Promised Box Set

by James Kipling

  “I was not the only one affected by what he had done, and you know that is more than true. There are others out there who have been used as pawns for him, and now we can clear their names. Let their loved ones know that they were not guilty for those crimes. And in some cases, even set some people free.”

  Meghan wondered how Quinn had gotten involved with her father. Did she really love him at some point? That was not something for her to even waste her time on. She did not care about that at the moment. Mostly she wanted this to be in the past and for her life to go back to some form of normal, but she doubted that would ever happen.

  Quinn pulled back the covers on the other side of the bed, and she curled up next to her. At first it was awkward, but she wondered if this was what other kids felt when they curled up with their parent in a time of distress. For a moment there was peace, but only for a moment.

  ###

  It was a long evening, and Derek had no idea what was happening. Alison hadn’t contacted him at all, and he was beginning to get worried. Finally, the door opened and she walked in. She appeared to be exhausted and turned towards him.

  “Do you want some coffee?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  She smiled and then walked into the kitchen. “Is everything alright?”

  “Nothing could go wrong. There were only a few loose ends, but they are almost taken care of now.”

  Relaxing on his sofa, he wondered if she would really be able to take care of everything in time—before they attempted to expose him. He already knew what he was going to say if anything was brought up. Every prosecutor has put an innocent person in prison, but it was because all the evidence pointed to them. Granted, he had manipulated some evidence, but that was not something he was too concerned about. No one could prove that, he had been careful covering his tracks. Though he knew he shouldn’t underestimate Quinn. She was smart and that was something he could not deny.

  Alison was now walking back into the living room with their mugs of coffee, and he took a swig. There was never a wrong time to drink this. Taking another few sips, he began to feel odd in a way he could not describe. He felt almost immobilized, but maybe he was just getting tired.

  “Are you feeling alright?” Alison leered.

  Suddenly, he understood what was happening, but he did not know why. “Wha…what did you do?” he slurred. Soon, speaking was becoming impossible and he heard her laugh.

  “You know exactly what I did, and you should already know why. You are a loose end, and my freedom is much more important than any relationship we have here.”

  The world around him was beginning to narrow, and he felt as though he couldn’t breathe. Was he dying? He didn’t want to die, but the darkness was crushing him, and soon there was nothing but the inky blackness.

  Chapter 35

  David had yet to hear from Emily, but maybe she had just gotten caught up in everything. He knew there were things going on that he was not being told. Instead of waiting at the phone though, he needed to get everything situated, so he had kept himself busy doing just that. He heard his phone chime. It was Detective Dawson, he was outside waiting for him to open the door.

  Getting up from his chair, he could not help but feel sleep-deprived, but that happened when you worked and worried late at night. Opening the outer office door, Detective Dawson stepped inside. David wondered what he would think of this mess when he handed over the paperwork, but that was something he would find out soon enough.

  “Is everything alright, Orlando?”

  “Yeah, just a little tired is all. There have been a few things going on and sleep just isn’t in the cards right now.”

  He smiled slightly. “Alright now show me what this is all about.”

  “Derek Malone,” he began.

  “You mean the prosecutor Derek Malone?”

  “Yeah, you know him?”

  “Not really, but he was on the news this morning. He was found dead in his home. He committed suicide after he confessed to killing his daughter, Meghan.”

  “That is a bunch of bullshit,” David said. “I just saw Meghan yesterday and Derek Malone was too self-centered to have taken his own life. He thrived on the sorrows of other people and his own arrogant ability to manipulate them. There is no way he would kill himself.”

  “Someone’s personality is not going to be enough to rule it anything different.”

  David shook his head, “Meghan is not dead, either.”

  “He could have killed her last night before committing suicide.”

  “Impossible, because if there had been anything, you guys would have found out about it by now.”

  “David, right now everything looks like it would line up in this case. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve seen something like this.”

  There was nothing more he could do at the moment and he shook his head. “Meghan is not dead, and this is not like anything else you have seen before. I can promise you that much.”

  Getting up he was ready to leave and Dawson was following him.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To Meghan’s apartment.”

  Dawson was following behind him. “You may not like what you find.”

  “I am still willing to look. None of this is making any sense.”

  ###

  Quinn was stitching the bullet wound that Meghan had received, but she was not doing too well. It was risky to take her out of here and to the hospital. Alison could easily have another go at her and she was not willing to let that happen. Hell, she should have predicted this move from the start, but no, she had been blinded.

  Picking up one of her burner phones, she called David Orlando’s phone and listened as it rang for a little bit, but he picked up. “Hello?”

  “David this is Quinn. Alison made a pass at us and got Meghan injured pretty well.”

  “Where are you?”

  “I am safe and so is she. Right now I would like for Alison to think her shots killed us instead of wounding us.”

  “I thought she did everything execution style.”

  “Not when we put up a fight, and surely not when the neighbors were calling the cops from the next unit. They were able to hear everything.”

  “I will do something about Alison.”

