Finding a small booth off to the side, Hawk sits down first and I follow. The table is slightly wobbly but not sticky, and some of the seats look to have been put back together with duct tape. The waitress who looks middle-aged comes walking over to us, setting down some coffee cups and starts to pour us each a cup.
“What can I get you boys?” she says with a Cajun accent. It’s obvious she’s from around here, and I want to use this to our advantage. I’m good at getting what I want, but first I want food. Taking a sip of the coffee, I look at the small menu she gave me; it’s simple: two items for breakfast, and three items for lunch and supper.
“I want the pain perdu and bacon,” I say. I should have told her extra bacon, but being we are on a hunt, I want to eat light. Hawk orders the same thing.
The food comes out quick and soon we are done eating.
“You boys seem mighty hungry. Is there anything else I can get ya?”
“Well, ma’am, we can use some information,” Hawk says with a smile.
“Information, huh?”
“Know anything about Andrew Zamora?” I ask without missing a beat.
“I think you boys should leave.” And just like that, she puts down the check and walks away. That went as well as I had hoped.
Chapter Two
Zoey
“Okay, I will see y’all tomorrow.” I lock my drawer up in the safe and grab my purse before heading out of the bank. It is only about three in the afternoon and I’m hungry, lunch consisted of the cookies leftover in the break room and some water. I would have loved to eat a big meatball sub, or maybe a Po-boy sandwich, but I have no time, oh and no money. I keep forgetting evil budgets. Since I have about three dollars and thirty-eight cents until payday, which is in three days, I’m gonna go home and eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, without the bread. A simple spoon for the peanut butter and one with jelly. Yup, I ate the last of the Pop-Tarts this morning, and I have a few other things, such as Ramen noodles, but I don’t know how old they are. I’m normally better with money, but it cost me a lot to move into another place and away from Andrew and his stalker tendencies, and the fact he slashed my car tires, and killed my cat. Anyway, that is how I ended up here. But as my stupid co-workers say, it’s one hell of a diet and I can use it to lose a few pounds. Evil skinny bitches.
I pull my keys out of my purse and make it to my car. The small parking lot is fairly empty and it is easy to see everything around me, but I’m on edge. Until Andrew is found, I’m always like this. He is the shadow man who haunts me during the day and terrorizes my dreams. I just wish it was over. Getting into my car, I quickly lock the doors before I start the engine. It starts with a small little purr before I back out and head to my small apartment. The apartments are set up like a small town homes. I have to walk up the stairs and go inside, while the backside has the bottom level. It’s different and not many of the things I have are new as once again Andrew broke into my last place and wrecked everything. It’s not like I have many friends or any family to help me out. Sure, I can go and stay at Gran’s house, but I can’t bear it knowing what Andrew could do to that place. Doing a quick double take over my shoulder making sure no one is behind me, I open my door and quickly lock it before taking a small breath. The police have said countless times they will catch him, but he skipped bail with friends, most likely got in a small pirogue cutting through the small swamp area by the levee in the back of his property before heading to someplace else. It was something he talked about a lot when we did go out. His favorite fishing area, I didn’t pay attention much then, but now I recall every words he said to me like a bad play.
Shaking my head, I walk upstairs and into my kitchen setting my purse down. It gives me a few minutes to think of how I want to spend my night. I can take a bath, and read, or maybe watch a chick flick. Screw it, I wanna watch Back to the Future. It will keep me busy until I’m ready for bed. Heading to my small bedroom, I pull off my boots, setting them in my closet, and leave on my silly socks. Okay, so it’s more of a weird addiction to socks. I have had so many before, well, I don’t need to wonder down that crazy thought again. Today I have on toe socks which sport a chick with glasses, and the words ‘Smart Chick’ covering them. Pulling off my belt, necklace, and pulling my hair into a ponytail, I find my fuzzy PJ bottoms and a hot pink wife beater with lace. I look in the mirror before I head into the living room. My hair looks the same, everything looks the same, but I feel so different.
