Atonement: The Hunter Mercenary Series (Book One) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Atonement

  Like you had a choice…

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Four Twenty-Five

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Four twenty-five

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter nine

  Chapter Ten

  Four Twenty-Five

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter TWENTY-FOUR

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Epilogue

  Morgan.

  Coming Next:

  Atonement

  Hunter Mercenary Series

  Book 1

  By Morgan Kelley

  Copyright © 2018 Morgan Kelley LLC

  All rights reserved. Without limiting rights under the copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, introduced into a retrieval system, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including without limitation photocopying, recording, or other electronic or technical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  The scanning, uploading, and/or distribution of this document via the internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and is punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrightable materials. For permission requests, email [email protected].

  Content Advisory: This book is intended for mature audiences and contains, explicit sexual activity between various couples. This is considered an erotic thriller. If you are offended by sex or prefer no sexual details, you should stop reading now.

  ©Copyright 2017-2018 cover by Celestia Abraham

  Dakota Rakin welcome to New Orleans and your new adventure.

  Like you had a choice…

  Dear Reader,

  Since my books crossover a great deal, I recommend reading them as they are written. I tend to mention characters in books they don’t generally occur in, and later in the series, there are full crossovers.

  Some readers have contacted me for this list, and I figured I’d pass it on to the rest of you.

  While you can read the books by series only, it only enhances the reading experience if you go in order of how I wrote them. I tend to give away secrets…

  I’m sneaky like that.

  On the next page, I’ve given you the list.

  MK

  Here is the reading book order:

  The Killing Times (FBI)

  Sacred Burial Grounds (FBI)

  True Love Lost (FBI)

  Deep Dark Mire (FBI)

  Fire Burns Hot (FBI)

  Celestia is Falling (Croft & Croft)

  Darkness of Truth (FBI)

  Vegas is Dying (Croft)

  Devil hath Come (FBI)

  Christmas is Killing (Croft)

  Blood Red Rage (Littlemoon)

  Consumed by Wrath (FBI)

  Sinner Repent (Carter trilogy 1)

  Love is Bleeding (Croft)

  Lost & Broken (Littlemoon)

  Illegal Fantasies (Anthology 1)

  Redemption is Here (FBI)

  Sinner Realized.(Carter trilogy 2)

  Romance Under Arrest (Anthology 2)

  Heaven is Weeping (Croft)

  Unthinkable Games (Littlemoon)

  Dead Shall Speak (FBI)

  Sinner Reborn (Carter trilogy 3)

  Pledging to Die (FBI)

  Hell is Burning (Croft)

  Truth is Found (Littlemoon)

  Slay Bells Ring (FBI)

  Holiday Reinforcements (Trilogy 3)

  Oracle Rising (Oracle)

  Past will Haunt (FBI Flashback 1)

  Choices will Destroy (FBI)

  Justice is Dead (Final croft book)

  Haven of Nightmares (Littlemoon)

  Blood Shall Run (FBI)

  Oracle Seeing (Oracle)

  Dark Justice (New Croft Series)

  Forbidden Secrets (Littlemoon)

  Act of Blood (FBI)

  Oracle Saving (Oracle)

  Stalked by the Past (FBI flashback 2 )

  Dying to Love (FBI)

  Lost Justice (Croft)

  Kiss of Souls ( Littlemoon) (FBI/Littlemoon crossover)

  Oracle Haunting (Oracle)

  Revenge has Come (FBI)

  Paid Justice (Croft)

  Wedding of our Dreams: Steele and Dante

  Lost Souls (Littlemoon) Sept 2017

  Discarded by Fate (FBI)October 2017

  Atonement (Hunter Trilogy 1) November 2017

  It’s Good to be the Boss (Romance Anthology 1) November 2017

  Dawn of Evil (FBI) Jan 2018

  Dead are Forgotten (FBI) Jan 2018

  True Justice (Croft/FBI crossover) Feb 2018

  Love Knows No Bounds (FBI) Valentine’s Day 2018

  Oracle Hunting (Oracle) March 2018

  Curses Found (Littlemoon) April 2018

  Absolution (Hunter Mercenary) May 2018

  All the King’s Henchmen (FBI) June 2018

  Oracle Divided (Oracle) July 2018

  Mob Justice (Croft Mob) August 2018

  Secret Shame (Littlemoon) Sept 2018

  All the Queen’s Men (FBI) October 2018

  Amends (Hunter Mercenary) Nov 2018

  It’s Good to be Loved (Romance Antho) Nov 2018

  Wicked Hunt (Tueur) Dec 2018

  Harcourte books do not cross over and can be read anytime.

