Contents
Title Page
The Xander King Series
Copyrights
Dedication
Quote
Whisky & Roses
The Legend of Xander King
The King Is in the Building
Juarez's Date with Destiny
Xander Meets His Match
Natalie Rockwell Takes a Chance
Xander's Head Is in the Clouds
What Goes Up...
Planning a Hit Before Breakfast
The Darling of the Day
This Owner's Box Will Do Just Fine
Xander Takes a Bathroom Break
Say Hello to the King
Agent Sean Thompson Recieves Disturbing News
The Ground Shook and Mere Mortals Parted
Never Too Old for a Pizza Party
Make Love, Not War
Space Invaders
Sarah Gilbright Considers Getting Her Ass In Gear
You Can't Be Goin' All X-Man on Me
An Aching Sadness in the Pit of His Stomach
Best Laid Plans
One Lucky Girl
For Old Times' Sake
Someone Doesn't Know as Much as They Think They Know
It's Time to Get Serious
Hammer of Thor
Life's a Beach
The Time Xander Popped His Cherry
Khatib Is Ready: Too Ready
Kyle Hamilton Saves the Day... for Now
Sarah's Worried Heart
A Moment's Hesitation Will Be a Lifetime of Regret
The Most Haunting Image His Eyes Would Ever See
Compound Fracture
Xander Gets a Grip
Without a Trace
It Never Takes Me Long to Find Trouble
Whiskey & Roses
Vanquish
Letter from the Author
About the Author
WHISKEY
&
ROSES
The Xander King Series
XK1
BRADLEY WRIGHT
MORE FROM BRADLEY WRIGHT
Xander King Series
VENDETTA (prequel novella)
WHISKEY & ROSES
VANQUISH
KING’S RANSOM
WHISKEY
&
ROSES
Copyright © 2016 by Bradley Wright
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means,
without prior written permission.
Bradley Wright/King’s Ransom Books
www.bradleywrightauthor.com
Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination.
Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead,
or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
Whiskey & Roses/ Bradley Wright. -- 1st ed.
ISBN 978-0-9973926-0-9
For my parents, Tom Wright and Deborah Wright.
It’s never an easy thing to follow your dreams. Once you make that difficult decision, it’s even harder to make those dreams come true. However, it is a hell of a lot easier when you have two amazing parents cheering for you all along the way. Picking you up when you fall down and reminding you that nothing great in life is ever easy.
My dad showed me that I could be anything I ever wanted to be, no matter what it was or where I was from. My mom showed me that life is about more than just what you want to be. That it’s just as much about how you are as it is who you are.
With the two of them in my corner, there is no such thing as failure. For me, that, has always been the real dream come true.
Mom and Dad, thank you for everything. I love you with all that I am.
“None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper, which is heard by him alone.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
WHISKEY
&
ROSES
The Legend of Xander King
“Some people don’t deserve to live. One man is exceptional at making sure they don’t,” Director William Manning addressed the roomful of the CIA’s finest. “The decision that lies before us is whether we make this man an ally, or an enemy. And I’m afraid we can’t afford the latter…”
Just before Director Manning blasted into the room and uttered those chilling words, Sarah Gilbright sat alone, trying desperately to keep from nervous-sweating through her blouse. She knew it wasn’t all that unusual for the director of the CIA to call a top-secret meeting of the seven highest-ranking officials in the agency. However, it was highly unusual for the eighth person involved in that meeting to be a comparatively low-ranked special agent like herself. Sarah knew there could only be one reason she’d been invited to a meeting so far above her clearance level; they had decided to do something about Xander King.
Sarah fidgeted in her seat and shuffled through her previously prepared portfolios. She felt as if she were back in college. The plain white walls of the square room, the cheap collapsible faux-wood tables, and the metal folding chairs were almost enough to give her that familiar college hungover feeling, too—
That was when the heavy wooden door flung open, clanged against the painted cinderblock wall with a loud crash and Director Manning buzzed into the room. Though he didn’t look anything like the TV character, his clumsy and hurried entry reminded Sarah of Kramer from Seinfeld. No, Director Manning couldn’t look less like Cosmo Kramer. Manning's short, stout frame and his cloud-white hair made certain of that.
Director Manning finished his morbid opening remarks about Xander.
“…Either way, enemy or ally, we’ve got to do something. Let’s get through this as quickly as possible.” His tone was more of a growl as he dropped his black-leather briefcase onto the table. The button on his light gray suit jacket seemed to be holding on by a mere thread.
Sarah imagined the button on his pants probably shared a similar stretch.
“All of you know each other with the exception of Special Agent Sarah Gilbright here.” Manning pointed to Sarah.
