The Divine Devils: Mystery Suspense Crime Thriller: Book 1

by R Weir

  Hunter agreed and didn’t have any issues with finding the hotel. He checked into a room and then headed downstairs to the bar. Finding an open chair wasn’t hard as the place wasn’t busy. Two TV’s had news on one and a baseball game on the other with two teams back east playing, the contest only slightly more entertaining than the news. At least there were no political leaders to listen to.

  His beer arrived about the time Latoya took a seat next to him, shaking off the snow from her shoulders and hair. She smelled of flowery perfume, which he remembered from their past together. A scent that had fueled his passion. He wondered if she sprayed some on just for him, even though she made it clear they were there only for drinks.

  “What a wuss, you not wanting to drive in this weather,” kidded Latoya while tossing a folder in front of him.

  “Taking a chance I get stuck in a traffic nightmare or have drinks with a beautiful woman. Not much of a choice to make.”

  “Beautiful and thirsty,” she said, before ordering a beer.

  Hunter smiled while reaching to open the folder and started flipping through the papers, reading each one carefully.

  “Lives in North Dakota in one of the oil boom towns,” explained Latoya after sipping her mug of beer now before her.

  “What does he do?”

  “Marketing and PR mostly. Putting a good spin on all the good oil is bringing to the state. All the while ignoring all the issues that comes with it.”

  “Public Relations is a big deal up there?”

  “Oh, my yes. With the huge influx of workers, mostly male, there are a bevy of issues. Crime, drugs and prostitution. Workers have a lot of money burning a hole in their pockets and nothing to do.”

  “Boys will be boys,” added Hunter, still reading.

  “Windwalker is the town he’s living in,” noted Latoya after another sip. “Went from a few thousand people to over twenty thousand in a few years. Not enough housing for the workers. Many reside in small RV trailers and pay a fortune per month for them.”

  Hunter flipped to another page. “Law of supply and demand. Does Isiah have a recent criminal record?”

  “Nothing came up in the last ten years. Though the police there are overwhelmed, and many times crimes are overlooked, especially if you’re an important person for the oil company.”

  “And Isiah is important?” wondered Hunter.

  Latoya shrugged. “Important enough. He turns shit into shinola. For many businesses that is priceless.”

  Hunter continued to read over the documents. It would seem a trip up north was in his future, to track the man down and find out if he was involved. He finished reading and closed the folder, turning to look at a face he’d been intimate with many times when they had worked together. It was difficult for his amorous mind not to wander off and relive some of those passionate moments and wish for more of them.

  “Are you in a trance?” wondered Latoya, noticing his eyes gazing at her.

  “I’m reliving some of our good times together,” commented Hunter after drinking his beer and having a couple of pretzels.

  “That would be the sex you’re referring to.”

  “Yes. I’d classify it as mind blowing sex.”

  She paused, recalling fleeting moments of their encounters. “The sex was off the charts.”

  “Yes it was. Maybe the best I’ve experienced in my life.”

  Latoya took a deep breath. “I can’t argue the point. Though I know you’ve had a long list of partners in your life, and you could be waxing poetic just to get into my pants again.”

  “I do have a hotel room, paid for by my client.” He turned and pointed out the window. “The weather isn’t fit for man, woman or beast. And I’d feel horrible if you got hurt in a car accident when you could have been warm and comfy in my room.”

  Latoya reached out her hand and touched his. “Tempting offer, though I must decline, no matter how much my body would enjoy you inside of me. I’m not sure I want to travel down that road again.”

  Hunter shrugged, grabbing her hand softly, stroking it. “I do have two beds in my room. You could just sleep alone, and I promise to keep my hands and other parts to myself.”

  Latoya felt the warmth of his hand. His deep brown eyes locked on hers, the heat still simmering between them, stirring emotions she needed to deny herself. She stood up, her hand now on his cheek, holding it there for a minute, the flush on her face matching the one she felt at her core.

