“I want him caught! I want him to pay,” Mr. Harrington stated.
Yeah, well, Rogue knew that was going to be harder than the man was going to like.
In fact, he didn’t tell him everything. If they did, this man would be a nervous wreck.
Cobb and Sharp were big hired guns in New Orleans. They were bad news.
The man’s phone chimed.
It was an address.
“They want more money.”
The man began wringing his hands.
“I’m almost out of liquid assets. They’re draining me dry, and I’m afraid for my family.”
They didn’t doubt it.
“Tonight, I’ll make the drop. I’ll make sure that the money gets there, but we’re going to tag it. Then, we’ll follow it to make sure we get wherever the money is going.”
“You can’t! They said if I tried any of that, they’d kill my girls!”
He had bad news for the man.
“Sir, they’re never coming home. They will keep making you pay, and they’ll mail you back pieces of them. I’ve seen Austin Sharp do this before. He’s not a nice man, and whoever he has…”
Rogue didn’t want to say it.
“No! You can’t be right. I have to keep sending the money. It’s the only way. You have to find a different way of doing it.”
He sighed and glanced over at Dakota.
“Your turn.”
He knew Rogue was right. Dakota trusted the man. Well, not with the keys to his car, but to know a criminal when he saw one?
Yeah, that he had down pat.
He wouldn’t be shocked if either of them helped Austin Sharp before being tagged by Ethan and Marcus.
That was likely how they were ‘chosen’ for this team.
“Sir, I think that you need to really listen to my associate. He’s dealt with things like this before.”
The man wouldn’t listen.
Didn’t Blackhawk say to handle this?
Well, it wasn’t going well.
“How about you, Zayn? Do you have anything that might help our client here?”
He shook his head. “Ge-s-to-s-hna gwa-do.”
“WHAT?” Dakota asked.
While the man might not speak Cherokee, Rogue did. “Basically, he’s got a headache. He thinks this is going to blow in our faces. He wants to bail.”
Yeah, he could say that again.
He also had a suspicious pain in his ass as of late too. Dakota had that sick feeling in the pit of his stomach about the women being held.
Something bad was brewing.
“Sir…”
There was a buzzing sound.
At the door, a man rushed in. He was dressed like the rest of the team behind Danforth Harrington, so they assumed that this man was part of the new security.
“Sir! This came for you.”
It was a manila envelope.
Nothing good ever came in one of them or a box shaped to fit a head.
NOTHING.
They’d all seen that before.
“Sir, I’ll open it for you,” Rogue said, as Dakota handed him a pair of gloves to keep his prints off the outside.
When he pulled a knife to slice through the opening, he could see a photograph.
It was of a woman.
She was naked and tied to a bed.
On it, there was an ominous warning.
‘We get the money, or Stella gets all of us.’
That said it all.
Mr. Harrington began sobbing.
“That’s my baby! They’re going to hurt her. You have to find her and save her!”
It looked like time was running out for Stella Harrington.
They knew the kidnapper’s next play in the handbook, and it was going to ugly.
These men weren’t above rape and murder.
That was clear.
This was going from bad to worse, and they were going to have to do this their way.
The hard way.
Chapter Three
Saturday Afternoon
Four twenty-five Chartres Street
F or some reason, the picture bothered Zayn more than the other two men. If you’d seen one naked woman, you’d seen them all.
Right?
But this one had put him on edge.
They’d brought the photograph back to Chartres Street, and they were going over it with a fine-tooth comb. At one point, Zayn actually covered her naked body with a dress he’d made out of a Post-It Note.
“We don’t have time for paper dolls,” Rogue said, sipping a coffee from a white porcelain cup he’d found in the kitchen.
“I’m not playing. She deserves some dignity. That poor woman has to be so scared. I hate seeing her like that.”
Did the big guy have a soft spot?
Really?
“She’s going to die first,” Rogue said. “While they have Harrington’s second wife and second daughter, they’ll hit him where it really hurts. HER. His first wife died, so Stella has to be important to him.”
They didn’t doubt it.
“We have to find her,” Zayn said. “We can’t let her be gang raped by these assholes.”
“They won’t kill her,” Dakota said.
They looked at him.
“They’ll sell her off. If Cobb is involved, she’s not going to die. She’s worth more alive as a plaything.”
Zayn growled. “When I find that man, and who he’s working for, I’m going to tie him to that table and take him apart.”
They didn’t doubt it.
“We know,” Dakota stated.
Zayn cracked his neck and then his knuckles. “Let’s find her,” he said, tapping the pink dress he’d made for her to give her dignity.
“What can we tell from this picture?” Dakota asked.
“Well, it’s dark. Wherever they are, it’s not out in the open. Look,” he said, holding the picture up. On the back, there was a time stamp. It was earlier that day.
“So they took it and couriered it over to the father. They can’t be too far away.”
