by R Weir
“Is he available to talk?” she inquired.
Norvin pulled out his phone and checked his digital schedule. This always annoyed Valerie, knowing the man couldn’t have had that much going on clear out here in no man’s land.
“He is free. Follow me.”
Norvin led the way, with Valerie sticking her tongue out at him behind his back. It was childish, but she didn’t care. What was he going to do, glare her to death? He knocked on the door, before opening it slightly.
“Valerie is here to see you sir,” he stated through the crack.
“Let her through,” came the horse voice.
Valerie walked into a room she’d not been in for some time. Outfitted with a chocolate brown leather sofa, with two matching chairs, a massive oak desk and a high-back leather chair, which the man was sitting in. The walls were painted beige, covered in pictures and paintings, the paintings of his design from his art studio sitting in the next room. The floor a hardwood cherry, glistening from the bright LED ceiling lights. He got up from his chair, the man was nearly six foot, his graying hair going with a few lines on his face, all from the fifty-three years of life he’d lived. He had on tan slacks and slippers, with a green velvet smoking jacket, the smell of cigars providing fragrance to the room. He came over and hugged Valerie, a woman he’d known for many years now. One who had done a lot of dirty work for him.
“Great job getting the children,” he said beaming.
“Always happy to help. Besides you pay well. Though I’m not sure why you didn’t bring me on this in the first case. Zackery didn’t have the balls to do what was needed.”
“Silly me,” he replied, gesturing in anger. “I left it up to Norvin to handle. He attempted to save a few dollars and leave me to my craft. He’s always worried we’ll run out of money up here. After all the mistakes I took over and brought you in. It should have been an easy snatch and grab.”
“Especially before they put security in place. A little tougher with Hunter’s team. But we got them. Now what do we do?”
The man waved to the leather chair for her to sit, as he took the other one.
“We wait for now. Hunter hasn’t made it back from North Dakota. Once he is there, we can make the call with our demands?”
“Will you tell me what those demands are?”
“In time. For now, we relax.”
“And you’ll paint to pass the time. I see you have some new ones on the wall. They’re stunning.” She liked massaging his ego, though the paintings weren’t too bad.
“Thank you. I paint for myself, to relax. Maybe one day I’ll do a painting of you.”
Valerie laughed. “I doubt I could sit still long enough.”
“Fair enough. How are the Hawkins children doing? Did they make it through unharmed?”
“They are good, though scared.”
He clasped his hands together, holding them in front. “Great. I want nothing to happen to them. Make certain of it and keep them comfortable. Then once my demands are met, we’ll see what happens.”
The man, simply known at this time as Brushstroke, the current moniker he insisted on, sat there with a sinful grin on his face that was scary, even to Valerie. She knew his calm demeanor masked a brutal persona, which could leak out in the most violent of ways.
Brushstroke was a fugitive from justice, on the top ten most wanted list. Only a few knew this, all within his inner circle. He’d forged a new identity to hide behind, living in a foreign land. The long arm of the law who once sought him, believing he was dead. He had one goal, a goal for revenge he’d been working on for some time now. A revenge that would begin with the two Hawkins children as leverage.
Chapter 41
After additional questioning, that made Paige and Jose angry, they were finally allowed to leave the bombing scene, once vehicles had been commandeered to drive all of them home. They were down one rental, what was left of it now evidence. They were allowed to drive the other Lincoln after getting a spare set of keys from the rental company, Shen behind the wheel, with Athena and the Hawkins parents in the back. Scanlon following them back to their house.
On the drive back, Athena checked in with Cameryn, calling him on her cell phone.
“How is Keoki?”
“Not good Thena,” replied Cameryn, his tone grave. “He has some severe injuries to his chest and stomach, along with internal bleeding. He lost a lot of blood from his external wounds. He’s in critical condition and will be going into surgery soon. You probably ought to call Malina.”
“She is damn hard to get a hold of,” declared Athena. “I believe Hunter might be able to reach her parents. But he has the number, I don’t.”
“Then I’d keep trying Hunter. It’s looking iffy if he’ll make it. I’ll hang here for now and wait.”
Athena was glad Cameryn could be there to look over Keoki. She knew he’d make sure their injured team member was well cared for and would be there until they contacted Malina.
“Once we get settled, we plan on paying The Train Man a visit. We’ll ring whatever information we can out of him. No matter what it takes.”
“I want in!” Cameryn announced with grit in his voice.
“I figured as much. You’re the best in persuading people anyway. Let us know if anything changes. I’ll keep trying to get a hold of Hunter.”
Once she hung up, she tried Hunter again. This time she got an answer.
“Where the hell have you been?” she yelled, her anger evident.
Hunter looked at Idelson who was driving him to the airport. “In jail. I can’t go into details at the moment. I’m being escorted out of town to the airport.”
“Damnit. Hunter—they got the kids.” Athena was still emotional about the day’s events.
“I know. Scanlon sent me a text. It doesn’t sound good.”
