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#Post#: 2918--------------------------------------------------
Haunted by the Past - Chapter 14 - Back to Start
By: RampageSports Date: February 26, 2016, 7:02 am
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Author's Note: The Spenser, Hawk and Susan Silverman characters
belong to mystery novelist Robert B. Parker. Mr. Parker is one
of my favorite authors, and his work is a major influence on the
the way I write. Whether I even come close to mimicking his
style is open to considerable debate, but I have chosen to use
his characters in this story as something of an homage. My goal
is to handle them as lightly as possible and to maintain them as
Mr. Parker created them. Any failure on that front is
completely my own.
[hr]
Haunted by the Past - Chapter 14 - Back to Start
I got up early the next morning and dug out my coffee maker. I
hunted through the pantry and found a container of ground coffee
that — much to my surprise — was not expired. Then I set the
machine to work and went about my morning routine.
I emerged from the house about an hour later with three lidded
paper cups and a small paper bag. I had more experience than
I'd care to admit to with law enforcement, and it seemed to me
that real cops always take their coffee black. So, I suspected
no one would use the creamers and sugar packets I had in the
bag, but I am nothing if not prepared.
Overnight, I had resigned myself to the situation. I could call
Pat and rant and rave about the ridiculous amount of protection
he'd arranged, but there was little chance he'd budge. So, I
decided to make the best of it, and that started with meeting my
protectors.
Rather than making the rounds, I simply stopped to talk with
Brown. I handed him one of the coffees — just black, thank you
— and the other two officers arrived almost magically within
just a few minutes.
Tomorrow, I would add donuts to the offering, and see how much
response time improved.
While his height rivaled Brown's, Trooper Vince Jordan was older
and more rugged-looking. His solid frame carried the kind of
muscularity that was not easy to achieve or maintain. There was
no question about what he did with the bulk of his down time.
However, his demeanor was quite the opposite of what you'd
expect, given his appearance. Like Brown, he was extremely
professional and polite — to the point that he gratingly used
the word ma'am nearly twice as often as his fellow officer. He,
too, accepted one of the coffees with no additives.
Detective Meghan Taylor was a fairly young woman with dirty
blond hair who could not have been more than an inch or two
beyond the five foot mark. Her tiny frame probably weighed less
than a hundred pounds, and she looked as though she would blow
away in a stiff wind. Yet she exuded a power I could not
explain. Her rank implied she was the leader of this little
group, and she carried herself accordingly. When I offered her
the coffee, she asked for cream and sugar. She showed no
reluctance about the request, and neither of her fellow officers
made so much as a peep about it.
Yep... I was going to like Detective Taylor just fine.
In an effort to make conversation, I asked the three about their
regular responsibilities. After a significant and ominous
pause, I put two and two together.
"You don't have any other responsibilities, do you?"
"Not at this time," Taylor said modestly. "You are our
assignment, for the foreseeable future."
Son of a b*tch. O'Rourke had assigned me my own personal
security detail.
Probably, I should have been impressed.
I was not.
Despite my best efforts, it appeared that ranting and raving was
going to be a necessity, but I held my tongue for now. After
all, my issue was not with anyone currently present.
I told Jordan I usually leave work around six o'clock, but that
it could be later if something came up. He said he'd be there
by five-thirty, and that he didn't care how long he had to wait.
He was being paid to sit in the car, and it didn't matter to
him where the car was located while he was doing it.
With that settled, I departed for the forty minute drive with
Taylor in tow.
Danni was already in her office when I arrived, and Hawk had
stationed himself in the lobby.
"How did last night go?" I asked him.
"All still here," he answered.
When I posed the same question to Danni, her response was not as
laid back.
"I can't stand this," she said.
"I know," I said, "but hopefully it won't be for long."
"I just..." she began, looking off toward where Hawk sat in the
lobby. "I don't feel comfortable."
"Something specific bothering you?" I prompted.
"I don't know anything about him," she answered. "I don't
understand him, really."
To understand Hawk would be like trying to figure out why power
outages are reported on TV, when no one who cares can watch it
anyway. There's just no way to make sense of it.
"I'm not sure anyone does," I admitted.
"He's not like your friend, Spenser, is he?" she said, with an
ominous tone to her voice.
"No," I said. "Hawk is no one's idea of a knight. And his
morals are admittedly looser. He'll do things Spenser won't
do."
