REVENGE WITH LOVE : CHAPTER 11 – 20
CHAPTER 17 & 18
THE HUNTED HUNTER
Kracus stood in front of the kitchen counter, slicing vegetables to add to the scrambled eggs he was going to prepare. The bread was already toasting and the espresso machine was brewing coffee. It had been two weeks since the major attack on his life, and the wounds had mostly healed—only a throb or sore ache remained in the affected areas.
He enjoyed cooking. It was more of a hobby than a necessity, and he cooked most of his meals. Even his poor chef, Alan, had given up on trying to keep him out of the kitchen. Alan had made peace with the fact that his boss loved spending time in the kitchen and experimenting with new recipes.
Zeus was lying on his back at Kracus’s feet, trying to get a hold of the hem of Kracus’s pajama pants and tug on them.
Kracus finished chopping up the vegetables and breaking the eggs into a bowl, seasoning it. He picked up the chopping board and the bowl and turned around to go to the burner, but Zeus had the ends of his pants in his mouth, and his sudden movement caused the part of his pants in Zeus’ mouth to rip off, nearly tripping him.
The dog winced, staring up at him.
“Zeus! You almost tripped me, buddy,” Kracus reprimanded, and Zeus spat out the piece of cloth then scurried out of the kitchen.
Kracus sighed, shaking his head. He went to the burner, took out a pan, rinsed it, and poured some oil into it, then turned on the burner. He placed the oiled pan over the flames and emptied the content of the bowl of eggs into it.
Just then, his phone rang in the pocket of his apron, and he took out the vibrating device. He smiled, seeing the ID of the caller; it was his younger sister, Valerie.
He answered the phone call, “Good Morning, Valerie.”
“Kracus! Oh my goodness, I’ve missed you so much. How are you?” Valerie’s voice came through, and he could imagine her beaming from the other end of the phone. Kracus pressed the phone against his ear with his shoulder and used his free hands to continue making breakfast.
He poured the veggies into the eggs. “I’m fine. How was your vacation with your husband? I’m sure it was fun, which is why you got so carried away and never called me during the past two weeks.” Kracus stated with a feigned annoyed tone, and Valerie laughed.
“Come on now, it’s not like that. We got back two nights ago. Don’t worry, to make it up to you, I’ll email you all the fun pictures and memories from our trip to France.”
Kracus smiled as he scrambled the sizzling eggs, “I’d like that. So how’s Jack doing?”
“Jack is fine, and the best husband in the whole world for taking me on that wonderful trip. And Hazel misses her uncle dearly too. I’ll send you these wonderful pictures we took of her at the Eiffel Tower. We’ll definitely be using them during her upcoming fourth birthday party.”
“I can’t believe my girl is almost four. I remember being in the hospital room when she was born and carrying her newly-born tiny self in my arms. Now she’ll be four in a month? Makes me feel kinda old.” Kracus chuckled. He heard the toaster beep, and the glazed brown bread shot out of the machine.
You’re getting old, Kracus,” Valerie teased with a playful tone. “You’re not the only one who can have beautiful nieces. I want some too, along with a beautiful sister-in-law I can gossip with and love.” She hinted that it’s about time for her brother to settle down.
Kracus turned down the heat and attended to the bread. Valerie often teased him about being “single and lonely,” as she liked to call it. He was used to it by now.
“In due time, Val.”
“Oh, dear, I almost forgot about the attack! Please forgive this terrible sister of yours. How are you doing now? I hope you’re okay? Were you hurt?”
“I’m fine, don’t worry about it,” he said automatically. The attack his sister referred to wasn’t the one made by The Torturer but a different one that happened five days ago. “It was Walter.”
“How could he send people to attack your car again? This isn’t the first attack this man has made on your life, brother. That bastard, old man. Our father is dead, why does he keep transferring his aggressions to you!? You weren’t the one who slept with his mistress, for Christ’s sake!”