  “I better leave before I succumb to your irresistible charms. Thanks for the drink.”

  She leaned in to kiss him on the cheek, but he turned his lips towards her, and she kissed him softly, his taste all too familiar and arousing. Fighting the urges, she turned and walked away, temptation nagging at her psyche.

  “I’m in room 620 if you change your mind,” he announced, as she strolled out the restaurant.

  Turning back to the bar, Hunter finished his drink and ordered food, deciding on bison rib-eye with baked potato, along with a second beer. He finished his meal and headed to his room to take a shower. As he was about to walk in, he heard a knock on the door. Looking through the peephole, he saw her standing there, looking nervous. He opened the door wearing a robe with nothing on underneath, his smile ear to ear.

  “Damn weather,” she said while walking in, her coat soaked. “I didn’t get too far. Can hardly see three feet in front of you and my crappy sedan nearly got stuck. I came back and tried to get my own room, but they’re booked.”

  “The bed is yours, though you probably need to get out of those wet clothes as you’re shivering. Take a hot shower to warm up. I was about to take one myself.”

  Latoya glared at Hunter in the robe, which was barely closed and too small, his chest muscles swelling through the fabric. She thought over her choices, the temptation driving her insane. But still she resisted as best she could.

  “I will shower, but alone,” she demanded. “Is there another one of those robes?”

  Hunter walked over and grabbed one out of the closet and handed it her.

  “Thanks. I’ll try not to use all the hot water.”

  She walked into the bathroom and closed the door, while Hunter went to lie on the bed and watch TV. It was probably fifteen minutes when she stepped out, wearing the robe that fit her better, while trying not to stare at Hunter on the bed, the cloth hardly concealing his most prominent features.

  “I thought you said there were two beds,” asked Latoya, noticing only the king-sized bed Hunter was lying on.

  “The sofa folds out into a bed. It’s all yours.” Hunter had a devious grin on his face. “Or you can join me. There’s plenty of room in this bed.”

  Latoya looked over her options, cursing a couple of times. A gentleman would give her the bed and take the sofa bed, but she knew Hunter was enjoying holding over her the option to sleep with him. An option she was doing her best to fight. She threw off the cushion and pulled out the frame.

  “I’m crawling under the covers and going to sleep,” she said while hopping onto the thin mattress. “Try not to snore too loud.”

  Laughing, Hunter got up to take his shower. Once finished he stepped out, figuring she’d have stolen the larger bed from him, but she didn’t. Probably too proud to give him the satisfaction. He turned off the TV, stripped his robe and crawled under his covers naked, falling asleep with little trouble.

  Sleep didn’t come easily for Latoya. Her eyes remained open seeing the man she once couldn’t wait to be with, in all his nakedness, get into bed. Like most sofa beds it wasn’t comfortable, the thin mattress providing no support. When she moved the springs and frame would squeak. She struggled for an hour or so, not being able to get the image of him making love to her off her brain, adding to her struggle for slumber. It stirred her to the point she couldn’t take it anymore. She threw off the covers, her body naked after removing her shirt and panties, and crawled into bed with him, climbing on top, finding his arousal at full tilt. He opened his eyes
to see her, what she desired clearly on her face.

  “Not one word,” she said, putting her hand over his mouth. “You better take your time and satisfy me or else!”

  Their bodies merged in a fiery passion that rivaled their past encounters, her screams of pleasure echoing through the room. There would be little sleeping that evening for either of them.

  Chapter 27

  Morning came late for the two lovers, buried together under the covers of the king-sized bed, sleeping until after ten. The sun remained absent due to the clouds which were slowly clearing out. At least the snow had mostly stopped, though over ten inches had fallen, the wet moisture having taken down a few tree limbs in the process.

  Once Hunter got his bearings, he realized checkout time had passed and called the front desk for an extension. He used the weather as the reason, claiming the streets were a mess, though that wasn’t the truth for them leaving late. He rolled back over to the warm body next to him and whispered in her ear.

