Absolution: The Hunter Mercenary Series (Book Two)

by Morgan Kelley

  “Yes, you definitely have it.” Grace got quiet. “I let a man go once.”

  “Was he the love of your life?”

  She thought about it.

  “No. I thought he was. He was a bastard, and I see that now at sixty. Then…not so much. But I gave up and didn’t want to put myself out there to be hurt again. I likely missed meeting the real love of my life.”

  It was sad.

  “Sometimes, I would like to tell him about his son. I don’t think he’s ever found out about Rogue.”

  She listened.

  “I feel bad for Rogue, and now, I’m fighting cancer, and I’m likely going to lose.”

  She gave her a reassuring smile.

  “Then don’t quit.”

  “Well, only if you promise to do the same.”

  “Okay, Grace, I’ll take your advice. I’m going to find Rogue later, and we’ll talk about it.”

  “Perfect.”

  She liked this woman, and she liked even more if she did die, that her son, the only love of her life, would be okay.

  He would be loved.

  * * * H U N T E R * * *

  Wednesday

  Noon

  After tucking the madam’s body away, in her crawlspace above her home, they headed out to find Jasper Hutchinson. He wasn’t at the location the FBI had listed, and they weren’t surprised.

  Assholes moved around a lot.

  The place was abandoned, and they didn’t think he was going to stroll by on a morning walk. No, at this time of the day, the mole would be in his hole—asleep.

  “We’re burning daylight,” stated Zayn. “What do you want to do?”

  “We should head to Purgatory, but first why don’t you check-in with Stella? I want to make sure the cop stayed OUT of the basement.”

  He laughed.

  “We could just kill him.”

  “No, we can’t. Elizabeth told me that we aren’t to kill Boone. Do you want to face her?”

  He thought about it and grumbled about her under his breath.

  “What was that?” Dakota asked, trying not to laugh. It was funny how the big man was terrified of her.

  “Pass. She has a temper.”

  That amused them all.

  “Call Stella, please.”

  He pulled out his phone, and when she answered, his wife was happy, laughing, and it sounded like celebrating.

  “Uh, party, and without me?”

  “We found something,” she said. “God! This is so much fun! Had I known that science could do so much, other than medicine, I might have been a forensic scientist.”

  “Uh, great. You should work for the FBI and hunt down your husband, the killer.”

  She giggled.

  “What did you find?” he asked, putting his phone on speaker.

  “We found Charlotte’s brother.”

  Rogue was confused.

  “Uh, she was an only child, or that’s what she told me when we were dating.”

  “Well, she lied or didn’t know. That’s totally wrong! Science says otherwise,” Stella stated. “Boone was running the program on facial recognition, and they popped up. We have a matching set of perps.”

  “Oh, Christ! My wife is talking like a fucking cop. This kills an erection every time.”

  Dakota ignored him.

  He’d been a cop and it didn’t kill his libido. Having Sarah leave him did.

  “Okay, so they were siblings. We need to find their parents. Let’s keep digging. I find it odd that Charlotte had a child, and she didn’t celebrate with them over the birth.”

  “In her defense, it was Rogue’s baby,” Zayn teased, trying to lighten the mood.

  “Well, your wife will have to be cut open like a cantaloupe if she ever tries to give birth. You’re a huge-ass sperm donor.”

  “Children, can you stop bickering in the car? I’m trying to drive.”

  Stella found that outrageously funny—not the cantaloupe part, because that would suck, but the part where her husband was making a connection to the men he was with on the job.

  “I love my life. God! It was a shitty day, and then I remembered that all of my family isn’t gone. Mercedes is still out there, and I have you guys. Thank you for that.”

  “Aww, my sweet Stella,” Rogue said, mimicking the big man. It earned him one hell of a punch to the arm. “SHIT!”

  “That’s my name for her. You call her Mrs. Thundercloud!”

  Dakota sighed.

  It didn’t look like the bickering would ever end, and that sucked. He had a headache, his side hurt, and they couldn’t find Jasper.

