Hunter's Find

by June Kramin

  “He’s not chasing me out of our home.”

  “Wrong!” Hunt lowered himself to his knee beside her. “I’m sorry for raising my voice, but it’s not just you I’m worried about.” His eyes went down to Hannah. He didn’t need to say anything else.

  “I’ll go pack for all of us.”

  Hunt turned to Abbey. “Give me what you have. Description on him, his car, everything. I’ll call it in.”

  Mandy knew better than to fight with him about anything. Only seconds before Hunt showed up, her concern was not for herself, but for Hannah. If it were up to her, she’d stay and deal with whatever this was going to be. She didn’t dare dream of risking either Hannah’s life or leaving her to grow up without a mother. As she walked up the stairs she strained to wonder what Dan could want with her other than just a grudge at how they butted heads. Even Hannah’s loud belch couldn’t bring the usual smile to her face.

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  “Why Mandy? What does this asshole want after all this time?” Hunt asked Craig Abbey. “It has to be more than the fact that he used to want to date her.”

  “I really can’t say. Something happened to the guy after a blowout of theirs. He wasn’t the same at the job, and was a little too preoccupied with the case she’d been on.”

  “He should have been pulled from it.”

  “He was. I made sure he no longer had access to certain files, but something tells me he found his way in them anyway.”

  “No offense, but don’t you think your security should have been better than that? You’re the FBI, for cryin’ out loud.”

  “It was good. That’s how we knew someone was in there. If it wasn’t him, whoever it was—was pretty damn good. There was never a trail.”

  “Why wasn’t Mandy notified before now?”

  “I didn’t think it was an issue before now. Keep in mind she only popped back up on the grid when she booked the movers. I wasn’t worried about her when she was in relocation. A memo showed up on my desk this morning. My concern was about Dan immediately. When I couldn’t get ahold of him, I panicked, so here I am. I’m hoping like hell I’m wrong, but my gut says otherwise. Maybe something is going down in Vermont again and he took off without telling me. I’m not willing to take the chance with her. I trusted the higher-ups and let them keep her location a secret from even me but dammit, they shouldn’t have dropped their guard just because the trial was over.”

  “Look, I don’t mean to tell you how to run things—”

  “Then don’t. This isn’t a pissing contest. I’m not turning this into a ‘who loves her more’ fight either. I feel responsible for her safety and I’m entrusting that to you. Get her the hell away from here. I don’t care where you go. I’ll get a man at your office if they’ll be hurting with you gone.”

  “I can get it covered,” Hunt said, curtly.

  “Look. I’m not trying to tread on your toes here, Jack.”

  “Jack? I suppose that’s better than Barney.”

  “Barney?”

  “Never mind. I don’t care about anything but Mandy and Hannah right now. I’ll cooperate with you, but there are no guarantees what I’ll do if someone threatens them in any way.”

  “Not that you need it, but you’ll have our full support. I have clean phones in my car. Don’t tell me where you’re heading; just call me when you get there. Go where no one can connect the place to you or her.”

  “I’m not new here.”

  Abbey ran his hand down his face in obvious frustration. “I know. Go see if you can help her pack. I’ll breathe easier the sooner you two are on your way. I’ll go get those phones.”

  Mandy went downstairs and couldn’t find Craig anywhere. Hunt told her he was going to the car to get them their phones. She stepped out on the porch to look for him, but was instead greeted with a pinch at her neck. A familiar face held her focus right before her world went black.

  As Craig’s car drove away, Hunt hated to admit he was glad. He knew he was being rude, but he hated the “higher up” agencies. Everyone with initials on their badge instead of a county name thought they were better than a small town police department. Hunt had yet to have a decent experience with any of them. After he finished packing, he picked up Hannah then his and Mandy’s bags with his free hand, and went downstairs. He’d have to go back up for the diaper bag and Hannah’s clothes, but he didn’t feel safe even leaving her alone for a minute.