"Like kill."
"Spenser's killed people."
"You know what I mean," she said.
I though a moment about how I wanted to answer.
"Hawk and Spenser come from different backgrounds," I said.
"Where they come from is part of who they are, and Hawk... well,
I get the impression he comes from a darker place."
"But Spenser trusts him?"
"With his life," I said plainly.
"That doesn't make a lot of sense."
"Agreed," I said.
Her face said I wasn't making her feel any better.
"Look, Hawk does bad things, but he's not a bad person," I said.
"I can't explain that, but I think you'll see what I mean. You
just need time to look a little deeper. For now, what's
important is that he'll protect you, no matter what."
"How do you know?"
"Because I know," I said. "And I wouldn't ask you to trust him
unless I knew you could."
Once again, I was back to the if you can't trust them, trust me
approach. But, once again, she seemed to accept it.
With my concern for her clouding my thoughts, I failed to pick
up on it when the discussion shifted ever so slightly.
"If he's willing to do those things," she said, "why didn't he
take care of Powers back then?"
"He suggested such a thing," I said, "but I wasn't comfortable
with a solution like that."
She nodded thoughtfully, then said, "Because you're not a
killer."
My eyes came up to hers as I realized what she was up to. Then
I gave her a little smile.
"Did you just manipulate me, Miss Harris?" I asked.
"I prefer the term maneuver," she admitted.
I nodded lightly, then let the topic drop. I knew what she was
trying to say, but I still disagreed. In fact, she might be
quite surprised at how much I regretted my earlier reluctance,
given what was happening now.
Still, I had to respect the shrewdness and emotional dexterity
she'd shown. I had no doubt Hawk's presence made her truly
uneasy, but she'd still found a way to turn the conversation
back on me.
She's a slick one, that Danni.
I went into my office and got situated. She joined me a few
minutes later, and we poured our focus into the daily affairs of
Rampage Sports, Inc. Before long, things started to feel normal
as we both got into the flow of the day.
When Spenser arrived near the end of the day, it reminded us
that things were anything but normal.
The four of us gathered in my office as darkness settled in
outside. Once again, Spenser and I were seated on opposite
sides of the desk, Danni was standing to my left and Hawk was
holding up the wall near the door.
"I found Powers," Spenser said.
"That was quick," I said.
"Modesty and knightly humility require that I not comment on
that observation."
"Understood."
He paused a moment before continuing — just long enough to clue
me in to the fact that I wasn't going to like what came next.
"He's running an illicit fight club in Trenton," Spenser said.
I sighed and let my eyes drift to my desk. Spenser saw the
recognition in my expression, and Danni followed his gaze to me.
"It's called The Old Warehouse," I said.
I lifted my eyes to Spenser, who nodded his confirmation. Then,
I rolled my head to look up at Danni.
"It's where I got my start," I said.
"Your first fight?" she asked.
"First, second, third... let's say it was more like home base."
Her puzzled expression told me more explanation was needed.
"The longer I went on, the more professional the whole thing
became. If I was going to compete at the higher levels, I
needed management. The man that owns The Warehouse saw me as an
opportunity, and I let him do the managing."
Danni looked bemused as she shook her head.
"What?" I asked.
"I don't know," she said. "Higher levels. Management. I don't
know what I imagined your fighting days were like, but this sure
as hell wasn't it."
We both smiled until she said, "I mean... it almost sounds like
here."
My smile disappeared immediately and I turned away and stared at
the desk again.
"It was nothing like here," I said coldly.
I really don't know why I snapped like that. There was nothing
wrong with what Danni had said, and there was no reason for me
to react that way.
I turned back to her immediately.
"I'm sorry," I said.
She nodded passively, but still looked a little shocked.
"You're right," I continued. "There was a lot of structure to
it, much like there is here. But, it was a very different
world."
"This guy that managed you," she said. "He do something to
you?"
"No," I said. "No, he treated me like the commodity I was."
Once again, a conversation about one thing had somehow morphed
into a sob story from my past. I wanted to drop the topic
because I didn't feel like explaining myself, but I couldn't do
that to Danni.
"I was money to him," I said, "and he protected me the way you
protect money. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't like here."
She put her hand on my shoulder, which was exactly the response
I needed.
Then, I suddenly remembered Spenser and Hawk were in the room.
"So, what now?" I asked.