  Dangerous Revelations

  Dangerous Choices

  Dangerous Misery

  Dangerous Retaliation

  Dangerous Influence

  Dangerous Sacrifice

  Dangerous Destruction Dec 2017

  ~~~~ About the Author ~~~~

  Morgan Kelley lives in the beautiful Pocono Mountains with her husband and two children. After attending college at Penn State University and studying Criminal Justice, Morgan knew her only true passion in life would be murder and books. She put them both together and began her career as a writer. Other than books and writing, you can find Morgan hanging out in her garden and digging in the dirt.

  Her other works include: The Junction, Serial Sins, The Blood Betrayal, The Killing Times (1), Sacred Burial Grounds (2), True Love Lost (3), Deep Dark Mire (4), Fire Burns Hot (5), Darkness of Truth (6), Devil Hath Come (7), Consumed by Wrath (8), Redemption is Here (9), Dead Shall Speak (10), Pledging to Die (11), Slay Bells Ring (12), Past will Haunt (13), Choices will Destroy (14), Blood shall Run (15), Act of Blood (16), Stalked by the Past (17), Dying to Love (18), Revenge has Come (19), Discarded by Fate (20), Blood Red Rage (1) Lost & Broken (2), Unthinkable Games (3), Truth is Found (4), Haven of Nightmares (5), Forbidden Secrets (6), Kiss of Souls (7), Lost Souls (8), Celestia is Falling (1), Vegas is Dying (2), Christmas is Killing (3), Love is Bleeding (4), Heaven is Weeping (5), Hell is Burning (6), Justice is Dead (7), Dark Justice (1), Lost Justice (2), Paid Justice (3), Wedding of our Dreams: Dante and Steele (3.5) Dangerous Revelations
(1), Dangerous Choices (2), Dangerous Misery (3), Dangerous Retaliation (4), Dangerous Influence (5), Dangerous Sacrifice (6), Sinner Repent (1), Sinner Realized (2), Sinner Reborn (3), Oracle Rising (1), Oracle Seeing (2), Oracle Saving (3), Oracle Haunting, (4),Illegal Fantasies (Anthology 1), Romance Under Arrest (Anthology 2), and Holiday Reinforcements (Anthology 3)

  Please feel free to visit Morgan at her website: www.morgankelley.com, email her [email protected] or visit her blog at www.morgankelley.blogspot.com.

  Atonement: Book One

  Prologue

  New Orleans

  T hey call it The Big Easy, but in actuality, it’s anything but that. New Orleans is one hell of a hot bed of activity, and not just from the people who arrive there in droves to celebrate. The criminal element also thrives in a city that never sleeps. They creep among the tourists, gleefully making one hell of a mess.

  How did he know?

  That was easy.

  For the last six months, he, himself, was creeping as he watched it all go down.

  He was a shadow.

  Dakota Rakin was a man with no home, a sketchy past, and no decent chance at a future.

  He’d been a soldier, he’d been a US Marshal, and now he was aimlessly wandering around to find the one who got away.

  He was on a mission.

  It wouldn’t end well for him, and he knew it. Still, he kept hunting for that criminal who destroyed his world.

  With every lawman—from cop to Fed—there was that one case that couldn’t be solved. He was no different. That one screw-up had made him into the man he was, and it was driving him over the edge and into insanity.

  He was hunting for Bonnie. She was a homicidal killer who had no cares in the world. Basically, with her wickedness, she’d destroyed his life.

  To make it worse, she’d kicked the shit out of his soul.

  When he ran into her, as her case crossed his desk, he’d been naïve enough to believe that she could be stopped. He’d been foolish enough to believe that he’d be the one to bring her in.

  He’d been wrong.

  Because of that, his US Marshal partner had died, his life had been turned upside down, and he’d had to walk away from everything.

  His job.

  His last chance at love.

  His life.

  At that moment, he was chasing a ghost, and it didn’t look good for him. In his life, he’d chased quite a few of them. This was just one more to add to his list.

  It was ever-growing, and he was falling behind—a victim to the wicked in the world.

  He had sold his soul to his career, and in a way, it had destroyed him.

  Here was his proof.

  He was obsessed.

  Like now.

  For some reason, he couldn’t rest unless he put Bonnie in her grave.

  Hell!

  Any grave would do, at this point, as long as it wasn’t his. Dakota knew that this was a suicide mission, but he had no choice. He was willing to die to end this maniac.

  Everyone thought he was crazy, and they didn’t think he had a snowball’s chance in Hell to find her. They were betting on his failure.

  Well, when he did locate that crazy bitch, he was going to prove them all wrong. He was going to put Bonnie, aka Lottie Tipton, in the ground and stand on her grave.

  Hell! After all that she’d done, he might just piss on her headstone. Her wickedness deserved it.

  She was a murdering, evil witch, and someone had to put her down.

  That ‘someone’ was him.

  Dakota was going to win.

  He was not going to fail.

  So, his prey brought him there to The Big Easy. He was living out of a hotel room in The French Quarter, and so far, Bonnie hadn’t popped up.

  She was hiding out, and he was getting frustrated.

  It was like she knew he was there.

  If he didn’t figure out something, and fast, he was going to start to get edgy.

  A hunter had to hunt.

  It was as simple as that.

  If he wasn’t out tracking, hunting, and searching, he was a mired mess of craziness.

  Dakota had been that tracker in the military, that hunter as a US Marshal, and now was no different.

