aHunter4Rescue (aHunter4Hire) (12 page)

The
lights from the semi illuminated the scene. Ardal was at the far side of the
truck where the door was wide open. The leader of the FD Warriors was nowhere
in sight. Neither was the driver of the transport. Fiona skidded to a stop. Her
chest hurt and she bent to catch her breath.

Cold
metal pressed against the side of her head.

Then
her body was jerked upward.

Rough
arms encased her and pulled her close. She was forced to the truck. “Now who
wins?” Fiona shivered with revulsion as the biker’s breath skimmed her ear.

Ardal
stepped from behind the side of the semi. The old trucker, George, was with
him. The two men advanced a few steps until they were in front of the biker.
Fiona forced herself to breath. She needed to be ready for whatever happened.

“Only
a coward stands behind a woman.” Ardal’s voice was scornful.

“Who
cares? I get to leave.”

“She
will not protect you.” Ardal wiped his bloody hands on his thighs.

“You’re
crazy, man.” The biker pulled her closer and waved his gun in Ardal’s
direction.

Ardal
didn’t hesitate.

He
grabbed the hand holding the pistol and twisted it back until Fiona heard the
cracking of bones. Then he plucked the weapon from the biker’s limp wrist. The
man screamed his pain. Ardal’s jaw tensed as he yanked him away from her. She
stumbled backward and was caught by George.

Ardal
picked the man up with one hand clasped around his throat and squeezed. The
biker clawed at his hand; his frantic attempt to get loose useless. Ardal
didn’t release him. The Warrior’s face turned blue and his eyes bulged as the
life slowly ebbed from him.

Fiona
shut her eyes and put her hands to her ears to block out the sound of the man’s
last breaths. She turned away, closing her eyes to the horror, but knowing it
would never leave her. She’d replay the violence she’d seen for the rest of her
life. She understood the need to kill the man, but that didn’t make it any
easier to deal with.

Ardal
threw the man’s body to the ground.

He
turned to Fiona. “It is done.”

Fiona
shook free of George and ran to him. Her hands fluttered over his arms and
chest, as she checked for wounds. There were none. The blood was from the
bikers. With a sigh of relief, she put her forehead on his chest.

“You’re
not hurt.”

“Hunters
do not fall easily.”

Ardal
soothed her back with his hand, sending warmth through her body. It eased the
coldness that the violence had left inside her. No matter how much she’d
abhorred what had happened here, he’d been protecting her. She’d been stupid
and allowed herself to be caught.

“It’s
my fault that he’s dead.” Her words were little more than a whisper, but he
looked down at her.

“He
threatened you. He was a coward and cruel.” Ardal tilted her chin so that she
could look into his eyes. “He gave me no choice. He caused his own death.”

“If
I’d stayed in the truck, he wouldn’t have caught me.”

“I
would still have hunted him until I killed him.” Ardal’s voice was emotionless.
“I could not allow him to live.”

“I
don’t usually agree with killing, little lady, but that man wouldn’t have
stopped.” George cleared his throat. “The world is a better place without him.”

Fiona
wished she believed that in her heart. Logically she knew they were right.
There’d been no choice. It was either kill or be killed. Why did everything
have to be so complicated, though? Life would be easier if there was only right
and wrong.

Ardal
cleared his throat and eased away from her. “The man had no honor.”

He
pulled the biker’s body off the highway. He also pushed the fallen bikes to the
edge. When the highway was cleared George returned to his truck. Ardal and
Fiona followed him.

“I
wouldn’t stick around too long,” he said as he climbed up to the cab of his
vehicle. “I came to warn you that a couple of people were talking about calling
the police out. They were afraid what the FD Warriors would do.”

“We
leave immediately.”

“You
take care of that young lady.” George’s voice was gruff.

“Always.”

“I’ve
never seen the likes of a fighter like you. That might get you into trouble one
of these days.” George held out his hand. “If you ever need anything, just ask for
old George at any of the stops along this run. I’ve been doing it for years.”

“I
will.” Ardal shook his hand and watched as the semi moved onto the highway.

When
the taillights had disappeared, Jehon and Firbin joined them. They all helped
move the dead bodies and motorcycles to the side road and down to their truck
where there was already a pile of bodies.

“Light
it.” Ardal’s voice broke the silence.

Fiona
glanced over her shoulder and saw the bodies set on fire. All evidence would be
gone, but would she forget? The men didn’t seem to have the same concerns. They
stood with arms crossed and watched the flames consume the bodies.

It
was over in a matter of minutes.

The
bikes were also put together and Firbin pulled a bottle of fluid from the box
of the truck and spilled it over the metal. He threw a match on it and it
sparked into flames. It burned with a bright white light that sizzled and spit
until it extinguished itself along with evidence of the bikes.

Daylight
and closer scrutiny might show traces of melted metal, but someone would have
to know where to look. This was probably how they’d disposed of the debris of
their crash.

Ardal
gave a final inspection of the site and then nodded to Jehon. Firbin climbed
into the back and Jehon started the vehicle. Ardal waited for Fiona to sit down
before squeezing in beside her.

They
had only been driving a couple of minutes before the flashing lights of a
patrol car shone through the windshield.

“It’s
the police.” Fiona’s heart started pounding.

“What
will they do to us?” Ardal kept his eyes focused on the vehicle moving toward
them.

“Nothing
if we keep moving.” Fiona bit her lip. “We broke all the rules. I should have
known better than to stop and eat.”

“You
were hungry.” Ardal gave her a brief smile. “We are the ones who made trouble.”

