Oh, this was not the least bit funny.
Rogue did the only thing he could at that time of night. He called for backup. Pulling out his phone, he dialed his mother’s home. When she answered, sleep in her voice, he did the only thing he could.
“Rogue, my love, are you okay?” she asked. “What happened?”
“No, Mom, I have a problem, and I need your help.”
No, he didn’t have a problem.
He had a freaking nightmare.
One, in which, he couldn’t wake-up—and never would.
Chapter One
425 Chartres Street
The French Quarter
Two Weeks Later
Monday
W hat the hell had he been thinking? Dakota Rakin was a glutton for punishment, and here was the proof. He was riding roughshod over this ragtag group, and it was going to be the death of him.
Yeah, this was bad.
There would be no freaking way he was going to survive this mess, and he knew it. They were a disaster, and he shouldn’t be leading a hungry person to a buffet.
The proof?
So far, they were no closer to finding Mercedes Harrington. You’d think it would be easy since the city wasn’t that big. They couldn’t even pick up her trail. For some reason, she’d gone ghost, and they couldn’t track her.
That was saying a lot.
He could track just about anything.
Anyone.
Zayn had connections all over the damn place since he killed people for a living.
NADA.
And Rogue…he was plugged into the wealthy side of the city where people bought and sold people on a whim.
Still…
NOTHING.
Well, it looked like Chesky Jensen had scored the first win in this war. He’d managed to elude three of the best people for this kind of job. He’d buried his trail, and they were nowhere close to finding him.
Yes, the battle was his, but this war was far from over.
Oh, he’d get him yet.
They were doing this for Stella and Zayn.
When they became this team, it was to satisfy the needs they all had. At first, it had been selfish. He wouldn’t deny that at all.
Zayn wanted to find his sister’s killer, and this had been a means to an end. Rogue wanted to find his father—for his mother to give her closure—and he wanted Bonnie’s head on a silver platter to avenge his dead partner, Debra.
Well, that hadn’t changed.
The only thing that had drastically changed was that they had become a family. Who knew that killing could bring people together?
Dakota certainly hadn’t.
On top of that, it gave him Sarah, and Zayn received the gift of Stella. Rogue…
Oh, he got a child out of the deal.
Only, he was NOT happy about it.
The playboy was a daddy, and he was moping. In fact, they were sitting there in the living room, having coffee, as they prepared to discuss the new track they were going to take for the second part of this ongoing case.
The dead-end cut them off, but they had to regroup to fight again another day.
“How’s Peony?” Dakota asked, sipping his coffee.
The man bristled at the mere mentioning of her name. It was clear fatherhood wasn’t his thing.
“Good.”
“Why are you bitchy?” Zayn asked. “The Great Spirit blessed you with a kid. You should be happy. She’s a darn adorable little sprite. She is sweet as hell too!”
The man said nothing.
“Ungrateful cur.”
“Hey, cut him a break,” Sarah stated.
Stella agreed.
“Everyone adjusts differently, babe,” she offered her husband, not wanting to see the family explode apart in some silly argument. While she tended to agree with her husband, she wouldn’t add to the emotional pile on.
The man was struggling, and she didn’t think it had anything to do with the child, and everything to do with the fact that Charlotte had tried to screw him over.
“I’m trying,” he stated.
It had only been a couple of weeks.
“We know, Rogue. Take your time with it,” Stella stated. “This has to be hard for you and Peony.”
Rogue appreciated their support.
He really did.
“I’m not upset about having a child, per say, but that Charlotte, may her soul burn in Hell, didn’t tell me about her. I had a child. I would have done the right thing. I had a father who didn’t give a damn about me even existing. I know how shitty that is. Had Charlotte not died, I may never have known about Peony. I missed so much.”
They got it.
“I didn’t get to name her or see her born,” he admitted. “I didn’t get to see her first steps or feed her. She still looks at me like I’m a stranger. That bond…”
Yeah, it wasn’t there.
Yet.
Besides, what really rustled his jimmies was that his father had abandoned him as a child, and he saw what went down as something similar.
Rogue hated his old man for what he did, and he only prayed Peony wouldn’t hate him one day too. He was really trying to give the child a normal life.
Which was amusing since he was a full-time thief and an occasional killer.
At least he was better than his father.
He loathed Tasunke Harris—as in he’d cut the man and let him bleed to death. The only reason he was searching for him was because his mother loved him.
She needed closure.
He didn’t.
Clearly, she had piss-poor taste in men, and that was enough that he didn’t want to have anything to do with him.
Charlotte had backed him into a corner. He didn’t get to make that choice. It was forced on him.
He was dumped into fatherhood, and that pissed him off to no end.
Now that he was feeling just like Tasunke, it was eating away at him. Rogue had all kinds of daddy issues, and apparently, they were growing each day.
“We know you would have,” Zayn stated. “You’re honorable if anything. You’re not a love them, impregnate them, and leave them kind of man.”
No.
He wasn’t.
Even thieves should have some honor, right?
