Ernie gave Hunter a questioning look. “I told her that you were here to help.”
“And your name is?” Ernie asked the woman.
“Beatrice Price. I live over there,” she said, indicating the pea green house. “I’m the president of the neighborhood watch. With what happened to poor Aliana, I would have thought there would have been more of a police presence.”
“You’re absolutely right, ma’am.” Ernie looked chagrined. “There was a mistake on the address. From now on there will be a patrol car coming by at least every hour if not more often.”
“That’s good.” She turned to Hunter. “But you’re staying?”
“Yes, until my friend arrives.”
“He is in the Army too?”
“Navy. We’re both in the Navy.” He saw Ernie smirk out of the corner of his eye. Apparently, he had looked up his record.
“Have you ever fought? Because these bastards used a bomb. Aliana needs strong protection.”
“Yes, ma’am, I’ve fought. So has my friend. We know what we’re doing.”
“I’m trusting you.”
“I appreciate that, and I won’t let you down.” It took everything he had not to chuckle. He needed to treat her concerns with the utmost respect, but for real?
“I’ll be watching you. As long as you do a good job, I’ll bring you coffee and treats.”
“What about me?” Ernie asked.
“You screwed up. You didn’t earn it.” With that, she turned and left.
“Be happy, the coffee is godawful,” Hunter said with a grin as soon as she was out of earshot.
“She’s a hoot.”
“God save me from little old ladies.”
“What do you mean?” Ernie asked.
“I mean that I have my grandmother’s book club planning to get information on who is after Aliana.”
“What?” Ernie looked incredulous. “Did you say grandmother?”
“Not just Mamie, but her book club. I think there are ten of them. I’ve been invited to a meeting, they’re serving German chocolate cake. The hell of it is, I think they might have some useful info.”
“No way. They need to stay the fuck out of this,” Ernie said vehemently.
“I’ll try to dissuade them.”
“Invite me. I’ll get the point across.”
“I’m with Beatrice, you screwed up, you didn’t earn it.”
“Watch it. I’m the cop in this neighborhood, don’t think you can come in here and run roughshod over this investigation. You’re out of line.”
“Well, you’re doing a shitty job.”
“Really? Have you gotten her to tell you who assaulted her last week? Because if you did that would sure help us figure out who planted the bomb yesterday.”
“Assault? What assault?”
“Her throat and chest were cut. She required stitches.”
Shit, he’d seen the bandage on her throat and just assumed it was from the bomb.
“When did this happen?”
“Friday. She reluctantly ID’d the car, but she wouldn’t say who cut her. I’m positive she knew who did it.” Ernie rolled back and forth on his feet, clearly frustrated.
“Does the name Mateo mean anything to you?”
“No. Should it?”
“I had a run in with some members of Los Demonios a little earlier. They drove a 2015 Charger, matte black. There were no plates on the car. They said Mateo had a special interest in Aliana. I think he’s a lieutenant.”
“Well the car doesn’t match the one she ID’d on Saturday,” Ernie sighed. “Like I said, never heard the name, but I can check with the gang and narcotics division.”
“Do that.”
“Yes, Sir,” Ernie said sarcastically.
“Look, asshole, we’re on the same team.” Hunter didn’t need a territorial pissing match, not when Aliana’s life was on the line.
Ernie leaned in—he was only an inch shorter than Hunter, probably not used to dealing with anyone bigger than himself—and he was angry.
“We have detectives who are on top of this.”
“I’m the one who’s going to get Aliana to talk. I’m the one who can devote people 24/7 to making sure she and her grandmother are safe. I’m the one who can make sure these fucks back off for good.”
“You do something illegal, and I’ll be forced to put you away.”
“I won’t do anything that will get me put away.” Hell, if he couldn’t handle staying out of the frying pan, he didn’t deserve to be called a SEAL.
Ernie gave him an assessing look. “I heard what you didn’t say. I don’t like it.”
“Sue me.”
“I’m going to have my eye on you.”
