The Fallen (Angelic Redemption) (7 page)

“But you are better than that?”

“No, maybe not, but I needed something and God
sent me here.”

“Only so you could get yourself taken by the
cartel and then me.”

Heidi frowned at him. “You think you’re too good
for this task from God, is that it?”

“I honestly feel I was mistaken to think this was
a sign from God. You are just some clueless woman and I am even more clueless
to think saving you will redeem me.”

“Can I leave then?”

“No, actually, you can’t.”

Heidi didn’t throw a fit, but he kept expecting
her to. She had the face of a petulant child, but she just ignored him and ate
her food. Joaquin tried to eat his meal too, but instead he just watched her.
He also tried to talk himself out of doing anything more than dumping her off
at the border.

“This is ridiculous. This,” he waved between them,
“is the work of the devil, not God. Satan wants me to stick around and cause
more harm. He sent you to convince me that God has some purpose for me. No,
this is a trick and you are the bait. I was foolish to believe otherwise.”

“Now can I go?” Heidi said, wiping her mouth with
the napkin.

No. Joaquin wouldn’t say it out loud, but he
couldn’t let her walk away. Staring at her annoyed expression, he realized he
felt good for the first time in as long as he could remember. He was alive and
mildly enjoying his food and the atmosphere and the pretty woman glaring at
him. It wasn’t much, but maybe he wasn’t ready to die. Without Heidi to protect
and a mission from the Lord though, he had no reason not to turn the gun on
himself.

“Let’s finish our fine dinner then you should get
some rest.”

For the first time, Heidi looked truly sad, her
green eyes moistening. She did not cry, but he knew she wanted to.

Joaquin waved the waiter over and inquired about
desserts. Heidi just stared at the exit, still hoping she might run off and
save the women she left behind.

“Eat your food,” he said when she ignored the
newly arrived cake.

“Why should I eat like I’m celebrating when my
friends might not eat at all?”

“Because if you don’t, I will be angry with you.
Right now, my mild interest in your wellbeing is the only reason I haven’t left
you for the cartel.”

Heidi picked up her fork and took a bite of the
cake, all while holding his gaze. Something in those eyes bothered Joaquin, but
not until she neared her last bite, could he figure out what it was that made
him so uneasy.

Heidi still didn’t fear him. She took his words as
a bluff and wasn’t impressed. She ate every bite of the cake, never letting go
of his gaze. She wanted him to know she wasn’t afraid and that she wasn’t
impressed and she wanted him to be bothered by it.

And he was.

Sawyer’s Gun Shop was located on the outskirts of
a small Nevada town, far from the prying eyes of humans. While the store
actually sold guns, inviting humans and hunters alike with a sign promising “Guns,
Guns, and More Guns,” it was mostly a safe house for hunters on the run.

Lila barely knew Sawyer or his wife Daisy. In her
short time as a hunter though, she realized her own kind were the only ones she
could rely on. Glancing over at Sophie, Lila figured she might eventually need
to trust the newbie. That time hadn’t come yet.

The store was ugly, all gray blocks and brown
bricks shaped in a big rectangle. Aesthetics were clearly not on Sawyer’s mind
during the design phase. Safety wise, the place was a small fortress.

Behind the lump of a building, Sawyer built a
large pen for his watcher dogs. A ten foot high chain link fence lined the pen,
housing a dozen dogs on a little more than an acre. When Lila first pulled
behind the building, the pen appeared empty. Moments later, the dogs charged
the fences, eyeing her and Sophie warily.

Lila always hated dogs and felt no reason to alter
that assessment based on these particular dogs’ feelings for her. Unlike their
reaction to most hunters, the Dobermans
whined at her. Some showed their
fangs in disgust at her arrival. The dogs were less aggressive than irritated
with her and the feeling was mutual. Curiously, the dogs disliked Sophie too.

“What’s with the dogs?” Sophie asked, stretching
next to the car.

