Cajun Protection (3 page)

“We just wanna talk, we ask things different
than the locals. Can we come in?” Shit, I really hate this already,
but looking at their size and knowing they are after Andrew is all
I need to open the door. If Andrew took one look at them at her
house, he might actually leave her alone.

Opening the door, I have a split second to
regain my control. Looking at them through a small hole is one
thing, but full body, holy shit, I think I just came from their
proximity alone. Both look at me before I wave them inside. One
step in and instantly I have to back up, the first guy is fucking
huge and takes up the whole doorway. I don’t give them a chance to
say anything before I walk up the stairs and wait until I hear them
lock the door. The loud noises from their boots echo through my
small apartment and I’m worried the neighbors might complain.

“You plan on hitting me with that,
chéri
?” the second guy asks me.

“Oh, crap I’m sorry. I wasn’t sure who was at
the door,” I respond.

“I’m Wolf, and this is Hawk. Can we um, sit?”
I guess he finally looked around and saw my place. I have a small
loveseat and a chair. No couch. I nod and instead of taking a
chair, I hop up onto the counter, crossing my legs and wait. Sure,
I’m a bigger girl, and it probably didn’t look right, but I’m so
used to it, it is a natural habit.

I watch as both try to act comfortable and
one ends up standing, guess he didn’t like my chair. The man
standing tells me his name is Wolf, strange name but oh well.

“When’s the last time you saw him?” Oh, so he
is going right into it seems.

“Well, the last time I saw his sorry ass is
when he showed up when he should’ve been at court. But someone
wasn’t watching him.” I’m irritated with repeating myself.

“Any place he likes to go?” Wolf seems to be
the man wanting all the answers.

“Cops know all this. Look, I didn’t know him
very well, and not many people are gonna break down and tell you
‘bout him,” I respond, with maybe a bit too much attitude.

“Yeah, kinda found that out at Long Shots
this morning.” Hmm, Wolf is the talker of the two it seems.

“Not surprised, probably ran into his aunt or
cousin. They all run pretty tight around these parts.”

“Then why don’t they watch you?” Wolf asks
me.

“I’m a transplant. Though it was when I was a
kid. My gran’s from Bostwick, but Daddy left when he met my momma.
When my momma left, he brought me back here. I was about eleven at
the time.” Wow I have no idea why I just told them all that. It
could be that with their large stature, I feel safe. There is no
way Andrew can avoid them if they actually get him in their
grasp.

“‘Kay, so what did you not tell the police
about him?” Oh, Hawk can talk as he questioned me.

“I told them everything, and the only real
reason they picked him up is because of my cat.”

“The dead one?” This time it’s Hawk who looks
at me. His eyes are a silvery grey and they instantly draw me
in.

“Some people are just sick in the head,” I
state, it hurts knowing he hung and skinned Penny like a coon. I
wouldn’t have known it was her but he took a before picture.

“I agree. So you told the cops he went up the
bayou?” Wolf stands and walks around looking at my apartment.

“He’s known for huntin’ caiman on his
pirogue, brags about the number of tags he gets too.”

“We’ll start there.” This time Hawk is
looking at his phone.

“You moved recently,” again Mr. Obvious, Wolf
points out, which I nod at trying to figure out what he is getting
at.

“It said break-in, but what else happened?”
Oh so that’s where he is going with that. I just shrug my
shoulders, I really don’t want to have to tell them everything.

“Can’t do this without your help,
chéri
, I wanna know what he did and what he took.” Shit,
okay so maybe they are better at this than I gave them credit for.
However, I can’t help hang my head in embarrassment. The cops asked
the same thing, but I hadn’t noticed anything at the time.

“What did he take, suga?” So, Hawk is
persuading me now.

Growling, I answer, “Fine, he cut up my
couch, and broke pictures and in my room, clothes where everywhere.
He took sexy nighties and some of my panties.”

“You knew it was him, why?” Again, it bounces
back to Wolf. I feel like I’m watching a tennis match.

“He made it known, okay. He left me a small
bear on my bed.”

“A bear?” asked Hawk.

“I know it’s stupid right! But we went out a
few time before I said enough is enough. He had won me a stupid
bear doing one of those claw games at a restaurant we went to
during Mardi Gras. Ever since then a stupid bear will show up to
let me know it is him.”