  “No, you work on getting the truth about Derek Malone out into the world, and I will worry about Alison.”

  David was silent and he knew that it would be better for him to listen then to argue this time around. “Fine, but if there is anything you need just call.”

  “Noted,” she said, as she ended the call. Looking down at her daughter she was furious, but knew Meghan would make a recovery, while Alison wouldn’t be able to.

  She listened as someone walked into the room and she saw Dominic standing there. He hadn’t been there when it all happened, but he was making sure they were safe. Quinn knew she would never be able to repay him for everything he had done for them.

  “How is your wound?”

  “Better than Meghan’s.”

  He looked at her with kind eyes—the sort of eyes a real father is supposed to give their child. “The two of you should rest. I will be doing what I need to from my end.”

  “I can help.”

  “Yes, you can help by resting. That is the best thing you can do right now. Alright, I will be back with my next report in about three hours.”

  It was hard to accept that Meghan would have been perfect without her.

  Beginning to feel faint, she was not too sure if it was the loss of blood that was making her fatigued, or if she was just tired. Regardless, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift to sleep.

  ###

  Emily was watching as they were speaking with the perp. His name was Ivan Duval, but there was nothing more on him other than his name. He never existed, because he was trafficked too. It made Emily sick thinking that someone who had experienced first-hand what happened
would target children to endure the same thing. She sat down for a moment, because her feet were swollen and painful. She wasn’t sure if it was because she’d been on her feet so much, or if it was all the stress and lack of sleep, but whatever it was, she wasn’t too thrilled by it.

  Eventually Ashlynn and Ellie gave up on the perp and came walking into the room where she was. They were obviously irritated, and had every right to be.

  “Go get London,” Emily said. “Tell her some wound up technical garbage and that she was caught paying him.”

  “We can’t lie,” Ellie said.

  “What, are you in the Girl Scouts? No, you work with the FBI. I thought it was a prerequisite for all of you to possess the ability to lie.”

  “You told us about London, but we never got to see with our own eyes. Right now we would be taking your word for it. It wouldn’t hold up in court. There is no point is taking her down if she’s going to get off on a technicality because we screwed up.”

  Emily shook her head. “Then take my word for it, because I would not lie about something like this. If anyone really knew me they would know that to be true.”

  Ashlynn nodded. “I’ll do it.”

  “No,” Ellie said firmly. “We need to stick to what we have done in the past, and we need actual evidence.”

  “What we’ve done in the past obviously never worked. It is time for us to adapt.”

  Emily watched as she pushed passed her and started walking away. “See what you’ve done? You have corrupted an agent.”

  “Have I?”

  Ellie looked as if she was going to explode with anger, but just walked away. Emily was confident about what was happening. She felt as her stomach was beginning to gurgle. She definitely was not feeling well. After hailing a cab, she would head to Macey’s. She would probably stay there until she was certain everything was being handled the way she wanted it to be. Getting inside the cab, she was trying to stay awake until they got to their destination, but was not sure she would be able to do it.

  ###

  David was heading to one of his favorite places for lunch. Emily had introduced him to this place and he felt somewhat bad for going in there without her. The street was relatively quiet at the moment, and he preferred that versus bumping into others while trying to get somewhere. He soon felt as though he was being followed.

  Turning to look over his shoulder he didn’t see anyone, but just as he turned to walk forward he saw a woman standing before him. No doubt it was Alison Peterson, and she did not appear to be too friendly.

  Looking for anyone else in the immediate area, he didn’t see anyone, and he knew he could not avoid this entirely. She was probably in better physical shape than he was, but he was going to find out if that was true or not.

  Before he could even attempt to get away, he saw Alison pull a gun, and everything went black.

  ###

  Tracking down Alison was not a difficult task, but by the time he had gotten to her, she had pulled the trigger on Orlando. Dominic watched as he went down, and he was not about to let Alison escape. Not this time. Running after her, he had his weapon drawn and he was beginning the chase. If he knew anything about how Alison’s brain ticked, he alone knew where she would go.

  As he was beginning to run down the alley, he felt someone jump on him from behind. Falling to the ground, he felt as she was on top of him and he realized too late he had dropped his weapon.

  Alison had the barrel pointed at him, but he was quicker than she was. Grabbing her gun they struggled. A shot went off and he felt it in his shoulder, but he ignored the pain. There was something he needed to do, and dying was not going to help accomplish his task.

  He disarmed her, and he felt a wave of relief sweep over him. Grabbing his handcuffs, he placed them as tightly as possible around her wrists. “Alison Peterson you are under arrest. You have a right to an attorney, and if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you. Anything you say will be used against you in a court of law.”

  Getting to his feet with her, he heard the sounds of sirens. He had forgotten that David had been shot. As he rushed out of the alley with Alison in cuffs, he saw several bystanders and he watched as the EMTs were beginning to work on David’s body. He couldn’t comprehend what was happening—was he still alive after being shot in the head?

