aHunter4Life (aHunter4Hire) (6 page)

“We
will leave through the back and then circle to the front gates.” Partlan eased
the rear door open. “The FBI still haven’t found how we entered.”

“The
guy in the monitor room should be awake soon. Then all hell will break out.”
Catal’s
voice was grim.

The
men raced in a crouched position until they reached the fence.
Breanon
was still in position, his rifle trained on the
house. He lowered his weapon when they had climbed the fence. They made their
escape without any noise. When they had circled back to the front, Malac joined
them. Malac had completed his surveillance on the paparazzi, and photographed
each of them. They went back to their van.

Ranon
handed Catal a computer memory stick. “This is the FBI information I copied.”

Catal
raised an eyebrow. “They didn’t see you?”

“
Firbin
distracted them.”
Ranon
grinned. “The boy is learning more than just explosives. He thrives on this
planet.”

“I’m
glad someone does.”
Catal’s
voice was dry. He loaded
the stick on the computer and then took the camera Malac had used, to download
the paparazzi faces. His fingers flew across the keys. He hacked into one of
the secure police sites and ran the photos through their data base.

“It
should only take a few seconds to start bringing up addresses.”

“What
system are you using?” Malac leaned over his shoulder.

“I’m
trying the local police first.” Catal watched the screen as pictures flew by.
“They’ll probably have most of these photographers on record due to previous
run-ins with the stars. These guys aren’t selling pictures if they don’t create
a bit of conflict. If that doesn’t work, then I’ll look into their driver’s
licences.”

One
by one the pictures settled on the screen with addresses attached. Catal
downloaded the information onto their portable units. Then he opened the FBI
documents. With the other men leaning over his shoulder, they scanned the
information. It was a pretty detailed list of the things the FBI had already
done. There was one thing missing.

“There
is no mention of paparazzi at the soccer field.” Partlan leaned away from the
computer. “Steve Walters said everything was normal.”

“Normal
for that man means photographers.” Catal nodded. “Some of these guys outside
the house may have been there.”

“They
will have pictures.” Partlan moved to the front of the van. “We’ll divide up
and start searching their houses and computers.”

“We
need to get the ransom money also.”
Catal’s
voice was
brisk. “Chances are we’ll find the boys before it is needed, but we should be
prepared.”

“I’ve
informed
Ardal
.” Partlan sat in the passenger seat. “
Lorcan
told him that there is a large enough stash in the
Los Angeles area. We’ll take care of that after we visit the photographers.”

Catal
heaved a sigh.
Lorcan
had been the leader of his unit
of Hunters before they had joined with
Ardal
. He had
a network of safe houses and emergency monies stockpiled across the country.
This was one of those times when
Lorcan’s
instinct
for survival was a benefit.

Breanon
started the van.

They
pulled away from the curb and started down the road.

Catal
was empty inside. He had left a part of himself behind with Selena. Her words
before he left were confusing and made him feel as if he were missing an
important fact. He shook off the sensation. He needed to focus all of his
attention on finding the boys. After their work was done, he would figure out
why Selena had cut him out of her life.

“Catal.”
Partlan’s
voice jerked him back to the present. “You
and I are together.
Breanon
will stay with the vehicle,
and Malac and
Ranon
will team up. Before we start,
you need to explain about your pair bond.

Catal
sighed. He knew that his fellow Hunters would be curious. He had never
mentioned having a mate before. What was the point when she had blocked him
from her life years earlier? It wasn’t until he’d seen
Ardal
with his mate Fiona that he’d realized he had bonded to Selena.

“I
didn’t believe in pair bonds until
Ardal
mated.”
Catal’s
hands balled into fists. “I knew that I had a
connection with Selena. We had met when I was leading a mercenary unit in
Columbia eight years ago.”

“So
you bonded.” Partlan shook his head. “Why deny it?”

“I
wasn’t certain what it was.
Lorcan
had insisted that
we not get close to the people we worked for.” Catal threw his head back. “None
of us had ever been tempted by human women before. Being with Selena meant I
was guilty of betraying everything that we stood for. I was not only attracted
to a human, but deeply connected on a level I didn’t understand.”

“So
you bonded and mated?”

“Yes.”
Catal’s
body shook with the remembrance of the
mating. “We spent three months together. It was heaven.”

Partlan
cleared his throat. “What happened?”

“We
went out on a mission and when I came back she was gone.” Catal pushed back his
pain. “There had been an ambush at the compound. Her brother’s security team
was massacred. She was not among the dead, though.”

“Surely
you knew whether she was alive?”
Ranon’s
voice held
disbelief. “You left without finding her?”

“When
I went on the mission, I still sensed her. Afterwards, nothing. It was as if
she were dead, but I knew that wasn’t the case. If she had died, I would have
died also. The connection was that strong.”

“What
did you do?”

“I
searched for weeks, but I couldn’t find any information. Eventually I had to
return to my unit, but every opportunity I got, I went back and searched for
her.”

“A
Hunter does not usually fail when he searches.”
Partlan’s
voice was skeptical.

“I
didn’t have the years of training that you’ve had.” Catal gave a weak laugh. “Only
now do I know how limited I was in my searching. I never considered that she
would have left her country.”

“What
will you do?”
Ranon
gave Catal a sympathetic look.
“Is there any way we can help?”

