Hunter's Way

by Gerri Hill

  “Mmm,” Tori murmured with a mouthful. “I guess it is that time. I’ve got a couple of steaks. Is that okay?”

  “That would be fabulous,” Sam agreed.

  “You don’t need to get back, do you?”

  “No. That is, if you don’t mind company again.”

  “I don’t mind yours.”

  Sam watched Tori walk away, back inside. She sat down, holding the plate of cheese and stared out over the water as it shimmered a rosy pink. The sun was all but gone and the lake stilled, becoming glass like in the early evening. Soon, the peeps of frogs and the answering call of the cicadas and crickets pierced the stillness. It was a beautiful spring evening. Sam couldn’t think of a better place to be at that moment.

  Tori came back with the bag of charcoal and two wineglasses.

  Handing the wine to Sam, she poured charcoal into the grill. They sat quietly as the charcoal burned.

  “Are you okay about last night?” Tori asked suddenly. She had been worried about it all day. The dances they shared last night had become intense. At least to her. By the end of the evening, she had a hard time convincing herself that they weren’t on a real date. More than once, she’d had to stop herself from kissing Sam as if it were the most natural thing in the world. But they had fun. The cause for them being there in the first place was tragic, but she treasured the few hours she’d had with Sam. She found out that Sam was fun. Delightful, really. And a bit of a tease. Tori wondered if Sam was even aware of it.

  “Last night? Of course. What do you mean?”

  “I just… if I did anything to make you feel uncomfortable, I’m sorry. It wasn’t intentional.”

  Sam smiled. “No. You didn’t. In fact, I had fun. I know that sounds terrible, considering the reason we were even there. But I… enjoyed being with you last night.”

  “Good. I did, too. I mean, I don’t get out much.” Then she rushed on. “Not that I thought last night was anything other than work,” she explained quickly, embarrassed. “It was just nice to get out and do something other than…”

  “Be alone?” Sam guessed.

  “Yeah.”

  Sam reached across the space between their chairs and curled her fingers around Tori’s arm. “I had a good time, Tori. I’m glad you did, too.”

  Tori nodded, all too aware of the fingers resting warmly against her arm. Then she felt those fingers slip away and she sighed. “You haven’t said anything about Robert. Is he upset that you’re here?”

  “He doesn’t know. I haven’t actually seen him since Thursday,” Sam admitted. “We talked. About us, I mean. I told him that it wasn’t going to work, that I didn’t want to marry him.”

  “He took it hard?”

  “He thinks that we were meant to be together, like soul mates or something,” she said quietly. “But he’s not my soul mate.”

  “Do you believe in that sort of thing?”

  “I don’t know. It would be nice, wouldn’t it?”

  “Mmm.”

  “I feel better since I talked to Robert, though. I hurt him, I know. He doesn’t really understand.” She really didn’t understand it herself. Six months ago, she was content in her relationship. But content wasn’t the same thing as satisfied. And she knew she couldn’t live her life like that. She and Robert had just been existing in their relationship. Moving along at the same steady pace as they had been for two years.

  “Are you going to be able to stay friends?”

  “I don’t know that Robert and I were ever friends. It wasn’t like I confided in him like I do Amy… or you. He was the guy I dated.”

  “Are you and I friends?” Tori asked.

  “Yes. I think so. Don’t you?”

  Tori stared out over the water. “I don’t really have… any,” she admitted. And it was true. There was no one in her life that she would consider a friend. The closest was Malone and only because he insisted she join his family occasionally for dinner.

  “Now you do,” Sam said quietly.

  Tori turned and met Sam’s eyes. They were warm, steady- honest. “Thank you.”

  “Thank you for letting me see the real you, Tori. You keep this part hidden from the others. I don’t know why, but you do.”

  Tori shrugged. It had become a habit over the years. She had lost so much. And when she allowed herself to love again, Aunt Carol and Louise had left, too. Her heart just couldn’t take any more.

  Sam sensed that they had talked enough. Time for the birthday party. “You want me to get the steaks?”

