The Hunter

by T R Kohler

  “You realize it’s illegal to just come into somebody’s house like this, right?” Carlow said.

  A few feet away, Kaia snickered, the sound likely a response to both his high-pitched voice and the question he’d asked. Not once had either identified themselves as police, or shown him ID, though already that was his assumption.

  A fact that - in itself - told Ember plenty.

  “You always run when somebody knocks on the front door?” Ember replied.

  “I do when it’s two crazy bitches here to take me out!” Carlow snapped back, his voice rising.

  This time, Ember could feel the corner of her own mouth rising into a snort. “Trust me, if we wanted to take you out, we would have, and we damned sure wouldn’t have knocked.”

  “And if you don’t believe us,” Kaia said, leaning forward at the waist, her eyes narrowed slightly, “call us bitches again and see what happens.”

  Staring back at them, Carlow’s eyes went wide, though this time he had the good sense to remain silent.

  Letting him stay that way for a moment, Ember pulled back. She cast her gaze around the room, taking things in, the place having all the classic earmarks of a crash pad.

  A single sofa and armchair in the living room. No television, no rug on the floor. A kitchen space attached to it that looked like the appliances had never been used, if they were even connected.

  Somewhere in the back, she would venture that there was a stack of mattresses sitting on the floor and maybe a single towel in the bathroom.

  Nothing else.

  The interior temperature was well above eighty, though no air conditioning was on.

  “Why are you here?” Ember asked, her body turned as she continued to look things over.

  “Where else would I be?” Carlow replied. “I live here.”

  Shifting back to face him fully, Ember said, “No, you don’t. Nobody does.”

  Across from her, Carlow opened his mouth to respond, the next canned answer already lined up and ready to go, before pulling up short.

  “My questions to you are, who owns this place, and why are you here now?” Ember asked.

  Glancing between the two of them, Ember could practically see Carlow’s mind working as he tried to weigh his odds. His head remaining stationary, he flicked his focus between the two of them, trying to process what he knew.

  Which was not what they wanted. Processing often led to lying. It led to someone putting together a narrative they thought would slip through.

  Pushing off her back foot, Ember rushed straight forward. She slapped her palms flat down on the man’s thighs, her nose flying to within just a few inches of his before stopping abruptly.

  “Who. Do. You. Work. For?” she spat in measured tones, her eyes wide. “And I’ve already put your ass down once today. Don’t even think about lying to me again.”

  On her right flank, she felt Kaia press in tighter. Whether it was to make sure she didn’t overstep or to increase the pressure on Carlow, Ember didn’t know.

  Could not have cared less either way.

  Pressing his upper body back as far as he could into the couch, Carlow’s jaw flapped twice as he attempted to find the words. Jerking his focus between them, he managed, “I...I...”

  “You...you...what?”

  “I’m just a messenger,” Carlow managed to shove out. “A middleman. Nothing more.”

  “A middleman for what?” Kaia snapped, her voice loud and angry in Ember’s ear.

  “For whatever,” Carlow said. “People call me, ask me to set up a meeting.”

  “What people?” Ember asked.

  “What kinds of meetings?” Kaia added.

  Carlow never got a chance to respond to either, interrupted by the front window exploding beside them, shards of glass scattering across the wooden floor.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Jonas hadn’t intended to take things as far as he did. Even less did he actually want to.

  The plan upon walking into the holding pen specifically designed for John Lee Tam was to scare him. To let him know that he was completely and utterly alone. That his only plausible recourse was to answer whatever was asked of him.

  If that didn’t work, maybe throw around a bit of holy water. If things really got ugly, maybe force some of it down his throat.

  But never did he envision having to go as far as he did.

  By the time he left, Tam had been carved into something that vaguely resembled a tiki he had once seen on a trip to Tahiti. Chunks of flesh were missing from all four limbs. More blood and bodily fluids than he thought someone the size of Tam could possess were splattered across the floor.

  Still, he had gotten what he needed from the man.

  Even without the threat of actually killing him.

  As well versed in the ancient laws as most anyone, Jonas knew there was no way Tam could expire, but he was still subject to the limitations of the body he inhabited.

  Traveling with Micah in the passenger seat, Jonas pulled up in front of the address Tam had finally divulged just twenty minutes after walking out of the holding cell. Not even bothering to wash the blood from his pants, he was seated behind the wheel of a battered Ford pickup, his nerves twitching.

  For the first time in ages, he could feel adrenaline seeping through his system.

  Beside him, Micah’s was so high it could practically be smelled.

  “Ford Mustang out front,” Micah said, his gaze settling on the vehicle at the same time as Jonas’s. “Ember?”

  The thought had occurred to Jonas as well. “Possible. Even likely. Jeep in the driveway is probably the mark.”

  Twisting in the front seat, Micah looked the length of the drive, spotting the vehicle sitting back near the garage. “Sit and wait for them to come out, or go barging right in?”

  Under normal circumstances, Jonas would opt for the former. Never before had he heard of anybody named Ember, which meant he was flying blind. If left to his own druthers, he would pull down the street, find a nice vantage point, and sit down to watch.

