The Hunter's Angel

Chapter 14

Seaira's POV

Once we met back up with the others, they have the other hostages. We are back in the building we were in when we first got here. Walking into the room the female speaks up, causing us to stop. I learned her name is Shepard. "Your friend, what's his name? I need to talk to him. Your plan is going to get me, and my friends killed."

 "We're gonna make it work." Sasha says calmly. "It would work if you had two different cops to trade." Shepard starts. I stood next to Daryl and Sasha, having my rifle leaned against my left shoulder.

"Dawn's running Grady into the ground. A bunch of us want her out and she knows it. Pretty sure she knows we want Lamson to replace her, too." "Dawn doesn't know that." The guy I tackled says, looking at Shepard.

"She might," She snaps, looking back at us. "And she's smart. So, there's a good chance you can't make this deal work and that'll leave us all dead. But if you let us go, we'll take care of Dawn ourselves. And then we'll let your friends go and this is over." She finishes. 

I shake my head and say, "You say that, but you haven't takin her down yet, why? Kinda bullshit if you ask me, say there is a lot of you." I argue. 

"No, we're not going to do that." Lamson chimes in, looking at Shepard. "Do you want to die?" Shepard asks him, he quickly replies. "No. I just need you to shut up right now." Lamson is still looking at the ground, I glance at Sasha and Ty, them doing the same thing. 

"You can make this work," He finally looks up at us. "But you've got to be able to talk to her." "Noah told us all about her." Sasha tells him. "I've known her for eight years, ma'am. I know this woman. And my only interest is peaceful resolution, not dying, and sleeping in my bed tonight. So, please, let my help you. Please." His voice quiet, tired. I nod my head looking at him. Daryl looks at me, I nod to him. He grunts in agreement and calls for Rick. "Your gonna want to hear this." Daryl calls.

***

Sasha and Ty get back with a couple crates of food. Noah is at Shepard who is tied to a pillar a few yards away, Daryl going to jagoff cop, checking on him that's three pillars down from Shepard. Rick and I talking to Lamson, who is a across and a few pillars down from Shepard on the other side.

"She'll tell you she won't make a deal. She'll tell you she won't compromise. But she will." Lamson says to Rick. "She always does." He looks to me, Rick and I squatted in front of him. 

"Just- just know who you're talking to." He says back at Rick, who glances at his watch and stands up. "Probably heading out in the next 10 minutes or so. Anything you need before we leave?" Rick asks Lamson. "Actually, water would be great." he answers. I peek my head over to Sasha who nods to me, signaling she heard him. She tosses a water bottle over her shoulder, and I lean a bit to catch it.

"Thanks, Sergeant Lamson." Rick thanks him. "My names Bob." Lamson says, Causing Rick, Sasha and I to stop in our tracks and freeze. "You're still a cop." Rick says finally. "No. No, the real ones are gone." He says above a whisper. Rick doesn't say anything more and walks off. 

I take the cap off and hold it up to his mouth and he takes a few drinks, making sure I don't waterboard him. When he takes a few swallows, I take it away and ask if that's enough. He nods and thanks me. I put the cap back on and begin to stand up to leave him be. But he stops me. 

"Hey, I understand what you're doing for your group, your family." Lamson looks at me. I bite my bottom lip thinking. "You're a real cop," I say to him, "You're a good guy, just stuck between a rock and a heard place. The job I had before all this; that was my job. Seeing the good people from the bad. You're still a cop." I tell him. He nods, looking at the ground. He glances back up at me. "Thank you." He says. 

"What was your job before this?" He asks. "The way you hold yourself, your posture, were you a cop too?" He asks. I look around making sure no one was around to hear; I lean to him and whisper. "Detective in the military." He looks at me after I tell him. "Thank you, detective." He whispers. I stand up and pat his shoulder, leaving him alone. I go to check up on everyone else.

I was a 91 Hotel diesel mechanic and switched jobs as a detective in the military. A few years as detective is when the world went to shit. But I'm glad I have good skillsets under my belt.