Going to the kitchen, I go to grab my so-called dinner when a knock sounds at my door. It is so loud it echoes throughout my small apartment. Fear grips me and before I can even think twice I grab the nearest thing to me, which is a small cast iron pan sitting on my stove. I tiptoe down the stairs as someone knocks again. However, this time I end up yelping, scaring even myself. I look through the small peephole and see two large men in leather. One has a beard and dark sunglasses on, while the other has his longer hair pulled back, but his face is clean-shaven. They definitely don’t look like they belonged in Bostwick.
“Can I help you?” I ask through the door.
“You Zoey?”
“Pends on who’s doing the asking,” I reply.
“We’re from Wild Bounty, we came to ask some questions about Andrew.” Shit, no wonder they didn’t look like they were from around here.
“Look, I told the cops all I know. But when you find the son-of-a-bitch, shoot him in the nuts.” Okay, so maybe I’m a little hostile about the whole situation.
“We just wanna talk, we ask things different than the locals. Can we come in?” Shit, I really hate this already, but looking at their size and knowing they are after Andrew is all I need to open the door. If Andrew took one look at them at her house, he might actually leave her alone.
Opening the door, I have a split second to regain my control. Looking at them through a small hole is one thing, but full body, holy shit, I think I just came from their proximity alone. Both look at me before I wave them inside. One step in and instantly I have to back up, the first guy is fucking huge and takes up the whole doorway. I don’t give them a chance to say anything before I walk up the stairs and wait until I hear them lock the door. The loud noises from their boots echo through my small apartment and I’m worried the neighbors might complain.
“You plan on hitting me with that, chéri?” the second guy asks me.
“Oh, crap I’m sorry. I wasn’t sure who was at the door,” I respond.
“I’m Wolf, and this is Hawk. Can we um, sit?” I guess he finally looked around and saw my place. I have a small loveseat and a chair. No couch. I nod and instead of taking a chair, I hop up onto the counter, crossing my legs and wait. Sure, I’m a bigger girl, and it probably didn’t look right, but I’m so used to it, it is a natural habit.
I watch as both try to act comfortable and one ends up standing, guess he didn’t like my chair. The man standing tells me his name is Wolf, strange name but oh well.
“When’s the last time you saw him?” Oh, so he is going right into it seems.
“Well, the last time I saw his sorry ass is when he showed up when he should’ve been at court. But someone wasn’t watching him.” I’m irritated with repeating myself.
“Any place he likes to go?” Wolf seems to be the man wanting all the answers.
“Cops know all this. Look, I didn’t know him very well, and not many people are gonna break down and tell you ‘bout him,” I respond, with maybe a bit too much attitude.
“Yeah, kinda found that out at Long Shots this morning.” Hmm, Wolf is the talker of the two it seems.
“Not surprised, probably ran into his aunt or cousin. They all run pretty tight around these parts.”
“Then why don’t they watch you?” Wolf asks me.
“I’m a transplant. Though it was when I was a kid. My gran’s from Bostwick, but Daddy left when he met my momma. When my momma left, he brought me back here. I was about eleven at the time.” Wow I have no idea why I just told t
hem all that. It could be that with their large stature, I feel safe. There is no way Andrew can avoid them if they actually get him in their grasp.
“‘Kay, so what did you not tell the police about him?” Oh, Hawk can talk as he questioned me.
“I told them everything, and the only real reason they picked him up is because of my cat.”
“The dead one?” This time it’s Hawk who looks at me. His eyes are a silvery grey and they instantly draw me in.
“Some people are just sick in the head,” I state, it hurts knowing he hung and skinned Penny like a coon. I wouldn’t have known it was her but he took a before picture.
“I agree. So you told the cops he went up the bayou?” Wolf stands and walks around looking at my apartment.
“He’s known for huntin’ caiman on his pirogue, brags about the number of tags he gets too.”
“We’ll start there.” This time Hawk is looking at his phone.
“You moved recently,” again Mr. Obvious, Wolf points out, which I nod at trying to figure out what he is getting at.
“It said break-in, but what else happened?” Oh so that’s where he is going with that. I just shrug my shoulders, I really don’t want to have to tell them everything.
