Kingfish

by Frank Perry

tilted her head. “Yes.”

  He kissed her hand and pulled a ring box from his pocket. Several people at tables nearby had sensed the body language if not the words. There was a quiet applause as he slipped the ring onto her finger. They were both smiling and mouthing “I love you.”

  The rest of the evening was magical. Rather than retrieve his car immediately, Hunter and Laura walked around the dock area and up Main Street stopping in shops offering unusual treasures to the visiting tourists. Hunter would normally bypass them all, but tonight it was about her and their future together. Like all of their relationship so far, there was no rush to set the wedding date. The only timetable facing them was Hunter’s return to California after the drug language was decided. He’d finally found the sponsorship the state needed and was going to be successful. It also meant they would need to decide to separate or for Laura to move to California with him. But tonight, none of that was important. They had committed to each other, and that’s all that mattered.

  On the drive back to Northern Virginia, they held hands for an hour not wanting the evening to end. At her apartment complex, he walked her to her door, and they kissed more passionately that ever before. She didn’t invite him in, and he didn’t question it. Their lives were about to change forever, and both wanted to be alone to savor the moment in their own way. They would live together forever after they were married. For now, it was enough that she had the ring.

  Twenty minutes later, he was feeling light headed with joy when he found a parking space immediately in front of his townhouse apartment. He skipped up the front steps and unlocked the door, entering without looking around. He closed the door behind him without looking at it and walked through the archway into his main room. That’s when he saw him sitting there with his legs crossed. “Who...” an unexpected blow to the back of his neck dropped him to his knees. Then massive vice-like arms gripped him from behind and lifted him over the back of an overstuffed chair, facing his intruder.

  Hunter’s head bent down as lightning bolts rippled from his upper back to his head. It was horribly painful, and he wasn’t aware of anything for several seconds. As the pain subsided, he rubbed his neck and looked up. He wasn’t dead, so someone wanted to talk.

  As his eyes focused he moved his head side to side, trying to loosen the spasm in his neck. He saw the man seated before him across the coffee table and someone twice his size sitting, facing him from the side. He looked at the big man, sizing him up then realized he had a gun dwarfed in his massive hand.

  The man across spoke. “Welcome home, Mr. Kohl.”

  Hunter continued rubbing his sore neck, now looking at the smaller man dressed in a business suit. “Who the fuck are you?”

  “Who I am is unimportant. What is important is that you pay very close attention to me.”

  Hunter put his hands on the arm rests of his chair. “Nothing I’d like better, pal. How ‘bout coming a little closer.”

  “Very brave of you, Mr. Hunter, particularly with a gun pointed at you.”

  Hunter smirked. “It’s just a gesture of kindness, asshole. I’d love to show you some hospitality -- my style.”

  The man raised his hand. “Very brave for a bureaucrat wannabe. But enough small talk. I hope you realize how serious I am being?”

  “What do you want?” Hunter’s gaze moved in an arc between the two men. At this range, he couldn’t dodge a bullet, even if the monster was a bad shot.

  “It’s very simple, Mr. Kohl. I want your cooperation on Capitol Hill.”

  Hunter remembered the voice. “You’re the prick that kidnapped my cousin.”

  “Very astute, Mr. Kohl. So you know my capabilities.”

  Hunter chuckled. “Don’t flatter yourself, jerk. It doesn’t take much capability to overpower a sleeping innocent girl with some well-trained gorillas.” Ramon started to rise in anger when Peña signaled him to sit.

  Hunter chuckled again. “Why not throw him a banana.”

  Ramon grinned when he thought about how he would someday kill this macho bastard.

  Peña continued. “You see, Mr. Kohl, no one will ever be able to prove I was here, but you will be following my orders from now on.”

  “Go to hell, runt!”

  “Mr. Kohl, you do not need to be rude. Let me assure you that I have had many people say disparaging things to me, but most of them were in the process of dying.”

  “That doesn’t scare me. Give it your best shot. I’m not that easy to kill.”

  “I don’t think you get the whole picture, Mr. Kohl. You see in my business, we include the families in your little network of friends. Remember your cousin. She was just a warm up. I’m not always so easy going.”

  “What do you want?”

