Whiskey & Roses (The Xander King Series Book 1)

by Bradley Wright

  “I totally understand. They said our suite will be ready in an hour.”

  “Well then, let’s talk about a few things so that I can have something to work on this evening while the two of you are off sniffing after some cats in heat.”

  “Business? Already?” Kyle winced.

  “Go ahead, Sam,” Xander encouraged. He knew she was looking for something to occupy her mind.

  “All right, first, Darryl says he may have a lead on that anonymous text message you received before you were attacked at the house in Lexington. He says he knows where the burner phone was purchased.”

  “I may just have an idea of who sent that message as well.” A vision of Sarah Gilbright flashed in Xander’s mind. “But, yes, I don’t care what time it is when you find out more on that, call me and let me know what it is. That is priority one.”

  “Of course. Also, one of my sources messaged me and said he had something urgent about Khatib. Obviously it isn’t all that urgent now, but he says he has details about what he was in trouble for in the States around the time of your parents’ death. So I will obviously follow up, just so you have all the facts. Dirty as they may be. Lastly, and I know we have spoken about this before, but he keeps reaching out to me. Now he is insisting that he meet with you.”

  “Who?” Xander guffawed. “The big wig Director Manning?” The look on Xander’s face was one of amusement.

  “You know he wants us to work with the government and you know he’ll use whatever info Gilbright has been gathering on us to do so.”

  “No, Sam, I have no interest in what he has to say.”

  “We cannot avoid him forever. He’s the head of the CIA, for god’s sake.”

  Xander paused. “Hell with him. I’ll pay Sarah Gilbright a little visit when we get back.”

  Kyle couldn’t help but smile. He had been going on and on about the gorgeous woman at the King’s Ransom bourbon launch party in San Diego since they ran into her. He thought her all the more sexy when Sam told him she was a special agent for the CIA.

  “Thank you,” Sam replied, then turned to Kyle. “So, what are your plans today?”

  “Well, that depends. Xander, are you going to try and see Natal—”

  Kyle’s eyes shot over Xander’s shoulder toward the entrance of the café.

  “Well, speak of the devil and she shall appear.”

  Kyle nudged Xander and pointed to the other side of the café.

  Natalie Rockwell.

  “Go say hello!” Kyle nudged him again.

  Xander slid back his chair, and just as soon as he got up, he sat right back down. Disappointed. It wasn’t the fact that she’d met a man there. It wasn’t the fact that she threw her arms around him. No…it was the look in her eyes when she did so. It reminded him of the way she’d looked at him just one long week ago. At least it appeared that way from across the room.

  “Ouch. You seemed to have frightened her away,” Sam said, then immediately apologized because she realized how it sounded.

  “Shit, X, I’m sorry,” Kyle empathized.

  “It’s okay, no worries. Listen, I’m gonna run and check on the hotel room and then we can get a jump on the sights if you want.”

  “Sounds good. We’ll just wait here.”

  “All right. I’ll be back in a few.”

  Xander grabbed his duffel bag and as he got up he accidentally pushed his chair too far back and it lightly hit a beautiful woman getting up from a table with her equally beautiful friend. The woman looked up at him and her face turned from annoyed to one that clearly showed she found Xander attractive.

  She smiled and spoke flirtatiously to Xander.

  “Well, I don’t mind being hit on, but I feel like there are better ways.” She reached out her hand. “Shanda Bateman, this is my friend Elizabeth Hall. What’s your name, handsome?” Her accent told Xander she was from the South.

  Xander took her hand. “Xander King, and this is my friend Kyle Hamilton.” Kyle bolted to his feet and said hello. Sam rolled her eyes. “Sounds like you ladies don’t hail too far from where we come from; I’m guessing Georgia?”

  “North Carolina actually. Kentucky?” she asked.

  “You’re good.” Xander looked over at Kyle and knew exactly what the smile on his face meant. Especially after he noticed the tattoo on Elizabeth’s ankle.

  “We’re here for our girlfriend’s wedding. It’s not till next Saturday, but we just thought we’d come out a little early and find some trouble.”