“They can spot villains. Keeping them around is
the best security system out there because villains sometimes don’t appear on
video.”

“How is that possible?”

“The same way your neighbors never heard me shooting
up your apartment. It’s magic, Sophie.”

Lila couldn’t help smiling at the panic in
Sophie’s eyes. The woman was truly clueless and hardly a hunter, but Lila
assumed every big dog started out as a quivering little pup. Lila decided to
give the newbie a break and play nice for a little bit longer. Though it was
looking less likely that Sophie would be helpful in taking down a rogue big dog
hunter like Joaquin.

It was also feeling less likely that Lila had lost
her stalker Roman. The itch was again working its way up her spine. Knowing he
was in the vicinity, though not yet at the store, Lila figured her best plan
was get inside and hope Sawyer knew what to do.

The sign in the front window said OPEN which was
good news for Lila since the dogs were nearly howling now with agitation. Lila
pushed Sophie inside and locked the door. Switching the sign from OPEN to
CLOSED, she eyed the quiet road outside.

Behind her, Sophie made a little gasping noise and
bumped into Lila. Turning around, Lila found Sawyer standing in his camouflage
garb, complete with a shotgun in each arm. With his white blond hair and fair
blue eyes, Sawyer always reminded Lila of a surfer. As he walked around a corner,
he smiled at the women.

“Look who’s still alive and kicking?” Sawyer said.
“I figured you were a goner, baby girl.”

“I’m not alone,” Lila said as the itch now tweaked
her every nerve.

“Yes, I can see that. You’ve got a little friend.”

“Not her. Roman’s here.”

Sawyer twisted his lips in thought then shook his
head. “Naw, I feel something strange, but I think it’s your friend’s weird vibe
combined with your usual weird vibe. I don’t feel Roman.”

“Well I do.”

“And how exactly would you know how he feels?” Sawyer
asked with that grumpy dad tone of his.

“He found me in LA and has been tracking me for
days. I tried to lose him during the crash, but he picked up my trail again.
He’s here. I can feel it.”

“And you didn’t mention this on the phone, why?”

“Because I didn’t need lectures from someone too
far away to do anything to help me.”

Sawyer looked ready to give her one of his daddy
lectures, but backed off and changed his tone.

“What do you think he wants?”

“I don’t know. He could have killed me plenty of
times, but he just hovered out of sight. I never saw him, just felt that
intense vibe you talked about.”

“He could be your mate,” Daisy suggested as the
Asian beauty entered the store from a backroom.

Lila frowned and not only because Daisy and Sawyer
were dressed in matching fatigues.

“I don’t have a mate and I don’t want one. Besides
if he was my mate, why is he stalking me? No, he’s trouble. I say we arm up and
kill him.”

“You ever fight a big dog hunter?” Sawyer asked.
“Since you’re still breathing, I’m going to guess the answer is no.”

“What’s your plan? Let him come and take what he
wants?”

“Or we could offer you up to him and see what
happens?” Daisy suggested.

Lila only grinned. She knew after all these years
of hiding out in the safe house Sawyer and Daisy were too soft to do what
needed to be done. Whether it was selling out Lila or challenging a big dog
hunter.

“I’ll go out and face him, if that’s what you
want.”

Sawyer rolled his eyes. “Ladies, let’s not fight.
We’ll just head down to the bunker and figure things out.”

The dogs erupted outside with a newfound fury,
startling even Sawyer.

“And we ought to head down real swift-like too,”
Sawyer said, waving for Lila and Sophie to follow Daisy.

While the women disappeared into a backroom,
Sawyer locked up all of the windows and checked the front door. The four
hunters were soon hurrying through a small hallway and down into a bunker.

A heavy metal door shut behind them and Lila heard
Sawyer bolt it closed. Following Daisy, Lila eyed the wall of televisions,
displaying the views from dozens of security cameras around the building.

