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

  Yeah, well, she wasn’t shocked.

  “Why did you quit your job?”

  “Because he left the US Marshals, and I can’t do this without him. I feel empty inside. My whole heart is dying, and I can’t get him to see it. You’re the ONLY one he’s ever loved, and you have to help me.”

  She sighed. “Sarah, I broke his heart. I did it to save him. He proposed to me after fifteen rolls in the hay, four dinners, and two movies. He was out of his mind. Someone had to stop him.”

  “You broke him.”

  Yeah, she was aware. At the time, she was just trying to save his ass. Now she saw he didn’t get it. The man was as thick as…well, every other man.

  “It wasn’t intentional.”

  Sarah wiped her eyes. She showed her the text he sent.

  “For six months, he’s been hiding. He won’t answer my texts, he won’t take my calls, and then he sent me this. I’ve been waiting for months for a sign. I need to know exactly where he is, and I know you know.”

  She lifted a brow.

  “How would I know?”

  “Despite you breaking his heart, he still loves you. Out of all the people in the world, he’d stay in contact with that one person who grounds him. That’s you.”

  Elizabeth laughed. “Well, that boat has sailed.”

  “You’re his sister. In a way, he needs you to be there to be complete. You saved him, and he gets it. He’s loyal to a fault, and so are you. I’ve seen you two together. He trusts you and you, beneath that vicious viper personality, trust him.”

  Elizabeth stood and grabbed her coffee from her makeshift desk.

  “You realize you catch flies with honey not name calling, right?” she said.

  “I’m in here begging you. Give me this one.”

  Yeah, she had a point.

  “You know where he is exactly, don’t you?” Sarah asked. “You’ve seen me multiple times, and you never mentioned it to me.”

  “So?”

  “I ask, and you don’t deny it. You change the subject. You know exactly where he is.”

  “I do, yes.”

  “I’ve sent him letters. I don’t know if he’s gotten them.”

  “He has.”

  “How?”

  Shit.

  What they hell was she going to do now?

  “Cupid is really good at finding the person when she needs to,” she offered.

  “You’ve gotten them to him, haven’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  That made Sarah like her even more. Elizabeth was tough, but she wasn’t a bitch—all the time.

  “Where is he?”

  “What are you going to do when you find out?” she asked. “Are you going to go rush in, make a scene, and distract him? He’s trying to find Bonnie, and he’s focused. If you distract him…”

  “He’s not watching his own ass. Bonnie is going to walk right up to him and stick a blade in his heart through his back. We both know it. He’s obsessed. He needs someone to watch out for him. That’s me. I can’t lose him. I’ll let him hunt her, but he’s got to have someone who has his best interests at heart.”

  She agreed.

  Elizabeth pulled a key out of her pocket, and she handed it to her. “If you ever admit I’ve helped you, I’ll kick the shit out of you, and I don’t mean a girl fight. I have a lot riding on this too. It’s not only about Bonnie. There are three men who are all at risk.”

  She took the key.

  “Where?”

  “Four twenty-five Chartres Street. It’s a private house not far from ‘Rogue Square’. It’s our new vacation home. Callen bought it for us to lay low when the stress gets to be too much. The code to the gate is nine-one-one.”

  “I’m going to go help him.”

  “He’s going to lose his mind the second he sees you. Dakota is a loose cannon, ready to go off.”

  Sarah smiled.

  “And that’s how I know he loves me. He’s trying to protect me by keeping me away from him. Only, he’s suffering. I can tell.”

  Elizabeth said nothing.

  “I owe you one.”

  “Just don’t get taken, Sarah. If you go down, he’s as good as dead. He won’t do well if he loses you.”

  She was aware.

  “Thank you, Elizabeth. Now I’ll go surprise him by finally taking the lead in our personal life.”

  She shook her head.

  “I hope it works out.”

  Sarah smiled at her. “It will. Cupid did her job. Now it’s time for me to do mine.”

  She left, and Callen came in carrying their gear. “Uh, what was that about? She’s not joining the team, right?”

  Elizabeth laughed.

  “Well, not our team.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It’s reckoning day for Dakota Rakin. He’s about to be ambushed by love.”

  “Isn’t he the lucky one? I remember that day. It was the best one I’ve ever had in all of my life. I saw this sexy FBI director, and I couldn’t wait to get into her pants.”

  “And then?” she asked.

  “I found out she was married to my brother. That was one hell of a rollercoaster,” he admitted.

  She went into his arms.

  “You should be ashamed of yourself with all that mush oozing from you.”

  He gave her a kiss. “Yeah, I’m pathetic. Now, let’s go do our jobs. I feel like being stalked by crazies.”

  She snorted.

  “You are a sick man, Callen James, and I think that’s the sexiest thing about you.”

  He slapped her on the jean-covered ass.

  “Yeah, I know.”

  * * * H U N T E R * * *

  Chartres Street

  Sunday

  Eight A.M

  When they came down the stairs, they didn’t find the rest of the team in the sitting parlor. No, they were in the kitchen, working on the plan for the day.

