Page 1

CHAPTER 1

Diesel Granger

It’s two in the morning when the text tone on my phone pings. This is only my second week working for Hardcore Security, but knowing these guys, it’s not a drill.

I open the message without looking at the number.

Diesel, your sister’s dead. They killed her. I took Eizlee Jane to protect her. She’s safe and well. I didn’t know what else to do. I made an anonymous call to the cops, they’ll find Vicky’s body. Come as soon as you can.

Don’t tell anyone you were contacted. Or I’ll be in danger too. I’m destroying this phone. I’ll text you from a new number in twenty-four hours. A friend.

Frantic, I call the Las Vegas police. When they answer I remember the warning from the caller. “I need a wellness check. My sister was supposed to call me. She didn’t and I’ve been trying to reach her for over twenty-four hours. It’s not like her.” They take her name and address and four hours later I get the call that they found her body on her living room floor. The baby has not been located.

* * *

“Try to stay calm,” Silk advises.

“My sister is dead and my niece is missing. And I probably fucked up the best job I’ve ever had.”

I glance across the cockpit. I’ve been on the Hardcore Security team for barely two weeks and the first case I get is me. They must think I’m a total screw up.

To top it off, the CO is having Silk fly me to Vegas in the company jet on the company tab. Man, I feel like a loser.

Dragging my hand down my face, I meet his gaze. “A hell of a way to start a new job. I hadn’t even finished what you guys call orientation.”

He turns his cool blue eyes toward me. “It’s not a job, buddy, and you know it. You worked with us when we were all still in the service. It’s a team, a purpose. We’re family. We take care of our own first. Right now, you need us.

“I don’t know if you remember him, but Diego is our operative out of Vegas. He was on the police force for a while before he went private. His wife, Raven, is still on the force. They’ll both be there for you. He’s picking us up at the airport to take us to the precinct.”

I nod, then stare out the side window. The precinct and the morgue to identify my sister.

Has it really been two months since I saw her and the baby? God, it feels like yesterday when I hugged them both and said I’d be back soon for another visit. Eizlee Jane was just starting to take to me, and we talked about early spring so she wouldn’t forget me.

This isn’t the trip I’d planned for. Grief fists in my chest. I’m barely holding it together. I run a hand down my face and pinch the bridge of my nose to hold my emotions in check.

I gave Vicky shit when she insisted we spend a day at the lawyers to make sure I had sole custody of Eizlee Jane in case something happened to her. Did she have some kind of premonition? Or was there something she wasn’t telling me?

I knew she didn’t trust the father. His name wasn’t on the birth certificate, and she stipulated that he would never see or have any contact with Eizlee Jane. She wouldn’t even tell me his name, but said the info was in her lockbox. Is he the bastard I’m after? Or did someone see a baby they wanted? Shit like that happens all the time. “I don’t know where Eizlee Jane is. Who has her.”

“We’ll find her, man.”

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I continue. “I’m going to have to find childcare and baby doctors when we get back to Love Beach.”

“Don’t worry about that shit yet. Look, you’re not alone. A bunch of us live there now. Me, Stack and his wife. Patch’s wife Nyla has lived there her whole life, she knows everyone. We got your back, brother. Just concentrate on what you have to do to get this mess settled. I can stay a couple days, but then I have an assignment. But I’ll come back and get you both when you’re ready. Even picked up a car seat for the plane.” He shoots me one of his infectious grins.

I nod. As he circles for landing, I study the aerial view of Vegas. They say you love it or you hate it. My mom and sister loved it. I couldn’t wait to get the hell out.

‘Sin City’. That’s the only side my sister and I ever saw growing up. Mom was a stripper slash prostitute who snorted most of her earnings. Leaving her two kids to fend for ourselves.

Vicky couldn’t dance worth a shit so took up waitressing at thirteen and bartending when she was old enough.

Me, I had my mom’s moves and an adult body by the age of sixteen. She helped me get a fake ID and a job dancing. The minute I was of age I joined the army and got the hell out of town.