Wasn’t that the code?
“I can’t believe she went almost three whole years with a child, and no one knew,” Stella stated. “That was one hell of a trick. Who watched Peony while she was tending bar? Who was watching her on the night she died?”
Yeah, those were the questions of the hour.
Ones they would have to find out at some point. Clearly, Charlotte trusted someone with Rogue’s daughter.
But who?
“Someone had to know,” Sarah stated, eating an apple as she sat on the couch beside Dakota. “After all, that cute kid didn’t kick in your door, so who did?”
Yeah, he wished he knew.
“We can head to Purgatory to find out,” Dakota offered. “It’s not like we’re getting anywhere with this case. That’s likely the first place to start if we want answers.”
Oh, they were all aware of that little fact. They lost Chesky, and the trail was ice cold.
“Is that a good idea?” Stella asked, playing Devil’s advocate. “Zayn just told us that the city is on the brink. Dakota, you and Sarah are ex-Federal agents. That seems dangerous.”
Yeah, she was probably right.
That was why Dakota was frustrated. He didn’t know what to do next.
“I’d hold off, bro,” Zayn stated. “This city is a mess right now. Half wants revenge for Charlotte’s death, and the other half is happy she’s gone. The mayhem is about to kick up.”
He thought about it.
“Yeah, you might be right.”
In this case, Zayn really believed he was. It was all kinds of ironic that he was the voice of reason. Normally, he was the voice that told them to let the bodies drop where they may, and stress it later.
Marriage had, clearly, mellowed him the hell out.
“Well, isn’t this cute,” came the voice from the doorway that opened up onto the private patio outside. “Mind if I have some coffee with you?”
They all turned around and half of them—all of the men—pulled guns to point them at the intruder.
Their alarm hadn’t gone off.
Elizabeth laughed but didn’t even flinch. She knew they wouldn’t kill her—or she hoped not.
“What are you doing here?” Zayn asked as he still didn’t tuck away his sidearm. He wasn’t a fool. He knew a killer when he saw one, and she was definitely that hidden behind the guise of pretty wrappings.
“Chill out. It’s my damn house. I think I can come and go as I see fit.”
Well, she had them there.
The place was loaded with FBI tech—on the DL. They couldn’t exactly evict her from her own place, now could they?
“Lyzbeth! What the hell? You could have gotten yourself shot!” Dakota stated, putting away his gun.
She snorted.
“I like to live on the edge, Dak. You know me, but I’m here first to usher in the big man.”
She whistled.
“It’s all clear, handsome. No one here will rat you out about being in N’awlins,” she drawled.
Behind her, Ethan Blackhawk appeared, and he was on his phone. Behind him, there was a big fluffy dog.
The German Shepherd was a freaking beast.
Rogue went on alert.
Not because he was afraid of a dog, but because his dog would try to kill the fluffball.
“Don’t let Odin see him,” Rogue warned. “He’s not dog-friendly. Unless you don’t like that pansy-ass pooch.”
Elizabeth wasn’t worried.
She stared at him.
“Did you just insult my baby?” she asked, pointing at her side, only to have the dog sit without her saying a word. “I’ll have you know that my dog is a good baby,” she crooned, scratching him behind his pointy, dignified ears.
He laughed.
“Sungila is dog-friendly, so don’t worry. He is trained and big into being protective. He’ll make sure no one comes near the boss man, and certainly not near me.”
That was the damn truth. Her baby was very protective, and she loved him like that.
Stella squealed and bounced in her seat. She apparently wanted to touch the dog.
“I want one so bad!”
Elizabeth said something in a Native language, and the dog headed into the room, crawled up on the couch, and sat on Stella so she could pet him.
She beamed.
“Someone’s getting a dog,” Dakota stated, offering her his seat.
Elizabeth didn’t take it, but Ethan did. As he hung up his phone, he looked around the room.
“We were wondering when you’d show,” Zayn asked. “You seem to owe us some explaining.”
Oh, that was NOT how this was going down. Ethan Blackhawk only explained himself to three people.
The President of the United States.
Gabe Rothschild—his boss.
Elizabeth—his real boss.
“Regarding?” he asked, keeping his voice neutral.
It was evident that the man wasn’t amused by him playing clueless. His face said it all.
“I don’t know…maybe the fact that you knew from the start that Chesky Jensen was involved in this. You knew he was the dude that hurt Adsilla!”
The man stood in frustration and anger, and immediately, from his spot on the couch, Sungila growled in warning.
Ethan wasn’t having it.
Not here.
Not now.
He was driving this bus for a reason.
“You might want to sit, Mr. Thundercloud. The only creature in this room, with a bigger bite than my wife, is that dog. He likes me, and my damn shoes. I’m willing to bet that he’ll protect me. Are you willing to take that gamble?”
The man sat.
Apparently, he wasn’t.
“First, I wasn’t sure he was involved. As you’ve figured out, this is a shitmess.”
They agreed there.
It was three days past one.