"You keep doing what you're doing," Spenser said. "Major
O'Rourke's arrangements worked out acceptably, last night?"
Between my earlier emotions and the mention of my Secret Service
like protection, I almost missed the clue.
Almost.
"I never gave you Pat's name," I said.
Spenser just sat and waited, looking as though he expected this
reaction from me.
"You went and FOUND him?" I asked.
Spenser shook his head.
"Apparently, you gave him my name," he said. "So, he found me."
"And what, pray tell, did the two of you talk about?"
"He wanted to learn a little more about me, I think."
"Oh, did he now?"
"Yes. I'm pretty sure he's contacted everyone who's ever known
me, too."
"And did you check out?"
"Apparently."
I leaned forward and rested my head in my right hand. I rubbed
the hand back and forth across my forehead so hard that I could
actually feel heat from the friction.
"I'm gonna kill him," I mumbled.
"That's probably not a good idea," Spenser said.
"Maybe not, but I'm going to warn you now and him later: I don't
need to be handled."
"No one said you did," he said calmly.
"Oh, I guarantee Pat thinks I do."
"I think he's just concerned," he said. "Apparently, you've
been something of a challenge for him over the years."
"Oh, he has not even begun to see the challenge I can be."
Spenser smiled and gave me a long, appraising look.
"You're very different, this time."
"Yeah," I said. "I am."
He nodded, but didn't say anything more. After a few moments,
Danni filled the silence.
"So, what do you do now?" she asked Spenser.
"I keep an eye on Powers."
"You're just gonna watch him?" she asked.
"In gumshoe parlance, I believe the word is observe."
Danni looked at him like he might be crazy.
Spenser turned to Hawk.
"She does not appear impressed with my detective's vernacular."
"Oh, she impressed alright," Hawk said. "You just not makin'
the impression you hopin' to make."
[hr]
Character Reference
HTML https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjMxOhMMXhVcF82aG5SXzA/Richelle_100x120.jpg
Name: Richelle Winterfeld
Nickname(s):
Background: Owner of the RSI stable, former underground fighter
HTML https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjMxOhMMXhVcF82aG5SXzA/Danni_100x120.jpg
Name: Danneel Harris
Nickname(s): Danni
Background: RSI stable leader, reigning DEF welterweight
champion
[img]
HTML https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=0Bz8YsEjMxOhMTWlVa0RtSHRqdlE[/img]
Name: Patrick O'Rourke
Nickname(s):
Background: Major with the New Jersey State Police, family
friend of Richelle's
[img]
HTML https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=0Bz8YsEjMxOhMVVZyNWhTVnVrMzA[/img]
Name: Meghan Taylor
Nickname(s):
Background: New Jersey State Police Detective, works for Major
O'Rourke
[img]
HTML https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=0Bz8YsEjMxOhMUlRZaFhJQjBuQnc[/img]
Name: Gavin Brown
Nickname(s):
Background: New Jersey State Police Trooper, works for Major
O'Rourke
[img]
HTML https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=0Bz8YsEjMxOhMS1lDYndNak9hbHM[/img]
Name: Vince Jordan
Nickname(s):
Background: New Jersey State Police Trooper, works for Major
O'Rourke
#Post#: 2919--------------------------------------------------
Re: Haunted by the Past - Chapter 14 - Back to Start
By: RampageSports Date: February 26, 2016, 7:13 am
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Now seems like the time to give credit to my "cast."
As Dragon has already pointed out, that's Brendan Gleeson as
Major Patrick O'Rourke. Then, we have Cara Buono as Detective
Meghan Taylor, Coby Bell as Trooper Gavin Brown and Alex
O'Loughlin as Trooper Vince Jordan. Cara and Coby's photos are
taken from their roles on Third Watch, while Alex's photo is of
his character from Hawaii Five-0.
For the record, I came up with the "actors" after the story was
finished. So, none were designed to have the personalities of
the on-screen characters they play. However, I'm thinking I may
have to give "Vince" more "Steve McGarrett" type
characteristics if I ever decide to use him again. ;)
#Post#: 2920--------------------------------------------------
Re: Haunted by the Past - Chapter 14 - Back to Start
By: RampageSports Date: February 26, 2016, 10:12 pm
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I've been told some of the character pics are not loading
properly. For me, they work fine. If anyone is having trouble,
let me know and I'll look into it. Thanks. :)
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