  “I promise, if it’s trouble you seek, you needn’t look any further.” Xander smiled.

  “Now that, I believe.” Shanda laughed.

  “Is it too early for a drink,” Xander asked.

  Shanda looked over at Elizabeth and smiled. “You know it never takes me long to find trouble.” Elizabeth nodded and Shanda turned back to Xander. “We’d love to.”

  “Perfect. I have to run across the street and check on our room and then I’ll be right back,” Xander told her as he winked at Kyle.

  “Sounds good. Don’t be too long, handsome.” She smiled.

  Sam interrupted. “If you’re going to check on the room, remember, I had to put it in my name.”

  “Okay, thanks, Sam. Be right back, ladies.”

  Xander turned from them, walked along the back wall, and slinked out the side door of the café. Natalie never saw him. On his way across the street to the Hotel Le Bristol he stopped and bought two dozen red roses from a street vendor. He didn’t know Natalie’s room number, but he figured that if she was on shoot here, the production company was picking up the tab. That meant a suite on the top floor. He passed through the lobby, hopped in the wrought iron and glass elevator, and rode it all the way to the top. When the elevator door opened he stepped out into the hallway and found a maid’s cart. A young lady in uniform walked out of a room with folded sheets in her hand.

  Xander approached. “Excuse me, I’m sorry to bother you, do you speak English?” The woman shook her head no. He noticed on her hip sat the master key. “Ummm, let’s see…Natalie Rockwell?”

  She smiled, nodded her head excitedly and as a reflex looked at Natalie’s room. She practically pointed him to it.

  Too easy.

  “I-I love her,” the woman managed in a thick accent, “b-but I—”

  “It’s okay,” he interrupted her. She had already given him all he needed. Xander smiled and took one of the roses from the bouquet and handed it to her. As he dropped his hand from hers he swiped the master key from its clip. The young lady was so excited she didn’t even notice.

  “Merci! Merci beaucoup!” She smiled and turned down the hallway to the next room to show her fellow hotel maid. They looked back at him; Xander just waved. As the woman happily waved back her coworker said something to her sternly and pulled her inside the next room. Xander took advantage, hurried across the hall, swiped the key to Natalie’s locked door, and quickly shut the door behind him. Natalie had left the patio doors open to the view and he could see an empty table out on the balcony. Traces of her perfume she’d sprayed before she left the room delighted his senses and a flash of their night together in Lexington flickered inside his mind. He walked over to the balcony and sat the roses down on the table. He reached inside his duffel bag, pulled out a bottle of his King’s Ransom bourbon whiskey, and sat it on the table beside the roses. Xander took a step back to see what Natalie would see when she found it. In the distance, sitting directly over the top of the whiskey and the roses sat the Eiffel Tower.

  He wanted to be with her, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

  Whiskey & Roses

  “Gilbright, where the hell is he?”

  Director Manning shouted at her from the other side of his desk. His face was as red as a crayon and Sarah was sure he was going to pass out. She knew flying the Gulfstream all the way to Russia and not seeing a single sign of Xander King was going to cause him to blow a gasket, but she didn’t think he actually would. Not until right n
ow, his eyes bulging and veins popping. She knew her answer sure as hell wasn’t going to help his gasket either.

  “I don’t know.”

  “That’s it? I don’t know? That’s all you’re going to give me? Some special agent you’re turning out to be. Did I make a mistake here? Are you helping him?”

  “Helping him? Helping him what? I don’t appreciate you—”

  “I don’t give a baker’s fuck what you appreciate, Gilbright!”

  Manning’s decibel level had officially gone through the roof. It literally rattled her bones.

  “There was a massive terrorist takedown in Syria last night. Somehow, no one knows a single goddamn thing about a scheduled operation, Black Ops or otherwise. forty-five dead, including Sanharib Khatib, and, imagine this, Sean Thompson. That mean anything to you?”

  “Sean Thompson is dead?”

  “That’s right, the same Sean Thompson that you said left on a plane with Xander King from the Bluegrass Airport in Lexington Kentucky.”

