Vigilante

Chapter 3

Ash was beautiful. Honey beige skin covered her thirty-four, twenty-six, thirty-six frame. B-cup breast size with an hourglass figure and gentle curves, she was slim, but not skinny. At one hundred thirty pounds and standing five feet six inches tall she was small enough to wear her beloved heels, yet when flat footed, tall enough to be taken seriously. A diamond-shaped face held heavy-lidded, amber eyes with dark, dense eyelashes that complimented her dark, thin, arched eyebrows. Broad, noticeable cheekbones, with a long concave nose gave an exotic look that tapered to a narrow jaw that perfectly featured the dimple she had in her pointed chin. With a thin upper lip balanced by a full lower lip, she was beyond desirable.

Feeling his eyes roll up into his head, Matt worked hard to see if he could ever remember a time when Ashlyn had ever let her wavy, espresso colored hair down. As long as he knew her, he had always seen it pulled back into that ponytail. That was a while now, as he had first met her when he was a Sergeant and she was fresh out of the academy. A rookie patrol officer assigned to the midnight shift that he was in charge of.

The sudden cessation of the ringing prevented Matt from finishing his thoughts.

“Hello?”

Oh boy, she must have been asleep. This was already off to a bad start. “Sorry to wake you Ash, but you gotta come in. We’ve got a situation and the Commander is calling for all hands-on deck.”

His ear started burning. Matt didn’t curse. He didn’t feel it was necessary. But apparently his personal belief didn’t stop Ashlyn from letting that one fly. Did her mother even know she knew that word?

“Come on Matty. It’s my day off! I do not get them very often and now you are telling me that I cannot even enjoy the one I do get?”

Matt felt the muscles in the corners of his mouth tighten. It was almost comical. Big bad Ash was throwing a tantrum? He fought hard to swallow a chuckle.

“That’s an order Lieutenant.”

“Fine. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

“This is a serious situation Ash. Twenty minutes is ten to long.”

#

“What is the situation Captain?”

Matt had always been a great mentor and an even better friend. He was Ashlyn’s shift Sergeant when she first received her post. He was a devoted husband and father that never crossed the professional line, which she had come to appreciate. She came to greatly admire and respect the man.

Yes, she had found him initially attractive, being older than her with his hazel eyes and straight, sable hair that he kept trimmed short. Who would not? Oval face, burly eyebrows, short convex nose and prominent chin that made him look heroic, he stood at six feet even and weighed approximately two hundred pounds. The running joke among those that were under his charge involved his claims that he was constantly trying to lose about ten to fifteen pounds. It had been about seven years since she first met him, and he was still trying to lose that weight. So he claimed. He really did have an athletic build about him, so losing the weight really didn’t matter. Now that he was forty years old though, he had become worried that the extra weight would settle around his waist. Yet you could still find him on a Saturday enjoying that fourth slice of his favorite meat filled pizza.

Being what some would call an active guy, many thought he showed preference to her because she was what they would call a gung-ho cop. So what? As long as she got the job done, it caused her no loss of sleep. Anyway, her instructors at the academy had taught her that rookies will be loved by some and hated by others. The bottom line was to be fair and just. And that is exactly what she strived to be, because that is what Matty was. He had taken her under his wing and showed her how to survive. He encouraged her and taught her what it meant to be a cop. So, if he called her in on her day off, even though she gave him a hard time about it, there was no doubt that she was on her way before he finished his request.

The majority of the force had been assigned to the other side of the city since the President was in town. Even though he had his own top-notch security detail, who left no stone unturned, the Mayor wanted to look good and had dictated to the Chief of Police to make sure that the city’s finest were out and visible. If this displeased the rank and file, it was no matter. Unfortunately, shifting resources like that left other parts of the city vulnerable.

Moving to his left and using her eyes, Ashlyn followed Matt’s gestures as he began pointing toward a three-story brick building located dead in the center of the block.

Stepping back slightly on her right foot and shifting to make eye contact, she began to ingest the rest of the information he was sending her way. This was a bank robbery that had gone wrong and turned into a hostage situation. The police that were now on the scene had surrounded the area and were attempting to set up negotiations with the hostage taker. The SWAT team had not yet arrived, but were in route. Until then, they were blind as they were not sure exactly how many people were in the bank, the number of hostiles, or whether any were injured.

“What about the security cameras?”

“They’ve been disabled.”

Ashlyn suddenly felt her heartbeat quicken. This was not the voice of Matt who was standing in front of her. This voice was husky and powerful and coming from her back. She had not been aware of his approach. Closing her eyes for a second, Ashlyn felt her pulse now in her throat. She felt her breathe escape her body involuntarily. She opened her eyes to look at Matt. His eyes had moved from hers to the man over her shoulder and was now a steady gaze, pupils large. If she was correct, this was going to be spectacular.