  “Alright, let’s begin. Tomorrow, you will begin to reverse your effort to change federal drug policies. All those good Congressmen and Senators you’ve been cultivating need to change their minds. Simple, isn’t it?”

  Hunter rubbed his neck again. He wanted to say, “Or what?” but he knew the answer. The threat against his family was obvious.

  “What do you expect me to do? I can’t just go visit the Hill and say it was all a joke. They all know I represent the state and it’s not my personal request, it’s the state’s. The state isn’t changing its position.”

  “I don’t expect it to be easy, Mr. Kohl, but you’ll need to find a way. And rest assured, Mr. Kohl, I have eyeballs around you that you won’t ever see. I’ll know if you succeed or fail. I suggest that for the welfare of the Kohl family tree, you succeed.”

  The shorter man stood, indicating to his henchman that it was time to leave. Hunter didn’t expect the second blow, causing him to thrust forward onto the table. He never lost consciousness, but his head felt like it exploded, and his vision was blurred. He rolled onto the floor, starring at the ceiling, unaware they had gone. He was alone.

  Moments later, he rolled over and pushed to his feet. He reached into his pocket for his phone and pressed her speed dial number. “Hunter, what’s wrong?”

  “Keep your door locked, Laurie. I’m coming over.”

  Without resting, he stumbled through his front door and into his car. The drive over was a blur, and he wasn’t even sure if he was conscious the whole time but he made to her place. She was watching from the window and saw him labor up to her door.

  “Hunter! What happened?”

  He gripped the back of his head as she helped him inside.”

  “Close the door, Laurie and lock it.”

  She helped him sit down and looked at the back of his head which was bleeding. “Who did this to you?”

  “The same creep that kidnapped Sue Ann.”

  “Oh, Hunter, what did he want?”

  “Can you get me some Advil, four capsules?”

  “Sure.” She was only gone minute to get the pills and water. Then she left again for some hydrogen peroxide and gauze. He took the pills while she tended to the cut on his head. She said, “this isn’t too bad.”

  He tried to smile. “My thick skull.”

  “What happened, Hunter? What did he want?”

  “He gave me some instructions and threatened my family.”

  “Oh, Hunter! What will you do?”

  “I don’t know, Laurie, but I need to rest for now. I need to think about this, but first I need to call Claire.

  Laura brought her mobile phone and went to get an ice pack for Hunter’s head while he called Claire. “Claire, I’ve got some wonderful news and some cautions.”

  “What’s going on, Hunt?”

  “Laurie and me are getting married!”

  “Hunter, that’s wonderful. When?”

  “Ah, we haven’t set a date yet, I just gave her the ring tonight.”

  She was apprehensive about what else he would tell her. “Hunt, that’s terrific. Give her a kiss for me. Are you two moving back to California like you planned or
are you staying in Washington?”

  He looked at Laura, “We talked about it, and she’s coming with me.”

  “Gosh, Hunt. You’ll need to get a real job now.”

  He smiled even though his head felt split open. She went on. “So, tell me the bad news.”

  “Sis, I had a visit with our friend from California. He wants me to come over to the dark side.”

  He could hear her suck in a deep breath. “Did he threaten you?”

  “No, not directly.” He knew that would scare her.

  “So, he threatened us again.”

  “Yeah. He’s using my family to get to me. That means Sue Ann, you, the kids.” He looked at Laura. “And Laurie, too.”

  “Hunter, I’m calling the police.”

  “No, don’t. He’s not stupid enough to leave any proof other than my word. He’s a big time donator to every crook in the state. It would be my word against him. He’d barely get questioned.”

  “What are we going to do, Hunter?”

  “I don’t know yet. I’ll have a plan by the morning. For now, call Sue Ann and have her come stay with you. Then call John Richards and ask him to protect you. It will take a few days for our friend to figure out what I’ve done, so just let me work it out.”

  “All right, Hunt. I’ll call Suzy now.”

  After the call, he rested his head back in the chair with the ice at the base of his skull. He had a massive headache that would keep him awake most of the night. Laura didn’t try to engage him in conversation and brought him a blanket to rest. She left him alone to sleep there over night and left the bedroom door open if he would be more