Sinner Hunted (Sinner Security Book 1)

by Raven Gale

  It was beaten into him at a very young age, and while his grandmother tried to save him from the worst of it, she couldn’t save him from it all.

  Joe has ghosts from long before the war, and his demon has his father’s face.

  “So. You wanna tell me why you left your momma’s?” Colin shakes his head. He most certainly does not want to talk about his best friend’s family walking by the window every fucking day. “Okay, if you aren’t ready to deal with that shit, then you aren’t. We had hoped being home would help you get some rest at least. Did you sleep any better?”

  “Some.”

  Joe blinks at the one word answer. He remembers Bot the way he was before. He doesn’t ever remember being that kind of happy and carefree. He wants it for his friend again.

  “Ruby is a beautiful woman,” he adds, with a healthy dose of interested speculation in his tone, and locks his face down to keep from grinning at the instant look of white hot jealousy that enters Bot’s eyes. “A man could lose himself in her. At least for a few nights.” He laughs, and Bot frowns.

  “She’s not like that.”

  “Really? Why, because of her fancy house and pedigree? Erik said she was high-falutin’.” Bot’s eyes narrow.

  “Why are you talking about Ruby with Erik?”

  “I knew she was a friend of his so I thought I’d see if I had a chance.” He shrugs at Bot, who sees red.

  “You leave her the fuck alone, Magic. I mean it.”

  Joe straightens at his anger. “I ain’t going to mess with her, but you watch your tone.”

  Joe hadn’t been serious and hell, he had been pushing for a reaction but he didn’t like the fact that Bot sounded like he wasn't good enough for the woman.

  “Sorry, man, I’m fucked up right now.” Bot slumps, placing his arms on the table and leaning his head down on them. “I’m always going to be fucked up. She’d be better off with a man like you.”

  “Bullshit. I ain’t what that fancy lady is looking for, and you might be fucked up, but we all are. If she helps you, helps you get better, then why not go back to her instead of sneaking away in the early morning darkness?”

  “It wasn't dark.” Joe pins him with a hard glare.

  “You and Carter are fucking knuckleheads. I ain’t going to drag you kicking and screaming to the water, dumbass. You remember what happened last time.”

  Bot did indeed. Ember almost died, and they spent months tracking the human trafficker that had seen and shot her. Hell, it’s what started all this shit. All because Carter wouldn’t admit his feelings. Luckily, Bot never had to see Ruby again. Hell, she didn’t know anything about him other than he worked with Erik. Fuck.

  He pulls out his phone and hits Erik’s contact. The man picks up on the second ring.

  “Do not tell her anything else about me. I’m no good for her and I won’t drag her into this nightmare of a life.”

  Chapter Ten

  Erik looks down at his phone smiling.

  Bot hadn’t even let him speak, just growled his threat at him, because it was a threat, and then hung up.

  “Who was that?”

  He looks up at the two women sitting across from him at the table. He had been here at the hotel restaurant for a couple hours with Ember and then he had sent Ruby a text, and she came right over. Joe had told him the minute Colin had snuck from her house.

  Ruby’s eyes were locked on his phone, and Ember’s were filled with humor. Ember knew exactly who that had been on the call.

  “Colin.”

  “Oh.” She doesn’t say anything else, but her cheeks went pinker, telling them all they needed to know.

  “Can I say something that might be none of my business?” Ember asks, turning her body toward Ruby, and Erik’s friend nods. “If you want anything more than a one night-stand, it is going to be hard work. Erik told me about your brother this morning.” Ruby jerks her face toward her friend. Erik says nothing; he’s tired of Ruby shouldering it all herself. “Bot could be your brother, if he didn’t have the whole team holding him barely together. But we aren’t enough anymore. He needs help, and so do you. I’ll leave you guys to talk, but just one more thing first... I met Carter and I knew after that first night I would never find another man like him. I had a very kind, amazing woman tell me that the love of a man like Carter, like Bot, was worth the fight to get it and keep it. She was right.”

