one was to know about her sister’s identity or—“Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.”

  Brad’s voice was very sad. “The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere the ceremony of innocence is drowned. What comes next, Lily? Say it and be free.”

  He had changed the order of the code. She obeyed. “The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.”

  Her consciousness zapped her like electricity. Lily blinked, trying to understand. That line had never been spoken. She was not to say it until she was told to. Something unlocked inside, like an old creaking drawer, and she was drawn to it. There was something waiting for her in there. Open it. Open it. She pulled at the image in her head. The cell phone fell from her hand as she continued driving, staring into the darkness.

  She thought she heard someone calling her name. But it was too late. She had to stop what she was doing. There was only one way to obey and disobey. Detonate here. Now.

  She veered off the road and drove a short ways away. She braked to a stop as she came close to a cliff. Darkness out there. Like the darkness in her heart.

  She deserved what was coming to her. She released the brake.

  25

  Amber looked up eagerly as the door opened. Her nurse pushed her wheelchair forward a little as another nurse followed Hawk, also in a wheelchair. She hadn’t seen him for two days since the initial checkup at the hospital. Not that she had been able to talk much anyway. Her drugged body needed time to get rid of the toxins in her system.

  “We really have to stop meeting like this,” he said, a small quirk to his lips. His eyes devoured her, taking in every detail. “Like the similar outfit.”

  She grinned back. “You look good in a hospital gown. Nice legs.”

  He stretched one out, looking down at it with interest. “Oh yeah? I knew there was a reason why the nurses wouldn’t let me put on my clothes for this. What do you think, Nurse Hill?”

  “Nice legs, bruised ribs, bad internal injuries,” Nurse Hill summarized from behind him. She smiled at Amber. “He was quite a petulant child the last few days when he couldn’t get to see you. Like you, his body needs rest, but he doesn’t seem to understand that. And he threw a tantrum about his outfit and the wheelchair. Fortunately, he calmed down quickly.”

  “Yeah,” Hawk said, “they threatened not to let me see you today. How are you feeling?”

  It was so good to hear his voice again. Amber wanted to jump out of her chair and kiss him. “A bit weak,” she replied. “I’m just glad to see you.”

  It had been a strange two days, coming in and out of her drugged sleep. When she was finally cognizant, she had found out that she was in a medical facility in a military base. There were visitors, but she didn’t know any of them. She just wanted to see Hawk.

  She had heard all the details of what had happened from Lieutenant Jazz Zeringue, Hawk’s close friend from his team. Dragan Dilaver was dead. All his kafenas had been destroyed by fire. Hawk was all right, but he had some injuries that needed to be taken care of. She knew some of those came from being Dilaver’s prisoner.

  “We’ll let the two of you have a few minutes alone after the meeting,” Amber’s nurse said from behind her. “Here is some water, and if you need us, we’ll be outside the door.”

  “Thank you,” Amber said. She looked up when the door opened and a familiar figure, clad in faded jeans and jacket, walked in. “Hello, Jed.”

  Jed McNeil always made a room feel smaller. The man had the kind of presence that was quietly forceful, speaking volumes without actually having said a word. She had forgotten how those light silvery eyes could gaze with an intensity of a hunting animal. Right now they were assessing, taking in both her and Hawk’s physical condition. She was pretty sure that he had already read the medical reports.

  “Hello, Ambrosia. Long time.” He looked at Hawk. “Lieutenant McMillan. Good job.”

  “I haven’t completed my assignment,” Hawk said quietly. “There’s still those caches.”

&n
bsp; “Your team will take care of it. We’re combing the different locations right now.” Jed took a seat. “Except for one factor, we have everything under control.”

  “What’s that?”

  Jed glanced at Amber. “Llallana Noretski.”

  Hawk also turned to her. “Lily took the bomb with her, Amber.”

  “I know,” she said softly, trying to keep the sorrow away. Lily was, in all likelihood, dead. “Lieutenant Zeringue told me about it. She had been programmed by the CIA to follow certain orders. I’m still not sure what they are, though. Why was she with me all these years? Was she waiting for this particular weapon?”

  Jed shook his head. “No. She’s a sleeper cell, which means that the CIA intended to use her for a target. A sleeper lives a normal life until their trigger is activated, so Lily didn’t really know much of anything except that she had undergone some kind of psychological evaluation from the CIA. From what I gather talking to Mr. Bradford Sun, she had been brainwashed into a separate identity. She identified her missing self as her sister, which the CIA used as a cause to channel her hatred and distress. That way, whoever activated the trigger would have the key to manipulate her.”

  Amber frowned. “So, someone from the CIA did this to set off a bomb at an international meet?” She was still in shock at all this stuff about Lily and her conditioning. She had heard about these topics but had never really thought about it happening to her in real life. “Why this particular group of people? Wait, I remember Lily’s last words to me. Something about finally getting rid of all those responsible. Does that mean she had been programmed to think all the political figures at that summit were her enemies?”

  “That makes sense,” Hawk said. “She hated those who had power to stop the trafficking of women. I think that’s why she acted so oddly with Brad. Her feelings were in conflict with her conditioning. At the same time, those phone calls started.”

  Amber sighed. She still couldn’t believe what she had been told the last few days. Yet, looking back, she could see how out of character Lily was, and how she was always mentioning calls on her cell phone. Amber had misunderstood, thinking it had to do with the girls’ transport in and out of the country. How was she to know that those calls were activating whatever embedded commands that were dormant in Lily’s psyche?