“It’s not…” Athena went on giving him the details. “Bad news—Keoki was badly hurt. He may not make it. Can you get a hold of Malina?”
Hunter gritted his teeth at the news. “Her parents, if I’m lucky. Otherwise I can call the local police to track her down. Is it that bad?”
“Cameryn says he is going into surgery soon. It’s touch and go.”
“He’s tough.” Hunter tried to sound positive. “I won’t give up on him. You shouldn’t either. I’ll do my best to get a hold of Malina. She wouldn’t be able to get back here for a day or so anyway.”
“How soon can you get back?”
“It might be a day. No flights to Denver from what I’m seeing. Any chance Paige can get her private jet up here?” He gave her the name of the airport he was going to.
Athena asked Paige, who cursed at Hunter, but then said yes. She got on her phone and made a call, putting the wheels in motion.
“She is working on it. We’ll text you once we have an idea of how soon they can get there.”
“Hold it together Athena. We’ll get through this and get the kids back.”
“We better. Otherwise Paige and Jose will have our ass’ in a sling.”
Once home they found Marlis waiting for them. Scanlon asked for a private room to talk with her, though both Paige and Jose insisted on being present during the questioning. Scanlon agreed, but only if they listened and didn’t ask their own questions, until he was finished. They concurred—reluctantly—the four of them now in Jose’s office on the first floor.
Marlis sat there with eyes on her, her small 5’5 frame nervous about what might be coming. The tension was thick in the room. She scanned back and forth between the four people, wondering why she was there.
“I get the feeling I may be getting fired,” she announced. “Or worse!”
Scanlon ignored what she said. “I have a few questions for you, about your son.”
“Step-son,” she proclaimed, correcting him. “He was the son of my deceased husband, sired with other woman.”
“My apologies.” Scanlon paused. “Were you close to your step-son, Jacob?”
She hesitated for a minute, deciding how best to answer. “I wouldn’t say close. He still lived with me after his father passed. We chatted from time to time. He wasn’t around much.”
“What was he doing when he wasn’t around much? Working?”
“He didn’t work. Was injured in a car accident…what was it…nearly a year ago I believe. Time goes by so quickly.”
“Then where did he go?”
Marlis shrugged. “I don’t have any idea. I tried to stay out of his life. He was an adult and could do what he wanted.”
“Did you know he gambled a lot? Lost a lot of money?”
Marlis shook her head no. “He had quite a bit. From the insurance settlement from what I knew.”
Scanlon stopped, pulling out his notebook to refer to what he wrote down.
“He would drop as much as five figures in Cripple Creek on a daily basis.”
“Oh my. I didn’t know.” She paused, looking at Paige and Jose, trying to convince them she wasn’t lying. “But what does that have to do with me?”
“Did he ever ask you about the goings on here in the house?”
Marlis thought for a minute. “Maybe…once or twice. Why?”
“What you know about security at the home? Who was working? The kids schedule and so on.”
Marlis waited to answer, again looking at the Hawkins, feeling concerned about what might be happening.
“Why do I get the feeling I’m being accused of a crime?”
“Because you are?” blurted Paige.
Scanlon gave her a cross look. “Let me handle this.”
Paige raised her hands, turning around to hide her anger.
“Did you ever give him detailed information like that, Marlis?”
She looked around the room, stalling, thinking about what she might have done. Whether on purpose or not.
“We talked a few times,” Marlis replied, fiddling with her long gray hair. “After a few drinks I might have said a thing or two. I don’t really remember. When I drink…more than I should…I get sleepy and pass out. When I wake up, I’m always cloudy on the events of the evening.”
“Great—she’s a drunk,” yelled Paige, her hands in the air, her back still turned.
“I drink from time to time,” answered Marlis, her eyes scanning downward at her lap. “I don’t think I’m a drunk. It was probably only three, maybe four times it happened.”
“And was Jacob drinking with you? Encouraging you to drink?”
She thought on this again, trying to remember those few times.
“Probably. Though he didn’t drink much. Now that I think about it, he was pushing me to drink.” She thought some more. “Why does this matter? Mrs. Hawkins—why are you mad at me?”
Paige couldn’t hold out anymore. “Because you may have gotten my kids kidnapped thanks to your drunken mouth.”
Marlis appeared startled by the revelation. “Someone took Olivia and Deion?”
“Yes—today at the graduation,” shouted Paige. “And we have no idea where they’ve taken them!”
Marlis held her hand to her mouth in shock. “No that can’t be true. This is horrible. Mr. Hawkins—I’d never want anything to happen to Olivia and Deion. I love them like they’re my own.”
“I know, Marlis,” responded Jose. “You wouldn’t do it on purpose.”
Marlis looked back at Scanlon trying to understand.
“I’ll talk to Jacob immediately. Find out what he knows. Oh my—if he is involved, I’ll do everything to bring them back.”
Scanlon moved forward, ready to give her the bad news.
“I’m sorry to say—Marlis—you won’t be able to talk with him. He was found dead today in his car.”
