Xander continued, “I knew you were an asshole, but drug dealing? Why? Did Allison talk you into this?”
It looked to Xander like Jerry wanted to explain, but he just continued to huff and puff. Xander walked over and picked Jerry up by his police jacket. “I can maybe understand wanting to use your position to make some extra money. It’s careless, but whatever. But to take innocent lives?”
As Jerry just stared back at him, Xander began to get angry. He shook Jerry by the coat and slammed his back against the fence.
“Did you shoot that innocent woman?”
Jerry just looked down at the ground. Xander punched him in the stomach, then stood him up again, forcing Jerry to look him in the eye.
“Answer me!”
Xander pulled his fist back, ready to strike, but suddenly a gunshot rang out from behind him. He immediately turned and saw Jonathan Freeman pointing a gun at him. Then he dropped to his knees, and Xander saw Sam holding a gun in the middle of the road. Xander looked back at Jerry.
“Xander, I swear, it was Freeman who shot that woman, and he shot my deputy. I wouldn’t—”
“Save it.”
Xander didn’t want to hear it after all. As he pulled Jerry away from the fence and began dragging him back toward the road, the other officers had pulled up and were taking Allison and her brother into custody. It didn’t look like Sam had shot to kill. Jerry and Allison had made the fatal mistake of letting their shared dislike of Xander get in the way of their plans to deal drugs in his city. And while Xander wasn’t happy that he had been dragged into this mess, he was happy to see them fail. He knew that if they had been able to go on selling drugs, they would have ruined far more lives than just the few ruined that night. As he handed Jerry off to the officers on the snowy road, it felt good to see Allison in the back of a squad car. Her life was over. All because of money. Maybe it was because he had so much of it—money— that Xander couldn’t understand the insatiable lust for it, or what could make someone go so far to get it. In Xander’s eyes, Allison already had it all.
“You okay, Xander?” Sam said from behind him.
He turned and offered a wan smile. “Thanks to you.”
An ambulance had pulled up to the scene, and to the right of Sam were two paramedics loading a gurney into the back. As they started to hoist up the gurney, he could see it was Allison’s brother.
“Excuse me,” he said to the paramedics and walked closer. “Is he conscious?”
The young man nodded. “He’s in and out.”
Xander walked up to the gurney. “Do you mind?”
The white light from the inside of the ambulance spilled out of the gurney and over Jonathan Freeman’s face.
“Looks like you’re kind of busy, Freeman, but I just wanted to say one more thing before you go . . .”
Xander waited, and to his delight Freeman opened his eyes. Xander smiled, then turned and began to walk away. “Have fun in prison, I’m sure the inmates will just love to know that the DA’s brother is in there with them. If they can’t get back at her, you’ll be the next best thing.”
“Go to hell, Xander,” Freeman managed in a croaked voice. He was in obvious pain from Sam’s gunshot wound.
“Oh, and Freeman”—Xander turned back toward him—“Merry Christmas.”
Xander Claus
Bing Crosby’s soothing baritone voice serenaded the five of them as they finished unwrapping their last few Christmas gifts. Xander appreciated the way Sam and Kyle were able to stay in good spirits as Kaley bounced around the tree-lit room. It was obvious that Kyle was pretty sore from the accident. And he could tell that Sam was ready to move on to other things. Still, they smiled and laughed as Kaley played with her toys. Xander Claus, as Kaley had been calling her uncle all morning, was happy that his niece was none the wiser when it came to what happened last night. Helen wasn’t happy that they had all gotten banged up, but she was grateful that they had all made it back in one piece. Sam got up from the couch and joined Xander on the floor amongst the sea of fallen wrapping paper.
“Don’t say I never gave you anything.” Sam managed a smile as she handed him a box.
“More pwesents!” Kaley shouted as she plopped down in between them.
Xander let her help him unwrap Sam’s gift, but as soon as they pulled off the top of the box, he had to pull it away. Inside the box was a beautiful bowie knife. It was at least seven inches long, and it had a serrated edge on one side. It reminded Xander of the knife used in one of his favorite movies growing up.
“Wambo!” Kaley shouted.