  It was his destiny to chase.

  Heading back into his cheap hotel room, he flopped down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Bonnie wasn’t the only person he was thinking about.

  No, it wasn’t his brother, the sheriff of the small town he’d come from, nor was it the friends he’d left behind to continue this ever-exhausting vendetta.

  No.

  He was thinking about her.

  Sarah.

  She was the one his heart craved.

  Granted, Sarah was almost two decades younger than him, but he still missed her. Dakota longed for her touch, her mouth on his body, and the sexy smile that brightened his soul.

  She was his light.

  He was her dark.

  And she was back in DC.

  Alone.

  Because of his obsession with hunting down Bonnie, he’d had to leave her behind. He’d had to kiss her goodbye until he found the killer who turned his life upside down.

  It had been hard.

  Before Sarah entered his well-organized life, he never thought he’d love again.

  He’d thought he’d found the woman he was meant to be with so many years ago, and he’d been wrong. He’d proposed to Elizabeth LaRue, thinking they were perfectly matched, and she’d turned him down in public.

  She’d decimated him with one word.

  NO.

  Granted, Dakota didn’t blame her.

  They’d been dating three months, trying to weave something out of nothing, and he’d been so desperate not to be alone that he had been grasping at straws.

  When he dropped to his knee, asked for her hand in marriage, she handed him his ring back, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and said goodbye.

  On that day, his rushing to find love had only broken him inside.

  And he’d carried that for years.

  YEARS.

  Then he’d been given a probational trainee—one he really didn’t want. He had no business teaching anyone to do their job. Hunters were isolated, miserable, and surly.

  Then he was given his polar opposite by Marcus Hunter. It was like the man knew.

  Oh, Dakota thought Sarah was going to be a pain in his ass, but he wanted to keep her at arm’s length for one reason.

  Dakota Rakin was the last person who should be training anyone. He didn’t want to be responsible for another human being. It was why he didn’t have pets or kids.

  There were days where he wasn’t fit to be a federal employee let alone a role model.

  Then he met her.

  Sarah Valley had been different.

  She was sweet.

  She was gentle.

  She was kind.

  In all honesty, she was a breath of fresh air—and then like everything good in his life, he tainted her.

  He’d crossed the line.

  Dakota slept with her. They’d bedded down, and he’d sworn it was a huge mistake.

  He’d been right.

  Only, not for the reasons as he originally thought. He’d fallen for her. A part of him missed her so much, but that part had to be whole again in order to be with her.

  There was no way he could offer Sarah the man she deserved when he was barely whole.

  She deserved the best.

  So, that meant finishing this job to be free of his baggage. No woman wanted a man carrying more than his share of troubles. They wanted happiness.

  They wanted a normal life, and at that point, he couldn’t give Sarah that. He had to catch Bonnie, avenge his fallen partner, put the woman down, and then finally be free.

  Still…

  God!

  His heart ached.

  Rolling over, he grabbed his bag. Pulling out an envelope, he held it in his hands. It was from the woman he love
d. Somehow, his mail had magically found him. When Dakota arrived in New Orleans, it had been waiting.

  He didn’t know how, but the mere thought that she was writing him—in such an old-fashioned way—spoke to that dark part of his soul.

  It gave him a glimmer of life.

  Even though it had been in his possession a few days, he’d yet to open it.

  It scared him.

  If this was a ‘Dear John’ letter, he was taking a freaking bridge. It scared the shit out of him, and he couldn’t explain it. Dakota didn’t think he could bear to lose her too.

  Sarah was the only thing he had in his life that wasn’t corrupted, empty, or draining.

  To lose her…he’d lose himself.

  She was his anchor to the light, and he was already precariously teetering on the abyss.

  Then again, if she told him to fuck off, he’d get it.

  After all, he’d left her standing in that office, tears in her eyes, as he walked away from the life he loved.

  As he left the woman he loved.

  Oh, he deserved that and so much more. If she told him she hated him, he’d swallow it.

  If she told him to drop dead, he’d cut that final tie to the last person in the world.

  Truthfully, she’d be doing them both a favor. He’d finally be free from any emotions.

  He could only hope she’d be stronger than him and do it for both of them. Then Dakota could be the bad guy—the one he knew he was—and he could give up what was left of his soul.

  Only he knew her.

  She was tenacious.

  For some reason, she wanted him.

  HIM.

  —with his five o’clock shadow, wildly growing brown hair, and troubled dark eyes.

  Clearly, she was out of her mind.

  Staring down at the paper in his hands, his fingers actually shook. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and opened the envelope.

  There was only one way to move on.

  Once she gave him the finger via letter, he’d be free.

  It was six months coming.

  Slowly, gently, and reverently, he slid the pale pink paper from its wrapping. As he unfolded it, he could smell her scent. Sarah always smelled like a warm summer’s day.