  Ember stand and comes around the table. Leaning down, she kisses Erik on the cheek. “Thanks again for saving me that night.”

  He nods and thinks about how one dance had changed so much. If he believed in fate, he’d think it had sent Ember to him in that club in Denver.

  “Erik?” He drags his eyes away from Ember’s retreating form but not before noticing Carter push off the wall. He hadn’t noticed the man before, which says a lot.

  “Sorry, Red. What did you say?”

  “I said, ‘What should I do?’” She has tears pooling in her eyes. “I can’t deal with another person disappearing like Mark.”

  Erik sighs. Maybe this had all been a horrible idea. He had thought that if Bot met Ruby, he might want to help her. No one else had been able to find Mark, not even himself with all his contacts, but Bot was a wizard when it came to finding things and people.

  “What happened?” He asks and she gives him the look she has since she hit teenage years, the one that says she thinks he’s an idiot.

  “You know exactly what happened.” Her cheeks color again. “God, Erik, I’m an idiot. I thought one night just to forget for a while but…” She trails off.

  “But now you want more.” He finishes for her. She nods. “Is it because you couldn’t save Mark so you want to save Bot?”

  Jesus, she thinks, is that it? Is she trading one train wreck for another? She shakes her head slowly. “I don’t know. Honestly. I don’t want to hurt him or use him. Maybe we are both too broken.”

  He knows all about her brokenness and not just the stuff from losing Mark.

  “Give it a couple days. Give me a couple of days.” She nods, letting the topic die.

  Instead, she asks him about his family. Punishment. She knows his family is as messed up as hers. They talk for a while longer before they rise to say goodbye. She hugs him tight, and he squeezes her. She is the closest thing to a sister he’ll ever have, and he’s going to help her. Somehow.

  As soon as they part, he texts Joe. He needs to figure out how to protect her and his friend while getting Bot to try to find Mark. He stays where he is, ordering food while he waits for Joe to arrive. He’s pushing the plate away just as the man walks in.

  Erik watches him closely. Everyone that knows the security company and the team believe Carter is the leader. They are wrong. Carter is the face, but Joe is the one that keeps it all going. Erik did his research before he started working with Bot and the others. Joe’s name is on the incorporation paperwork. Carter even told him that the company had been Joe’s idea, a way to help their brothers after they came home.

  Carter might be the Alpha of the pack, but Joe is the Beta. He keeps everyone safe while looking out for their well-being. Joe will know what to do about Red and Bot.

  Erik isn’t surprised when he sees the one they call Loup, or wolf, slide into a seat at the bar. The Frenchman had come across his radar before he knew who he worked with. Jacques was a loner, which had made him perfect for his job in the military, but it was his family history that intrigued Erik’s bosses. They didn’t like that they couldn’t tempt him away from Veil Security.

  The man nods once while sipping a dark beer, and the foam catches on the massive mustache and beard. The facial hair and the unusual haircut make Jacques look more like an American biker from some television show than the multi-millionaire he actually is. Although, other than his home, as far as Erik can tell, he never touches his family money, other than the recent donations to Ember’s charity.

  Joe pulls out the chair opposite and sits down. He seems relaxed, but Erik knows h
e could be ready to kill without any hesitation.

  “This is a mess.” The man’s deep Southern drawl is thick, and like always, Erik takes a moment to decipher the words.

  “What is?” He doesn’t give away his thoughts on what happened last night or Ruby’s reaction to it.

  “You know what.” The look on Joe’s face dares Erik to deny it. “I know exactly why you sent Bot to that safe house. He doesn’t need anything else to send him spiraling farther down, and if he can’t find that girl’s brother, that is exactly what will happen. Did she tell you they fucked?”

  Erik frowns at the coarseness of Joe’s declaration.

  “I see she did. Well, what are you going to do about it?”