  “Okay, Stella, tell the detective and his cohort that we appreciate all of their help. They can head home. We don’t have anything new for them to work on—unless they can pull Jasper out of that bag of science tricks.”

  “Well, that’s not how it works, so I’ll do that. In fact, I feel bad for not paying them. I’m going to give them a gift from us. They deserve it.”

  That was their Stella.

  Sweet.

  Kind.

  “You are the best girl in the world,” Zayn stated. “I love you. Stay inside and be safe. Call if you need me.”

  “I will, Zayn. See you soon.”

  His wife hung up the phone.

  “You are a big sap,” Rogue stated, still rubbing his arm but risking his life by making kissy sounds anyway. It was go big or go home.

  “You’ll see one day.”

  “Probably not. I keep feeling like the detective will bolt. She comes close, but then moves out of reach.”

  Dakota didn’t comment.

  How could he?

  His love life was up in the air too.

  As they parked on the street, down the block from Purgatory, Dakota prepared himself for what was coming. Sarah left mad, and he didn’t have anything left for a fight.

  Hopefully, this wouldn’t be a shitfest in public. There was no way he wanted the dregs of society digging into his personal life. Who the hell knew who was in there?

  As they walked up the stairs, into the building that was a front for the scariest bar in New Orleans, the sight inside was just as frightening to Dakota.

  There was his girl, and beside her was a beast of a man carrying four cases of beer in one shot.

  Well, holy shit!

  Who was that?

  When he put them down, the man kissed her on the cheek, and Dakota saw red.

  Literally.

  He wanted to kill someone. Only, he managed to keep it to a minimum. They didn’t need him flipping out.

  “Our seats at the bar are open,” Zayn said, grinning like an idiot. He wanted Dakota as close to Preston Valley as possible.

  You know…

  For maximum bloodshed.

  As they approached, Sarah glanced over and the smile that had been on her face disappeared. It was that look of a heartbroken person, and he hurt because of it.

  His fun, effervescent Sarah was suffering, and he’d made it a grudge match.

  He had to fix this.

  Dakota wanted her back in his life.

  The three men parked it on the stools. Sarah immediately leaned over and gave Rogue and Zayn a kiss on the cheek—but nothing for Dakota.

  “Hey,” was all she could muster for him.

  Yeah, Dakota knew if he didn’t make this right, and soon, he wasn’t going to even be allowed on Friend Island. In fact, he would be out in the cold.

  “How’s your day?” she asked, opening with the friendly chitchat. Honestly, she didn’t want a scene. She wanted Dakota back in her life.

  She knew how bitchy he could be about holding those freaking grudges, so she’d give him space. Hopefully, he’d calm down.

  “We found some things that caught our attention. If you come home tonight,” Zayn stated, “we can let you in on them. We can’t here.”

  That was for a damn good reason too. The place, already, was filled with people they didn’t know. They could be eavesdropping, and be
sides, it was a way for Zayn to help Dakota get his girl home.

  She hesitated.

  “I’ll see if I can,” she stated.

  Dakota got it.

  He was there. So, he cut her a break. It wasn’t all about him. It had been for too long.

  He changed the subject.

  “Where’s Julius?” he asked, thinking about what they’d found out.

  “You know, oddest thing. He sold the place to an anonymous buyer,” she said, pointing at Rogue. “Then, as soon as he found out, he was pissed, and he quit. I think he’s not interested in working here anymore. Maybe he’s hurting over Charlotte’s death, or maybe he hates Rogue that much.”

  Yeah, or his son was up to his eyeballs in this, and so was he. They didn’t know how Charlotte got sucked in, but she did. Julius and his son, Phil King, seemed like really good suspects in this mess.

  The word was out, and for all they knew, he put it out on them. It was a little too coincidental that Charlotte helped them onto that booze cruise, she died, and Julius was tied to it in more than one way.

  Through Charlotte.

  Through Purgatory.

  Through his son.