  Sarah’s heart turned a flip and then sank to her gut.

  “Xander?”

  “Xander what, Gilbright?”

  “Is he okay?”

  “Are you listening to me at all? I just asked you where he is. You are the one that watched his plane leave.”

  “Yes, and then I went to Russia to find him. Not…Syria.”

  “Well, either you helped Xander, or you are just shit at your job.”

  “But, why would Xander go after Khatib? It makes no sense.”

  “Obviously, he is under the impression that Khatib killed his family. Is that true? Did you know this and run smoke for him in Russia?”

  “What? No!” Sarah stood up and put her hands on her hips. “I went to Russia because our intel says it was Dragov that was involved with the killing of Xander’s parents. Why would he think Khatib—”

  “Cause Khatib was in the oil business. Had dealings in the US around the same time King’s parents were murdered. How the hell did you miss this?”

  “I-I—”

  “I-I-I…you had better get your shit together, Gilbright. And it had better be fast. Find out where the hell he is. Now that Khatib’s operation is destroyed, Ahmed Abdallah—the nastiest son of a bitch in the Middle East—is going to become even stronger. The things he will be able to do with Khatib’s money and operations will be devastating!”

  Sarah was speechless. All of this information was too much to process at one time. She stood staring at the medals displayed on Manning’s desk. She did so until Manning pounded his fist on the desk, violently shaking her from her trance.

  “Are you listening to me, agent?”

  She looked back up at him, lost.

  “Y-yes. Yes sir. Just tell me what I need to do.”

  Manning took in a deep breath and calmed himself.

  “Find King. He and Sam took out an entire terrorist cell, by themselves as far as we know. Does that even compute to you? It doesn’t to me. Everything I said in that meeting with the directors last week, all I did was undersell Xander King. He is far better than I even imagined. But if he’s not working for us, he’ll be working for no one. And, Agent Gilbright, that can’t happen. He will save hundreds, maybe thousands of American lives if we use him in the fight against Abdallah. Use whatever it takes. I need to know if killing Khatib was killing Xander’s parents’ murderer. If so, we find something else. However, if it’s Dragov that had them killed, Xander needs to know, and only when he promises—in writing—that he is again one of us. It goes without saying that if we don’t get Xander, you don’t have a job. Is that clear, Ms. Gilbright?”

  “Crystal.”

  “Natalie, come, sit! It is so good to see you,” Jean said to her. She took a seat beside him, looking out across the street.

  “It’s good to see you, too, Jean. Sorry to keep you waiting. You are as handsome as ever.” She smiled.

  “And you, are the most beautiful sight in Paris. How has your holiday been thus far?”

  “It’s been great. This is such a gorgeous city. I just love it.” She took a sip of the specialty cappuccino he had waiting for her. “Wow, Jean, this is delicious! Thank you!” Her energy was infectious.

  “You’re very welcome. I knew you would love it. So, are you ready to start shooting tomorrow morning?”

  “I think so. I’ve been over and over the script. I really think this movie is going to be a lot of fun to make.”

  “I agree. I am just happy to be a part of it with you,” he said to her, but she did not reply. Natalie instead had a perplexed look on her face as she peered out the window to the street.

  “Natalie? Are you all right?”

  “W-what? Oh…yes, I’m sorry. You know what, I’m a little chilly. Would you mind if I run across the street and get my coat?” she asked him, still seemingly in another place.

  “We can get it when we finish our cappuccino? No?”

  “I’m sorry, I’m just gonna run across the street. I’ll be right back,” she insisted.

  “Okay, okay sure…no problem.”

  Natalie hopped up from the table and almost ran out of that café. As Jean was asking her about starting the movie tomorrow, she was sure she’d seen Xander at the flower stand. She knew it was silly, but as spontaneous as she knew him to be, she couldn’t help but see for sure. If she didn’t, it would ruin her entire day. She rushed across the street and glided through the hotel lobby. She looked all around the grand room but there was no sign of Xander. She noticed the check-in desk and hurried over.

