Hunter's Moon.htm (34 page)

"It's not unusual, Sue. I know you're having a hard time grasping it but it's a common way of thought. You have more money than you need. You should share happily because they're your family."

There was a exasperated release of breath from Sue.

"I can only explain them, Sue. I can't change them. So why do you want to talk to her again? Why are you setting yourself up for more pain?"

"I did something before I came here. I want to tell her in person." There was determination in Sue's voice and just a hint of fear.

When I opened the car door and stepped onto the sidewalk, the voices suddenly disappeared. It was as though the car was some sort of antenna and when I moved away from it the reception dissolved. I was suddenly by myself again. Why did it bother me that I missed it?

I almost walked back to the car to see if it would start again but I didn't. As curious as I might be about what Sue had done, if she wanted me to know she'd tell me.

I walked in the tavern and sat down on a stool at the bar. I heard a cheep on my hip and realized that my pager had been going off for some time and I hadn't heard it. I undipped it from my belt and read the display. Three new calls. I didn't understand this sudden increase in business. I used to go for days without a single page. Now it felt like I was getting one every hour.

I spent the next ninety minutes on the pay phone in the hallway. That's twelve jobs I've refused. I think it's a new record. I sent them Scotty's way. What the hell. None went to Jerry. Not until Carmine asks me to.

I was waiting for a double order of fried shrimp and chips. When Jocko took out the kitchen in favor of a dance floor, he kept the deep fryer. It's in a small room off the walk-in fridge. It's not much, but you can cook a lot of stuff in a deep fryer. As a bonus, fried foods coat the stomach so people don't get drunk as fast, and teenagers can come in to buy sodas and listen to the live music.

Jocko was making a run to the bank which left Marni tending bar. She was just setting the basket of butterfly shrimp in front of me when Jocko came through the front door. I could smell him and watched his reflection move in the mirror behind the bar. He got a startled look when he saw me. His scent changed to anxious; fearful.

He stopped next to me and looked around him nervously. "What are you doing here, Tony?"

I looked at him in the mirror. I felt my brow furrow in confusion. "Eating lunch. Why?"

"Sommers was in here looking for you earlier." That gave him my full attention!

The bats were back in my gut. "Any idea what for?"

He motioned me to the back booth and I followed him with my shrimp and beer. If I was going to be bolting fast, 1 wanted it to be on a full stomach.

When I was seated he leaned toward me. "I don't know for certain but he was looking real cocky. Janice heard Sommers's partner mention on the way out that he was looking forward to nailing your ass."

Yep, definitely bats.

"They have a warrant? What'd you tell them?" I bit one shrimp off at the tail. No time for sauce.

Jocko shrugged. "I told 'em the truth— that I hadn't seen you in days. They waited for a while and talked to some of the customers before they left. They questioned Janice on the way out. She asked what they wanted you for. They wouldn't tell her anything but she overheard something about some lady who had picked you out of a photo line-up."

Shit. I knew I shouldn't have let that woman leave. I should have eliminated them both.

I heard tires screech outside and glanced out the window to see Sommers' car, followed by three squad cars. Doors opened. They had weapons drawn.

"You got a back door?" I already knew the answer.

He nodded. I gulped down the last of the shrimp, burning my tongue in the process. I took a final swallow of beer as I stood.

Thoughts not my own overwhelmed me just then. Who are you? What do you want?

The sheer power of Sue's terror engulfed me. I was suddenly on my knees and couldn't remember how I got there. I couldn't breathe past the fear.

Jocko turned when he heard the thud. I looked at him as though through gauze. I was in two places again. I was Sue. Rough hands pulled at me. There were walls around Us. Metal. A van. I heard a female scream in the background and knew it was Bekki. Sue was being abducted and I was along for the ride. I smelled a familiar scent but couldn't place it. The connection wasn't perfect yet. I was only getting pieces. Sweat. Fear. Menace. Something else. Nope. Can't remember.

Jocko was shaking me. "They're out front, Tony. Sommers! What's wrong with you?"

I tried to focus. I realized that I hadn't been breathing while I was with Sue. I filled my lungs and it burned. Panic of my own now. I had to get out of the bar. The connection dimmed for a moment.