They both nod, but say nothing. Both of them
take a look around, looking out the window and checking the doors.
I still sit on the counter wondering what to say or do at this
point. I hate feeling like this, but it needs to be done if I want
my life back.

“He knows you moved?” this time it was Wolf
who asked.

“Don’t know.”

“Well he already knows, he got family in
town, they done told him already. Chairs heavy enough to hold him
out better than the small lock on you door. Push it against when we
leave. If he comes, call us,” says Wolf.

I never thought about it before, but these
guys are trained to know this type of stuff, so I will take their
advice to heart.

I nod and both look at me for a minute, one
starts to say something, but stops himself. “You gonna be okay?”
Wolf looked at me with concern, and I nod again.

“You aren’t gonna cry, are ya?” Hawk, go
figure.

However, my snort has their eyebrows shoot up
in surprise. “I think I’m done for now, thanks. Anything else?”

“No, doll, we will be in touch,” Hawk states
while he walks over to the door to let themselves out.

“I’m serious about the chair,
ch
é
ri
.” I feel like a damn bobble head as I
just nod again. I just don’t know what to say.

They both leave, the sound of their boots on
the stairs echo. However, how the hell will I move the chair down
the stairs? But maybe he meant my room. I can move it there. I make
sure the door is locked again after they leave. Thankfully, my
stomach waited until they left to growl at me. Time to grab the
spoons and chow down on some PB and J.

She was a whole lot prettier than I expected
and, I can see why this dipshit is drawn to her. But either way I
want to get the money. We need some new shit for the shop when the
last assistant went postal and broke the printer. Plus how can
someone do that to a cat? It sickens me. Sure, we can skin a coon,
or rabbit, hell, Wolf and I like to shrimp, but doing it to a cat
is just wrong. Wolf didn’t seem too good after we left Zoey’s
house. Maybe it’s because, despite everything, she seems somewhat
normal. Not typical for what I would have thought for this small
town. But we did gather some information she didn’t think we did.
This guy is smarter than the locals thought. He may be from town
and act dumb, but he is using the town to help hide him and keep an
eye on Zoey. I’m happy about Wolf telling her about the chair. Even
though I personally wonder how she will get it down the stairs, but
maybe to her bedroom door.

I shift in my seat making Wolf look at
me.

“Whatcha’ thinking?” Wolf asks me.

“Thinking this is gonna be interesting.”

“Me too.”

“We going huntin’? Or are we setting up some
bait and letting him come to us?”

“Let’s go huntin’, think we might get a
better feel about the area,” I reply.

“Gottcha. We can head back to the office and
get dinner while looking at the layout. I think we can use the one
I have and go from there.”

“Sounds good.” Plus it is my turn to cook. I
have some catfish waiting to be fried up from the neighbors next to
our business. Nothing better than fried fish and a cold beer. Wolf
speeds down the road in silence as music fills the truck. It looks
like he is in a rock mood as the band playing is rocking it out.
Windows down, music blaring, I close my eyes and relax for the
short ride.

Wolf pulls into our small two-bedroom
apartment that sits only a few blocks from our business. It isn’t a
bad location, and it works, but living here is a pain at times. I
jump out of the truck and make my way to the door, unlocking it.
Once inside I take off my gun and lock it in the small safe in the
hall closet.

Wolf did whatever Wolf did when he went to
his room and I make my way to the kitchen to start dinner. We live
in a small apartment, just the two of us, and sometimes one of the
guys crash on our couch, but it works. Not where I really want to
live forever, but with us always working, there’s no need for
anything fancy. In the kitchen, I pull out everything and start on
dinner. While the oil heats up, I pull out a beer and down half the
bottle before thinking about what to do next. I try to ignore work
when home, but something about this case just doesn’t sit right
with me. She didn’t seem too concerned about her safety, so either
she is lying about how scared she is, or she is just giving up and
going with the flow. I really hope it is she is scared, because I
found that people who give up are careless and end up hurt or dead.
Drinking the rest of my beer, I pull another to make a beer batter
for the fish. Soon I have them all fried up and Wolf walks out and
grabs the cole slaw from the fridge. I sit everything out and we
dish up and walk to the living room and watch some TV. There are no
games on tonight, so we end up watching some Die Hard movie. The
clock ticks away the time and I look down at my plate seeing it
empty. Today is just boring, I’m not a reader, and I don’t do
computer games, so when night falls, I need to blow off some steam.
I can head down to the bar and find a little hotty for the night,
but I think it might be better to hit something. Making a pit stop
in my room, I find my gym bag and, grabbing my keys, I head to the
door.

