CHAPTER 3: A HUNTER'S INTUITION

It had been six hours since I left the graveyard, and I was starting to get hungry. So, I decided to stop for lunch at a cute restaurant. They did a great job of making it look like a sleek ‘80s American diner using cool tones.

As I waited for my food to arrive, I pulled out my computer and began to do some research to see if Urk had any properties in the area. I knew it was a long shot, but sometimes criminals are stupid. So, color me super surprised to find that Urk owns a mansion. I pulled up satellite maps to see what was around the building. The mansion was built in a wooded area. It’s surrounded by tall, thick white brick walls with only one entry point through the front gate.

There are cameras that overlap to make sure every nook and cranny is visible. There are four floors above ground, and I’m sure there is a basement. I found the floor plans, and it does have four floors. I saved the address and information on my desktop in case I wanted to pay him a visit at his mansion.

I doubted he kept the children where he lives, so I continued to look at other properties. I could not find anything that fit his operational requirements.

I then looked into his acquaintances’ properties that were listed. Most of them live in Urk’s mansion, but some have external properties. Unfortunately, that was a bust since they are all in upscale gated communities, which means too many eyes and buildings around for any privacy.

Just as I was about to look up abandoned buildings in the area, the waitress came with my food. So, I put away my computer and ate my lunch.

While eating, I thought about Urk. There is something that keeps bugging me about him being here.

This is the first time that anyone has spotted him or any of his upper leadership since he took over 20 years ago. There have been many contracts on him, I’m sure, but with him being practically invisible, the contracts were never available to accept.

So why now?

It was unheard of to see the Don and his upper leadership even before Urk took over.

When you pay people to turn their heads and look the other way, you are able to hide your business dealings successfully. If they did spot Urk, then they would get eliminated. After all, dead people don’t talk.

That is why no one knows my identity. Mainly because I keep my face covered so no one can identify me, but also because anyone who may have seen my face never lives long enough to share my secret. For all anyone knows, I am a dude.

The more I think about it, there are two options. The most likely option is that the information is out of date. They do this to throw anyone looking for him off his trail. Yes, it is possible he really was here a few days ago, but he is long gone by now. When he left, they had a person stay and spread rumors saying he was there. They do it all the time.

The other option is that the information is true. Urk is here right now and was spotted passing through Türkiye. If that’s the case, whoever saw him got extremely lucky they weren’t caught, or they don’t care if anyone knew.

Which still begs the question: After 20 years, why now?

The other thing that bothers me is that he has been here long enough to purchase and move into a mansion, but there haven’t been any reports of missing children in the area. They are all up north in Russia, 10 hours away. Sure, they could have been taken from farther away, but that doesn’t match their patterns. Unless they are still setting up, and that’s why they haven’t started taking children yet.

I was brought out of my thoughts as the waitress stopped by and handed me the bill. I walked up to the counter and paid for it before returning to my seat.

I continued to do some more research on abandoned buildings in the area. I looked to see if any of the buildings had a rise in electricity, indicating that someone was using it.

There were several possibilities, but none that met their operational criteria. Most were too public or too small.

After an hour of coming up empty, I decided that was enough for now. I packed up and left the restaurant.

A few hours later, I entered the southern border of Russia. I drove high up into the mountains. Deep within the woods where my contact, Corey Jameson, lives.

The first time we met was four years ago on my first contract. There was an open contract with a drug lord, and I ran into Corey. I told him I was a private investigator on a job, so we teamed up.

I didn’t lie, there was a reward posted by a man to bring his wife home. Turns out she was taken to pay off his gambling debt, and I was going to collect both rewards until I ran into Corey. Still to this day, Corey has no idea that I am an assassin like him.

I rescued the women while he was taking out the bad guys. I was coming for the last injured woman when I saw Corey get overpowered by several men. He was on his knees with a gun pointed at his head.

I tucked the woman away in a safe place and burst through the door. I threw a knife into the neck of the guy holding the gun, which gave Corey the opportunity to get free.