  The more information he had on an opponent, the better.

  Given the orders from on high, though, and the lengths Tam had gone to in keeping this location a secret, it didn’t seem the most prudent.

  “Don’t have the time,” Jonas said. Easing the truck past the Mustang, he nudged it to the side of the road and killed the ignition.

  “Right,” Micah agreed. Flexing and unfurling his left hand atop his knee, his breathing increased, veins popping to the surface of his skin.

  By far the greenest of the crew, he hadn’t yet learned how to control himself in the face of impending action.

  Which, all things considered, wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

  “Split it up, or straight through the front?” Micah asked.

  Again, Jonas flicked his gaze to the rearview, seeing the Mustang sitting silent. Just like him and Micah working together, it was exceedingly rare to see the other side send someone out solo.

  It was also equally unusual for a handler to step inside unless absolutely necessary.

  “I was thinking of pulling a Tampa,” Jonas said.

  Grunting softly, Micah nodded. He put his gaze on the house and said, “Tampa works.”

  Reaching for the handle, Jonas didn’t say another word. He circled out from behind the wheel and walked back the length of the truck bed. Reaching in as he went, he snatched up a rusted wrench from the bottom of it, hefting the object in his hand as he headed toward the front of the house.

  Falling in beside him, Micah matched his pace, body pitched forward, ready to hurtle himself forward as soon as he was given the command.

  “You ready?” Jonas asked, knowing the answer before it left his lips.

  “Do it,” Micah replied, bending at the waist, angling himself like a sprinter about to come out of the block.

  “One. Two. Three!”

  Whipping it across his body, Jonas sent the wrench flying parallel to the gro
und, the ends rotating like a propeller. The instant it was gone, Micah took off after it, arriving just a split second after the projectile shattered the front window, the sound of breaking glass echoing the length of the street.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The front window exploded in a swirl of glass shards. An instant later, a heavy object thumped against the living room floor, just narrowly missing Ember’s feet. Thrown with such force, the dense object thudded against the wooden surface, sending vibrations up through her ankles.

  Standing in the center of the room, her hands on Carlow’s thighs, the sudden intrusion left her frozen in place. Her jaw dropping open, she turned toward the window, her body rigid, trying to make sense of things.

  Not until the door burst open a moment later, a long and lanky black man built like a well-muscled spider filling the front space, did she snap herself back into the moment.

  “Go, go, go!” Kaia yelled beside her, the young girl’s torso slamming into Ember, pushing her to the side.

  Snapping both hands out, Ember grabbed for Carlow’s wrists, connecting on the left, her fingers just grazing him on the right. Shoving off of her right foot, she tugged him across the couch, his limp body little more than dead weight.

  “Move, dammit!” Ember said, giving up on his wrist and grabbing him by the shoulder. Pressing both hands against him, she shoved him across the width of the couch, Kaia sliding past her and continuing to force him toward the rear of the house.

  “No!” the intruder barked from behind her, his voice deep and resonating in the small space.

  Jerking her attention back toward the sound of it, Ember turned in time to see him stalking forward, covering the area in long strides. His hands balled into massive fists, he came straight for her, launching into a looping hook aimed at her head.

  Who this man was or what he was after, Ember could only speculate about. She’d barely been given any details on the case, and already it was turning into a mess, a veritable tangle of people and facts and interactions.

  Seeing the oversized missile lined up for her brow, Ember dismissed all of those concerns out of hand. She didn’t worry about identifying herself or asking why this guy had just stormed in, instead letting pure instinct take over.

  Diving straight ahead, she rolled beneath the looping punch. Glass fragments dug into her shoulder and the back of her scalp as she let her momentum carry her to her feet. Whirling just in time to see the man had reversed course on his punch, she ducked under the tip of his elbow whistling toward her head.

  A second time Ember let it sail past her, the ten inches in height disparity working in her favor, ditto for the small confines of the living room.

  Once it was by her, Ember pushed forward instead of back. Moving in tight on the man’s body, she shot a palm strike at his solar plexus. Connecting square, she rotated on the ball of her right foot, swinging her left knee up hard, aiming for his hamstring.

  So intent on the blow, on aiming for the spot just above his knee, she didn’t see the left cross coming straight for her. Less than an instant before her knee struck home, mere inches separating her from contact, the man’s middle knuckle slammed into her temple.

  Stars erupted before Ember’s vision as her body was pitched to the side. Seeming to levitate for a split second, she hung in the air, all sound bleeding away.

  As fast as the moment arrived, it ended with her landing in a heap on her side, pain coursing the length of her body.

  Tumbling to the floor, Ember went flat onto her shoulder blades, her legs curling up atop her. A dull buzz settled into her ears as her vision blurred.

  Twice she tried blinking it clear before finally getting things back into focus.

  “Go! They went out the back!” a second voice yelled, this one older, not nearly as deep.

  Crunching through the remains of the front window, the man slammed into the first attacker, shoving him toward the rear of the home.