“Can’t do this without your help, chéri, I wanna know what he did and what he took.” Shit, okay so maybe they are better at this than I gave them credit for. However, I can’t help hang my head in embarrassment. The cops asked the same thing, but I hadn’t noticed anything at the time.
“What did he take, suga?” So, Hawk is persuading me now.
Growling, I answer, “Fine, he cut up my couch, and broke pictures and in my room, clothes where everywhere. He took sexy nighties and some of my panties.”
“You knew it was him, why?” Again, it bounces back to Wolf. I feel like I’m watching a tennis match.
“He made it known, okay. He left me a small bear on my bed.”
“A bear?” asked Hawk.
“I know it’s stupid right! But we went out a few time before I said enough is enough. He had won me a stupid bear doing one of those claw games at a restaurant we went to during Mardi Gras. Ever since then a stupid bear will show up to let me know it is him.”
They both nod, but say nothing. Both of them take a look around, looking out the window and checking the doors. I still sit on the counter wondering what to say or do at this point. I hate feeling like this, but it needs to be done if I want my life back.
“He knows you moved?” this time it was Wolf who asked.
“Don’t know.”
“Well he already knows, he got family in town, they done told him already. Chairs heavy enough to hold him out better than the small lock on you door. Push it against when we leave. If he comes, call us,” says Wolf.
I never thought about it before, but these guys are trained to know this type of stuff, so I will take their advice to heart.
I nod and both look at me for a minute, one starts to say something, but stops himself. “You gonna be okay?” Wolf looked at me with concern, and I nod again.
“You aren’t gonna cry, are ya?” Hawk, go figure.
However, my snort has their eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “I think I’m done for now, thanks. Anything else?”
“No, doll, we will be in touch,” Hawk states while he walks over to the door to let themselves out.
“I’m serious about the chair, chéri.” I feel like a damn bobble head as I just nod again. I just don’t know what to say.
They both leave, the sound of their boots on the stairs echo. However, how the hell will I move the chair down the stairs? But maybe he meant my room. I can move it there. I make sure the door is locked again after they leave. Thankfully, my stomach waited until they left to growl at me. Time to grab the spoons and chow down on some PB and J.
Chapter Three
Hawk
She was a whole lot prettier than I expected and, I can see why this dipshit is drawn to her. But either way I want to get the money. We need some new shit for the shop when the last assistant went postal and broke the printer. Plus how can someone do that to a cat? It sickens me. Sure, we can skin a coon, or rabbit, hell, Wolf and I like to shrimp, but doing it to a cat is just wrong. Wolf didn’t seem too good after we left Zoey’s house. Maybe it’s because, despite everything, she seems somewhat normal. Not typical for what I would have thought for this small town. But we did gather some information she didn’t think we did. This guy is smarter than the locals thought. He may be from town and act dumb, but he is using the town to help hide him and keep an eye on Zoey. I’m happy about Wolf telling her about the chair. Even though I personally wonder how she will get it down the stairs, but maybe to her bedroom door.
I shift in my seat making Wolf look at me.
“Whatcha’ thinking?” Wolf asks me.
“Thinking this is gonna be interesting.”
“Me too.”
“We going huntin’? Or are we setting up some bait and letting him come to us?”
“Let’s go huntin’, think we might get a better feel about the area,” I reply.
“Gottcha. We can head back to the office and get dinner while looking at the layout. I think we can use the one I have and go from there.”
“Sounds good.” Plus it is my turn to cook. I have some catfish waiting to be fried up from the neighbors next to our business. Nothing better than fried fish and a cold beer. Wolf speeds down the road in silence as music fills the truck. It looks like he is in a rock mood as the band playing is rocking it out. Windows down, music blaring, I close my eyes and relax for the short ride.
Wolf pulls into our small two-bedroom apartment that sits only a few blocks from our business. It isn’t a bad location, and it works, but living here is a pain at times. I jump out of the truck and make my way to the door, unlocking it. Once inside I take off my gun and lock it in the small safe in the hall closet.
