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- Herausgeber: Valley Publishing Ltd.
- Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
- Sprache: Englisch
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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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021
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Quinn’s Quest
Bullard’s BattleBook #7
Dale Mayer
Books in This Series:
Ryland’s Reach, Book 1
Cain’s Cross, Book 2
Eton’s Escape, Book 3
Garret’s Gambit, Book 4
Kano’s Keep, Book 5
Fallon’s Flaw, Book 6
Quinn’s Quest, Book 7
Bullard’s Beauty, Book 8
Bullard’s Best, Book 9
Bullard’s Battle, Books 1–2
Bullard’s Battle, Books 3–4
Bullard’s Battle, Books 5–6
Bullard’s Battle, Books 7–8
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
About This Book
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Epilogue
About Bullard’s Beauty
Excerpt from Damon’s Deal
Author’s Note
Complimentary Download
About the Author
Copyright Page
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.”
“And there’s nothing quite like the scenario you’ve already been through to highlight all the danger and to make you realize just what’s important in life.”
“Exactly,” Ryland said. “It’s all good though. And she’s totally okay to be there temporarily.”
“Will you bring her back to the compound?”
“We’re discussing options,” he said, laughing. “She’s a nurse.”
“Well, if we can get Linny to come over and run Bullard’s clinic,” he said, “we’ll need a nurse.”
Ryland looked at him in surprise. “Wow,” he said. “I didn’t even think Lindsey would be interested in that. What is she looking at doing?”
“Sounds like she’s a matter of a few months from getting her general surgery credentials, and you can bet that Fallon’s trying to get her to land here.”
He chuckled at that. “Now that makes sense. And those two, they’re really an item?”
“Finally.”
“I know, right? After all that bickering? The last time I was here, and they both were around, I wanted to just lock them up in a room, until they got it out of their system.”
Quinn chuckled. “You’re not the only one, and they weren’t very amiable to such a concept. But they got there eventually.”
“Good. That should make Fallon want to live here too.”
“Yes, especially right now. He’s pretty soft and malleable.”
At that, they had a great chuckle at their friend’s expense.
Ryland parked on the street. Quinn said, “It’s bad enough of a neighborhood that I almost don’t want to leave the vehicle here.”
“Well, this one we can leave quite happily,” he said. “Any of the others, I’m not so sure about.”
“Right. Still pretty rough to see this though.”
“It is. But let’s go see if she’s here.”
Quinn pulled out his phone to check the address, then said, “She’s on the third floor.” Shaking his head at that and still not quite believing the circumstances here, they got out and locked up the vehicle. They headed up to the apartment. There was no elevator.
Ryland swore at that. “Good thing it’s only the third floor.”
“What’s the matter? Didn’t you eat your Wheaties?” Quinn teased.
Ryland snorted. “I did, but some of the injuries are still a little stiff,” he said, glaring at him. “I’m fine,” he said. “So don’t try sending me back.”
“Like hell,” Quinn growled. “You should take the time you need to heal up completely.”
“Everybody is coming home,” he said, “and it seems like most are dinged up, to one degree or another, so don’t get your panties in a twist. We’ll all be here to make sure we all get through whatever’s going on. The problem is, whatever is going on, makes no sense at all,” he said.
“You would think that it would have been a lot easier to run down.”
“Too many people involved,” he said.
“That’s the truth.”
So, as they made their way up the stairs, Quinn entered the third-floor hallway and immediately wrinkled his nose.
“Wow,” he said. “It seriously reeks in here.”
“Not exactly an awe-inspiring place to live, is it?”
“It’s disgusting.”
Quinn glared at the surroundings, as they found the number on the door. With a shake of his head, he rapped hard on the wood, which seemed to be rotting in its frame. When he got no answer, he looked at Ryland, then knocked again. On the third time, they still got no answer, but somebody across the way opened the door and glared at them.
“If nobody answers, nobody’s home,” he said. “Are you freaking stupid?” It was some young guy with his hair standing up on end, looking like a Mohawk that may have been wonderful the previous night, but it was now showing the decay of a rough night.
“Do you know who lives here?”
“So, let me get this straight. You’re waking me the hell up, and you don’t even know whose door you’re knocking on?”