Kracus chuckled, “Calm down, Val. All I need is one piece of evidence that points at him, and he’s done for.”
“At this point, I don’t even want the law to handle him. Can’t you send one of your lethal guards gunning for his ass? Send the hot-tempered one. What’s his name again… oh yes, Bose. Send Bose to assassinate his old ass.” Valerie hissed angrily.
“You know I don’t operate that way, sister.”
“You’re too righteous for your own good, brother. I say you kill the rat bastard. After everything we went through at the hands of Cullian, why should we take his bullshit? I don’t want to lose my only brother just because he’s being a goody-two-shoes.”
“I think something is going on with his company these days. They are being very secretive about it, but I feel—“
The cry of a toddler in the background interrupted their conversation.
“Ugh, I’ll have to call you back later, brother, Hazel is throwing a tantrum because of her missing teddy bear. We haven’t finished unpacking, so our things are all over the place.”
“Alright, give my regards to Jack, and my love to Hazel,” Kracus said as he dished out the eggs onto a plate.
“I’ll let them know. Don’t worry, Hazel and I will come to spend time with you soon.”
Kracus smiled. “Looking forward to it.”
“Goodbye!” The line went dead.
Kracus shook his head. Valerie had her hands full with Hazel. Just then, the kitchen door opened, and Bose walked in.
“Boss, Harvey is here,” Bose announced, taking in the sweet aroma that filled the kitchen with his nostrils.
Harvey Shawl was his Chief of Security. “Ah, great. Someone to share my toast with since you and Clinton are hell-bent on your jock lifestyle and can’t eat carbs,” Kracus said as he retrieved two teacups, one for himself and one for Harvey. “Send him in.”
REVENGE WITH LOVE : CHAPTER 11 – 20
A few minutes later, Harvey rose to greet his boss as he walked into the dining table, with Bose carrying two plates of his breakfast.
Good morning, Harvey. Come on in and take a seat,” Kracus said with a smile, gesturing to the chair across from him. “I was just making breakfast, so you can join in if you’d like.”
Harvey gladly accepted the offer and took a seat. Kracus motioned for Bose to bring over the coffee, and he did so with a quick nod before standing at attention behind Kracus. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee and eggs filled the room, making Harvey’s mouth water.
“Thank you so much, sir,” Harvey said, taking a sip of his coffee. “This is great.”
Kracus smiled. “I’m glad you like it. So, what have you got for me?”
Harvey leaned forward, his eyes meeting Kracus’s. “Everything is well-prepared, sir. Be rest assured that you’re going to be safe there.”
Kracus raised his eyebrows. He knew Harvey was referring to the two attempts on his life in the past two weeks. The first was an attempt by the Torturer at his home, and the second was a shootout by Walters. The grand opening of their new hotel was in two days time in Massachusetts, and Kracus would be spending most of his time in “The Cardel,” his luxurious boat. If there was going to be another attempt on his life, Kracus had a feeling it would happen on The Cardel or at the new hotel. That was the main reason Harvey was here today.
Kracus took a bite of his toast and scrambled eggs before asking, “What measures did you take?”
Harvey put down his coffee cup and leaned back in his chair. “I hired extra hands to strengthen the security of the new hotel. Highly skilled contract-security guards and patrol guards, all are armed with new surveillance weapons which have good night vision. We got more CCTV cameras set up and good video operators for them. TSA officers have been hired as well, all armed. From these five categories of security personnel, a team of twelve would be deployed on your jet and twenty-three on your boat, sir.”
Kracus nodded, impressed. “Alright. What about The Cardel? It needs extra security, not for whatever loser Walter would send, but against Tesiera Rinderson. The woman is an expert.”
Harvey paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. “That brings me to what I wanted to tell you, sir. With the help of the special surveillance team and a very high-profile security technological company, we are setting a trap in place for her.”