  Rogue had some plans out, and he was pointing to things on the paper. When they walked in, both men looked over.

  The smirk on Zayn’s face said it all.

  “Someone got laid.”

  Dakota laughed. “It looks like the virgin voyage ended at thirty-four.”

  Before he could even speak, Stella did.

  “I hope you’re not busting his ass because that wouldn’t be right. I really hope you’re not discussing our sex life in front of a lady. That might be construed as crass, tasteless, and insensitive to his feelings and mine. It might piss someone off.”

  Well, that said it all.

  “Sorry, miss,” Dakota said, blushing.

  Rogue wasn’t deterred.

  “Yep, he got laid,” Rogue stated, offering the man a fist bump.

  Zayn laughed but wisely said nothing. He wasn’t stupid. He knew women were more dangerous than men. The only thing to their advantage was men tended to be stronger. Then again, Elizabeth Blackhawk had kicked his ass.

  Dakota wiggled his eyebrows and pointed at the coffee and beignets sitting on the counter. “We were up early and got some from ‘Café Du Monde’. It’s across the square.”

  Zayn grabbed two cups of coffee. “What do you want in yours, honey?”

  “Cream,” she said, accepting the cup from him as he pulled out a chair for her. Then he placed some beignets in front of her as he stood sentry behind her.

  Both men laughed.

  “What?”

  They didn’t go there. Stella was giving them the evil eye, and they had no doubt she’d defend the big guy.

  With the butter knife in front of her.

  Neither wanted to be shanked.

  “Here’s our plans for today. We’re heading to Stella’s home. We need to check out the security team, and by check them out, we mean have Stella point out anyone she thinks she saw.”

  “Anything on my sister or stepmother?” she asked, hoping they were found.

  They shook their heads.

  “Oh, that’s so horrible,” she said. “I�
�m afraid for them.”

  “We spoke to your father. He’s not at all pissed about the money. He wants to keep paying to ensure he gets them back.”

  “That sounds like Daddy. He loves Maia. When my mother died in that boating accident, he blamed himself for not being there to save her. It has to be hard to carry that burden all of these years,” she admitted.

  Yeah, Dakota was aware.

  He carried the stain of his partner’s death on him. It was brutal. In his dreams or nightmares, he could still hear her screaming as Clyde tortured and raped her.

  “What do you know about life insurance policies?” Rogue asked.

  “Why?”

  “Well, he lost his first wife, and now his second…”

  She glared at him.

  “He isn’t part of this. He’s a decent man!”

  “Who was paid a lot of money when his wife died in that boating accident. They never found her body, Stella.”

  She wrapped her arms around her body, trying to offer herself some comfort.

  Zayn stepped in. “Guys, stop.”

  Dakota looked at him. “We have to look at every possibility. If he wants his family back, we have to pull it all apart. I hunt. Something isn’t right.”

  Rogue agreed. “This is definitely an inside job, and we have to pull it apart. We don’t mean to hurt you, Stella, but we can’t do it justice if we ignore parts of it.”

  She got it.

  “He will get a lot of money if she’s declared dead. For my mom, he got a million for the accident, but he had a life insurance policy for ten times that.”

  They stared at her.

  “There was a policy on me, and currently on Mercedes. After I turned twenty-five, he handed it over to me as a gift to buy a home and start my life.”

  “How much was on you?” Rogue asked.

  “Two million dollars. It’s in my account, along with other money.”

  “Who is your beneficiary?”

  “My father or anyone I marry. If I get married, it automatically reverts to my husband.”

  “Who knows about that?”

  “Me, my stepmother, and father. They set it up. Since she’s gone…”

  That spoke volumes.

  “Just you two?”

  She nodded.

  “Your father had the same policy for Mercedes?”

  She closed her eyes. “Yes.”

  This wasn’t looking good. He had two wives—one went missing and one confirmed dead. He was looking like a male black widow.

  By wiping out the whole family, he could earn all the money he’d paid out in ransom and then some.

  This was bad.

  “Rogue, we need everything we can on him.”

  He began typing on the tablet in front of him.

  “Meanwhile, Zayn, you’re on bodyguard duty. We know there are three people we can trust around Stella, us, and that’s it.”

  Oh, he wasn’t leaving her side.

  “I say we get moving. The people who still have your sister and stepmother won’t take long to make their next move.”

  “Will they kill them?” she asked.

  Zayn put his hand on her arm. “Honey.”

  She looked up at him, and the look on his handsome Native face said it all.

  Stella already knew the odds.

  They were as good as gone.

  * * * H U N T E R * * *

  Somewhere

  in New Orleans

  She screamed and screamed from the cage he’d put her in. The rats were circling, and she was pretty sure they were waiting for her to die to have a snack.

  She just wanted her mother and father.

  Mercedes wanted to go home.

  When the man came in, he tossed a bottle of water at her, and a bag of chips. “Eat up, Princess. Your time on this big green ball is just about over.”

  She shook the bars.

  “You’re a piece of shit!” she shouted.

  “You’re lucky I can’t touch you. If I could, I’d shut you up with my big, fat dick.”

