Xander King BoxSet

by Bradley Wright

“Viktor will open,” Viktor said, puffing out his chest.

  “You sure about that, Viktor? That looks like a heavy door.” Xander smirked.

  “Xander King not only one with muscles.”

  Viktor took three steps back and one to the side. He reminded Xander of a field goal kicker getting ready to kick an extra point. He was built like one too. Viktor swung his arms a couple of times in preparation, lowered his shoulder, and sprinted for the door.

  Xander took a couple steps forward and leaned down over Viktor sprawled out on the floor. “I think you almost had it, buddy.” Of course, he’d barely even shook the door. “You want me to finish it off for you?”

  Viktor groaned. “If you get it, it’s because Viktor loosened for you.”

  Sarah hid her smile, and Xander gave her a wink.

  Without stepping back, Xander spun in place, whipping his leg around behind him and struck the door just above the lock. Not surprising to him, the door flew open under the power of his kick. What did surprise him was the blur that came through the door and knocked him flat on his back. Almost before anyone could stop her, Sam had her fist pulled back ready to strike.

  “I’m happy to see you too, Sam, but this is a little embarrassing.” Xander smiled from underneath her.

  “Xander! You made it. I knew it!”

  Xander had never seen such a happy look on Sam’s face. The closest to it was the one he saw when he woke up from his coma a few days ago. Sam threw herself down and gave him a hug.

  “You scared the shit out of me when you fell backward out of that plane. You really are one crazy bloke.”

  As she lifted herself up from on top of him, Kyle walked up, head shaking in wonder, hand extended. Xander took it with force, and Kyle helped him to his feet. They shared their customary handshake, then embraced in a massive man hug.

  “Fuck you for scaring us.”

  “You mean for getting you out of that cell?”

  “Yeah, that too.”

  Xander was holding a smile, but seeing his friends made him think of his father. He needed a minute with Sam and Kyle, alone. Bob walked out of the holding cell, and Xander gave him a “glad you’re okay” nod.

  “Was anyone around Dragov before he took off? Maybe heard where he was going?” Sarah asked the group.

  Jack answered, “Well, if havin’ the man hold his gun to your head after a couple of wallops to the jaw counts as being around him, I guess I was. Didn’t say where they was goin’, but as soon as that alarm went off, they left in a big ol’ hurry.”

  “I’m glad you’re okay, Jack,” Sarah told him with the most sincere of looks.

  Something triggered in Xander, and he moved toward Sarah and took her cheek in his hand after moving a strand of her blonde hair behind her right ear. “Thank you, Sarah. You saved our asses back there. You’ve been doing a lot of that lately.”

  She nestled his hand against her cheek with hers as they shared a long stare.

  Kyle and Sam exchanged a glance, Sam raising her brow, and Kyle giving a shoulder-shrugging smirk. Xander let his hand fall to caress Sarah’s arm as he looked over to Zhanna. “Can you do a quick sweep of the place? Make sure no one is left that can give us some clues where they may have gone?”

  “Of course.”

  “Will you take Sarah, Bob, and Viktor with you? We’ll meet you out front in ten.”

  Zhanna nodded. Xander looked back at Sarah. “Will you see if Marv knows where they are headed yet? I need a minute with Kyle and Sam.”

  Sarah knew he wanted to tell them about his father. She didn’t need him to say it. He could feel that she knew. She smiled. “See you soon?”

  “You’re in good hands with Zhanna. Not that you can’t take care of yourself.”

  Sarah glanced at his lips, then back to his eyes. Her desire to kiss him was apparent to everyone. Xander’s desire to do the same surprised him in that moment. For the first time since he met Natalie Rockwell, another woman had caught his attention in a way that was entirely more than sexual.

  “Xander King like pretty blonde-haired savior,” Viktor blurted.

  Sarah blushed, Xander dropped his grip from her arm, and everyone had a laugh.

  Zhanna mercifully broke the embarrassing moment. “We had better get moving. We will meet you outside in ten minutes. Better have good plan by then.” She smiled and began walking away from them.

  Sarah mouthed the words “be careful” to Xander, and the four of them were off.

