Hunter

  Episode 11

  Hunter

  The night security watched over the small facility. Shining a light down the dark firing range, he saw the scars that various firing tests had left there. Fortunately this night it was clear of any of the targets. It was now one wide open area.

  He walked down the linear path. Nearby was a locked door. It was one that the security officer had never opened. If anything, he always made sure that it was locked with the padlock in view.

  Turning to go back down the hall, he raised up the radio mic that was mounted on his shoulder. "Testing area two checked. Anything more before I head back?"

  Silence.

  Once again, he tried to hail his coworker, "Bob, I said can I head back?"

  Still no answer.

  He grew frustrated, "Great, Bob's asleep at the desk again. Man, I should open that locker just once. Just so then I can wake him up and keep it that way."

  The guard continued down the hallway while keeping the light on his path. Then the light revealed a man, who just smiled. The intruder fired a gun right through the officer's head.

  In the other hand, the killer carried bolt cutters. He walked over the dead body right to the locked door. Using the cutters, he easily removed the lock that been there for many years. He worked swiftly. A large bag was set onto the bloodied floor.

  It taken several minutes for the job to be finished. Once all the loot had been placed in the bag, he picked up the handle and dragged it on its wheels.

  Outside, it barely looked liked they were hiding anything. The truck was waiting in the rough parking lot. Once the killer got to the vehicle, he opened the trunk door. Several guns and grenades were shifted from the large back to the truck.

  He said to the driver, "I don't know how you found out about this place, but man this is some good stuff."

  The driver sat in dark shadow. He kept an eye on the killer through the rear view mirror. The one thing that gives his identity away is his voice, though it wouldn't matter in this case. "Did you run into any difficulties?"

  "There were just three security officers. I just shot them all."

  "Did you leave any evidence?"

  The killer shook his head in denial, as though it didn't matter. "So the cops can track us? Nah, they can't catch fish in a dry lake bed! I could leave a hundred bullets and they wouldn't know that it was me."

  The last gun was placed on top of the rest. Next to it was a scattering of grenades along with several tubes and other devices. "All done here. Where are we off to next?"

  The driver turned around in his seat, pistol in gloved hand. He shot the killer right in the head. The body collapsed behind the truck and out of the mirror's view.

  The villain opened the car door, letting light in to show his face. He leaned out then tossing the gun onto the ground. With that done, he closed the door and started the car. Driving away, Karns brimmed with confidence.

  His day was near.

  In the daytime, the testing station could easily been seen despite its out-of-the-way location. The large grass field went on for miles. That was perfect for what the facility's owners needed. In the distance, there was a large digging site that would also be used for larger tests.

  Jeff walked into the area that was filled with police officers. One was hovering over the dead body of the killer. The detective looked up and saw Jeff being intercepted by another officer. They conversed for a short bit when the detective decided to check it out.

  He approached the two, mostly facing Jeff. "What's going on here?"

  The officer responded, "This man here says he may know our suspect."

  "So how would you know who our suspect is?"

  Jeff answered, "I've been chasing him for the past six months. At least this would be his MO." He took out a picture of Karns and showed it to the detective. "His name is Nathaniel Karns, former mob boss. Has a tendency to kill anyone that gets in his way, including his allies if necessary."

  Detective Paul Lewis shrugged, "Alright, you can follow me."

  He led Jeff to the body. The gun still lay on the ground in plain sight. Lewis began his explanation of the scene. "As you probably read in the newspaper, four bodies found. Three are night security, this guy still unidentified. In the last few hours, we figured that this guy killed all the security officers and broke into the several lockers. Then he delivered the goods here to their truck."

  Jeff presumed, "I take it the items stolen were experimental in nature."

  The detective gave an affirmative.

  Jeff expanded, "I guessed so. Karns isn't concerned with money unless he has an immediate need for it. Usually he goes after unusual or experimental weapons."

  Lewis asked, "Is he trying to fight a war or something?"

  "More or less. But that's the reason I suspected he was behind this."

  The detective looked right at the gun. "Continuing on, the gun over there killed this guy. Our techs looked at it. Couldn't even ID a model, much less any fingerprints or any other method of identification."

  "And now I know that this was Karns."

  Lewis needed to know, "The reason for that would be..."

