Rogue pulled out his credit card and passed it to Sarah.
“Make my woman glitter. I’ll be using that fantasy later,” he admitted, “after she gets back here.”
Sarah took the card and gave him a kiss.
“On it, Sugar Daddy,” she teased and motioned for the other woman to follow her.
Rogue watched her leave.
“Do you own a tux?” he asked when they were gone. “That’s the appropriate thing to wear if you’re a high roller in those kinds of places.
“I’m a mercenary. That’s not gear.”
He assumed.
Rogue made a call, and his personal tailor was booked. They couldn't leave, since Storm was upstairs, and Stella was sitting there, so they’d have the man come to him.
“I can make you look like a million bucks, but you’re going to need to pull off the role.”
“Chill. I can do it.”
“I hope so. You’re taking my woman into that shithole. You had better make sure you bring her out.”
That warning sat there.
Rogue wasn’t always violent but in this case?
Yeah, he’d make him bleed.
Chapter Twenty-One
Jasper’s Home
Afternoon
H e’d killed the man as soon as he let him into his home. It had been easy, and Chesky was good at few things in life. Selling pussy, killing people who got in his way, and cleaning up the loose ends were the things he excelled at.
This was nothing.
The problem with Jasper was he had a big mouth. Oh, he loved him, but he was someone who could crack under the least bit of pressure.
He wasn’t nearly as tough as Charlotte. She was the tougher of the twins. She was vicious, vile, and killed easily. With Jasper, there was always a screw-up.
When Charlotte screwed them over, nearly blowing their operation by giving the people trying to ruin them access to him and Maxine, he was furious.
Now he saw that he should have killed them both at the same time. It would have been easier.
Jasper brought nothing to the table.
NOTHING.
“I’m sorry,” he said, as he lit the match and prepared to set the fire right on top of the dead man. It was going to be the end of the line, and Chesky was okay with that.
People…you could live without.
Money…that was the way to go.
As he dropped the match, he destroyed anything that would tie Jasper to him and their ring.
While Rosemary had been soft, he wouldn’t be.
Chesky couldn’t be.
His livelihood depended on it.
In the end, that mattered most.
* * * H U N T E R * * *
Sarah walked with Cordelia around the block toward the shop where she’d bought her dress for the booze cruise she and Dakota had gone on a few weeks ago.
They had all kinds of gorgeous things, and they catered to the more…slutty customer.
Okay, not slutty, but a kept woman. In the French Quarter, it took all kinds, and sexy women with sugar daddies had to have a place to shop too.
“Where are we going?” Cordelia asked.
“This store.”
She pointed.
“Uh, that’s something.”
She smiled.
“Yeah, you have to look the part. Bunny loves it here,” Sarah admitted. “You get to have the best sex afterward.”
“Awkward. I hope your fiancé doesn’t mind.”
She snorted.
“I like you.”
Cordelia had to adjust to this whole thing. It was weird being handed a man’s credit card and being told to shop.
Okay, not weird.
Hard.
She was struggling with it. In her world, she was supposed to take care of herself. Now…she was being asked to let some man buy her things.
“I can’t do this,” she said, dropping the bomb.
Sarah stood there.
“What? You wanted in. You wanted to be part of this. This…it’s part of it.”
“I can’t let him buy me things.”
Sarah got it.
She and Rogue were close, so Sarah knew about the woman’s past.
“You have to let him.”
She looked horrified.
“Why?”
“Rogue is special. He’s being chased by his own demons, and this is his absolution. Helping by using his funds to do good helps him find that peace. He’s not buying you a dress. He’s buying a way to help Storm heal, save the countless other women who will be sucked into this if we don’t stop it, and save himself.”
Cordelia listened.
Looking at it that way didn’t make it sound so bad.
“He funds our operation. Well, him and Stella. She uses her father’s ill-gotten gains to help. This credit card is tied to an account that they keep money in so we can buy guns, things off the dark web, and props. A sexy dress is a prop.”
Cordy felt better.
“I’m sorry.”
Sarah took her hand.
“Honey, don’t apologize to me. I get it. You had a horrible childhood. I grew up with two gay bar owners. It was tough because I was picked on and bullied, but I know about your parents. I get it. You’re allowed to have issues. We all do.”
She relaxed.
“He needs to do this?”
“Absolution. It’s his journey, and if you loved him, you’d join him on it—not block it.”
She got it.
“Okay, help me girl it up. I think I can do this. No, I know I can. I want to blow his mind.”
Sarah giggled maniacally.
“I do have to get even for the whole tit thing. That was only the beginning.”
“That doesn’t creep you out?” Cordelia asked.
“Nah. Zayn and Rogue are like brothers. It makes me want to bust their asses. They were kidding about my breasts. I know them both. They were horrified. There was no way they watched. One of them pointed it out, and then they threw up a little in their mouths.”
