Blood and Ashes

Chapter 9

Don’s words about Adrian’s lack of a claim on the children had been heavy, but tinged with disappointment rather than anger. As I pushed the Audi along the blacktop, I studied the old man. His moustache was flecked with spittle. There was some tough thinking going on. I cleared my throat to get his attention. ‘So what’s Adrian’s problem?’

‘There won’t be a problem, Hunter… just expect him to be reticent in accepting your help.’

‘My help or yours, Don?’

‘That son of a bitch doesn’t deserve my help…’

I had got it then. In Don’s mind, Adrian had failed to keep Brook safe and it was highly likely that the recriminations had been flying back and forth between them. With Don bringing in outside assistance, it would only rub further salt in the rawest of wounds. What Don suggested was that Adrian might feel his manhood was being threatened. Well, this wasn’t a pissing contest; it was all about Millie and the kids and neither of the men should be allowed to compromise that.

‘I’ll step carefully around him, OK?’ I was no knight in shining armour, as Don had sarcastically put it, no paragon of virtue, but I still considered myself a man of morals and integrity. In my book that meant that Adrian had a huge say in his children’s welfare.

‘Treat him any way you please. He’s a gold-digging son of a bitch and he’d have nothing if it weren’t for marrying Brook,’ he said.

My grunt told Don how pathetic I found his aversion to his son-in-law, but to be sure, I reminded him, ‘Apart from two beautiful children, Don.’

‘Not if I get my way…’

Before I could tell him how pitiful he sounded, a trilling phone interrupted my thoughts.

I looked down at my phone cradled in the hands-free holder on the dashboard, but by the way Don scratched through his pockets he was the one who had an incoming call.

Don pulled out a Samsung that looked tiny in his thick fingers. He flipped it open and juggled it to his ear.

‘Millie? What’s happened?’

The tone of Don’s voice, the way his bottom lip hooked over his teeth, were enough for me to stop the car. I pulled in at the side of the road, in the shade of the fir trees towering over us. I tensed, ready to spin the car round if need be.

Don held out a hand, made waving motions. He quickly glanced across to make sure his instructions were clear: keep going.

I waited though. A bead of perspiration broke from Don’s hairline and trickled down his forehead. It shivered on his thick eyebrows. I didn’t need to hear Millie’s words to understand that something terrible had happened.

‘We’re going back,’ I said, thrusting the gearstick into reverse.

‘No, no, wait,’ Don said. ‘It’s over. Best that we get to the kids. Right now.’

Shifting gears, I gave the Audi throttle, the tyres spitting up a shower of gravel and pine needles as they bumped back on to the road. According to Don’s vague directions we couldn’t be far from Adrian’s house now and I pushed the car to its limits as we raced the last few miles. Don got the space to speak to Millie while I concentrated on keeping the car on the uneven blacktop. The only time I snapped him a glance was when I heard Don say, ‘No, Millie. Whatever you do, do not call the sheriff’s office. Just keep the gun handy and keep all the doors locked. We’ll be back for you in no time.’

Don shut the phone and pushed it into his shirt pocket with trembling fingers. ‘Dear God…’

‘What happened?’

Don closed his eyes, all his thoughts directed inward. He let out a long sigh laden with all the grief he’d felt at the loss of one daughter. His in-breath had to be relief that his other child had escaped a similar fate.

‘Don! What the hell has happened?’

Don finally opened his eyes, but he was seeing nothing other than his inner thoughts. ‘I was right, Hunter.’

‘Someone tried to hurt Millie?’ The question was redundant even before it left my mouth.

‘She’s OK. Thank God. But I was right. I told you, goddamnit! Hicks sent a man to kill my daughter. He went in my house after my daughter.’

‘We should go back,’ I said.

‘No. Don’t you get it, Hunter? That’s three of the bastards; the two that you killed and now this son of a bitch. If there are three of them it could mean there’s more. We have to get Beth and Ryan out of here now.’

There was no argument to that.

Don’s phone trilled again, and he handled it like it was a hot coal as he juggled it up to his ear.

‘No, no, no, Millie. You wait right there… aah, goddamnit!’

He snapped the phone shut, threw it on to the curve of the dashboard. The phone immediately slid off and into the footwell next to his feet, but he left it there as if the phone was the bearer of all his woes.

‘What?’ I demanded.

‘Millie’s following us up here. She’s found the keys to my Lexus.’

‘Maybe it’s not such a bad idea,’ I said. ‘It’s better if we get everyone together.’

Don shook his head. ‘That’ll only make us a sitting target. They’ll be able to get us all in one go.’

‘It’s easier to defend one location.’

‘But way out here? We’ll be too vulnerable.’

‘At least you won’t have to worry about the cops turning up.’

Don squinted at me.

‘You told Millie that she mustn’t call the sheriff. It’s obvious that you don’t want them involved.’

‘I don’t, Hunter. You killed those men this morning. It’s probably better for you that the cops don’t come snooping around.’

‘You’re not concerned about me, Don. There’s another reason you don’t want the police involved.’

‘My reputation…’

‘Bollocks! Your reputation was shit all those years ago, why’d it bother you now?’

The old man folded his arms, resting his chin on his chest like a sullen child. ‘Just forget it, will you? We call the cops, they’ll split us up. There’ll be no way to protect the kids then.’

‘The police can protect them better than I can,’ I said.

Don slowly lifted his head. All the anger and deceit had gone out of him. Now he just looked like a scared old man. ‘I don’t believe that, Hunter. You have the skills I need to get the job done.’

Down-gearing, I spun the Audi into a wide driveway between towering red-brick gateposts. The drive had been topped with crushed seashells that pattered on the undercarriage. I reasoned that the noise was what set my teeth on edge, but I was fooling myself.

The skills Don referred to were those I’d gleaned as a hunter of dangerous men. For fourteen years I’d honed those abilities while stalking terrorists and enemy combatants, shooting, knifing and even killing with my bare hands. Killing a man is easy. On the other hand, protecting someone is about the most difficult task in the world. I’d learned that lesson well, and it still cut a slice from my heart every time I thought about Kate Piers.

‘I’m not that good.’

‘That’s not the way I see it.’

‘It takes a team, Don. One man isn’t capable of offering round-the-clock protection. However you see it.’

‘I don’t want you to wait around to take a bullet, Hunter. It makes more sense to be proactive and-’

‘Hold it! Before I came here, I told you, Don. I’m not a killer for hire.’

‘Aren’t you?’

The Audi crunched to a stop in front of a large house that looked like it had been plucked from an estate in the English countryside and dumped here amid the Allegheny Mountains. We stared at each other, Don’s gaze boring into mine. My glare was ice-hard. Like the feeling that had just dug into my soul.

‘You killed for me before,’ Don said, his voice barely above a whisper.

‘I was a soldier following orders.’ My voice was as cold as my anger.

‘And taking a wage,’ Don added. ‘So what’s the goddamn difference this time?’

My fingers gripped the steering wheel. Damaged hand or not, the leather covering creaked under them.

For the briefest of moments Don must have wondered if he’d gone too far. He visibly readied himself for a blow which he wouldn’t even see coming. But I wasn’t looking at him now. My gaze had zoned past him to the two children racing from the hastily opened front door. They came at a run, their little faces bright with excitement and love for their grandfather.

I blinked, sighed wearily. ‘Take them inside, Don.’

‘What about you?’

‘I’ll be right behind you.’

This time the children were the difference.