“Never have I seen anything quite like I did today. That’s not true. I’ve not seen anything like this in all my career as a judge. That woman would try a saint and have him questioning his faith.” He shook his head. “It is my duty to tell you that she will not be allowed visitors for the first several months. That way, they can get her settled in her new home and hopefully, doubtful I’m thinking, have her realize she’s there for the rest of her life, and never coming out again.”
Dad stood up to address the judge before they left. “Your Honor, we, none of us, have any intentions of visiting her at all. As far as we’re concerned, the family and I have written her out of our lives.” The judge told him that was probably for the best. “Also, Your Honor, I did want to thank you for fast-tracking my paperwork for my daughter and myself. You’ve no idea how much easier you’ve made it for us to move on from this.”
“It was my pleasure.” He smiled at him. “Mr. Addington, I do hope you find yourself happiness after all this. I have been by the Bishop home a few times and have seen you outside with your young granddaughter. There is nothing like grandchildren to bring out the best of any terrible situation.”
“I agree, sir. More so than you can ever imagine, I agree with that. And now I’m going to be a grandda again. The others in this family have adopted me as well, calling me their grandda right along with the others. I think I’ve come out on top with this, sir. I cannot think of anything I’d rather have than what I have right here and in the future.”
Dad asked if he could approach the bench. When he was there, he reached for and was given the hand of the man who had put up with her mother for the last several months. While she couldn’t hear everything that was being said, Raven did get most of it. Dad was thanking the man and then invited him over for dinner one night. Just as two old men, Dad told him, who could compare pictures of their grandchildren. The judge agreed.
Raven was glad to be finished with all this. She was also glad she’d not brought her daughter with her. It would have hurt her again to hear the things her grandmother said about her. Grandma looked relieved as well like a burden had been lifted from her shoulders. Raven thought she might be the one with the most to be happy with. Grandma had been around from the beginning of Jane’s terror.
“I was thinking that tomorrow you and I, with the rest of the women, go on a shopping spree. I need to get my granddaughter something for being my granddaughter, as well as something for the new one.” Raven pointed out that she’d given her a great deal, and that her new baby wasn’t going to need anything more until he reached college age. “Whatever it is, it’ll have plenty for college too. I might even have to put a little aside for him to have when he gets there. Is this little person you’re carrying around a boy, Raven?”
“You have to wait like the rest of the family does. Though I think they might know already.” Grandma told her it wasn’t fair that they knew before she did. “Yes, but you’re going to be there with us when I give birth, so you can’t complain too much. Along with Sippy.”
“I love that woman too. She’s a hoot when she gets on a roll.” The two of them, Sawyer’s mom and her grandma, had been seen with their heads together a great deal since she’d married Sawyer. “All right. I guess I can live with that. But you remember what I told you. You and I, we’re going to have a good time once this one is born. You’ll need me to keep you on your toes.”
“Grandma, I’m not sure if you realize this or not, but you keep all of us on our toes.” Grandma was laughing when she left her standing there. Sawyer wrapped his arms around her from behind. “I think we’re going to have some major issues about babysitting when this one is born.”
“I think you might be right on that.” He turned her around and kissed her, then leaned down to kiss her belly. “I love all of you. I think we should swing by the school and get Molly so she can celebrate too. I’ve already texted her about the verdict. Also, I sent her a few short recordings of Jane while I was at it.”
Those two. It was funny when people that didn’t know the family would say how much Holly looked like her father. Sawyer would puff out his chest like he’d invented children. The man was a wonder, she’d give him that. And Raven loved him with all she was.
Chapter 4
Gunner had the entire hotel room scanned within an hour after he entered the room. Even after hanging cameras in the two-room suite, he was still alone to do what he’d come here for. To figure out who and what Conway Baxter was.
There were things lying about the room, all misleaders, every bit of it staged, from the manuscript to the contract that was neatly laid out with a hotel pen next to it. There were two suits hanging in the closet—shirts in the drawers. There wouldn’t be a single hair or DNA on any of it. Everything he’d hung or put away, Conway would have only just purchased it. Or the people he was working for had given the man what he needed.
Standing back, Gunner eyed the carpet and found the piece he’d been looking for. The rug had been moved—about an inch, not much more. When he did the same, tossing back the large area rug, he found the man’s hidey hole. Pulling up the two boards that had also been moved, he found the large case and pulled it from the area that was the floor in this room and the ceiling of the one below it.
The lock on the case was complicated. Instead of fucking around with trying to get it open that way, he removed the hinges from the back and got into it from behind. People didn’t realize that when they locked something up, they should make sure the hinges were sealed within the case, or they might as well leave it unlocked.
There were several passports, all of them with the same picture on them. But the names were different. Some of the passports were from other countries. He removed all of them and put them into a large envelope.
Next, there was money. Gunner thought that there was at least seven thousand dollars in the case, all US money. He had a feeling that should the man be driving anything but a rental, there would be other cases with money in that as well to swap out. He would also bet this money would be clean. No prints or DNA to be found here either. It was what his team called sterile money.
