Severe Side Winds Ahead

by Kendel Duncan

  “It’s okay, take your time,” Hawke said as he smiled up at her.

  “Ya’ll are just so sweet. I’m sorry to get all weepy. It’s just that you two look so happy and in love and it’s so dang beautiful and it makes me wish that my brother could find that.”

  “Your brother’s gay?” Hawke said.

  She snorted a bitter laugh, “Well, he’d have to actually admit that to me first, but, yeah, he is.”

  “You’re sure?”

  She rolled her eyes at Hawke, “Yes, I’m sure. He’s just mister rigid, by the book, don’t do anything wrong, FBI man and he doesn’t allow himself to do anything. He lives for his job or when he’s not working, he’s at our parent’s place doing some work on the house or some shit. He never does anything for himself.”

  “Then how do you know he’s, um, gay?”

  “I found his profile on Grindr. I watch it just to see if he ever does anything on it because I want him to, ya know? But he hasn’t, not for almost a year. How can a man go through life like that? It’s not right. He can’t be happy.”

  “Is your brother happy at his job?”

  “His job is all he has but I think something about it is bothering him. I don’t know if it’s a supervisor or someone else that he works with or something else but lately he’s seemed even more angry at the world, if that’s possible. I’m really worried he’s going to do something stupid that’s going to get him suspended or worse.”

  “This is going to sound odd but my boss might be able to help. Would you be willing to give me your brother’s contact information?”

  “Who’s your boss? Some sort of head shrink or something?”

  Hawke smirked, “No, actually he’s former CIA but he’s put together this team of law enforcement folks who are, let’s just say we were all a little dysfunctional in our jobs, and he’s made us into this cohesive family of well-trained guys.”

  “What do you do?”

  “That’s classified, ma’am,” he said with a smile.

  “Wow, that is so hot. Yeah, let me finish up here and I’ll write down his info and bring it back to you.”

  “Sounds good,” Hawke said and then he handed her their garbage and watched as she made her way to the front of the plane.

  “That was really cool of you, babe,” Talon said.

  “That? Maybe. I don’t even know if Drake is looking for anyone else. His team is pretty big now.”

  “Yeah, but he’s opening that second branch out in Wyoming or wherever the hell it is. Won’t he need more guys out there?”

  “I guess. We’ll see.”

  When she came back a few minutes later she handed Hawke a small slip of paper, “Thank you so much for this,” she said as she closed it in his palm.

  “Don’t thank me yet, I’m not sure if we can do anything for him.”

  “Just knowing there are people like you out in the world make me hopeful for him,” she said as she patted his hand then she stood up and walked to the front as the plane began their descent.

  As soon as they were on the tarmac and Hawke could use his phone again, he snapped a picture of that name and contact info and sent it to Drake along with a message that said, someone you might want to check out for the team?

  He got a response back almost immediately:

  DM: LOL – what, you’re my recruiter now? I thought I was supposed to be checking you out, since you’re not, you know, officially on the team yet.

  Hawke chuckled as he typed, Funny…and true. Met this guy’s sister on the plane. Sounds like he might be a good fit?

  DM: Okay, I’ll run him through our system.

  Hawke shoved his phone into his pocket and grabbed their carryon bags from the overhead bins.

  As they walked off the plane together, hand in hand and with Hawke having maybe just done a good deed for a complete stranger – he felt a lightness, like a dark weight had been lifted away leaving someone that Hawke Martinez barely knew, but he liked him, he realized with a grin, he liked him a lot.

  “What are you smiling about?” his brother Caleb said when he and Talon caught up to Caleb and his boyfriend Dean at the luggage carousel.

  Hawke froze for a moment, because in the past he and his brother had a contentious relationship, mostly due to Hawke fucking up all the time and Caleb needing to come to his rescue. But this was a new day…and a new Hawke, right?

  “Um…”

  “Hawke did something really good for a lady on the plane,” Talon piped in.