The palms of Sarah’s hands filled with sweat at the sound of her name among all the important people. This was a big damn deal. She played it off as best she could as she tucked her long blonde hair back behind her ear.
“Sarah, if you could please hand everyone a file and come up front with me.”
She did as Manning asked and began passing around Xander’s file. She worried that her slim-fitting black skirt and tight royal-blue silk blouse might be inappropriate. She’d decided to button one more button on her blouse in the bathroom just moments ago. It was hard for her to contain her mother’s gift of large breasts, but she wanted the men in this meeting to take her seriously. The women, too. She wanted them all to listen because of her merit, not because of her curves and slender waist, as had all too often been the case since she joined the agency.
Director Manning continued, “Six months ago I gave Sarah an assignment to keep an eye on a man named Alexander King. I’m sure that all of you have heard the name at one time or another due to the legend of his time in our military, but his service to our country has taken on a much different role these days. Sarah is going to fill us in, and then we are going to figure out just what in the hell we are going to do about him. Sarah?”
Sarah handed off her last file and took the podium in front of the deputy and executive directors, the head of admin, the head of
espionage and the head of public affairs for the Central freaking Intelligence Agency of the United States of freaking America.
Wow.
Her voice was shaky. “Good afternoon, everyone. It’s an honor to—”
“Sarah…all due respect, spare us. We have other things to worry about so please keep this short,” Director Manning broke in.
“Yes sir, Mr. Manning. Alexander King.” She did as she was told and got right to it, swallowing the growing nerves and digging in. “All of you are familiar with the name?”
The stuffy roomful of higher-ups all nodded in unison.
Sarah continued.
“The Alexander—Xander—King of today is known to the world as the billionaire son of Martin King, of King Oil. After his parents were brutally murdered in front of him, Xander decided not to follow in his father’s footsteps. Instead, he sold King Oil and as you well know by his…‘legend,’ as Director Manning put it, he joined the navy. If you will, please open to the first page of the portfolio.”
“And he’s handsome.” Director of Espionage Mary Hartsfield remarked when she opened the folder and saw a picture of Xander holding a bottle of bourbon.
“Mary, please. Could you wait till you get the portfolio home before you start drooling over it?” Director Manning scolded.
The group laughed at Mary’s outburst, and Sarah, for the first time since entering the room, let the tension fall from her shoulders. She looked again, for probably the thousandth time at the blue eyes staring at her in that picture and wholeheartedly agreed with Mary.
“I’m with you, Mary, he is quite handsome.”
Director Manning rolled his eyes and motioned forward, telling Sarah to move on.
“That bottle in his hand is from his own bourbon company—King’s Ransom—that he launched recently, and as some of you may or may not have heard he has a horse by the same name running in the Kentucky Derby this coming Saturday. Those are the things he’s known for to the outside world. However, the reason we are here today is because of what the public doesn’t know, what Xander King doesn’t know we know, and the reason Director Manning has had me monitoring Xander for the last six months. Xander King is an assassin.”
The air in the room changed, shifted with the dark word uttered, surprising them all.
“Now, before you get the wrong idea about Xander, let me brief you on exactly what I mean.”
Sarah turned the page and the picture this time was of a beautiful dark-haired woman whose stern demeanor suggested she’d seen her share of the cruelty in the world.
“If you’ll turn the page, you’ll find Samantha Harrison, or Sam, as Xander calls her. Sam had quite the reputation at MI6 in the UK for being what used to be an unparalleled agent. We aren’t exactly sure how she and Xander initially connected, but together they have formed quite a team. Sam is in charge of finding and coordinating the targets, and Xander goes about eliminating them. She is the coach, and he is the talent, if you will.”
“Targets, Ms. Gilbright?” Mary asked.
“Yes, targets. The scum of the earth. The most evil and vile human beings on the planet.”
Deputy Director Richards, a silver-haired, tall and lanky man, spoke up.
“And he just kills them? No justice system? Vigilante style, he’s the judge and jury? I see now why we are here. This is a problem.”
Sarah felt the room shift again and she wanted to make sure she gave the rest of the facts in such a manner to show that what Xander was doing, though not legal, was just about the most noble and honorable thing a man with his particular set of skills could do. She had been watching him for months. All of the charity events he’d hosted, all of the people he’d saved by taking out these miserable targets. She didn’t want this audience to get the wrong impression of him.
“Well, I understand your skepticism, Mr. Richards, but I assure you this isn’t some amateur running around killing random people he thinks might be doing bad things. Sam painstakingly researches each and every target, and if you will turn the page, I’ll introduce you to some of these evil people.”
They all turned the page. There was a picture of a forty-something man with an emptiness to his stare.
