aHunter4Ever (3 page)

“I’m Special Agent Kelly.” She held her hand out and shook his hand.
“How’s my prisoner?”

“He’ll survive.” The surgeon crossed his arms over his chest. “I would
have thought the bullet would have been enough to stop him. Shocking him was a
bit excessive.”

“I’ve talked to the agent responsible.”

“You can tell him from me that he probably caused your prisoner’s heart
to stop. Next time he needs to have a bit more care before using that thing on
an already wounded man.”

She shifted on her feet. “He was in the ambulance before his heart
stopped.”

“That jolt of electricity didn’t help. He was already losing blood from
the bullet wound and his lungs were compromised. It’s lucky he’s in perfect
physical condition.”

“How long before I can see him?”

Grace glanced down at her watch. It was already late afternoon. She’d
have to get back to the office to make sure the final statements and debriefing
had been handled.

“He’s not going anywhere tonight.” The surgeon’s voice was serious.
“He’ll be in Intensive Care until tomorrow and then we’ll transfer him to a
regular room.”

“I need to set up a security detail.”

“Not in the ICU. You can have someone outside the waiting room door, but
that’s the only concession I’ll make. My patient isn’t in any condition to
escape.” The surgeon turned to leave and then stopped. “What did he do?”

Grace swallowed. “He was returning a boy who’d been kidnapped. When I
ordered him to stop, he reached into his pocket.”

The surgeon raised an eyebrow. “Did he pull a weapon out?”

“He was resisting arrest.” Grace’s tone was defensive.

“I’ll take that as a negative.” The surgeon shook his head and left the
waiting room.

Grace pulled out her phone. She’d spent enough time going over the
scenario in her mind. Partlan had left them no choice. All he had to do was
stop. Instead, he’d refused, and walked away. He might consider everything he’d
done justified, but it was her duty to defend the law, not flaunt it. That
didn’t explain why her stomach was tied in knots and refused to settle.

The image of his face in the ambulance was etched in her memory.

His words would haunt her forever.

She gripped the phone tighter. She had work to do. Standing here berating
herself for doing her duty wasn’t getting any of it done. The debriefing of the
Walters hadn’t gone well, so she needed to arrange to speak to them tomorrow.
After they’d had a chance to realize how lucky they were to get their son back,
they’d be more likely to see how right the FBI had been. There was no place for
vigilante justice in the world.

She started to dial her office number when a hand grabbed her phone away.
She frowned and reached for her cell, but stopped when she saw who was standing
there. It was her supervisor, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Carter.

“Sir?” Grace raised an eyebrow. “Is there a new development?”

“That’s why I’m here.” Carter’s eyes narrowed. “Have you listened to the
news?”

She shook her head. “I’ve been waiting for the surgeon.”

“What’s the prognosis?”

“He thinks the prisoner will survive. He’s in Intensive Care right now.”
Grace pointed at her phone. “I was just going to let the guard detail know.”

“I’m glad he’ll live.” Carter handed her the phone. “The guards are more
important now than before.”

Grace had been working in the FBI too long not recognize the serious tone
of Carter’s voice. Something had happened while she was in the waiting room and
from the look of ASAC Carter’s face, it wasn’t good. She straightened her
shoulders and readied herself for bad news. She’d been in charge of the
operation to recover the Walters’ child, so she’d be the one who’d take the
fall for anything that had gone wrong.

The problem was nothing had gone right since she’d been assigned the
kidnapping. There was no deflecting blame in the FBI. She knew that going into
this assignment. A celebrity case like this was seldom a career booster.

“What’s happened?”

“Sit.” Carter motioned to one of the chairs. “We have to talk.”

“The Walters have given a press conference.”

Grace’s stomach sank. “How bad is the damage?”

Carter shook his head. “It doesn’t look good. According to them, you
wilfully thwarted the actions of a group of men they hired to find their son.
Some group called aHunter4Hire. Is this true?”

