Assassin's Honor

Chapter 15

Before Gabriel went to get food, he decided to find Harold Mortem. He had questions, and he suspected that Mortem had some answers.

He googled the location of the offices of the quarry and headed there. It was a rather impressive two-story office building not far from the quarry site. The modern steel and glass edifice looked completely out of place in the small, sleepy mountain town. Inside was a lavish and expensively decorated lobby and a pretty, bored-looking blond secretary who was slouched in her chair picking at the split ends in her hair. "Hello," Gabriel gave her his most charming and disarming smile, "Is Mr. Mortem in?"

She glanced up and then sat up straighter when she realized how handsome the large man was. “Do you have an appointment?" She asked him properly.

"Well no ma'am, but I'm his son Eric's teacher, and I have something very important to discuss with him." His southern drawl rolled off his tongue, causing a warm flush to color the woman’s cheeks.

"Oh. Oh well, he'll probably want to see you then. Let me call him." She picked up the phone and spoke in hushed tones. She turned back with a shy but flirtatious smile "Yes, he will see you now. You can go in, through that door. Mister…?" She fished for a name, but Gabriel walked past the desk without giving her a second glance.

If the lobby had been impressive, the old man’s office was like something out of a Hollywood movie. A huge, polished mahogany desk sat facing the door. There was a 72-inch TV on the back wall, all the latest computer equipment on the desk, and a collection of statues of gods from different cultures on illuminated shelves and pedestals. Gabriel wondered what would happen if he bumped into a pedestal and knocked one of the priceless statues to the marble floor. He was just about to stretch out his arm and test it out when a gravelly voice interrupted his movement.

"Ah, Mr. Shepherd," Harold gave him a thin smile. He was a man of medium height with thick limbs, and a lined, weathered face. He brushed a lock of iron-gray hair off his forehead. "The boys told me about you. Seems you gave them a hard time over... an unfortunate incident. But you aren't really here to talk about that, are you?” He walked around his huge desk and took a seat. He steepled his fingers and gave Gabriel an assessing look. “I know who and what you are Gabriel Shepherd. I could smell you all the way out in the lobby."

"Fine,” Gabriel sat in the uncomfortable-looking steel chair that was angled in front of the desk. “Let's get right to it. I want to know about the Talbot family."

Harold looked mildly surprised, but he composed his face before he answered carefully, "Tanner Talbot works in my quarry."

Gabriel narrowed his eyes at the older man. "Is that why you protect him?"

Harold's face darkened. "What are you talking about?"

"Honorera Talbot has been mistreated and abused for years, yet you made sure no one could get in there to help her. I want to know why? What do you care about a drunk rogue?"

Harold snorted. "I don't care about Tanner. He's as useless as a wet rag. It was the woman, the sister. She came to me begging me to make sure the kid stayed with Tanner. We made a deal, and she upheld her end of it until the kid's 18th birthday."

"What kind of deal,” Gabriel growled suspiciously, “Money?"

"Every month like clockwork,” Mortem confirmed.

"Why?"

"Damned if I know,” the older man said with a shrug, “but why do you care? What is your interest in this kid?"

"She's my mate." The words came out short and clipped, as though he were daring Harold Mortem to deny it.

Harold threw back his head and laughed. "Your mate? The great Gabriel Shepherd is mated to some back-woods, red-neck, hillbilly kid? Fuck, that's funny!"

"Don't talk about her like that. Show some respect." Gabriel leaned forward, his hand tightening dangerously around the armrest of the chair, his predator’s aura pulsing heavily.

"Oh of course, of course," Harold had the good sense to put on a more serious face, but his eyes showed that he was still amused by the irony of the notorious assassin being paired with a miserable, misfit kid.

"Where is her mother?"

"I have no idea. I never saw her again after that night. The money was wired to my bank from an offshore account with no name. And frankly, I didn't care enough to ask more questions."

Gabriel stared at him in disbelief. "Didn't you wonder why? Didn't you want to know what she was hiding? Why she stashed her kid here? Why didn't she come back?"

Mortem leaned back in his chair. His posture was casual, but there was a thinly veiled warning in his voice as he said, "Mr. Shepherd, this is a town with a lot of secrets. We don't ask a lot of questions here. Everything just runs smoothly that way."