Gathering up all the money, he put it in another envelope. Just as he was pulling out the handguns, his handler and partner in this, Janice, contacted him. She was laughing, so he stretched out his shoulders and continued working.
I had no idea how boring it could be watching someone eat their breakfast. Not to mention, he’s putting enough catsup on his eggs to make me sick. Christ, who the hell does that to their breakfast? He laughed but didn’t answer her. I was just wondering if you found anything. I’m hoping so. This bastard needs to be arrested for his eating habits.
I’ve found his passports, as well as some sterile money. Gunner knew she’d understand what that meant. She’d been in the business as long as he had, and they’d worked together for a long time. Working with just her, however, was a great deal more fun than he’d thought it would be. I’m still searching. Cameras are up and running too. You should be able to see something now.
Hang on. He knew she was frustrated over this. Doing a search on the name Conway Baxter hadn’t gotten her anything but a dead end. Whatever this guy was up to, it wasn’t for him to consult on a movie. I got it. I can see you’re on the floor. This is a nice setup. Where did you get this? I know you didn’t get this kind of pictures from the ones I gave you.
It’s the ones you gave me, only I was able to tweak them a little. She asked if he’d do that for the rest of her stash. I can. I’ll show you how to do it too.
Picking a few things out of his pocket, Gunner tested the walls. Is that a stud finder you’re using? He said it was, but again, he’d tweaked it. What are you looking for? You don’t think he pulled out the walls and hid things there, do you?
The stud finder would find any kind of metal. It would beep slowly if it were a little like you’d get from wiring or even some
copper plumbing. But it would go off like a siren if it found a great deal of it. Like it was doing now.
Well, I’ll be damned. He did take out a wall. He didn’t bother telling Janice he told her so. She’d not think it was funny at all. Behind the wall that was neatly hidden behind the dresser and mirror set, he found six long-range rifles, two more handguns, as well as enough ammo to have a nice shoot out if he was trapped. You do know that now this is my job, don’t you? I mean, that’s a shit ton of firepower. Do you suppose he was going to shoot you to have you work with him? Janice laughed.
Janice, do you suppose he’s here for something other than just getting me to work with him on a studio set? I’m kinda sad about that. She asked him what he thought was going on. Instead of answering her, he pulled out the file that was in the walls, too, with his name and picture on the front of it. He held it up to one of the cameras he’d just installed. I think it’s time you and I traded places.
All right. He’s not even close to being finished with his breakfast, so you’ll have time to come here, and then I’ll head over there. He told her what he’d done here. All right. I’m going to have to have the room cleaned and emptied. Also, the guns will go with me. Good luck getting anything from him.
Thanks. That was all he said. Gunner didn’t tell her about the woman working with him. She had no name that Gunner would share. Her fingerprints had, like his, been burnt off a decade ago. His sometimes bed mate and always friend was dressed as one of the cleaning ladies. The weapons in her cart were there if you knew where to look. You can do the clean up after I get there, however. I need to read over the paperwork with you to make sure we both have our asses covered when your boss comes to town.
I understand. She probably would more than anyone. All right. I’ll wait here for you to come in. The staff here is all my men, as are the patrons. If the shit hits the fan, your ass is covered. All right? He thanked her as he moved out of the room. With a single nod to “Nancy,” he knew that no one would enter the room while he and Janice traded places. He wasn’t going to go to her table, the one she’d been observing Baxter from all morning. No, Gunner was going to sit with the man and tell him what was about to happen. And plenty of shit was going to hit the fan. It just wasn’t going to be Gunner’s.
Janice had been assigned to work with him on several other cases since he’d been recruited in the army. He’d not cared for her at first. It wasn’t that she wasn’t good at her job—she was the best, he thought. But he thought her too pretty, too much of a distraction when she was around, not to him, but to the other people, men mostly, that he would work with. As it turned out, her looks had saved his life a few times.
Gunner hadn’t told his family that he was still a service man. Nor had he told them he’d been killing people that fucked with the country for a very long time. He wasn’t a hitman, a person that he knew for a fact the government employed. No, he was a person that would go in and “un-stir” up shit when it got out of hand. He had to laugh when the people he worked for called him the calm before the storm man. It either got calm when he arrived, or he would rain a storm over the situation where not one person was left standing but himself. He could also blend in and get out of any country in the world. Gunner was a ghost. No one saw him but felt the effects of his visit long after whatever had been going on was over.
Sitting down across from Baxter, he drank down the glass of tea he’d picked up from the table Baxter was sitting at. After setting the empty glass down on the table, Gunner pulled out his gun and laid it on the table between the two of them. Baxter started to reach into his own pockets.
“You pull anything but a tissue from your pocket, it’s going to be a very messy clean up in here.” Baxter stopped moving. “I want you to lay both your hands on the table with your fingers spread out.”
The man complied but didn’t want to. That was another thing Gunner could do well—make people do what he wanted them to do unless they were a leader or something akin to a leader in other shifter categories. But he still got what he wanted in the end.
