by Sable Hunter
By
Sable Hunter
&
Ryan O’Leary
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
SAXON’S CONQUEST
All rights reserved.
Copyright 2018 © Sable Hunter & Ryan O’Leary
Cover & Formatting:
JRA Stevens, Down Write Nuts
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher
Sexy – thy name is Saxon.
Saxon Abbott is a hero. A crime fighter. An Equalizer. A computer genius. Truly a man of unmatched abilities… until he meets his match. His nemesis. The mysterious, A.G Hart. From the moment their paths cross, Saxon is blown away by her beauty, and captivated by how much they have in common. He is as attracted to her brain as he is to her sexy body. While they are incredibly drawn to one another – they can’t seem to stop rubbing one another the wrong way.
Gaining acceptance into the boy’s club, that is the tech world, hasn't been easy, but Alivia Gertrude Hart has never come across an obstacle she can't go over or plow right through. She is driven and determined to succeed, spending her time writing computer programs to catch serial killers, and creating robots with artificial intelligence that will change the world. Having a man in her life is a complication she intends to avoid – until a certain irresistible hunk decides she will be his ultimate conquest.
Alivia manages to escape Saxon’s clutches until fate steps in and takes control. When someone starts killing Texas beauty queens, Governor Kyle Chancellor can think of only one person who is perfect to assist Saxon and his fellow Equalizers in solving the case. A quick call from the Governor is all it takes to draw Alivia into a new mystery to solve and put her in tight quarters with the one man who sets her body, brain, and soul on fire. Now, this couple of high-powered, self-proclaimed nerds are on the case and ready to solve the murders, if they can keep from killing one another first…
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
About the Author
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CHAPTER ONE
PROLOGUE
A few steps behind
Deva Abbott slid the homemade chocolate layer cake adorned with ten brightly lit candles in front of her son. “Happy birthday, sweetie.” Her heart swelled with pride as she looked at Saxon. He was so smart, and Deva was so proud of him. She just wished they were in a position to do more for him.
“Thanks, Mom and Dad.”
“You’re welcome, son.” When he looked up at her with excited eyes, she almost hugged him, stopping herself just in time. She knew he wouldn’t have appreciated the gesture, not in front of his friends. Instead, she raised her hand to stroke his hair, then instantly drew it back when she noticed how chapped and ugly her skin looked. Immediately, she hid her dishwater roughened hands in the folds of her apron, ashamed for any of the other boys to see them.
“Blow out your candles and make a wish.” Hal, Saxon’s father, signed the suggestion.
“Okay!” Saxon’s eyes grew wide at the sight of the cake. He loved chocolate. Leaning forward, he stared into the flames, considering if he wanted to make a wish or not. The whole ritual seemed childish to him. Making wishes was just kid stuff. Still, his mother and dad expected him to do it, and he didn’t want to disappoint them. He usually kept his elbows off the dilapidated piece of furniture, but at the moment that didn’t seem to matter, his rowdy friends were pounding on the lop-sided oak table, yelling ‘make a wish!’ right in his ear.
Blowing out the candles, Saxon closed his eyes and let the words form in his mind. I want to make Saxon’s Conquest the best game in the world. Not only would he bring his imagination to life, but he’d also have money like his friends, and his mother and father wouldn’t have to work so hard. His mother wouldn’t have to clean other people’s houses, and his father could have a proper hearing aid.
“What’d you wish for?” Micah Wolfe asked with a mischievous grin on his face.
“He can’t say, it won’t come true,” Kyle reminded their friend.
“Yea, there are rules, Wolfe.” Titus Landry made a practice of backing Kyle up at every opportunity.
“Rules. Who wants to play by the rules?” Micah folded his arms over his chest. “I want a corner piece, Mrs. Abbott.”
“Very well, Micah.” Deva divided the cake for Saxon’s guests, making sure her son got a corner piece also. “There’s plenty for everybody. Who wants ice cream?”
“Me! Me!” Billy Walsh piped up, blowing a birthday horn into Micah’s ear, who promptly twisted it out of his grasp. “Hey!”
“Is there any more punch?” Titus held up his cup, a tell-tale red mustache adorning his upper lip.
“Sure, there is,” Micah answered, waving his fist in Titus’s face. “Where do you want it?”
“You guys are crazy.” Saxon smiled at their antics while his dad poured punch refills and his mother dished up vanilla ice cream. He was happy to be celebrating the day with his friends.
Once they’d cleaned their plates, Titus tossed a flat package toward the birthday boy. “Time to open gifts!”
Saxon caught it handily, a big grin on his face. “Oh, thanks. You shouldn’t have. Isn’t that what I’m supposed to say?”
“I’ll take any stuff you don’t want,” Micah announced, handing Saxon another gift, this one clumsily wrapped. “Be careful opening this; something might jump out at you.”
