Hunter's Find

by June Kramin

  “I don’t do church, Abbey.”

  “Whatever. Do something. Just play it cool. You’re not in any danger unless you give them reason to be suspicious about you. Don’t contact us; we’ll contact you.”

  Almost a month had gone by. Mandy and the man had finally evolved into friendly banter, but she was careful not to cross the line into flirting. She was on business and he could be part of it. Even if he wasn’t, she wasn’t about to get involved with someone while she was working on a job of this magnitude. They had finally gotten to a first name basis, and Mandy let herself relax around him. His name was Gerard, and he did nothing that made her think he was anything more than an average Joe-Schmo killing time.

  That Friday, she had served his coffee and wandered back to someone standing at the register. Something about the man was wrong. She sensed his nervousness, but couldn’t act on it prematurely and risk giving anything away. He pulled out a gun before she could blink.

  “Gimme all your cash!” he shouted. His gun went from her to Gerard. He acted nervous as hell. An amateur at best and probably his first robbery, Mandy thought.

  There was a bat under the counter for times such as these. She tried to distract him for a moment before she reached for it.

  “Just hold on there, Skippy. You don’t want to hurt anyone. I make minimum wage. I’m not going to get crazy. Take what you want.” She reached for the bat as she hit buttons to open the register, but Gerard was on him before she even got it out of the hook. He sent the man to the floor hard enough that he was knocked out cold when his head hit the floor.

  “Get some duct tape. That’ll hold him till the cops get here.”

  “You’re leaving?”

  “I don’t need to be here when the cops show up. Tell them you clobbered the schmuck.”

  “Any particular reason?”

  “I’ll tell you at our date tonight.”

  “We have a date?”

  “Seven o’clock. It’s the least you can do. I just saved that pretty little ass of yours.”

  She wasn’t about to correct him about saving her...or about her ass. He’d been nothing but a great customer all this time. She didn’t think he could be connected in any way with whatever she was doing here. The office would have warned her if that was the case. She was beginning to think they had her on the wrong corner. After living like a nun for the past few months, a night out sounded good.

  She finally answered. “Seven o’clock would be great.”

  Dinner turned into drinks, drinks turned into animal sex. It had been too long for her, and she enjoyed it thoroughly. What Abbey didn’t know couldn’t hurt her.

  She had waited for Hunt’s heavy eyelids to close completely before uttering the last part. It was after one o’clock. She woke him up.

  He apologized for falling asleep. “Babe, I’m sorry.”

  “It’s fine. It’s late. Let’s go to bed. I’ll finish the rest later.”

  “Did I miss anything good?”

  “No, my love. I stopped when I knew you were dozing off.”

  “You will finish for me. Won’t you?”

  “I promise.”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Hunt woke up before Mandy the next morning and checked on Hannah. She was just waking up and not crying yet. She gave her daddy a big smile. He walked downstairs with her and removed a bottle of breast milk out of the fridge. He was pacing the kitchen trying to burp her before Mandy joined them.

  “She took the bottle okay?”

  “Took a little bit, but she did. Is that okay? We were up so late, I wanted you to sleep in.”

  “Of course it’s okay. I’ll pump if I get too full before she wants to eat again.” She kissed him. “That was nice of you. Thanks. I’ll nap when she does later and catch up. Sorry you won’t be able to.”

  “I’m fine. Did I tell you? I’m getting married today. A speeding train couldn’t stop me from doing anything.”

  She smiled. “Okay, Superman. Give me her; you’d better go get your cape on.”

  After he gave her the baby, Hunt said, “We need to pick up where we left off on your story, too.”

  “You really need to know everything?”

  “I already know you banged him on the first date. How much worse can it get?”

  “I thought you were asleep.”

  “I know.” He grinned then took off running up the stairs.

  Hunt came flying through the door at two-thirty. Mandy was standing there ready to go. Hunt was late. They were supposed to be at the courthouse already.

  “What happened?”

  “Sorry. There was a shoplifter at the hardware store. Luke was nowhere to be found. Roy was on patrol; I had to go. His ass is grass when I find him.”

  “Can we still get married?”

  “Yes. I called the courthouse. They’ll be ready for us whenever we show up. Judge Finkle is free for the rest of the afternoon. I’m sorry to worry you. Guess I should have called.”

  “I’m okay. I was worried about you.” She stepped in closer to him. “I’m not so sure about this cop’s wife thing. Maybe I am changing my mind.”

  Hunt held her and growled. “If you don’t marry me woman…I’ll kill you so hard you’re gonna die to death.”

  Mandy laughed so hard, Hannah jumped. She wasn’t startled enough to be woken up completely, and soon fell back to sleep. “Go get dressed.”

  “Have I said you look ravishing?”

  “No.”

  “Well, you do. You wanna have sex?” He wagged his eyebrows up and down.

  “Sorry, sir. I’m saving myself for my husband.”

  “Lucky bastard.”

  Twenty minutes later, Hunt was told he could now “kiss the bride.”

  Roy turned to Mandy. “Can I kiss the bride, or are you going to threaten my life?”