“They’re vigilantes and I didn’t stop them from doing their own
investigation.” Grace fought to keep her voice low. How dare the Walters
complain after all the work her team had done to find their son? “Did they
happen to mention that their nanny’s boyfriend was one of the men?”

“They did their best to make certain we looked like the bad guys.”
Carter’s voice was dry. “Now we have to prove them wrong.”

Grace nodded. “That should be easy enough. We took a gun from the
prisoner and I’m certain he used it in other shootings.”

“I’ve got ballistics looking into it.”

“What about the men who are alive in Caliente?” Grace stood and started
to pace. “Have they said anything?”

“They’re refusing to speak without lawyers.”

Grace snorted. “That’s wise considering the evidence I had emailed to me
from their laptops.”

“Who sent it?”

Grace bit her lip. “The prisoner.”

Carter leaned back in his chair. “That might be a problem. It’ll look
like he was working with us.”

“I had no idea what they intended.” Grace hugged her arms close to her
body in an attempt to maintain self-control. “I did everything in my power to
stop them from interfering with the investigation.”

“You should have arrested them.”

“They did nothing illegal.” Grace bit back her exasperation. “Even when I
told them to stay away, they would show up. If I arrested them, then I’d have
to detain all the journalist who follow us because they had a lead. Partlan and
his men were careful not to cross the line.”

“Then how did they find the boys and kill people in the process?”

“They didn’t share information with us, so I had no idea that they were
looking at the Gordon brothers for the kidnapping.”

“Why weren’t we looking at them?”

Grace swallowed back her indignation. Her team had done everything
possible to find those boys. “The Gordon’s weren’t identified as being at the
park that day.”

“Somehow this group of unknowns were able to hijack our investigation and
find the kids. Explain.”

“The nanny, Selena Duarte hired them.” A muscle in Grace’s jaw twitched.
“She was familiar with these men from her days in Colombia.”

“So they’re mercenaries?” Carter’s eyes narrowed. “What possessed you to
let them have free rein?”

“I didn’t sir.” Grace took a deep breath. Experience had taught her that
getting defensive with Carter only made things worse. She needed to take
control and make this situation right. “We can only assume that they hacked
into our computers. They also had the nanny feeding them information.”

Carter sat back and crossed his arms. “Was the nanny involved?”

Grace shook her head. “No. It turns out one of the mercenaries was the
father of Tarrin, the other boy kidnapped along with the Walters’ son.”

Carter pursed his lips. “And we shot one of them.”

“He gave us no choice.”

“Let’s hope not.” Carter stood. “I’ve already arranged for a guard this
evening. You need to get back to the office and get your report to me ASAP.
I’ll give a press conference in the morning to repair the damage the Walters
did.”

Grace shifted her gun and put her phone in her jacket pocket. She pulled
out her car keys and walked with Carter outside. It was going to be another
night spent at the office, so she’d hit a fast food restaurant for something to
eat. Not that she felt much like eating. Her stomach was still uneasy and she
had to force herself to look straight ahead when she left the hospital parking
lot. There was an invisible connection with Partlan. She wanted to stay there
with him.

An hour later, she was sitting at her desk munching on French fries and
sipping a chocolate milkshake. She had Bakker and Smythe’s reports in front of
her. There was nothing in them that was a surprise.

“You must be really upset.” Smythe came into her office and plopped down
on a chair.

Grace raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

Smythe pointed to the fry in her hand. “Junk food. You never touch the
stuff unless your mind is in overload.”

Grace grimaced. “We still haven’t heard from ballistics about Partlan’s
gun. In my gut I know it was used before.”

Smythe shrugged. “It doesn’t matter if he’s a mass killer. All the public
is going to see is that we shot a man who found two kids that were kidnapped.
He’s a hero.”

“Don’t remind me.” Grace leaned back in her chair and took a sip of her
shake. “What’s the report from Caliente? Are any of the victims talking?”

Agent Smythe snorted. “Victims. You’ve seen the video evidence those
mercenaries sent us. They make Jack the Ripper look like a saint.”

“They turn my stomach, but we have to follow the law.”

