Sin & Saint (Executioners Book 4)

by J. M. Dabney

  “She loves it, and it keeps her semi-out of trouble. Unfortunately, she’s not a juvenile anymore, so we got that bail fund started.”

  They headed for the door together, and he caught the door Tank held open for him, then Tank took off for their bikes.

  “She’s a good kid.”

  “Yeah, she is, she’s still working through some shit, but it is what it is. She didn’t have the best start.”

  “Go, I have to head home, but my boys might not be there. I’m sure they wouldn’t miss a crew kid’s special day. Tank still hasn’t forgiven me.”

  “That’s never going to happen. Tank has a long memory. You locked me up, but also let that fucker who tried to kill him go.”

  “I didn’t have—”

  “It’ll work out. Now, go home to your men.”

  He waved Scary and Tank off. He had a lot of regrets, but he’d been great at his job. Since moving there though, it didn’t seem as important. That didn’t bode well for his continued job as Sheriff. The town was different. He didn’t look the other way like Thorpe had. Yeah, he let a few things go here and there, but he fought his battles where he could. He’d gone head to head with Peaches too many times and come out the loser.

  He strode across the lot to his Sheriff-issued vehicle and started his short trip home. He was going to ask his boys to marry him. It wasn’t going to be fancy and probably not all that romantic, but he only had a few more months until Christmas. Not a lot of time to get everything planned. He wondered if he was crazy for doing this since they hadn’t dated more than four months. He wouldn’t deny it felt right and he sure as hell wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to have what he’d always wanted. So many years he’d denied what he’d dreamed of having, and he wasn’t going to do that anymore. Yes, Eric and Ellison would always come first, his priority, and if they were able to add to their family, then that would be great too.

  It was all coming together. He just hoped nothing came along to fuck it up. He’d waited too fucking long for this, and the time he’d wasted denying himself and his boys—no time for regrets. All that was left was to put his plan into action. He smiled as his brightly lit house came into view. Both his SUV and the boys’ car were parked out front.

  This is what he’d been waiting for. It wasn’t about anything other than waiting for Eric and Ellison. This was right and worth any risk. If he only had a year or fifty with them, he’d fucking cherish each one. Now, to ask his boys to marry him.

  When he rushed inside, he heard Eric and Ellison’s voices coming from the kitchen. Their soft laughter filled his house. He removed his belt, stowed his service weapon in his office safe, and made his way to the kitchen. He stopped in the doorway. Eric and Ellison were working at the stove. The table was already set.

  “He’ll be home soon.”

  “Daddy won’t be mad if dinner isn’t ready as soon as he walks in the door.” Eric bumped Ellison with his hip.

  “I know, but he always has dinner ready when we get home. This doesn’t look like the picture on the recipe. What did we do wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong. All those pictures are professionally taken. It’ll taste fine. Now, who’s going to make dinner late?”

  “Daddy makes this look so easy.”

  Ellison was getting better, but his baby had moments of insecurity still. He’d have to work harder to make Ellison more secure. He cleared his throat the minute he saw Ellison’s shoulders drop and he seemed to pull into himself.

  “Something smells good.”

  “It’s—”

  “Ellison.”

  “Thank you.”

  “That’s better.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the tiny bag that held the two rings. “Come here. I have presents for you two.”

  “Presents!” Eric grabbed Ellison’s hand.

  Once they stopped in front of him, he took a deep breath and dropped to his knees. “Now, I know we talked about waiting until all three of us were ready, but I love you two, and I want to know if you’d like a Christmas wedding?”

  He observed their expressions as they shifted from shock, to confusion, and then huge, bright smiles spread across their full lips.

  “Yes,” they both squealed.

  He stood as they held out their left hands and he slipped the simple white gold bands on their fingers. He pulled the other bag out and handed it to them.

  “Your turn.”

  They both took the matching ring and together they slid it on. Eric and Ellison jumped and threw themselves against his chest, he barely caught them and then hugged them tight as he carried them into the kitchen.

