Page 58 of The Hunted

“Why would you plan to kill Knox’s father?”

“He and his associates took my life from me. Knox wants Vaughn, so I’ll give him that, but the other fuckers are mine.”

“I don’t understand. You’re alive.”

“Raven…” He stops and turns to face me, causing me to come to an abrupt halt. The mask he usually hides behind is gone and I see pain in his eyes. Real, visible pain. “You remind me so much of her. I think that’s why I get so pissed when I’m around you. I see her in you. I miss her so fucking much, and you are a reminder of what I lost.”

His eyes glass over with unshed tears.

“Who? Who do I remind you of?”

“My wife.”

Wife? What the hell?

“You’re married, and I remind you of your wife? Why are you here if you have a wife?” I wave my arms about frantically. This crazy bastard has a wife and is here, chasing women to fuck as sport?

“She’s dead.” He pauses, and he wipes his tattooed hand over his face, brushing his long hair out of the way.

“Albatross killed her and our unborn daughter.”

I hear the gasp escape me before I realize it’s happened.

“They were trying to recruit me, and I kept ignoring their requests for meetings. I have my own connections, my own jobs. I didn’t want or need theirs. They decided the best way to get to me was using Jennifer as bait. When things didn’t go as they planned, they killed her. She was twenty-two weeks pregnant. I couldn’t fucking save them.”

One single tear slides down his cheek, but it does nothing to quell the murderous rage in this man’s eyes.

“I will kill every last fucker tied to that organization, brutally, mercilessly. Albatross runs deep, Raven. Vaughn Bane isn’t the only sadistic son of a bitch tied to that organization. It is big. It involves big-time money. They’re a worldwide murder for hire organization, with operatives all over the world, ready to leave on assignment at a moment’s notice. They kill heads of state, mafia leaders, anyone who can pay their price. Vaughn Bane was the leader of the North American faction, until he disappeared.”

My stomach churns with dread, the floor falls out from under me. When Knox told me his story, I never realized just how deep he was in. I waver slightly, placing my hand on the wall to steady myself. Jesus Christ. I don’t even know what to do with this information. “I don’t understand. If Knox is the leader, can’t Knox just order his father to be killed?”

“I’ll tell you this as swiftly as I can because I think you need to know just what and who exactly it is we are facing here, but we have to move.”

I nod my head once at Lazz, and he turns and leads us down the last few flights of stairs toward the tunnels.

“I don’t know what you already know, but I assume Knox told you some things. Knox’s father left on assignment three years ago but never returned. Knox thought he might be dead. Vaughn Bane just vanished. I stumbled onto Knox’s path, shortly thereafter. I was trying to track his father.”

“What happened when you met Knox?”

The door slowly opens with a creak, and every hair on my body stands on end. It’s dark and damp. The dirt floors waft up a smell of mold as the coldness surrounds us. I would never willingly enter this place alone. Lazz walks ahead of me, and every few yards, there’s a single overhead light illuminating our path.

“Instead of finding Vaughn that night, I found Knox. We came to a deal. We would work together to bring Albatross down. Make those bastards pay for taking the people we loved. That’s how the idea of turning the manor into what it is today was born. We thought it was a good way to lead the very people straight to our door step that Albatross would want to put a hit on. We could better control the environment here.”

“Wait, so you lure people here, using the club to draw them in, then kill them?”

“If it’s needed, yes, but also other members of Albatross show up from time to time. We thought it would be a good way to draw Vaughn out, if he were hiding for some reason and not dead. I’m sure the estate being turned into what it is today really pissed him off.”

I can hear the smile in his voice. I can’t fathom a world where you decide who lives and who dies.

“Yeah, he isn’t very happy about that. Why is this tunnel here?”

The walls are constructed of aged stone, and from the dim lighting ahead, it seems to go on forever.

“It was part of the Underground Railroad once. Tunnels run in several directions under this property. They had to have several escape routes. Later, they were used to sneak in booze during prohibition, and of course, being in the mountains, moonshiners used them to transport their liquor. A few of them have caved in over time, but most are still functional.”

We track along the dirt path until we come to a fork. One tunnel to our left, one to the right. We go right and carry on a few hundred yards until we come to another wooden door.

“We have quite a distance to go to get through this maze, then my brother should be waiting for us on the other end.”

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