The Hunter

by Gennita Low

  “You don’t know. You don’t know everything.” Tatiana sat back in her chair.

  “Tell your story to the reporters downstairs, then. You know they are there. Show them the scars, Tatiana.”

  Amber covered her mouth as Tatiana began to cry. Oh God, it was so heartbreaking to finally see the girl showing her grief, as big teardrops rolled down her cheeks. She didn’t know which she preferred—the unemotional girl or this sad creature sobbing in low moans.

  “He made me feel…dirty. He made me lick his toilet bowl. He killed me inside,” Tatiana said, her words barely audible through the sobs. “I’m glad he’s dead. I wish I was there to watch him die.”

  Hawk reached out and traced one finger down Tatiana’s wet cheeks. “There are others like him. You have to try to help the other girls by giving this interview. Michela, Judi Kay, and Kia are doing it for their friends who are still missing. Don’t you want to, too?”

  “I don’t have any friends!” Tatiana said.

  “Amber and Lily,” Hawk reminded her gently.

  Tatiana nodded, finally giving Amber a glance. “Yes. I’m sorry,” she said.

  “It’s okay,” Amber said. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, Tatiana.”

  “I’ll do it for your friend Hawk,” the girl said, suddenly coming to a decision. Her voice was still hoarse from crying, but she was more composed. “He did me a favor. I’ll return it now. Help me walk downstairs?”

  “I’ll carry you,” Hawk offered.

  “Careful of her ribs,” Amber said, when Tatiana nodded her permission. She watched him lift the young girl up with a gentleness she hadn’t seen in him. “Here’s a hanky, Tatiana. I’ll bring the crutches.”

  She followed them, listening quietly as Tatiana started to tell Hawk the things the dead Sarunas had done to her during her captivity. She wasn’t waiting for any interview. Her story was pouring out of her as if Hawk had turned the tap on.

  She moved ahead so she could open the door. Every eye in the room focused on Tatiana, who ignored them all even as she continued talking. The reporters never said a word as she went on. And on.

  Every horrifying humiliation. Every bruise and how she got them. Amber listened and wanted to kill all the Sarunas in the world.

  16

  Hawk anticipated there would be an argument afterward. He had seen it coming from the expression on Lily Noretski’s face. She had barely kept her cool through the interview.

  The two reporters were now gone, with three hours of taped conversation in their possession, the most powerful segments of which were Tatiana’s, her hoarse voice filled with wretched hatred. Hawk didn’t think he would ever forget any of it, or the expressions of growing horror on the men’s faces as they listened to her halting account.

  “You have no right, no right at all, to make her relive her ordeal.” Lily glared at Amber.

  The girls had gone back to their rooms. “I didn’t make her, Lily,” she said.

  “What did you say to her? She hasn’t said one word, not to you, not to me, all these months.” Lily raked a hand through her short hair. When Amber gave her a short account of what had happened upstairs, she continued, “You don’t know what you might have done to her psychologically. We agreed to be extra gentle with her.”

  “I’ll take total responsibility,” Hawk said from the doorway. He didn’t want the two friends quarreling.

  “You lied to her to get her to talk,” Lily accused, turning to face him.

  “No, I didn’t. Tetovo’s one of Dilaver’s kafenas and I have seen what Sarunas can do to a girl.”

  “And you didn’t stop him before, even when you were standing right there,” Lily sneered, “so why should I believe you really killed the bastard? You and Brad, one playing on the inside, the other the almighty chief of some NATO department, both of you have the power to stop this at one time or another, yet you choose not to. How could you? And you’re worse, Mr. McMillan. You’re actually in that place, participating in the fun.” She paused, her eyes growing flat. “I could kill you just for that.”

  That Hawk believed. There was a look in her eyes that reminded him of war veterans who had been in the combat theater too long, especially those who had seen and done too much that crossed the line, with no relief of downtime or family ties. Yet Lily had Amber and other friends, as well as these girls, so why did he suddenly get the feeling that she was desperately hiding something from the world? It was just a gut feeling he had, from years of having been deployed in and out of bloody arenas; he had dealt with men who had so alienated their humanity that they had turned into killing machines. Why did he get the same vibes from her?