  Hunt called for Amanda as he dropped the bags by the front door. When she didn’t answer he called out again. “Babe? You ready?” His heart raced when she didn’t respond again. He searched the house in high gear. “Sonofa—” He looked at Hannah and stopped mid cuss. Hurrying down the porch stairs, he found Abbey in the hedge by the house. Dropping to a knee, Hunt shook him. “What the hell happened?”

  “I don’t know,” he said groggily. “Someone hammered my skull.”

  “Where’s Mandy, dammit!”

  “I don’t know.” He collapsed back again. “Aw hell. I was too late.” Craig Abbey passed out.

  Hunt stood in an ambulance in his driveway waiting for Craig Abbey to come to. Craig finally mumbled, “What the fu—” and tried to sit up, but Hunt not so gently pushed him back down, cutting him off.

  “What aren’t you telling me?”

  “Where’s your daughter?”

  “She left with my parents. I need to get her where she’s safe. They are going to visit family and I’m not sure I want to tell you who.”

  “I don’t want to know. They can’t beat out of me what I don’t know.”

  “Who?”

  “I don’t know, goddammit! It was just a hunch that Dan would be coming here. I knew he was in love with her, but I didn’t expect anything to amount to much.”

  “Bullshit!”

  “I mean it!” Craig howled back. He placed his palms on his forehead in obvious pain.

  “I’m going to ask you to leave, Hunt, if you two can’t be civil,” the EMT said.

  “Suck it, Dave,” Hunt snapped then returned his attention back to Craig. “What is going down? I have the right to know.”

  Craig sighed and struggled to sit up. The EMT fussed, but Craig shooed him away. “Get me out of this thing and back in the house.”

  Hunt’s radio squealed. “You there, Sheriff?” Roy asked.

  Hunt pushed the button on the mic on his shoulder. “What do you have, Roy?”

  “A whole lot of nothing. I covered what I could as fast as I could, but no cars even remotely close to matching the description you gave me have gone by anyone that I’ve talked to.”

  “What about Luke?”

  There was a brief silence. “He ain’t checkin’ in again, boss.” Hunt’s attention returned to Craig. His nostrils flared. “What the hell is going on? Luke’s in on this, too?”

  “That’s our suspicion.”

  Hunt landed a punch square on Craig’s chin. Craig flew back on the gurney, but Hunt immediately pulled him to his feet. He pulled him by one arm and dragged him off of the ambulance.

  “Careful, Sheriff. He may have a concussion,” the EMT said.

  “If he starts puking, I’ll know. And guess what? I don’t particularly give a shit. Now get the hell outta here.”

  The radio squealed again. “Hunt? You want me to call it into the state boys?”

  “Call everyone, goddammit. Deputize everyone that has a hard-on for your job and get them out there looking.”

  “Ten-four.”

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Hunt placed some ice in a Ziploc bag and tossed it on the table. It slid toward Craig and he picked it up. “For my head or my chin?”

  “I don’t give a shit. Why the hell did we not have this discussion sooner? How could you wait till the bastard was on my front porch before you showed up?”

  “We just put it together. We finally had him in the ops room on a laptop looking her up. Someone was helping the guy with the codes. He’s not that good on a computer.”


  “I don’t care what his computer skills are. Where’d he take my wife?”

  “I don’t know where he’ll go from here. He can’t be stupid enough to go back to the cabin. Maybe there’s another we weren’t aware of.”

  “Don’t you have a tracking system in your car?”

  “Of course.”

  Hunt tossed him the portable phone. “Call it in.”

  “Shit,” Craig said as he dialed his office. “I should have thought of this an hour ago. I’m not even going to use the excuse of my head injury.” He pounded on the table as he waited to be patched through. “Dan will know. I’m sure he’s already ditched it.”

  “At least it will give us a direction to head in. Put a trace on his phone while you’re at it.”

  “I’ll try, but he’s sure to have a clean one as well.”

  Hunt went upstairs to change out of his uniform while Craig made the calls. “Well?” Hunt asked when he came back down.