Agent Bakker walked in at that moment and threw some papers on her desk.
“Looks like the Caliente fiasco can be called self-defence. Forensics isn’t
finished, but both sides were shooting. Bullets from our prisoner’s gun match a
couple of slugs that were taken out of two of the victims.”

“That might be enough to hold him.” Grace sat forward and pulled the
reports toward her. “Is there anything else?”

“We got a lead on a couple of the kids that were being held by the
Caliente group. It seems they showed up at their parent’s houses a few hours
ago. Each was escorted by one of the mercenaries that Selina Duarte called in.”

“Have we got statements from the kids?”

Bakker pointed at the papers in her hands. “They all claim that it was
men called Hunters that saved them. The other men who were holding them, forced
them into a hiding hole in the floor and then started to fire. It looks like
self defense.”

“Damn.”

Nausea rolled in her stomach. The last thing she needed was to have her
team accused of shooting an innocent man, even if it looked as if he were
reaching for a weapon. She’d spent too many years moving her way up the ranks
of the FBI to end up at the bottom of the heap again.

Life had taught her to expect the unexpected.

It had also shown her that she was the only one who could make things
right.

She went through the statements from the kids, but they all said the same
thing. They were being held in an underground cellar with guns aimed at them.
When the Hunter had opened the trapdoor, the Caliente men had fired first. That
meant everything would be explained as self-defence. As long as everyone stuck
to that story, there was no way they could hold Partlan on any deaths at the
clubhouse where the children were being held. Smythe was right. The man was a
hero.

“How did they find the gang in Caliente?” That was the only piece that
wasn’t clear. Grace frowned. “They emailed us about the Gordon brothers. Did
they send us anything else?”

Grace turned to her computer and booted up her email. She scrolled
through the information sent to her from Caliente. There were pictures, files,
and a brief note to check out the Gordon brothers, but no information about how
they had found the Caliente group.

“Who interviewed the Gordon brothers?”

“I did.” Bakker cleared his throat. “All they did was complain about the
rough treatment they’d received at the hands of the Hunters. They were
especially upset with the leader.”

“Partlan.” Grace pursed her lips. “It’s not enough to hold him. What else
did the brothers tell you?”

“They apparently sold the boys, but no names were exchanged.”

“Something must have led Partlan to Caliente.” Grace tapped her fingers
on her desk as she flipped through the papers. Somewhere in these statements
were the answers she needed.

“I found a storage unit that the brothers had and sent a team over to
investigate. There was video of the brothers talking with a man. Michael’s was
trying to enhance it for clues.”

“Is he back yet?”

Bakker shrugged. “I’ll check.”

When Bakker left the room, Smythe shifted in his chair. “What are you
thinking?”

“The missing link must be important, or they would have taken the time to
email it to us.”

Grace continued to shift through Bakker’s paperwork until she found the
interview with the Gordon brothers. They had originally kidnapped the boys and
then sold them after they’d made a successful escape with the ransom money.
Partlan’s mercenaries had found the brothers and retrieved the money. Bakker’s
report went on to describe the numerous complaints the brothers had made
against Partlan, but none of them would be enough to justify holding him,
especially since the Walters’ press conference.

She was certain he’d broken the law.

She just needed evidence.

Bakker rushed into her office. “Michael enhanced the license plate of the
car in the video. It led to a David Hendry. You’ll never guess what he found
when he went to speak to Mr. Hendry.”

“He was handcuffed to the radiator like the Gordon brothers?” Smythe’s
voice was bored.

“Better.” Bakker grinned. “He was dead.”

“Tell me Michael ran the ballistics.” Grace held her breath.

Bakker nodded. “The bullet matches the gun we took from Partlan.”

“Bingo.” Smythe snapped his fingers. “What does forensics say about the
scene?”

“They’re still processing it, but who cares. The gun matches.”

Grace couldn’t contain her smile. “That’s good enough for now. We have
grounds to arrest Partlan for suspicion of murder.”

