Chapter 9: Rachel In Charge

It was mid afternoon before they were able to leave the sheriff's substation. Bill Parker and Rachel took turns as they tried to convince Mark that Fender was one of the good guys and worth keeping. Parker gave up and returned to the station. As the three left to return to the Willows, Mark suggested they eat lunch.

While they sat in the So-So Café, Mark turned to Margaret, "You want to work for me?"

She told him, "I already do. I am part of the security team at the Willows." She grinned at his confusion.

"You mind letting me in on the joke?" he asked.

"Mike was murdered." She dropped all pretense of humor. "Is that funny enough for you?"

"Oh hell." Mark could not speak.

"Mark, Mike became certain someone was planning to kill him after a couple of suspicious traffic accidents. He set up a special fund and tasked a team of us to look into his death, if what he feared came about. It did, he was murdered and it was made look like another heart attack." She sobbed once, "He died and we have been looking; so far with no success."

"Where are the other members of your team and how are you all financed?" Rachel asked.

"Our pay is carried in a contract for security services addendum buried in the Hunter Investments budget as part of the maintenance costs section. The Willows is listed as a subsidiary of Hunter Investments. The other team members have all tried to infiltrate Hunter Manufacturing. Something is definitely out of kilter about their Security setup."

The familiar sinking sensation was back. Mark asked, "I already own The Willows. Any paperwork that says otherwise is a forgery. What about the Hunter Manufacturing Security Division?"

"Have you been out to the corporate headquarters lately?" Margaret asked. She studied him close up.

Mark looked back at her just as close. "I have never been anywhere near there. Mike had that planned for later."

"How much do you know about corporate security practices?"

He became impatient with her vague questioning. "Look, if you have something to say, say it. So far all I have seen out of you is world class clumsiness, vague questions and damned few answers."

He leaned forward, both elbows on the table, "Either make sense or hit the road. Okay? I don't have time for pop quizzes."

Margaret took a deep breath and sighed. "We believe Hunter Manufacturing has begun a bid to take over Hunter Investments International from within. In an incestuous stock buy up, Hunter Manufacturing has purchased almost eighteen percent of Hunter Investment's stock. Key people at Hunter Investment have disappeared, been injured or quit. Paperwork and electronic records have disappeared and financial records were either altered or removed.

"I can't believe you are as incompetent as you act. If you were, you would not have the brains to breathe." Mark stood up from the table. "Rachel, let's go." He walked out of the restaurant and left silence behind him.

"Wait Mark, what is the matter?" Rachel followed him as far as the entrance to the café. She watched him approach the Ford.

"Come get in the car," he called to her as he climbed in on the passenger's side.

Suddenly he jumped back out to go return to the cafe. He had left the papers from Claude's briefcase on the table. He barely made it to the door when the Explorer exploded. It turned into a raging ball of flame. Mark was knocked back against the still half opened door by the concussion. He fell half in and half out of the doorway.

"What happened?" Rachel asked. "My new car exploded. Will they blame us for it?" She chewed on a knuckle and stared at the flaming pyre in the parking lot.

Mark saw Bill Parker had the private files open. One finger held his place on a page. "Take your hands off that file, Dumbo. Do it now or I'll tear your ass off you and hand it to you on a platter."

"This time you're mine, little man," the deputy hissed. He shoved the table at Mark and stood. He made a feint toward Mark and shoved the table again, with his foot this time.

Mark slapped the table with his hand and the Formica top broke away from the metal base. "Iron hand technique, Dumbo," Mark taunted him.

Parker realized he had underestimated Mark Hunter. He realized this was not the soft faced white kid he thought Mark to be. He saw the focused anger on Mark's face and realized Mark intended to use him as a punching bag. Mark leaped into the air, and dropped back into place. As he landed he rolled sideways, executed a kick to the big deputy's knee and rolled behind him.

"Drunken Monkey style," he taunted as the deputy fell forward and landed hard. His right knee was struck hard again.

"Your ass is mine!" Mark shouted as he continued his assault on the deputy. Parker made a try for his sidearm and got his wrist broken. Mark handed the gun to Rachel and said, "Hold this."

"Oh my god!" she breathed. She had seen violence and even witnessed a drive by shooting, one time, where she lived. Never had she witnessed the raw violence this baby faced teenager displayed. She gathered the files and replaced them in the folder.

Two sheriff's deputies came in the front door. Mark called them over. He pointed at the downed deputy and said, "He attacked me and I protected myself."

He turned to Margaret, "Have you figured out your stupidity yet?"

"Mark, stop it. You are acting like a spoiled brat. Just settle down and tell me how we are going to get home," Rachel commanded.

"Call Rhonda Wheeler and tell her to come get us and take us back to the Willows.

The deputy looked down at Bill Parker. He called for the paramedics. A fire engine finally arrived and put out the flames.

Mark looked at the lieutenant from the sheriff's office that came out with the others. "Call the FBI," he ordered.

"We know our business." The lieutenant turned his attention to the big deputy as the paramedics carried him out.

"Rachel, call the FBI." Mark stared straight into her eyes. She felt he could see down into the depths of her soul. "This county mounty couldn't find his ass with both hands and a road map. We need the big guns right now."

He turned to Margaret Fender. "Well, have you figured out what your biggest screw up was?"

"I am certain you'll be more than willing to demean me for my ignorance," she told him in a bitter voice.