Vicky was in and out of drugs because of the dirtbags she dated. We fought about it a lot. I was gone in the army and didn’t know everything. She called when Mom died. I was deployed and missed the funeral. A couple months later she called to say she was in recovery and sober again. Next time we talked she was happy and excited. She told me she was pregnant and assured me she’d been abstinent for two years. The baby-daddy was no longer in the picture. I sent money to help out but was deployed when Eizlee Jane was born.

This last winter was the only time I’d seen my niece in person. Now the precious little girl is mine. If I can find her.

* * *

At the precinct I meet the officer in charge. Officer Smith. He goes over my ID’s, and I show him the custody papers for my missing niece to make damn sure they know who Eizlee Jane belongs with. Then he takes me to the morgue where I identify my sister.

I’m a soldier. I’ve seen death before. But looking at my sister’s lifeless body breaks something inside me. Regret and sadness fill me first. Images of her happy and holding her sweet little girl. Her promise that now she was going to be the best, most loving mom ever. She was never going to be like our mom.

She meant it. I know she did.

“Tell me what’s happened, what you know.”

“We got an anonymous call. Officers went to your sister’s apartment at twenty-three hundred hours. There was no response. The door was unlocked. Your sister was unresponsive on the floor. Ambulance was called. Autopsy is not complete, but we suspect a drug overdose.

“There was no sign of the baby?”

“No. Obviously we could tell a baby lived there but no child was found. Once we found out your sister worked nights at one of the clubs we’ve been checking for babysitters.”

“What about the baby cam? I was here at Christmas, and we upgraded from her old one.”

He frowns. “There was no mention of a baby cam in the report. I’ll have someone check.”

“I just saw my sister during the holidays. She was not using. She’d been drug-free for almost five years. She would never take a chance and endanger Eizlee Jane. If it was an overdose, someone gave her the drug without her knowledge. She was murdered.

“Who are your suspects?” I press.

“Sir. The cause of death has not been confirmed. It could have been natural causes.”

“You just said you suspect drug overdose. I’m telling you if it was, it was murder because my sister did-not-do-drugs.”

The man’s jaw tightens. I can tell he just mentally shut me off. I wonder how the fuck he’d feel if it was his sister laying on a slab.

“We are continuing to look for the child,” he continues. “I have no more information for you at this time. We will notify you as soon as we learn something.”

“Do you have my sister’s phone?”

“I can check to see if it was collected and if it can be released. I’ll let you know.”

“I’d like a copy of the police report.”

“You can file a request online. It will take about ten days.”

“You can’t print one right now?”

“You need to follow the procedures.”

“Why are you stonewalling me? What aren’t you telling me?”

He gives me a dismissing glare. “Leave your contact information. We’ll let you know if we find the child or have any new information.”

“I’ll be staying until my niece is found. How long before I can get into my sister’s apartment?”

“I’ll let you know.” He pauses. “I know this is a shock. We’ll do what we can but there’s no evidence of foul play.”

“My niece is missing. I call that foul play.”

“We don’t know that she’s missing. It could be she’s with a nanny or simply staying over with friends while your sister partied.” He sighs. “Look, one of the women where your sister worked confirmed she had a woman who babysat once and a while. But they didn’t have a name. Do you know the name or number?”

“No.” So what if it’s withholding info. He’s doing the same.

Diego and Silk are waiting for me outside. “They’re holding back. Won’t give me much info. I asked for a copy of the report, and he tells me to request it online.”

Diego asks the name of the officer in charge. I tell him. “Name’s not familiar. Let me call Raven.” He walks away. When he comes back, he’s frowning. “She says the jury’s out on Officer Fred Smith. He’s new.

“She sent a copy of the report to you and HARDCORE headquarters as well. I-Tee can start working his magic. By the way, he’s ready to trace the next text when it comes in. Try to get her to actually call you, it would be easier but either way keep her on the line as long as you can. He should be able to get a rough location via the text.”