Hunter's Find

by June Kramin

  “Never say never, babe. Money talks. I don’t care who you are.”

  “You telling me you could be bought, Mr. Blaine?”

  “Me? Hell no. You know better than that. I don’t know these pencil dicks you’re talking about and wouldn’t put anything past them, from what little I’ve heard. Please go on. Maybe this will help make something fall into place for you.”

  “Well, of course, I found out about Willy at the cabin. But I never saw it coming.”

  The people that came in purchasing the new item often looked like regular people. Mandy stayed her cheery self and didn’t let on to anyone what she thought one way or the other about their purchase.

  Again Mandy stopped her story. “What?” Hunt asked.

  “I never thought about it. There were a lot of times Gerard was there and I had someone ask for PLU ninety-nine. He never once said a word.”

  “Because he knew.”

  “Well of course he knew, Hunt. But back then, I didn’t know he knew. I should have been more in-tune with that.”

  “You were in love.”

  “Don’t mock me!”

  “I’m not mocking you. You loved him. You didn’t think he had anything to do with things, and you wanted to keep believing that.” He held her chin. “Look what you did to me. You were a murderer on the run for all I knew and I couldn’t keep my hands off of you. The last thing I want to happen here is to get in a fight over this. I’m okay with your past. He’s hardly a threat anymore.” Her eyes squinted and her lips tightened at his comment. “I’m sorry.”

  “I want to go check on Hannah.”

  “I haven’t heard a peep out of her.”

  “I still need to go check on her. I’ll be back in a minute.”

  Mandy spent some time adjusting a blanket that didn’t need adjusting, staring at her baby. When she’d found out she was pregnant, she hadn’t hesitated for a second about keeping her. She’d wanted the baby whether or not Hunt wanted to see her ever again. Keeping the pregnancy a secret was something she’d always regret. Hunt not being a part of it left a small emptiness in her over the months, but when his arms wrapped around her from behind, it was a void immediately filled again.

  “Hey,” he said. “Everything okay, Mommy?”

  “She’s fine. I just can’t ever get enough of watching her sleep.”

  “I know the feeling,” he said as he gazed into her eyes. “You keep me up at night.”

  “I snore?”

  He chuckled. “No. I can’t stop watching you sleep, either.”

  They shared a lingering kiss before she led him out of the bedroom. “How about we share a shower before I continue?”

  “You know it’s not just going to be a shower.”

  “I’m counting on it.”

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Squeaky clean, they sat on the couch again with cups of tea. Mandy found a raspberry one she thought she’d like. She hadn’t acquired a taste for Hunt’s green tea.

  “This is hardly a way to spend a honeymoon. I promise I’ll make it up to you, babe.”

  “This is fine. I’ve had enough of hotels and traveling for a while. This is nicer than you think.”

  “This is your home now. You feel free to ‘woman’ it up anyway you see fit.”

  Again she gazed at him for a moment, struggling for the right words. “You know, I never would have taken you for such an agreeable man for a husband. I thought you’d be a bachelor until the day you died.”

  “I was on my way to that before you came along, thank you very much.”

  “I’m serious, Hunt. We fought like cats and dogs until we—”

  “Had sex? Humped our brains out? I took the skin boat to—”

  “Stop it!” she said through a laugh. “Yes, that.”

  “I wanted you and thought I shouldn’t have you. Of course, I put a wall up and was a dick to try to push you away. You took psychology. Tell me you didn’t figure that one out.”

  “I know that. It just seemed like it went further than that for you. I really thought you weren’t a woman kind of guy.”

  “You thought I was gay?”

  She laughed harder than before. “No, Hunt.” She had to lean in his chest to muffle the laughing that still continued. His reactions to surprises were priceless. She’d have to remember to zing him more often. When she composed herself, she continued. “I thought you hated women or something. One night stand, Hunt. ‘Don’t get close to me—I’m not going to get close to you.’”

  “I won’t say I hated women, but you were right. I was a two-date kind of guy.”

  “Always?”

  “There was one girl during and after college, but that ended badly and I never wanted to go through that again.”

  “If I didn’t show up for court?”

  “I’d still be looking for your ass.”

  “If I didn’t have Hannah?”

  “I’d knock you up on sight. You just married me. You still going to play the ‘what if’ game?”

  “If I’m spilling my guts here, I wanted a little dirt in return. That’s all. What was her name?”

  “Whose name?”

  “The one who broke your heart.”

  “We don’t use the name of ‘she who should not be mentioned’ around here.”

  “Come on, Hunt. You owe me that much.”

  He dropped his head back. “Annabelle.”

  “And what happened?”

  “She got pregnant.”

  Mandy sat up straighter. “Why’d that break you up? Were you not ready to settle down back then?”

  “Just the opposite. I proposed. She said she wanted to think about it. I didn’t hear from her for a few days. She showed up and told me she had an abortion.” Mandy gasped. “I couldn’t look at her after that. She killed my baby, and I couldn’t forgive her for that. We parted ways. End of story. I don’t even know where she is now.”

  Mandy was silent for a while. She wished she hadn’t made Hunt tell her. All she could say was, “I’m sorry.”