Quinn wanted to shake him by the neck and rattle something loose, but instead he asked, “We know who we thought was living here, but it doesn’t look like an area we thought she’d be in.”
“She? Dude, no woman lives there. You need to get your information updated.”
“Well, we’re trying to,” Ryland said, exasperated. “So can you give us a hand or not?”
“It’s a guy,” he said, as if that explained everything.
“Do you know what guy?”
“No clue, I think it’s her old boyfriend.”
“Who’s her?
“Jesus,” he said. “Isabella, of course.”
“Well, that’s good. That’s who we’re looking for.”
“Well, she’s not here,” the guy said, completely unhelpful.
“Do you know where we’d find her?”
“Nope, once she let that idiot move in, she pretty well had to move out.”
“Do you know how long ago?”
“A long time ago,” he said. “I don’t know, man, I can’t keep track of time.”
“Okay, you got anything else you can tell us? About where she went, where she works, anything?”
“What do you want her for? She’s a nice girl, and you shouldn’t be bothering her.”
“If she’s a nice girl, what’s she doing here?”
“It was the boyfriend,” he said. “I don’t think she realized what she was in for, but you know? That’s what happens, and our slumlord’s been making this place a hell of a lot worse, every step of the way.”
“She didn’t have to stay in a place like this though, did she?”
“Hell if I know,” he said. “I didn’t know her that well.”
“Did you know the boyfriend?”
“Yeah, a loser. He still owes me money. So, if you find him, tell him that he still owes me twenty bucks.”
“Well, I will, but who should I say he owes it to?”
The guy snorted. “It’s Ozzie, man.”
“Ozzie, okay, great,” Quinn said, nodding his head.
The guy snorted again and walked back into his apartment and slammed the door.
At that, Quinn turned and looked at Ryland. “Nice area.”
“You think?” he said. “Not exactly what I would call a nice area.”
“Nope, but still she’s not here, so where the hell did she go? And where’s this guy?”
“He didn’t give us a name, did he?”
“No.” They looked at each other, looked at the door to Isabella’s, and Quinn quickly picked the lock, letting them in. Immediately the smell hit his nose. “Good God, I wonder if he ever cleaned this mess.”
“Probably not since Isabella left, which was a long time ago, whatever that means,” Ryland said, with half a sneer.
“This place might have been nice, at one time. But it’s been a very long time.”
“You can’t do much if you’re poor,” Ryland said.
“Just because you’re poor doesn’t mean you have to live like a slob. Looks to me like this guy just lives like this because he’s too lazy not to.”
“Well, let’s take a look.”
They quickly went through the kitchen and the small bedroom. Outside of the fact that the place was filthy throughout, not a whole lot to be found.
“No mail is even here, nothing identifies anybody, so what the hell is going on here?”
“He ditched this place. That is what happened,” Quinn said, as they walked back into the bedroom. Then they stopped and stared.
“So what’s that on the walls?” Ryland asked.
“Handcuffs,” Quinn said.
“Handcuffs,” Ryland repeated, and then he whistled. “So is this just for fun and games?”
“I don’t know. But I don’t like it.”
“But we can’t judge them for their sexual activity.”
“As long as it was agreeable to both parties, no,” Quinn said. “But we can’t tell that yet.” He walked closer, took a look at the handcuffs on the wall, and whispered. “I wish I had my tool kit here.”
“Why? What you see?”
“These cuffs are covered with dried blood.”
Chapter 1
Ryland Roscoe and Quinn Santor stared grimly around the small space—Bullard’s niece Isabella’s, last known address—their gazes coming back to the bloody handcuffs attached to the bed and what it could imply.
“Well, it could be consensual sex games because they can get rough, without it being a kidnapping/captivity scenario.” Quinn added doubtfully, “but that’s very rough sex to be covered in dried blood.”
Not sure where this led, they quickly took photos of the bedroom and checked the closet.
“Women’s clothing in here,” Ryland muttered.
“Interesting. Do we know what size Isabella is?”
He turned, looked at him, and frowned. “Last I saw her—which had to be about four years ago—she was pretty small, like five foot, maybe 120?”
“Any of those clothes in that size?”
“I don’t think so,” he said, “but what do I know?”
Quinn pulled out a few pieces, looked at them, and said, “Leggings. They look like they would fit anybody.”