  He whispered as he kissed Ellison’s neck then Eric’s, “Lou will be expecting our call in January. Let’s have dinner and celebrate.”

  They didn’t say anything, only nodded, and never loosened their hold on him. He wasn’t ready to put them down yet, soon, but not yet. The night wasn’t about the job to come or the dangerousness of it, it was all about his boys, and they said yes to marrying a cranky, old Sheriff.

  Nineteen

  Oh, Shit, They Were Getting Married

  It still hadn’t sunk in, Camden had asked them to marry him. On his knees and rings, they hadn’t expected it and were shocked. He still kept looking at the ring, Camden said they could pick another one to exchange during the ceremony, but he wanted the one he had. It was perfect, and it meant they belonged to Camden. Not only were they getting married they were going to have a baby too.

  “You’ve had that sappy grin on your face all day,” Sin said as the other man leaned on the counter.

  “Because he wants to marry us.”

  “Of course he does, he said he did when he met Mama.”

  “Yeah, but this is a ring, and we already have a date.”

  He knew he probably looked silly; he didn’t care, though. He finished out the deposit. Camden said that morning he had something he needed to take care of and wouldn’t be home until late. That usually meant they’d already be in bed before he came in, so they’d decided to start packing up the house. Most of their stuff was thrift store finds they’d refurbished or repurposed. Broke and starting out meant you got creative.

  “Still going to start packing tonight?”

  “We’ll get some takeout and some beer, drive Mrs. Bremerton mad one last time.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  He handed the bank bag to Sin, and his twin walked off to lock it in the safe. They had the day off tomorrow. Maybe they’d have Camden come to their house for the night. Camden had promised to borrow Little’s van to help move boxes. Camden made them promise him that they make the house theirs. They could decorate however they wanted, but they liked Camden’s place. Although it did need a few more personal touches, they had plenty of those at their house.

  “Do you think Camden will mind us setting up stained-glass windows?”

  “He said we could make whatever changes we want. There’s that group of trees not far from the house. Down near the old gazebo. They’d be beautiful hung up around that.”

  “Yes, they would. You ready?”

  “Almost I just have to—” The door opened. “Sorry, we’re closed.”

  “Sin, Saint, we need to talk.” The faint lines in Linus’ face were deeper than normal, Liv, Pure, and Raul weren’t looking any happier.

  “What happened? This isn’t a family—”

  “We’ve been working an operation with Pelter. We lost contact with him a few hours ago, we received a message, and you two need to hear it.”

  He reached for Sin and held tight as Linus held out his phone.

  “Linus, I’m down, shipment came in early.” Camden’s voice cracked, and it was laced with pain. “When you get this come with everything you got, but make sure my boys are safe. Tell them I love them. I’ll hold these fuckers off—”

  The call cut out.

  “We can’t pinpoint his location. Hunter’s tried everything. We only know that he’s somewhere within�
��”

  “Was he wearing his watch when you met with him earlier?” Sin asked.

  “Yeah, why? He said it was some—”

  “Saint.”

  “On it.” He pulled out his phone and pulled up the GPS locator. It was something they’re mama had always done. He had a program that would tell him where Sin, his mama, and now Camden was. It was a habit they’d pick up working with Mama. Shit could go bad at any time on a climb. Mama had given Camden a matching watch as a present when she’d visited. He read out Camden’s coordinates.

  “We called in rescue, but if it’s a standoff out there…”

  “We’re going in,” he announced.

  “No, Camden would have my ass.”

  “We don’t give a fuck. That’s our man out there. Give us Liv, Pure, and Raul, no one is more qualified to fly a rescue mission than us. We’ve been doing this for years. Either you help, or we’ll do this our damn selves.”

  He stepped up beside Sin and dared Linus to challenge Sin.

  “Listen, we’ve flown rescue missions in far more dangerous places than Powers. We know that area, and there’s no team that could be out there quicker than me and Sin.”