  Chapter 36

  Emily had only been at Macey’s for about an hour and had been told to take the home pregnancy test. Evidently Macey felt the same way she did when she was pregnant with Blake. Sitting in the bathroom now, she was looking at the positive test results and didn’t quite know how to feel. Was this even the right time for her and David to have a baby? Shouldn’t they be in a much more serious relationship? She was delighted and horrified all at once.

  Taking in a deep breath, she knew she was going to have to call him, but was too afraid. She feared his reaction, though it was ridiculous to think he would react poorly. His was a gentleman to a fault, plus she was certain he would be jubilant at the idea of being a father.

  Making her decision, she reached for her phone, just as it began ringing with Mrs. Orlando’s number on the screen.

  “Hello,” Emily said, a little curious to know why she was calling.

  “Emily,” she heard her cry. “David has been shot. The EMTs got to him and he is in critical care. It’s amazing that he is even alive after being shot in the head.”

  Her blood ran cold and being pregnant was not on her mind any longer. “I will be right there.”

  Emily did not even wait for her response before she terminated the call. Walking out of the bathroom she found Macey and she looked more than content there with Blake beside her. “Macey, I’m afraid I have to leave immediately.”

  “Of course, is everything alright though?”

  “No,” she said, as she told her what had occurred.

  ###

  Everything around him was dark and he could hear faint whispers, but couldn’t discern what was being said. Something was wrong—he could not move. He was not able to do anything, but he wanted to. He wanted to scream out to those whispers, but he finally heard a distinct voice —Emily.

  “David,” she sobbed, but why was she sad? What had happened to make her so upset? “If I had just been with you, none of this would have happened.”

  A memory came back to him. He saw the gun, he heard the shot, but that was it. There was nothing more to it and yet he was still here.

  “Please wake up. Please. David I need you, and our baby growing inside me needs you. Please come back.”

  A baby? There was going to be a baby. He wanted to do kicks in the air, and yet he couldn’t. He could hear everything going on and he knew how he wanted to respond, but he couldn’t. It was as if his body was an empty shell and he was just somewhere nearby, able to listen in on the conversation, but unable to participate. No, there was something that he could do. He could get out of this darkness around him, but try as he might, for whatever reason, he could not. Everything around him was closing in and he was trapped in his own body, but he was going to fight to get free.

  Book 5: The Hitman

  (5 novella collection)

  Summary

  The Secret Billionaire

  Sarah is a busy FBI agent with no time for a social life. In order to fulfil her needs, she often frequents sex clubs. Her luck changes one night, however, when she goes out for a drink and meets Robbie. Although she resists his advances at first, he persists and they eventually exchange numbers and begin dating.

  Sarah soon finds that she likes Robbie. There is a chemistry between them, but she doesn’t want to admit it. She gets follow up calls from her sex clubs, wondering why she no longer attends. She makes excuses but Sarah knows the real reason. She has become mesmerized by Robbie, and when she discovers that he is a secret billionaire, Sarah suddenly realises that she is in for the ride of her life.

  Inseparable

  Sarah a
nd Robbie are inseparable. She has a need to be with him which she cannot explain, and they are dynamite together in all sorts of ways. But Robbie also has another side which he never shows. He is duplicitous and guarded about some aspects of his life.

  And when Sarah introduces her brother David, who is also an FBI agent, to her new boyfriend, David is immediately suspicious of the new man in his sister’s life. But a check of the FBI records finds no trace of Robbie, which doesn’t help with David’s unease.

  A Secret Past

  David is becoming obsessed with getting to the truth about Robbie. He feels that Sarah could be in danger and wants to protect her at all costs. Not satisfied that he could find no trace of Robbie in the FBI files, David continues with his own line of investigation, until he discovers that Robbie is actually a hit-man who the FBI have been hunting for the past 11 years.

  Armed with this information, David is determined to warn Sarah and save her from making a dreadful mistake which could ruin her life.

  But before he can tell his sister, Sarah has a surprise of her own to disclose. She is pregnant and the baby is Robbie’s. Not only that, but she intends to marry him and wants David to help plan the wedding.

  A Desperate Chase

  You don’t become a hit-man without being in possession of some highly honed senses. Robbie knew that David was onto him. It was something in the looks he gave him from time to time, and the atmosphere between them when they were together.

  Deciding that David is on to him, Robbie tries to disappear once more. But David follows him, intent on capturing him and bringing him in for his past crimes. Sarah follows the two men, torn between her brother and her lover, but David gets to him first and deliberately drives his car into the side of Robbie’s.

  The Impossible Choice

  Following the crash the two men engage in a savage fight. It escalates as Robbie hears backup coming to help David and a gunfight ensues.

  When Sarah finally arrives on the scene she draws her own weapon, but finds her conflicting feelings are complicating the matter. She doesn’t know who to aim at. Both men have a huge impact in her life and she loves them both. Eventually she makes a decision and fires her gun. But who does she shoot at?