Partlan wrestled his way through the fog that clouded his brain. There
was a loud beeping noise near his head and his mouth was dry. He needed water
and to stop that incessant noise. He tried to lift his arm to shut the racket
off, but it would not move. His hand was locked in place. He forced his eyes
open and saw the handcuffs holding him to the bedrail.

He sensed her near.

He scanned the room and saw her.

Agent Kelly. She had been his last thought before he lost consciousness.
His heart beat in rhythm with the beeping near his ear, but he ignored it. All
that mattered, was that she was here with him. Her golden hair was tied away
from her face, not a strand out of place. She was sitting with her hands
clasped in her lap and a notebook and pen ready. He wanted to shout for joy.
Instead, he said the one thing most important to him at that moment.

“Water.”

Agent Kelly frowned. “I don’t know if you should have liquids.”

“Water.” Partlan did not care if it was permitted. His throat was as dry
as the desert winds on Beligia.

Agent Kelly looked over her shoulder and then picked up a glass of water.
It had a straw and she held it up to Partlan. He took a sip and then another
until the glass was empty. He leaned back against his pillow and watched as the
FBI agent refilled the glass. When she held it up to him, he shook his head.

As much as he craved her nearness, he could not take another sip.

“Why are you here?”

“I still have questions for you.” Agent Kelly pulled her chair closer to
the bed and sat. “What did you do to David Hendry?”

Partlan grimaced as he fought to remember. The medicine they had given
him was wreaking havoc on his thinking and movement. The last thing he recalled
was being in the ambulance and looking at Agent Kelly. He knew he had been
dying, so why was he still here?

“How come I am alive?”

“Your heart stopped in the ambulance.” There was a flicker of emotion
that crossed Agent Kelly’s face. “They brought you back.”

“That would explain it.” Partlan’s words faded out.

“What?”

“I did not expect to wake.” Partlan shook his hand that was cuffed to the
bed. “Or to be forced to face your interrogation.”

“I only need a few things clarified.” Her voice was defensive. “I’m sorry
about the shooting. Bakker thought you were reaching for a weapon.”

“I would never hurt a woman.” Partlan’s gaze was steady. “It is forbidden
and against the code I live by.”

“I’m your enemy.”

Partlan shook his head. “You could never be that.”

A wary look came into her eyes. “I don’t understand you.”

“It is very simple. There is a connection between us.”

She inhaled a sharp breath. “I have arrested you. That is the only
connection we have.”

He looked at her for a few seconds before answering. “It is as you wish.
I will answer your questions now.”

“David Hendry?”

Partlan had almost forgotten Hendry. He was the man who had brokered the
sale of the boys. Hendry had enjoyed hurting children and had refused to help
his team find Gates and Tarrin. He had broken the Sacred Code that all Hunters
lived by. The first rule stated no harm was to come to women or children.
Execution was the penalty for breaking the code. Partlan felt no remorse in the
man’s death.

“He is not my concern.” Partlan had learned not to admit anything to
police officers because it would be twisted by their laws. “The man had no
honor. He abused and sold children. He had to die.”

“So you killed him.”

“He reached for my gun and when I resisted, he was shot.” Partlan’s jaw
clenched. “Honor demanded that he die.”

“Are you nuts?” Agent Kelly jumped up from her chair and started pacing.
“We could have learned more about his network if he were alive. Now all of
those monsters will go free.”

“We left his computer for you.”

“That’s encrypted.” She threw her arms up in the air. “You may have
gotten the children back alive, but the real criminals will go free.”

“That is why it is best to kill them.”

She opened and shut her mouth before sitting down again. “You can’t be
serious.”

“A Hunter does not lie.”

“So you’re saying that you shot Hendry in self-defence.”

“The man was an abomination. If he had not reached for the gun, I would
still have killed him.”

“I’m only interested in what actually happened. Not what you wanted to
do.”

“He deserved to die.” Partlan watched Agent Kelly’s eyes narrow. “You do
not like my words, but you cannot deny that it is more logical than letting him
live.”

“That is for the courts to decide.”

