Free Hero Rising by H.T. Night Page A

werewolf. You’re a purebred, man, not a mutt like me.”
    “Ha, you got me there. You know what I say, Josiah? If we are going to do this, we go full bore. We are going to sleep naked and spoon all night. And there will be none of this front of the spoon bullshit. We will be taking turns being the front of the spoon. I’m not into holding someone all night and get no love back.”
    “You’re such a clown, man. Even after all these years.”
    “Humor is how I process a dangerous situation. You know that.”
    “Yes, I know.” Tommy was an interesting cat. He used humor in every situation. It was his way of dealing with stress and anxiety.
    Tommy decided to switch gears and finally listen to what I had to say. “So, what’s going on? What’s the latest?” he asked as he threw his duffle bag onto the floor and sank into a chair.
    “Sion found out where Hector is being held,” I said. “He’s in a hostel just down the street.”
    “Excellent!” Tommy said. “When do we go get him? Let’s go now.”
    “Not so fast,” I said. I was trying like hell to be rational about the whole situation. And I hadn’t forgotten about my promise to Lena to be careful. “We need to scout out the place first,” I explained.
    “What is there to scout out? We just go in and get him out. Kick whatever ass we need to kick and be done with it.”
    “It’s more complicated than that,” I said. “There are a lot of Tandra there and we don’t want to hurt them. I don’t want to hurt any more of them than I have to.”
    “We don’t have to,” Tommy replied as he got up from his chair and started pacing around. “We’ll just clear out the place. Make them leave. Then take down whoever is holding Hector hostage and get him and leave with him.”
    I sighed. “Tommy, I’ve hired a guy to check the place out.”
    Tommy looked at me like I was crazy. “You hired a guy? A Tandra?”
    “Yes,” I said. “I decided I needed to know a little more about the place, and who is in charge, and Hector’s exact whereabouts if I can. We need an edge, and this was the idea I came up with.”
    Tommy let this sink in. He was raring to go, but now he had to wait.
    I explained further. “Look, Tom. I hired an older gentleman to check in to the hostel and find out everything he can. I paid him a little money but he’s going to get more when he brings me the information I need. Tomorrow. We need to know the layout of the building so we go right to Hector and don’t have to break down every door, man. There could be children in there. We don’t want to scare the wrong people.”
    “Okay.” Tommy was wrapping his brain around this. Tommy trusted me thoroughly, and he respected my decisions.
    “When we get this information from the man, then we’ll plan an attack. I need to call the kidnappers in the meantime and see what their plans are.”
    “Do it,” was all he said. I knew Tommy’s way was to obliterate the hostel. Find Hector and get the hell out of Manhattan.
    I called the number. Again, the phone picked up but no one spoke. “It’s me,” I said. “I’m in New York.”
    “Great!” came the reply. “We knew you’d come through for your friend.” Whoever he was, he wasn’t too smart. That simple comment told me he wasn’t working alone.
    “So, what do you want from me?” I asked innocently. I decided that I would pretend to go along with these assholes, only because it really was the best way to get Hector out of there. I rarely lied in matters of battle, but I had no intention whatsoever of letting them get away with this though. I was bound and determined to make sure they paid dearly for what they had done. That usually meant Tommy and I would be dishing out a hell of a lot of pain. But first I had to know exactly who and what I was dealing with.
    “Hector has several bank accounts, each with several hundred thousand dollars in them,” said the voice, “It is too late to do it tonight. Tomorrow, you will go to