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This is the third of three posts where you get to meet the main characters of Hunter Hunted so that you can learn more about them.  These interviews are in their voices, not mine, which is crucial for making three-dimensional characters.  Enjoy!

The third interview is with Eric Smith, the leading man of the novel and an antagonist as well as villain.

1. What are your basic statistics?

Basic stats, huh? Are you nuts?  Why should I?  So you can hand over my info to the FBI?  I think you’re full of—  What?  This is PG?  Okay.  I’ll try to keep my language clean.  And my stats.  Okay.  If you have to ask.  I’m five-nine or so.  Brown hair.  Gray eyes.  You want more?  Lots of chicks dig me.  Okay.  I’m from Utah.  I can’t stand my parents.  You don’t believe me?  Try and live your childhood wondering if you’re going to get hit for asking a simple question and because your mom and dad can’t stay sober?

2. What are your likes and dislikes?

Likes, huh? Oh, that’s easy.  Lazing in a hammock on the hot day.  Shooting.  I mean, it’s what I do, right?  Snorkeling around St. John.  Music?  That’s easy.  Calypso.  Reggae.  Rock.  Jazz.  I guess Sugar’s rubbed off on me.  Kids too.  I want to have a passel of them with the woman I love.  Yeah, that’s Jenna.  Can’t say she feels the same for me, and that’s what galls me.

Dislikes? I can’t stand arrogant intellectual jacka—sorry—jerks from big name universities with their fancy lambskin diplomas who think they know more than me because I never went to college. I’d love to put some of them on ice.  I also hate being cooped up for days on end when I’m on a job.  It’s a pain in the rear sometimes when I’m stalking someone.  I also dislike bad food, and I make sure that we have a decent cook in our kitchen at Zack’s.  I’m willing to pay a little more to keep him too.  Oh, I hate hurricanes too since they’ve messed up my bar on occasion.

3. What is most precious to you?

Maybe that should be a who. No, I hate to admit it, but you’ve got it right.  You see, Jenna used to live with me down here on St. John.  Matter of fact, we’d had it going on back when she was Emily.  When she got ready to set up her lair, I knew what I wanted.  I wanted to marry her and have a family.  That required her to stay on St. John.  I proposed with this beautiful ring made of rubies and diamonds.  She turned me down.  Flat turned me down.  Broke my heart.  All because of this dumb obsession she has with taking out Raul Avila.

4. Who has impacted you the most?

That’s your who. Jenna.  I love her.  Even now.  She’s the one who showed me how to live for more than me.  Then she took that and stomped on it.  I guess I’m a fool because I keep wanting to be with Jenna.  You gotta read Hunter Hunted to see how this plays out.

5. If you could describe yourself in one word, what would it be?

Calculating. I know what I want and how to get what I want.  Except Jenna.  What?  You think I’m hung up on her?  You got a problem with that?

6. What is your greatest strength and weakness?

What’s with this psychobabble you’re trying to pull on me? My strengths?  Hey, I have to say I’m a great actor.  I mean, how else could I have grown up in the home of abusive parents?  I’m a man of ambition.  Jenna would call me selfish, but I know what it’s like to grow up poor.  No way am I going back in that direction.  The more money I can rake down, the better.  That’s why I do some freelancing on the side.  Why is this dangerous?  You gotta read Hunter Hunted to find out.

7. What’s your biggest regret?

Won’t you quit with this sh—crap? I don’t like baring my soul to anyone, let alone someone I don’t know.  Okay.  So it’s when Jenna and I broke up that first time.  Yeah, yeah.  I was unfair to her, and I know I hurt her.  It also led to my own little downfall.  No way am I going to share my little sob story with you.

8. What drives you?

Cold, hard cash. Satisfied?  That’s why I’ve started freelancing.  That’s between you and me.  Got it?  You squeal this at all to Sugar, and I’ll hunt you down and find you.

9. What do you want the most?  What do you fear the most?

I never want to worry about where my next meal’s coming from. And I want to marry Jenna.  Yeah, you’ve got two there.  What do I fear?  Sugar finding out about my little job on the side.

10. What is one thing you want people to learn from Hunter Hunted?

Obession is dangerous. Period.

The persons and events portrayed in this work are the creations of the author, and any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

I have not received any compensation for writing this post. The work mentioned in this post is of my own writing.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”