“And the note?”
Roman turned it around. “It was a bounty list going back almost thirty years. You see the name is listed on the right. On the left is how much would be paid out to the assassin. There are twenty-three names worth over fifteen million dollars, and we believe they all have something to do with whatever is coming our way.”
“You want me to investigate this?”
“Dax, look at the fourteenth name,” Zack said grimly.
Dax picked up the list, a chill going through his system.
ADMIRAL HAROLD SPENCER
“My father committed suicide.” He sat back, his whole world spinning.
Roman shook his head. “Did you ever really believe that? I didn’t. Your father was murdered by the same people who killed Joy. Her name is the last on the list.”
“And my mother’s name is number eight.” Zack stood up, rubbing at his head. “She died in a car accident. At least I thought she did. Now I don’t know a damn thing.”
Dax stared at the paper, his eyes not quite focusing. His father had known something and he’d been killed for it? The bastards had made it look like a suicide, very probably setting his father up for the scandal that made everyone believe that good man would take his life.
Maybe it was time to investigate again. Maybe he could clear his father’s name.
Dax stood up. “I’m going to need you to pull some strings for me, Zack. I’m due to report in a couple of days.”
“I’ll handle it. You’re on a special assignment for me now. I’ll have credentials made for you. Anything you need, you’ll have clearance for it. Dax, if we can find out why they killed your father, maybe we can figure out who killed my mother and Joy. And what their master plan might be.”
Dax nodded. “And we can stop whoever’s coming for you, brother.”
* * *
Three hours later, he had his paperwork and his bags packed. He turned his bike to the southwest. He had a stop or two to make, then he was off to find his father’s killer. He had to talk to the NCIS agent who’d investigated the admiral’s death. Special Agent Holland Kirk.
He was probably the last man she’d ever want to see again . . . but too bad for her.
He revved the engine and headed home, to New Orleans.
Dax and all the Perfect Gentlemen will return in
BIG EASY TEMPTATION
available soon from Berkley.
Keep reading for a special preview . . .
Washington, D.C.
Present Day
You’re sure you want to do this?” Connor stood beside him outside the condo he now shared with his wife, Lara.
“I have to find out.” Dax set his helmet on the seat of his bike and pulled his gloves on. “My father’s name was on that list.”
Only days before they’d tracked down the mysterious Natalia Kuilikov, a Russian woman connected to the Hayes family when Zack’s father had been an ambassador to the Soviet Union, before the fall of the Wall. She’d written a diary people had died for, including his dear friend Maddox Crawford. All clues led to the Bratva, the Russian mob, being responsible for the murder. Connor and Lara had recently spoken to the older woman. Moments after a bullet ripped through her forehead, they’d discovered Kuilikov’s handwritten notes in Cyrillic.
The translation had come back as a dead pool—a list of assassination targets.
Joy Hayes had been on that list, as had Constance, Zack’s mother.
Admiral Harold Spencer had been on that list as well. Dax damn sure wanted answers.
His father had been gone for three years. His death had been declared a “suicide.” Dax hated to think about any of it—not the scandal that had come before his father’s death, nor the horrible time after it, and definitely not the investigation that ended with him losing Holland Kirk—the woman he’d long idolized—forever.
Until he’d seen that translation, he’d never intended to set eyes on her again. She’d betrayed him in the cruelest fashion possible by closing her investigation after giving it as much thought as someone opening an umbrella on a rainy day. In the blink of an eye, she’d made a judgment call that gave the press free license to vilify his father. She’d torn down his family to further her career. Oh, he’d paid her back. Now nothing lay between them but anger and regret.
But he couldn’t let this case rest in peace anymore. Things had changed. He had changed. Armed with new evidence, Dax intended to personally make sure Holland opened the investigation again—and give the facts the due process they deserved.
“Yes, his name was on the list,” Connor agreed in that tone that let Dax know he was being handled with care. “I’ll look into it. Lara will help. You know we can do a lot. You don’t have to go back to New Orleans. Zack pulled strings and got you placed on a special assignment here in D.C., but you have a little time left. Why don’t you spend it with us?”
Connor knew damn well what was waiting for him in New Orleans. Or rather, who. “Thanks, buddy. But I think I’ll spend it with her.”
Connor grimaced. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m trying to avoid. You two will only tear each other up. You’ve done some stupid shit over that woman.”
Like waking up after a bender to find himself married to someone else? Connor had a point; some of the worst moments of his life had been because of Holland Kirk.
Dax shook that reality off. “I’ll be fine. I’m certainly not going to drink myself into oblivion and marry whichever woman happens to be next to me.”
“Her best friend. You married her best friend,” Connor pointed out. “Don’t expect her to be helpful. Hell, I half expect her to bite your head off.”
“Yeah? Well, I expect her to finally give me the truth.” He picked up the helmet before pulling his best friend into a manly hug. “I’ll call you if I need anything. I’m going to get to the bottom of this. For my dad. For Zack.”
Someone was playing a dangerous game with his friend, the president. Unfortunately for whoever it was, Zack was one of Dax’s closest pals. They’d already lost Mad to this nasty business. Dax refused to lose anyone else.
Holland Kirk was either a pawn or a power player. He would damn sure find out which.
With a nod to Lara on the balcony above, he hopped on his bike and revved the engine. He headed southwest, toward New Orleans and the only woman he’d ever loved.
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