Before he knew it, Saxon’s arms were full of presents. His heart beat with excitement as he made room on the table for them all. “Wow, what is all of this?” The first one he opened, Titus’s gift, was comic books. “Hey, great! Spiderman! My favorite, thank you!” The next gift, from Micah, was as unexpected as the boy himself. When Saxon opened the cardboard lid, he halfway expected a tarantula, or something similar, to jump out at him. To his surprise, there were four tickets to the next Longhorn football game. “Wow, thank you!” He made eye contact with both Micah and their friend, Kyle Chancellor, a nonverbal signal that they’d go together.
“They were a gift to my dad at his work, and he doesn’t have time to go with me. So…”
Micah’s voice trailed off, and Kyle covered up the awkward silence by pointing out the present he’d brought for Saxon. “Mine next!”
Saxon didn’t need any more encouragement than that; he knew K
yle’s gifts were always amazing. The Chancellor’s were wealthy, and they were also his mom’s employer. No matter, Kyle was a good friend. He never acted superior, even if he was one of the privileged. With wide eyes, Saxon stared into the box at the brand spanking new Game Boy. “Oh, my God, Kyle,” he whispered reverently. “I’ve been dying for one of these. Thank you.”
“No problem, dude.” Kyle clapped his buddy on the shoulder. “I’ll give you some of my games too. I’ve got plenty.”
As Saxon opened the rest of his gifts, he didn’t see the look that passed between his mother and father. When it came time to open the present from them, they stood back to see his reaction.
“Thanks, Mom and Dad!” He made sure the degree of enthusiasm for this gift was just a bit bigger than for the others he’d received.
“That’s awesome, Sax,” Kyle said to his friend when Saxon peeled back the gaily colored wrapping paper from a video game.
Saxon studied the front cover closely. “I’ve been wanting this; you know that.” He gave his parents a grateful smile. “This is swell.”
Deva and Hal Abbott looked on at their only child and wished they could’ve given him more. “We’re glad you like it,” his father signed as he added his carefully enunciated speech.
The gift from Saxon’s parents was a copy of Final Fantasy V, a game that had been released four years prior. He didn’t mind, his parents did their best, and he appreciated whatever they were able to do for him.
“You can come by my place this weekend and we can play it,” Kyle said with a big smile.
“Yeah, that would be great.” Saxon appreciated his friend’s show of enthusiasm at the gift, even though they’d both been playing the newest version of the game on Kyle’s brand-new PlayStation console just the past week at his house. Regardless, he had no intention of hurting his parents’ feelings.
Deva’s heart sank when she heard two of the other children snicker at the gift. She knew it wasn’t up to date and Saxon was always the kid at school who wore old clothes and did without the new cool toy, but he never complained or showed that he cared about it at all. Her boy was smart as a whip, always playing those advanced video games, happily immersing himself in a make-believe world that she didn’t really understand.
Deva turned to her deaf husband and signed how proud she was of their son. “He’s pretty amazing, isn’t he?”
Hal nodded, his weather-beaten face pulled back into a broad smile, the skin around his eyes wrinkling with happiness.
“I think I’ll put my loot in my room. Anyone want to go with me?” Saxon’s question brought a round of cheers, and the boys all pushed aside their cake plates to follow him out of the kitchen and down the hall.
“What’s all this junk?” Titus asked as everyone piled into the small room. Most were checking out Saxon’s collection of action figures and model cars, but Titus had zeroed in on the important stuff.
“That’s Saxon’s Conquest,” he said with pride, showing his friends the drawings and notebooks he’d been working on for the last two years. “I’m going to make my own video game one day.”
Titus gave him a sideways look, then turned to Billy and started to laugh. “He’s gonna make his own video game. Did you hear that?”
“What’s so funny?” Saxon demanded to know.
“You can’t just make up a video game, stupid. It takes lots of people to create a game. People way smarter than you!”
Saxon began gathering the things he’d been so proud of only a second ago and placed them under his bed. The room suddenly felt claustrophobic with him and the other four boys all crowded inside. “I am smart. And I am going to make my own game one day. You’ll see.”
“Oh, sure you will, Saxon,” Titus argued. “It doesn’t matter how smart you are. It takes lots of money to make a video game, and I heard your folks don’t have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of.”
“You know what I heard, Titus?” Micah stepped in front of him.
“What?”
“Speaking of piss, I heard you wet your pants last year during recess and ran home crying like a little baby.” This time it was Micah elbowing Billy, who laughed right along with him at Titus’s misfortune.
The smile was wiped from Landry’s face. He crossed his arms over his chest and stalked across of the room. “Come on Billy, let’s get out of here.”
“I never heard that story,” Kyle said when it was just him, Micah, and Saxon left together.
“I made it up,” Micah muttered with a scoff. “Landry can be a jerk.”