  “What do you think I should do? They are grown, after all. I’m not her keeper, and you aren’t his dad,” Erik growls, angry at the accusation and guilty because he knows Joe is a least a little right.

  “Can he find that man alive?” Joe studies Erik as the man ponders the question.

  “If anyone can, it would be Bot. That’s why I sent him to her.”

  Joe shakes his head. “I hope you’re right.” Sighing, the man glances around before looking back at Erik. Hard. “Don’t do anything. If I’m right, and I am, he’ll be back at her door before nightfall.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Bot paces around the hotel room. He had chosen to come to it rather than back to his mom’s. He had at least called and talked to her. She didn’t have to tell him he had hurt her, for he could hear it in her voice. Scared her again. She made it clear that Joe had told her exactly when he had left.

  ‘Just happened to be around his ass,’ his ass; the crazy Cajun was following him. Bot shakes his head at the thought. Stopping once again to look out the window, hating that his eyes immediately turn her direction.

  Stupid fucking idea is what he tells himself, turning away, but he glances back before stopping in front of his laptop and looking at the information he has pulled up on her and her family.

  Her brother is in the wind. Off grid. Hiding from his demons and the world, breaking her heart. Bank reports show she’s spent a small fortune trying to help and then trying to find Mark to no avail. He understands the sadness that she tried to hide from him better now. He also understands why Erik called him. Why her house was the safe house.

  Picking up his phone, he calls the man that sent him to her. Erik picks up on the first ring, and Bot knows he’s been waiting for this call and wishes he could have lasted longer than the three days he’s been counting the minutes of but his patience has snapped.

  “She doesn’t need another fuck-up in her life, man.” He doesn’t let Erik speak before he blurts out the very thing he is trying to convince himself of.

  “I didn’t think of that, Bot. Honestly. I just thought if you met Ruby, you’d want to help her. I’ve tried to find him but I can’t.”

  Bot rubs his fingers over his tired eyes hard, pushing them back into the sockets, sighing. It says a lot, what Erik just admitted.

  “I didn’t have any idea that you’d sleep with her.” Bot doesn’t miss the slight growl of anger coming from Erik, and his spine stiffens.

  “That’s none of your fucking business,” he growls back.

  “She’s my goddamn business,” Erik barks at him, and for the first time, Bot hears him losing the steel grip on his emotions. Interesting. “I love her, Colin.”

  Rage floods his system at the words. He loves her. Does she love him?

  “Like a sister.”

  Instant regret for the thought of how he could kill Erik multiple ways running through his head. The man sounds heartbroken at her pain. He can live.

  “It’s killing me not being able to help her. Hell, I can’t even help my best friend.”

  Bot sighs, trying to imagine losing one of his friends to their demons. He can’t. It was hard enough losing his friend to the enemy, something tangible, but to have him just disappear would kill him. The not knowing would eat away at him.

  “Fine, but don’t tell her. I’ll do what I can to find him and whatever I find, I’ll send to you.”

  Erik smiles. “You don’t want to get it to her yourself?”

  “No.” Bot hangs up before Erik can say anything else to piss him off.

  Within moments his phone chimes, alerting him to a new message. He opens it and sees Erik has sent him all the files on Mark. He knows he needs to get to his system at home but he can’t stand to leave London. He won’t admit that it’s her that he doesn’t want to leave.

  Shaking his head at his own stupidity, he pulls up the contact information for the guy who gets him things when he’s in the country. It takes him minutes to send the shopping list and where to deliver it all. It’ll take a day or so for the guy to get it all together.

  Bot looks at himself, reflected in the glass of the window. He hates the man staring back at him. Time to face his mother. Time to face his past.

  Chapter Twelve

  He sits in the rented car just down the street for hours, feeling like a coward and an idiot. Every person that has passed has smiled and waved; by now, his mother has known he’s here since almost the moment he parked.

