by Frank Perry
comfortable in her bed. He didn’t move all night.
At five o’clock in the morning, Hunter stood beside her bed and bent to kiss her. She murmured something and rubbed her eyes, “Hunter...it’s so early. Why are you dressed?”
“I’ve got to go, sweetheart. I’m going to California to take care of some things.”
She sat partway up. “What do you mean?”
He looked past her, “I’ve got to go help Claire take some security measures.”
“She’s got John Richards, Hunt. Why do you need to go?”
“It’s just something I have to do, Laurie. I won’t be gone too long.”
“How long?”
“I don’t know, maybe just a couple days, maybe a week.”
She was still tired but didn’t think he was being completely honest. She also knew he wasn’t going to say more. “Have a safe flight and call me tonight. I love you.”
“I love you, too, Laurie. Please keep an eye out until I get back.
It was still black when he got to his apartment. There were no lights on, and he was especially cautious entering this time. He would probably never feel completely safe there again. He pulled two large suitcases from his office closet. One hadn’t been opened for years, since leaving the Navy. The other had some equipment that he’d used more recently in the Border Patrol. He used the small amount of available space in both to pack minimal clothes for the trip. If he had to stay longer, he’d use Claire’s washing machine.
He went on line to check flights and was able to book a seat on American Airlines out of Reagan National that left at eight-twenty in the morning. Together, his bags weighed over a hundred pounds, and he would need to pay the fees to get everything to California. It was barely six o’clock when he left, pulling the two suitcases up the hill to the Metro station. Both trains, the yellow and blue lines, went to National, only two stops beyond King Street. The trains were scheduled every four minutes for the morning commute. The train cars were about half full, mostly with military and semi-skilled laborers that needed to be in place to cater to the morning professional surge starting in a couple hours.
At National, he paid the extra baggage fees and checked his luggage. He would not have been allowed to carry either one on the plane, even if small enough. It was too early to call Claire, so he sent her a text message, “Will arrive SMF (Sacramento airport) at two-oh-five today. Will call if I don’t see you. Love, Hunt.”
He stopped at a newsstand for more Advil and took four more with a black cup of McDonald’s coffee. He was able to get a window seat and used a rolled up blanket for a pillow, sleeping most of the way to Dallas, where he would change flights. He still didn’t have a good plan but was working on it.
The plane arrived at Sacramento on time. Claire met him at the usual place at the base of the escalator. They hugged, and he said, “I checked luggage this time.”
When she saw his two large bags she commented. “You didn’t pack light this time. Are you moving in?”
“Ah, nope. Just some tools of the trade.” He regretted the implication immediately.
Claire stopped in front of him and looked up into his eyes. “What trade is that, Hunter.”
“Oh. Just some old Navy gear.” He tried to walk past her, but she sidestepped, blocking his way.
“Hunter, you can’t this take on by yourself. This is a police matter.”
“What, Claire? What’s a police matter? What can anyone prove?”
“I don’t want you hurt, Hunter.”
He put down the handles to the bags and placed both hands on her shoulders. “Neither do I, sis. Neither do I.”
He loaded the bags into the back of her mini-SUV and let her drive while he dialed his phone. The man answered, “Richards.”
“John, it’s Hunter.”
“Hi, Hunter. Claire said you had another run-in with the voice?”
“Yeah. You might say that. Can you meet me at Claire’s this afternoon?”
“Sure. What time.”
“As soon as possible.”
They agreed to meet in an hour.
Relaxing in the car, he said, “I hope I didn’t upset you too much with my call last night.”
She glanced at him briefly while driving. “Hunter, you can’t scare me any more than I am already. Look what this maniac has done to our family.”
“I want this to end, Claire”
“So, do I Hunter, but these are dangerous people. They wouldn’t hesitate to kill us all.”
He looked at her. “I know what kind of people these are, Claire. I’ve dealt with them in the Navy and in the Border Patrol. They’re basically bullies – cowards. If you let them push you around, they only push harder.”
“Maybe we should drop this whole idea of ending the drug wars.”