  “My car was ditched on highway twelve a few miles out. Nothing has been reported stolen, and his car was found not too far out of St. Ann’s.”

  Hunt picked up a duffle bag he had by the door. He had packed it while Craig was loaded into the ambulance and being checked out.

  “What’s that?”

  “A little survival kit. I know which direction they are headed, anyway.”

  “I’m going with you.”

  “No, you’re not.”

  Craig stood. “Look. This is my fault she’s in this situation. I’m going.”

  “Because you recruited her?”

  “Because I was too much of a jackass to not see the signs. I’m going with you. I’ll tell you what I know on the way.”

  Hunt hesitated for a moment before he said, “I’ll let you. But if you get in my way, I’ll kill you.”

  “Fair enough.”

  Mandy woke up in the trunk of a car. She was pissed off. She’d seen Dan a second after the needle went in her neck. “Asshole,” she grumbled. Her speech was garbled as if she were drunk. She felt that way, too. Whatever he used was going to take a while to wear off. Not having a clue where he could be taking her, she tried to pay attention to the only thing she could. The roads. The one they currently traveled on was smooth enough; they weren’t on any dirt county roads, that much she could tell for sure. Not that it was any help to her.

  Her hands were bound together behind her back, but her legs were free. The trunk was almost pitch black. She scooted back and felt around for the corner. When she found it, she peeled away the backing for the taillight. When it was free, she adjusted herself and immediately kicked at it.

  “Knock it off back there,” was shouted from the front of the car, but she refused to stop. She broke through the light and cried out at cutting her leg on the plastic shards. The car immediately pulled over. Within seconds the trunk was opened and she was blinded by the bright light. She was immediately punched hard in the chin and knocked out cold again.

  Mandy came to as she was being carried into a cabin, flung over a shoulder she could only assume was Dan’s.

  She finally was able to form words as he carried her down a long hallway. “What the hell do you want, Dan?”

  “A piece of your ass would be nice.”

  “You went through all this trouble just to rape me?”

  He dropped her down on a bed then straddled her. She struggled as he ground himself against her. He slapped her hard.

  “Don’t have such an ego, Amanda. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t.”

  “Impotent? I thought as much.” He slapped her again.

  “Menusco has bigger plans for you than that.”

  “Menusco? You’re the fucking stoolie Willy reported to?”

  “Not as dumb as you thought, huh, hotshot?”

  “You’re right. Dumber.”

  He raised his hand to slap her again, but didn’t. He held her chin in his hand and gazed at her. After a minute, he moved his hand down to her breast. “That’s right. Maybe I should suckle on these babies and see what the fuss is all about.”

  She spit in his face. He followed through with his last slap after all. Removing duct tape from a drawer, he bound her legs together. He took out a pocket knife and cut the tie he had on her hands then taped them one at a time to the bed post. She gave him a good struggle, but he won in the end.

  “Bastard. You fucking rotten double agent bastard.”

  He gave her breast another squeeze and blew her a kiss. “Rest well, love. You’re going to need it.”

  An hour passed and no one entered the room. Mandy stopped struggling with her bindings and put her mind to work.

  Events were falling into place as she lay there, trying to piece together all the things that had gone wrong, and why, during her days with Vince and his gang. Vince Menusco had Dan on the inside—that’s how he’d always stayed just a step ahead of her. Every time she thought she’d gotten close to a bust big enough to lock him up for good, something always happened to blotch it up. She’d gotten really close once. The night Darci was killed. Now it made even more sense. She wished she could kill Gerard all over again.

  Chapter Fifty

  “So,” Hunt said when they were on their way. “Any chance you can fill in some blanks for me?”

  “About what?”

  “Anything and everything. Mandy was filling me in on things, but she just got to the part where they hired her on for bigger and better things and she found out dickhead was a part of it.”

  “That boy was smooth. He certainly wasn’t on any watch list of ours.”

  “You had to know he was Vince Menusco’s lawyer. That didn’t arouse suspicion?”