Measuredly spinning on her back heels, she turned to face the speaker. She was right, the man was astonishing. The Vigilante!

She had never been this close to him before. Skin tingling, she did not want to stare but was compelled to give him a thorough look.

Dressed in a black vest that was unzipped, and an all-black, form fitting, sleeveless t-shirt revealed sculpted strong arms and a muscular, athletic build. Lean and muscular, he stood approximately six feet two inches and weighed somewhere in the neighborhood of two hundred pounds. Veins all over the place, he had tattoos that covered and stretched the length of his left arm but still could not hide the warm, tanned skin beneath. Allowing her eyes to travel further down, he was wearing black military style pants. The bulge she saw below his waist made her suddenly aware of how warm she felt.

Moving her eyes quickly back up to his face, he wore a black ninja mask that covered the lower third of his face, but couldn’t hide the line of his wide, powerful jaw. She felt a deep sigh at not being able to see his lips or facial hair, if any. His short, umber hair allowed the light to illuminate his broad forehead, long straight nose and flawless skin. Even with her heels on, she had to look up to meet his gaze. His eyebrows were dark and thick. Curly and full, his eyelashes were also dark. His eyes, aquamarine blue, were locked with hers. Her chest felt light, while her heart was pounding.

“Those men in there were caught unawares.” He was speaking to Matt, but his eyes never left Ashlyn’s. The longer he looked, the weaker her knees grew. If he did not stop talking and look away soon, she knew she would collapse under her own body weight. “They were trying to get in and out before your arrival. Hold your men back. I’m going in to get those people out.”

Ashlyn felt her stomach go empty. This would not do at all. Publicly, the vigilante was condemned by the mayor for operating outside the law. However privately, the men and women on the police force lauded his work. He could go where they would not go, do what they could not do. He never once asked for reward or recognition, and often left the glory to the police. For when it was all said and done, and the bad guys defeated, he was nowhere to be found. From all the stories she had heard, he had never once taken a life, yet on many occasions he had thoughtlessly risked his own in the protection of others. Including her fellow officers. But not this time.

“NO!”

Ashlyn was shocked at the sound of her own voice. Taking a deep breath in an effort to steady herself, and kicking herself mentally for her lapse, she spoke again.

“No, we cannot allow a civilian to be placed in harm’s way. Even an extraordinary individual such as yourself Mr?”

“Call me Cain.”

The sound of that deep, scratchy voice threatened to undo the little composure Ashlyn had achieved. She wondered if anyone else had noticed what little restraint she had. She wondered if Matt had seen. She wondered if the man who wanted to be called Cain had seen.

“Well Mr. Cain, we have set up a perimeter surrounding the bank and are now awaiting our tactical forces. For your own safety, we’re going to need you to step back and, wait a minute. How did you get through our perimeter?”

“As you said Detective, I’m apparently an extraordinary individual.”

Impressive, Ashlyn thought. Though the man had maintained constant eye contact with her the whole time, he had noticed her Detective’s badge resting on her belt. Or maybe he had not? While she was giving him the once over, was he checking her out as well? Or was it more than that? Though they had never officially met, or been face to face prior to today, had he heard of her before? Was she known to him?

Too many questions rolling around in her head, and not enough time to get them all answered. Was that her training kicking in, or was it something else? Something more emotive? Damn, more questions.

“All units, hold your fire. We have an emissary going to try to make contact.” That was Matt’s voice. Turning back around, Matt indeed had his radio transmitter to his mouth and had just finished giving the command. Perhaps it was not too late to stop Cain before he went and jeopardized not only his life, but the lives of those inside. Going in blind like he was attempting to was not only foolish, it was extremely dangerous to all involved.

“Mr. Cain…” Rotating around once more, the sentence need not be completed. He was gone. How the hell did he do that? “What, wait. Where did he go?”

“Glad you’re back with us Lieutenant. If you close your mouth and wipe the drool from the side of your chin, you’ll see that he has already gone over to the building.”

Shit, Matt had noticed. While she was lost in thought, Cain had moved towards the bank. The man was fast and had a powerful, unique stride. Focusing her eyes, she noticed for the first time the weapon he carried. It was a sword, and he carried it behind his right arm. The metal blade, which she could only guess from this distance was steel, reflected the sunlight from its smooth polished surface. It ran the length of his arm, stopping just short of the top of his shoulder. The handle appeared to be made of gold. Stiffening her neck, she wondered how she had missed that thing when she first saw him.

The man had covered the distance between them and the bank at twice the speed of a normal human being. His movements were quick and efficacious, almost catlike. She had no doubt that this man could be lethal if he so desired.