“That’s the thing about leggings, they stretch,” Ryland said. With that in mind, they did a more thorough search, checking out the kitchen drawers, which were mostly empty. However, the cabinets held some dishes, pots, and pans.
“I wonder if she took off fast because I highly doubt this guy even knows how to cook,” Quinn muttered.
“True, but we need to find some paperwork to give us an ID on the occupant. Otherwise we’ll go roust the other guy out of bed and see who and what the boyfriend’s name is.”
As they shifted the couch off to the side, Quinn saw some paperwork left behind. “Well, something’s here.” He pulled it out and read the label. “Chester. The mail’s addressed to Chester Langley.”
“Interesting,” Ryland said. “That name doesn’t ring a bell.”
“No, not for me either. But you know what that’s like.”
“True.”
Just then, a knock came at the door. The two men looked at each other and froze. But the door opened, and in came the same guy who they had been speaking to earlier, the neighbor Ozzie.
“Hey, did you see any signs of Dracon being here lately?”
“Dracon? Is he the one who lives here?”
At the neighbor’s nod, Quinn held up the envelope and asked, “Then who’s this guy then?”
“Yeah, just a friend of his who stayed here for a while.” Ozzie looked around and wrinkled up his nose. “Man, he lives like a pig.”
“Apparently. And so you say Dracon lives here now?”
“Yeah.”
“Where does he work?”
“He doesn’t. Last I heard, he got laid off,” he said. “But what do you expect? The guy’s a bit of a loser.”
“A bit?”
Ozzie slid him a sideways look. “You really don’t know much about his relationship with Izzie, do you?”
“No,” Quinn said. “She’s the niece of a friend of ours. We came to make sure she was okay and to let her know about her uncle.”
“Well, she probably won’t want to see any male for a while,” he said. “Izzie’s a really nice person, but this Dracon guy’s been an asshole.”
“What kind of an asshole?” Quinn asked, his stomach hardening at the thought of what could be coming.
“He beat her up pretty good. I know he kept her captive for a while, and then she got loose.”
“And you knew about it and didn’t do anything?” Ryland asked.
Ozzie looked at him. “The guy’s a loser, also pretty scary as hell. Besides, I didn’t know that she’d been held captive, until I helped her get out of here,” he said. “And, if you tell Dracon that I helped her, well …”
“We won’t,” Quinn said, “but we really want to have a talk with this guy now.”
Ozzie looked at them carefully for a long moment and then nodded. “You won’t help him, will you?”
“No, we’re trying to help her.”
“Well, I didn’t even know she needed help,” he said, raising both hands in frustration. “I meant it when I said she was a nice girl. She should have left a long time ago.”
“And maybe she couldn’t,” Ryland said. “Did you consider that?”
“Now that I think about it, that’s probably exactly what it was,” he said. “And, like I said, it was a long time ago. She hasn’t been around for probably a year.”
“Good. So how long were they together?”
“Not very long. And I think she buggered off right away. He’s been kind of keeping this place barely floating. I don’t even know how he pays for it actually.”
“That’s something I would like to know too,” Quinn said.
At that, Ozzie shrugged and said, “Nothing in here to steal.”
“Is that what you do in here?” he asked almost humorously.
“Hey, you opened up the guy’s door, and I’m here out of curiosity. If I’d seen anything of Izzie’s, I’d have taken it, saved it for her.”
“Doesn’t look like anything of hers is here, although clothes are in the closet.”
“Well, she didn’t take anything when she left, so they are probably hers.” He looked around, shrugged, and said, “Dracon could have been such a great guy. Instead, he was just an asshole.”
“Good to know,” Quinn said. “Unfortunately, it’s also sad.”
“That it is. But whatever, I’ll leave now.”
“You do that.”
They waited until he was gone, and Quinn turned to face Ryland, “Was he as innocent as he wanted to appear?”
“I am not sure,” Ryland said in the doorway.
“We don’t have a last name on him either, do we?”
“No, get the team on it. Ozzie could be high, but there’s no love lost between him and Dracon.”
“But why wouldn’t there be? We’ll beat the crap out of him ourselves for touching Izzie.”
“You can bet that Bullard didn’t know,” Quinn said. “He would never have tolerated it.”
“So we’re assuming that he didn’t know, and we’re assuming that she’s run away for whatever reason and won’t want to have too much to do with anybody at this point.”