Helen raised an eyebrow. “Rambo? Kaley, how did you know that?”
Kaley smiled. “It’s like the one in Uncle Xander’s movie!”
Helen shot Xander a look.
“I thought she was asleep!”
They all shared a laugh.
“For just in case you ever drop your gun,” Sam said.
“Thanks, Sam.”
“Wambo!” Kaley shouted again.
“Looks like the knife has a name.” Kyle laughed.
From then on, Xander would not be able to help but refer to the knife as Rambo. The rest of the day was spent relaxing, playing games, and watching Christmas movies. For everyone but Sam, that is. She stayed curled up in the corner of the couch and kept her head buried in her laptop. Xander knew she was hard at work, planning for their next target. He was thankful that she didn’t bother him with her inability to relax, so he let her plug away. At one point, he did notice a picture of a man on her screen. When he made the mistake of asking, she said she almost had enough intel to go after a cartel man, Miguel Juarez, who had been trafficking young girls just south of San Diego.
“Merry Christmas to you too, Sam,” he told her.
She was an amazing woman; relentless was the best word to describe her. Xander knew that in between possible targets, Sam was also desperately trying to find information on who could be responsible for killing his parents. They had been at it for a while, but no solid information had been uncovered as of yet. It was frustrating, but he knew they were getting closer. And that was a good thing. However, he knew it would consume him even further once they finally did get their first real lead. For the time being, Xander was happy to take a moment and enjoy the little things in his life. He was excited about the year to come. His bourbon company was going into distribution, and his Thoroughbred, King’s Ransom, was showing signs of a dominant season. His only hope was that the darkness in his life—the tragedies—didn’t outweigh the light. The last ten years of his life had been spent perfecting how to hunt down and kill a man. And he had done just that. He promised himself in that moment, as he looked over the smiling faces of his friends and family, that he wouldn’t let it get the best of him. That he would still live life, even though his deepest desire was to take the life of his parents’ killer.
Xander thought to himself that 2016 just might end up being a hell of a year.
He had no idea.
Letter from the Author
Dear Reader,
I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for spending a few of your precious hours with my imagination. My only hope is that VENDETTA was as much fun for you to read as it was for me to write.
Now that you have read the prequel novella, you are ready for the first novel in the Xander King series, WHISKEY & ROSES. Xander gets his first lead on who killed his parents, his horse, King’s Ransom, makes a run for the roses at the Kentucky Derby, and Xander just so happens to meet America’s sweetheart along the way. I want to give you the opportunity to download WHISKEY & ROSES for free to keep the momentum going! Just join my reader group here: www.bradleywrightauthor.com and I will send you the link to your free novel.
The response to Xander and company has been amazing, and I have been humbled by the kind words that readers continue to share online and via e-mail. As long as you are willing to read, I will continue to write. Thank you again for helping to make my dreams come true.
Thanks again for reading.
All the best,
Bradley Wright
Bradley Wright is the author of the Xander King series. He and his wife spend time in both sunny California and the great state of Kentucky. He does his very best to be charming, witty, and clever. When those attempts inevitably fail, he locks himself in a room and makes up characters who always seem to find him far more interesting than real people do. Funny how that works.
Bradley has been writing since he was a child. He started with songs and poems but finally gave in to writing stories when the voices in his head resorted to shouting. He is inspired by every author he reads, most notably, Stephen King and Carsten Stroud.
For more information visit www.bradleywrightauthor.com.
Cheers!
Table of Contents
Contents
Team X
Title Page
Xander King Series
Copyright
Dedication
Quote
Vendetta
So Much for Christmas Dinner
Covering All the Angles
Allison Freeman's Only Chance
Party Crashers
You Can't Save the Entire World
Only One Way to Find Out
Amateur Hour Amateur Hour
Time to Make a Move
Something Isn't Adding Up
Clarity in the Chaos
You Break It, You Buy It
Closing In
On the Run
Help is On the Way
Not So Merry Christmas
Xander Claus
Team X
Letter From the Author
About the Author
Vendetta: Prequel Novella (The Xander King Series) Page 8