She laughed.
“Zayn loves his wife more than life. He was a virgin before he married her. She’s the only woman he’s ever been with, and they’ve only been married since before Christmas. They are in that newbie phase. He’s not looking at anyone’s breasts but hers.”
She stopped laughing.
“Really? He was a virgin?”
“Yep, and Rogue…he’s crazy about you. Before you came into his world, he was slipping. He’d watch us be happy, and it hurt him so much. It was heartbreaking.”
She listened.
“Be good to him and love him. He’s worth it. He’d die for you. I can tell.”
Cordy didn’t doubt it.
“I like blue,” she stated. “It goes with my eyes. I want to be a Bunny.”
Sarah gave her a hug.
“Bunny is taken, but you can be Kitty. She has claws, but she’ll purr if you touch her just right.”
Cordelia stared at her.
“I think I may love you.”
Sarah laughed her ass off.
“Welcome to the family,” she stated. “He’s my brother, so you get to be my sister.”
And that melted all of the fear, pain, and anything that scared Cordelia.
She belonged.
For the first time in her life, she found people who didn’t look at her like she was flawed.
They let her be her.
And that was the most beautiful thing.
* * * H U N T E R * * *
Jasper Hutchinson’s
Home
Well, this was going to be one hell of a problem.
As they pulled up to the address that Sarah and Cordelia had pulled from the burner phone, they weren’t the only ones there.
There was a crowd.
Plus, the police.
Oh, and the fire department.
The house, that they were to visit and interrogate a man, was on fire. Not only was it on fire, b
ut it was on its way to being nothing but a smoldering pile of ash.
Somehow, they didn’t think it was a coincidence.
Nope.
This was definitely not just random.
It looked like Carter or Chesky were tying up all of the loose ends, and there was no doubt that this was one of their handy work.
Great.
“What now?” Zayn asked, watching the burning building.
“We find out if he was in it.”
“And how do you think we should do that?”
He looked around.
Not far away, behind a chain link fence was an older woman. She was taking it all in, and he knew she’d be the one.
“Watch and learn, killer.”
“Oh, yes, by all means, show me how to do it.”
Dakota headed her way.
“Miss?” he asked, knowing she was about sixty years past that title, but he was going to play it up—good.
The older woman glanced over.
“Me?”
“Yes, I’m from the Channel Seven News. Can I talk to you about the fire?”
She beamed.
“Yes, you can! I was the one who called it in. I saw a flame, and I swear the place went up so fast.”
“Did someone live there?” he asked.
“Oh, yes, some man. Jasper something or other. He kept to himself. I saw him go in early this morning. He usually ran out for a coffee.”
Yeah, she was the person on the street who saw it all.
Perfect.
“Then what happened?” he asked.
“Shortly after, the house went up. I heard the firemen say that there was a body in there, and it looked like accelerant was used. This is better than a TV show. I can’t wait to see them bring out the remains.”
Yeah, someone tied up a loose end.
“Miss…”
“Delta Hamond,” she said, supplying her name.
“Thank you for your help.”
“Anytime. Do you want to get me on camera?” she asked, fluffing her hair.
“I’m the producer. My reporter will come along soon. Thank you for your time.”
With that, he found Zayn in the crowd and headed toward him.
“It was Jasper’s house.”
“I have something for you. Look who I saw,” he stated, pulling out his phone.
He handed it to Dakota. There was one picture.
It was Chesky.
“You didn’t follow him?”
He slapped him.
“Are you insane? I kill people for a living. I can’t run through a crowd shouting ‘STOP’!”
He had a point.
A valid one.
“Well, Jasper can come off the list. He’s a dead man. I have no doubt that he was in there, and Chesky knew we would be coming for him too.”
Yeah, it looked like.
“Who is next?” he asked.
Dakota thought about it.
“Rogue’s father and Carter Foley. With Chesky, they are likely the last three people.”
“I guess we won’t know how Jasper connects to Charlotte, and if she knew he was her brother.”
Yeah, it was looking that way.
“Let’s get back in. We’ll help get Gamble ready for tonight, and teched up.”
That worked for him.
He missed his Stella.
“Oh, and Dak?” he asked.
“What?”
“We didn’t watch. We wouldn’t do you like that,” Zayn admitted. “We both would die to protect your woman. We meant what we said when we told you that you’re ours.”
He patted him on the back.
“Jo-sda-da-hnv-tii, I know. I know,” he said, calling him his brother.
They headed back to their ride and got the hell out of there in case Chesky was lingering. Clearly, the man was insane.
He’d roasted a man—hopefully, not alive. With a crowd of people and a gun, he could do some major damage.
And they didn’t put it past him.
Not one bit.
* * * H U N T E R * * *
Four Twenty-Five
Chartres Street
She was digging in the FBI system, trying to do any kind of search that might help her find something. It was going slow.
