Since the beginning of time; man has taken one role in the survival of the species; the hunter. His role to brave the freezing tundra and bring back food to their partner. Armed with nothing more than a sharpened spear, and their skills they ventured out. Men died; and their partner mourned their loss; but for the ones who made it home to their families they brought the gift of food, to get through the winter.
Those are your ancestors
Tonight we hunt; as we have hunted for thousands of years
He placed a handful of cartridges down on the table
But before releasing you out onto the un-suspecting deer population; it is critical that you have the ability to shoot. And today is going to be no exception to the rule.
If you are good enough today, you will join me on the hunt tomorrow; if you are not, then this will be our final night together.
The range
Stood in front of us; was two large traps each containing ten clay targets. I felt the plastic target in my hand; and flipped the target over, and saw the word Corivisia.
"These are Corivisia targets; the same targets which are used at Olympic level shooting competitions. When these targets are shot; they will produce smoke clouds. If you miss the target will simply fall over the trees. "
A stone-faced man in a black and white polo-shirt, stood forward and stated
"25 Target Single Barrel Championship, shot from 15 meters 13 targets from trap 1 12 targets from trap 2."
He pointed to an electric score-board and continued
"At the end of the shooting; your scores will be displayed on the board. These scores will be determined by my two assistant judges. The contest will start on my whistle. The contest will end when there is someone left who has no missed a shot. "
9:00 The Hut
Heads hung on the walls; adorning the fireplace. Walter sat in his easy chair and flicked through the paper. The man in the other chair nervously sipped his Whiskey. Walter sat the paper down, and gently rested his hand on his shoulder.
"You are new here; so I will let you off but don't you dare do that in my house; while I am reading The New York Times. "
"They want to go in on the hunting trip"
He softly asked
"Do you want another drink?"
I nodded
"What are you going to do?"
I filled his whiskey glass.
"We are going to invite him to The Hut. "
The eyes of the lifeless deer stared through my soul. Walter grabbed a bottle of rum. I heard the bottle cap click as he opened it. He pushed a chair forward; and gently said
"I really didn't take you for much of a hunter"
I took a sip
"My father was a bit of a hunting legend, and he tried to teach us kids the value of hunting for your own food. Sadly I was the only one who showed any interest in it. So every Sunday we would go out to the woods and shoot the rabbits at my father's friend's farm. "
"Did Morty tell you I had an extra spot free?"
I took another sip and asked
"How do you know Morty?"
He leaned close and whispered
"Morty and I are poker friends plus he is dating my sister."
"Why don't you show me where I am staying tonight?"
He smiled and handed me a large, house-key
"This is your house. It is The Hut. The Hut was one of the first buildings on the property. It was a formed mining hostel used during the Gold Rush to house weary miners. But when I brought the property I re-purposed it with a couple of creature comforts from home..."
I saw the deer proudly positioned onto of the fireplace.
"Did you kill that?"
He laughed
"I wish; sadly that was from our last hunting trip. One of the managers from my Denver Officers killed it, and I took it to my friend who was taxidermist. "
As he guided me to through the rest of the room; I saw a series of photos with him, Morty and Ron. I pointed to the photo and stated
"I thought Morty was just a Poker buddy; clearly he was a bit more than that"
He chucked
"It is surely not a crime to invite a good poker player out to meet some of your other friends."
"No you are right."
He pointed to the fridge and stated
"Be careful with the drinks; we are getting up early in the morning"
Present day
FBI building
"We got invited into the lion's den"
My friend grabbed a coffee; and asked
"What did you find out?"
"I know we can't trust Morty"
10:00 The Hut
"I always wondered why you scouted me; it surely was not for my financial talent"
He smiled
"You remind me of your father."
"I remember him. He fought in the same branch as you"
"Yeah"
"I remember the day that the army officer came to my door. I remember the day that he told me that he was shot in the leg and bled to death. And I remember that he told me that you did it."
I picked up the gun and turned the safety off. I pointed it at his temple and exclaimed
"Give me one good reason not to blow your brains out all over this carpet!"