“Yeah, with her,” Zayn said. “We know they aren’t all going to be near each other. They’ll pick one to cut apart to mail pieces back, and the other two will be kept alive.”
“They mailed Maia’s finger already,” Dakota reminded him.
“Well, then the girls will just be raped and abused. They will keep them sellable,” Rogue stated.
No one wanted to see that.
“That poor woman,” Zayn said. “She was studying to be a doctor. She wanted to help people.”
For some reason, seeing her like that upset him a lot more than it should. She was a job.
Still…
“What can we do?”
Zayn hesitated.
“What?”
“I can locate him, but it’s going to cost us big time. Like in one hell of a favor to some not so nice people.”
Dakota wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
“What kind of a favor?”
“Anything they want. I know his best buddy and partner. Gus Cobb does his business with one particular guy. If we can find him, we can shake him down. He’ll roll. The issue is the guy to find is tricky.”
“What are you saying?”
“I may need you to appropriate some of that money for the killers or we’re writing a check on ourselves for a favor.”
“Can he really find him?”
He nodded. “He can, but he can’t go there,” he said, pointing at the other native man.
“Why?”
“Let’s just say that this person doesn’t like half-breeds,” he stated.
That made Rogue bristle.
They both physically saw his reaction. His odd colored blue eyes showed the irritation, and his body tensed.
“What’s wrong with people of mixed race?” Dakota asked. “I don’t see a problem.”
“There is no problem unless you’re Native, and then you don’t see people like him as being N
ative.”
“I am Native. I’m half,” he stated adamantly.
Zayn raised his hands in surrender. “Don’t hate the player. Hate the game. I don’t give a shit if you’re half, whole, or none. I’m pointing out what we’re up against.”
“Okay, so what’s our role in this?” Dakota asked. “If you get the intel.”
Rogue knew.
“I’m going to follow the money,” he stated, leaning back on the couch in their base. “I’ll do the drop, swing around, and follow it back to the place it goes.”
“Then I am going to be on standby,” Zayn said. “It’s like a military operation. You were a soldier, right?”
“Yes.”
“Well, then this should be right up my alley.”
“What if you get caught?” Dakota asked.
Rogue got the plan.
“Well, if Zayn can find Cobb, he likely has one of the women with him, right?”
“Yes. I’ll stick with the lead we get on Cobb.”
Rogue continued, “If I follow the money, maybe it’ll lead to a second person with a second woman. The odds are in our favor.”
Dakota didn’t like this.
He didn’t like the idea that they were going to potentially risk one person. He was an all or none kind of guy.
“No.”
They both looked at him.
“What do you mean?” Rogue asked.
“I’m with you. We’ll let them get the money. They will want to rendezvous to share it. That’s when we move. We follow the money back to the hole. Meanwhile, if Zayn can take out Cobb, maybe we can get some intel from him.”
“By ‘take out’ are you referring to the basement of this building?” Zayn asked. “You know…to be clear.”
“Yes, or there. We can’t risk him getting word back. You save whoever he has, and then we follow the money.”
He pulled the dress off the girl in the picture. “Hopefully, she’ll be our recovery. If they haven’t started using her, they will. We can lose the money, but we can’t lose the girl.”
Zayn took the picture and paper dress he’d made for her. “It’s okay, honey. We’ll get you,” he said, placing it back on the woman’s picture.
“As long as you don’t care that we’re losing three million dollars,” Rogue said. “We can follow.”
Well, what choice did they have?
“It’s favor time,” Dakota stated.
Zayn knew he was up.
“Okay, well, I need to take a little walk to visit a friend,” Zayn stated. “I have to buy us some intel.”
“Is that safe?” Rogue asked. “I smell a double cross.”
So did he.
“Absolutely not. Why should we start worrying about safe now? That just seems like overkill,” he said. “Why do you ask?”
“I was just making sure you weren’t taking the pussy way out of this,” Rogue said. “You know us half-breeds. We have balls of steel. It must be the white gene.”
“Wa-ti-li,” he stated.
Rogue shrugged. “Yeah, I’m a dick but you are Usdi watali,” he offered back, making a gesture at something small.
Zayn was up and over the table as Dakota tried to stop him.
“Maybe you two can save it for the bad guys?” he asked, trying to keep them both from fighting.
“My dick isn’t tiny!” Zayn stated, going to unzip his pants.
“Whoa! Stop! If you whip anything out, I’m quitting,” Dakota stated. “I am not checking out some man’s junk because you two have to have a pissing match over genetics!”
The two men kept cursing at each other in some dialect.
“Are you both Cherokee?” he asked, trying to get them to refocus.
“No. I’m Iroquois,” Rogue stated, glaring at the man.
“Then how are you speaking the same language?”
“Cherokee is a form of Iroquoian dialects. We have a lot of the same words.”
“My ancestors started up North,” Zayn said. “When white man forced us down the Appalachian trail, we regrouped down here as Cherokee until the Trail of Tears was forced on us. He’s Mohawk. I can tell by the way he says his words.”