“What if they had let him go free?”

“Then it is my job to uphold their decision.”

“So you understand honor.” His voice held a note of satisfaction.

Finally, common ground. Partlan had been fighting the need to be with
this woman since they had started their investigation into the kidnapping. It
was illogical and dangerous to be near her. Already he had been shot and was
lying in this hospital without defenses. It made no sense, but he could not
stop the joy that filled his heart when he spoke with her.

He needed to keep her near.

Everything else was forgotten.

“I have always lived by honor, which is more than I could say about the
men I’ve met.”

Partlan watched the shadows cross her face.

Pain, anger, and resentment were evident.

“Men have hurt you.” It was a statement. Her whole demeanor told him it
was true.

Agent Kelly turned her head away. “We’re not talking about me.”

“I am unused to conversing with women.” Partlan’s tone was apologetic. “I
did not mean to offend you.”

Agent Kelly’s eyes sparked fire. “Don’t try that one on me.”

Partlan frowned. “Try what?”

“There’s no way a guy who looks like you isn’t familiar with the opposite
sex. All you have to do is snap your fingers and you can get any woman you
want.”

“It is forbidden for a Hunter to mate.”

Her eyes widened. “I thought you didn’t lie.”

“It is the truth.” Partlan sat up higher on his pillow. “I am a warrior.
We do not have mates.”

“Why, because it would interfere with your thinking?” Her voice was
sarcastic.

“Hunters mate only once. Our bond with our mates is strong enough that we
will do anything to protect them, even disobey our orders.”

“So you can’t fight if you have a mate?” She rolled her eyes. “That
sounds archaic. No woman wants to think of herself as a man’s mate.”

“How is your concept of marriage different?”

“I didn’t say I agreed with that either.” Agent Kelly crossed her arms
over her chest. “Marriage is just a piece of paper.”

“There is no paper involved with a Hunter and his mate. It is a bonding
that will last a lifetime.”

“No man stays around that long.”

“A Hunter does.”

Agent Kelly snorted. “Enough talk about fairy tales. They don’t exist.
What I need from you is your statement about David Hendry, the Gordon brothers,
and what happened in Caliente.”

“We found the brothers by checking the photos of the other photographers
that had been at the park that day. We were suspicious after the ransom drop.
It was obvious that one of the paparazzi was involved.” Partlan’s voice was
bored. They had followed the usual steps of elimination before approaching the
Gordon brothers. It was something the FBI should have done themselves.

“When we found the brothers, they were getting ready to leave the
country. They had the ransom money.”

“You should have called the FBI at that point.” Agent Kelly looked up
from the pad she had been scribbling on.

“Why? I have dealt with many takings, or as you call them, kidnappings. I
am experienced with finding people. That is what Hunters do.”

“I’ve never heard of mercenaries rescuing people.” A muscle clenched in
agent Kelly’s jaw. “Who else have you worked for?”

“I worked for the Kaladin.”

“I’ve never heard of them.” She started writing again. After a few
seconds, she looked up. “You can continue with your version of the kidnapping.”

“The Gordon brothers told us they sold the boys. They did not exchange
names with the buyer, but made the deal at their storage unit. We left them
handcuffed at their house because Selina asked us to let them live.”

Partlan bit back the disgust he had felt at leaving the brothers alive.
His instinct was to kill them for what they had done. They had no honor, and
even though they were cowards, keeping them alive would not change who they
were. To kidnap young children because you were angry, and then to sell them
once you had extorted money, were not the actions of reasonable men. At their
core, they were damaged.

“You sound disappointed. Selena showed great presence of mind.” Agent
Kelly tried to hide her grin. “At least you won’t be charged with their
murder.”

“These men will harm again.”

“Not in prison.” Agent Kelly looked up from her pad. “They will be put
away for the rest of their lives because of the kidnapping.”

“If your courts find them guilty.” Partlan clenched his hands into fists.
“I have heard that your justice is not always fair.”

“Everyone is equal under the law.”