  Sam got right to it. “Where could Dragov be going?”

  “I don’t know, but he isn’t here.” Xander made a face that neither one of them could read. “My dad isn’t either.”

  No sense beating around the bush.

  Kyle’s face scrunched in confusion. “What? Your dad? I don’t get it.”

  “I saw him. Here.”

  Kyle’s face went from confusion to bewilderment. Sam’s followed the same arc.

  “Are you okay, man? Did you hit your head?” Kyle continued. Sam couldn’t speak.

  “My dad is alive. I saw him in a room, right below this one. He wouldn’t even acknowledge me. I was beating on the door and screaming at him, but he ignored me. Come to think of it, he seemed perfectly relaxed . . .” Xander’s wheels were turning. Sam and Kyle let them turn. “He was . . . he was smoking a cigar and wearing a suit. Like he wanted to be there. Like he wasn’t being held against his will . . .” Xander trailed off. Lost in his own thoughts. Trying to make sense of what he’d seen. What seemed like some sort of dream. He remembered Sarah saying that Manning flipped on his father and that Dragov hadn’t been in charge for a while now, but Xander was having trouble pulling it all together. Mostly because he didn’t want to.

  “Xander.” Sam placed her hand on his shoulder. “Let’s just go help them clear the house. Back them up if they need it and then we will go find Dragov.”

  “I know it sounds like I’m losing it, Sam.” Xander looked back and forth between her and Kyle. “But Sarah confirmed it. She said they took Manning apart back at Langley and he confirmed my father was alive . . . maybe even in charge. We didn’t have time to get into it, but I’m telling you, I saw him downstairs, and then Sarah saw him leave with Dragov.”

  “What the fuck, X? I mean, what the shit?” Kyle began to pace the room, freaking out. “This can’t be. There has to be some sort of explanation. He must be drugged, or hypnotized, or—”

  “Or not who I thought he was,” Xander broke in.

  Heartache dominated his face. That hung in the air for a moment. No one knew what to say. Kyle just grabbed his friend and gave him a hug.

  “We’ll figure this out, Xander. I promise.”

  Xander pulled back. “What is there to figure out?”

  The air seemed to change in the hallway. Things suddenly began to become clear for Xander. Crystal clear.

  “He lied to me my entire life. My mother too. That is probably why she slept with Jack. She was living with a liar. He wasn’t who he said he was. He wasn’t just in the CIA, he was helping to run an illegal underground empire.”

  Xander’s face drained of its color and he staggered backward. Sam and Kyle both caught him and held him up.

  “He faked his death and murdered my mother.”

  Xander’s breathing became heavy as he hung in their arms.

  “He left me and my sister to live alone.”

  Tears welled up in Xander’s eyes.

  “He’s . . . he’s been trying to kill me!”

  And just like that, the hurt on his face made a visible turn to rage. Just as quickly as the tears had appeared, they were gone. Xander broke loose of Sam and Kyle’s grip and his posture went stiff. The muscles clinched in his jaw. His hands balled into fists.

  “And now . . . I’m going to kill him.”

  37

  SEAL’d With a Kiss

  “Xander, stop! Just wait a second!” Kyle shouted as they walked—stalked—into the grandiose foyer of the mafia boss’s mansio
n. It had the same setup of Xander’s foyer in Lexington, only with an overlay of gaudy marble, hideous gold, and loads of tacky. The massively oversized gold-and-crystal chandelier showered the three of them with a deep yellow glow. “Xander, you don’t even know where you’re going. Stop!”

  Kyle grabbed him by the arm, and the face he saw when Xander wheeled around wasn’t the Xander he knew at all. It was blank with ferocious intensity. Sarah and company, minus Viktor, were descending the stairs at that very moment.

  “Is everything okay?” she called from the top of the stairs. Sarah had seen this look on Xander’s face in Tuscany not long ago when he thought she had betrayed him. She shuddered. She immediately knew something was wrong.

  Xander held Kyle’s stare for a moment and then looked up at Sarah. “Where’s Dragov? Where’s my father?”

