Hunter was staring up at the white ceiling of his hotel room. He couldn't sleep, thoughts of his family consumed him. He should have been there that night with them. This was a bad idea, he knew, but Shawn wanted to find him some peace. Finding out who killed his family.
They had traveled from Earth 25 to Earth 1. Meeting with a private investigator who lived in Chicago. They needed this to be as desecrate as possible. Earth 1 was beautiful, but it wasn't as beautiful as Earth 25. Every single region had its own way about it. Some good and others, not so good, but still beautiful in its own way. There were five different regions.
Like the Ruby region, which was lead by king Roman Reigns. It was Summer all year round, but the heat was bearable. The oceans were cool as soon as you stepped foot. Their training takes place on Earth 1, giving each region their own space to train.
Then there was the Opal region, run by Trish Stratus, her region, Hunter and his men loved most of all. Mostly because it was made up of just women, men were only welcomed by marriage or birth. Which was rare. That region usually felt more like Spring time, sometimes Fall, either one was beautiful. Trish's warriors train on Earth 5, which was made up of rain forests.
Sapphire was right next to Opal, sharing the same weather. It was run by King AJ Styles. His men trained in Earth 20, which was a very powerful Earth, it made your fantasies come true. He got along great with both leaders. They were both very understanding and sent him their sympathy when his family was killed. Trish offering one of her best female warriors to keep him company, but he couldn't think about that, not even when a few years passed. He just couldn't hurt the memory of his wife.
Black Diamond region was the worst of all, but it wasn't always, that was before Undertaker took over. His men were nasty and didn't have any respect for the rules, especially when they went to visit other regions. Hunter was glad they were no longer allowed in his region. They were banished after Taker's father tried to murder Hunter's father. They trained on Earth X, which was literally Hell on Earth. It was run by Brock Lesnar, who was Hunter's worst enemy.
Then their was his region, Emerald region. He smiled thinking about his home. After taking over for his father, he tried to keep his region as peaceful as his father did. So far so good, even after his family was killed, he never stopped being King. His people needed him. Bringing down his walls only when he was alone in his room.
He stood, no longer being able to sleep. He walked over to the window and looked out over the city.
"I'm going to get who ever did this to you", he whispered to his wife.
Once the sun was shining, he quickly showered. They were meeting the private investigator in a few. Hunter was enjoying his coffee when Shawn walked into the room.
"He's waiting for us. You ready?", Shawn asked.
Hunter nodded. He ran his fingers through his Wolf's fur.
"Be good Forest", he said, before walking out the door.
They made their way down and to their blacked out SUV. Driving downtown and to an abandoned warehouse. They got off and walked in. Punk was waiting for them, spitting out sunflower seeds before standing. He shook their hands.
"So what did you find out?", Shawn asked.
"It wasn't an accident. The cops who wrote the report were killed two weeks after. Someone didn't want them spilling the beans when you came looking", Punk said.
He handed the file to Shawn.
"The night before the accident, fifty thousand dollars were magically placed in their bank accounts. I tried tracing the account it was transferred from, but they closed it off. The bank won't tell me who owned it. Its against the law.", Punk said.
"Since when has that stopped you", Shawn said, handing the file to Hunter.
Punk chuckled.
"I'll need a few days. Just because I can hake into their database doesn't mean its going to be easy", Punk said.
"They falsified the accounts of that night", Hunter said.
Punk nodded.
"I will also be looking into footage of that night", Punk said.
"Footage?", Hunter asked.
"Oh yeah. Traffic cameras, atm cameras, and any shops your family might have stopped at before going down that road.", Punk said.
"And how does that help?", Hunter asked.
"Because, if this really wasn't an accident, whoever did it must have been following them. There are two different ways to travel to Opal region. Through Sapphire and down the scenic route. No one was waiting for them to pass, they were followed it was the only way they knew which route she was taking", Punk said.
Hunter nodded.
"There also has to be witnesses, but I doubt they'll talk. Especially if they were paid off too or worse, killed by whoever killed these two cops", Punk said.
"Keep in touch and let us know what you find", Hunter said.
"Yes sir", Punk said, before leaving.
Shawn looked at his long time friend.
"I'm sorry, but we were right. Her accident, wasn't an accident at all", Shawn said.
Hunter nodded sadly. Shawn placed his hand on his friend's shoulder.
"We will get whoever did this. I promise", Shawn said.
Hunter sighed and rubbed his eyes.
"Lets get out of here. I need to get a few things from some shops and then we head home", Hunter said.
Shawn nodded.
"And something to eat, we didn't have breakfast", Shawn said.
Hunter chuckled and nodded.
Getting to town, they stopped at a shop before getting something to eat. Walking in, the bell rang over their heads. A short woman walked out and froze, before she composed herself and plastered a smile on her face.
"Hello, what can I help you with?", she asked.
"Just looking around for a bit", Shawn answered.
The young woman nodded.