Based on the cameras, the dogs’ hostilities were
directed towards the surrounding woods. Bigger dogs climbed over smaller ones
to get closer to the fence and their enemy. Even Lila had to admire their
commitment to killing the bad guys.

“They didn’t act that way when Roman showed up,”
Sawyer said. “They were more terrified than angry. I don’t know what you’re
feeling, but I think we’ve got villains out there, not a big dog.”

“That’s still bad, right?” Sophie said, finally
finding her voice.

“There are four of us, so we should be just fine,”
Sawyer said, eyeing the cameras then Daisy. “Yeah, we’re probably talking about
a pack of them.”

“Look at the dogs,” Daisy said. “Whatever is out
there is making its move.”

The dogs bounced, slobbered, and roared at the
woods. Lila glanced at Sophie who watched the monitors teetering on complete
panic. Even in this fortress with armed killers, Sophie felt exposed. Her fear
didn’t bode well for the battle ahead.

For a moment, even Lila was feeling insecure. She
knew Roman was coming and whatever he wanted would finally come due. With soft
hunters like Sawyer and Daisy and a newbie like Sophie, Lila was going to be on
her own.

“I heard about a villain that drove a car bomb
into a safe house in Georgia. Took out a few hunters,” Daisy announced.

“They can do that?” Sophie asked, giving into the
panic.

“Not from the woods,” Lila said, standing up and
approaching the blonde. “They’re going to go for the dogs. They figure we’ll
come out to stop them and then they’ll ambush us. That or they have a human as
bait.”

“This is madness,” Sophie said, twisting her
fingers with fear.

“Just relax,” Lila said. “This isn’t our first
day, okay? Watch and learn, newbie.”

Still twisting her fingers, Sophie quieted down.
Daisy leaned over and whispered something to Sawyer who nodded. Watching the
secretive couple, Lila wished she didn’t have Sophie to protect, so she could
run outside and take on the villains by herself. Instead, she was forced to
watch the monitors and take orders from Sawyer.

Lila’s anger at their whispering grew so
all-encompassing that she didn’t notice the dogs’ changes in behavior. Only
when Daisy pointed it out with an expression of confusion and maybe fear, did
Lila realize the dogs had stopped barking.

“What the hell are they doing?” Sawyer said,
leaning into the screen. “They look afraid now.”

To Lila, it felt as if a ball of ice had taken up
residence in her stomach. The chill ran up her spine and she knew Roman had
finally arrived.

“Do you feel it?” Sawyer said.

Daisy nodded. “It’s Roman.”

“Maybe the guy who came here isn’t really named
Roman? Sophie and I are hunting a rogue big dog named Joaquin.”

“You two are going to kill a big dog rogue?” Sawyer
asked with a snort. “Are you insane?”

Lila took a step towards Sawyer, almost itching
for a fight. “It’s my mission. I can’t tell God no, just because you think I’m
too green for the job.”

“If he’s rogue, why hasn’t he killed you?”

“Who cares? My guy is Latin, Columbian, I think.
What about Roman?”

“If you wanna know what Roman looks like then
check out the cameras because he’s standing at the front counter,” Daisy
whispered, pointing at the screen with a view of the store.

“How did he get in?” Sawyer asked.

Lila studied the screen with a tinge of
disappointment. This man, the one chasing her for days, wasn’t Joaquin. Even
so, she grabbed her gun and moved towards the door.

“It’s not Joaquin, but I still say we kill him,
just to be safe.”

“Wait,” Sawyer said, grabbing her arm. “You stay
here and I’ll go talk to him. Let’s see what he wants.”

“Why?”

“He might not be rogue.”

“He’s been stalking me for days. That isn’t the
behavior of a hunter we need to be having a conversation with.”

“Maybe, but if he wanted to start trouble there
are easier ways than standing at the counter, waiting to be served. Stay back
here and watch. Daisy, you come with me.”

Lila watched them go, fuming at being told to play
the victim while they took on the bad guy. Glancing back at Sophie, she found
the blonde watching her.