  As fast as the two had arrived, both were gone, leaving Ember where she lay.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  The item that had shattered the front window to the house was a wrench. With an inch-and-a-half head on it, the tool weighed a couple of pounds, the weight balanced evenly, over a foot in length. Coated in rust, Ember could feel the flakes digging into her palm as she stumbled out of the home, her balance off.

  Staggering with her body turned to the side, it was like the world was tilted, colors brighter than usual, as if she was staring at things through water.

  Barely able to keep her weight balanced above her feet, Ember paused in the middle of the front yard. Hands held to either side, she tried to reach an equilibrium, body swaying slightly.

  She was so intent on keeping herself upright, she didn’t hear the engine of the Jeep turn over. Wasn’t able to make out the sounds of voices yelling.

  Didn’t notice a thing until Carlow’s Jeep tore around the edge of the house, headed straight for her. Moving in reverse, it shot clear of the corner and moved across the front grass, chewing through dirt and sod as it went.

  Her eyes wide, Ember remained rooted in place, watching it approach. Unable to move, her synapses still firing too slowly to allow for quick and decisive action, she let her jaw sag open as it bore down on her, only at the last second jerking a hard angle and sliding up alongside her.

  A spray of organic detritus slapped against the front of Ember’s jeans as Kaia leaned across the front seat. A smear of blood ran down one cheek, hair stained red, matted to the side of her head.

  “Come on, let’s go! Move your ass!”

  Reaching over the passenger seat, Kaia shoved the door open, the metal swinging within inches of Ember.

  “Now!”

  Her body still moving in slow motion, her mind barely able to process what was happening, Ember reached out. She tossed the wrench into the footwell of the Jeep and extended both hands, barely clasping the seat before Kaia shot forward.

  Clinging through nothing more than muscle memory, Ember balanced a single foot on the support rail along the side of the vehicle as they went hurtling away from the house. Hanging there for more than ten seconds, she closed her eyes tight, waiting until they slowed at the corner before pulling herself inside and slamming the door shut.

  Leaning back in her seat, Ember rested her head against the chair back. She closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun and wind whipping across her skin, before rolling her focus toward Kaia.

  “You okay?”

  The young girl didn’t bother looking over as she downshifted the rig, her features twisted up in anger. “Just dandy. You?”

  Unable to fully process the sarcasm being tossed at her, Ember allowed her head to swing back to face forward. Her eyes slid shut again.

  “Feel like I got hit by a bulldozer.”

  The sound of transmission gears grinding could be heard, followed by Kaia saying, “Yeah, well, you kind of did.”

  Somewhere deep in the recesses of her brain, Ember registered what was being said, though that was as far as things went. Bits of questions leapt forward, fizzling out like the flight of a crippled bird before ever becoming fully realized.

  “Who were those guys?”

  “Nobody,” Kaia muttered.

  “Nobody?” Ember asked. With each word, her voice sounded further away, almost hollow. “And where is Carlow? Did they take him?”

  The speed of the wind passing over them picked up. If Ember were forced to guess, she would imagine they were back on the freeway, heading faster than necessary in the opposite direction.

  To where, ultimately, she could only guess at.

  “He’s gone.”

  Cracking her eyes open, Ember flicked her gaze to Kaia. In the late-afternoon sun, her skin seemed to almost be glowing, offset by the crimson streaks of blood streaming down the side of her face.

  “He’s gone? What’s going on? Who were those guys?”

  A series of striations appeared along Kaia’s jawline as she c
lamped her mouth down tight. Keeping her gaze aimed straight ahead, she gripped the wheel in both hands. Each breath was loud and angry, pushed out in measured bursts.

  “Kaia-”

  “Stop,” Kaia said, cutting Ember off before another question could be asked.

  “Stop? Why?”

  “Because you’re not going to remember a damn bit of this anyway,” Kaia replied, “and I don’t feel like having to answer all your dumbass questions twice.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  There was no doubt in Jonas’s mind that if he’d given Micah the go-ahead, the young man could have tracked the Jeep down by the time it made it to the corner. Not by going straight to the pickup and firing it up, wheeling around and trying to chase them down using the vehicle.

  Of that, there would be little chance, the head start they had too large, the truck much too old for such a charge.

  On foot, though, his cohort could have nabbed them with relative ease, his elongated stride catching up to them in short order.

  The reason he didn’t give the green light was because it presented little benefit to them. Already they had burst through the front of a middle realm house and had faced down the enemy. They had watched as their opponents tore away, making quite the spectacle in the process.

  All they would accomplish in extending the encounter was to draw further unwanted attention to themselves.

  Besides, they already had what they had come for.

  “Are you sure?” Micah asked. His body perpendicular to Jonas, he bounced on the balls of his feet, ready to take off in pursuit.

  “Yes,” Jonas replied, his tone iron, his entire focus aimed on the man lying on the ground before him.

  If John Lee Tam was to be believed, his name was Will Carlow, and he was a middleman. An arranger.

  For who or what, Jonas didn’t know just yet, his attention no longer on the women, instead focused on the person before him.