“That’s
sweet of you to take the blame, but it was the Warriors.” Fiona sighed. “If it
wasn’t for me though, they wouldn’t have done anything.”

The
vehicle with flashing lights sped past them. Fiona turned around and watched it
disappear in the night. There had to be something that could be done. To just
sit and wait for the police to catch them seemed wrong. After all, they were
the victims here.

“You
guys are supposed to be hunters on your planet, right?” She couldn’t believe
she was going to ask this. “What do you do when you’re chased?”

“Hide.”

“Well
I know that.” Fiona let out an exasperated breath. “How would you do it in this
situation and would it be legal?”

“Anything
a Hunter does is legal.” Ardal straightened his shoulders. “A Hunter only acts
when someone has broken the codes, or under the orders of the Kaladin.”

“So
no one questions what you do?” Well that explained the devil may care attitude
toward killing someone. If no one came after them they could do whatever they
wanted. “Do you ever have a situation that isn’t so easy?”

“Frequently.”
Ardal gave her a hard stare. “Hunters are used when things go wrong. We make
situations right. We make things disappear.”

“Really?”
Fiona’s voice sounded like a squeak. These guys sounded like CIA Black Ops or
something. “How does something disappear?”

“You
erase all traces of it.” Ardal’s voice sounded bored. “It is what we are
trained for. We hunt what is lost or hidden, and we make what is a problem
disappear. The disappearance of the bikers was not one of our best efforts.”

“They
took us by surprise.”

“That
is not the reason.” Ardal spoke without emotion. “We were rushed and being
chased by the authorities. Our disposal of the bikes was sloppy. On Cygnus our
carelessness would not have been tolerated.”

Fiona’s
heart was starting to beat rapidly. Just who the hell had crashed on her
property? These guys sounded like someone’s worse nightmare. And yet they had
protected her. They seemed to have a code they followed and rules were
important to them.

Their
rules didn’t mesh with the laws on earth, though.

It
would only take the police a short time to figure out they’d passed them or the
FD Warriors on their way to the diner. Soon there would be a lot more squad
cars looking for them. Perhaps now was the time to take her therapist’s advice
and risk believing in someone.

She
needed to trust Ardal.

She
took a deep breath. “What would you do in a situation where you were being
hunted?”

The
muscles in Ardal’s jaw tightened. “Are you giving us permission to take
action?”

“That
depends on whether it’s illegal.” Jail wasn’t her idea of a holiday.

“We
kill only when necessary.” Ardal spoke in a low voice. “I do not know what is
criminal here.”

“Fair
enough.”
She knew what happened in the next few
minutes would change her life forever. Fate was rushing at her headlong and she
was incapable of stopping it.

“Please
get us out of this mess.”

“You
will not hinder us?”

Fiona
started to shake her head and then stopped. “Tell me I won’t regret this.”

“You
will be safe.”

“Not
quite the same thing.” Fiona bit her lip and then nodded. “Do what you have to.
I won’t interfere and I’ll
try  to
help if
possible.”

Ardal
nodded.
“Jehon.
Find a new vehicle.”

Within
minutes Jehon had pulled off onto a side road and parked the truck. “I will
return shortly.”

The
darkness of the night enclosed them. Fiona opened her mouth to speak and Ardal
put a finger over it. Her eyes opened wide and she looked over to see what the
problem was, but he wasn’t looking at her. He was watching something in the
darkness.

Surely
Hunters couldn’t see in the dark.

Jehon
took ten minutes to return. He tapped on the truck window and then started
grabbing stuff from the back of the truck bed. Fiona jumped out of the vehicle
and stretched her body. The tension of waiting had seeped into her muscles.
Would anything in her life be normal again?

Jehon
was bent over the front of the truck and it took her few seconds to realize he
was removing the license plates. How on earth had he figured they were a form
of identification? She really hadn’t given these guys enough credit.

She
took her bag from Firbin and followed the men to a small widening in the road.
An SUV was parked there. Within seconds, they were back on the highway. This
time Fiona was sitting in the back with Firbin.

They
drove with the headlights off.

“Can
you guys see in the dark?” Fiona held the edge of her seat. They were going at
least two times the speed limit.

“Our
eyes have adapted.” Ardal looked back at her. “You seem frightened.”

“I
am.” The road was rushing by so fast that she was going to be sick. She shut
her eyes. “You do realize that there are animals that sometimes cross the
highway at night. If you hit something as big as a deer or a moose we could be
killed.”

“We
can avoid it.” Ardal glanced out the window before turning to Jehon. “Look for
a place to spend the night.”

Fiona
breathed a sigh of relief. “A hotel sounds wonderful.”

“We
won’t be staying inside.” Ardal gave her a brief smile. “We are evading
capture. We will stay away from places that would be easy to locate. I am
assuming these hotels are at the edge of the road?”

“Yes.”
Fiona crossed her arms and leaned back in the seat. There was no point in arguing.
Comfort was something they wouldn’t understand.

“Your
authorities would probably search there first.”

Fiona
glanced out the window before shutting her eyes. “Wake me when we’re there.”

The
world whizzed by as sleep escaped her. The men must have thought she was
napping because they were talking in their own language. It had a musical
quality about it.

About
an hour later the vehicle turned off the road and started down what was little
better than a cart
track
. The road jostled and bumped
her around until she was bruised. They came to a stop after about five miles.

Ardal
stepped out and motioned for the rest to stay. He walked into the dense forest
and disappeared.

“Will
we have to wait long?” Fiona couldn’t keep the panic from her voice. She hated the
dark and the uncertainty of what was happening. Old fears were hard to put
away. Even worse, she had anxiety about being separated from Ardal.