  Since he didn’t reply, Amber spoke up. “Lily, you know why Hawk’s in there.”

  “Oh yeah, right, silly me. Bigger things in the world and all that,” Lily said.

  “And Brad’s doing all he can,” Amber continued, ignoring Lily’s sarcasm.

  Lily cocked her head, her eyes darting from one person to another, as if she were seeing them for the first time. “It isn’t enough for me,” she told them, and the fierceness in her voice reminded Hawk of Tatiana’s anger. “All these girls all over the continent being sold and used in a human meat market, and all perpetuated and sanctioned by the so-called authorities. They are all the same, all crooks and rapists, all guilty in my eyes. I’d take down every one of them if I could.”

  She gave Hawk one final glare and swept out of the room.

  “I’ll go talk to her,” Amber said, touching his arm before slipping out, too.

  “She doesn’t like it when she isn’t in control,” Hawk remarked to Brad, who hadn’t bothered to join in the argument. “She yell at you like that often?”

  Brad looked at the cup in his hand. “Only when she isn’t in control,” he said quietly. “She usually takes off for a while and comes back a lot calmer.”

  “Sounds like you have heard her tirades a few times already. How do you handle the attacks on the job thing?” Hawk was curious about the relationship between Brad and Lily. From their body language, it was obvious that they were hot for each other and were in the middle of some kind of struggle. “Is this part of the quarrel between you two right now?”

  Brad looked up, a wry twist on his lips. “You make all my women hot and bothered.”

  Hawk lifted an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

  “Lily isn’t the only one reacting so excitedly to your presence. I’ve never seen Amber quite like this before. Doing things on her own, running off with you to do things without consulting Lily. She’s never the crazy one.”

  Hawk thought about a certain message hung on his dick. A certain triumphant feeling surged in him when he realized that Brad really didn’t know Amber. “I beg to differ,” he said.

  It was Brad’s turn to lift an eyebrow. “Somehow I get the feeling you’re happy about Amber’s wild side. As for Lily, she’s always been a bit unpredictable.”

  “Is that why you’re hooked on her?”

  Brad frowned. “I wouldn’t say ‘hooked.’ I’m…fascinated.” He shrugged. “Lot of good that does me.”

  “Maybe she thinks you have a thing for Amber,” Hawk suggested. It was just another one of his gut feelings. Lily had been looking at Amber surreptitiously over the last week and had him wondering. He had noted that the intensity always grew whenever Brad was around the two women. “Does she know about your fascination, as you call it, for her?”

  “Not that it’s any of your business. She does, and she knows Amber and I are friends.”

  “Then there’s something very wrong.”

  Brad regarded him from behind the cup as he took a slow sip. “What?”

  “I’m sure you checked up on the women when you first got to know them,” Hawk said, walking to the coffee table to refill his cup. “I’m damn sure you have or are still checking up on me. All of us have something in our background that we don’t want others to know.”

  Jed had told him that he nee
ded to find out more about Lily Noretski because the risk she posed was an unknown factor. Brad had the means.

  “Are you saying you don’t trust Lily?” Brad asked, watching him pour the tea.

  “That isn’t what I meant. I know my secrets. I have a lot of background info on Amber because that’s who I’m supposed to work with. You’re a public official, so the background is pretty open. Lily’s the only one I don’t know much about, except for one or two things.” Hawk took a gulp from his cup. “She’s a friend of yours and Amber’s, so I’m not trying to bring trouble to the table, but there’s something in her past that makes her tick like a bomb whenever it comes to these girls.”

  “You’re the one we don’t know about here, Hawk. If there is someone who shouldn’t be trusted, it’s you. These two have run their operation for a number of years.”