  "It would be a long explanation, something I'd rather not get to right now."

  That didn't help the detective. Unless Jeff could give more, Lewis couldn't continue his inclusion. "In that case, unless you know where this Karns would be, I can't tell you anything else."

  Jeff sighed, "That was something I was hoping to find out myself. What about these tracks?"

  "Stolen vehicle. Any other ideas?"

  "I would like to know what kind of gang activity you have. He often works with those people to do similar operations."

  Detective Lewis suggested, "Go down to the station. We have a few officers there that can give you much more than I can. From there, you can work on your own. I'll work from this angle. Can I get a phone number just in case?"

  "Sure." He brought out his cell phone. Flipping it open, he pressed the green button. It scanned for an available number then showed the it on screen. He handed it right over the detective, who had taken out a note pad to write down the number.

  Jeff retracted the phone and putting it back into his pocket. He turned back to leave, but the detective had one last question. "By the way, what's your name."

  Jeff turned his head back to answer, "Jeffrey Hunter.

  Officer Patricia Redford was leading Jeff further into the police department. They had already pass by several of the offices. "You ask a fairly hard question here. We got nearly a dozen gangs that number at least twenty members."

  "Sounds pretty bad."

  They arrived in her office where plenty of charts and notes were posted. Each was part of its own investigation, while a few were more collective works. "Luckily most of the violence is centered towards the Parkland district. That's where most of the territories intersect. Outside there, the gangs try to remain underground and out of sight."

  Jeff prodded, "So which ones are the most violent?"

  The officer pointed to one of the collective charts, showing the different gangs and their rivalries. "The Shells, named for their common use of guns. Then there's the Black Dogs, a rather ironic group given their origins and that they're mostly Caucasian now. They're both rivals to each other and have given us the worst problems."

  Jeff put his hand to his chin to think about the possibilities. Then he shook his head, thinking otherwise. "Any others that give you problems."

  "You don't think this Karns would join either of these gangs?"

  "He likes to keep a low profile. If you say they have the worst problems, that also means they're the ones being watched the most."

  Redford gave a shrug that said, "That's true." She pointed out the next two down her list. "The Cokelands might fall into your category. Although they often get between the Black Dogs and Shells, it's mostly for their own survival. Despite their drug-running beginnings, they're now more into general crime. Hard to track them since
they're fairly random. That's opposed to the, quote, "security" based gang Protectors."

  "Yeah, those sound more like Karn's style. What information do you have on those two."

  "I can run a few copies down that'll tell most of what we have: suspected leaders, territory and arrested members."

  Jeff politely said, "Thanks, that'll help."

  She pulled a bunch of papers out of one drawer then another set. Jeff stood in the room as she ran off to make those copies. He had a plan, one that hopefully would work.

  Two men were conversing as they climbed the apartment building's stairway. They arrived on their floor. The two found an open door, something they didn't find unusual. Going in, they turned toward the outer living room.

  That's when Jeff jumped out from his hiding place behind the couch. He quickly shot the two. All they really saw was a large light coming their way before they fell onto the floor, unconscious.

  When one of them woke up, his hands were tied a radiator. Jeff took noticed. He displayed the computer he brought in. Jeff used this trick before and decided it was a good option. This time he would use it on the guy they called Terence. "Good morning."

  The man looked up at Jeff, being defiant as he could. "Who the eff are you?"

  "My name's not important. What is that if you can tell me if you are working with this man or not."

  Jeff took out the picture of Karns and showed it to the gang member. "He may go by the name of Karns."

  Terence remained silent, defiant towards Jeff's interrogation.

  "I take it you're not going to answer any of my questions."

  "What the heck else did you expect!"

  Jeff showed that he was going to play hardball, "Unfortunately for you, I didn't." Jeff shifted away to bring the computer into full view. "Truth is, I have done this before; was rather effective. Mostly due to who do you fear more: your friends or the police."

  "Shut the eff up and say it!"

  "All right. I have an e-mail right here, ready to send to the police. For all intents and purposes, you'll become a traitor to the Cokelands."

  Terence understood the threat. He tried to deny Jeff of any victory but still knew that he could lose much more than Jeff could gain. As Terence remained silent as Jeff slowly and dramatically hovered his finger ever closer to the enter button. It hovered closer and closer, to where it was almost near pressing it.