"If you need any help finding anything, my name is JoJo", she said.
They nodded and looked around.
"She's cute", Shawn whispered.
Hunter rolled his eyes.
"Stop trying to set me up", Hunter said.
"What's wrong with that? Its been almost two years", Shawn said.
Hunter shook his head no.
"She would want you to be happy you know", his friend said.
"I'm just not ready", Hunter said.
Shawn nodded. The continued to look around some more. The bell over the door rang again and they looked over. A man and a woman walked in laughing. JoJo walked over to the man and kissed him.
"I'll be a few more minutes, then we can go to lunch", JoJo said to him.
He nodded.
"Has Lynn called you. I swear if she's still asleep, I am going to kill her", the woman said.
"She probably is. You know how she gets when she's writing", the man said.
The woman nodded and was on her phone texting.
"Excuse me, sorry to bother you. I'm taking my lunch break, so if you need help, my coworker will be able to help you. Her name's Eva Marie", JoJo said.
"Oh yes, thank you", Hunter said.
JoJo nodded and left with the two people who had come in.
"Too bad", Shawn sighed.
Hunter laughed at his friend.
"I'm starving and didn't find anything. You ready to go?", Hunter said.
"Yeah, nothing. Lets go", Shawn said.
They walked out and down the row of stores. Stopping here and there. Buying small stuff they really didn't need. They checked out each restaurant and what they were offering before deciding on one.
"How about we try the first one? It looked packed in there, so the food must be good", Shawn said.
Hunter nodded. They walked in and the waiter told them to sit anywhere. Choosing a table near the open windows. Someone bumped into Shawn and he looked over.
"Sorry", the woman called.
"Its okay, sorry as well", Shawn called back.
They sat and for some reason, Hunter couldn't take his eyes off of the woman. She was beautiful. Shawn waved a hand in his face and he shook his head.
"I know that look. Go over there and ask her for her name", Shawn said.
"No", Hunter chuckled and shook his head.
"Fine, I will. We'll do this High school style.", Shawn said, lifting off his seat.
Hunter stopped him and Shawn laughed.
"You should have seen the look on your face", Shawn said.
Hunter shook his head at his friend. After they had ordered, Shawn tried the food and gagged.
"What the hell is this?", he asked, wiping his tongue on a napkin.
Hunter laughed and gestured for the waiter. After explaining that this was a vegan restaurant, Hunter and Shawn sighed. The young woman Hunter had taken a fancy too explained it to them. He couldn't help his smile.
He took the chance and spoke to her while they were waiting to pay. He hadn't felt this way since Stephanie, apart of him was telling him to stop, but there was a voice in the back of his head telling him this was right.
That same voice pushed him to invite her out. He felt like an idiot when she replied with, Oh. When he tried to recover, it didn't come out as well either. This wasn't like him and Shawn was laughing silently behind her.
He was going to kill his friend.
"Are you busy later?", she asked, bringing him back to her.
"No ma'am", he responded.
He watched as she wrote down her address and phone number before handing it to him. He raised a brow and smiled. She squinted at him.
"You aren't married are you? I don't feel like getting caught in a scandal", she said.
He laughed. He liked that about her. She was honest and caring.
"I was, but we can talk about that when we meet up later", he said, waving the napkin.
She nodded. After saying their goodbyes, he watched her walk out and join her family. He looked at the napkin again, guilt entering him. Shawn placed an arm over his shoulders.
"Don't do that. There is nothing wrong with moving on. She seems like a good woman", Shawn said.
"Maybe I shouldn't call her", Hunter said.
"I saw that look in your eyes. I haven't seen that look in a long time. Don't lose it again", Shawn said.
Hunter nodded.
Later that day, Hunter was pacing. Debating about whether or not he should contact her. He looked at Forest. His wolf lifting his head.
"Should I or shouldn't I?", he asked him.
Forest tilted his head. Before he knew what he was doing, he texted Lynn about meeting at the dog park. It took a few minutes before he got a reply back with a yes. He smiled.
"You stop me from doing or saying anything stupid", Hunter said to Forest.
The wolf barked and Hunter stood to get changed. Grabbing a pair of jeans and a tshirt. His black baseball hat. He whistled for Forest and is wolf followed behind him.
"Good luck", Shawn called.
"I'm going to need it", Hunter called back.
Shawn laughed.
"Watch his back Forest", Shawn called to the wolf.
Getting into the SUV, he drove to the dog park Lynn had told him she would be at. Getting there, he parked and looked around. Spotting her walking beside a little dog who was carrying a leaf in its mouth and taking it to her. She smiled and laughed. Making him smile.
"Man, I don't even know you and you already have me hooked", he said to himself.
He swallowed. He still had time to turn back now. Before he could make that choice, Forest nudged him. He looked at his wolf.
"What the hell", Hunter said, opening his door to get out.
Lynn looked over and saw him. There were only a handful of people with their dogs. She smiled as he walked over.