  He starts the car and drives slowly down to his mom’s driveway, pulling in and turning it off. He sits for another minute before forcing himself to get out. As he straightens and closes the door, he hears her.

  Not his mother.

  “Hello, Colin.” He grinds his molars as panic flares in his chest.

  “Mrs. Ashwood.” He turns slowly to look his best friend’s mother in the eyes, unable to ignore her any longer.

  “We’ve missed you.” She steps forward but stops at an arm’s length. “Are you well?”

  “Yes. I’m sorry.”

  She shakes her head, a sad smile curving her lips as she reaches for his cheek with the hand she had cupped her own son’s cheek with so often.

  Before.

  “Nothing that happened was your fault, Colin. Nothing.”

  He sees that she means it, but that doesn’t change his guilt.

  “I…” He pauses trying to think of anything to say, anything that would mean enough. “I wish it had been me.”

  There. It is the truth, and he’s thought it every single day since he held her son in his arms as he died. Colin swallows and fight the tears that want to pour down his face. His emotions are choking him as she drags him into a tight hug. No. It’s more than a hug; it is a mother holding a son.

  It breaks him.

  They stand clutching each other, sobbing on the sidewalk as passersby look on. No one says a word; everyone knows who both the people holding so tightly to each other are. More than one person passes with tears shining in their eyes.

  The community lost two sons on that day in Afghanistan.

  They break apart when they are both cried out. His best friend’s mom walks him to his own, who is waiting in the front garden. Neither say anything as they share their own hug. Colin waits, both women holding onto him as if afraid he will once again disappear.

  Finally, James’ mother pulls away. Once more she cups his cheek, smiling at the boy she helped raise.

  “We love you, Colin. Come back and see us,” she whispers as she turns away.

  He nods once, unable to promise something he’s not sure he can do. He refuses to hurt her any more than she has been. His own mom leads him in the house.

  “I hope it helped.” He looks at her but doesn’t answer the unasked question. “Both of you. Carter called to let me know you might be staying for a bit before you head back to the U.S.”

  “I figured Joe had told you every detail of what I’ve been doing and what he thinks I might do.” His voice sounds grumpy, even to him, and she smiles.

  “They don’t want me to worry.” It is a quiet scolding from her. A reminder that he snuck out in the middle of the night, making her do exactly that.

  “I’m sorry,” he sighs, putting his arm around her shoulders. “I’m sorry for
everything -- the last few years, the last few days. I’m sorry I don’t call or visit. I’m sorry I’ve made you worry so much.”

  “I love you, and it’s my job to worry. I started the moment I felt you growing in me and I will only stop when I leave this world.” She lays her head against his chest, listening to his heart beat. “I just want you to come home from that battlefield.”

  “I am home, mom.”

  She shakes her head against him. “No, you aren’t. You are still right there, holding James on your lap, screaming for help. But now you need to help yourself. James is beyond saving, Colin. You have to save yourself.”

  He doesn’t respond because once again, he can’t promise that.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Ruby looks around her home. A home that she has loved since she was little, but now it is filled with ghosts, ghosts of a life she can barely remember. It reminds her of a life she can’t have.

  It reminds her of death, so much death it chokes her. She doesn’t know how to live anymore. Only in his arms did she feel herself come to life.

  She shakes her head, wishing she could forget those moments beneath his body. She scoffs at herself, not believing her own thought for a moment. She will hold the memories tight, letting them give her a small amount of happiness for as long as they will.

  She had hoped for the first couple of days that he might return. She had hoped selfishly to steal a few more hours of happiness before returning to her lonely existence. Her friends couldn’t understand. She only had Erik, and he was gone for days, weeks, hell, sometimes months.

  Day and night, she is alone, even when surrounded by people. Friends laughing and having a good time while she plasters a fake smile on her face. Everyone is tired of hearing about Mark. No one wants to talk about her parents dying. No one understands.