"If you think that killing me will change anything than go ahead"
I pulled the trigger, and heard the gun choke
"Your father defected. On his second tour of duty he found a girl. They were ready to start a life; so i killed him to protect the honor of the branch"
"So you killed him to save face"
He grabbed the gun out of my hands and placed it on the bed
"Have you served?"
"No"
He dragged my hand along the top of his belly
"That is a 38 calibre bullet; a rogue bullet I caught in the line of duty as a door knocker. I was lucky that he was only holding a handgun and not a shot-gun otherwise you would be talking to a corpse. And I don't do it for the money; and I don't do it for the pride
I do what i did so that I stand emotionless as you question the orders I was given. So if you ever want to question my authority pick up a gun and fight"
Aside
(Running from the daylight, by David Kushner)
"This is your stop"
"Thank you Madam"
The young women opened the door and escorted me inside. The bar-owner stood in the office and gently kissed the young girl on the forehead.
"Do you want a drink?"
I surveyed the array of drinks laid out on the drink cart before calmly saying
"A beer"
I heard the crack of the bottle-cap as he popped it open
"Walter has a problem and he wants you to solve it"
"What kind of problem"
"A couple of years ago Walter made an error. He brought stock in Rodney Goodall; and it turned out that he was not honest with us. "
I grabbed another beer
"Don't you normally have a guy that deals with this kind of matter?"
The bar-owner smiled
"He is un-available"
"And you think I am capable of that?"
He leaned in close. I smelt the whiskey waft off of his breathe
"This is the family business; sorry Sarah didn't mention it at the family get together. This is how we keep power; and this is how you show us how loyal you really are"
I pushed him away
"I am sure that kind of tough guy act works on sleazy politicians, but you have no leverage on me."
He slid a grey image across the table
"One of my friends took this"
A half-naked lady lay on top of a glass table; whipped cream slowly ran down her training bra and onto her thong.
"Care to explain"
I grabbed another beer
"It was the final night of freedom before finally settling down. He had a lot on his plate; his fiancé was expecting their first and they had recently made a significant signing. "
He ushered me to continue
"I had been keeping tabs on my ex-girlfriend and I found out that she had an escort service; a tight-knit group of close friends and a couple of regulars, nothing major. So i decided to reach out"
I took a sip
"I told her that he had a kink for blondes with big boobs; so she put on a wig and a tight training bra and ill-fitting panties and headed up"
"Who took the photo?"
The bar owner softly replied
"I did"
"How did you know where I was going to be?"
Sheepishly he responded
"She auditioned for the L.A chapter of the club; she got as far as us marking her before we found out about her side-hustle"
"Does Sarah know?"
He grabbed me another drink
"Sarah is a smart girl, and I am sure she can put the pieces together. But that is not the question. The question is why not telling her about the stripper."
"Because we were a little tighter than that"
"Do go on"
"Clare was a model trying to catch a break and she was staying in L.A while Sarah was out. Modelling had all but dried up; besides a couple of sports illustrated shoots. So I suggested Porn"
"Did Sarah know?"
"Sarah was not a big fan of threesomes; she always said three was a crowd..."
"So you decided to try the old model one more time before it was handed back in"
"He knew about it; and he was there too. "
"He filmed it didn't he"
The bar-owner slid the video camera across the table
"It was the only way to keep him from releasing it."
"So Morty ask yourself one question; what would happen if Sarah found out about your infertility."
"What do you want?"
"I want you to make contact with The Associate and arrange a hit
The associate
Follow me down; the Pretty Reckless echoed out of the speakers. A bludging balding fourty-year old man smokes his Cuban cigar. His left hand curved the edges of his assistant's breasts. The chair swealed with pain as he gently got up and grabbed her hand, and gently rested it on his tight-pants. He dipped the butt in the ash-tray and undid his belt. He kissed her on the top of the head; and whispered
"You know what time it is"
I heard the door.
Roger smiled and put his pants back on
Heaven knows; the pretty reckless slowly fades to static white-noise.
I spied the silver gun on the table; and noticed how similar it was to Walters. I heard the clasp of the cigar box open. He presented me with a cigar and smiled
"Walter told me you require my skills"
I stared around at the harem of naked women and gently asked
"Hopefully I am not interrupting anything"
He pointed to the women and ushered them outside; but not before whispering one of the marked girls I will see you later
"Do you want a Cuban Cigar?"