  “Hello.” She smiled at the gentleman behind the counter.

  “Miss Rockwell! Yes! What can I do for you?” the attendant asked exuberantly.

  “I need a big favor.”

  “Anything for you, Miss Rockwell, anything.”

  “Could you tell me if an Alexander King is staying here this evening?”

  “Hmm, that doesn’t sound familiar, but let me check.” He began to tap away at his keyboard as he stared into the computer monitor. “I’m very sorry, Miss Rockwell. There is no one staying here by that name.”

  “Oh, okay. Well, thank you.”

  Disappointed, she walked to the center of the lobby. It was a bit chilly out, and besides, after interrupting Jean at the table, she couldn’t possibly go back without getting her coat. She walked over to the elevator, rode it to the top, and walked down the hall to her room.

  I swear that was Xander…sheesh, pull it together, Natalie.

  She laughed at herself as she opened the door. The first thing she saw stopped her dead in her tracks. Straight ahead of her, out on the balcony table, sat a bundle of red roses. The same roses she could swear she saw Xander buying on the street just a few moments ago. Her heart raced as she whirled her head around the suite, hoping her eyes would find him. But they didn’t. As she moved closer to the balcony she could see that something else was sitting beside the roses. The air escaped her lungs as she cupped her hand over her mouth.

  “King’s Ransom whiskey,” she said aloud, “he was here…I knew it. I really did see him.”

  She bolted back for the door, flung it open, and looked frantically back and forth down both sides of the hallway. All she saw was the maid. The maid waved excitedly at her, a single red rose tucked inside her hair. Natalie forced a smile, waved to her, and then walked back inside her room. She paused just inside the door and for a moment she thought she could smell his cologne. She let out a sigh and wandered her way back out onto the balcony. She ran her fingers across the soft, damp petals of the fresh red roses. She removed one from the bouquet and brought it to her nose. The sweet aroma filled her senses. Hundreds of thoughts raced through her mind, but the fact that Xander wasn’t in the room meant he wasn’t planning on seeing her. He must have seen her with Jean. She took a deep breath and took the bottle of whiskey in her hand. She missed him, and he clearly was thinking of her.

  Below her, Xander and Kyle were walking out of the café, two beautiful women on the
ir arms. She couldn’t see this from where she stood; she could only see the beautiful city of Paris beyond the flower-covered rail. Natalie closed her eyes and took one more long inhale of the sweet rose. She knew her business with Alexander King wasn’t finished just yet. What she didn’t know was how long she could wait to be with him again. She had asked him for space, and though she was still so confused about who Xander really was, all she wanted to do was be with him. She clutched the whiskey bottle tightly against her chest. She could tell by the fact that he had been in Paris that he, too, struggled with the thought of life without her. Xander had remembered the sad, but beautiful words she told him her father always used to say. It was in that moment she understood exactly what Xander meant by leaving whiskey and roses for her on that balcony. And how appropriate it was for the moment.

  Roses to remember him.

  Whiskey to numb the pain.

  Letter from the Author

  Dear Reader

  Thank you so much for taking time out of your inevitably busy schedule to read Whiskey & Roses. I realize there are a million other things you could have been doing, and I am so proud that you chose to spend a few of your precious hours with my imagination. I love hearing from readers and you can reach out to me on social media or just use that old fashioned thing called email: info@bradleywrightauthor.com. (That’s right, email is now old fashioned. Some twelve-year old told me Facebook is too. You’re welcome.)

  Xander says hello. He comes around and has a drink with me every once in a while. Son of a bitch always sticks me with the bill. Right now he is making his way back from Paris. He mentioned that he and Kyle are going to make a pit stop in Vegas. He invited me, but I reluctantly had to pass. I am just too busy writing.

  I’ll let you know what Xander gets into in Vegas and all of his latest shenanigans when I release Vanquish, XK2 on October 5th. Head over to my website, www.bradleywrightauthor.com and sign up for my newsletter. That way you won’t miss any info about XK2, or any of the other stories I’ll be releasing soon.