“Why are you here? And if you lie to me or decide not to answer me, there will be consequences.” The man bit through his lower lip, trying not to answer him. Gunner pulled his knife out of his boot and stabbed it into the top of the man’s hand. The screams from the man didn’t cause a ripple of interest from anyone in the restaurant. Just as he had wanted. “Let’s try this again, shall we? Why are you here?”
Baxter, or whatever his name was, looked around the restaurant. Everyone was going about their business. Gunner made sure to wiggle the blade in his hand just enough to have him cry out. No one flinched when Baxter screamed again as Gunner pulled the knife out of his hand.
“I came here to have you consult on a movie that is being made.” Gunner stabbed his other hand this time. “What the fuck is wrong with you? That fucking hurts!”
“I know it does. However, I did tell you not to lie to me.” The man tried again, telling Gunner that not only was he there for the very reason he said but that he had a contract back in his room. Gunner cut off the end of his middle finger. “Again, you don’t want to lie to me.”
The man was sweating bullets. Gunner knew he was also in a great deal of pain. Not that he cared. Gunner was being hunted by this man, and he was going to find out who had sent him and why.
“There is a contract in your room. I read it over while I was there. I’ll pass, thanks. But you really fucked up by tearing into the walls of Mr. Hershel’s room and pulling up the floor. How will he ever get that put back together where no one will try that again?” Gunner dumped the passports onto the table, unmindful of the blood staining them. “You see, I’m not nearly as stupid as you seem to think I am. Now, you’re going to open your mouth and tell me who sent you here and why.”
“They’ll kill me and come after you again.” Gunner told the man he could live with that. “I have a family. Children.”
“I guess it sucks to be related to you right now.” Gunner had already made arrangements to have the man’s family picked up, if he really had one, before he left the table. But it would only save them if he were willing to give over his real name. “Things are not going in your direction right now. Why don’t we settle up by you telling me who you work for, and you can get someone to help you not bleed to death.”
“I can’t.” This time, instead of stabbing him in the hand, Gunner removed a whole finger. The screams could be heard throughout the place, but not one person moved. He decided right there and then that he was going to have Janice help him with staff the next time he had to work with one. “Christ, I fucking loath you right now. It’s a man by the name of Jackson. I don’t know his first name, or even if that’s his real name. He wanted you dead. Out of the picture, he told me. You fucked him over the last time he had a shipment coming in.”
“You’re very informed for someone that doesn’t know his name.” Gunner punched the man in the face with the butt of the blade he was holding. “Now, start from the top, and this is your very last chance to tell me what the fuck is going on.”
Before Baxter could say a word, his head snapped backward when a hole about the size of a shot glass appeared in his forehead. Everyone in the restaurant, including Gunner, got on the floor. The shot had come from the direction of the bar, and that was where he was moving towards when the person opened fire again.
He had figured something like this would happen, that someone would take out Baxter before he could lead anyone back to where he was working from. What he’d not counted on was someone killing him in the restaurant. Reaching out to Janice, he was glad to know she’d not been taken out too.
Kill her.
That was all he needed to tell her about Nancy. Gunner knew that not only would Nancy be dead, but there wouldn’t be a body left behind. It would be as if she never existed. When Janice reached back to tell him it was finished, he moved to the table next to t
he bar, glad now that he’d hidden things around the place in the event he ran into trouble.
The guns he had on him were still a part of his body, but he was going to use a knife first. Gunner reminded himself to pick up the one that had been left on the table and stood up. The bartender, the one that had been behind the bar when he came in, was reloading his gun—a rookie mistake.
“You never reload when the perp is still around. You should have brought several weapons with you. Since there won’t be a next time for you, I’ll just tell you that your boss is dead too.”
The knife landed deep in his throat. Even if he were to manage to pull it out, he’d be dead before any kind of medical team could save him. The knife was not just in his neck, but it was also holding him up by being stuck in the wall behind him.
Gunner looked around at the carnage that had been caused. Most all the tables were tipped over. Those that weren’t broken were full of holes. The chairs were in bad shape too. Having been used as a shield, they didn’t offer up much in the way of protection, he noticed as he walked around the room.
Picking up his knife, he looked over the body of Baxter. Just as he was pulling out the man’s wallet, Janice spoke to him again. He paused in opening the wallet when she laughed.
Little Ms. Nancy has a purse full of identifications on her. She must have thought she was actually going to get out of this upright. It says here that her name is Margie Sweet. The man you’re with there is— Wait, she has two identifications here. One named Billy Hartman. The other, the younger of the two, is Wendler Parks. He said they were both dead; at least he thought so. Yeah, probably. When we meet up, we’ll compare notes. Baxter tell you what was going on?
He opened the wallet up and took the cash out of it. No credit cards, no pictures, just the cash. Gunner told her what he’d found so far. Tearing the wallet into pieces to find if there might be something else, he was disappointed to find nothing but another hundred bucks hidden behind the picture area. Then he checked the man’s pockets. Not finding much more in his pants, he searched his jacket pockets.
Wesley: Bishop’s Snowy Leap – Paranormal Tiger Shifter Romance (Bishop's Snowy Leap Book 3) Page 5
