Chapter 4
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Breakfast was served on the patio buffet style. Fouchon was already seated when Casey came out. Pik was helping himself to bacon, eggs, and hash browns. Orange juice and coffee were already on the table.
Fouchon looked up at her as if seeing her for the first time. "I trust you slept well." He asked. "Yes, wonderfully" came the quick reply. Casey was dressed in jeans, a t-shirt and sneakers, her long hair in a high ponytail. "You had mentioned target practice this morning. I hope I'm dressed ok." Casey said. "You are dressed appropriately." Came the terse reply from Fouchon.
Casey piled her plate with a little of everything. Pik sat in wonder as to where she was going to put all that food. And watched with amazement when she cleaned her plate.
"I'm ready, when you are!" she said stretching her arms over her head. With that the two men and one woman headed to the ATV mule parked at the edge of the patio.
Within a matter of minutes, they arrived at what looked like a miniature street scene straight out of a movie. Pik shuffled his feet on the ground before looking at Casey with a small grin. "We like our practice as realistic as possible. There are pop-ups set on timers. Shoot only the targets with guns. When you are ready, I'll start them" Casey was amazed at this. This was like a Disneyland for shooters!
She checked the four clips for her Ruger 9mm pistol and the chamber on the S&W 38. She was ready. But before she started, Fouchon decided that she should see how it was to be done. "Pik, go first." Pik merely shrugged his shoulders, pulled his Glock 9mm and said "Ready!"
With that, Fouchon flipped the switch setting the targets in motion. Pik crouched and ran, shooting at the targets that randomly popped up. He hit all 10 out of 10. Perfect as always. Casey smiled at Pik; he merely cocked his head in return. Casey stepped up to the starting position." Ready!"
Casey ran shooting at the targets, the last she took out with a tumbling roll. 9 out of 10 targets. Not bad for a first attempt. The one target that did not fall, she had shot in the groin. Pik did not think that it was "by accident" but a statement. As she walked back to the men, Pik gave her a mock salute. Fouchon merely looked bored, but did manage a "very nice" without adding "for a woman".
Finally the gun that she would be using tonight was brought out. Casey had never seen anything like it. Laser sights, with night vision, the rifle was heavier than Casey had planned, but after shooting a few test rounds, she knew that she would be able to handle it, as did Pik and Fouchon.
Target practice continued until after 1 pm. The hunt was for 10 pm. They returned to the house for lunch after which Fouchon returned to his beloved music room. Pik asked Casey if she rode horses, which he took from the smile that flashed on her face meant yes! "Come on, there are 4 horses in the barn, we can ride down to the river." The two walked side by side. Pik slowed his step to match hers. Fouchon watched from behind the curtain of the music room, not particularly liking what he saw.
Saddling the two horses, both Pik and Casey mounted easily and took off in a slow trot toward the river. Stopping in a grassy area along side the river, Pik stepped down from his horse. Seeing Pik dismount, she followed suit. He held out his hand and she took it. It was the first time since early this morning that he had touched her. A tingle shot up her arm and to her heart. Oh my God, she thought, I love him. For the first time in Pik's life, he was unsure of what to say. He wanted to tell her to go home, forget the hunt, forget him, but one look into her eyes and he couldn't do it. Forget the hunt, yes, forget him, no.
They tied the horses to tree limbs and settled on a patch of grass. The kiss that followed sent shockwaves though both of their bodies. Pik had her jeans and panties down to her ankles before she had even known they were gone. Casey fumbled with the snap of Pik's before finally getting it loose. He was in her a moment later. Sliding the whole length of him in and out of the dripping core of her womanhood. His climax came fast and hard. With a final shutter, he relaxed onto her. Taking great care not to squish her with his full weight. Casey's arms were wrapped around him. Never in his life had Pik felt that he belonged to a woman. Casey had laid claim to him in one night, or was it one kiss. He rolled off and brought her over onto him. Her head resting on his shoulder, his arm around her, his hand resting on her smooth hip Pik was content. They made love several times over the next 5 hours.
Finally, Pik reluctantly said, "It's time to go back." Holding his hand out, he helped Casey to her feet, brushed off the grass and picked a weed out of her hair. Without a word, they mounted the horses and headed back to the house. Both knew that if they said anything, the words would be wrong and the spell broken, so they said nothing.
After putting the horses up, they climbed the outside stairs to the balcony to enter their rooms that way. Neither wanted to explain their disheveled look to Fouchon.
Dinner was at 8pm. Casey had dressed in a simple shift as her jeans had grass stains. Fouchon could not resist a comment on their long ride this afternoon. " So did you enjoy your little ride with Pik to the river? You were gone long enough." Casey shot Fouchon a glance with hatred in her eyes before answering "Yes, I have never seen the river from that angle, you can ride for miles along the bank." The tension in the room made dinner almost unbearable. Finally the last dish was cleared.
