Page 67 of Hunt

“If the kid was his. There was never a DNA test done because she died in a car accident when she was four months pregnant,” he said flatly.

My entire body tensed at his words. There was a common theme among businessmen of the underworld. If they wanted to get rid of someone, killing them off to make it look like an accident was easily arranged.

“Sorry to taint the perfect image you have of your father,” he stated before draining his cup, then patting me on the shoulder as he stood to leave.

“Have you told Danny Lam that her family might be suspects for my father’s death?” I proclaimed.

“No,” he placed his empty cup on the bench. “It wouldn’t be that family. They might be proud, but they’re poor and wouldn’t have the ability to organize it. Besides, there are about fourteen years between her death and his murder, so why wait that long? Anyway, I’m heading back to bed as it’s too early for a conversation this deep. Alright? I hope you’re not upset to discover your father wasn’t as faultless as you first thought.”

I stared out at the sea of black but could only see the reflection of a young man, older than his years, with scarred, black tattoos scribing the deep-set emotions that words could never describe. Maybe I didn’t know who my father was, and maybe Mom didn’t know who he was.

But for him to cheat on my mom with a young woman was a reality that I was struggling with.

“Are you alright, Gunner?” Mikky asked from the kitchen, and I barely responded because my head was stuffed with thoughts about my dad. I thought he’d left to go back to bed.

Why sacrifice your sterling reputation on the altar of a fling with some random chick he stumbled across somewhere?

“Huh?” I didn’t bother looking up because I was methodically going over events in my head, searching for signs of his hypocrisy.

Asserting the importance of loyalty to the family, then cheating or declaring the importance of a clear head while running the business by banning drugs on the club’s premises, but then secretly taking uppers. I mean…I didn’t fucking care that he did that shit. I cared that he preached one thing, then did another.

“Are you okay?” he repeated, as if he were concerned about what I would do with this new information.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I assured him, but then a thought occurred to me. “You don’t think Dad organized the death of that girl to make a problem go away?”

He stalled, dithered as if stunned by my gall to ask it. “He was never in the business of eliminating innocent young women, Gunner,” he answered smoothly and with conviction. “He might not be an angel, but he had moral standards on many issues.”

“He didn’t have enough moral standards not to get killed, though,” I mumbled out of his earshot, as my devotion to what I thought was a powerful and shrewd reputation of my father slowly peeled away. “Complete fuck up.”

26

Were you followed?” Bitchtective snarled at me when I climbed inside her vehicle, which looked obviously like an unmarked police vehicle, so they’re hardly trying to look inconspicuous. But I didn’t care about them. I cared only about myself and my little brother, whom I hadn’t met and often wondered if he existed.

“No,” I exhaled exhaustively. She had sent me a message wanting to meet at 1 p.m., yet I was due in class, so not only was my education being affected, but my sanity and sense of security were as well.

“Are you being honest?” she proclaimed as her eyes scanned the scene through the window, possibly searching for anyone who seemed suspicious.

She didn’t entirely trust me with good reason, but if she felt that I was colluding with the other side, my enemies, the Kaiser, then she was sadly mistaken.

“Yes.” Actually, I wasn’t being honest because I didn’t take note of who was following me, and I didn’t care. I wanted to get this meeting over and done with so I could catch the last 30 minutes of my class.

“Have you planted the bugs yet?” I knew this would be the first question she’d ask, and I just hadn’t gotten around to it. It wasn’t an easy task to achieve.

“No,” I squirmed as she snapped the locks to warm me that there was no way out, unless I smashed the window, which was a possibility, since I was feeling so damn angry right now.

This lady, this bitchtective, needed to learn a lesson. The only problem was that she always brought the silent man with her, who did the driving, and oh, let’s forget she’s always armed.

What happened with Gunner last night? Something changed in him, and I didn’t like it. Was he offended that Ronan and I were together and then had sex in front of him? But that didn’t make sense either, because he seemed into it. A switch was flicked, an ominous cloud came over him, and he left without looking back.

“C’mon, Riley,” she stated, annoyed, clicking her fingers irritably at me. “Get on with it.”

“You have no idea how difficult it is to get into his office alone,” I argued, irately, not giving a shit that I might offend her. “He’s always there. He’salwaysthere.”

“Make it work, Riley. We can’t muck around with this, alright,” she pointed out heatedly, then exhaled as if she was trying to calm her shit.

“I’m trying,” I screeched, louder than intended, irritated that I sounded like a silly little girl. We were parked in the same parking lot by the university gardens; the path was a shortcut to the dorms.

Naturally, I looked out for the black Mustang, but deep down inside, I knew he wouldn’t be lurking. Something changed last night, and his hunger for me dissipated through his disappointment in me. I missed him when he wasn’t around because his penetrating gaze from behind corners and masks became my comfort.

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