  Hunt shrugged. “I have my girls now. That’s all that matters.” He pulled her hand to his lips for a lingering kiss. “What was next, oh mob queen of mine?”

  “Things became strange, fast.”

  Renovations in the office space that spanned the two floors above the store had been completed the following week. It was then when things really start to hop. Mandy had all her senses on overload, trying to keep up with what was going on.

  Cars came and went all day. The men weren’t the typical accountant-looking types either. Most looked like they had done their share of jail time and used that time pumping weights. Color was not a factor. There were men of every race and so were their women. They varied from ladies of the night to the overdressed and over-jeweled wives with undersized dogs.

  Mandy remained friendly to them as if her job depended on it. It did. Both of them. She continued her affair with Gerard, neither of them mentioning anything past the counter and bedroom.

  After closing up one night, she ran the bag of garbage to the dumpster like she always did. She found two men beating up a young man and couldn’t bring herself to turn away. Dropping the bag of trash, she headed for the larger of the two. She had the element of surprise on him, but wouldn’t have needed it. She was easily the better fighter. A few well-placed kicks and a good right to the chin had the man on his back. When she knew he was out of the fight, Mandy turned to help with the other attacker, but discovered she didn’t need to. Once it was a fair fight, the boy didn’t do too badly. Anxious to bring it to an end, she picked up a discarded block of 2x4 from the remodel and hit the second assailant on the head. He went down hard and the other man ran off.

  “Thanks,” the boy said as he wiped his bloody nose. Boy? He looked around twenty to Mandy. Still, she couldn’t bring herself to say man. “Kind of embarrassing to be saved from a brawl by a chick.”

  “A chick with a great right hook. And two on one never is fair.”

/>   “I’ve seen you before. You’re the cashier, right?”

  “That’s me.”

  “Obviously your talents would be better served elsewhere.”

  “Oh, no you don’t. Don’t you dare tell anyone. I’ll get fired or something.”

  “Not likely. Come with me.” He took her by the arm and led her to the back fire escape. It was down at the moment. It had been rigged to stay that way.

  “You do this? We could get a fine for that.”

  “Again, not likely.” He motioned for her to go forward. “After you.”

  She did as she was told. As they climbed, she asked him, “Who were those two, anyway?”

  “Someone not friends of my father’s.”

  “Your father? You’re not Joey’s son. Are you?”

  “Nope.”

  Once they were up to the second landing, Mandy waited for him. He walked past her and crawled in the window. She followed. Immediately they were greeted by screams.

  “Angelo! What on earth—” The shouting quit when the man’s eyes fell on Mandy. “Why is she here?”

  “Can it, Pops. She just saved my ass.”

  “Saved your ass? What happened?”

  He stepped away from the window and motioned for his father to look out it. “Gino’s boys?” his father asked.

  “Yup. Jumped me the second I hit the ground.”

  “Well, what the hell were you doing going out! You know better than to go without Bennett! What were you thinking?” His father pulled a gun out of a holster and pointed it out the window. The man on the ground was coming to. “You’d better tell your uncle to watch his ass, boy! You want a war, you’ll get one!”

  Mandy pretended to be frightened by the appearance of the gun. Angelo cackled. “First gun, sweetheart?”

  “Hardly,” she replied, trying to now act insulted.

  The man on the ground stood up and ran away. Angelo’s father came back in, holstered his gun, and straightened his coat. “So, why is it you bring this cashier into my home?”

  “I told you, Pop. She saved my ass. Two of those goons jumped me.”

  “And what did she do?”

  “Kicked their asses. Give her a job.”

  “She has a job.”

  “Give her a better one.”

  “Wait a second,” Mandy interrupted. “Do I get a vote here?” She had to at least pretend to protest. Her ploy worked. Angelo’s father liked the fact that she pretended to be uninterested. He was obviously a man who was used to making people do what they didn’t want. He wanted the challenge. The forcefulness. She had read him well.

  “No. My name is Vince. I’m the boss of your boss. That makes me your boss, too.”

  “I just got a raise. I’m not leaving my job. I don’t care who you say you are.”

  “I’m doubling it.”

  “My raise?”

  “Your salary.”

  “Why? What do you want me to do? I’m not doing anything illegal.”

  “You already are. Might as well make money at it.”

  “That PLU ninety-nine, right? I’m not an idiot, but at least I can play stupid if we were busted.”

  “Playing dumb wouldn’t help you, not that you have any worries of that anyway. You’ll be well protected. I guarantee it.”

  “I suppose you’re going to tell me you have cops on payroll?”

  He only grinned and turned to his son. “Next time a woman has to save your ass, Angelo, find one with bigger tits and less brains.” He returned his attention to Mandy. “Come to my office tomorrow morning.”

  “What about my job?”

  He waved as if it wasn’t such a big deal. “I’ll have someone cover your job. You’ll learn to do as I say, Amanda. We’ll get along much better that way.”

  “I prefer Mandy.”

  “Of course you do, Amanda.” He stepped forward and held her chin. He looked down giving her an obvious once over. “I suspect you have nicer clothes.”