  “We have another couple of hours. Shall we start up again?”

  She reached to put her hands on his face, eyes still half asleep. “Hell no! I’m showering and getting out of here. If we fuck anymore, I won’t be able to walk and I have a long day of work ahead.”

  Latoya jumped out of bed, grabbed her clothes, running into the bathroom and closing the door.

  Hunter propped up his pillows and grabbed his phone. On it he saw a couple of voicemails and three text messages. One voicemail and all the text messages were from Athena, mostly wondering if he was coming back to Colorado Springs or if he was buried in a snowbank somewhere. It was hard to tell tone in a text message, but she might have been happy about Hunter’s burial. While the other voicemail was from Scanlon saying he had some news about the dead bodies found in the burnt home. His first call was to Athena.

  “Not buried in a snowbank it would seem,” she commented when she heard his voice.

  “No. I’m staying in a nice warm hotel room in Westminster, waiting for the streets to get cleared. How is the weather down there?”

  “Nothing major, only a few inches. Sounds worse up north where you are.”

  “Once the sun comes out, which is beginning to happen, it should melt off quickly. Anything major happening there?”

  Athena told him about her meeting with Victor and Cameryn’s showdown with Red the auto dealer, giving all the important details.

  “Then it appears Red is probably not involved?” asked Hunter.

  “Cameryn didn’t think so. Though he did say Red was aggressive, as were his sons. But he didn’t get a vibe he was the one behind the kidnapping attempts.”

  “And what did you learn from Victor?”

  “That he gets nervous when talking about Valerie. This only heightened my feeling of concern. Her social media checks out, but almost too perfectly. I watched his work for a while, to see if he went anywhere. But I had to leave to get back to school by end of the day. I also called the cell number she gave me on her card, but only got voicemail. And it was one of those prerecorded messages, where it says the person at the number you’ve call isn’t available and to leave a message. No greeting from her.”

  Hunter thought it over, not certain what it meant. But knew it was worth continuing to dig at.

  “Keep tugging at it, Athena. We need to make sure she’s not involved somehow. You can see about pulling the kids out of her therapy and see how she reacts.”

  “Good idea,” replied Athena with a rare compliment. “And if she approaches me about it, I can play it up with her about my meeting with Victor. I could even throw him under the bus and say he squealed about her.”

  “Keep at it. Anything else I should know?”

  “No. What did you learn on your end?”

  Hunter covered his trip to the rival energy company but left out what Mayfield said about Paige. He then brought up the ex-husband and his planned trip to North Dakota.”

  “Once the streets are cleared, I’ll head back down and get a flight booked. I want to talk with Isiah and find out if he is involved. Should only take a couple of days.”

  “Then you’re leaving us to handle things down here, including the graduation?”

  “I’ll try to get back in time, but you’re in charge. If you think the graduation is bad idea, you could pull Olivia and Paige out of it. Could be a busy venue to try and protect them.”

  “I’ll talk it over with the team and the parents and see what they think. The ladies are adamant about going.”

  The call ended with no idle chit-chat. Hunter then called Scanlon to see what he’d learned.

  “Got an ID on the dead body that had your bullet hole in him. Zackery Unger was his name. Has a criminal history, mostly minor things, though a few past assault charges were dropped. Lives in Goodland Kansas, with a wife and three kids. Used to run around as part of a four-man team doing robberies a few years back. One of the other bodies, Dirk Cornelius, was identified as one of those team members. No ID on the third body yet.”

  “Could be the same team. You said four members. Who were the other two?”

  Scanlon stopped to read his notes. “Pablo Tirado and Kyle Thornhill.”

  “If the third body is one of those two names, then we might have the one who killed the rest of them and is now working with the mysterious woman.”

  “Gibby said it might take some doing on the third body. It was the most severely burned of the three and DNA was difficult to come up with. Said we might never know for certain.”