Kracus leaned forward, intrigued. “Oh? Tell me more.”
“We don’t know the plan she might be coming in with, but we are prepared for her. If she comes in disguise, or tries to sneak in pretending to be one of the workers, we’ll be able to identify her because the workers would be given a special chip tomorrow that identifies each and every one of them. The scanner detects the chip and synchronizes with it, that’s the only way the door would open. If any imposter is found, it would immediately detect it because of the unmatching chips and an alarm would be triggered. It’s like a wristband. I have the prototype with me.” Harvey opened his briefcase and brought out a small device that looked like a wristwatch but instead of a screen, it had a chip inside it.
Kracus examined the device carefully, nodding his approval. “Impressive. But I still think you’re underestimating her skills. Since the scanning would be done when the workers start to board, it means we’ll still be at the seabay and wouldn’t have sailed yet. If the alarm goes off, she could simply escape.I have seen her jump down my mansion’s window unscratched, so she can easily jump into the water and swim to shore. A woman like that would definitely have impeccable swimming skills.”
Harvey chuckled, confident in the plan he had devised. “I’m aware of this, sir. The chip reacts badly with water. If she jumps into the sea, she will be electrocuted immediately and die.”
Kracus’s forehead creased in concern. “Die? I don’t want her to die just like that when I haven’t found out the truth behind her motive. I need her defeated and alive so I can understand why the hell she’s intent on killing me.”
“No, Harvey. I need her to be alive. Captured and alive, you have to fix it,” Kracus emphasized.
Harvey tilted his head in thought. “I’m sure some modifications can be made so she doesn’t get electrocuted to death in water. Perhaps enough to pass out. Maybe a taser of some sort.”
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” Kracus said firmly. “I don’t think she’ll try to come in under pretense though. A woman like that would most likely dress up in black leather and sneak in after dark, like she did two weeks ago.”
“We’ll be prepared for her, sir. She can’t attack the mansion anymore because the security here has tripled. An intruder will set off all kinds of alarms a hundred miles away from your bedroom. Naturally, she’ll try to attack you in your hotel room or on the boat, and we’ll get her.”
Kracus nodded in satisfaction, taking a bite of his breakfast. “What if there’s another shoot-out by Walter’s men? I’m getting tired of that one.”
“I have hired some high-profiled combat experts just as I said earlier and they’re situated on both your private jet and boat. They’ll be following you and guarding you,” Harvey replied.
Kracus sighed. “Follow me around? Just how many of them exactly?”
“Five, plus Bose and Clinton, and you’ll have seven in total,” Harvey answered.
Kracus shook his head. “I can’t do that. You know I don’t like an entourage. Those crowds are not my thing. Besides, it’ll plummet me into the public eye and bring more danger to me.”
“Sir, Bose and Clinton are just two men. Though highly skilled, you would need more to protect you at this critical time,” Harvey tried to convince him.
Kracus remained firm. “Nope.”
“Okay, how about I hire one guard for you, sir? Then you’ll have three bodyguards. I’ll make sure to get the best of them. Highly skilled, lethal, with keen eyes, just like Bose and Clinton. Maybe even better?”
Kracus hummed thoughtfully, considering the offer. He had been the target of two major attacks on his life in two weeks, and there was still a deadly female killer out there aiming for him. He could protect himself on a normal basis, but this situation was far from normal. He had no choice but to agree. “Alright then. Look into the best one. Expand your scope, get profiles from all over the world and pick out the most suitable. We’ll interview him, put him to tests, and then, we’ll see what we have.”
“Great idea, sir. I’ll start looking into it, immediately.” Harvey replied, “As for the Torturer, if she has plans to attack you in Massachusetts, she will walk right into our trap.”
Kracus’s lips twitched. If everything went according to plan, two days from now, he would capture Tesiera Rinderson. The hunter has no idea she has become the hunted.
REVENGE WITH LOVE : CHAPTER 11 – 20
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