“Won’t work. This guy thinks he’s using me to kill the effort in Washington. I’m on the other side now and can’t quit.”
“How can you stop it, Hunt.”
“Can’t. That’s the primary problem. I think the guy is looking for a scapegoat or is just insane. Either way, he’s threatening my family if the laws change.”
She grimaced. “If you hold him, Hunter, I’ll shoot him.”
“That’s my sis.”
Recon
They arrived home a few minutes later and Claire tried to help him with one of his bags, but couldn’t move it. He smiled, “I’ll take this one in and get the other one.”
“Good. You’re in the guest room now, but JJ is not happy.”
“I can sleep on his floor or on the couch. Sue Ann should get the guest room.”
“She’s not coming.”
“What? It’s not safe for her to be in her apartment. She should at least stay with her parents.”
Claire followed him into the guest room. “Yeah. I know it, and you know it, but you also know Sue Ann. She’s going to do whatever she damn well pleases, no matter what we tell her.”
He opened the first bag on the bed pulling out some clothes on hangers, without letting Claire see inside. “What’s her problem? She should understand the threat more than anyone.”
“Yeah, you’d think so. She’s got this secret boyfriend who says he’ll protect her.”
“When did this happen?”
“I don’t know; could have been since yesterday or two years ago. You know her.”
He shook his head and was settled in minutes, waiting for John to arrive.
He knocked on the door shortly after Hunter finished unpacking. Claire, John and Hunter all sat in the living room while the children played in their rooms or the back yard.
After pleasantries, John spoke, looking at Hunter. “I hear you had a visit from someone who threatened you?”
Hunter responded, “Yeah. It was the same guy who kidnapped Sue Ann. They all knew they were discussing Luciano Peña but pejorative discussions could damage the legal case the FBI was developing.
John opened his briefcase and removed a manila folder. He laid a large glossy photo down and asked, “Hunter or Claire, have you ever seen this man before?”
Claire shook her head no, but Hunter responded. “That’s the man who was in my place yesterday making the threats. He also had a big man, a very big man, with him who rabbit punched me from behind.”
John shook his head. “You mean this guy?” He laid another large picture of Ramon Vasquez beside Peña’s.”
“Hunter didn’t even need to look closely. “Yeah. That’s the monster.”
John continued. “Good, you’ve just identified Luciano Peña and Ramon Vasquez. You know who Peña is. Vasquez is his primary enforcer and body guard. He’s a heartless murderer who enjoys killing with a knife. He is abnormally large, over six eight and spent twelve years in prison building up his body. This is not someone to mess around with.”
Hunter looked at Claire then John. “So, you know that he broke into my place and threatened everyo
ne in my family if I didn’t kill the drug legalization language in this year’s Appropriations Bill.”
John asked, “Can you do that?”
“I don’t know John. I could stop answering the phone and become invisible, but I can’t very well run around destroying the work we’ve done. The state would fire Claire and me, and we’d never succeed anyway. The Congress will decide soon and my influence on the negative side would be laughable.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
Hunter looked at him. “Before I answer, John, is there anything the law is doing about this guy?”
John looked down briefly, “Hunter, we’re building a case. The FBI is leading the investigation. We have some circumstantial information, but not enough to go after Peña. Sue Ann couldn’t supply anything. We got some forensic from Jose’s car, but not enough alone. You’ve had the only face-to-face with him, but it wouldn’t stand up unless someone else could verify it. At most, he’s guilty of breaking and entering, and my guess is that he’s had you under surveillance and used your hidden key to open the door. So it boils down to simple trespassing. He wouldn’t even get a slap on the wrist.”
Claire asked, “So, what should we do, John?”
He sat back and looked at her. “Claire, we need to keep you safe as possible. I can submit a request to the state to have a protective detail assigned, but they won’t protect you and Sue Ann and the kids all the time -- too much manpower. To do it at all, you’d all need to stay in one place all the time.
“I know you can’t do that. So about all I can offer is to move in myself when not at work and act as night watchman. Sue Ann would need to find her own way.”
Hunter