“But it was a year ago, so hopefully she’s landed in a much better place.”
“Yeah, but where?” Ryland asked.
Quinn pulled out his phone and called Kano. “Hey, I need help running down Izzie. You know her the best.”
“Izzie, Izzie?”
“Yeah, Bullard’s half niece or whatever the hell that relationship is called.”
“I haven’t heard from her in a long time. She and Bullard had quite a fight over her boyfriend, last I heard.”
“Is that this Dracon guy?”
“Yeah, that’s exactly who it is,” Kano said. “Can’t forget that name. Sounds like a cosplay character.”
“We’re at her last known address,” Quinn said, looking around. “According to the neighbor, her boyfriend Dracon beat her and potentially, according to Ozzie, kept her captive.”
“Son of a bitch! Well, you can bet that Bullard didn’t know,” he said. “He would have gone in there and taken her away. How long ago?”
“According to this neighbor guy, it was quite a while, one whole year ago.”
“It would have to be,” Kano muttered. “Where is she now?”
“That’s why I’m calling. Do you have any idea where else she hangs out?”
“She was in college, had a problem there, but she did end up graduating, though I know an incident happened there too.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, Bullard said she was really vulnerable. Mostly still struggling over her father.”
“And that just makes her a target in so many ways,” Quinn said. “I need a location though.”
“Bullard had her phone number, which hopefully she didn’t change after their big fight,” Kano said. “Let me see if I can rattle around and find it.”
“You should have it somewhere. I know he left you with all his important contacts.”
“We all had it at one time. I think I’m the only one who kept up with it.”
“And why is that?”
“I don’t know,” Kano said. “I think at one time Bullard hoped the two of us would get together.”
“And that wasn’t happening?”
“No,” he said, “we weren’t the same people at all, and she was younger, still experiencing growing pains.”
“Okay,” Quinn said. “Send me the number as soon as you find it.” And he hung up. He filled Ryland in. “I’m not sure what’s going on,” he said, “but it sounds like she and Bullard had a fight over a boyfriend, and maybe it was this one,” he said, “but apparently another incident occurred at her university.”
At that, Ryland frowned and stared off in the distance. “I remember Bullard having quite the confab over it all. He was pretty apoplectic about it all.”
“Do you know what the details were?”
“One of the profs, he was stealing some of her material and then was trying to get her fired from the campus.”
“Oh, good. At least it wasn’t a sexual assault or anything like that.”
“Actually I think that was involved too,” he said. “The same prof.”
Quinn stared at Ryland and added, “The guy’s got more ego than brains.”
“Yeah, and I think Bullard stepped in, although I’m not sure that she wanted him to. I think soon afterward the prof was gone. And things got pretty ugly between Izzie and Bullard.”
“No surprise there,” Quinn said. “If you think about it, that’s not exactly something Bullard would let slide.” Just then the phone rang again. It was Kano.
“I found her number. I haven’t dialed it yet.” And he passed it on.
Quinn quickly punched it into his phone and said, “Okay, talk to you in a bit.” He hung up the call and dialed the new number. When a woman answered, he asked, “Is this Izzie?”
*
“If you mean,Isabella,” Izzie said, with some exasperation, “yes.” Would she ever outrun that nickname? It had driven her crazy for the longest time. Although now it was bringing on a bit of nostalgia.
“Good, this is Quinn,” he said, “Where are you?”
“I am in Africa,” she said, “just outside Johannesburg. I was wondering about contacting Bullard for a visit.”
“In that case,” he said, “we need to talk.”
Her voice froze. “Why?”
“In person, please,” he said gently, giving her the meeting place. “We’ll see you in a few minutes.”
“Good enough,” she said and hung up on him.
She sat here, trembling. She could do this. She hadn’t done all that training to lead to a normal life for nothing. This was her chance to prove she’d gotten over that sick bastard Dracon. Even now she looked back in time, not understanding how she’d ended up where she had and with the man she had.
He wasn’t her type; he wasn’t anything like what she would normally have gone out with.
Yet she’d been so lost and alone and desperate after her best friend had died that she would have taken anyone who looked like they’d cared. Only he didn’t care.
And after Bullard had bullied her to leave Dracon, she’d been determined to stay. Fool.