I pulled my Sig from the waistband as the door to the bar opened. "You'll thank me later." Then I stood and moved slightly behind him and grabbed his ponytail to put him off balance. I put the gun to his head.

"What are you, nuts?" He didn't move. Probably a good plan. I had one in the chamber. "Drop it, Giodone!" exclaimed Sommers as he and three of his men entered the bar and fanned out. All guns were pointed at me.

"I will pull the trigger, Bob," I said calmly. I wasn't in my body completely. Nothing really mattered yet. "Put them down."

No officer likes a hostage situation. The bar patrons had either dived for cover or were too scared to move. One of the uniforms— he looked like a rookie— moved his thumb toward the hammer of his revolver. I put a bullet into the wall next to his head with preternatural speed. The gun immediately returned to Jocko's head.

Everybody froze.

"I said to put them down." I was still amazingly calm, but that's because I was too spacey to be scared. I hoped they wouldn't realize that I couldn't kill Jocko. It was best to let them think I was unstable. Hell, maybe I was unstable.

Sommers lowered his gun first and raised his opposite hand to order the others to follow suit. "I've got a warrant, Giodone. Even if you make it out of here, one call will put up roadblocks for fifty miles in every direction. Put the gun down now and we'll forget about you resisting arrest."

I smiled and it wasn't pleasant. I didn't have time for this shit. I had to get to Sue. I started to back away and pulled Jocko with me. To his credit, he followed smoothly. He didn't trip or dive. Others might have.

"We're leaving here," I said. "If you follow, you'll be picking up a body along the way. Maybe more than one. I've got nothing to lose."

Jocko blocked me as I backed behind the bar, through the employee break room and to the back door. I poked my head out to check for guards and then we slipped out the door into the adjoining building. It's not truly a dead-end inside the other part of the building— there's a locked door. Jocko has a key. I doubt the cops know about it. We were suddenly inside the upholstery shop. Faces looked at us but I wouldn't remember them later. I normally would, but I was with Sue again.

Her emergency was not helping right now. A wave of recognition hit me with a leaden thud. Oh, shit! Leo had her. Not good. Really, really, not good! I had to get to her.

I tried to focus on where I was there in her head. Tried to impress how important it was to give me some clue. Some way to find her.

I felt her mind center slowly as she understood. She opened herself to me and I followed, setting my fear aside. She looked around her slowly. Tried to fix names to people. She didn't know most of them. She did know Leo. He was in the front of the van. Bobby was there too. Damn it! I trusted him! I should have known better.

What direction? I asked in my head. There were no windows in the back of the van. She looked out the front, just as Jocko and I exited the upholstery shop. Nobody was waiting out front for us. I tried to position the sun that I could sense in Sue's mind with the sun that I was seeing. I pivoted my head until there was a spark of recognition. East. Yes! East but slightly north. She was traveling in a van— a black van— heading northeast.

"You with me, Tony?" Jocko asked. Again I was faced with one thing at a time.

"Northeast." I cleared my throat and then strengthened my voice. "We have to go northeast. Sue's in danger." I looked at Jocko in panic. "Can you drive me northeast?"

I was glad that Jocko has a reserved space. I opened the passenger door of his powder blue Lincoln Towncar and got inside. I automatically reached for a shoulder belt but remembered that it was old enough it only had a lap belt. He got in the driver's seat and started the engine. He glared at me with a mixture of confusion and anger. "What the hell was that about? I would have helped you. Why the gun?"

I tried to focus on his question. I blinked repeatedly. My tongue was thick and hard to move. "Hostage." I stared at him, willing him to understand my train of thought. "You're a hostage now, not an accessory. They won't do anything to you after you get me to Sue."

His brows rose and his jaw dropped. "You can barely walk, much less talk and you thought all that through while they were coming through the door? I mean, I know it's what you do, but wow!"

He pulled away from the curb and then hit the gas. He checked the rearview mirror more than once. "They'll tail us, you know."

"Then we'll have to lose them. You know Leo Scapolo?" He looked at me like I was whacked.

"Only by reputation. It's not a particularly rosy one."

"He's got my lady. I have to get her back."