  "You press that and you won't get your info anyway."

  Jeff pulled back, only to say, "All right, I'll test that."

  He moved more swiftly, as though to slam his finger into the button. That swift movement panicked Terence. "All right, I'll talk."

  Jeff withdrew and faced his captive. "Then talk, Terence."

  The captive flinched with the use of the name. After a second, he re-composed himself. That could have come from anywhere including his own computer. Now that he gave in, he had to talk about what he knew.

  "The guy approached us, saying we could steal all sorts of stuff, gain ground on the Shells and stuff. But we know guys like that, no loyalty. He'd shoot us in the back after we do our end."

  "Good assessment of him. But is that all?"

  "Last we saw, he was with the Prots doing much the same. I'm guessing the bastards went through with it. Otherwise you wouldn't be here."

  "So if he was with them, why not rat him out?"

  "Cause you're with the cops. You take him, you'll go after us as well."

  Jeff nodded in hearing his argument. Knowing he wouldn't get much more out of him, Jeff decided to leave without releasing his prisoner nor deleting the draft e-mail.

  But before he left, Terence had one question of his own, "What do you want with this guy anyway?"

  Jeff didn't turn, just spoke with his back to the prisoner. Melancholy tinted his voice, "Because he killed a lot of people. My wife, Kara, was among them. People that will never come back, never comfort or cry, never to help anyone. I hope you think of that from now on."

  He silently left Terence behind.

  It took a second for Terence to realize that Jeff was leaving him cuffed to the radiator. "Hey! At least toss the keys!"

  Jeff saw another pair of men walk out of another apartment building. Despite being only about six blocks away, he was now in different territory. He lay at a corner and tried to look inconspicuous by watching cars. A paper laid in his hand. It showed a rap-sheet of one of the men.

  The other man had seen him but turned back to his conversation. Jeff guessed that his alibi was successful. The two continued walking casually down the street. They headed just to where Jeff guessed, toward the nearby elevated rail.

  Jeff had to wait until they were several blocks away before pursuing them. They were far enough away that Jeff had to track them with his glasses. Even then he was on the outside edge of their range. The signals flickered, so Jeff paced himself a bit faster to catch up.

  They turned the corner along the line. He was now half a block from there they stopped. Having caught up, Jeff came to the edge of that corner. He watched as they stood for about a minute in the same spot. The glasses showed that other people were going about the building they stood in front of. But he couldn't tell if they just stopped to wait or if that was their destination.

  Peeking around the corner, he quickly saw their real intention. Gun shots flew at him. He was forced back around the corner. Now in combat, Jeff took out a stun-pistol.

  It was still a fair distance from them and they had the same problem. He turned the corner and fired. Their shots were too far inside, hitting the wall Jeff shielded himself with. The bolts went just too high.

  A train flew along the elevated track to his right. Jeff decided on a gamble: he flung the grappling right into it. He took only a few steps to be clear of the wall as it pulled him quickly down the street. It was held for only a second. The enemies tried to respond but things happened too swiftly.

  Sliding down the street, he aimed his stun-pistol and fired as many shots as he could. One then the other man fell before they could turn around to respond. Jeff released the beam, sliding a few more feet before stopping.

  Jeff got up. He now had many scratches on him and was bleeding through the relatively new clothes. Though it was a bit painful, he was otherwise unharmed. "Dang, that might have been a bad idea."

  He walked over to the unconscious enemies. Jeff put his pistol away and wiping blood off his cheek within the short distance. Kneeling down, he searched the pockets of the two. The only things he could find was their wallets. Going through one, he found only a drivers license and some money. The other had the same, but also had a piece of paper.

  Jeff didn't have the chance to look at it when his phone went off. He took it out, holding the paper in his other hand. "Hunter here."

  "This is Lewis. We found the truck and thought you would like to look at it."

  "Sounds good. Where is it?"

  "We're at 314 Sunset. If you see the beach, you're not far."

  "I'll be there." Jeff hung up the phone. He looked down at the men, now not having the time to interrogate them. "I guess I'll have to follow up on these guys later."

  He simply walked away, leaving the two to wake up a few hours later.