  “That’s why we came down.” They all followed Sarah the rest of the way down the stairs. “Marv called, they stopped at an unknown location, now it appears they are on their way to Domodedovo Airport.”

  Bob chimed in. “That’s the same airport where your jet is, Xander.”

  Xander nodded. “Where’s Viktor?”

  Just then the front door jangled and everyone turned and pulled their weapons. Viktor walked in, threw his hands up in the air, and pinned himself against the door. “It’s just Viktor! It’s just Viktor!”

  They lowered their weapons.

  “I had him go and check on the helicopter,” said Sarah.

  Xander looked back to Viktor expectantly.

  “It wouldn’t start, boss.”

  Everyone in the foyer let out a groan.

  “You not let Viktor finish. Stupid old bird always does this. Viktor can fix. Just need five—maybe thirty minutes.”

  “That’s a hell of a wide range, son,” Jack noted.

  “It’s tricky. But just need little bit of time.” Viktor held up his hand and pinched his index finger and thumb together until they were almost touching.

  “I don’t have time. Sarah, were there any other vehicles in the garage?” Xander asked.

  “They took all of the cars.”

  “That wasn’t my question.”

  “There—there was a motorcycle, but obviously that won’t help us,” she said, defensively.

  “No, but it will help me.”

  Sam began to shake her head. “Xander . . .”

  Xander ignored Sam and spoke once again to Sarah. “Pull up directions to the airport on your phone. I’ll take it with me.”

  Before Sarah could answer, Sam spoke up again. “Xander, this is not the time for your X-Man solo routine.”

  Xander turned to face Sam. “Take the chopper to the airport when Viktor gets it going.”

  “Xander—”

  “Sam!” he shouted. Then he managed to ease his tone. “Sam, this is not a debate. Like Zhanna said, if Dragov makes it out of Moscow, we may never find him. That means my dad too. I have to hit them before they have time to regroup.”

  “You’re not going without me. You can’t do this alone.”

  Xander took a step toward Sam, almost nose to nose now. “Do I have to remind you of what I can do alone? Have you forgotten how I found you in London? How I got you out of there alone, carrying you on my back?”

  Sam’s face hardened. “You know damn well I haven’t forgotten about London. And I know exactly what you are capable of. More than anyone. And you know damn well what I am capable of. You don’t think they will be watching for you? You plan on shooting back at them while you’re maneuvering a bloody motorbike? No, Xander. You will not be going alone. You have had my back when I’ve needed you most, and I don’t plan on leaving you now.”

  Sam looked to Sarah and Zhanna, then gave a sweeping look to the rest of the group, and finally settled on Viktor. “You get that chopper going and get everyone to the airport.” She swept her look back over the rest of them. “Whatever your motivations for being here, for fighting this fight, whether it be personal, or for the love of country, revel in that motivation now. Let it fill you up as it has filled Xander. Let it bring out the best in all of your abilities, because we are going to need every ounce of it tonight. We are either leaving Moscow with our mission accomplished . . .” Sam turned her head, eyes focused solely on Xander’s now. “Or we will die trying.”

  The last of her words echoed in the open foyer. The weight of her statement settled over them like a lead vest before an X-ray. They all looked around the room, not sure who should speak next or what should be said. Except for Viktor, he apparently wasn’t so good with awkward silence.

  “Oh, Viktor like her. She is badass bitch, boss. Don’t know about rest of you, but Viktor is ready to kick fat Russian dick in!”

  It didn’t take long for everyone else to make up their minds.

  Jack spoke up first. “Fuck it, I’m in.”

  “I know a thing or two about helicopters,” said Bob.

  “Brother, you know I’m down,” Kyle joined.

  Zhanna stepped forward. “This ends tonight.”

  Everyone had spoken but Sarah. All eyes turned to her. She finished typing on her phone and walked up to Xander.

  “Make sure you save some for us.” Sarah handed him her phone, the GPS route to the airport already plugged in.

  Xander’s rage faltered momentarily; their selflessness overwhelmed him.

  Jack came forward and handed Xander two pistols, and Sam a pistol and an AK-47. “Found these on the way downstairs. Fully loaded. Might come in handy.”