  “Want some more tea?” When Brad shook his head, Hawk settled back in the sofa. “Okay, let’s say it’s either your presence or mine in this operation that’s grating on Lily’s nerves. Amber doesn’t know what it is, or she isn’t telling me. You don’t appear to know and aren’t able to solve the problem, or you’d be in Lily’s pants. I still say it’s all about Lily.”

  Brad put his empty cup down. “You’re a confident son of a bitch.” Although his tone of voice was quietly mild, there was steel in his gaze. “Don’t think I haven’t been watching you. Been here a couple of weeks and taking charge of lives you hardly know. I wonder what’s in your background that makes that second nature to you. So far, someone’s definitely delaying certain files from reaching my hands, but don’t think I don’t have other sources.”

  Hawk smiled. “Dig deeper.” His smile disappeared. “You have the connections. It doesn’t hurt to know more about the people you’re fascinated with.”

  Brad was silent for a moment. “I will,” he said, his fingers tapping a quiet beat on the arm of the sofa.

  Hawk nodded. There wasn’t any handshake, but he knew Brad had agreed to find out more about Lily. He wasn’t afraid that the bureaucrat would find out about his own secrets. For one thing, he wasn’t the one with whom Bradford Sun had a fascination.

  Nor Amber, he added. And he was glad about that, too. He couldn’t help but admire the woman. How she managed to run a café, an information service, a complicated operation of saving and transporting girls from country to country, and avoid being caught by all the different thugs and groups who moved around her was beyond him. He couldn’t help wondering if, given the chance, she would run his own SEAL team just as capably and calmly.

  One day, they might be able to tell each other things about themselves. Not that he didn’t enjoy finding out about Amber with intimate contact. There were secrets about the woman he had grown particularly captivated with. Like that tattoo. And he didn’t deny the male smugness that came with knowing that Bradford Sun wouldn’t know about that secret.

  Amber called out Lily’s name. Her friend was walking quickly toward her car, talking on her cell phone. She waved at Amber, signaling that she needed a minute.

  Amber slowed down, thinking about Lily’s angry words in the house. There was something wrong, but she couldn’t put a finger on it. Lily had been very distant the last week, disappearing more and more. She knew her friend wasn’t with Brad, or both of them wouldn’t look like they had toothaches.

  “Everything’s ready,” she heard Lily said. “I’ll call in when I arrive.”

  “Are you okay?” Amber asked after Lily ended her call. She wondered whether there was trouble about which Lily wasn’t telling her. Her friend had been on the phone a lot lately.

  “I suppose. You really should have asked me first.”

  “You were in the middle of the interview. I thought it best not to interrupt,” Amber said, studying Lily. She didn’t seem so angry now. “Besides, I thought it helped.”

  “That’s not the point. You and I are partners in this and you went off on a wild idea Hawk had. It went well, but at what cost to Tatiana? You and I don’t seem to talk anymore,” Lily said, turning around and walking toward her car.

  “Hey.” Amber reached out and grabbed Lily’s elbow, stopping her in midstep. “We can’t talk if you keep running off every time you’re mad, which is a lot lately. Tatiana will be fine. I think her talking again is healthy, don’t you think?”

  Lily shrugged, refusing to meet her eyes. “So she tells you and the others what happened to her. How can that be healthy?”

  Amber stared at her friend. How could it not be healthy? The poor girl had been catatonic since her arrival. “Lily, it’s a start. We can’t offer her psychological care. She needed an emotional outlet. Hawk somehow reached inside her, grabbed back what was still alive—”

  Lily turned sharply, her temper coming back into her eyes. “Hawk this and Hawk that. What does he know about psychological pain? You’re siding with him as if you know him that well. He’s just like Brad, standing there doing nothing.”

  “They are both doing something, sweetie,” Amber said gently. “Is it the guys, then? Are they what’s bothering you? If you didn’t want the interview, you should have told me.”

  “The interview’s fine. It’s just the way everything else is being handled.”

  Amber frowned. She was trying to understand what was going on in her friend’s mind, but for the first time ever, she was failing to see the reasons for the anger. She had thought it had been Brad’s presence, but now it was Hawk’s, too.

