Chapter 19

The following day was a blur to me. I know I did things. The freshly baked cookies and the notes on my iPad showed me that I had done things. But my brain didn’t seem to retain any memory of it. The only thing it occupied itself with was the meeting with the mafia boss. In my head it sounded like a nineteen fifties film noir. Hunter would make a good brooding detective. I was no leading lady, but maybe her best friend? That would mean Wictor was the leading lady. I giggled as the image of Hunter dipping Wictor low in a romantic pose popped into my brain. Not that Wictor would be against it. He liked to say he dated persons, not genders. My little side track brightened my mood as I got ready. Sensible clothes, I told myself. Jeans and a teal coloured blouse. It was one of my better blouses, I thought it would be good to make a positive impression. The neckline was a little lower than what I usually went for and I considered wearing a tank top underneath it. I was still thinking about it when Hunter texted that he and his friend would arrive in five minutes. That made up my decision for me as I needed to put my shoes on. I ran down the stairs as I put my keys in my pocket, I didn’t want to be lugging around a purse. As I stepped outside a black SUV pulled up to the sidewalk. Hunter exited the passenger seat with a frown as the driver’s window was lowered.

“I would have come up to get you,” Hunter told me as he walked up to me. I shrugged.

“I knew you were on your way,” I said. It looked like he was about to say something, but changed his mind. Instead he nodded and turned toward the car.

“Hana, this is Jason,” he introduced me to the man sitting in the driver's seat, his elbow resting out of the open window.

“Hello,” I said.

“Hi, it’s nice to finally meet you, Hana,” Jason said. He twisted his body and reached his right hand through the window. I grabbed it and we shook hands. Jason was the opposite of Hunter. Where Hunter had dark colours, Jason was blond with light skin. Hunter had always had a soft smile on his face, but Jason looked closed off and stern. “Are you ready for tonight?” Jason asked.

“Yes,” I said with a single nod. He looked at me for a moment, then looked at Hunter and nodded as well.

“Then we should get going,” he said. Hunter grunted and opened the back passenger door for me to get in. I thanked him as I tried to get in as smoothly as possible. I expected Hunter to take his place next to Jason in the front of the car. But he surprised me by getting in next to me. As we drove, Hunter went through the plan with me one more time. He made sure I knew they had men posted all around the building and even though none of us would be wearing a microphone, they would be able to keep tabs on what was happening inside.

“If something goes wrong, your job is to get outside as quickly as you can without getting hurt. Do you understand?” Hunter asked me.

“Okay. But what about the two of you?” I asked. Jason gave me a smile in the rearview mirror, he looked a lot less scary when he smiled.

“Don’t worry about us. We can handle ourselves. You just make sure to get outside and our boys will make sure you are safe and get away from the situation,” Jason assured me.

“Okay,” I agreed, even if it didn’t sit right with me to leave them behind to seek safety for myself. To be honest, even if I stayed behind I would probably be more of a burden then a help. I knew nothing about fighting, guns or anything of the sort. Best thing to do was to get out of the way of the professionals. Jason took us to a parking lot, there were several van’s with different company logos on them parked there. Some of the vans looked new, others would fall apart if they hit a speed bump. As Hunter came around to open my door, the side doors of the vans opened and men in tactical gear filled the parking lot. I blinked and felt like I had gone from a film noir straight into an action movie. The men gathered at the hood of the SUV where Jason had spread out a map. Hunter stood close to me and when I looked up at him I saw a face that I didn’t recognise. This was Hunter in work mode. He had a blank face, gone were the warm eyes and kind smile. He was focused and looked just like Jason. Jason was talking to the men. It seemed they had gone through the plan before and he was just giving them a final reminder.

“This is Miss Bishop. The main mission is to keep her safe at all costs. Is that clear?” Jason asked.

“Yes, sir,” they all responded and gave me nods of greetings. I felt myself blush. The reality was that they were all about to put themselves in danger for my sake. I felt a wave of guilt hit me.

“Head out and take your positions. We will wait here for ten minutes and then we will head to the location. Dismissed,” Jason told them. There was another round of affirmatives and the men broke up and filled back into the vans.

“Hey, what’s up?” Hunter asked me when it was only the three of us left. Some of the warmth was back in his face, but he was still closed off.

“Nothing,” I said as Jason and Hunter watched me.

“Don’t feel guilty about the men,” Hunter said, reading my mind in that uncanny way he sometimes did.

“If they get hurt it will be because of me,” I told him.

“We have been through this. We are not here because of your actions. This is not your fault,” he insisted and took my hand and gave it a squeeze. I sighed and nodded. Jason had been quiet, looking at our interaction.

“The old sack of potatoes is right. This isn’t your fault, and the men get paid more than enough to be happy about being here. Truth be told, we are all a bunch of adrenaline junkies that would do this for free just to get the fix,” Jason told her and laughed.

“Please don’t call me that,” Hunter groaned.

“Why? Because you're not old? Or because you're not a sack of potatoes?” Jason teased as he folded the map and headed for the car.

“Please don’t judge me by the friends I keep,” Hunter said as he guided me back inside the car. I smiled, it was nice of the two of them to lighten the mood. I suspected they did it for my sake. They made small talk while we waited and I tried my best to contribute my part. My stomach was feeling like an empty cave filled with bats and coldness.

“Time to get going. You can do this, Hana. Just remember what we have told you and you will be fine,” Jason told me.

“Okay, thank you,” I said. The drive took about ten minutes. Then we pulled up to a one story building. It looked completely square and had a flat roof. A big red sign on the side of the building read ‘The garden’ in mustard yellow lettering. The place looked like someone had built it in the seventies and from that moment time had stood still. A man was standing on either side of the doors. A sign had been hung on the inside of the glass part of the door. It said ‘Booked for a private party’. Hunter helped me out of the car and Jason walked over to us. I was sandwiched between the two men and strangely enough, I felt safe. Hunter’s hand rested on the small of my back and I felt it’s comforting pressure as he urged me to move forward. The two men opened the door for us as we got closer, but they didn’t look at us. Hunter and Jason took me inside. By the pulpit that would usually hold a hostess, three more men stood. They all looked scary and I had no problem believing they were gangsters. Two of them had the same type of tattoo as the man that had visited my apartment. Jason stepped up and held up his arms, one of the men started patting him down, finding three guns and four knives hidden on him. Jason grinned and shrugged. I was worried the men would take offence, but they just shrugged as well. Jason came back to my side as Hunter stepped up. They found similar items on him and I wondered if he always carried them. I hadn’t been able to see them on his person, so it was possible. I had no idea why that thought was sexy. But my body decided that it was. Hunter returned to my side and one of the men signed for me to step forward. Hunter’s arm blocked me.

“She is clean,” he told the men. They all looked at him like he was crazy for thinking his reassurance was good enough. Jason also looked at him, but his look was more amused.

“It’s okay, I don’t mind,” I told Hunter and put my hand on his arm. He looked at me. I knew he wanted to object, but he also knew that it was the only way. He grunted and lowered his arm to let me step up and be searched. Both he and Jason watched the man patting me down like hawks. I don’t know if it was because of their glares, or if the man was a professional, but the search was over in no time and it had felt clinical. As soon as I was done, Jason and Hunter were at my side again. They guided me further into the restaurant. This was it, I was about to meet a real live mafia boss. How has this become my life?