His Reluctant Savior (The District #3)

1. Chapter 1

As soon as I read Dalton Reed’s name on the file Malik handed to me, my youth flashed before my eyes. I tried to process the words I was reading, my mind telling me I was reading it wrong, or that it was only a coincidence.

It took me a good twenty years to excel at schooling my features. To hide any sort of emotion that threatened to reveal itself. I could’ve given the best poker player a run for their money, except it wasn’t a card player I needed to hide from, but the very person sitting across from me. A man who was more skilled at hiding his true nature than anyone I knew. A man who had more experience in being a killer and an assassin in his pinky than I could ever hope to be. A man who helped shape me and understood everything about me. Malik wasn’t only my working partner, but he was my mentor.

I winced inwardly as my hand trembled before I quickly got it under control. It was slight, but only the flash of a second was enough for Malik to notice it. He excelled at recognizing subtle cues, which made him so good at his job.

At fifty-two, he was a handsome man. He was Syrian by birth, coming to the United States as a refugee when he was a teenager. His black hair, threaded with gray, used to be long, but he’d recently cut it, letting it fall in thick waves below his bearded chin. Intelligence shone through his coal-black eyes.

Not only was Malik my partner at The District, our little assassin organization, and my mentor, but he was my friend and family. He hadn’t only trained me and enhanced my skills, but he’d saved my life years ago. If any two people understood each other inside and out, it was us—even if we knew little of our pasts, but our pasts didn’t matter. Knowing our personalities and what made us tick not only made us close, but it would also make my coming betrayal cut so much deeper.

And I was definitely going to betray my friend and partner for a man I hadn’t seen since I was eighteen. For the flash of a second, I thought about taking on the job to kill Dalton Reed, but I knew I wouldn’t. I couldn’t.

“Is this going to be a problem, Sid?” While Malik showed nothing in those ebony eyes, his words conveyed he hadn’t missed my reaction .

I didn’t nervously swallow, my hands were finally steady, and my heart was calm. I was under full control of myself when I looked up from reading the file and smiled at him. “What? No. Why?” He’d already caught me, but I still needed to play this off like he had nothing to worry about, that my slight trembling was only a trick of the eye. But he wasn’t fooled.

His eyes narrowed, intentionally letting me know he read my lie. “Are you sure? I can do this job myself if I have to.”

“No. I’ve got it.”

There was no way in hell I would let him take over the job, no doubt handing it over to his psychopathic protégé and lover, Sully, who would slaughter with abandon.

“Okay. I trust you,” he finally said. Only our respectful history made him doubt the lie I told him because I’d never needed to lie to him before.

Despite his words and allowing me to continue with the job, Malik wouldn’t let this slide. As soon as I left, he would investigate Dalton, dig deep, and find out what Dalton meant to me.

Just like Malik knew me, I knew him. As soon as he learned of my betrayal, and he would, he would wait to hear what my reasoning was before he killed me. That right there gave me the time I desperately needed.

Because Sully couldn’t stand me, always jealous of my friendship with Malik, Sully would want me hunted. The only one who could control Sully was Malik. I needed to rely on my understanding of my closest friend that he would hold back until he got all the information to process .

As soon as I leave his office, Malik would have our resident hacker, Layla, investigate. It wouldn’t take her long to learn who Dalton Reed was.

Dalton and I hadn’t exactly been close in high school, far from it. That was entirely my fault, but he’d profoundly meant something to me. He helped shape me into the man I became. Dalton had always been a fucking Boy Scout—always moralistic, choosing to do the right thing, and the main reason I’d tormented him so much back in high school, and also why I’d wanted him so much. He was my secret first love.

It wasn’t only our childhood connection that would keep me from killing him, but according to his file, he had a fucking kid. If Dalton died, his son would be left without his parents. Dalton’s husband had been killed in a car accident three years ago. To leave that child parentless… I was rarely faced with a moral dilemma, but I didn’t have a hard time choosing this path.

It wasn’t like me to be sentimental. Sentimentality and trusting others led me to get hurt often as a kid, physically and emotionally. Sentimentality was dangerous, and now, I planned to take the biggest gamble of my life over something I’d spent years trying to dismantle from my memories and mentality.

No, I didn’t want to kill him. I’d come to those crossroads eventually, but first, I needed to get him out of danger. If I had to kill him, I would at least make it painless. I owed him that much. Whatever my decision, I would have to confront my family and face the consequences because I couldn’t run from them forever, especially Sully. Malik may call off the hunt for me, but Sully was relentless.

No more time to waste .

When I left Malik’s office, I made a long mental list of everything I needed to do to find Dalton and give myself the maximum amount of time to run before my family started hunting me down.

I packed up my office before I left for the day, gathering all I would need to be gone for a while, and then I headed home.

I sipped brandy and called a secure phone number I’d memorized for nearly thirteen years, hoping it still worked.

“What?” said the deep voice on the other line.

“Veil… it’s me.”