  Tori stood up. “No, I’ll get them. You can grab the wine.”

  Sam followed Tori inside, then went below to the cabins. She pulled her small gift from her backpack and carried it out. Tori was putting the steaks on the grill. Filling both their wineglasses, she waited for Tori to join her.

  “Here,” she said, handing Tori her gift as soon as she sat down. “Happy Birthday.”

  Tori took it, slowly turning over the small box in her hands. Then she looked up and smiled warmly at her friend. “Thank you.”

  “You haven’t opened it yet,” Sam teased.

  It was all the invitation Tori needed. She tore into the wrapping, then fingered the long velvet case. She slowly opened the lid. A silver bracelet reflected back at her. She felt her hands tremble as she lifted it from inside. Her name was engraved across the flat surface. She looked up, cursing the tears that had formed in her eyes. “It’s beautiful,” she said, her voice thick with emotion.

  “Turn it over,” Sam said quietly.

  Tori did. The best partner ever.

  “Sam,” Tori whispered. She lowered her head. She didn’t know what to say.

  “I mean those words. You are.”

  “I’ll treasure it,” Tori said. Then she held it out to Sam. “Will you put it on me?”

  “Of course.”

  Sam took the bracelet and clasped it around Tori’s wrist, then held her arm up to the light. It looked good on her. She had agonized over what to get her all week. She thought maybe the bracelet might be too personal. After all, they really didn’t know each other all that well. But she wanted to get Tori something that conveyed what she felt. What better way than to engrave it?

  “I haven’t had a birthday gift… in forever,” Tori said. “Thank you, Sam. You’ve made this day special.”

  “Thank you for letting me share it with you.”

  Standing, Tori made a show of turning the steaks. She was… touched. That first week, she had hardly made Sam feel welcome. In fact, she’d tried her best to push the younger woman away. But Sam wouldn’t be pushed. And little by little, the blond woman had wormed her way into Tori’s confidence, accepting her moodiness without question. They were partners, for better or worse. Tori smiled. She was definitively getting the better end of this deal.

  Sam put two potatoes in the microwave and later, they sat at the small table, eating quietly, pausing occasionally to talk, but mostly eating in silence. But again, it was a comfortable silence. Sam’s eyes lighted often on the bracelet. It fit Tori’s personality perfectly. Sleek, strong, beautiful. Their eyes met across the table and held, the soft glow of the cabin light casting shadows across their faces.

  They finished the wine outside, then retreated to their separate cabins. They were both tired. Sam fell asleep almost immediately. Tori lay awake a little longer, her fingers tracing the bracelet over and over again.

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  It was later than they’d planned to stay out, but the weather was just too pretty and warm to coax them into leaving the lake and returning to the city. They enjoyed the last of the sunset as they crept back to the marina.

  “I’ll probably have a sunburn,” Sam noted. “I can’t remember the last time I’ve spent two full days in the sun.”

  “Your nose is red,” Tori commented. “But you look good. Much more relaxed than when you got here.”

  “Maybe that’s because I slept twelve hours last night.”

  �
�It’s nice sleeping on the boat, isn’t it?”

  “Yes. Like being in a giant water bed,” Sam teased, bumping Tori with her shoulder.

  Tori laughed. It had been so long since she’d had this kind of interaction with someone that she still wasn’t used to it. She had a flash of herself as a child-a happy, laughing child. She had lived in darkness for so many years, she was almost afraid to come out. But, little by little, Sam was drawing her out, and Tori could see glimpses of her true self, trying to break free. It surprised her. She had thought that part of her was long dead… just like her family.

  “You know, you’re welcome to come out here anytime you want,” Tori offered.

  “You may regret that invitation,” Sam said with a laugh.

  “No I won’t. I’ve enjoyed having you here.”

  Their eyes met for a quick second, and they both smiled.

  “Thank you. I enjoy… being with you,” Sam admitted.

