“Is he alive?” Dakota asked.
“Yes. I didn’t end him. We don’t know if he told us everything.”
No one bought that.
Zayn didn’t mess around. He didn’t pull punches, and he didn’t give a fuck about killing a person.
This time, it was personal, and he couldn’t do it.
“Rogue?” Dakota asked.
“I can’t. I’m sorry. I can’t.”
Well, that narrowed it down considerably. Their team was definitely not able to do certain things, and as their leader, Dakota had to take the good with the bad.
Here was the gray area that he didn’t want to head into and he was about to do it.
“I’ll go,” he stated.
Sarah grabbed a butcher knife, and she didn’t even look at him. She’d just shared that the killing was too easy, and here she was, about to do it again.
For family.
Well, there went more of her soul.
“Sarah,” he stated.
“I was off last night. I have this. It’s my turn to carry my own weight on the team.”
He went to stop her, but she was out of his reach before he could even get to her. It was a testament to the tension in their relationship.
Not that they had one anymore.
As she headed down, she closed the door behind her. It wasn’t for him or for her. It was for Stella. It was pretty soundproof, and she didn’t want the woman hearing what she was about to say to get him to break.
She wasn’t proud of it.
As they stood there in silence, they could hear the man’s howls as Sarah did her job.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
Dakota stood there, wanting to go to her, but knowing he couldn’t handle being rebuked again.
That was on him.
Not her.
Twenty minutes passed, and finally, the door opened, and she stepped into the room. There was blood splatter on Sarah’s face, her shirt, and her jeans.
There was a haunting silence coming from the cell downstairs, and they knew Sarah had finished Danforth off.
“I have two names for you. Danforth gave up the madam’s name, and also a cop. He didn’t know the cop’s full role in all of this, but if you think about it, it makes sense.”
They listened, waiting for her to break.
She didn’t.
It couldn’t have been easy to do what she’d just done, but true to Sarah nature, she held on and got it done.
She washed her hands and the butcher knife, and she watched the blood ebb down the faucet and away forever.
She wished it was that easy.
Really.
Then, when she was composed, she continued, giving them what she had.
“Arielle Newman is the madam, which is logical as to who the person was supplying the potential women. Plus, we got the name of a dead hooker out of that book, didn’t we?”
No one spoke. Instead, they stared at her.
Sarah didn’t know if it was because she’d been able to break Danforth when two mercenaries couldn’t, or if it was because she was that big of a hot, bloody mess.
She was hoping it was the later.
“I read the notes while I was waiting for Dakota to wake-up. I wanted to be caught up.”
Well, that answered how she knew what they did when she wasn’t there yesterday.
“Then he gave up another name, who happens to be a cop. You need to look at a Phil King. You had a drug dealer, and now a cop. It fits. One was doing the deed, while the other was looking the other way. Danforth admitted that there was always a cop on the payroll from the start. That was how Rosemary made sure she was aware of anything that went down in the precinct. She is fond of having a mole.”
Rogue wrote their names down.
“I’m going to grab a shower and head to Purgatory. If you guys need me today, give me a call. I can be ready in ten minutes.”
That was all she said.
“Sarah.”
She glanced back at Stella and ignored Dakota. She couldn’t face him now. She simply couldn’t handle it.
“I’m sorry for your loss, Stella. I’m really sorry.”
With that, she was gone.
“You should go after her,” Rogue stated, watching Dakota for any sign.
“Yeah, she doesn’t want me near her. We broke up. I’m better off here working on the details.”
That said it all.
They’d both given up—on each other. That was a horrible sign.
Rogue looked over at Zayn, and they shared the same look between them. How was their team going to stay afloat when two of the people were at odds like this and both refused to meet in the middle?
It didn’t seem likely.
“We should work,” Dakota stated.
They all grabbed a coffee and headed into the living area where they could look up the people on the big screen. Now that Sarah had two more names for them, they’d run with it.
Dakota was behind the helm since Sarah was showering upstairs. Entering Arielle Newman’s name, he watched as her information scrolled across the screen.
She had a laundry list of crimes.
They scrolled through the FBI database, searching for some connection. While they suspected she was tied to the dead hooker in the book, they didn’t have proof.
“Stop,” stated Storm. “Line fourteen.”
They all directed their attention to that line as Dakota made it bigger.
“They were arrested in a sting together. It was when she was still working the streets right before this operation began,” Storm stated.
It was clear someone was feeling better that morning. The recovering Fed was interested in working.
Good for her.
“I tend to agree,” stated Dakota.
“Do we know where to find her?” Rogue asked. “It’s not like she’s going to publish her brothel address. Right? I’ve never hired a hooker. What do you think, Zayn?” he teased.
“You know damn well I have never been with a hooker. Ask Dakota,” he busted back.
The man said nothing.
“We have to have a way to locate her,” Dakota stated, ignoring them both. It was clear he didn’t want to joke around with anyone.
Zayn cleared his throat.
“While I’ve never been with a hooker, I do know how I can find you the information.”
