She was trying.
“You still have a beautiful soul, and while Mercedes died young, she wasn’t trapped for a year like Storm. She had hope, and she started hopping to safety. Her last thoughts were that she was safe. That’s a blessing. The fear was gone, and she was triumphant. She beat them.”
“Do you think so?”
“Yeah, she won. They couldn’t beat her. I saw her. She fought to the last minute. She didn’t give up. Be strong like Mercedes. Fight, Stella. Fight.”
She sat up.
Stella knew this could make her or break her. She could stay in bed and weep, or she could help them find Chesky. Rosemary was dead, but this wasn’t over.
She’d do it for Mercedes.
“You’re right. I’ll do this in honor of my sister and Maia. I’ll help with all I have, we’ll find Chesky to get Adsilla justice, and we’ll find anyone else who was involved.”
“There’s my girl.”
She rolled out of bed and then stopped.
“Zayn?”
“Yeah?” he asked.
“I’m not sorry this all happened. If it didn’t, I never would have met you. I wouldn’t have an amazing husband and a new family that loves me. I want to be sorry, but out of pain came love. Out of love came a future. One day, we’ll be sitting in the retirement home, eating our red Jell-O, and we’ll laugh about everything.”
“We’ll laugh because I can’t find my teeth, and we’re crazy.”
“There’s no one I’d rather go crazy with than you.”
He smiled.
“Ditto, my sweet Stella.”
It looked like she was going to be okay after all, and that was a testament to her tenacity. He might be badass, but his wife…she was titanium.
“Want to wash my back?” she offered, holding out her hand.
He grinned wickedly.
There was his resilient woman, made of things that he couldn’t even fathom.
“You bet I do.”
So, he did.
And her front too.
* * * H U N T E R * * *
Seven A.M.
When Rogue arrived, they were already in the kitchen prepping for the day. They were going to have a long one, and they needed to make sure they hit the ground running.
Time was not on their side.
Chesky, hopefully, was not spooked and not in the wind. If he was…
Yeah, this was going to be a long marathon.
When Rogue walked in, he found Dakota looking like he didn’t sleep, Sarah making them coffee, and Zayn and Stella sitting side by side. Even his dog was beside Stella.
The second he entered, they all looked up.
“Well, it’s Rogue, coming late to the party,” Dakota stated, not hiding the irritation in his voice.
“I know,” he said, moving toward them. “What did I miss?”
“We found Mercedes.”
“Great!”
“Until her face was blown off because we were shorthanded.”
Oh boy.
This was going to be harder than he’d ever imagined. Rogue knew he needed his family now.
So, he did what he had to do.
He headed to Stella.
“I’m so sorry for your loss,” he said. “I should have been there. I was trying to fix my mess.”
“It’s okay,” she said, staring up at him. “I’m going to refocus and get my sister justice. I appreciate that you would have been there if you could.”
Oh, he really would have. Had he not lost his mind and tore into the detective, he would have been by their sides last night. These people were his family.
“If there’s anything I can do for you, Stella, just let me know, okay?”
Dakota knew what he could do.
“There’s a new rule that we all need to follow. We all go in, or we don’t do the job. So right now, Rogue, I’m asking you once and for all if you’re done part-timing this. We’re looking for your father, WHO showed up there last night.”
“HE DID?”
“Yeah, and had you been there, you would have been able to follow him. Because you weren’t available, and chasing a cop, we couldn’t get him.”
Ouch.
Okay, he’d expected to carry some blame, but this was dumping everything on him. He didn’t kill Mercedes. He didn’t let Taz walk away. All he did was handle his OWN mistakes.
“Hey,” he stated. “That’s not fair! When your shit came up, and you treated Sarah like she was garbage, I pulled my weight. When Zayn was off trying to protect Stella and got married, I was in the trenches with you.”
“He has a point,” Zayn stated, trying to keep this from going to shit and back. Today was not the day to have their team at odds. They needed unity.
This was not it.
“Dak,” Sarah stated, getting his attention. “Come on.”
Dakota closed his eyes.
This was what Sarah had been talking about when they had their fight. It had almost cost him everything.
His grudge was back.
Dakota reined it in.
“You’re right. I’m sorry.”
They all looked at Dakota like he had two heads and was about to ask for a sacrificial virgin.
Who was this man?
“I’m in a pissy mood because we failed. It’s on me. I was running it, and once more, we were so damn close. Chesky killed Rosemary, and while that’s awesome, we can’t interrogate her. He’s likely in the wind. We’ve been fucked over on this one.”
While he couldn’t be mad, he knew that there had to be some kind of rule. This had to be the exception—not the rule. It was time to lay down the law.
“We need to all be in or we can’t do this. Remember when Elizabeth said we couldn’t do it unless we worked as a team? Well, she was right. Gamble stood in last night, and he did a good job, but he’s not you. We need all three of us to do this. We need the muscle, our thief, and me.”
“I hear you, but I have a problem, and you may not like it. Just hear me out.”
