About This Book
Welcome to a new stand-alone but interconnected series from Dale Mayer. This is Bullard’s story—and that of his team’s. All raw, rough, incredibly capable men who have one goal: to find out who was behind the attack on their leader, before the attacker, or attackers, return to finish the job.
Stay tuned for more nonstop action as the men narrow down their suspects … and find a way to let love back into their own empty lives.
Fed up with always feeling one step behind, Quinn is determined to find out who is trying to annihilate all of Bullard’s team. Only the trail takes him to Izzie, Bullard’s niece. The team knows the saboteur was someone close to Bullard, and Izzie had had a hell of a fight with Bullard the last time they spoke. But how involved was she in this plane crash? He didn’t want to think badly of her, but, at this point in time, he was looking at everyone with suspicion.
Izzie is also suspicious of everyone. She’s been to hell and back, all because she was stubborn and angry at Bullard, but she’d never do anything to hurt him. Not knowing anything about the last few months’ trials, she’s horrified to find out why Quinn sought her out. Then he’s horrified when he finds out what happened to her. Working on healing her own soul, she’s desperate to help Quinn find out who attacked the team and potentially killed her uncle.
If she can do anything to help, she will, particularly if it gives her a chance to make amends to the one man who’s always been there for her.
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Prologue
Quinn Santor headed out to the garage, looked at the vehicles, and grabbed the large armored vehicle with double-pane bulletproof glass. Ryland hopped in without a word. “Are you sure you’re okay to do this? You were hurt pretty badly.”
“You’re not going without me, buddy,” Ryland said. “There’s been somebody new in this deal every step of the way, but, at this point in time, I’m here, and the rest of the team is coming home. Let’s make sure we get this locked down, so none of us are targets anymore.”
At that, Quinn looked at him, smiled, and said, “Sounds good to me.”
“You said you got the address. Do you have any other information?”
“Not much. The apartment belongs to a woman,” Quinn said.
“Do we know what woman?”
“Yep,” he said. “We do, indeed.” Ryland turned to look at him with a question in his eyes, and Quinn provided the answer. “It’s Isabella’s place.”
Ryland stopped and stared. “No way Isabella would betray Bullard.”
“I know,” Quinn said. “So I’m not sure what’s going on, but I suggest we find out.”
Quinn drove through the double gates and Ryland said, “You believe that, don’t you?”
Quinn nodded. “Yeah, I do believe that,” he said. “Bullard saved her life, put her through school, and has treated her like a daughter. So, no, I don’t think it’s her. But I do think it’s somebody close to her.”
“But that’s the problem,” Ryland said. “Nobody’s close to her, certainly nobody who’s connected to Kingdom Securities.”
“That’s what we have to figure out,” Quinn said. He turned and looked at Ryland as he drove down the road. “When was the last time anybody contacted her?”
“I’m not sure,” Ryland replied. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m wondering if she’s even alive, or if somebody has conveniently made good use of her home because she’s not even there.”
Ryland’s expression clouded. “That wouldn’t be good,” he said. “But it makes sense, if somebody hates Bullard that badly, they’ll hate everybody around him. Particularly somebody who he really cares about.”
“And that’s why we’re going there first,” Quinn said. “Are you ready?”
Ryland smiled and said, “Always.” He prepared to face the next challenge. “What exactly is the relationship between Isabella and Bullard?” Ryland asked.
“She’s his half brother’s daughter,” Quinn said.
“And the half brother’s dead, correct?”
“No, Bullard’s half brother was a captive for five years, before Bullard managed to track down his location and rescue him. A five-year period where the family had been to hell and back.”
Ryland had been with Bullard for a long time, but this wasn’t a subject the man cared to talk about.
“He often refers to her as his adopted daughter,” Quinn said.
“So Bullard took over Isabella’s care when she was little.”
“Little is relative. She was already fourteen or fifteen, I think. Is that right?” He paused, confirming the time frame. “Right, so she was already a little bit disgruntled over the move, and she hadn’t gotten along that well with her father. Then her father was captured.”
“But the relationship with her and Bullard was good?” Ryland asked.
“That’s my understanding, although I rarely saw them together. So I don’t know how good. Honestly, we saw an awful lot more of her when living with Dave.”
“Right,” Ryland said. “Well, let’s go see what we’ve got.” They pulled up outside Isabella’s apartment. “Is this it? It’s pretty nondescript.”
“It’s the last address I have on file,” Quinn said, puzzled, as he stared at the complex that looked pretty downtrodden. “Though this is not where I would expect her to live.”
“Doesn’t mean she’s actually living here,” Ryland said.
“No, that’s true. But, at the same time, we have to go by what we have, and this is it, though it doesn’t make sense.”
“It doesn’t. I can’t see any family member of Bullard’s living here.”
“Maybe they aren’t as close as I thought,” Quinn said.
“Which makes her somebody of interest perhaps.”
“Not necessarily,” he said.
“We can’t give her a pass just because she’s family, not until we know more,” Ryland said.
“We’re not,” Quinn said. “What about the rest of the team? What are they up to?”
“Right now, they’re trying to run down Isabella’s latest movements,” Ryland said. “Of course they’re also still tidying up the mess you guys just went through, as they’re all trying to get home.”
“Are they all coming home?”
“Yep, if I had to leave my boat,” he said, “you can bet everybody’s coming home.”
“What about your partner?”
“Tabi’s gone back to her home. I didn’t want to persuade her to stay there, but, when she understood what we were up to, she was okay with it.”
“She doesn’t seem like the type to be okay with it.”
“I explained that I would be heading out on a mission, so she understood.”
“Lucky you,” he said.
“Absolutely. I’m the luckiest guy in the world,” Ryland muttered. “I still can’t believe she cares as much for me as I care for her.”