“How?” Dakota asked.
“I know a hooker who knows a hooker…” When he saw his wife staring at him, he felt compelled to save his ass—from who knew what?
“My sweet Stella, I swear I have never used them.”
She was still staring at him.
“Stella, that look scares me.”
She began laughing, as did everyone else in the room. It was entertaining to see the big man be worried.
“I know and let that be a warning if you ever try to use a hooker, Mr. Thundercloud.”
He gave her a kiss, pulled out his work phone, and headed into the other room to get them some intel.
“If that’s our hooker connection,” Dakota said, cringing when he moved suddenly, “then she’s going to be the one getting the girls into this sex trafficking—without a doubt.”
No one argued.
Sadly, it was a growing trend of younger girls hitting the streets. These children showed up in New Orleans, and they were victims of the street. It was the world’s oldest profession, and it was escalating.
“Next name,” Dakota stated, entering the cop’s name, Phil King, when Rogue read it off to him.
He popped up immediately.
“Phil has been with the New Orleans police for fifteen years. He’s a beat cop in The Ninth Ward.”
Yeah, and a crooked one.
It wasn’t like anyone there was surprised. The only thing they wished they did know was how many moles did Rosemary have? Was this an ongoing thing? Or was she selective?
“Run his family,” Stella stated. “He looks familiar. I swear I’
ve seen him before, but I can’t put my finger on it.”
He did just that.
“He was the only child from a single parent. Jane King was a hard-working cashier at a store, and now she is retired.”
They pulled up her address.
They all whistled the second the picture popped up on the screen.
“Someone had an excellent retirement plan,” Rogue stated. “How does a grocery cashier, who has a child, retire in a house that big?”
They all knew that answer.
They dug deeper.
They found Phil King’s birth certificate.
“And there it is,” Stella stated, catching it before anyone else. The name on it was surprising.
“Julius Weber. Isn’t that the same person who was working for Charlotte?” Rogue asked. “He’s the guy who hates my guts.”
Yes, yes, he was.
“Yeah, and his son is a cop who has ties to a sex ring. I’m beginning to see how Charlotte got pulled into this,” stated Rogue. “She worked with that man for a while, and he told Sarah, Stella, and myself that she was his family.”
Dakota thought about Sarah.
“Someone should warn her and give her a heads-up,” he stated but didn’t get up to do it himself.
“I’ll go,” Stella stated.
She headed out.
“Dude, you have to fix this mess,” Rogue stated. “The whole house is stressed.”
He ignored him.
“Oh, you’re going to play me like that? I’ll have Zayn shoot you in your ass.”
“We’ll work it out when we work it out,” he stated. “She’s staying onboard. Are you?” he asked, waiting for him to decide. He didn’t doubt Zayn was good to go.
Rogue was the wildcard.
“I’m in,” he stated.
Well, that helped him relax marginally.
“I’m in too,” Storm stated. “I want to ride this out. I need a conclusion to it. It’s been a long year for me, and I can’t heal unless there is closure.”
Gamble didn’t have a choice.
“Blackhawk stuck me here until you cut me free. That means I’m not leaving until you’re finished with this.”
Stella came back into the room.
“She must have slipped out. She’s gone.”
Well, that meant they were going to have to stop and see her. They couldn’t let her wander around blindly, and the fact that Julius’s son was involved meant he could be too.
“Then we’ll have to make a visit to Purgatory later,” Rogue stated.
Zayn came back in, and he had a paper with an address on it.
“Here you go.”
“Great,” Dakota stated. “We also found something out,” he stated, cluing him in about the connection to Julius.
“When we were in there,” Rogue stated, “he was angry, and that his ‘Charlotte’ had been hurt. Is it possible that he isn’t aware?” he asked.
They had no idea.
It looked like they were going to have to find the man and find out.
Dakota ran him too.
Thank God for the FBI and their incessant need to track just about everyone. Big brother was really watching, and in this case, it helped them out.
Before they could make a plan, the doorbell rang.
Rogue went, hoping it would be the detective paying another little visit.
He was missing her.
When he got there, it was the other detective and his wife. His face must have said it all.
“Well, I’m sorry you’re not happy to see us,” Merry stated, rushing past him. It appeared she had made herself comfortable with the place.
Rogue locked up.
In the living room, Merry was beaming.
“So, I was working on the book last night when Mason was up,” she stated, “and I found another name.”
“Who?” Dakota asked as the detective and Rogue came back into the room.
“Arielle Newman.”
They hated to burst her bubble, but they had just received her name. But they were all on the same page.
There was that.
“Why is no one excited?” she asked. “I waited all-night to deliver that, and you look beyond blasé.”
He laughed and handed her the paper that Zayn had given him. On it, was the same address.
“Well, shoot.”
“It was a good one though,” Dakota stated. “We stumbled upon it accidentally.”
She lifted her brow.
“You just lied. I’m good at picking up on lies. When you lie, you look down and to the left. You are shoveling shit.”
“And this is why I’m nervous all of the time, cher,” her husband stated.