  “Tell me what’s wrong, Lily.”

  “Look, if you can’t see it, you can’t.” Turning away again, Lily shrugged off her arm. “It’s okay to enjoy the guys, Amber, but if you get emotionally involved, it won’t work.”

  Now it was getting even more confusing. She caught up with Lily, who seemed determined to get to her car. “Okay, what won’t work? And don’t keep going off every time you say something cryptic like that.”

  Lily pulled her car keys out of her pocket. “Okay, here’s a question. I thought we were going to get information from Hawk and sell it. Now that you’re involved semi-seriously with him, you aren’t thinking about that any longer, are you?”

  “Well, no,” Amber admitted. “I told you I agreed to help him out.”

  “Yes, as a favor for this Jed dude that helped you before. I get the favor thing, but why can’t you extract some info and use that to your advantage? It’s a weapons thing, so it’ll get us a lot of fresh funds. I can get help to track down more girls on the trails. The location of whatever Hawk’s looking for will be worth a lot in the market, don’t you agree?”

  “Yes, but you know I am very selective over the sale of information. Anyhow, this information involves the CIA, so I’ll have to clear it with them first.”

  “Since when have you followed the rules that closely?” Lily asked, her voice strangely toneless. “Or, like I said, are you getting so involved with the man that you’re now abandoning our own operation?”

  “Hey, wait a minute.” Amber stepped in front of Lily so they were facing each other. “Why do keep you saying that as if I have been doing nothing? The girls and their safety are just as important to me. Brad and Hawk have been helping a lot and you know it. I can’t just betray my friends willy-nilly for money.”

  She wasn’t sure she liked the look in Lily’s eyes. They were bright with something close to hatred. Yet, when she spoke, it was still in that strange toneless voice.

  “I see, now they are friends. Brad the protector. Hawk the hunter. Yet they really haven’t done anything to deserve your friendship. What am I, Amber?”

  “You’re my friend, too, Lily,” Amber replied quietly. “I don’t have to keep defending Brad. He’s an issue to you, and the two of you need to sort things out. Brad is a good man and is risking quite a lot in arranging this interview. As for Hawk, I don’t know about him, and you may be right that my heart’s getting involved, but what he did today was done in kindness. He was very gentle with Tatiana and she opened up to him. And if that
doesn’t convince you, how about the risk he’s taking in getting the reporters to meet the girls at Dilaver’s brothels? He didn’t have to offer, Lily, yet he did because what he sees in those places really bothers him.”

  “And he told you this, huh? When, in between bouts of hot sex?”

  Amber looked up at her friend. “I like him,” she said simply. She didn’t have to say anything about what she and Hawk had been doing. “And I have been getting to know him.”

  “Well, whoopee-do. It must be great to have men eating out of your hand and talking about saving the world at the same time. Speaking of which, I’m late for an appointment to get a new replacement for our injured mercenary from last week. I do have to make this meeting because some of us like to actually take these girls out of this hellhole, you know?”

  Amber stepped away so Lily could get her car door unlocked. “Will you be back tonight?” She didn’t like the way this conversation was ending.

  “Maybe, depends on how much negotiation I’ll be doing with this new man. If he asks too much, we might not have enough funds to cover his expenses and ours.” Lily got into the car, slamming it shut. When she looked up, her gaze was guarded. “Sorry to have to bail out on you, but we’ll have to talk again later when I get back. Now that you’re going off with Hawk and with me going on the usual trip, there’s no one here to run things. You see how it is when your attention is divided, Amber? Maybe after this operation we might have to split up for a while, so I can check out new avenues of saving these girls.”

  “Split up?” Amber repeated carefully.

  Lily nodded as she started the car. “Yes. It might be good to streamline the operation. I understand about the need for men, Amber, but it isn’t going to work out if you have to take off with them, too. The girls need an environment where they can depend on you or me being there when they need something.”

  Amber watched her friend’s car pull away. She massaged the back of her neck as a headache threatened. She didn’t know what to do. Something was horridly wrong and she had just made it worse somehow.