“She
still blocks me. Her fear for her son has meant she has dropped some of her
guard.” Catal looked out the window. The streetlights reflected back at him.
Misery filled his soul. “The pain of being mated and then rejected is more than
I could live with at times.”

“How
did she know to contact us about the boys?”

“Her
brother was the leader of a paramilitary group. He hired us through
Lorcan
originally. We always referred to ourselves as
Hunters.” Catal turned back to face the others. “All these years of silence and
she knew how to contact me.”

Partlan
nodded. “You have carried your pain alone. Now you have us to share it with. We
will do whatever we can to ensure that your mate’s son is returned to her.
Perhaps then she will listen to you.”

“She
doesn’t even know that I’m not from Earth.” Catal cleared his throat. “I didn’t
trust humans enough to be honest with her.”

“When
the time is right, you will tell her.”

They
drove in silence until
Breanon
stopped the van on
South Alameda Street in South Los Angeles. Malac and
Ranon
got out.

“Our
search is a block away on East 42 Street.” Partlan gave the instructions in a
clipped voice. “We will meet you there when you’ve finished.”

Breanon
drove another block, and Partlan and Catal exited the van. The houses on the
street were small with large iron fences and gates across the front yards. It
was easy enough to find the one they were looking for and climb the fence.
Breaking into the bungalow was a simple matter of jimmying the lock with a
small slotted screwdriver.

The
stale odor of garbage and dirt assailed them when they entered the side door.
The floor was littered with take-out restaurant boxes and dirty clothes. The
main room had a torn leather couch and a huge table with computer monitors and
keyboards set up. Partlan riffled through a stack of photos while Catal
attacked the computers.

He
found a file with the date of the abduction and opened it.

Success

Pictures
of a soccer field with young boys running around, filled the monitor. “This guy
was there.”

Partlan
threw the photos aside and looked at the display. He pointed at one picture.
“Magnify that one.”

The
image of Steve Walters and two boys running behind him filled the screen. Catal
moved to the next one. Steve was talking to one of the other parents and the
boys were moving away. He continued to scroll through the pictures. They
documented all of Steve’s actions, but none of the boys after they started to
play. When Steve left, the pictures changed to another celebrity.

“There’s
nothing there.” Catal tamped down his frustration.

“It
is a start. Copy the files so we can look at them more closely in the van.”

They
met up with
Ranon
and Malac at the van. They’d had no
luck at all. They continued on in the same way through the night. They tracked
down all of the paparazzi’s residences and checked their computers and photos.
In total, they visited thirty residences. Only two other photographers had been
at the soccer field the day the boys were abducted. They copied their pictures
and when they were finished investigating, they loaded all of the images onto
their computers in the van.

Catal
went through each of the pictures several times. He scanned the photos with the
boys in them first. Next, he looked at the spectators. He made note of all
those who were on the field that day and compared it to the FBI list. After a
third run of the photos, he stopped at one that had bothered him from the
first. He had to enlarge it several times to spot what was out of place in the
picture.

It
showed Steve Walters arriving with the boys. Behind him, almost lost in the
trees were two men. They had their cameras raised to their faces, but their
clothes and posture were recognizable. They were two well-known paparazzi,
brothers, who worked together most of the time. They always dressed in
camouflage overcoats no matter what the temperature or weather. They were large
men and looked like lumpy balls because they overfilled their pockets with
camera equipment.

The
brothers weren’t on the FBI’s list of people at the park that day.

“Did
we find anything at Mike and Nathan Gordon’s house?”

Malac
leaned toward Catal. “They were home. We decided to try again later.”

Catal
nodded. He continued to scan the photos, stopping at one that showed the boys
near the two photographers. They seemed to be talking together. In the next set
of pictures, they were gone.

“The
Gordon brothers were at the park that afternoon, but the FBI doesn’t mention
them.”

“Then
we need to see the pictures they took.”

“It
goes deeper than seeing their pictures.” Catal pointed to the photo of the men
talking to the boys. “I think they might be our kidnappers.”

Selena
paced her small living room. Dawn was breaking on the horizon and she’d spent
another restless night. Her stomach churned and she popped another antacid.
Sleep was impossible. When she closed her eyes, she had visions of
Tarrin
crying for help. Every possible scenario replayed
itself in her mind like an endless loop of a horror film. Exhaustion left her
brain full of cotton balls and made her question every decision. She’d been right
to ask for help from aHunter4Hire.

Details
of the kidnapping had been kept from her. She’d left Columbia because she
wanted to be free of the lying, cheating, and killing. Learning to survive on
her own in a strange country had been difficult, but it had been honest. Now
she knew differently.

She
thought Nikki was a friend and there was a bond of trust between them. To find
out that Nikki thought she was capable of kidnapping Gates cut deep. Almost as
deep as
Catal’s
betrayal. His treachery had cut to
her soul.

How
come his presence gave her comfort?

She
should have forgotten him years ago, but Catal was the only man she had ever
desired. He was part of her essence, as necessary to her as breathing. It was a
truth that hid deep within her. She wasn’t prepared to admit that to anyone,
least of all herself.

Selena
straightened her shoulders and pushed Catal out of her mind. He was unworthy of
her love. She had made a life for herself without him. She had a fantastic job
and a wonderful son. That was the way she wanted it to stay. The only thing she
needed from Catal was his help in getting
Tarrin
back.