  Hawke expected to see surprise on Caleb’s face because, yeah, this was not Hawke’s usual M.O.

  But, no, instead he saw pride, fucking pride and that nearly made him choke up.

  “He did, huh?” Caleb said as he waited for the rest of the story – so Hawke gave it to him.

  “Wow, bro, that’s really cool. I hope Drake thinks this guy is a good fit for the team,” Caleb said when Hawke finished telling his story.

  “Thanks, man.”

  They grabbed their luggage and hopped into a taxi for the short ride to Caleb’s home where it was a planned overnight stay and then into both of their cars for the long drive back to Virginia.

  That is until that night after dinner when they got a call from Drake.

  “Hey, Drake, what’s up?” Caleb said.

  “Are you both there, in Denver?”

  “Yeah, Hawke’s here too, why what’s up?” Caleb said as he put the phone on speaker.

  “I know you were planning on leaving to drive back here tomorrow but I need you to check something out for me first.”

  “Uh, sure, but we’ve both got our boyfriends with us.”

  “Yeah, I know but this place is there in Denver so they can stay at your house, right? It just might mean postponing your trip back by a day or two.”

  “Sure, okay. Send me the details and we’ll check it out. Do you want us on it tonight or tomorrow?”

  “Maybe tonight might be better, but it might bleed into tomorrow. Sorry to spring this on you but it’s kind of important.”

  “No problem. I’ve got a computer and printer here, so send me everything and I can print out anything that we need.”

  “Got it, will do,” Drake said then he ended the call.

  Caleb blew out a breath as he looked Hawke, “Guess we’re going on a stakeout, brother.”

  “Fucking sweet,” Hawke said with a grin.

  Chapter Three

  Maynard “Tiny” Murphy was not a man who was easily scared. Hell, he’d been a member of one of the most dangerous motorcycle gangs for the better part of two decades, you don’t survive that by being afraid.

  But if he was being honest, he was a little bit frightened right now as he stared down at the note in his hand. It was the fifth note that he had found on his car windshield in the last two weeks but this one was different.

  The other four had generic, veiled threats. Things that were almost normal for a man of his wealth to receive.

  Yes, Tiny Murphy, brash, huge, strong and looking like he belonged on the back of Harley rather than on the smooth, buttery leather seats of the Mercedes he was currently driving, was a rich man, a very rich man.

  Somehow this crude motherfucker who had broken more than a few noses in his day, had a head for playing the stock market.

  So, yeah, he’d received threats before – promises of blackmail, kidnapping or some other shit that Tiny never really paid attention to.

  And that’s why he’d pretty much ignored the first four notes he’d found on the last car he’d been driving. But he had taken them seriously enough to change cars – from his BMW to this Mercedes that wasn’t registered in his name – and he changed which coffee shop he went to for his daily latte.

  But then he’d walked out and found this note on his car, same handwriting as the others but this time the threats were very clear:

  Thought you could ditch me by changing things up?

  Think again.

  A new car won’t stop me.
/>   A new coffee joint won’t stop me.

  You can’t stop me.

  I’m coming for you.

  You’re dead, Murphy.

  A chill ran down Tiny’s spine as he read the note again. “Damn it,” he barked into the interior of the car.

  He pulled out his phone and dialed the only person he could think of who might be able to help.

  “This is Logan,” the deep voice said when he answered.

  “Logan, it’s Tiny Murphy. I’m not sure if you remember me…”

  “Sure, I do, Tiny. You and your other motorcycle buddies were a huge help to us when we conducted that raid and rescued JD. What can I do for you?”

  “Well, I think I could use your help.”

  “Oh? With what?”

  “I’m being threatened.”

  “Threatened how? A fellow gang member?”

  Tiny sighed, “Logan, I haven’t been part of a motorcycle gang in years. Look, maybe I should just handle this.”

  “Hold up, Tiny. I made a judgement and I apologize for that. Look, where are you right now? Maybe we could meet up and you could fill me in on what’s going on?”