"God, you still don't get it. You clowns tried to play Nancy what's her name, junior detective and screwed up bad. You should have realized after Mike was murdered that you were out of your element. Right then you should have called in the feds. There is evidence that interstate crimes have been committed here, plus stock manipulation. But instead, you bumbled around and made things worse."

"Mike did not trust the federal government, especially the FBI and the IRS. He told us never to go to them. We honored Mike's wishes."

Mark shook his head. "Yes, you honored a dead man's wishes and almost got Rachel and me killed." She dropped her eyes when she realized how right he was in his assessment.

Rachel handed the telephone to the lieutenant. "Here, he wants to speak to you."

The lieutenant talked and listened, then handed the telephone to Mark. "Here, he wants to speak to you."

"Mark Hunter here."

"Mister Hunter, this is special agent Harold Bastain. We would like to meet with you at your uncle's lodge tomorrow morning at ten o'clock. Would that be convenient for you?"

"Sure. We need to find a ride into town. Then we can be out here again in the morning. If we are late, please start your search. You have my explicit permission."

"Ah what search?" the agent sounded cautious.

"The one you plan to conduct tomorrow. You are looking into the affairs of Hunter Manufacturing, aren't you?"

There was silence for a moment. Then Special Agent Bastain said, "Okay, we'll see you tomorrow." He disconnected.

Margaret came up to Mark and looked down at the floor. "Mark, I apologize. You were absolutely correct. We were out of our depth and we let our emotions run us. We were following the orders of a dead man. Let us help in the one area we can, as bodyguards. We are quite good when we stick to what we know, personal security."

"You're on. Please help us get back to my house and then get the rest of your bunch out to the cabin. You do have some way to contact them don't you?"

She nodded and said, "Yes."

"You people must come back to the substation," the lieutenant told Rachel, Mark and Margaret. "We still have to take your statements."

The lieutenant took Rachel's statement. The deputy took down Margaret's. Rachel and the lieutenant argued about the wording. "Sir, you have omitted some of what I told you happened."

He tried to act innocent. "All I left out were unimportant details not germane to the issues at hand."

"Oh but they are sir. Your version of my statement makes it appear Mark was the aggressor. Deputy Bill Parker threatened Mark with a brutal beating. Deputy Parker made the first move. He tried to hit Mark with a table, twice. Mark protected himself." Rachel began to raise her voice.

"You will either sign this statement or join your boyfriend in the lockup.

"Hey, that is enough of that." Mark had entered the lieutenant's office unnoticed by anyone.

"You're under arrest!" the lieutenant shouted. Another deputy led Mark away.

"Rachel, get me a lawyer up here," Mark told her in a soft voice. "This is a setup."

One hour later Rachel and Margaret walked out of the substation to return to the city. Their destination was Mark's house. Rachel called to check on Cole. "Cole is my son," Rachel told Margaret.

Margaret nodded and wondered aloud, "Why do you think that lieutenant charged Mark with assaulting an officer?"

Rachel frowned, "My guess is that he is angry at the way Mark beat up on Deputy Parker." She shook her head, "He's my boss and all, but he still scares me bad when he goes off like that. He's like a rampaging lion."

"Are you sleeping with him?" Margaret asked.

"Ah, well not exactly." The question flustered her.

"Be careful he doesn't hurt you. He has a lot of anger inside him. After what I saw him do to Bill, there is no way I would ever spar with him. He's too willing to inflict pain and not afraid to take it in order to dish it out."

Rachel agreed, "I've watched him in action three times and had the hell scared out of me each time. I also saw another side of him when he was around my son Cole. Cole idolizes him."

Rachel blushed and added, "He is quite tender at times." She was embarrassed she had revealed so much of herself to the older woman. Margaret smiled and nodded.

Rachel's first thought when they placed Mark under arrest and charged him with assault of a police officer was fear for the deputies. She remembered the young man's supreme confidence when he defeated Deputy Bill Parker. "I'm worried about what might happen to Mark if that idiot Lieutenant Talbert pushes too hard."

Rachel followed Margaret away from the Substation. "Well, Mark did tell us to get him an attorney. I'll call the bank and ask around. I also need to get in touch with my assistant and try to learn what has happened there.

Margaret stopped and turned to face Rachel. "Please don't call the bank. Harold Osterman is one of the people Mike did not trust. He said Osterman was either dirty as hell or a brainless pervert."

Rachel snorted, "I can tell you the answer to that one. Harold is a pervert, pure and simple. The cleaning crew that came in after hours was staffed with illegals. Two of the young mothers brought their daughters with them. Harold molested both girls. One mother protested and was picked up by the INS that night on her way home after work."

Rachel frowned and took a deep breath. "The other woman ignored Harold's antics and kept her job. She finally got a chance to steal a cash box Harold forgot to put away and disappeared."

"How do you know this?" Margaret demanded.

"I overheard Harold complain to his boss. The theft was covered up and life went on in the jungle."

"You just gave me another of the missing pieces of the puzzle. Harold or his boss could be wide open for blackmail, perhaps both." Margaret thought for a moment. "We have to leave Mark in there for right now. I'll take you to the bank and drop you off."

"Wait, why do we have to leave Mark locked up?" Rachel's eyes narrowed. "Are you trying to get a little payback for the way he treated you?" She thought she saw a guilty look on Margaret's face.