Saxon knew Micah through Kyle, so they hadn’t been friends for too long. He enjoyed chumming around with him, but his mother had expressed her concerns over her son’s newest friend. I’m not sure I like you hanging around Micah, Saxon. That Wolfe boy has trouble written all over him.
Saxon hadn’t understood what his mother meant and wouldn’t for many years, all he knew was that he was glad to have friends who would stick up for him. “Thanks, Micah.”
Micah walked over to his friend and slung an arm over his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, Sax. I got your back.”
“Me too,” Kyle said from across the room. “Don’t listen to Landry. He’s having a hard time with his Dad. One day you’ll make your own video game. I’ll help you if you want me to.”
“Me too,” Micah added. “We’ll always be a team.”
Kyle and Micah came from a different world than Saxon, but neither boy ever treated him like it mattered. They were all equals.
Alivia on a mission
“Alivia! No! We can’t go in there.” Violet Dorsey pulled her hand from her friend’s grasp.
Alivia Hart stopped dead in her tracks and turned to her friend in disbelief. “What do you mean? Of course, we’re going in. I wouldn’t miss this for the world!” Looking up at the giant poster of Angelina Jolie, Alivia marveled at how strong her idol looked with guns in both hands, her high ponytail swaying in the wind.
“We aren’t old enough to see this movie,” Violet protested. “You told me we were going to see Shrek.”
Standing on the sidewalk outside the Alamo Drafthouse, Alivia looked her friend square in the eye. “Oh, come on Violet, don’t be such a wuss.”
“I’m not a wuss; it’s a PG movie. We’d need our parent’s permission to see Tomb Raider!”
“Nuh-uh. PG only means that it’s ‘advised’ to get your parent’s permission before you see it, it’s not the law. I looked it up.”
Violet held her ground. She’d been Alivia’s best friend since they were six years old. Here they were, five years later and she knew if Alivia said she’d looked it up, Alivia had surely looked it up.
Alivia never saw a problem she couldn’t work her way around or plow right through. The only time the eleven-year-old ever sat still was when she was playing video games. Any other time, she was running track, playing soccer or volleyball, any activity she could find. Playing sports was Alivia’s way of escaping her home life. While she loved her mother dearly, Alivia didn’t approve of her mother’s taste in men.
When Jennifer Hart’s new boyfriend, Bruce, moved in three years ago, he’d brought his strict rules with him. Alivia was fierce and independent, even at an early age, forging her own path. Her bohemian attitude irritated the bitterness and failings residing in Bruce’s heart. You let that child have her way far too much, she’s too wild. We need to take her in hand. Bruce would complain to his new girlfriend about her daughter, right in front of Alivia.
She’s just a free spirit, Jennifer would defend her daughter, encouraging her in whatever passion she was pursuing full-throttle at the time.
Alivia’s focus could shift like the wind, but computers and video games – Tomb Raider, especially – was her one unwavering passion. She’d almost fainted when she read online about the production of a movie version of her favorite game.
You’re going to that movie over my dead body, Bruce had barked when Alivia asked her mother if she
could go to the theater to attend the local premier.
The couple fought over it for nearly a week, screaming at each other every evening, making Alivia feel like a nuisance. Their turmoil didn’t dampen her desire, parental permission or not; she was determined to see the movie.
Violet folded her arms over her chest and stood her ground. “I am not going in there.” Alivia had gotten her into enough trouble during the time they’d been close.
Alivia gave her a stern look. “Fine. I’ll go without you.” She turned and marched toward the wide double doors with determination. “One of these days, I’ll have a friend with some mettle, even if I have to build one with my own two hands!”
“I wouldn’t put it past you, Alivia. Maybe a metal robot buddy is what you need, one you can program to do exactly what you tell them to do!” Violet stood in her spot for a few minutes, angry, but not surprised her best friend had gone on in without her. “Alivia! Wait.” As much as she hated how Alivia’s strong will got them in a bind at times, Violet couldn’t argue with the way Alivia usually managed to get what she wanted out of life. Her friend was destined to do great things, and Violet was just glad to be along for the ride.
A few hours later, Alivia floated home on a cloud of joy. Seeing her swashbuckling heroine on the big screen had been more wonderful than she could have ever imagined. She dreamed of being a superhero one day, fighting injustice and protecting people who couldn’t fight for themselves.
…The next day, just after noon, Bruce pushed the door to her room open and demanded, “Where did you go yesterday, Alivia?”
“Oh, my God! Get out of my room.” She scurried to turn off her computer, slipping the papers she was working on into her desk drawer. “Mom!” Retreating deeper into her room, she stood near the foot of the bed.
“What’s going on in here?” Jennifer asked from the doorway. “Bruce, what are you doing?”
“Ask your daughter where she went yesterday, Jen.” Bruce turned to look at his girlfriend’s child. “Do you want to tell her, Alivia, or shall I?”