  “Then I guess you can try to track down the other two. Find out if they’re around?”

  “Are you telling me how to do my job?” stated Scanlon with a grumble in his voice.

  Hunter grinned. “Possibly. There are times I can’t help myself. I’ll add another suggestion; are you planning on taking a trip to Kansas to talk with the wife?”

  “I doubt I have the budget for a trip. Probably get a local cop to talk with her. Might see if I can listen in via phone or on Skype.”

  “You’re such a tech wizard. Any news on the Train Man?”

  “Nothing yet.” Scanlon braced for a reaction.

  “My god man, what is taking so long? We need to get some answers before they try again.”

  Scanlon cursed. “You of course realize I have other cases I’m working?”

  “You realize this is the Hawkins family, which carries a lot of clout down there?” pointed out Hunter.

  Scanlon groaned. “You don’t need to remind me. My captain does that daily. Even if it pains you, tracking down these leads on your own is an option.”

  “I have my own leads on the ex-husband to pursue. I’m headed to North Dakota. Works for one of the oil companies up there as a PR man.”

  “Good luck. Share what you learn. If I find anything else out, I’ll let you know.”

  “Share with Athena as well. She is running things while I’m out of town.”

  Scanlon hung up just as Latoya stepped out of the bathroom, clean and dressed in the same clothes she’d worn the day before. Hunter hopped out of bed naked, giving her a final view, walking up to her, though she put a hand in front to stop him.

  “Don’t put your sex fluid covered body on me,” she stated forcefully. “I’m clean and plan to stay that way since I need to get to work.”

  Hunter laughed. “Whatever you say boss. Next time I’m in town I’ll give you a call, if you’ll accept it.”

  Latoya shook her head. “You never give up do you. I’d say this was the last time we throw down together in bed, no matter how marvelous the night was. But alas…” She walked to the door, her purse in hand, gun strapped under her jacket, a solemn expression filling her face. “Take care Hunter. Stay out of trouble in North Dakota.”

  With that she was gone. Leaving Hunter to ponder the night he had and the days of work that were ahead, before showering.

  Chapter 28

  Though the Hawkins kids had hoped for a late in the season snow day, alas the sto
rm in Colorado Springs didn’t warrant the closing of schools. Though they did have a one-hour delay to the start of the school day since the roads were slick in spots, making for some challenges for drivers.

  Athena and Shen got Olivia and Deion to school with no issues, doing the usual rounds. Athena informed the kids of her plan not to take them to their session with Valerie, explaining she wanted them to go to their normal classes after lunch. Once they were safely seated, Athena waited about twenty minutes and then walked to the room to find Valerie waiting. She was a tad peeved when she didn’t see the kids with her, which pleased Athena.

  “Your late,” she stated with a grumpy tone. “Where are Olivia and Deion?”

  “Not coming today. They’re in class.”

  “Go get them. We need to complete our sessions.”

  Athena stood there shaking her head, arms crossed.

  “Why not?”

  “Their mother believes it’s a waste of time. Which I agree with.”

  Valerie let out a puff of air in disgust. “It’s not voluntary. They need to be here for me to sign off on them.”

  “I’d say a powerful woman like Paige Hawkins would beg to differ. I’m sure a call to a confidant on the school board, will lead to a call to the Principal that will overrule you.”

  “Those kids need my help,” declared Valerie, her face red in anger. “Or this could haunt them for a long time.”

  Athena walked over within a foot of the sitting Valerie. “They told me about what you’ve said to them. They believe it’s a bunch of crap. And you’re only dredging up memories they’re trying to put behind them.”

  Valerie waved her hand in the air. “They are kids. What do they know!”

  “Actually, Olivia will be an adult in a couple of days. She can make her own decisions without parental or therapeutic guidance.”

  Valerie’s anger continued to grow. She wanted more time to work over the two children. But it would seem she wouldn’t get the chance.