Chapter Two
King
Grabbing a beer, I walk to my couch and flop down. Finally.
It took me three fucking weeks to find my latest hit. He went completely off-grid when he heard I was on his trail. I eventually found him in some old treehouse deep in the woods. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to kill the bastard because my client wanted that privilege himself.
The man in question was my client’s brother who had raped his five-year-old daughter. After doing some of my own research to make sure the man was guilty, I accepted the job and went after him.
I may be a killer for hire but I have my own set of rules. If I can’t prove the hired hit is guilty of whatever they’re being accused of, I won’t take the case. If they are guilty, I’m more than happy to either capture or kill.
“The gang is all here,” I hear Viper say from the front door. “Pops is already preparing your grill for some steaks, brother. Glad you’re back home.”
I finish off my beer before standing and greeting my family. I’ve missed them all terribly these past few weeks. I hate it when a hit takes that long. I even missed Christmas. Never again.
“Uncle King,” Allie bounces in excitement. “Since you’re back home can I please jump on your trampoline? Mama said I had to wait for you to get back and now you’re back. So, can I?”
“Of course,” I laugh when she rushes for the door leading to my back yard before I can finish speaking. “You do know that you guys can come over when I’m not home, right?”
“Keep your coat on,” Sophia calls after Allie before smiling up at me. “I know that. But it makes me sad when you’re not here.”
I steal baby Hope from Venom’s arms and cuddle her close.
“I’m not normally gone that long, Little Wolf,” I tell her. “But regardless, you’re always welcome here no matter what.”
“Did everything go okay?” Bitsy asks.
I don’t like bringing my work home with me. What I do is dangerous and I want my family as far away from it as possible. Viper wraps his wife in his arms and kisses her shoulder.
“Think of his work as club business, baby,” he tells her. “It’s better if you don’t know things.”
“He’s right,” I tell her. “But everything went the way it was supposed to. It just took me a little longer than expected, is all.”
Bitsy smiles gratefully before taking Sophia’s hand and heading outside to watch Allie jump.
“Listen, brother,” Ghost says. “I understand your rule about not contacting us when you’re working, but if you’re going to be gone longer than a week, I think some form of communication needs to be in order. We were worried sick.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” I say, accepting the baby’s bottle from Venom. Hope is almost eight months old and is looking at my face with hunger-filled eyes. I adjust her in my arms and give the starving girl her meal.
“Do you have any more clients waiting?” Blaze asks.
“I think I’m going to take a month or two off,” I admit. “I’ll probably wait until April to accept any new clients. Right now, I just want to relax and spend time with my family.”
“Awe, he loves us,” Venom says. “I’m your favorite. Admit it.”
I grab the remote from the couch and toss it at his head.
Laughing, he and the rest of my brothers come and find seats before turning on the TV to some game. I lean back and continue watching Hope eat as my family makes themselves at home. I smile as I relax for the first time in weeks.
“I’m thinking about quitting,” I admit.
Seven sets of shock-filled eyes turn my way.
“I knew it,” Knox says from where he’s sitting on the floor. He’s the only one not shocked. “I had this feeling that you were slowing down your client list for a reason.”
“How do you know I’ve been slowing down my client list, brother?” I ask, already knowing the answer.
I can’t help but chuckle when his face turns red, and he looks down to hide his guilt.
“I’ve been keeping an eye on you,” he says softly. “I didn’t do anything that would put anyone in danger. I just wanted to make sure you were safe.”
“Damnit, Knox,” Steel grumps. “Have you been on the deep web again?”
“I plead the fifth,” he says. “Besides, the deep web isn’t where people go to hire King. It’s the dark web. The deep end of the dark web, to be precise.”
He’s not wrong.
“Damnit, Knox,” Brick echoes his twin. “You’re going to get yourself killed.”
“Oh, please,” he says. “First off, I’m a coward, remember? I would never intentionally put myself in a situation where I’m going to get myself or any of you harmed. It’s fine. Secondly, I’ve trained with some of the best Ethical Hackers in the entire world. I went to college for this exact thing.”
“Don’t forget that our little Knox works for more higher-ups than the Obsidian’s,” Ghost says. “I think a little dark web browsing isn’t going to hurt anything.”
“Thank you, Pres,” Knox smiles.