Sarah saw Dakota go red.
“He’s going to blow. Hurry and tell him.”
“What?” Dakota asked. “What could you possibly have to tell me that I won’t like?”
“Well, not so much you, but him.”
He pointed at Zayn.
“Uh, what?” the man asked.
“I’m in love with a cop. That’s not going to change. I’m going to hope and pray that I mean enough to you that you will let her into this circle, so she can be included.”
If not, he would have to leave.
Zayn laughed.
Then he realized the man was dead-freaking-serious.
“Are you fucking insane? We have a dead body still in the basement. Let’s invite a HOMICIDE detective over for tea. Maybe she won’t notice when a rat runs by with a finger.”
“We have rats?” Sarah asked, trying to defuse this any way she could. Dakota had been right. It was going to take all of them, INCLUDING Rogue.
“She’s a part of me now, and I trust her. I need to know if my brothers will stand by me. You are that, you know. You started out as pains in my ass, but when my mother is gone, all I’ll have left is, hopefully, Cordelia, and you four.”
“I say let her help,” Sarah stated without an iota of hesitation.
“Uh, you’re biased,” Zayn added to that.
“How?”
“He’s like your BFF.”
“So? He’s also your family, too, so why are you hesitating? He’d do it for you.”
Zayn sighed.
“I hate cops.”
Oh, they were well aware.
“Thank you, Sarah,” Rogue stated. “I appreciate that you feel that way for me. I’m blessed.”
Well, she wasn’t done.
“Dakota?” Sarah asked, waiting for him to weigh in.
“I happen to like cops. Boone, her partner, was awesome. His wife was a Fed. She gave us some good help, so I say we let her in.”
&
nbsp; “And we should have killed them to cover our asses,” Zayn added once more.
Stella cleared her throat.
“She’s my new friend. You may not kill her or Boone. If you do, you’ll be sleeping on the couch—and no sex!” she said, hitting him where it would hurt.
“Stella!”
“No, Zayn. No killing our friends.”
“FINE,” he said. “I won’t kill them.”
“I say we give her a try,” Dakota offered. “She clearly likes Rogue, so she’s insane like the rest of us.”
He laughed.
“Gee, thanks.”
Still, that was two votes out of four, so he was halfway there.
“I like her,” Stella stated, “just because she made you happy. You needed this. I say let her in.”
“Christ,” muttered Zayn.
“Well?”
“Fine, but if she rats us out, and we go to jail, I will get to you and cut you bitches for making the worst damn decisions in the world.”
Dakota took a sip of his coffee.
“It looks like she’s in, Rogue.”
He hugged him.
Dakota patted him on the back.
Then he went to Sarah, and Stella, and gave them both a kiss. When he approached Zayn, the man pointed at him. “If you try that, I’ll make sure you never see an erection on your body again. It will be an innie.”
He laughed.
“OKAY!”
“Now, can we get to work? We have to find Julius, his son, and then get ready for this gambling thingy.”
Rogue gasped when he mentioned it.
“I’ll kill him,” Dakota stated. “If he tells me he didn’t get us an address and invites, I’ll shoot him, and Zayn will have been right. No one wants that.”
Rogue found that funny. He laughed and pulled two slips of paper out of his pocket. On them were the papers they’d need to get into the place tonight with the barcode, and the other was the address.
“We have a location and two purchased tickets to gamble our asses off.”
“You are so damn lucky.”
Rogue grabbed a coffee and was thinking about Cordelia the entire time, and then his amazing family.
Yeah, he really was lucky. He was blessed.
* * * H U N T E R * * *
One Hour Later
Waking up, she found him missing from her bed, and she immediately began worrying. When Cordelia focused on his side of the bed, she saw the note on his pillow. Picking it up, she read it.
‘My sexy Detective,
It pained me to leave your bed, but unfortunately, I have to get back to the team. I know you’re trying to find out who killed Charlotte, so if you’d like to help us, I’m inviting you. Come meet the rest of my family. I want them to see how wonderful you are.
Four twenty-five Chartres Street—the gate code, so you don’t have to climb it, is nine-one-one. See you when you get up. We have a sex ring to stop, and I would love your help. Leave the badge at home. We live outside the lines.
Rogue.’
She read it a few times.
She knew how huge that was for him to invite her. They were doing this on the DL, and she would love to be included.
Grabbing her clothes, she left her badge on her desk, simply because he was budging and compromising, so she would too. It was the least she could do.
She was so happy that they’d worked through that issue, and Cordelia knew it was only going to get better.
It was a new day, and she’d be optimistic.
Why the hell not?
After all, she had found Rogue.
At the gate, she entered the code, and it swung open. As she walked down the courtyard, to the private space behind the building, she couldn’t help but love it. This time, since she wasn’t breaking in, but was being invited, she had time to enjoy it.
There was a fountain, cobblestones, and the sounds of people talking around the corner. As she approached, they all looked over.
“Uh, I got your note. Am I interrupting anything?” she asked, feeling uncomfortable as they all stared at her as if measuring her up.