  “You’re safe.” She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “No hard feelings?”

  “No hard feelings. I need to thank you for taking this bum off the streets for me.”

  “Is that a fact?” She gave Hunt a playful glare.

  “Sure. Now that he’s taken, the cop-loving broads will be after me now.”

  “Dream on,” Hunt said with a laugh. “Junior show up?”

  “Yeah. I chewed his ass. I don’t know what is with him lately.”

  “Get him in the file room for a few hours as punishment. That would be a good start till I get my hands on him.” He turned to Mandy. “Come on, wife. We have a honeymoon to start.”

  Hunt carried the baby into the house. They had decided to put off a real honeymoon until Hannah was a little older and they were comfortable leaving her with Hunt’s parents. A couple of days off would have to suffice for now.

  “Speaking of your parents, are you sure they aren’t going to have your hide for not having them at the ceremony?”

  “Don’t kill me.”

  “What?”

  “I just…sort of…forgot to mention something to you.”

  “Hunter Andrew Blaine! What did you do?”

  “Nice. We’ve been married ten minutes and I got the full name already.”

  “I’m waiting.”

  “The only way to appease my mother was to tell her she could throw a reception. Please don’t be pissed.”

  “I’m not pissed, Hunt. Why would you think I’d get pissed?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe because you and my mom butted horns from the second you met.”

  “She was upset because we dropped a few bombshells on them that night. She’ll come around.”

  “That’s what I was hoping.”

  “Hunt, of course I want to get to know your family and friends. It’s not like there is anything on my side. You have any friends with wives, or is everyone you know as devoted to bachelorhood as you?”

  “There’s a few of both. You’ll meet everyone at the party, then maybe we’ll have them over in shifts and get to know some better on a one-on-one basis.”

  “I th
ink we need some one-on-one, too, before we get too into having others over.”

  “You do have a point there. We sort of have a lot of territory to cover getting to know each other.”

  “You want me to continue with the story, don’t you?”

  “You have that wives’ intuition already, babe.” He pretended to wipe a tear. “I’m so proud.”

  “Put a sock in it, Blaine. I’m going to get out of this dress before I leak in it. You go ahead and pop the champagne.”

  “You going to have some with me?”

  “Not while I’m nursing.”

  “Then it will have to wait until we are both ready to enjoy it.”

  “You don’t have to, you know.”

  “I know. I want to. I’m not this unselfish often. Take it where you get it.”

  Hunt played with Hannah until it was time for her to go down for the night. He wished she’d stay up later so Mandy could sleep longer, but babies made their own schedules. Mandy said she used to try to wake her up for another feeding before she went to bed, but Hannah would have nothing to do with it. When she wanted to sleep, she stayed asleep.

  They walked into the kitchen with the intent of making dinner together. What they got instead was dessert on the table first. Hunt discovered she neglected to put any underwear on under her housedress, and it was all over from there.

  “Nice sturdy table there, Blaine,” Mandy said as she kissed the neck of her exhausted lover.

  “Couldn’t have planned it better.” After a few moments, he stood up and helped Mandy to her feet as well. “My aunt always said to have dessert first. That way you always have room.”

  “Smart aunt,” she said with a kiss. “I’ll get the wild rice going. You start on the fish.”

  “Yes, dear.”

  “Good answer.”

  Mandy was grateful they had avoided the conversation of her past throughout the meal. However, when they sat on the couch, she knew the jig was up.

  “Soooo,” Hunt said.

  “You sure I can’t get you a beer or something?”

  “I’m fine. You left off after having sex for the first time.”

  “I know.” She took a deep breath. “Things were fine for a while. We got along great. I hadn’t dated anyone so mature before. No offense, Hunt, but you know how most college boys are. It was a nice change for me.”

  “So you loved him for his mind, not his—”

  “If you’re not going to play fair, I’m not telling you any more of the story.”

  He took her hand and gave it a kiss. “I’m just teasing. Please continue.”

  Mandy spent many days and nights wondering why the FBI wasted the time and training on her if she was only going to be a convenience store clerk. Nothing out of the ordinary happened other than the robbery for another few weeks. She all but moved in with Gerard. They spent most of their nights at his place, but she wouldn’t sleep over. She supposed the agency was watching her, but if they wanted to complain, she had her argument ready. After he dropped her off one night, she got her chance to use it. Craig Abbey and her unofficial partner Dan were waiting in her apartment.

  “This isn’t the safest place to do this. What if he came in with me?”

  “We already know you…have been serviced. We know your routine, Mandy,” Dan joined in. “We need to talk to you about this little affair of yours. We feel it’s a distraction.”

  “Bullshit. You told me to fit in, so I fit in. You wanted me to get local color, so I got it.”

  “I’d say you’re getting it, Mandy. Right between the—”

  “Knock it off, Dan,” Abbey shouted. Mandy met Dan during her training. He was the same level as she was, but always acted like he was her superior. More than once, he was a little too close for her comfort. He never came out and asked her on a date, but Mandy had always suspected he wanted to. He made several uncomfortable advances, and if she had responded at all, they would have been lovers. She was certain of it. He was behaving like a jealous lover here, not an upset teammate.

