Matt Hilton - Slash and burn

'Where are you?'

'Like I'm going to tell you?' He chuckled again. 'Don't worry, she's safe. She will stay that way if I get what I want.'

'What do you want?' Inside I cringed. The first tenet of counterterrorism is that you never give in to demands. That was a rule ingrained in my psyche throughout my active military career.

'Let's start with your name.'

'Joe Hunter.'

It was pointless denying my identity; he would only force it from Kate.

'Hunter?' Huffman said. The conviviality of his tone became even stronger. 'Now how ironic is that?'

'Now who's talking cliches?' Next he'd be hitting me with the old chestnut about the hunter becoming the prey. I cut that line of conversation. 'You said you wanted something. I want Kate back. Let's deal.'

'Kate's a beautiful woman. I can see how you'd want her back. So yes, let's deal.'

'You want Imogen Ballard in exchange for Kate?'

'Exactly.'

'I don't know where she is.'

'Find her then. Hunt her down. Bring her to me and Kate's yours.'

'Where will I bring her?'

'That's good, Hunter. No whining about having to find her. No excuses. I like that. You sound like someone I can trust to get the job done.'

'Where will I bring her?' I asked again.

'That's yet to be determined.'

'You're not in Little Fork any more.'

'In a short while I won't even be in Kentucky. However, some of my associates will be. I've put a contract out on your head.'

'Thoughtful of you.'

'Let the presence of my men motivate you. If they kill you, well, it will be a slight hiccup in our arrangement. But, Hunter, that won't stop me. I have Kate. She'll bring her sister to me and I'll have the two of them to do with as I please. If you want Kate back, I'll stand by our agreement: the quicker you bring Imogen Ballard to me the better it is for the both of you.'

'Send your thugs all together, or one at a time. It won't make a difference. I'll send them all back in body bags.'

'Bravo, Hunter. That's the spirit. I know I can count on you.'

'See you soon,' I said.

'I look forward to meeting you.' He let the implication hang in the air. Then as an afterthought he added, 'Keep the phone, Hunter. It will come in handy when you've found Imogen.'

'I'll speak to you soon, but not on this phone.'

Dropping the phone to the floor, I ground it beneath my heel.

Throughout my conversation with Huffman the sickly-looking man had not moved. He watched me destroy the phone with a look of distraction.

'Roger Wallace, I presume?'

The man blinked up at me with his jaundiced eyes.

'Where's Huffman?'

'On his way to Dallas.' He wore a look of resignation, like he'd just realised that his partner had left him to face my wrath on his own.

'I guess that you're just another misguided individual who was forced to do Huffman's bidding?'

He shook his head. 'No. I knew what I was doing. I'm dying. I've a wife and children, I have grandchildren. I want to leave them comfortable after I'm gone. Huffman has given me that opportunity.'

'You're supposed to be a judge,' I said. 'You're supposed to protect the people you serve. Instead you stand by when they're murdered. Noble sentiment about providing for your family means nothing. Not when you're lying. It's greed, Wallace. That's all it is. Greed and murder.'

'You're going to kill me?'

'No. I'm not your executioner. You'll be tried by the people whom you've betrayed.' I rapped him round the side of his head and he fell unconscious at my feet. 'And I guess they'll be better judges than you've ever been.'

Sending Larry Bolan's truck through the front of the restaurant had been a little pointless. I'd been expecting Huffman inside, bodyguards too, and the stunt with the truck had been intended as a distraction while I made my way inside by the other route. Huffman had arranged it so that all I had to do was walk inside and take the phone from Judge Wallace. I'd killed the man on the stairs for nothing. But I didn't let that concern me; I had more important things on my mind. Primarily, who were these associates of Huffman and why had he warned me they were coming?

My first thought was that I couldn't deliver Imogen Ballard to him if I was dead. But it was like he said: my death was inconsequential to his plans. He had Kate, and ultimately that was what would bring Imogen to him. My value was no higher than that of any other of the men he had at his beck and call.

It didn't take much figuring out.

Huffman simply couldn't help himself. He enjoyed pitting man against man. He enjoyed the thought of blood and violence. By promising to return Kate to me, he knew that I would fight tooth and nail. His own men would be coming with the same intention. He'd warned me about them because he wanted us to fight and he was not the least bit concerned by how many of us would die.

He had no intention of returning Kate to me. If I delivered Imogen Ballard to him, both women would die. Likely he'd make sure I died too. He wasn't going to leave any loose ends.

Smashing the phone was a mistake.

I should have demanded proof of life first.

Now I had to accept his word that Kate was alive and that he'd keep her as bait for her sister. Still, to do that, he had to make contact with Imogen. That gave me the luxury of some time, none of it to be wasted here fighting contract killers for Huffman's amusement.

When we'd first arrived in Kentucky, we had booked rooms at a hotel at the airport. I had left my spare clothes and supplies in my room. That would be my first port of call. With the supplies I had fake documents that I could use to book a flight out of there.

I left Judge Wallace unconscious on the floor.

Making my way down the stairs I searched my pocket for my mobile phone. Instead, I found Kate's.

A plan of sorts came to mind.

I rang Imogen's number, not expecting her to answer. She didn't, but I left a message on her voicemail. Imogen obviously knew enough not to use her phone – it could be too easily traced – but I suspected that she hadn't cut herself off with any finality. Maybe she would access her voice messages. With some networks you could do that remotely from any landline.

'Imogen,' I said. 'I'm Joe Hunter. I was a friend of Jake's, maybe he told you about me? Kate has been taken by the men you're hiding from. I'm going to get her back. But I need your help. Ring me.'

Then I could only hope that I was right.

My next call was to Rink.

'I'm getting out of here, Rink.'

'Uh-oh.'

I told him about my conversation with Robert Huffman.

'He's put out a contract on you?'

'So he said. I have to assume he was telling the truth.'

'Unless he's only tryin' to frighten you,' he said, 'so that you deliver Imogen to him quicker.'

'That'd be a waste of time.'

'Nothin' frightens Joe Hunter, huh?'

'Plenty of things frighten me, Rink. Contract killers don't.'

'So where are you going?'

'If Huffman's heading for Dallas, so am I.'

'I'll change my flight plans,' Rink said. 'Join you there instead.'

We arranged to meet at Dallas Fort Worth Airport the following morning.

'You want me to pick up Harvey on the way?' Rink asked.

'We could do with the extra firepower.'

'Harvey will be pleased to hear that. I asked him to dig up what he could on Huffman for you. He's been itchin' to get in on the action ever since.'

We hung up, and I felt a little better knowing that my friends were on their way. Despite my macho words, the thought of having a bunch of contract killers hunting me was concerning. If I failed, Kate would die too, and that was something I was afraid off. I wanted to believe that I had a purpose in this world. My protective side had kicked in and if Kate was to die, that would make me question everything I stood for.