"Your lady? The one you told me about? Shit." He thought for a moment and shook his head with a worried look. "Man! Leo Scapolo." He muttered under his breath. "Damn straight I'm a hostage. Nobody shoot the hostage."

Another glance in the rearview brought a string of curses.

He turned sharply down an alley. "Where do you need to go? You know where she is?"

I shook my head. I didn't know. Road? I asked. What kind of road? Highway? Dirt?

I felt her raise her body so she could see out the window. Highway. I heard as though she was in the car with us. Then fear stirred the adrenaline in my blood. For a brief flash, I saw through her eyes. I recognized another of the men. So did Sue. Vinny was back, and pleased to be there. I'd put odds that when Leo had looked for local talent, Vinny had jumped at the chance. Vinny is such a whore for money. I saw him through her eyes. He looked at her warily when he realized that she was being too aware. Noticing too much.

"Leo," I heard him say. "I think we ought to put her out." I felt Sue's panic as We watched Leo turn his ugly head and fix beady eyes on her.

One of the other men in the van spoke up. "Not yet. I want that case back. Where is it?"

Sue shook her head and I could see through her eyes as Leo raised his nose to sniff. "I don't know. Tony has it."

"I don't want the girl hurt until we get back those papers, Scapolo."

Leo snarled. "Don't tell me how to run my job. This is as much your fault as it is mine."

"Mr. Prezza is not pleased with your work so far, Scapolo. I've been sent to make sure you don't mess this up, too."

He growled low and deep and I could see Vito's boy blanch a bit. "Fine. We'll give her a little shot that will make her talk instead. Will that make your boss happy?"

The goon's eyes were still wide. He swallowed hard and nodded.

Leo motioned to Vinny. Sue turned as Vinny removed a syringe from a black bag. Oh no! Not a needle. No way! He removed the cap as though in slow motion. Hands grabbed Sue. One pair of hands was Bobby's. Traitorous bastard!

"No problem, pretty lady. We'll get the case back from your boyfriend. But until then, we'll have a little fun."

Someone's hand pushed up her sleeve to expose bare skin. My panic added to hers. I couldn't let the needle near her— I needed her awake and alert if I was going to find her.

We started to struggle and the hands holding her tightened. Fingers dug in hard enough to bruise. I didn't care. No needles! I was panting, hyperventilating. Adrenaline rushed through muscles that weren't mine and supernatural strength followed. I felt the connection between us blow open another locked door.

My power added to hers and Sue broke free from her attackers. She kicked and punched and fought like a wildcat while I pushed her on. She knocked the needle from Vinny's hand and she punched Bobby hard enough that I felt the bone in her middle finger crack in a flash of pain.

The van swerved to knock her off balance. Leo shouted instructions, keeping out of her way all the while. Bobby re-entered the fray but I got the feeling that his heart wasn't in it. He grabbed for her and missed. It was Vinny who got fed up after she clawed manicured fingernails across his cheek. Blood dripped down and landed on his clean white shirt. He reached a hand up and it came away red.

"Fucking bitch!" he yelled. We watched as he hauled a fist back. My skills couldn't move her out of the way in time to avoid taking the punch full in the face. Her body wasn't trained to fight.

Pain erupted in Our brain. Her head snapped back and then hit the wall of the van. She sunk into unconsciousness; the connection broke.

I was in Jocko's car again, shaking and sweating. He was driving intently and trying not to watch me.

"You having some sort of seizure, man? Do we need to get you to a doctor?"

I could breathe again with Sue unconscious. I shook my head and tried to center where I was. "Is anyone following?" I asked shakily. "How long was I out?"

"I've been watching. I'm pretty sure I lost them." He glanced at me. He smelled curious and a little nervous. "You were 'out', as you call it, for about five minutes. What's up with you? I've known you for years and I've never seen you like this."

No doubt. I'd never seen me like this. Trouble was, I couldn't explain it without going into detail.

My cell phone rang. The abrupt sound startled us both. I stared at the number on the screen. I knew that area code, but I couldn't give away my hand.

"Tony here." I forced my voice to sound normal for those first words.

"Hey, Tony!" said Leo jovially. "I've got a friend of yours here in the car with me. I'd let her talk to you, but she's a little unconscious right now. If you want to see her wake up again, you bring me back my property."