Hunter (Riders of Apollo #2)

Chapter 1: Julian Atlas

Don't kill the cop, Hunter, even Saviour won't be able to get you out of the consequences. Sit down, nod and don't say a fucking word.

I take my seat in the police station, waiting for the detectives to haul me into an interrogation room so that I can find out everything I need to know.

I'll give them the benefit of the doubt considering the HR problem shed their numbers to about a quarter of what a standard police force would need to maintain order. Hence why they are now our best friends, Saviour is bringing in all the bounties while the rest of us try and keep town beef quiet and deal with abusers, murderers, rapists and everything by ourselves.

Let's just say we like to be needed.

I'm here today to talk with the Captain about what they're doing in terms of recruitment but I know they're not doing very well. The whole corruption thing tends to chase away potential coppers, plus we've been recruiting more prospects too as the three we had before were patched in for their work in the attack.

"Hunter, is it?" Some guy that I've never seen before comes over with the beat officer uniform on, he has a baton instead of a gun and seems easy to crush with the littlest effort. His blond hair is buzzed and he has wide blue eyes that look too innocent to do anything useful.

"I'm here to see your Captain." I respond blandly. This happens every time I come in, they really should just show my mugshot to everyone and say 'if this one is here escort him straight to the Captain's office'. It might delay my temper and stop me from killing people but apparently that's not important.

I get up from the seat, towering over his 5′7 with my 6′3, following along behind Tiny and taking the leather seat in front of the Captain. He's a formidable guy, straight backed, proud and ex-military. Like me he's still haunted by the things he saw while he was a Captain in the army, I was a Green Beret.

PTSD episodes still take their root in me, giving me the shakes and nightmares, it's why I only sleep when I've exhausted myself. I ride until I'm ready to pass out or I train until I can't feel my body, there are lots of ways to keep myself awake and coffee seems to be the most effective. I've already had three and its ten am.

"Hunter, I've been able to acquire some more officers from the precinct a few over, they're sending thirty to bolster my forces." His voice is very deep and commands a room, it reminds me a lot of my superior officer and comforts my soul a little. It's why I chose to do this job; I like liaising with him but I refuse to communicate with the others.

"They gonna be a problem for us?" I roll my neck and lean back in the chair, getting comfortable for the next few minutes before I'm on to my next task.

"I hope not, I'll keep them in line but I can't promise that they'll like you very much. I doubt they'll like Pey-Saviour either." I chuckle at that, for one, everyone loves Saviour and two, she wouldn't give a fuck if they didn't anyway.

"We don't care who you hire, Cap, as long as they don't cause issues for us, we'll help you." We shake hands and I make my way back out to my Harley; I rest against it as I check through my texts.

'Get your ass back here for Church.' Bear is at the top of the list, especially considering I have to get back to the clubhouse in about twenty minutes but I ignore that one and scroll down to the person I actually want to hear from.

Marielle.

I haven't seen her in a while, been too busy cleaning up after the last crisis we faced and trying to secure as many deals as possible in a short amount of time. It's been about three months since we brought down HR and we still have so much to do around here; everything is a mess and a lot of our treaties may be firm but could fall through at any minute.

Marielle and Gemma need to be away from this, so I haven't spoken to her very often either. I text once in a while to find out if she's okay and I ask Saviour too many times so I'm pretty sure she knows something is going on.

Still, I can't get her out of my head.

She's slim and her skin is a perfect shade of chocolate, her eyes are piercing and her intelligence is incredible. Her strength after everything she's gone through is admirable; proved the first time we met she was covered in bruises and she was still beautiful.

Gemma is stunning too and, despite her age, is really good at communicating what she wants, the big blue eyes make it basically impossible to refuse her anything and she is the sweetest kid with a big heart. She says her best friend is Runner which I thought was quite funny so they hang out quite a bit since he looks after her while Marielle is at school finishing her degree.

I put my phone back in my pocket without typing out a message to her and mount my bike, heading straight to the clubhouse and resisting the urge to pull up at her house and see her. "What's with the sad face?" Romeo asks as I walk past his office, he's scrambling to pick up his laptop and a few other things he needs for Church.

He may be stacked and covered in tattoos with a massive scar on his face but he really is the clumsiest and most forgetful one of us all. "I'm good, brother, are you?" I laugh as he drops another thing on the floor so I pick it up and carry it for him. I drop it off on the table before taking my seat in between Saviour and Blade.

"How'd it go, Hunter?" Bear asks as soon as everyone has settled at the round table.

"They're bringing cops from out of town to fill their ranks, Cap's gonna try and stop them from causing issues with us."

"I have a feeling they're not gonna like me very much." Saviour mumbles and rests her head on the back of her chair. She's a cunning woman, with better combat and weapon skills than any of us at the table. Hell, she's survived a stab wound to the heart and a few months later is able to drop our biggest guy in the ring.

"Cap did mention that." I tell her and she groans.

"Well shit." She kicks her legs up onto the table as the rest of the meeting commences. The problems we face now are relatively minor, we need to focus on bringing up our numbers and cracking down on the threat we face from the Fire Demons. "I want Slasher dead and I want my mother out of there, Bear. She can't last much longer."

"I know, there's not much we can do right now. They're panicking and we're their first target because we're the closest MC and we run the same things, they've lost connections to the Niners and they can't access the Mexicans."

"I blocked them from the Italians too."

"How the fuck...?" I prompt the question with her since I'm the most interested in how she's managed to create such a large network of people.

"Oh! They shot me a few years ago and when they realised that they'd shot the wrong person they offered me protection and free cannoli. So, I just asked them if they could avoid working with the Fire Demons right now and they agreed."

"Who haven't you been shot by?" Runner and Romeo ask simultaneously, looking at each other immediately afterwards with badly hidden surprise.

"The Canadians." She jokes making us laugh.

"Right, Church dismissed." He bangs the gavel on the table and we all make our way out.

On to the next task.