  She jerked her head out of his grasp. “Yes.”

  “Then wear them tomorrow. See her out, Angelo.”

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  That night Mandy was afraid to say anything to Gerard. Not that she even really knew what to say. Tell him she thought she was just hired by the mob or tell him she was an FBI agent. Both sounded too stupid to be true. She hated that she had fallen in love with him in the middle of all of this. It was a distraction she shouldn’t have allowed. Wearing a negligée waiting for him to come over, she planned on breaking it off tonight. Having sex one last time sounded great, though. It was easy enough to find something small to fight about and give her an excuse for a break. She’d miss him but she couldn’t risk ruining this job over him. Maybe after it was all said and done she could find him again.

  Things were moving too fast, and she had to put some space between them. She was beginning to doubt her ability to do either job effectively and keep him in the dark. That’s what her head told her, but when Gerard showed up with a two carat weight diamond, a wedding dress, and flowers, she had a hard time doing anything but smothering him with excited kisses. She unbuckled his pants, wanting to make love, but he stopped her.

  “Later. We’re getting married tonight.”

  “Tonight? Why the rush?”

  “Because I want you now. I want you living with me. No more of your excuses.”

  She wanted to marry him, but she couldn’t live a lie. “I need to tell you something first.” Mandy was still deciding whether to tell him about her job with the mob or being an FBI agent. She hadn’t made up her mind which. He stopped her by placing a hand over her mouth.

  “All I want to hear out of those lips is, ‘I do.’”

  “But, Gerard—”

  “Shhh. Get dressed. There’s a limo downstairs.”

  Before Mandy could blink, she was Mrs. Gerard Teluso. They drank champagne in the back of the limo and then made love in it.

  Hunt interrupted again. “In the limo? Lucky son of a bitch.”

  “So get me a limo on our honeymoon.”

  “Porsche.”

  “A little harder to make love in, don’t you think, Hunt?”

  “It’s always been a dream of mine. Read it in a book once.”

  “Any. Way. You. Want.” She kissed him between each word.

  “Shameless hussy.”

  “And all yours.”

  “Yowza.”

  The limo came to a stop and Mandy assumed they were back at his place. She straightened herself as best she could and looked out the window. They were in the richest neighborhood for fifty miles.

  “Why are we here?”

  “I want to show off my wife.”

  She frowned. “What if I said no?”

  “You wouldn’t,” he said, with a devilish grin.

  Mandy took a little more care in making herself presentable. “Who lives here?”

  “My boss.”

  “So, I finally get to know what you do for a living?”

  “I told you I was a consultant.”

  “That’s a little vague.”

  “You’ll see in a minute.” He opened the door and pulled on her gently. “Come on, wife. Been married for an hour and I’m waiting on you already.”

  She climbed out and gave him a lingering kiss. There would be hell to pay with Abbey, but she didn’t care. There had to be FBI agents with families. As long as her cover wasn’t blown, there was no harm in it. Wives of FBI men knew what their husbands did. This would be no different. As soon as they were out of here, she would explain it to Gerard and life would go on. Abbey would have to accept the fact that the agency was her job—not her life. Abbey wore a wedding ring, but never mentioned a wife. If he could do it, why couldn’t she?

  After being greeted by a butler and walking into the ballroom, she suddenly felt differently about her decision to spill the beans to Gerard and was glad she held her tongue. How could she be so stupid?

  The room was filled with too many familiar f
aces. Just about everyone in eyesight came and went from the floors above the convenience store. The man that dropped off the phony cigarette cartons of drugs toasted toward her as she caught his eye. Mandy played it cool and held on to Gerard tight. “These people work upstairs.”

  He grinned. “Yes they do.”

  “You don’t work upstairs, Gerard.”

  “No.” He hesitated and pointed to Vince. “But my boss does.”

  Mandy froze. “Vince is your boss?”

  He turned to her and put his hand on her face. “Our boss, I hear.”

  “I…I tried to tell you.” Her words stammered out. She became weak in the knees and needed fresh air. Abbey and Dan would really have her hide now. Not only did she up and get married mid-job, she married into what she was supposed to be watching over.

  “You okay?”

  “I think the champagne went straight to my head.” She fanned at her face as if she were hot.

  He pulled her close. “Does this scare you?”

  “Scare me? No. I have an idea of what I’m in for. Even better if we are in it together.” She made a mental note to tell Abbey to put drama class on any new recruit training from now on.

  Vince made his way over to them. “I see one of my best men has just claimed one of my newest soon to be best men. So to speak.” He gave Mandy a kiss on the cheek. “Welcome to the family in more ways than one, Amanda.”

  “Family?”

  “Vince is my uncle.”

  “I see,” she said with a forced smile. “Then it is a family business after all. I’m proud to be a part of both. I hope I don’t let you down.”

  “I’m sure you won’t.” Vince wandered away.

  “Come on,” Gerard said. “I want you to meet everyone. I need to stake my claim, too. You’ve been the talk of the family ever since you started. I knew it would only be a matter of time before you were recruited for better things.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me what you did? Why the secrecy?”

  “What if I came out and told you I worked for…”