“Why don’t you be on the lookout for the bastards who are after Aliana. Wouldn’t that be a better use of your time?”
“I can multi-task.”
“Since you’re so great at multi-tasking, why don’t you see what you can do with these.” Hunter popped the trunk of his car and pulled out the three guns he’d confiscated.
“What the fuck?”
“I’m giving you a gift,” Hunter said with a wry smile. “Los Demonios were kind enough to give up their weapons to me.”
“Kind? You guys have a tea party?”
“Something like that.”
Ernie carefully took the wrapped guns from Hunter.
“Hopefully you can get some usable prints.”
“Why, are you going to file a complaint against them? Seems to me if they were so kind, they might want to file charges against you.”
“Aliana might want to file a complaint.”
“Yeah, sure,” Ernie said derisively. “I’ll hold my breath.”
“So the patrols are going to be more frequent?”
“Yep, and not just because of Los Demonios. Seems to me, we need to keep an eye on you.”
“Yeah, I got that.” Geez, couldn’t the guy go already?
“You staying here tonight?”
“Until a friend of mine shows up. Then I’m going to take a little break.”
“What should I tell the patrol to be on the lookout for?”
Please God, say Dalton wouldn’t be driving his Corvette. “A beat-up, rusted, baby blue, 1990 Chevy truck.”
Ernie wrote it down in his notebook, “I take it being a SEAL doesn’t pay well?”
“Nope.”
“I’ll see you around.”
Not if he saw him first. Hunter got back into his grandmother’s car and watched Ernie pull away from the curb. Now he just had to wait for Dalton to show up.
***
Hunter heard the truck before he saw it. It might look like a piece of shit, but Dalton had put in a cat-back exhaust system and a supercharger. The damn thing was hell on wheels. The only thing that made people realize there was more than meets the eye to the truck were the high-performance tires. Hunter got out of his car, confident in the knowledge Dalton would spot him in the dark. His friend found the one open parking spot on the street half a block back. Hunter watched Dalton’s tall, sleekly muscled frame prowl towards him.
“Nice car. Not as nice as my truck, but nice,” Dalton said, nodding at the Buick.
“Don’t be making fun of my Mamie’s car, you bastardo.”
Dalton chuckled. “So, what’s the scoop with Aliana. Is she finally speaking to you?” he asked kindly.
“Hell, Dalton, I’m not sure, but I think I’m making some headway, but it’s definitely going to be an uphill climb.”
“Well, at least it’s you and not me. You have the ability to play all the angles.”
“You used to,” Hunter reminded his friend.
“That was a century ago, I’m not that man anymore. What you see is what you get.” God, he hoped not. Dalton hadn’t been truly happy in years. “Hunter, we’re not about to have a heart to heart in the middle of the street when we’re supposed to be guarding your high school sweetheart and her grandmother, are we?”
> “Huh? What are you talking about? Aliana was never my girlfriend. She was just a friend.” He remembered the last time he had seen Aliana when she’d been sixteen. The moon bathing her face in through her bedroom window as she yelled at him. Even then, there was the hint of the beauty she was going to become.
“Come on Hunter, admit it. You talked about her all the time the first year we served. Then after her father died, I remember what a wreck you were each time you got back an unopened letter.”
Dalton was right, he had been.
“You’ve got it all wrong. I never saw her like that.”
“Fine, she wasn’t your girlfriend. What is she now? Or better yet, what could she be?”
“Damn, man, today was the first time I saw her in thirteen years. You must think I work as fast as Wyatt.”
“I’m not talking about bedding somebody. I’m talking about leading with your heart. I’m saying you were gone over this girl thirteen years ago. I’m saying you swore you were never coming back here except for short little visits to your grandmother, and here you are in the middle of gang business for this woman. I’d say you’re leading with your heart, not your head.”
“So, you are comparing me to Wyatt,” Hunter said.
“Fuck no, he leads with his dick.”