  She moved back in her prison and began sobbing. As the rats moved closer, she lifted her feet so they couldn’t get her toes. They were beginning to try to nibble on her, and that was beyond horrifying.

  She wasn’t dead.

  God!

  She wasn’t even gone yet.

  They kept moving at her, trying to survive too.

  “SAVE ME!” she screamed.

  No one answered.

  “I want my mom and dad,” she sobbed, over and over again.

  Only no one cared.

  Mercedes was as good as dead.

  * * * H U N T E R * * *

  Harrington Manor

  When they pulled up, Danforth was standing outside his home waiting for his daughter. As soon as she was out of the vehicle, he was on her.

  “JESUS! I thought I’d never see you again!” he said, hugging her.

  Stella hugged her father, giving him a kiss. “Oh, Daddy. I’m okay. They’ve been keeping me safe.”

  He shook each man’s hand. “Thank you for getting her back. I know you’ll find my wife and other daughter!”

  Yeah, they weren’t betting on that.

  Once the money drop went down, their chances at living went down too. They had yet to mention that someone tried for Stella at their base.

  These animals were relentless.

  “Did you get any more communication from them?” Dakota asked.

  He led them toward the house. “Not yet. Do you think they’ll contact me today?”

  “They likely will. They know Stella is free. We had a little visit last night.”

  He looked alarmed. “What happened?”

  She told him.

  “You have to stay here. You’re safer here! I can hire security to watch you twenty-four-seven.”

  Immediately, Zayn bristled.

  The two men beside him could see it. The look on his face said it all.

  He was expecting this.

  That’s why he’d been so worried. He’d given himself to her, and now she was going to walk away and leave him even more of a shell of a human being.

  “She’s actually safer with us,” Dakota stated, patting his hip and the gun he had tucked there. The two men beside him followed suit.

  “I insist. You’re staying here, Stella, and I’m going to get you round the clock security like I have.”

  Yeah, well, about that…

  “One of your security guards has to be in on this,” Rogue stated.

  “What do you mean?”

  “They found her at our base. No one knew about it. We’d only began using it a few hours earlier. How?”

  “I have no idea!”

  “Someone had to have followed me,” Rogue said. It had been bothering him all night, and that was the ONLY logical explanation. “They tailed me from here. So, we can’t leave Stella here. She’s not safe.”

  “She is…”

  Zayn raised a hand to stop him. “She’s staying with me. I won’t let anything happen to her. She’s mine.”

  The way he said it…

  Yeah, it painted that one picture no father wanted to see in his mind. Here was this big, macho man claiming his daughter—like property.

  Dakota saw this going bad.

  And fast.

  After all, why wouldn’t it?

  They found the girl and a few hours later one of the team had jumped her.

  Yeah, this was about to get ugly.

  “I hope you don’t mean what I think you mean,” Danforth Harrington stated. Then he looked at his daughter. “What have you done?”

  “I’ve started a relationship,” she stated.

  “That can’t be good. That has to be like Stockholm Syndrome or something like that. That’s not normal. You were just abducted for a month, and then you fall for him?” he asked.

  Zayn corrected him.

  Stockholm Syndrome?

  Really?

  “I’m not holdin
g her captive as I try to get her to sympathize with me. There’s a HUGE difference. She’s not a prisoner.”

  Okay, that was a lie.

  If he had to, he was carrying Stella out of there over his shoulder. He would take her to his home, and there he’d…keep her forever.

  “It’s not happening. He’s been hired to do a job, Stella. He’s a…mercenary.”

  She stared at her father.

  Zayn couldn’t do it.

  He had to leave. His heart was breaking. This man took one look at him and saw the truth. It wouldn’t be long before she did too.

  “I’ll go wait outside,” he said.

  Stella looked over at him. “No, Zayn, don’t go,” she said, moving to hold his hand in hers.

  “Father, I’ll make this crystal clear. He’s not some hired gun who’s trying to get in my panties for money. I’ve made my decision.”

  “Stella.”

  “No, I’ve made my decision. I’m staying with him. I feel safe, and I trust them. I can’t trust your security. I don’t think you get it.”

  “What don’t I get, Stella?”

  “I was taken from here. I suffered a month after being torn from the safe place I loved. I can’t be here. This will break me. I’m not safe in this house.”

  “Why not?”

  “This was an inside job.”

  “They’ve brainwashed you…”

  “I’m going to go up to my room, and I’m going to pack some of my things. I’m done with this, Daddy. It’s past discussion. If you think I’m going to play this game, I’m not.”

  “Sweetheart, if anything happens to you…”

  “Yeah, you’ll be richer. I get it.”

  He stared at her. “Who put that in your mind?” he asked, pointing at them.

  She went up on her toes and kissed Zayn on the cheek. “Give me ten minutes to get changed and then we can head out.”

  He squeezed her hand. “Okay, honey.”

  She walked away.

  As soon as she was gone, Danforth went to his desk, pulled out a checkbook, and faced the man. “How much to forget you ever met her? I’ll give you half a million to walk away.”

  He looked at Dakota.

  “Can I put holes in these walls?”