I took several hard hits because I needed to pretend to be a decent fighter, so I didn’t give away being more than a private investigator.

It was the only time I ever kept my face uncovered. I wanted to protect my private investigator cover story. I made sure that no cameras saw me and no one other than Corey and the woman were left alive who saw my face.

He got the money for the mark, and I got the reward for bringing the woman home. Win-win in my eyes.

It’s not like I need the money. I have more money than I know what to do with. So, when I brought her home, I told them to donate the reward to an orphanage.

Corey has helped me a lot since then by providing information on missing people. This will be the first time I have seen him since we worked together all those years ago. We normally only spoke on the phone.

I slowly drove up his driveway and stopped in front of an old, rustic log cabin. It looks like no one has lived here for years. Which is the point if someone wants to keep a low profile and live off the grid. I would bet the inside is in better shape.

Vegetation started to grow up the side of one wall. One of the windows is cracked, and the screen door has tears in the mesh, and it looks like it is about to fall off its hinges. There is a little front porch with a wooden rocking chair and a smaller side porch for storing firewood to keep it dry. There is a big log in the front yard with smaller logs around it that need to be split.

To the right of the house is a brand-new Dodge Ram. I’m not a truck or Dodge fan, but it looks surprisingly nice. I parked right beside his truck and got off my motorcycle.

As I was about to step onto his porch, he came out of the front door holding a shotgun. He is a tall, skinny man with short blond hair and green eyes.

You would never guess he was an assassin with how small he is, but I have seen this man fight, and he is no joke. He knows several forms of mixed martial arts and knows how to use his body as a weapon.

“Woah, it’s just me, Max. I was wondering if you could help me out,” I say, freezing on the spot with my hands up.

I would have called before I got here, but I don’t know if he would have stuck around to talk.

“Depends on what you need,” Corey replies with suspicion in his eyes, still not lowering the shotgun.

Has he figured out I am just like him? I wondered.

Corey is an observant person who, no doubt, could probably put the pieces together. He has always had a no-nonsense, just get it done personality, which is one of the things I like about him. He is also great at technology. I have seen him hack into some of the best security firewalls like it was child’s play.

“I am looking for a missing child, and, as I was researching, the number of missing children continues to rise, but their location is still a mystery. I was wondering if you have heard or know anything about it since you are from the area,” I say, trying to keep up the private investigator act. I hate to lie to him, but I need this information.

When he doesn’t say anything, I continue, “Several families have contacted me since I accepted the first job. There is no pattern for missing children. They are of different colored skin, ages, genders, hair color, and eye colors. There is nothing to determine what their target description is,” I say, trying to describe how Urk operates without saying his name.

Corey stands where he is, not moving. He is still pointing the shotgun at me while he thinks. I can tell he is trying to determine if he trusts me enough to let me in to talk. Talking on the phone is completely different from talking in person to an assassin.

He is the most paranoid assassin I have ever met. It really makes me wonder how he has lasted as long as he has, but then again, maybe it’s why he is such a great assassin.

After several moments, he lets out a sigh and made up his mind.

“Okay, fine,” he says, lowering the shotgun, and I sigh a breath of relief, “I am only telling you this because you have earned my respect, and I hate that people do this to children. I am not completely heartless. You saved my life, but after this, we are even,” he says.

I nod, and he continues. “There has been chatter of a new player,” says Corey. “He goes by the name of Urk, and he is a part of the mafia.” He looks at me with a serious face and continues. “He is not someone you want to mess with. He is a monster who specializes in human trafficking globally, and word on the street is that he is setting up a base here somewhere.”

He turns and waves me inside, so I follow.

I was right, the inside looks good. His home has an open floor plan with one bedroom and bathroom. They are both on the left side of the cabin. On the right side is the dining room and a small kitchen. In the center is the living room.

There is nothing hanging on the walls except for the TV and kitchen cabinets. I head over to the black leather couch and sit down.