Hunter snorted. It was so true. That boy needed a couple more years of seasoning.
“Okay, Dalton, I don’t know where I stand with Alia. All I know is I can’t handle leaving it where it is now.”
“Where is it?”
“I thought we weren’t going to have a heart to heart out in the middle of the street?”
“Oh, now that we’re not dredging up my shit, I’m fine,” Dalton grinned.
Hunter shook his head. God, he loved this man. “Get your ass into your truck. I’m going to do a little reconnaissance.”
“What kind?” Dalton asked all business.
“Just a quick little jaunt around the old neighborhood.”
“I see you’re armored up and loaded for bear,” Dalton said, pointing to Hunter’s holstered gun and body armor. “I’m betting there’s probably more to it than a little walkabout.”
“You’d win that bet. A car full of gang members showed up about three hours ago. They were small-time. It took me about a minute to disarm them. I highly doubt they’ll be back. They were here to determine if Alia was staying at her grandmother’s house. Then there’s a patrolman who has a hard-on for Alia, who stopped by to check on her. He gave me a bit of a hassle. I gave him the guns I confiscated from the baby gangbangers.”
Dalton chuckled, “So, is the cop competition?”
“Doubt it. Alia basically has the Great Wall of China built up around her. I can’t imagine anyone getting through.”
“Except you.”
“I don’t know, Dalton.”
“Have faith, Brother. What are you hoping to find when you tour your old haunts?”
“Information about somebody named Mateo. Apparently, he has it out for Aliana. Also turns out besides having her townhome blown to smithereens, she was cut up during an assault last week. She needed stitches. She failed to mention that.”
“Down boy.”
“Trying to get any information out of her is like pulling teeth.”
“Well, won’t it be nice to know that your woman won’t be talking out of turn?”
“Jesus, what is with you?” Hunter stared at Dalton who just grinned wider.
“Hunter, you’re not seeing the forest for the trees. But I’m going to my truck now.”
“I’ll be back to spell you in a couple of hours.”
“No need. I napped today, I knew you’d be calling. I’m good. Go get some shut-eye after you’re done doing your recon. You need to figure out how to break down the Great Wall of China.” Dalton started whistling ‘The Way We Were’ as he walked down the street. He had clearly lost his damn mind.
Chapter Five
Hunter knew exactly where he was going. He drove a mile south of Las Nuevas Espada’s territory. Hell, now he was in the middle of Crip’s turf. He ditched the windbreaker and pulled on a plain gray sweat jacket with a hood. He didn’t want to have anything making him stand out more than his size. He kept his head down as he moved silently down the streets, staying in the shadows. Once or twice, he saw someone glance his way, but they decided to leave him alone. Smart move.
Finally, he crossed the busy street that took him to the outskirts of the Espada’s. He grinned when he walked by Uncle Julio’s barbershop. It was the first place he’d ever had his hair cut. Mamie had taken him there right before first grade. Before then, someone had always picked up whatever scissors were handy and just chopped away. He looked in the window. There was a light in the back that allowed him to see the barber chairs. He wondered if Julio was still alive. He hoped so, he was an institution in the neighborhood.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone checking him out. When he turned, he realized it was just a prostitute trying to determine if he was a potential client. He shook his head. She walked on down the street. Had they always been that young?
He continued on, walking slowly, wanting to see if he recognized any familiar faces. It’s not like he’d be welcomed with open arms, but eventually, he figured there could be a meeting of minds. He came up to the ABC liquor store where Sonny had been killed when he was twelve years old. He’d been stupid enough to go in with his older brother, both of them carrying. Sonny had been in his grade at school. He wasn’t even in any of the gangs, nobody wanted him because he was too stupid. That was probably why he ended up dead. Hunter wondered how many of his other friends were now dead, the ones who had been smart enough to be recruited into the gangs, but not smart enough to get out. He crossed another street.