  Tiny sighed into the phone, “I’m sitting in my car outside Crazy4Coffee.”

  “I know it. And what makes you think you’re being threatened?”

  “Might have something to do with the note I found on my windshield when I walked out.”

  “Note? Do you have it in the car with you?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Take a picture of it and send it to me right now.”

  Tiny did and he stared out his windows as he waited for Logan’s reaction. He didn’t have to wait long.

  “Tiny?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Is this the first note like this you’ve gotten?”

  “No, it’s the fifth. This was the most, uh, aggressive one though.”

  “Tiny?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Go back inside the café and wait for me.”

  “Now?”

  “Yes, now. I want you someplace public. I don’t want you driving alone in your car. Ranger and I will be there in ten minutes.”

  “Um, okay. Should I be worried, Logan?”

  “Let’s just say I think it’s a good thing you called, Tiny. How good remains to be seen. I’ll see you in ten, Tiny. Get inside. And if at any time you feel like your life is in danger, call 9-1-1, understood?”

  “Understood,” Tiny said as he opened his door and climbed out, carrying his laptop bag with the notes inside. His doors locked automatically as he walked away from his car. He tucked his phone into his back pocket as he pulled open the door and the look on the young woman’s face behind the counter when he approached almost made him laugh as she at first did a standard bright smile but then that changed to a frown when she recognized him as having just been in there not thirty minutes prior.

  “Yeah, I know,” he said, “Um, can I get another tall chai latte?”

  “Was there something wrong with the other one?” she said.

  “No, not at all. I’m just waiting for some friends.”

  “Oh, okay,” she said as she swiped his card.

  He grabbed a table in the back corner where he could watch the door and also have his back against the wall. While he waited, he pulled out the notes, being careful to touch just the corners now that he was taking them more seriously, and he spread them out on the table in front of him in the order that he had received them. Then he snapped photos of each one and uploaded them to his cloud.

  His phone pinged with a text from an unknown number.

  You should take a selfie while you’re at it.

  He frowned at his phone and typed:

  Who is this?

  The person who is going to end you.

  Tiny’s head snapped up and he glanced around the café as his heart pounded in his chest. Was he here? Inside the café? Right now? Everyone in there was looking at their phones, how the fuck was he supposed to figure out who it was?

  “Tiny?” Logan said.

  Tiny jumped in his seat with a muttered, “Fuck!”

  Logan’s hand gently squeezed Tiny’s shoulder, “Hey, what is it?”

  Tiny handed him his phone and Tiny watched the man’s face as he read the text exchange and then his gaze swept the café. Logan slid his own phone out and dialed a number, “Billy? I need a number traced immediately,” he rattled off Tiny’s number then turned to Tiny, “Who would have access to your number?”

  “It’s unlisted. Nobody should unless I gave it out.”

  Logan returned his attention to the call, “Yeah, we’re in the café now. The text message. A burner? Shit. Okay. He…..what? There’s a what? Are you shitting me? Okay, I’m bringing him in. Tell Drake for me, would ya? Thanks,” he said then he slid his phone back into his pocket and sat in the chair next to Tiny. He stared at him for a moment without saying a word, long enough that Tiny ended up speaking first.

  “That bad?”

  “Worse. I need you to come with me, bud.”

  “Ooookkkkaayy,” Tiny said, drawing out the word as he waited for more information.

  “And I need you to hand over that iPad in your bag there,” Logan said as his eyes dipped down.

  Tiny frowned as he slid his iPad out and handed it to Logan, “What’s going on, Logan?”

  “Whoever this is has a tracker on you.”

  “A what?” Tiny said as he watched Logan power down his phone and open it up to remove the battery.

  “A tracker. It’s a virus app that can be downloaded remotely onto a phone or tablet to track a person’s location,” he said as he picked up the tablet and began scrolling through the apps on it.

  “But wouldn’t I notice something like that?”