Then…
Stella hit the motherlode.
She sat up when she saw that one tiny line on that photocopied birth certificate.
It made her sit up in her chair.
Christ!
Pulling out her phone, she called her husband.
“Hello, my sweet Stella, are you calling to give me some sugar?” Zayn asked.
“NO! I need Dakota!”
There was a pause.
“Are you okay? Is everyone safe?”
“Yes! I need Dakota!”
There was a shuffling of the phone as it was passed off, and then the man’s voice came over the line.
“What’s wrong? You’re freaking Zayn out. He’s driving. I’d like to come home in one piece.”
“I found something huge! I need you to see it! Where are you?”
“Were parking the car we ‘borrowed’ down the block. What’s going on?”
“Get here! I found the connection.”
She hung up.
Stella began pacing. As she walked back and forth, Rogue jogged down the stairs and stopped in front of the room.
“Uh, are you okay?” he asked.
“Yes. No. I don’t know.”
They heard the kitchen door open, and someone running in. Rogue actually pulled his gun.
“Jesus! You scared me! What’s going on?” Rogue asked.
“Look,” she said, pointing at the screen. “I found Charlotte and Jasper’s mother and father.”
They stared at it.
“Christ.”
“Rosemary Harrington and Chesky Jensen?” Dakota stated, his mind totally blown. They looked over at Rogue. “You were sleeping with their daughter.”
He felt like he’d been punched in the gut.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“He killed the mother of his children, and then his own children” Zayn stated. “That’s all kinds of sick.”
Then it hit him.
“Your daughter is…”
“And that was why she had her hid,” Stella stated. “Cordelia and Boone mentioned that text. She was sending her daughter away to protect her. She knew that her parents would take her and make her part of this one day. They wouldn't sell her, they’d teach her to traffic.”
Rogue really wanted to puke.
His sweet little girl was a Harrington and a Jensen down the bloodline.
Christ.
Then he looked at Stella.
“She’s your cousin.”
She nodded.
“Peony is my cousin’s child.”
Then he looked at Zayn.
“My daughter is the grandchild of the man who tortured and killed your sister.”
Zayn nodded.
“God! I’m sorry.”
“Hey! This is not your fault or hers. She’s a child,” he said, never thinking of holding that familial grudge.
It was all coming together.
“She used me,” Rogue stated. “She targeted me for contacts. She wanted to get as much from me as she could since she knew I had contacts in the underground. Chesky had to point her at me.”
He wanted to rage around.
He wanted to punch something.
Only, he wouldn’t do it.
Rogue stood there and closed his eyes.
“It’s okay,” he said. “I got her away from them. Peony is safe with me. No one is going to touch my daughter.”
Stella hugged him.
“I’m sorry I found this,” she said. “At first, I was excited because we know that this is a family business. Now I realize that it hurts you.”
He was okay.
No.
He was fine.
Pulling out his phone, he c
alled his private security for his mother.
The man answered on the second ring.
“Yes, boss?”
“Joaquin, I need you to lock my mother and daughter down. Get extra security there and tell my mother that something came up with something tied to me. She’ll understand.”
“Yes, sir!”
“She goes nowhere, and no one accesses that property unless you know them, or it’s one of the people I’m normally with,” he stated.
“Okay, boss.”
“Tell my mother I’ll explain, and you sit on that gate. I’ll pay you double, and anyone else too.”
“On it, sir.”
He hung up.
“Okay, my daughter is safe, and so is my mother. I feel better now.”
“If he knows about Peony,” Zayn stated, “maybe you should move her here. We can move her under the cover of night. We can bring your mother too.”
He paced.
“Rogue, do it,” Stella stated. “I can watch both of them and keep Grace busy. She said she wanted an adventure, well…”
“Okay, not tonight. We are dealing with this. We’ll have her moved tomorrow. She’ll move in, if that’s okay,” he stated, staring at the other two men. “I need you to help me protect my mother and child.”
Both men moved toward him and hugged him.
“We have this,” he said.
“Thank you,” he whispered. “I can’t let them get hurt because of Charlotte and her fucked up family roots. Here, I thought my gene pool was whack, but my mother is innocent, and Peony didn’t ask to be born.”
They got it.
“Go get some air on the patio and regroup. We’ll update Sarah when she gets back with Cordelia. We will take care of our own,” he promised. “I swear on my life, they will be fine.”
He hoped so.
Dakota saw he was struggling.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife. With a quick swipe across his hand, he cut himself.
“I read your tribes believed in the blood oath.”
Zayn got it.
He took the knife and did the same.
Rogue was emotional.
As a Half-breed, he didn’t have the ancestral connection. His father left his sperm and ran. Now, he did. With these two men.
Absolution: The Hunter Mercenary Series (Book Two) Page 51