I place Hope on my shoulder and pat her back. It only takes a few seconds for her to release a burb way too big for her little body followed by an equally powerful fart.
“Yep, she’s my daughter,” Venom laughs.
The phone in my pocket vibrates and I groan. I haven’t turned on my personal phone yet so that can only mean one thing.
An offer.
“Damnit,” I say, placing Hope on the floor so she can roll around.
Hello, I require your services.
My name is Ben Burton, and my daughter is Madeline (Maddy) Burton. For the past year, she has been threatened by someone who claims she owes him money. She doesn’t. She’s never met the man. I need someone to protect my daughter and find the person responsible for these threats. I’ve attached an image of the letters she’s received. Please, can you help us?
Ben Burton.
“Another job already?” Jax asks. “You just got home.”
“I’m not going to take it,” I admit. “Not only because you’re right but because it’s a bodyguard job. Not my thing.”
I’m sorry to inform you that I don’t work as a bodyguard. I’m also not taking on any new clients at the moment. I can forward your contact information to another if you would like.
I hit send and pocket my phone.
“Back to the whole you quitting thing,” Ghost says. “Is there a reason?”
I open my mouth to answer but my phone buzzes once more.
“Mother fucker,” I growl, and unlock the screen. A new message blinks on the private server I set up for people looking to hire me.
I will triple your asking price.
That’s all it says. My eyes widen as I do the math.
“What’s up?” Venom asks. “Is it the bodyguard client?”
“Yeah,” I admit. “He wants me to protect his daughter while simultaneously dealing with the person or people responsible for her threats. But he’s offering to pay triple my normal rate.”
“Which would end up being close to a hundred grand,” Knox says.
“Damnit Knox,” I glare. “How deep did you dig into my shit?”
“Deeper than you knew was possible,” he smiles.
“Nosy fucker,” I smile back. “Since you’re so keen to invade my personal space why don’t you research Madeline Burton and tell me if she’s done anything that will have me denying this client.”
Knox grabs his phone and gets busy. It won’t take him long where as it would have taken me several hours to dig up enough information to make a decision. If it appears that Madeline could have made an enemy because of something she’s done to piss someone off, I’ll skip this one. Regardless of the money. It’s not as if I need it.
“Madeline Burton, twenty-nine, is a special education teacher at South Harborbrook elementary school. She graduated college top in her class and lives on South 9th Street apartment five B. As of this moment, she’s out of school because of winter break and is staying with her parents.”
“Records?” I ask.
“It looks like she’s made multiple trips to the local precinct in the past year alone,” he says. “Give me just a second to tap into their system so I can grab her file. I should have brought my laptop.”
“Why do I even try?” Steel sighs.
“Got it,” Knox says, ignoring Steel. “Okay, so it looks like she’s filed a handful of reports about someone sending threatening letters. There are five different letters in evidence. I’ll grab the images and send them to you, King. According to this police report, they have no witnesses and no evidence, not even fingerprints, so they’ve labeled the case as inactive. This was dated five months ago. She hasn’t been back since.”
“Family,” I say, filing away all the information he’s mentioned so far.
“It looks like she was adopted at three days old by Ben and Joyce Burton. Her birth mother died while giving birth and she had no other family. It was a closed adoption which means that as soon as they signed the papers it was official and no one could take the baby away.”
“The parents?” I ask.
“Ben got pulled over for driving while intoxicated when he was seventeen years old,” Knox says. “Apart from that, nothing is sticking out about either parent. She looks clean, King. But according to these letters, someone truly believes that she stole from them and owes them a large some of money.”
Fuck.
“He’s gonna take it,” Ghost smiles.
I make a decision right here and right now.
“This will be my last case,” I tell the room. “I’m done. I just want to spend the rest of my life relaxing with my family and making sure you fuckers stay alive.”
“The killer is putting down his gun,” Jax cheers.
“Guns, Jax,” I smile. “With an s. What type of killer only has a single gun?”
Send me your address. I’ll be there first thing in the morning.
I hesitate before sending out the response. I really don’t want to take this job. I fucking hate babysitting clients.
With a resounding sigh, I hit send.
“I want the biggest steak, Pops,” I yell out.
I ignore Steel and Blaze arguing over who is going to try and kick my ass for rights to the biggest steak as I sit down on the floor with Hope and Knox. I’m going to spend as much time with my family as I can before I have to leave them again.