  “Oh, don’t get me wrong. There was plenty of suspicion, but nothing to go on. We knew once she started dating him, it would come out. We couldn’t tell her we even knew that much about the guy. He would have known she was only pretending to not know who he was. That’s why we used her. We couldn’t have someone that knew everything about the case. Those guys can smell a fed from a mile away.”

  “So you set her up.”

  “Not how you think. We hoped she’d get in on her own, and she did. We had no idea she’d up and marry one of them.”

  “But you allowed it.”

  “What choice did I have? She’s the one that insisted it was such a great deal. It sort of was. We kept as close of an eye on her as we could.”

  “You had your own man, so to speak, followed?”

  “She was under surveillance and she knew it. We looked out for her. It’s not like we bugged her bedroom to hear them goin’ at it. Sorry.”

  “Her past that concerns him doesn’t bother me. It’s the past that’s biting her in the ass right now that does. How long did you know Luke was involved?”

  “He only just got involved. Your boy became greedy.”

  “How so?”

  “He contacted Menusco. Said he knew where to find her. Wanted to know if they were looking for her and if there was a reward. We intercepted a call. Dumbass used your office phone.”

  “That sonofabitch pipsqueak! I’ll kill him!”

  “I’m sure he’s already taken care of. Menusco doesn’t pay for information. He’s accustomed to taking what he wants.”

  “How did you know to tap my lines? You should have let me know.”

  “Just a hunch. We had to cover everything we could. As soon as she came back out in the open, I wanted to watch her, Hunt. We were supposed to have backed off, but I couldn’t let her go.”

  “That’s when you caught Dan looking her up?”

  “Exactly.”

  “You should have contacted her. Made her go back into protective custody.”

  “That’s exactly what I was trying to do. I just wasn’t fast enough.”

  Hunt picked up his radio. “Roy? You out there?”

  After a second Roy responded. “You found something?”

  “No word since the car. You at the site?”

  “Just
arrived. She was in the trunk. Kicked out the taillight. There’s some blood, but it doesn’t look bad. I almost feel sorry for the guy, Hunt.” Roy had to chuckle.

  Hunt couldn’t bring himself to laugh with him. “She’s a fighter. We do know that much.”

  “You want me to head north or stay with the car till you get here?”

  “I won’t see anything you didn’t. Go ahead and head up. I want to start looking in the neighborhood of the last cabin. It’s as good a place as any. Leave the car with the county boys and let the crime scene guys do their thing. I’m going to take back roads up there. Let’s touch base after a bit.”

  “You want me to get the county boys on it ahead of us?”

  “No. I don’t want anybody screwing this up. We have no vehicle to go on. They have an APB on Mandy and Dan Wright. That’s all they can help with for now. I want to get to this cabin and look around first before they tromp over anything that could be a clue.”

  “Ten-four.”

  “You trust that Roy?” Abbey asked once they signed off.

  “With my life.”

  “With Mandy’s?”

  Hunt glared at Craig Abbey hard. “Yes.”

  “Then let’s go.”

  Even without Hunt to tell the story to, the events still played out in Mandy’s mind. As far as her marriage went, life was great. She never knew love could be like this. He couldn’t have treated her any better if she were a princess. Loving him with everything came easy to her. Sex was fabulous. The one thing she couldn’t get past was what he did for a living. Although she had yet to live any of it or really learn the extent of his involvement, she couldn’t help feeling like a hypocrite.

  In her mind, she tried to picture him as just the typical family lawyer. He didn’t do any of the actual dirty work, or so she justified anyway. If she thought about it too much, it ate her up. The money that paid for the roof over her head came from someone else’s suffering, or illegal activity. She repeatedly talked herself into the fact that she was undercover. Only her love of the job and her need to get Vince Menusco behind bars got her through the times when she was hardest on herself. The things she did in a day were probably worse than anything Gerard was doing. Knowing it was for her job was still hard to justify. Witnessing the things she did and not being able to do anything about it was eating at her. Trying to hold out to seek justice when this was over with was the only thing that kept her going.