Rogue was out of his seat, and immediately, to her side.
“Let me introduce you to my family,” he offered, leading her toward them.
“Yes, please,” she stated, holding his hand in hers. Cordelia shouldn’t be nervous, but she was. To her, this wasn’t about meeting criminals, this was about meeting the people Rogue loved, and that meant she would need to love them too.
Cordy prayed they liked her.
She didn’t want to lose him.
“This is Stella, and she’s married to the scowling giant,” he stated. “That’s Zayn, so ignore him—especially if he says he’s going to kill you. He’s all talk.”
“Are you shitting me?” he asked, staring at him. “Really, Rogue?”
“We all know Stella won’t let you, so…”
He grumbled under his breath.
Cordelia tried not to be intimidated. She shook Stella’s hand.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Cordelia stated. Then she focused on Zayn. “I’ll decide about you later.”
He laughed despite himself.
“Likewise,” he stated, shaking her hand—for Rogue—his brother.
Rogue continued, “This is Sarah. She is marrying Dakota,” he said, even though he told her about them earlier. “He runs this shitshow.”
He laughed and shook her hand.
“We met in the park. It’s nice to see you again, Detective. I had a feeling you’d be part of this.”
“Call me Cordelia. I’m figuring being a cop in this group might not be a good thing.”
“You seriously met a woman in the park?” Sarah stated. “You are totally screwed, Dak.”
He shrugged.
“At least I didn’t lie.”
Sarah shook her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Cordelia. If you break his heart, I’ll kill you.”
“I’m pretty sure Dakota’s heart belongs to you if he’s marrying you, so we should be good.”
Sarah laughed.
“I like her already. Someone has sarcasm down. That’s helpful when dealing with Zayn.”
“You too?” he asked.
“Uh huh.”
Rogue loved them for what they were doing. When Gamble peeked outside, Rogue waved him over.
“This is Gamble, and he’s relatively new to the team. He’s taking care of Storm.”
It didn’t surprise the team that she already knew about the woman who’d been abducted.
She shook his hand.
“It’s nice to meet you.”
He stared at the team, and in case they didn’t know, he went there to give them a heads-up.
“Oh, boy. A cop.”
“How did you know that?” Rogue asked.
“She looks like a cop. She’s standing like a cop, and I saw her sidepiece. She’s carrying cop weaponry.”
She laughed.
“You guys are good.”
Yeah, they were.
She stared over his shoulder when a woman came out of the house. She was thin, and she kept her distance.
Storm stayed behind him.
“That’s Storm.”
When she didn’t make a move to come near her, Dakota got her up to speed—in case Rogue didn’t.
“She was one of Rosemary Harrington’s victims. We’re tasked to take down that ring. Storm was a Fed out of Vegas who was taken. She was working undercover. They had her a year. We just got her back.”
Yeah, that sucked.
“Storm, I’m happy to help to get you some justice. If you need anything, just let me know. I’ll do anything I can for you. I have your back.”
She actually smiled—a little.
“Thank you.”
When all of the introductions were made, she was ready to go. It was time for her to help them do their jobs to clean up her city.
“Tell me what I can do.”
Dakota was
giving Rogue a huge gift, and he hoped it didn’t backfire.
“The team has managed to take down a good chunk of the ring,” he stated.
Dakota pulled out a file when she sat down.
“Rosemary Harrington was in charge of it. It spanned four states, and it siphoned a lot of underage girls to Vegas.”
She listened.
“She was killed last night.”
They waited for her to say anything.
“What?” she asked, looking around.
“You’re a cop…”
“He told me to leave my badge at home,” she said, pulling her blazer back. There was no badge and only a gun. “I’m here to help stop a sex ring. That’s all. Call me a concerned citizen.”
They liked her already.
“We have a dead body in the basement,” Sarah stated, trying to see if the woman would even flinch.
“SHHHHHHHH,” Zayn stated. “Jesus, Sarah! Tell the freaking world already. I’m ditching him later.”
She stared at them.
“There’s really a body?”
“It’s my father,” Stella stated. “He was part of it, and he’s dead now too.”
They still waited.
“Okay, so he was part of it. How?”
“He is Rosemary’s brother.”
They told her the rest.
Dakota pieced it all together. It was a story about greed and sickness. It was a story of two siblings who were peddling flesh, and one wanted more than just his share.
Cordelia listened.
“Okay, so turf war, and two casualties so far. Go on. I think I’m with you,” she said, surprised at the shit going on in her town. The cops were none the wiser.
“Well, more than two casualties,” Sarah stated. “We’re systematically taking out the web. We’ve taken down a drug dealer, who was supplying, and we found out only a minor one—thanks to Rosemary last night.”
Cordelia didn’t even bat an eye.
“Okay, and?”
“We eliminated the madam who was siphoning in the young girls.”
“Good. May she burn in hell.”
Yeah, the team really liked her.
Absolution: The Hunter Mercenary Series (Book Two) Page 48