"Get dressed for the hunt. We leave in 30 minutes." Casey spun around and all but ran to her room. Oh she hated that man…he could really get to her without even trying. She turned around smack into a hard chest, Pik's chest. His finger to his lips to indicate that she be quiet. He took her into his arms and kissed her. They wouldn't have time after the hunt. Pik was going to make sure she was gone quickly. He had thought it out, he would pack her bags after she had dresses and gone down stairs, and put them in her truck. They were going to take her truck anyway along on the hunt. One of the jeeps had broken down and they needed another vehicle. With her bags in the truck, she could just leave from the hunt. He had it planned down to the last detail.
"Get dressed quickly and go back down. I'll be there in a few minutes. And Casey, wear the body armor in your bag." With that he left the room. Casey was dressed and back down stairs in less than 15 minutes. When she walked in the room, Fouchon actually nodded his head in approval of her outfit. She was dressed in black from the tip of her black boots to the black turtleneck sweater that concealed the body armor she was wearing. The 9mm rested in its shoulder holster and the 38 was in a holster on her hip. She carried a black windbreaker jacket to conceal the guns from prying eyes.
Fouchon was dress in like fashion as was Pik when he entered the room minutes later. "Everything is ready." He stated. "Shall we go?" Fouchon asked.
Fouchon got into his black Jaguar, alone, as was his custom. The two trackers drove the Jeep, two men on dirt bikes pulled up, Pik walked to the driver's side of Casey's truck. Casey had just started to get in; when Pik simply said, "I'm driving, slide over." She didn't have a choice in the matter as Pik was already climbing in behind the wheel pushing her butt over as he did. As the interior of the truck became black when Pik shut the door, Casey did not notice the two bags in the back seat.
Pik did not say a word during the drive to the hunt site. Neither did Casey.
It only took 30 minutes to get to the area that had been decided on for the hunt. To the occupants of the truck, it seemed an eternity.
They reached the destination and both leaped from the truck like a snake was after them. Fouchon got out of his Jag and walked to a bridge where a lone man was standing. Casey and Pik followed behind Fouchon. The man on the bridge stepped into the faint light. What was this? This was not the man that Casey had chosen. What was going on? "Pik!" Fouchon roared. "This is not the man our client, careful not to use Casey's name, chose!" Pik merely shrugged his shoulders, "That man had an accident, I decided to choose another so our Client would not miss her hunt. This substitute is ok with you, isn't it?" Directing the question at Casey. Casey simply nodded.
Fouchon glared at Pik. "I'll discuss this with you after the hunt!" Fouchon turned to the man. "Do you understand our proposition? You get $10,000.00 if you make it to the river without getting killed. But the object is for our client to kill you!" The man replied, "I understand. I'll make it. No woman is going to kill me." The contempt this man had for women shocked Casey. She would have no problem killing this man. None whatsoever. "Fine, you get a 5 minute head start. Get going!" With that Fouchon turned and headed back to the Jag. The anger at Pik's change emanated from him. Pik shifted his shotgun to his shoulder before turning to Casey. "Let the hunt begin."
The trackers on bikes caught up with the target not 6 minutes later. Casey was out of the truck and running after him. What she didn't know was the target thought to even things up. He had a pistol hidden in his pocket. Casey fired off a few rounds, not wanting to hit her target yet. She decided to play cat and mouse for a few minutes. This angered Fouchon more. And brought a very amused look to Pik's face. She was enjoying the hunt, he thought. She understood his feelings. She enjoyed it as much as he did.
The target decided he did not like the idea of the hunt and began firing back. This brought both Fouchon and Pik instantly alert. This was not in the plans. Casey felt a bullet graze her cheek. That was it. The game was over. The next clear shot, Casey took. One bullet and the man lay sprawled on the damp grass. She walked over to the body. Without bending down to check, she knew he was dead. The eyes that stared back at her now beginning to glaze over in death, reflected disbelief. A woman had killed him. Casey lowered the rifle, finger still on the trigger, and started to walk to where Pik and Fouchon were standing. Pik passed her on his way to check the body and retrieve the money belt.
"Good kill". Casey merely dipped her head. That part was over, now for the last bit of business to attend to. Fouchon asked her if it was worth it? Casey smiled, "Yeah, it was." Fouchon didn't see her tip the rifle toward his mouth. All he felt was the white hot of the bullet as it entered his brain. Casey felt the strong hands yank the rifle from her hand. She looked into Pik's face; it was devoid of emotion, almost like he had expected this to happen. Pik grabbed her with the other hand and jerked her roughly toward her truck. "Get in! Get out of here and don't look back. Forget about this, forget about me!" he was all but screaming at her. He reached in and started the engine on the truck. It was then he noticed the blood on her cheek, with a tender touch he ran his finger along it. Wiping the blood that trickled down her check.
Tears flowed from Casey's eyes as she drove away. She would never see him again. It was over.
They say that time heals all wounds. Casey was beginning to have serious doubts about this. It still hurt to think of him.
She still wanted him.