It was two o’clock in the morning, and he would guess the three kids on the upcoming corner couldn’t be more than fourteen. Apparently, school wasn’t a priority. They looked over at him, and one of them started texting on his phone. Hunter wasn’t surprised when an Escalade rolled up two minutes later, and he was surrounded by young, bald, tattooed Chicanos who eyed him up and down.
“Gotta name?” the youngest of the four asked in Spanish. Hunter pegged him to be in his early twenties, the oldest was maybe thirty. He looked at him carefully to see if he recognized him. He didn’t.
“Yeah. I gotta name,” Hunter said. “Who’s asking?”
He was shoved from behind. He’d been expecting it, he didn’t budge. Some things never changed. “Tell us your name,” the young guy demanded again.
“Is LL still running things?” On his trips up to visit Mamie, Hunter had learned his best friend had wrested the leadership from Red Blade.
The oldest guy eyed him up and down. “Just because you know a name, doesn’t mean shit. L.A.P.D. sends in people all the goddamn time. Give us a name.”
Now he was getting somewhere. No way was he going to talk to anyone but the highest ranking person in this little group.
“Hunter Diaz. LL knows me.”
“Well, you better be one hundred percent sure that’s true before we give him a call. Otherwise, this conversation ends with you dead. Understood?”
“Just call the man.” Hunter was sick of the posturing.
The man whipped out his phone and sent a text. The phone rang in less than a minute. He looked up at Hunter in surprise. “LL wants to talk to you,” he said, handing the phone to Hunter.
“That you Hunter? For real?”
“Yep.”
“Still a talkative bastard.”
“Yep.”
“Got to ask you a couple of questions to make sure it’s actually you, understand? Need to take precautions.”
“Understood.” LL had always been smart, that’s why he wanted to talk to him.
LL laughed. “If this is you, you’re still the same. So, what did you do when you left?”
“Enlisted in the Navy.”
“What name did you call your grandmother?”<
br />
“Mamie.”
“What was the last thing I told you?”
“You’d kill me if I ever showed my face again.” Hunter remembered it like it was yesterday. LL had been pretty serious. But then again, LL had been his best friend, and that counted for something. As mad as he was at for Hunter leaving, he respected him too.
“So, asshole, why the fuck did you return?”
“Need a favor.”
LL laughed. Kept laughing. Hunter wasn’t surprised. Even as a boy, LL always liked a challenge and had a quirky sense of humor.
“Okay, now that we’ve established you’ve got the balls of a bull, tell me why I shouldn’t have my boys kill you?”
“First, you’d want to do it yourself.” Hunter was taking a calculated gamble. But he knew people, and he knew LL.
“Truth.” LL was still laughing.
“Second, I can do you a favor.”
“I’m listening.”
“I’m going to do some damage to Los Demonios.”
LL started laughing again. “How much damage?”
“They fucked with Aliana. Tried to kill her. They’re going to pay. So it’s going to be substantial.”
“Shit, that’s a lot of words. But tell me friend, just you and what army?”
“I’ve got two friends with me.”
“God, man, you’ve lost your fucking mind. So what favor do you need from me?”
“Intel.”
LL sighed. “Give the phone back to Pablo.”
Pablo stared darkly at Hunter the entire time he listened to LL. It was clear he wasn’t happy with what LL was telling him. He’d wanted to kill Hunter. “Okay, okay. I hear you,” he finally said. LL must have hung up because Pablo looked at the others in his group.
“We have to take this guy to LL.”
“For real?” the young guy asked.
“Shut up. I tell you something, you do it. No questions. Got it?”
The kid shut up and nodded.
“You,” the man said, pointing at Hunter. “You’re sitting in the back.” He turned to one of the other guys. “Tie him up and blindfold him.”
Hunter held out his hands in front of him, and the dumbass tied him that way. Then they tied a scarf around his eyes. Real amateur hour. They shoved him into the backseat of the SUV. Damn, it even had that new car smell. LL must be doing pretty good for himself. Wonder if the Los Demonios had Escalades?
Her Passionate Hero Page 8