  “Look, Mandy,” Abbey continued. “I’m not happy, but I’ll trust your judgment on this. I don’t want you getting ga-ga over this guy and drawing your name with his in little hearts and miss what’s going on around you.”

  “You know me better than that!”

  “All right. Chill out. I’ve given you free reign here. But you screw up and it’s my ass!”

  “I’m not going to screw anything up. He wants me to move in with him, and I said no. I figure you have me set up in this shithole for a reason. I know what I’m doing.”

  “Move in together? Already? Don’t you think he’s moving along a little fast here?”

  “That’s none of your business, Dan.” Mandy sent a stare at him that silenced any further outbursts. She returned her attention to Abbey. “Just what the hell am I doing anyway? You guys have me selling cigarettes and ignoring fake IDs ’cause I’m not supposed to know any better. What the hell is supposed to go down? What am I wasting my time there for?”

  “Just keep your eyes open. You’ll know soon enough. We’re not wrong about this location. We have it on a good source it’s about to become the new hotspot. You’re going to be in the middle of it, and we need you on the top of your game.”

  “I will be. Don’t worry about Gerard. I’m sure he thinks I’m the brainless bimbo you have me playing. Just let it be. I’ll probably end up meeting more people and maybe set up for more leads. Don’t underestimate my thoughts on this.”

  “Yet you don’t think he’s involved in any of this?”

  “I don’t. But so far we haven’t done much other than…”

  “Fuck.”

  “Screw you, Dan.”

  “Can’t have us all, babe.”

  “Abbey? Would you get a leash on that thing or don’t bring him around anymore.”

  “Both of you knock it off.”

  “Come on, Craig. You don’t think I’ve observed him for the past few weeks? He doesn’t pack a gun. He doesn’t have contact with anyone that I’ve seen. He isn’t making drop-offs or pick-ups. He could just like the place’s coffee. Let me run with this.” Abbey was still silent. “It would help if you gave me any indication of what the hell I was supposed to be looking for.”

  “Just keep your eyes open. We’ll be in touch again soon.”

  They left, leaving her still confused as to her mission, but at least she wasn’t in trouble for falling in love on the job. She hoped whatever was going to happen would happen fast. Mandy hated to lie to Gerard, but couldn’t bring herself to tell him anything about the agency. She was certain he had nothing to do with what she was here for, but she couldn’t risk her cover to anyone.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  The following day, Mandy’s convenience store boss approached her with a strange request. She could tell by the way he walked over that something was finally rolling. Her heart raced with excitement, not fear.

  “’Sup, boss man.”

  “’Sup? How about I give you a dollar an hour raise not to talk like that anymore?”

  “Sold. I’ll let you touch my boob on my lunch break for two.”

  He laughed. “You are a feisty one. I need you to do something for me.”

  “Who do I need to kill?”

  “Much easier than that. Program a new key on that contraption for me.” He pointed to the cash register.

  She took the key out of her pocket and turned the register to program. “Fire away.”

  “Make it PLU number ninety-nine.”

  “How much?”

  “You figure it out so it comes to $58.25 after tax.”

  “Why that amount?”

  “You just received an extra buck an hour not to ask why.”

  She knew she had to act curious, but couldn’t push it too far and risk her job. “I’ll do as you ask, but this don’t smell right, Joey. You’re not doing anything that could get me in trouble, are you?”

  “Of course not. It’ll look
like a carton of cigarettes. I’ll get you the stock. People show up, ask for PLU number ninety-nine and you hand it to them, no questions asked.”

  “What if a cop asks?”

  “No cop will ask.”

  “But what if one does?”

  “Then you hand him a box of Camel Lights.”

  “It is illegal.”

  “Two bucks an hour raise.”

  “Fine. No boob touching though.”

  Again he laughed. “Deal.”

  “So,” Hunt said. “He had you selling drugs?”

  “As much as it pains me to admit it, yes. It was very small scale. My guess was weed. I could never get in the boxes without it being obvious. It didn’t matter; I had to do what I had to do for both jobs’ sake. The small-time buyers weren’t who we were after. They were mostly your average businessman. Never anyone underage. That was a slight consolation.”

  “If it wasn’t you, they’d get it somewhere else?”

  “Something like that. Anyway, the store’s sales went up dramatically. They never only bought PLU number ninety-nine. They always spent more. Made it look legit.”

  “So they made him a deal. He’d traffic and they’d boost his legitimate business.”

  “I’m sure Joey didn’t do it very willingly. I found out he had been paying for protection. I have no doubt they took more as he made more.”

  “This sounds so Al Capone.”

  “That’s exactly what it was like. I didn’t know how the agency knew to set me up there. You’d think they would have watched this happening and then tried to get in. It’s like they had a jump on it.”

  “Or someone on the inside already.”

  She tilted her head and stared at him for a moment. “Funny you should say that, because I thought the same thing, but nothing I ever came up with panned out. We were a small team. I always thought there was no way there was any double dealing going on.”