  Fear was making him nauseous, but they’d done this. He’d flown in snow storms. They’d rappelled down sheer mountain faces to hook stranded climbers. They were more certified in being medics than half the EMTs in town. It was what they’d done.

  “If this goes bad…”

  “It won’t, so, quit wasting our time and let us get to the airfield. You take care of what you need.”

  “I’ll organize on the ground. I’ve called in favors. Get going, but you better be alive when this mission is done. I’m not dealing with your man.”

  “You won’t have to.”

  They ran out with the other men behind them. Pure made a detour at Linus’ SUV and pulled a case from the back. Linus was in the front seat, and as soon as Pure was clear, Linus sped off in the opposite direction.

  Every detail played out in his mind. What they’d need. Scenarios that would make this a success or failure, but the latter wasn’t an option. In the background, he heard Sin talking to Fred to tell him that he needed to come take care of closing down because they had an emergency.

  The trip out of town seemed to take forever, and the airfield was another ten miles passed their place. He ignored the grumbling of the three big men in the back seat. They’d grown up doing this. They could work under pressure. They’d trained for it since Mama put them on their first climbing.

  Camden had to be okay. They’d waited so long never with a true thought that months after Camden inviting them out to his place that they’d wear his ring.

  “Saint, we got this. There isn’t anything you can’t do in the air, and I’m the most qualified to rappel in. All we have to do is remember what Mama taught us. We’ll bring Camden home. I know it.”

  He nodded as they approached the turn-off. It was dark which hindered any rescue, but it wasn’t impossible. They had the darkness to cover their approach. Ernie still had some night vision gear, cameras, and goggles. The nearest helicopter was black and big enough for all of them. It would be fine. He could do this. It was a fucking walk in the park. Because failure wasn’t an option.

  Twenty

  Camden Needed Them

  They were out of the massive SUV before the others were even out of the backseat. He wasn’t going to accept that fucked-up goodbye while his and Saint’s man was in the middle of a fucking war zone.

  “Ernie, is the new chopper fueled?” Saint yelled on the move.

  Saint was off in the direction of their ride and was as calm as he was with any rescue they’d done, but he was sure this was eating Saint up as much as it was him. They’d have time to fall apart later.

  “Serviced this morning. What’s going down?”

  “Rescue, we need a basket. I need the rappelling gear and chutes for at least four.”

  “Vests?”

  “Yeah, you keep any of those smoke grenades around and masks?”

  “How much cover are we talking?”

  “I need enough time to rappel in, assess the damage and get Camden out. We got enough tree cover to keep Saint in the air.”

  “Free rappel from the chopper?”

  “Fastest way to the ground. I need the night vision.”

  “I’m on it.”

  Ernie headed to the bunker for the gear they kept hidden.

  “Sin, what the fuck is going on?” Livingston bellowed.

  He didn’t bother turning around to waste time and left Liv, Pure, Raul to follow if they wanted. This shit was second nature. When they couldn’t wait for the authorities in the past, Sin and Saint were the first to organize a rescue. Their mother made sure they were prepared for anything.

  “We locked on to the GPS in Camden’s watch. We’re monitoring his location. Saint will fly the rescue mission. The three of us will rappel in out of range of whatever weapons they have out there. Saint will circle and monitor with night vision and keep us informed from the air. You three badass, bounty hunter, ex-military will cover while I hook Camden in and get him in the air. Pure will act as sniper from the air and pull Camden in. Once he’s secured, Pure can use the winch to get us out.”

  “Sin, what weight load are we talking?” Ernie appeared with bags slung over his shoulders.

  “Camden is a good two-seventy, but I need enough to cover three hundred pounds to compensate for the basket.”

  “You’re not going up with him?”

  “I’ll act as the belayer from the ground until we have him locked in.”

  He changed into his black jumpsuit and secured a matching parachute to his back.