  Again, that was kept quiet until they could tell her later. Dakota would give her a heads-up.

  “If Julius comes in, be wary.”

  “Why?” she asked.

  “We found connections.”

  Her eyes went big.

  “OH.”

  “Yeah, so watch your back.”

  She jerked her thumb over her shoulder toward her father. She wasn’t worried.

  “I’m safe. He’s here.”

  Yeah, about that.

  Dakota had some questions like who the fuck he was, why had he kissed her, and how come he was protecting her when he should be?

  All of it pissed him off even more.

  “Yeah, who’s the guy?” Dakota asked, pointing at the man heading their way.

  That set off some snickering from Zayn. Dakota didn’t know why, but now…he had bigger fish to fry.

  VERY BIG ones.

  The guy heading at them was a freaking monster. Zayn was big, but this stranger was burly on top of big.

  “My muscle,” Sarah teased.

  Zayn snickered again, and Rogue knew something was up. Zayn wasn’t one to laugh.

  EVER.

  “What is so damn funny?” Rogue whispered into the man’s ear.

  “Wait for it,” he whispered back.

  “Are you Dakota?” the big guy asked, crossing his huge arms over his even bigger chest.

  “Yeah, who the fuck wants to know?” he asked.

  The man glared at him and dropped his arm around Sarah’s much smaller body and pulled her against him.

  “That’s very disrespectful,” Preston stated.

  “Uh, so is putting your arm around her. Sarah was mine as of yesterday, so take your hands off her,” Dakota stated, standing up. “Sarah is my girl.”

  Zayn roared with amusement.

  Screw the bro code. Someone was going to be crying and in a full body cast—it wasn’t going to be him.

  “Uh, Dak,” Sarah began.

  Her father stopped her.

  “Hush, baby.”

  Dakota lifted a brow.

  He was not amused.

  “Baby? You’re close to making me angry,” Dakota stated as he stood up for his woman. There was no freaking way he was losing Sarah. If he had to get his ass kicked, he’d do it. What was some physical pain when you had a shit ton of emotional pain already?

  “Oh, is that so?” he asked, giving Sarah another kiss on the forehead. “Yours, huh?”

  Sarah opened her mouth.

  Preston stopped her again. He wanted to see what this man was made of and if he deserved his daughter.

  “Pumpkin, keep it zipped. I have this.”

  “Hey, now! She’s my pumpkin, my sugar, and my girl, so hands off.”

  “Or?”

  Sarah’s eyes went huge. Was Dakota insane? Was he trying to get himself killed?

  “He’s injured,” she stated, warning her father not to exacerbate it.

  “Oh, he’s going to be.”

  “Well, let’s take it outside then. If you think I’m going to fucking sit here and watch you fawn all over the woman I love, you’re out of your mind. You may be bigger, but I will be more than happy to put a bullet in you.”

  He lifted his shirt.

  “He’s dead,” Zayn said, eating some of the pretzels on the bar as they watched. It was like a train wreck. You couldn’t look away. In fact, the whole place was looking.

  Rogue gave him the look.

  “Uh, we have to help him. We’re dead too.”

  “Not this time. Watch.”

  Rogue hoped Zayn knew what he was doing. He didn’t want his face taken off with the man’s big, meaty fist.

  “If you want to fight, we can fight,” he offered, lifting his shirt and showing off his gun.

  “Guys,” Sarah stated.

  No one jumped in to stop it.

  “I don’t give a shit what you are packing!” Dakota stated. Then he focused on Sarah. “This is why I didn’t want this bar anywhere near you, Sarah. I didn’t want to lose you to some other man. This was part of it. I’m not good enough for you, and one day, someone will take you from me, and I’ll be forced to know it was all my fault. I’m screwed-up, and I’m going to die alone without you!”

  That deescalated the situation.

  Her eyes filled with tears, and she couldn’t bear to see him suffer.

  “Dakota, this is my dad. This is Preston Valley. I was his baby and pumpkin before you were ever in my life. He came here because I called him when we broke up.”