“I am.”
The battle had calmed.
Discussing their ethnicity seemed to make them forget what they were fighting about.
“I’ll go find Cobb,” stated Zayn.
“I’ll go with you to watch your back,” Dakota offered. “I don’t exactly like us owing anyone a favor.”
Zayn shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
They headed out.
Once they were gone, Rogue made a call of his own.
“Yeah, I’m good. I need some information. Can you get me everything you can find on a Zayn Thundercloud?” he asked.
“Yeah, he’s rubbing me the wrong way.”
He listened.
“Yeah, get it to me as soon as you can.”
He hung up.
The man wasn’t the ONLY one who had connections. Rogue did too.
Before he worked with someone, he liked to know everything about them. Then he’d trust them.
That was the safest bet.
He knew Dakota had been a Fed. He acted like one, but Zayn Thundercloud…
He wanted to make sure that if push came to shove, he was safe. That’s how he’d survived in this business.
And he wasn’t willing to give that up.
* * * H U N T E R * * *
Across New Orleans
Hidden
When Stella came to, she was blindfolded and tied to the bed with her arms and legs spread. She was helpless. It was the worst possible position to be in, and she knew it.
From the way that she could feel the chill across her body, Stella could tell she was naked.
Shit!
This was bad.
So much for fighting her way out of there.
“I see you’re awake, princess,” he said, running his hand down her bare body. When she tried to pull away, he just laughed at her.
“Daddy is supposed to pay tonight, only you won’t be going home. I will be enjoying you. You’ve been a bitch for the last month.”
She spit at him—or at least where his voice was coming from, and she prayed it hit him.
Stella was rewarded with a bucket of ice-cold water thrown onto her. She gasped at the pain and chill.
He leaned over her, pressing down on her throat. “You’re going to pay for that,” he hissed, causing the room to spin as she blacked out.
He stared down at her and took the opportunity to touch her wherever he wanted.
She was going to be his favorite new thing.
He was going to enjoy doing her for hours.
He licked her one nipple and then walked away.
He couldn’t wait to get word that they had the money. As soon as they did…
He was breaking that bitch in.
* * * H U N T E R * * *
French Quarter
When they arrived at the location, it didn’t look like some place where the creeping lawlessness would reside in the town. In fact, it was a nice apartment in The French Quarter, and it smelled like beignets and chicory coffee.
Once at the door, they knocked.
Dakota was a little shocked to see not a man, but a woman open it. She looked more like a model than some seedy scumbag, but he’d learned in New Orleans that appearances were deceiving.
“A’ho! My friend,” she said, backing up to let Zayn inside. Then she focused on Dakota.
“Well, well, well, who have you brought here?” she asked, taking a step forward until she was incredibly close to the man. “He’s new in the city. I can tell.”
“It’s a pleasure, ma’am.”
She grinned. “Yes, I bet it is. Let me guess…mid-west, farm boy, and you never tell a lie.”
“No, no, and I’ve been known to do just that when I need to get the job done. I’m Dakota.”
She laughed. “I see. Come in, Dakota.”
/> They followed her into the apartment. It was elegantly furnished, and fit the woman. While she may be dealing in info for the dark side of New Orleans, she liked to live well.
“Have a seat,” she offered, moving a stuffed bear to the upright position.
They did.
“What can I do for you, Zayn? You don’t often visit me here. What’s the deal?”
“I need Gus Cobb’s location, and I know I asked for it before, and you refused, but it’s important.”
“Is it now?”
“Charlotte, come on!”
“Why do you need him?”
Dakota was fascinated. She’d yet to introduce herself, and he didn’t think that was an oversight. So far, he had her first name. Now he’d watch and listen.
“He’s holding a woman, and he’s going to hurt her. I’m talking rape and the outcome my sister had.”
She hesitated.
“This isn’t about payback.”
Dakota pulled out his phone and handed it to her. It was a picture of the picture Mr. Harrington had received.
“Oh, dear.”
“See? In order to get him, I need your help locating his partner.”
She laughed. “Uh huh, and what am I supposed to do with that? You know the rules. You come to barter, then the gift must be pretty big.”
He was aware.
“We’ll owe you one.”
“Anything I want?” she asked, staring into his eyes and then looking over at the other man.
Zayn knew her well enough that he was pretty sure he got what was going to be the boon for her help.
Yeah, good luck Dakota.
She was eyeing him up like a big tasty snack.
So, he made the introductions. “Charlotte Shaw, this is Dakota…”
“Rakin, ma’am.”
She smiled at him. “So, if I get you the man who works with Cobb, then you owe me whatever I want?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She smiled at him.
“Toss me my cell,” she said, as Zayn did just that.
They watched her dial her phone before heading to a small café table on her balcony.
Atonement: The Hunter Mercenary Series (Book One) Page 6