“The first man you see was killed by Xander three months ago. Jerrold Connors. Jerrold is—”
Deputy Director Richards interjected, “Hey, I remember this guy. We were building a case against him when he was suddenly killed. Horrible, the things he was doing. Didn’t we find the bodies of more than seven male teenagers out in his shed?”
“Yes, that’s the guy.”
“Awful. I remember, they were all drugged and tortured over a span of months if I’m not mistaken.”
“You are not mistaken. I’m glad you remember, Mr. Richards.”
Director Manning cleared his throat. “Move along, Sarah.”
“Right. The second target on the list, Mitch Boyle, was eliminated last month—”
“Oh god.” Mary winced. “I remember him. He was the guy—the nurse—that was going around stealing newborn babies from the hospital nursery, then taking them home, killing them, and stuffing them like dolls.”
“Good god,” the Head of Public Affairs blurted.
Sarah could already feel that they were coming to understand Xander like she did. She had been skeptical at first, too. She’d thought there was no way this could be right, a man exacting vigilante justice, then she had spent the time getting to know him from afar. “I know. It’s terrible. Mitch Boyle was a monster.”
Director Manning cut in again. “Look, I think we get the point. The other six monsters on this page all deserve what Xander gave them, but that isn’t what we need to focus on. Get to that, please, Sarah.”
Director Manning paused, then held up his hand. “You know what, actually…let me just take it from here.” He stood up and shuffled Sarah to the side.
“But Director Manning—”
“Thank you, Sarah,” he dismissed her. Sarah took a seat by the podium. She wanted to give them a better sense of things. She wasn’t sure they understood Xander yet. She didn’t want them to stop the good things he was doing to right the wrongs the judicial system couldn’t seem to accomplish. There was nothing more she could do now, though; it was Manning's show. She’d assumed he was thinking the same way she was, but he had called this meeting for a reason.
Manning took the podium. “Now, the way I see it, we have three options here. One, we could shut Xander down and bring him up on charges…”
Sarah’s stomach dropped.
“…Two, we could let Mr. King continue to go about this—what I think we all would agree is noble work—and just continue to monitor him—”
“What, and just let him play like he’s Batman?” Richards interjected.
“Deputy Richards, I understand that concern, and that’s why I think my third option is the only way to go. We will just have to be careful how we go about it.”
“Which is?” said Richards.
“Which is, we get him to go to work for us.”
Sarah tried to hold her tongue, but she couldn’t. “Xander will never work for the government, Director Manning. You’re wasting your time on that notion.”
“Now hold on, Sarah. I just told you we would have to be careful how we went about it.”
Mary asked, “I don’t understand, why wouldn’t we just make him work for us? We do have evidence that he has killed these people.”
Sarah couldn’t help herself. “He just simply won’t do it—”
Director Manning gave Sarah an I’m warning you glare and continued to explain. “What Ms. Gilbright is so passionately stating is that Xander doesn’t agree with how the United States government goes about some of its business. He made this very clear when he just abruptly left our Special Ops team.”
“Xander was Special Ops?” said Mary.
“Xander King was everything you could be in our military. After his parents died, his sole mission was revenge and he wanted to be
trained by the best. He joined the navy, quickly becoming a navy SEAL, then in record time he was running Special Ops missions. I’m not sure what you have or have not heard, but he just might be the best damn soldier this military has ever known.”
“So what happened?” asked Mary.
“Well, like a lot of our soldiers, he didn’t agree with the missions he was sent on, and frankly, as you all know, some of the innocent casualties that go along with keeping this country safe. So, he’d had enough. To be honest with you, I’m not so sure this wasn’t his plan all along.”
“What do you mean?” asked Richards.
“I mean, I think he used our military.”
“Used us?”
“Yes, used us. I think the only thing Xander ever wanted was to find the people responsible for the murder of his parents.”
“And he used the military to train him to do so.” Mary Hartsfield said aloud as she let that sink in.
“That’s right. But we need a man like this. A man with his skills. Sometimes a surgical strike works far better than bringing the entire army. Saves a lot of lives too. As you know things are getting downright scary on the terrorist front and we could use a silent weapon like King.”
Mary stood up. “So what, then? What are we supposed to do?”
“The only thing we can do. Use our resources to find what he wants before he finds it. Then we give it to him…at a price.”
“We find out who killed his parents and force him to do jobs for us for the information.” Richards recognized the direction Manning was suggesting.
“It’s the only way it will work.” Manning hiked up his pants. “He will go to prison before he stops hunting their killer, and we can’t have that happen. We can’t lose him. He wouldn’t go to prison anyway; he has too many resources. If he really wanted to, he could just disappear. That is why we have to take our time and get this right, and that is why Sarah is going to head up a team that will monitor Xander and Sam while finding the information that King desires.”
Whiskey & Roses (The Xander King Series Book 1) Page 1