  They took the weapons from Jack, and as Xander tucked his away, Sarah took his face in her hands and gave him a long, meaningful look.

  “Sam isn’t the only one that has your back.”

  Then she kissed him.

  Xander didn’t need that kiss to know that Sarah meant what she said. She had proven herself through her actions far more than once in the short time he’d known her. She was a lot like him. She understood him.

  She was also a really good kisser.

  Sarah pulled away after running her hand through Xander’s hair.

  Sam checked the magazine on the AK-47, satisfied herself that it indeed was full, and snapped it back into place.

  “Time to go and do what we all came here to do.”

  38

  Life Is a Highway

  Ten minutes later, Xander twisted back the accelerator with his right hand, pulling up the nose of the Yamaha R1 and sped down MKAD, the outer loop highway that ran around Moscow, toward Domodedovo Airport. It was dark now, and Xander easily weaved in and out of the small amount of traffic that rolled along the highway. The accelerometer registered 143 miles per hour. A metaphor for the last couple of weeks, he thought. Life in the fast lane. A life Xander supposed he had chosen when he was just a teenager. A teenager who had just lost both of his parents.

  So he’d thought.

  His life had been a whirlwind of violence and chaos since that day. And until today, he had directed his anger at an unknown bad guy. A mythical figure with fangs and talons. A murderous stranger who, seemingly without reason, took his parents from him and his sister. But there was no evil man with horns. No, the evil mythical creature that Xander had conjured all these years was nothing more than his very own father. All that Xander had put himself through over the last decade was because of him. The things, good or bad, that made Xander who he is today.

  A trained killer.

  A smattering of red taillights sporadically danced back and forth in front of him on the otherwise dark highway. What was he doing? Why was he still so hell-bent on pursuing this now that he knew the road ended at his father’s feet? Could he really kill his own father?

  A rolling chill prickled down Xander’s spine. His lungs were on fire and he wasn’t even exerting himself. He sat up on the bike and backed off of the throttle. The motorcycle groaned as its rpm wound their way down. He lifted the clear shield on his helmet to let some cold but much needed fresh air in, then downshifted and steered t
o the far right lane, slowing to around forty-five miles per hour.

  Sam squeezed his waist, and over the wind rushing past them and the hum of the motorcycle, she shouted to him, “Xander, are you all right?”

  Xander continued to steer and hold the throttle steady as he turned on the motorcycle as much as he could to face her.

  “Xander?” Sam leaned around to meet his eyes.

  Shifting his head back and forth between her and the road in front of him, he spoke with an uneven voice. “Sam, what are we doing?”

  “Pull over.”

  Ignoring her request, he continued riding along in the right hand lane. “Shouldn’t I just let this go? It’s my father?”

  Sam was quiet for a moment, deciding between what should be done and what must be done.

  “Sam?” he shouted back to her.

  She once again raised her voice over the noise of the road. “If you don’t see this through, will you ever have peace?”

  “Will I ever have peace if I do?”

  It was a good question but one Sam was ready for. From the moment this entire crusade for vengeance had begun, Sam’s biggest worry wasn’t if Xander would achieve revenge. Her concern was that Xander would always be left hollow after he finally did.

  She shouted, “Honestly? I don’t know. But I do know that if you don’t have a chat with your father about it, no matter what closure that chat may or may not yield, you will always wonder. I’m not saying you shouldn’t kill the man, I’m not saying you should. What I am saying is that you must confront him, or the questions of why he did what he did to your mother—your entire family—will never let you rest.”

  Xander turned his body back toward the road. Sam let him be. She knew he was trying to process. A moment later he turned back to her.

  “What would you do?”

  Sam now had a decision to make. She never had much of a relationship with her family, even before they were all dead. The decision was easy for her. She thought for a moment, trying to put herself in Xander’s shoes. She pictured the scene that Xander had so vividly described when he witnessed his beloved mother gunned down in front of him. In her mind she could see Xander’s young face, staring at the blood that leaked out of his poor mother’s back. Xander glanced back at her, the question in his eyes. Then, she swallowed hard and answered Xander as she always had, holding nothing back.