  “We ain’t got all fucking day, gentlemen. Me and Saint will take care of this on our own if you ain’t ready to be airborne in five minutes.”

  He was already on the move with Ernie and him double checking gear. Sin was doing a quick safety check.

  “With night vision, I can go dark when we reach the drop zone.” Saint snatched the black flight suit, slipped in on and finished his pre-flight check. “I checked the aerial photos of that area. There’s a small clearing, not enough for a vehicle but safe enough to rappel in. He’s about half a mile south of the DZ. Can you drag him that far? Because if you want to take the chance—”

  “What’s the rule, Saint?”

  “Adrenaline is better than sex?”

  “Not when it comes to Camden.”

  “Yeah.”

  “We got this big brother.”

  “Mama didn’t raise cowards.”

  “Fucking right.”

  “Boys, I got the night vision camera, give me five to attach. Stay in constant contact. I’ll be about a mile behind in case you have to bail out.”

  “Ernie—”

  “Don’t Ernie me, boys.”

  The Trenton Crew slipped on and secured their harnesses. He double-triple checked the equipment, carabiners, lines and everything else they needed. They got into the zone, and they were in the chopper as Saint readied for takeoff.

  “Boys, what’s the situation?”

  For the first time in almost an hour, they smiled as they heard their mama’s voice.

  “Mama, our man is on the ground, unknown condition, and a tight drop zone,” Saint answered.

  He made sure everyone was in and secure, he strapped in and looked around at the three men staring at him and Saint like they’d lost their fucking minds. They might be big and fucking bad, but this was shit they were trained for.

  “You’re going to rappel in, and Sin, when your feet hit the fucking ground, you stay on the move. Smaller target and trust Saint to know how to get y’all out.”

  “Always, Mama.”

  “Good. Now, I’m patched in, so I’m there every step of the fucking way. We got this, boys. You were born and trained for this moment.”

  An instant calm came over him as they soared into the air. The vibration of the blades circling above
them. In the air had been home for most of their lives. Saint was on Ernie’s lap learning to fly before he could walk. He’d climbed before he took his first steps. There wasn’t anything they couldn’t do, and Mama had made sure they knew it.

  “Gentlemen, you have fifteen minutes until drop. Check your weapons and egos. This is a rescue, not a takedown. We’re in and out with as little fuss as possible. Don’t fuck this up or you’re going to regret it.”

  “Listen to my boys, or I’ll make sure you’re frozen on the side of a mountain, and they won’t find your asses until thaw.”

  The lights went out, and he slipped his night vision goggles in front of his eyes. He tied the lines for Livingston, Raul, and himself, then he stood on the edge and took a breath. He threw the attached small chute to the basket and attached it to the line, then let it go.

  “Bring him home, Sin.”

  “He’ll be in our bed before sunrise. See you on the ground.” Sin jumped face down, adrenaline instantly rushed through his veins, and he tightened his hold and slowed his descent as he closed in on the ground. Shots were loud on the ground.

  “He’s twenty feet to your right, Sin.”

  Two big bodies landed on either side of him, and he crouched as he made his way toward Camden’s location. He stayed low as he noticed Camden hunkered down behind a tree. His heart nearly stopped as he saw his man was unconscious with at least two unfriendlies coming from the opposite direction. He didn’t wait, he ran forward with the basket in his hand and pulled a pin on one of the smoke grenades. He sent it sailing as he fell to his knees. There was a flash, and he covered his nose and mouth with a bandanna.

  He pulled compression bandages from his pockets. Camden groaned as he quickly went to work. Fuck, he was alone, and from what he could see, Liv and Raul were drawing fire. He slapped his hand over the emergency beacon.

  “I got your location.”

  “What’s the situation, son?” His mama’s voice was strong and edged with steel. She stayed calm for them.

  “Can’t see much, but he’s unconscious.” He checked Camden’s pulse. “His pulse is strong. The blood loss isn’t dangerous yet, but I don’t know if I’m missing wounds.”