“How did you come by this information? If you know he is here and what he is doing, why is nothing being done? You clearly have the skillset.” He suddenly turns to me with death in his eyes, so I quickly added, “Sorry, I wasn’t accusing you or anything. It’s just that you said you hate it when people do this to children, and you sounded angry,” I said, extremely cautious, making my voice sound small and a bit shy. That calms him down just enough.

“He is too powerful to take on alone. One misstep, and I am a dead man. Plus, there is no money in it for me,” he said with indifference in his voice.

What do you expect from a killer, rainbows and puppies? I thought.

“Word on the dark web is that Urk has been looking for local muscle. I know you can take care of yourself. I have seen you fight and have incredible accuracy with knives.” Shit, he saw and remembered that. “As I just said, Urk is not someone you want to get involved with. He is a scary dude, and no one comes out alive. Rumor has it that he broke every bone in the previous Don’s body before beheading him and taking over. He is no match for a single private investigator,” warns Corey, but he doesn’t know it’s too late. It would also seem that my secret is still safe.

“Woah, he sounds really bad,” I say, trying to sound scared, “but I can’t let these kids and their families down. I will take any information you can find. I talked to the local police, and they said that if I could give them any intel on where the kids are, they would be willing to help me bring them home. I’ve done all the research I can, but without knowing the area, I am extremely out of my depth and don’t know where to start,” I said, lying through my teeth. Just about everything I said, but the last bit was a complete lie, and it would seem he was none the wiser.

I guess if I ever want to leave this business, I could always try my hand at acting.

“I don’t know where his base is, but I can do some digging for you. Like I said, after this, we are even.” He is giving more than I expected.

“I would greatly appreciate that, but please be careful. I don’t want them to find out you are digging around and putting yourself in danger,” I say, trying to be concerned for him.

Seriously, I deserve an Oscar.

“Psst, please, danger is my middle name.” We both chuckle at that.

“Well, I have taken enough of your time. Here is my number,” I say, handing him a business card for my private investigator business, “call me if you find out anything.”

I get up and head to the front door as he follows.

“Thanks, I really appreciate your help,” I say as I walk out the door and head to my motorcycle.

Without looking back, I swung my leg over the seat and started my motorcycle. I then drove down his driveway as I let out a sigh of relief, that I didn’t die today.

That went better than I expected. Hopefully, I will get a phone call sooner rather than later, I thought.

Just as I made it to the main road, the sun started to go down, and since I didn’t know the area, I decided to stop at a hotel a couple of towns over.

I parked my motorcycle and checked into a hotel room. When I enter, I check the room to make sure it is clear and safe. After clearing the room, I locked the door.

I put my bag on the desk and headed to the shower. When I got out, I put on a t-shirt and shorts, then climbed into bed.

After a couple of minutes, I start to feel drowsy, and before I know it, I am fast asleep.

Four hours later, I am woken up by my phone ringing. I looked at the caller ID, and it was blocked. Corey.

“Hello,” I say, wide awake.

“Hey, it’s Corey. I found several residential houses for Urk and his crew, but nothing that would work for his operations.” Seems he hit a dead end too, or so I thought. “However, I did find one potential location further outside of the search area you gave me. It is an abandoned facility that has had power readings for the past 5 months and is located deep in the woods. I looked up who owned the property, but there was no information. I did find that it was an old military facility that closed down in the late ‘80s. I just sent you the address.” Corey has no idea what he just did for me.

I am going to burn that place to the ground.

“Thank you, Corey, for getting back to me so fast. You have no idea how much you just helped those kids,” I say, thankful I risked asking him for help.

“I owed you one,” he said, then quickly added, “I know I said we are even, but if you need any help in the future, you have my number. If you ever repeat this, I will hunt you down and kill you, but I appreciate you helping the kids.”

“Will do, bye,” I say with a chuckle, then hang up.

My mind was going a million miles a minute, so I couldn’t get back to sleep.

By the time the sun was up, I was packed and headed out the door.

Time to take down one of Urk’s operations, I thought as I walked out the door and drove away towards the address Corey sent me.