His sigh was long and dramatic, instantly recognizing my voice, even after all these years. “I told you not to call me anymore.”

Franklin Gould had worked for the same crime syndicate I had over thirteen years ago—before I got caught sucking face and frotting with a man from the security detail. He took a bullet to the head for it, but because I was like a son to the boss, he left me stabbed and beaten but still breathing… barely. Being gay was not to be tolerated by any means, but being celibate for the rest of my life was impossible, so I took the risk and paid the price.

That was when Malik took me in and healed me. I would forever be in his debt. If he hadn’t, I would’ve succumbed to my injuries.

I ignored the guilt trying to prod into my mind. Guilt led to regrets. Regrets led to mistakes. Mistakes led to death.

Veil was on his own now and in hiding from The Brotherhood—our previous employer—since he’d left without permission. My connecting with him put us both at risk, but I had no choice. I needed an ally and help.

“I know, and I’m sorry for this, but I need you. There’s no one else I can turn to who has your experience and expertise. You’re the only person on my side right now who is someone my organization doesn’t know about. I was incredibly careful to scrub you from my history.”

There was only silence on the other end.

“Are you still there?” I asked.

“Fuck… yeah, I’m here.”

“I’ve got the money.”

“You know I don’t need it.”

“Then think of it as a favor owed.”

“Dammit! Fine,” he growled. “You’ll owe me big, and more than one favor.”

“Of course, and I expect your utmost discretion.”

“Screw you. I’m a fucking professional. All right, out with it. What do you need?”

“A few things. First, while I’ve done my best at scrubbing my past, I want you to dig even deeper to find anything that may have been missed. That includes old high school friends from where I grew up. I realize it’s impossible to erase everything, but as much as you can, and quickly.”

I just hoped Layla hadn’t found anything yet about Dalton and my connection to him.

Rapid clicking on the keyboard filtered through the phone as Veil set to work. “It’s going to take time.”

“I know.”

“What else? ”

“This comes in two parts. I need to find anyone Dalton Reed is close to or was close to, from childhood friends to his deceased husband’s family and friends. Anyone he could run to for help to take care of his son in secret. He’s an FBI analyst, so this could include other agents. Send me all of it.”

Veil grunted over the phone, continuing to click and clack away. “That will also take some time. There’s no guarantee I’ll find all the people you need. Shoot me all the deets you have on him. I’ll text you where to send it. And the second part?”

“The second part is to scrub all that you find on him from his history as soon as I get his details.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” he screamed over the line so loudly that I had to pull the phone away from my ear. “He’s a fucking agent? They keep meticulous records over there. If I hack into their system and fucking erase him, it will flag the NSA. You’re out of your goddamn mind! I’m not having the N-fucking-SA on my ass. I like living and having freedom, thank you very much. There’s a reason I’ve lived for so long. I’m good at avoiding them, but if you tamper with files like that…?”

I patiently waited until he finished his rant. “Are you finished?”

Veil simply huffed in irritation.

“I know you can’t fucking delete Dalton’s life, but if you come across important people he may go to, make sure their connection to him can’t be easily found. I’m not talking about his parents or closest friends. I’m talking about people he hasn’t seen in a while. There has to be someone from his past to whom he can reach out. Someone who isn’t obvious. He won’t run to people who are close to him. He wouldn’t put them in danger. This is in case we can’t find him first. I also need to know where he banks.”

There was more loud, irritated clicking in the background, but he didn’t hang up on me, so that was a bonus. “Anything else, princess ?”

I chuckled. “Yeah, I’m going to send you his last known location. Please trace him and see if you can pinpoint where he’s hiding. He’s an agent, so he’s going to be clever, but he’s also an analyst. He doesn’t work in the field, so he’ll make mistakes. And he’s also got a five-year-old kid with him. That should narrow down things.”

“It makes him a fucking target, is what it does. Anything else I need to look for or be worried about?”

“Layla Blair is on this. Avoid her.”

“Shit… Pookybear?”

I did a double-take. “Pooky what ?”

“Pookybear. That’s what we call her on the dark web.”

“Well, you learn something new every day. And I’ll be sure to use that against her the next time I see her.” If I ever see her again. A pang of loss suddenly hit me. “Regardless, avoid her.”

“Got it. While she’s good, I’m better. Anything else?”

I sighed and took a sip of my brandy. “I knew you loved me.”

Veil scoffed.

“Anyway, just find him, and quickly. He’s running out of time, as am I.”

As soon as we hung up, Veil texted me with a link. I sent him the files electronically from a USB that came with Dalton’s file. I would hold on to my phone until I heard back from Veil, and then I planned to destroy the SIM card. But after two days, I needed to get rid of it. Hopefully, I heard something back before then.

After a quick bite to eat for dinner and another drink, I started packing some clothes and essentials. Any important or incriminating documents were hidden away already. I kept nothing in my home. To anyone investigating my house, all they’d find was an average, wealthy man who was the vice president of a successful travel insurance company.