Xander King BoxSet

by Bradley Wright

  Though he couldn’t see who was driving the H1 that had possibly saved his life, he didn’t have to. He knew it was Sam. He ran toward the driver’s side door, opened it, and pulled Sam out from behind the deployed airbag. At that moment, bullets smacked against the open door they stood behind, but as soon as they came, they were gone. Xander heard the click of the empty magazine and came around the door of the Humvee. With the help of a streetlight, Xander could clearly make out Jerry still trying to fire his empty gun at them. Jerry dropped the gun and darted off on foot toward the massive fence that surrounded the Bluegrass Airport in the distance.

  Xander looked at Sam. “Are you okay?”

  She already knew what he was thinking. “I’ve got a few bullets left. I’ll watch the two in the Humvee while you run him down.”

  “This will only take a minute,” he told her. Then he turned toward Jerry, who was running away from him, arched his back, and shouted, “Really, Jerry? You’re going to try to run?”

  Xander flashed Sam a smile, and then he was off.

  It took an embarrassingly short amount of time for Xander to catch up to him. Xander would have made a joke about the overweight officer and doughnuts, but it just wasn’t worth it. The most embarrassing part was that when he caught up to Jerry, it wasn’t that he had become tangled up in the barbed wire at the top of the fence; it was that he couldn’t even climb that high to get caught up in it. He found him wheezing at the foot of the fence, huddled down on all fours.

  “I thought the BUD/S race was embarrassing for you, but this is a new low, Jerry.”

  Jerry didn’t waste energy trying to respond. Most likely because he couldn’t catch his breath enough to do so.

  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.”

  16

  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.

  About the Author

  Bradley Wright is an emerging author of action-thrillers. He lives with his family in Lexington, Kentucky. He has always been a fan of great stories, whether it be a song, a movie, a novel, or a binge-worthy television series. Bradley loves interacting with readers on Facebook and via email. Click on your digital platform of choice below and join in on the fun.

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  Xander is back in the 4th thriller, KING’S REIGN. Tap here to download your copy today!