“Heading out?”

“Yeah, need to hit something,” I joke with
Wolf.

“‘Kay, well pick up some more beer, you drank
the last one,” Wolf grumbles to me while he starts to load the
dishwasher.

“Whatever.”

Putting the keys in my Jeep I take off down
the road. There are people littering the road this time of night.
Most of them drunk off their asses, or getting to that point. I
used to do that, before I got picked up for public intoxication
during a Mardi Gas event. Seems you can’t piss on a float and get
away with it. But hell, I had just gotten out of the Corp and was
trying to shake the demons in my head. I was fucked up then, still
am, but I’m more logical now. I use my training to find assholes
out there and I get to do it without the law. Here in Louisiana
they are busy enough dealing with people who wonder into the bayou
who think they can handle it because they watch all those damn
shows on TV. Okay, I admit I watch some of them, and yes they do
things correct, but they don’t ever show what goes wrong when
hunting in these parts. All the snakes, spiders, caimans, even
snapping turtles. The swamp is not for tourists. I should know, I
grew up the worst way anyone could, on the streets.

My family came from trailer trash wannabes.
We were so poor even they looked down on us. My parents said they
tried, but they didn’t. Thank God I didn’t have any brothers or
sisters. My dad ran off to go do God knows what and my mom, well,
she did what she could, even if it meant selling herself. It makes
me sick now to think about it. Maybe that’s how she got sick too.
She died when I was on my first tour in Iraq. So, it’s just me, and
well, Wolf. We clicked right away. But growing up how I did, I
didn’t have time for pleasantries or hearts and flowers. That shit
got you blindsided and left you alone without food and shelter.

I still remember the day I met Wolf. We both
were out fishing in this sweet little honey hole that had the
biggest catfish I had ever seen. I was sitting there, a little
cold, and really hungry. I figured if I could catch one really big
fish, I could eat it and stay in the swamp a little longer before
my parents even knew I was gone. Wolf came walking over, and sat
beside me, didn’t say thing, just started fishing. It wasn’t until
Wolf caught the fish, that something was said. He asked if I wanted
to come over and eat with him, his mom made an awesome fish fry,
and had some cold root beers in the fridge too. I admit I was
hesitant, because he had a family, and the kid didn’t even know my
name. But being that he wasn’t pushing me, and the last time I ate
had been the previous night I said yes. That’s where I met his mom,
and she was amazing. Never met a nicer woman in all my life. She
looked at me and then Wolf before taking the fish, handing us both
a soda and told us to watch a movie before dinner. That was it, no
questions asked, she took me in, and from then on helped make sure
I got to school. And Wolf became more than a friend, he became
family. They beat the hell out of anything else I have ever known.
Since I still didn’t have anything to my name, and my own mother
didn’t care about me as I got older, just wanted to know if I had
any money. She got hooked on some nasty stuff, and I just stayed
away. Since my old man skipped town too, it saved me from several
beatings. It was just me, and I made damn sure that when I had
something important to me, I kept it—Wolf and his mom became mine
too. We guys don’t talk about shit like this but that day, sitting
there hoping to catch anything to eat, when the other kid sat
beside me, well, it was the best day of my life. Wolf saved me that
day and I’ve loved him like a brother ever since.

Trying to push away those memories I pull up
to the twenty-four hour gym, I jump out and grab my bag before
heading inside. I make my way quickly to the locker room and change
into shorts and a t-shirt. I find the area of the gym I want and
start to tape my hands up. Once done, I start with small jabs, one
and two, left and right, until I switch with combos.
Left-right-jab, right-right-right-upper cut. Soon I fall into a
rhythm as I take my aggression out on the bag, working up a
sweat.