The FBI agent spoke by rote, but she didn’t’ fool Partlan. He sensed her
ambivalence. She might defend the law, but she was not blind to its weaknesses.
Partlan’s respect for the agent increased.

“You do not sound satisfied with your legal system.”

Agent Kelly straightened her shoulders. “I know some try to manipulate
it. The Walters are trying to do that for you right now.”

“I did not ask them to do anything.” Partlan shifted on the bed. “I said
we would bring their son back because he had been taken with Tarrin.”

“But Tarrin meant more to you than Gates.”

“Rescuing both boys was important.” Partlan’s voice held a mild reprove.
“I will not apologize about my connection with Tarrin. His father is a Hunter,
and that makes
Tarrin
a brother.”

The agent lifted an eyebrow and gave Partlan a steely stare. “Why didn’t
you tell us that Catal was his father?”

“We did not know.”

“I find that hard to believe. If you did the math, you would have been
able to backtrack when Catal and Selena had been an item. It doesn’t take a
genius to figure out he was probably the father.”

Partlan clenched his jaw. “Catal claimed Selena as his mate. We are sworn
to protect a fellow Hunter’s mate and children. The parentage of the children
does not matter to us.”

“She denied knowing who the father was.” Agent Kelly’s grip on her pencil
tightened. “It was stupid of me not to realize it would have been one of the
men she called in for help.”

“We did not make the connection either.” Partlan forced his gaze away
from the agent.

“I don’t understand.” Her voice held confusion. “You were closest to
Catal. Surely he knew?”

Partlan looked back. Her face was tilted and there was a furrow between
her eyes. For a second, he longed to hold her and kiss away her worries. She
would not allow that, so instead he would tell her a truth about himself.

“Until Catal found out he had a son, we did not think we could father
children.”

Her eyes widened. “That’s another one of your lies. Why would a group of
men believe they were sterile?”

“Where I come from, we do not have children.” Despite the ache in his
head, Partlan lifted his chin. “We were bred to be warriors, not to father
children.”

“Bred?” Agent Kelly’s head jerked back. “That sounds like something out
of a science fiction book. You’re good at fighting. That’s the only reason men
became mercenaries.”

“Not Hunters. We are genetically modified to be warriors, and from our
first breath to our last, we protect.”

“Now I know you’re not telling the truth.” Agent Kelly crossed her arms
over her legs, letting her writing pad tangle over the edge of her lap.
“Despite what you see in the movies, science is not that advanced on Earth.”

“I did not say I came from Earth. I am from Cygnus.”

Partlan waited for her reaction. It was a risk telling her, but he had to
try to convince her to let him go free. This planet was not friendly to aliens.
Since they had crash landed almost a year ago, they had hid from the
authorities. As a prisoner, he would not be able to protect himself or her, if
threats were made.

He had not had time to contact Ardal, the leader of their unit either.
His last mind connection had been when he was shot. Ardal needed to know what
had happened to him. He would have to check in soon so that he would know how
to proceed.

“You said you didn’t lie.” Agent Kelly shook her head. “Let’s just look
at the facts of the kidnapping for now.”

“I have told you the truth. It is your decision whether to believe or
not.” Partlan tried to move his arm, but the handcuffs reminded him of his
restraints. “Are these necessary?”

“You’re the one who unarmed my agents at the Walters’ house. I’m not
taking a chance that you’ll escape again.”

“It will not prevent me from leaving.”

“You’re in no condition to run.” Agent Kelly picked up her pencil. “How
did you find Hendry?”

“He met the Gordon brothers at the storage locker. It was a matter of
identifying the car and getting his address from his license.”

“And shooting him.” The agent’s eyebrow rose. “Which you claim was in
self-defence.”

“It was.”

“Continue.”

“Hendry told us that the boys were put on a transport truck, but he only
saw the word Diamond. We found the name of a Diamond Haulage on his emails and
proceeded from there.”

“You took a chance with that one.”

Partlan shrugged. “We followed the wrong truck at first. It did not
prevent us from reaching the boys in time.”