I shook my head
"I don't smoke"
His booming voice filled the silence
"Stick in this game long enough and you will pick up the habit"
I noticed a couple of signed posters hanging on his back wall. As I got closer I recognised one of them. It was from The pretty Reckless second album. It was the lead-singer naked with a painted black cross with an arrow leading to her ass. Roger smiled and gently said
"It was my first job before I fell into this lifestyle. I was a tour promoter about the time they released their second album Going to Hell. I helped them meet a couple of big heavy rockers who helped them develop their sound on latter albums. And as a present for their success, they gave me a signed copy of that album."
"I read somewhere that it was a little bit more than that. You had a pretty good relationship with her."
He twirled with the gold wedding band on his finger.
"I guess when all of the hype died, and the cheering crowds left the church, that is when I saw who she really was. After Who you selling for we went on tour again; and that is when the infertility and drinking started. It was a release of sorts. She was always drunk; every rock-star and their grandmother did, but the strange men in her room at odd hours was new"
"Wasn't that the album that spawned the hit Take me down"
"It did, but she did not write that song; I did. I had come back later from organising a benefit gig that we were going to do after the tour. I went to wrangle the team to celebrate, and that is when I saw a stranger walking out of her room. I didn't think much of it, because she had a lot of groupies. As a treat I took them to a local night-club. That is when I saw the fan again cozying up to her and when my back was turned, I heard them making out.
As I got closer to confront her, I saw the wedding ring on the table; I filed the next day"
"I am sorry to hear that"
Roger placed the record back into the sleeve; and grabbed a couple of whiskey glasses
"Normally before I talk business; I like to have a drink, do you want one?"
I nodded
I heard the glass softly hit the top of the glass table
"The guy you want is called The Minx Trust me I can vouch for this guy; we did a couple of jobs in my N.W.A days. The only problem is that he is pricey"
"How expensive is he?"
"More than what Walter is paying for my advice"
He stared me up and down before bitterly concluding
"And judging by what you are wearing more than you can afford as well"
He placed his glass on the bench; and ushered me to the door. I leaned in and whispered
"Is the really how you treat old friends; wine and dine them then let them down easy"
"You want to know about the gun don't you? I saw you staring at it as you walked into my office."
He smiled and said
"I can indulge you in one story before you leave"
"After he left the U.N he was a body-guard, celebrities, senators that kind of bullshit. One night he was looking after Logan Luck. He was some rich you-tuber who had a terrible condition of foot in mouth disease. He thought that since he had millions and his parents were senators that he could pick fights with anyone he wanted to, and Walter would stop it
That night Logan had a boxing event that he was hosting; and some twenty something skwarly looking fan got a little too close to his idol. Walter ushered him to his seat and thought nothing more about him; until the final meet and greet.
The fan had a gun; that he had three d printed
He pointed the gun, and shot at Logan. Walter got in the way to stop the bullet from hitting him, and for his service he got the gold gun. "
"That doesn't explain why you have a similar gun"
"A few years prior I was at the same event. The headliner for the after-party had dropped out; some kind of throat infection, and I thought that it would be a great opportunity for a local band I was representing Queens Of the Stone Age. Dave was very paranoid about fans; especially one. He was some twenty something want- able rocker who had audience for the band; and had been rejected."
He cracked a can of Canadian Club
"I told him that it was a VIP only show and if he did turn up they would usher him out.
The set goes well, and we leave for the night. As I am escorting Dave to his car, I notice a figure hovering around Dave's car. As I get closer, I see a plastic gun and I get him inside; but not before he gets a shot off. It grazed Dave's cheek. The figure gets closer and points the gun at me.
Fires.
Blood slowly drips onto the floor. As I stare up into the light; I see the figure move towards Dave. With what remained of my strength; I grab the figures legs and the shot hits the light, covering me and Dave in shards of glass.
The figure leaves
As I am lying in bed; I get a call from Dave saying he got me a gift. It was from the set of a movie that he had written the sound-track for."