“We had an inkling that he was, and that’s why you were offered this case. This, from the start, has been about you completing that one mission. What do you want most in life?”
Zayn didn’t hesitate.
“My wife.”
Ethan understood what the man was saying. He was in the same boat.
“Other than her?”
That, too, was easy.
“I want to kill the man who hurt my sister, caused my mother to expire in sorrow, and has made me this killer. I want my revenge.”
“And you got that, no?”
Well, he did actually get a piece of that.
“He’s in this city. Before, we didn’t know who he was working with, and now we do. This isn’t a short race, Mr. Thundercloud. It’s a marathon. You have to let it run its course.”
“HOW do I do that?” Dakota asked. “I don’t like games. I like straightforward things, and this is anything but.”
Oh, he was aware.
They’d studied all three of these men.
They weren’t put together for shits and giggles or randomly. Each one played a role, and it was an important one. Marcus Hunter had helped him put these three together for a damn good reason.
They would be effective.
“Well, let me tell you a little story about Las Vegas and a horrible person named Rosemary Harrington. She’s the reason the three of you were put together, and she’s the one who really is the mastermind behind all of this.”
What choice did they have? They were at the Blackhawks’ mercy at this point. They had the intel, and they wouldn’t hand it over without them working for it.
That was clear.
“Rosemary Harrington?” Dakota asked. “Who the hell is that?”
Elizabeth and Ethan both watched Stella for any kind of reaction to the woman’s name.
After all, they had the same last name, and they’d done the research on it.
“Wait, what?” she asked.
“Rosemary…,” he began.
“No, I heard her name,” she stated. “I just don’t understand what my deceased aunt has to do with all of this. Are you being serious?”
Were they?
Hell.
Yes.
Elizabeth smiled ferally.
“Who told you she was dead?” Elizabeth asked, already knowing the answer. They’d returned from Vegas, and they’d done their own research. She had the answers, but she was going to see what this woman knew.
Was it a coincidence?
Or was this woman possibly helping her father?
It was handy that she’d married into the band of merry killers in a couple of days.
“Uh, my father was the one who told me about her. He told me he lost his sister about fifteen years ago, and that’s all I really know about her. I’ve never met her before. I don’t know if they were close or not.”
Yeah, that timeline fit.
They knew this sex ring was an old one. It was likely the biggest one in the States, and they wanted it shut down—and for good reason.
Zayn didn’t like where this was going. He didn’t like that everyone was now scrutinizing his wife.
“I hope you’re not suggesting my woman had anything to do with this,” he stated. “She’s my damn wife. She’s not involved in a sex ring!”
She looked surprised.
“I’m not! I would never…”
Ethan reassured her.
They’d done plenty of checks on Stella Harrington-Thundercloud. They’d run her up, down, sideways, and into next week. She had zero contact with anyone involved in this. Plus, she’d been abducted, and they didn’t believe that was staged.
Period.
“We don’t think you have anything to do with it,” Ethan stated. “If we did, we wouldn’t be here. All of you would
be compromised, and this mission would be over.”
Dakota didn’t like that.
He wanted Bonnie’s head on a silver platter.
“We do need to ask you some things.”
She nodded.
“Okay.”
“Is this her?” Elizabeth asked, sending the woman’s picture to the big screen.
“I don’t know. I never saw her.”
“Did your father mention anything about her?”
She shook her head.
Yeah, that was a dead end. Stella wasn’t involved.
Still…
That seemed to be a common thread. The woman appeared to be one hell of an enigma. She had hidey-holes all over the freaking place.
“Well, let me continue my story,” Ethan stated.
“What does this have to do with us?” Rogue asked. “Maybe you can get to the point? Today?”
“Well, someone is cranky,” Elizabeth stated. “Fatherhood should have mellowed you out. You have to be a lot calmer when you have kids.”
It appeared to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.
He was up and to his feet. There was a rage on his face that couldn’t be hidden.
Rogue was about to lose it.
“Did you know?” he asked, pointing his finger into her chest. “Did you know Charlotte had my child?”
She didn’t move.
“I wouldn’t do that,” Ethan began. “You’re putting your hands on her body, and that’s going to end badly—for you.”
The man didn’t listen.
He was too pissed off. If they knew, and they didn’t tell him he had a child, they were culpable in all of this mess.
That didn’t fly with him.
“If you knew, that’s shitty!”
“What I know is none of your business,” she stated. Elizabeth wasn’t going to defend herself to this man. She carried a lot on her shoulders, and Rogue knocking the woman up…not her concern.
She had bigger fish to fry.
Bonnie.
Serial killers.
Her life—in general.
Rogue didn’t like that answer. He shoved her, and what happened wasn’t a shock to Ethan Blackhawk. While he wanted to hand the man his ass, his wife didn’t need him fighting her battles.
She was her own sword.
Elizabeth smiled, and then she moved so fast, Rogue found himself on the ground with Sungila on top of him. Oh, and the dog’s mouth on his throat.
Absolution: The Hunter Mercenary Series (Book Two) Page 5