  “Not necessarily. They don’t have obvious names that let you know what they are. Here, look,” he said as he turned the tablet around to Tiny and pointed to an app.

  “Fast Clean?” Tiny said, “What is that? Is that some sort of cleaning app?”

  “Could be, but did you download it?” Logan said.

  “Not that I remember.”

  “And that is why I’m going to have Billy take care of it before we leave here,” Logan said as he pulled out his phone and dialed again.

  “Can’t you just delete it?”

  Logan smiled at him, “They don’t work that way, bud. Deleting them just puts them into hiding in the background. Hey Billy, got another favor. Yeah, iPad this time.”

  “Okay, I need you to go into settings and get me the IMEI.”

  Logan read off the numbers to Billy then he listened as Billy typed on his keyboard for a bit.

  “Oh, what a sneaky bastard,” Billy mumbled.

  “What?”

  “You see that app called ‘Safe Zone’?”

  Logan scrolled around, “Yeah. What about it?”

  “That’s a piggyback. It’s the actual tracker app. The other one is just a decoy so you delete it and think you’ve eliminated the threat. But this one is the real issue.”

  “Can you delete it?”

  “I think it’s probably safer right now if I dumb it into thinking that Tiny is where he isn’t,” Billy mumbled and Logan could just picture the kid with his tongue sticking out as he concentrated on one of his six computer screens.

  “You’re bringing him here, right?” Billy said.

  “Yeah.”

  “From the café?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay, if I have you go east on forty-nine and then down to……I’m going to have him end up at a bar called Last Call on Interstate seventy-one.”

  Logan frowned, “Why does that sound familiar?” He looked over at Ranger, “You heard of a place called Last Call?”

  “Yeah, Brent and Drake are headed there right now to find that FBI guy that Caleb and Hawke heard about on their flight.”

  “Billy? Send the dummy location there. And then fill Brent and Drake in on what’s going on. They�
��re meeting a potential recruit there so they can look for our target to show up too.”

  “On it,” Billy said then he ended the call.

  “Okay, we’re a go. Ranger, take my car and make sure the target isn’t following us. I’m going to drive Tiny’s car. Tiny will ride with me.”

  “Got it,” Ranger said as he stood up. Logan gathered up all of Tiny’s items off of the table and he carried the man’s bag with him, “Keys?” he said.

  “You don’t need them. They’re in my pocket. They car will unlock and start as long as I’m with you.”

  As they climbed in, Tiny realized that his hands were shaking. Him, Tiny Murphy, a man who never got scared, was shaking like a leaf.

  “It’ll be okay, Tiny. We’re going to take care of you,” Logan said as he patted Tiny’s thick thigh.

  “I, I’ll pay you guys,” he mumbled as he clenched his hands into fists to try to stop the shaking.

  “I’m sure we can work something out,” Logan said as he pressed the button to start the car and Tiny could tell by the man’s tone that he didn’t believe that Tiny had the money to do it. It frustrated him, but he was used to it.

  “Logan?” he said as the man pulled out into the street.

  “Yeah?”

  “I paid ninety grand for this car, cash. I’m worth almost a hundred mil.”

  Logan snorted a laugh. But then he side glanced at Tiny when the man was silent beside him. Then his eyes opened wide and he did a double-take. “Seriously?”

  Tiny stared down at his hands, “Yep.”

  “Damn, man. You are definitely a case of don’t judge a book by its cover. I’m sorry.”

  “No worries. Happens all the time.”

  Logan pressed the Bluetooth button in his ear, “Hey, babe, how’re we looking back there?”

  “Good. This guy probably thought he wouldn’t need to follow since he’s got that tracker. I’m not seeing anything suspicious behind you at all.”

  “That’s what I figured. Okay, I’m going to head to the house. I’ll see you there,” he said then he ended the call.

  “Is it hard working with your boyfriend?”

  A smile lifted one side of Logan’s mouth, “Only because I want to bone him every second of every day.”