Free The Hunter by Gennita Low Page B

skills, especially when we were running like hell through the jungle. You trekked well, finding us shelter whenever we needed it, and in the end you got us out of that hellish place in one piece. I think you’ll do extremely well here in Macedonia, Hawk.”
    His skills hadn’t been tested much during that adventure. Getting them out of Asia had been made easier when he had been cleared by covert agencies way ahead of him and Dilaver. And now he had gained enough of Dilaver’s trust that the latter wanted to hire him.
    “I still have my one job to do for Stefan,” Hawk said. “Meanwhile, I’ll think about your offer, but only if I know what it entails.”
    “You’re loyal and you finish your job, no matter what. I like that in a man. You deal with illegal weapons and that’s what I would like you to continue to do.”
    Hawk raised his eyebrows. “I thought your girlie business was used to finance your weapon business. What’s there to that? You don’t deal with arms dealers like Stefan does.”
    “Ah, but I’m getting interested, you see,” Dilaver said, tapping his cane on the carpet. “When I was in Asia, I heard about the weapon conference. Stefan mentioned it. Big names. Something big happening there. I want details; I want to get in on the deals, Hawk.”
    “Why? You got it good the way you’re set up. Girls and drugs finance the weapons trade, right? And you arm the KLA and whomever you like.” And had used those weapons to kill some of his fellow SEAL brothers. Hawk gestured at the map of Macedonia that was pinned crookedly on one of the walls. “Why would you want to start negotiating with other arms dealers, man? They would just want a piece of your pie.”
    Dilaver’s smile was confidential. “Do you know how I get my weapons?”
    Yeah, Hawk did, and that was why he was here in this rat’s nest. “Like everyone else, I suppose. Take them off the hands of Russian small-timers.”
    The big man laughed. “Nope. Guess again.”
    Hawk shrugged. “Fuck, Dilaver, we aren’t playing some fucking Macedonian Trivial Pursuit here. There are black market weapons galore everywhere these days. You have the money; you can buy anything.”
    “Yes, but I didn’t buy some of these weapons, you see. They were free.”
    Hawk rubbed his chin. “That’s nice but somewhat unbelievable. People don’t just hand you weapons without expecting something back in return.”
    “But it’s true, my friend,” Dilaver said with a laugh. He waved his walking stick, pointing it at the ceiling. “They literally fall down from the sky.”
    The big man started guffawing, and couldn’t seem to stop.
    “Clearly, I’m missing some big joke,” Hawk said wryly. “You’re just dying to tell me, aren’t you?”
    Dilaver shook his head. “There you go again, with that odd American talk that doesn’t translate well in Serbian.” He frowned, slowly translating the phrase back into English. “Dying…to…tell. What the hell does that mean?”
    “It means you have a secret and you want to share,” Hawk explained, also reverting back to English. “Here’s some more weapon phrases. You’re sitting on a bomb. Or, you’re about to explode. Or, you have a bee in your bonnet, if you’re into skirts.”
    Dilaver put out a hand in helpless laughter. “Stop, you’re killing me,” he gasped. Then he laughed again, adding with amusement, “‘Killing me’…I said some stupid American phrase!”
    Oh yeah, it was something Hawk dreamed about a lot, especially now, when the kingpin was behaving so damn normal, taking delight in a few slang terms like an eager student. It contrasted with the man Hawk saw beating the living shit out of a young girl a few nights ago because she dared to say no to him. He’d had to walk out of the kafena or risk his cover. That one still haunted his dreams. He wondered whether the image would ever go away.
    “Here’s my…bee in my…bonnet,” Dilaver continued, still wheezing with