Marlis’ jaw opened wide, her eyes bulging out, her hands touching her forehead. She tried to talk, but nothing would come out of her mouth.
“He was shot. Murdered and his body burned. We believe he may have been involved with giving information to those responsible for taking Olivia and Deion. We’re going to need to find out everything you told him.”
Marlis looked to the floor, her hands linked, as if in prayer. “I told you I don’t remember.”
Paige turned back towards her and came at her with a finger pointed. “Don’t give me that shit. You need to fucking remember and remember now. If anything happens to them, I will ruin your life. Do you hear me!!”
Jose grabbed Paige worried she was going to hit the older woman, pulling her back, her strength in anger almost more than he could handle. He gripped her tightly, her rage evident in his chest. He was angry too but knew someone had to remain in control. He would lose it later, when he was alone.
“Take her out and close the door,” ordered Scanlon. “This has now become a police matter.”
After they were gone, Scanlon read Marlis her Miranda rights. With each word, she slowly began to break down, soon sobbing into her hands, which rested on her lap. Scanlon made a call to his headquarters to have a female officer come to the house. It was moments like this when he hated his job.
Chapter 42
After the long flight back, Hunter finally arrived at the Hawkins house that Saturday evening just after 9 p.m. He was tired and felt dirty, only wanting to shower and get some sleep. When he came in the front door wheeling in his suitcase, he was approached by Paige, who promptly slapped him in the face.
“You son-of-a-bitch,” she yelled. “If you’ve been boozing and shacking up with some slut while my babies were taken, I’m going to kick you in the nuts and then ruin you.”
Hunter took a couple steps back rubbing his cheek, worried about his family jewels. “Calm down Paige,” he stated as sincerely as possible. “I’ve been busy tracking down Isiah.”
Athena walked over and stepped between Paige and Hunter.
“I respect your anger, understanding his past history screwing any female who desires him,” proclaimed Athena in a bitter tone. “But in this case, he is telling the truth.”
Hunter nodded at the back-handed defense and made an X on his chest. Even though it wasn’t completely true, as he did sleep with Salina. But he figured it was best not to bring up that small fact. It had nothing to do with his incarceration.
“I talked with Isiah. He then called and had two men attack me. In the process of defending myself I was arrested by the local Chief of Police and held in jail until this morning.”
Paige looked at the man, someone she once loved, wanting to believe him. Though it really didn’t matter. The big picture was what would he do about getting her children back.
“Damn…you said they would be protected and safe. Now what are you going to do?”
Hunter wanted to remind her, that he never made that claim, only that they would do their best. But someone who can throw lots of resources to accomplish the job, could still get them. And it appeared that is exactly what these people had…resources.
“Right now, we wait to hear from them,” stated Hunter, trying to sound positive. “Hopefully they’ll tell us what they want to return them safely.”
Paige shook her head. She wanted to cry, but she was all cried out for now. Nothing made sense, her wishing that it was all just a horrible dream that she would finally awake from. But no such luck.
“What did my dick of an ex-husband have to say?” she spoke spitefully.
“Not a lot. Though he did mention he wanted to be a part of Olivia’s life, but you shut him down. Threatened him with legal action if he tried.”
Paige crossed her arms and shook her head. “Bullshit. I haven’t heard from him in years.”
“Are you certain?”
“What do you think? I said no such thing.”
From behind them, Jose spoke. “I’m sorry honey. It was I who shut him down.”
Paige turned around, surprised at his words. “What are you saying?”
“He contacted me. Asking for my help, knowing you wouldn’t allow him to see her. I told him to leave you and her alone. I told him that if he
tried to come around, we’d have lawyers put out a restraining order on him.”
Paige’s eyes grew soft. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Jose walked forward, putting his hands on her shoulders. “I didn’t want to worry you. I knew what your reaction would be to his request. Your intense anger in how he treated you. I handled it and left you to worry about your company. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you—I guess we’ve both been keeping secrets from each other.”
Paige pulled away, but Jose grabbed her from behind, squeezing her tightly. She didn’t fight it instead she turned to embrace him, knowing his words rang true.
Hunter shook his head at the news. “This would have been good intel to know.”
“If I’d known this would happen, I’d have come clean,” answered Jose. “Do you believe he is involved?”
“From his reaction to my questioning, the two men he had go after me and what he told the chief, I’d say it’s obviously a possibility. Nothing proof positive though.”
“And it’s curious they released you right around the time of the kidnapping,” added Athena. “Could they have been holding you waiting for the operation to be finished? One less person they need to account for in their plan.”
Hunter couldn’t argue the point. “Possibly. I wasn’t allowed to make any calls while I was being held. He used the old ‘I can hold you for twenty-hours without filing charges’ crap.”
“This whole mess is making me ill,” moaned Paige, who went to sit on the sofa, her legs wobbly.
“You need to eat,” noted Jose. “You haven’t had anything all day, short of water.”
“I can’t even think about food. The worry…is killing me.”