  Tori slowed and expertly backed the boat into its slip. Without being told, Sam scampered down the ladder and grabbed a rope, tying it to the pier the way she’d seen Tori do last weekend. It didn’t take long for them to secure the boat and they went inside to pack their things. Sam waited while Tori locked up the cabin.

  Neither paid any attention to the two men leaning on the railing, fishing. It was a mistake. As they walked past, the men turned. Sam screamed as one grabbed her. Tori turned, eyes wide. She reached for Sam, then fell to her knees as a pipe smashed against her skull.

  Sam stared, watching Tori fall facedown on the pier, motionless. Then she kicked out, hitting the man in the groin. She was wrapped in a bear hug from behind and she screamed again.

  “Help! Help! Anybody… help!”

  “Shut her the fuck up!”

  A large hand smothered the rest of her cries for help, and her eyes widened as three more men approached them. They all were dressed like fishermen, except one. He wore a suit and tie.

  “So, these are the little policewomen?” he asked. He walked to Sam, staring her in the eye. “I am Sanchez Gomez. And now I will make you sorry you ever heard my name.” He motioned to one of the others, tossing him a pair of handcuffs he produced from his jacket. He pointed at Tori. “Cuff her. Then throw her in the lake.”

  Sam stared as they roughly pulled Tori’s hands behind her back. Sam kicked again but was jerked back against the man holding her. She felt tears stream down her cheeks, and she tried to scream as they picked up Tori’s limp body. Blood was dripping down her face and, without ceremony, they threw her over the pier. Sam cried out, her eyes wide as Tori’s body sank from her view.

  “Bring the boat. Let’s go.”

  Tori fought against the blackness. She knew she was underwater, but she couldn’t focus. As soon as she hit bottom, it was sheer instinct that caused her to use her feet to propel her upward in the twenty-foot depth. Her lungs were burning, and she kicked up, finally breaking the surface. She managed to take a breath before she sank again. She tried to clear her head, focusing all her concentration on her hands. She curled, drawing her knees to her chest, struggling to slip her hands around her feet. She was floating, her mind threatening to go blank, and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to concentrate. She bobbed near the bottom, letting out air a few breaths at a time. Finally, her hands cleared her feet and legs and she surged again to the surface. She was able to grab the pier and hold herself up and she rested, taking several deep breaths of lifesaving air. Her head pounded and she gripped the pier tighter, afraid she was going to pass out. Finally, after a few minutes, she opened her eyes, wincing at the pain.

  There was no sound, only the lapping of the waves against the posts. She struggled, finally pulling herself out of the water, lying facedown on the pier. Her face throbbed but she knew she had to move, had to get to her boat. She slowly sat up, her cuffed hands resting lightly against the gash on her forehead. It took all of her strength to stand and she grabbed the railing, steadying herself before scrambling back to her boat. Sam’s backpack lay on the pier and Tori grabbed it, holding it to her as she fished her keys out of her pocket and unlocked the cabin. She fumbled with her key ring, finally finding the tiny handcuff key that she kept there. She’d never needed it before, but she remembered her father always kept one on his key chain. She was thankful now she’d followed his advice. “Always have a spare where you can find it.”

  She slipped the cuffs off her wrists and reached for her cell phone at her waist. It wasn’t there.

  “Fuck,” she muttered. Then she tore open Sam’s backpack, reaching inside, moving shorts and T-shirt out of the way, finally finding it on the bottom. She punched out Malone’s number as she stumbled to her cabin, stripping off her wet clothes as she went.

  “Malone? It’s Hunter. They’ve got Kennedy, she was taken just a few minutes ago from the marina.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Sanchez Gomez.”

  “How can you be certain?”

  “Who else? It wasn’t kids playing a game. It wasn’t random.”

  “Okay… okay. Secure the area. I’ll send out a crime unit.”

  “Secure the area? There is no goddamn crime scene,” she yelled into the phone, wincing. “They’ve taken her into the city. I’m on my way.”

  “No! Goddamn it, Hunter! I’ve got to call CIU. They’ll want to start there at the scene.”