  That hit him like a ton of bricks.

  He stared at the man who wiggled his fingers in a little wave.

  “Nice to meet you.”

  “Oh, Jesus. I’m dead.”

  Rogue and Zayn both threw fifties onto the counter in a bet of how long Dakota could hold his own against a monster-sized father who had likely played bouncer at a gay bar in San Francisco.

  It wouldn't be long.

  “So, you’re the man who hurt my little girl.”

  Dakota began praying the pain wasn’t going to be too bad when the man took those big beefy fists and pounded them into his face. He couldn’t pull his gun and shoot Sarah’s dad.

  Oh, hell.

  “Daddy, stop. I hurt him first. I did something that wounded him. If you’re going to be pissed, be angry at me. He’s one of the good guys. He’s always been one. When I was little, you told me to find a good guy. I had him for a while, and he was special. I fucked up. Not him.”

  The man touched her cheek and there was nothing but love there. He’d always taught her to own it, and she was.

  He offered the man his hand and the olive branch.

  “I’m Preston. We’ve spoken on the phone when you called to ask my permission to marry my daughter.”

  And now he recognized the voice.

  Shit!

  “I’m really sorry I spoke to you that way, sir. I didn’t know. I’ve seen pictures of her with Peter, but never with you.”

  He laughed.

  “I tended bar to a bunch of gay bikers. This was nothing. As for the photo, someone had to take the picture, right, honey? I was the official photographer. Peter stuck his thumb in the pictures too many times.”

  She nodded.

  This proved one thing to Dakota.

  Okay, two.

  He was an idiot, and that Sarah loved him. She stood up for him when he was equally responsible.

  “She never said BIKER BAR,” Dakota stated. “Details matter, Sarah!”

  She laughed.

  “Oops.”

  The man behind the bar popped the caps on three beers and handed them to them.

  “You look like you need them.”

  Rogue and Zayn did since they’d been eating salty snacks as they watched the fun.

&n
bsp; “You two are assholes,” Dakota stated, pointing at them. “You knew! You couldn’t warn me?”

  Rogue laughed.

  “I didn’t know.”

  “I did, and it was worth it. Call me a virgin and bust me and this is what happens.”

  Dakota got it.

  “Why are you in here?” Preston asked. “Was it to come and say sorry to my baby?”

  Well, yeah.

  “That and like I said, we need to find Julius.”

  “What aren’t you telling me?” she asked.

  Dakota pulled out his phone and typed a text for her. When she got it, and read it, her eyes went big.

  “Are you serious? I didn’t see that one coming. That would explain him bailing.”

  Yeah, it would.

  “You wouldn’t happen to have an address on file,” he asked.

  They both laughed.

  “What?” Dakota asked.

  “Oh, we found books, but they were in code,” she said, pulling one from under the bar.

  Rogue flipped through it.

  “This is her log while she was running numbers. She was profitable, too, but that isn’t her handwriting. She had a more girly style.”

  “Maybe it was Julius’s.”

  Oh, that could be part of it.

  “If he was dirty, he was likely really dirty.”

  Yeah, Purgatory brought that out in people. That was one more reason Dakota didn’t want Sarah there. He wanted her with him.

  Safely with him.

  Before he could say anything more, she glanced over his head and toward the back of the bar.

  “Be right back,” she stated, tossing the bar rag onto the counter and leaving her father’s side.

  “Where’s she going?” Dakota asked.

  “She’s doing her thing,” Preston offered.

  They all watched as the man leaned into her, whispered something, and then handed her a slip of paper. She, in turn, pulled money from her pocket and handed it to him.

  He gave her a fist bump and was gone. It all went down in a matter of seconds.

  When she returned, Dakota was beyond curious.

  “Who was that?”

  “That was Lucky.”

  “Lucky?”

  “Yeah, he’s this guy that is really good with finding things out,” she stated. “When he found out I owned Purgatory, he offered to weasel. In fact, there’s been a bunch of people in and out who are selling information.”