Dakota was aware, but he wasn’t telling a cop and ex-fed that there was a body in the basement.
Yeah, no.
“How about Jasper?” he asked. “What did you find?” He directed that at the cop.
“I have an address. From what I learned, he’s not someone that people mess with. He’s pretty nasty as in people around him have been known to go missing.”
Zayn laughed.
“That’s up my alley.”
“Yeah, well, he’s not from the hood,” he stated. “He’s an implant from a small town. He moved here from Hilton a couple years ago.”
Rogue stopped drinking his coffee.
“Pardon? Did you say Hilton?” he asked.
“Yeah, you know it?”
“Charlotte was from Hilton. She wasn’t from here originally. She moved here when she was a teen, or that’s what she told me.”
Interesting.
“Well, how about we leave you two with the book and some facial recognition software,” Dakota stated. “What isn’t on the record might pop if you run all of our suspects. We might get lucky, and this mysterious Carter might show up.”
At the mere mention of his name, Storm dropped her coffee cup onto the pricey rug.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, her hands shaking.
No one needed to ask what was wrong. His name alone brought terror to her.
Gamble grabbed some towels and got down on one knee to clean it up.
“It’s okay, Miss St. Clair. How about a walk in the park across the street? Some air might do you good.”
She nodded.
Then she reached out and took his hand as he pulled her from the couch. No one missed that she’d allowed a man to have physical contact with her.
Apparently, Gamble made her feel safe.
When she was gone, the team continued working the case—in hopes of finding something…
Anything.
“As I was saying, you guys get the science part, and we’ll handle the hunt,” Dakota stated as the screen scrolled all kinds of FBI related things.
Honestly, Boone was good with that. For now, he’d let them do the work. They were clearly beginning to trust him and Merry, and he knew in order to help, he had to have their faith.
“What are we going to do?” Rogue asked.
“Stella can’t go out,” he stated. “If Rosemary is roaming the streets, we can’t let her see her.”
With that, Zayn agreed wholeheartedly.
“I’ll stay here with Boone and Merry. Oh, and Odin. Where’s my fluffy butt?” she called.
“Are you kidding me?” Rogue asked. “Before you guys, he was a well-trained asset, who kept me safe. Now he’s fluffy butt?”
Stella didn’t laugh.
“Well, in my defense, he does, indeed, have a very fluffy butt.” Then she whistled for the dog, and he came into the room, past the cop, and right to her.
“And he didn’t even bark at the cop. Jesus. My dog is ruined. He’s yours now.”
“REALLY?”
Rogue knew she needed this today. Stella had to let them kill her father to save her sister.
“Yes, really. I think he was waiting for you to come into his life.”
She squealed.
“Giving my girl presents. Now I know wh
y Dakota was pissed,” Zayn stated. “First a bar, then a dog. What’s next?”
“I do keep trying to get Sarah to marry me.”
“Well, she’s available so good luck,” Dakota said, getting up from the couch. Before, he would have joked with them.
Now…
Not so much.
“Dakota,” Rogue stated, trying to get him to stop.
“I need a coffee,” Dakota said, picking up his mug and heading toward the kitchen.
Zayn pointed, and Rogue followed, getting the hint. This was going too far, and they needed him back at the helm. He was a mess.
In the kitchen, Rogue found him staring out the patio door at nothing in particular.
“Can we talk?”
“About?”
“Us.”
“What about it?” Dakota asked, refusing to turn around and face the man. If he did, he’d break. Dakota was not doing well today. It was like when Elizabeth dumped him. He’d crumbled.
Now Sarah and he were done.
“Why did you talk to Cordelia for me?” he asked.
That seemed to catch him off guard.
“I wanted you to be happy. You were screwing it up, and I figured I could help you out.”
“Like a boss?” he asked.
“No, I’m not fit to be anyone’s boss.”
“Yes, you are.”
“I can’t function,” he said, touching his side. “I nearly got killed. If she’s gone, I can’t do this. I’m going to leave.”
“Are you insane?”
“I don’t do well with abandonment. That’s all I’m going to say. I don’t know why I’m unlovable. It’s killing me.”
Rogue had never heard him be so open.
“I love you. You’re my brother. I thought you hated me for helping Sarah. I won’t leave you.”
He laughed.
“Yeah, you will. You’ll get your happily ever after, like Zayn, and you’ll move on. I’ll hunt for Bonnie alone, and if I’m lucky, she’ll kill me as I kill her.”
Rogue stuck his head into the other room.
“Yo! Zayn.”
The big man headed in.
“What?”
“He thinks we’re going to bail on him. Dakota thinks that because we are happy, we’ll leave him behind.”
He laughed.
“See?” Dakota stated.
“You’re an asshole,” he stated. “I’m not laughing because of that. I’m laughing because your head is as thick as a concrete block. Which part of us being brothers didn’t you get? We came together as strangers, but we’re going to do this together.”
Absolution: The Hunter Mercenary Series (Book Two) Page 37