  “Call them. They can walk the pier, see my blood and nothing else. Then we’ll all head back to the city anyway. I’m not staying. I’ll meet you at the station.”

  She disconnected before he could protest further. Grabbing a towel, she dried herself and dabbed at the blood still seeping from her wound. Then she pulled on a dry pair of jeans and T-shirt and grabbed her bluejean jacket on her way out. She ran along the pier, stopping when she came to a family just tying up their boat for the weekend.

  “Excuse me.” She pulled out her badge, holding it up for them to see. “I’m Detective Hunter. There was a woman abducted a few minutes ago. Did you hear or see anything? There were two men.”

  The man nodded. “We heard some yelling down there.” He pointed to where Tori had just been. “Then a boat pulled out. We just thought someone was having a fight. But there were five men in the boat,” he said.

  “Five? What kind of boat?”

  “It was like a ski boat. Headed north around the bend there,” he said slowly. “Are you okay?”

  Tori swayed and grabbed the railing, shaking her head to clear it. “Yeah,” she murmured. “I’ll be fine.” She turned away, again punching at the cell phone, calling Malone.

  When the blindfold was removed, Sam looked around the dimly lit room, trying to get her bearings. Putting the vision of Tori being tossed into the lake from her mind, she tried to focus. She had to think that Tori was okay. If not, she knew she would never make it. Her gaze darted around the room nervously. There was only one door. It appeared they were in a warehouse of some kind. For a moment she panicked, thinking her best bet was to make a run for it. But the same five men stood around her. Two were talking quietly in one corner, then the man in the suit, Sanchez Gomez, turned and smiled at her.

  “So, you are Detective Kennedy,” he said with only a slight accent in his voice. He walked up to her. “Tell me how you and your partner, from Homicide no less, were able to bust up my little sting?”

  Sam only stared at him. She was too scared to speak.

  “I was told by my source in the department that it would be clear. Not only did I lose four men, but now my… competition knows of my little game.”

  Sam’s eyes widened. He had someone on the inside. No wonder he was able to operate so easily in the city.

  “You have someone… in the department?”

  He laughed. “Someone? I have a Captain at my disposal. And it helps to have control of the Mayor’s office.”

  “The Mayor?”

  “He is a fool. No, I have someone much more powerful than the Mayor, Detective.
But, now, obviously one of them can no longer be trusted. Which one tipped you off?”

  “No one,” she said.

  “Why don’t I believe you?” He walked closer and grabbed her chin hard, forcing her head up. “Make no mistake, we will kill you. The manner of which is entirely up to you. We can take all night. In fact, I’m sure my men would love some one-on-one time with you, si?”

  “Fuck you.”

  She jerked her head away from his hand, and he slapped her quickly. She closed her eyes against the blow.

  “It is imperative that I know who works against me. Now, again, who tipped you off? I doubt Jenkins would have the balls. I’m guessing it was Mabry.”

  Sam shook her head again. Captain Mabry was in Narcotics. And Jenkins? Oh, my God.

  “Very well.” He turned and pointed at one man. “Bring in the cot. Tie her up.”

  When Tori walked into the squad room, Malone was already there, along with Sikes and Ramirez.

  “Goddamn it, Hunter, I’ve been calling your cell phone,” Lieutenant Malone said as he slammed down the phone.

  “Well, you won’t get anyone unless some fish answers it.”

  “Sit down. Jesus, Hunter, you need stitches,” he said, pointing at her forehead.

  “It’s nothing,” she said, wiping at the blood that was creeping into her eye. “What does CIU say?”

  “They’re not convinced it was Sanchez Gomez. As you said, there was nothing at the marina. The family that saw the boat checked out. The boat was reported stolen that afternoon. They found it about a mile away from you, way the hell on the other side of the lake. They’re going over it now.”

  “What are they doing to find Sam?”

  “They’re gathering evidence from the boat, trying to piece together what happened. They’re sending someone over to talk to you.”