Claim It! Pt. 02

"Fuck! Dude! You've got to chill. I'm sorry about what happened to Mendoza and Rhodes, but losing it isn't going to help find who ordered the attack on them. Pull yourself together!" declared Don, in a voice Pete had never really heard before. Hughes, momentarily dumbfounded by Don's crisp assertiveness, snapped his mouth shut.

"Don, it's better you don't-" Pete started to say before Don spit out, "Enough, Pete! First, you both run roughshod over my request to be directly involved with the investigation. Secondly, I let you. Third, I get accused of leaking information about the investigation. Enough is enough!"

Turning to Hughes, Don said, "I expected more from you than threats and chest pounding. Get your head out of your ass and in gear. Do what I think you do best- Find out who fucked with you. Then discover why they did it."

Eying both men with a look of disgust, Don, in a voice grating with deep anger and far harsher than Hughes' own stentorian boom, growled out, "Do! Not! Fuck! With! Me! Do you both understand what I am saying?"

Pete and Hughes' sensed the dark change in Don, and it made them both uneasy.

"Now, wait a goddamn minute, you little prick! This is my-" started off Hughes, before Don cut him off.

"NO! YOU WAIT A GODDAMN MINUTE!" rumbled Don, in a voice that was colder than liquid helium. "If whomever took out your people is ready to start shooting, then what do you think of Mendoza's assessment regarding their intentions toward me?"

Both Pete and Hughes appeared startled at Don's question.

"Son of a bitch! It hadn't even occurred to me!" readily admitted Pete in astonishment.

Hughes swung his head from side to side, his eyes scanning the cavern, as if he were looking for something. "Fuck!" is all the huge man said before dropping heavily into the chair.

That's when Don noticed four others, dressed in black from head to toe, standing with weapons ready. He hadn't seen them enter the small cavern, much less realized they carried weapons. Don recognized the rifles as ADCOR A-556 Elites. The only reason he knew about the assault rifles was because of some cable show he'd once seen. The four seemed tense. Don sized them up, as he would a problem on one of his construction jobs.

Hughes observed Don's shark like grin, saw where he was looking and without a word, waved the four men off.

"Okay, Hudson, you've made your point. The attack on my people has affected my judgment. It shouldn't have, but it has." grudgingly admitted Gerald Hughes. "Now, I'm going to do what I should already have done. Pete, I'll be in touch. Mister Hudson..." Whatever Hughes was about to say trailed off, instead, he looked at Don carefully, before giving him a short nod. The large man stood and walked through a offset tunnel, one Don hadn't noticed previously.