Wolf did whatever Wolf did when he went to his room and I make my way to the kitchen to start dinner. We live in a small apartment, just the two of us, and sometimes one of the guys crash on our couch, but it works. Not where I really want to live forever, but with us always working, there’s no need for anything fancy. In the kitchen, I pull out everything and start on dinner. While the oil heats up, I pull out a beer and down half the bottle before thinking about what to do next. I try to ignore work when home, but something about this case just doesn’t sit right with me. She didn’t seem too concerned about her safety, so either she is lying about how scared she is, or she is just giving up and going with the flow. I really hope it is she is scared, because I found that people who give up are careless and end up hurt or dead. Drinking the rest of my beer, I pull another to make a beer batter for the fish. Soon I have them all fried up and Wolf walks out and grabs the cole slaw from the fridge. I sit everything out and we dish up and walk to the living room and watch some TV. There are no games on tonight, so we end up watching some Die Hard movie. The clock ticks away the time and I look down at my plate seeing it empty. Today is just boring, I’m not a reader, and I don’t do computer games, so when night falls, I need to blow off some steam. I can head down to the bar and find a little hotty for the night, but I think it might be better to hit something. Making a pit stop in my room, I find my gym bag and, grabbing my keys, I head to the door.
“Heading out?”
“Yeah, need to hit something,” I joke with Wolf.
“‘Kay, well pick up some more beer, you drank the last one,” Wolf grumbles to me while he starts to load the dishwasher.
“Whatever.”
Putting the keys in my Jeep I take off down the road. There are people littering the road this time of night. Most of them drunk off their asses, or getting to that point. I used to do that, before I got picked up for public intoxication during a Mardi Gas event. Seems you can’t piss on a float and get away with it. But hell, I had just gotten out of the Corp and was trying to shake the demons in my head. I was fucked up then, still
am, but I’m more logical now. I use my training to find assholes out there and I get to do it without the law. Here in Louisiana they are busy enough dealing with people who wonder into the bayou who think they can handle it because they watch all those damn shows on TV. Okay, I admit I watch some of them, and yes they do things correct, but they don’t ever show what goes wrong when hunting in these parts. All the snakes, spiders, caimans, even snapping turtles. The swamp is not for tourists. I should know, I grew up the worst way anyone could, on the streets.
My family came from trailer trash wannabes. We were so poor even they looked down on us. My parents said they tried, but they didn’t. Thank God I didn’t have any brothers or sisters. My dad ran off to go do God knows what and my mom, well, she did what she could, even if it meant selling herself. It makes me sick now to think about it. Maybe that’s how she got sick too. She died when I was on my first tour in Iraq. So, it’s just me, and well, Wolf. We clicked right away. But growing up how I did, I didn’t have time for pleasantries or hearts and flowers. That shit got you blindsided and left you alone without food and shelter.
I still remember the day I met Wolf. We both were out fishing in this sweet little honey hole that had the biggest catfish I had ever seen. I was sitting there, a little cold, and really hungry. I figured if I could catch one really big fish, I could eat it and stay in the swamp a little longer before my parents even knew I was gone. Wolf came walking over, and sat beside me, didn’t say thing, just started fishing. It wasn’t until Wolf caught the fish, that something was said. He asked if I wanted to come over and eat with him, his mom made an awesome fish fry, and had some cold root beers in the fridge too. I admit I was hesitant, because he had a family, and the kid didn’t even know my name. But being that he wasn’t pushing me, and the last time I ate had been the previous night I said yes. That’s where I met his mom, and she was amazing. Never met a nicer woman in all my life. She looked at me and then Wolf before taking the fish, handing us both a soda and told us to watch a movie before dinner. That was it, no questions asked, she took me in, and from then on helped make sure I got to school. And Wolf became more than a friend, he became family. They beat the hell out of anything else I have ever known. Since I still didn’t have anything to my name, and my own mother didn’t care about me as I got older, just wanted to know if I had any money. She got hooked on some nasty stuff, and I just stayed away. Since my old man skipped town too, it saved me from several beatings. It was just me, and I made damn sure that when I had something important to me, I kept it—Wolf and his mom became mine too. We guys don’t talk about shit like this but that day, sitting there hoping to catch anything to eat, when the other kid sat beside me, well, it was the best day of my life. Wolf saved me that day and I’ve loved him like a brother ever since.
Cajun Protection Page 2