Page 45 of Stone (Claimed and Protected #3)

I shoved the phone into my back pocket, jogging down the stairs. At first, no one paid any attention to the fact I had a weapon in my hands with enough extra firepower to eliminate everyone standing on the beach. Only when I was within a few yards of the vice president was Gray the first to notice.

He immediately moved in between where Bradford was standing and arguing with Dani and the direction where I was coming.

“Get out of the way, Gray. This is between me and a very corrupt man.”

As expected, the bastard secret service moved in with guns drawn. This was definitely going to turn into either a standoff or a shootout at the OK corral.

There were clicks as they turned off their safeties and lifting their guns chest level high while I continued to storm toward the vice president, my movements catching Dani’s attention.

“Stop. No!” Dani yelled at the top of her lungs. “You will not do this.”

She turned in a full circle to glare at me before getting in her father’s face. “Call off your dogs.”

“Can we all just calm down. Allow Bradford to speak,” Gray encouraged.

Bradford was shocked by his daughter, his eyes open wide.

“Both you and the vice president had several opportunities to tell us what the hell is going on. But you chose not to,” I barked.

“It wasn’t Gray’s place to tell you a damn thing,” Bradford hissed. “As a matter of fact, I made certain he knew if he opened his mouth, I’d have him court-martialed.”

“You fucking bastard. You just have to control everything and everyone around you.” I glared at Gray briefly. He looked away, but he was furious as well and I didn’t think it had to do with my confrontation.

“He was hired to help return my daughter,” Bradford continued, now trying to weasel out of the reason he’d just dropped by. He motioned to the agents to lower their weapons. They certainly didn’t seem eager to do so.

Finally, they did.

Meanwhile, I kept the barrel of the weapon pointed at his face until Dani placed her hand on mine, giving me a stern look until I slowly lowered the gun.

“Don’t, Stone. Just breathe for me.” Her voice was soft, encouraging, but her eyes were imploring. “Are you ready to come clean, Dad? Is that why you’re here? To confess your sins and alleviate your guilt?”

Bradford appeared uncomfortable. “If we could talk about this in private.”

“Not a chance,” she said. “In fact, I want the entire world to know what you did. That you stole my baby from my arms, telling everyone he was dead and giving him away to a friend of yours in Congress.”

If Gray had known about that, I’d be surprised. He slowly turned his head toward the vice president, an incredulous look forming on his face.

Bradford was visibly upset.

“Go on, Bradford. Why don’t you explain that one,” I told him.

“I thought I was doing the right thing. Okay? Daniella had her entire life ahead of her and she didn’t need to be saddled with a baby from a man who…”

He obviously figured out he wasn’t talking to one of his cronies in that I was standing right there. “You mean since I was the spawn of a killer? Were you worried the trend would continue?”

With Bradford being nervous, I was hopeful the man would break. If not, I’d break him. I moved closer and he threw up both hands.

His nervousness was evident, but I just didn’t care. Maybe he didn’t know what I was made of after all. “Your father wasn’t a killer, Stone.”

Hearing his words caught me off guard. I lowered my weapon by a few inches. “Meaning?”

Bradford wiped sweat from his face. “What I told you about us being friends was the truth.”

Now Gray was completely unprepared for what the man was about to say.

Dani moved by my side. Her entire body hummed with anger. “Keep talking, Dad.”

“You need to know how sorry I am this was kept from you. From both of you.” If Bradford thought he could suddenly backtrack, he was dead wrong.

A single step and the barrel of my weapon was only inches from his face. “Who killed the man my father paid a price for?”

He took several deep breaths.

“Who?”

“I did. I’m sorry, Stone. I was the person responsible for killing the man.”

Perhaps a part of me had wondered whether this was the big secret and the one my father had taken to his grave. Yet hearing the words brought all the years my father had suffered back to life. Without thinking or hesitating, I smashed the side of the weapon against his face.

As he went down, both secret service and Gray surrounded us.

Just as my phone rang for a second time.

“You absolute worthless piece of shit. You allowed my father to take the blame for something you did?”

“I’m sorry, Stone.” Bradford rubbed his face, but he wasn’t trying to de-escalate the volatile situation.

“How could you do that, Father? How?” Dani stood over him, her entire body shaking.

“And my father took the blame.” I ripped my phone into my hand, hissing as I answered. “Kekoa. Not a good time. I’m a little busy.”

“You’re about to get a lot busier, Stone. I received a report in that a boat landed by a private dock on the opposite side of the island. Akoni found it on his way to work. There’s evidence our visitors are carrying weapons. We’re on our way.”

“Fuck. Get here when you can. I have a houseful.”

“Understood.” Kekoa ended the call.

“What is going on?” Gray asked.

“I think we’re about to be attacked. Dani, get back to the house. Now. Don’t argue with me.”

I turned toward her and immediately several shadows caught my eye.

Fuck. We were already surrounded.

“Gentlemen, I hope you’re well trained.” I pushed Dani to the sand just as the shadows grew larger.

Gunfire was all around us, flanking us from three sides. The fuckers had managed to arrive undetected since I wasn’t inside the goddamn house.

Everything happened quickly, another series of bullets flying in our direction. With Dani still underneath the full weight of my body, I threw up my arms, firing off three shots in a row.

Two of the assailants went down while one of the secret servicemen was screaming to get the vice president to Marine One.

There were at least fifteen assailants, all rushing forward. “Get Dani to safety,” I called to Gray, who didn’t argue with me, taking her arm and rushing toward the safety of the trees. I caught sight of his weapon. Thankfully he had one. He’d better keep her safe.

I rushed forward, forced to drop and roll. As soon as I landed on my back, I caught sight of another soldier. The single bullet was enough, the man dropping like a rock.

There was no time to rest. I jumped up, weaving from side to side as I managed to tick off three more.

But one of the secret servicemen was gunned down. Then a second.

I saved the life of a third, putting a bullet between the assailant’s eyes.

Nowhere did I see Matis.

That concerned me.

The pilot of Marine One was attempting to get the bird into the air as bullets were hitting the second helicopter.

A sudden explosion pummeled me backward into the sand, the hard thud knocking the wind out of me. Goddamn it. They second helicopter was gone.

Hearing shouts, I knew the cavalry had arrived. As soon as I jumped to my feet, I was knocked aside by an assault rifle. Oh, hell, no. I twisted immediately, firing off four shots in rapid succession.

Kekoa, Akoni, and three other men had arrived, Kekoa picking off two more of the bastards with ease. As we cleaned up the rest, another strange sensation tore through me. I slowly turned toward Marine One, taking several deep breaths.

“ Montre-toi .”

Show yourself.

It took a few minutes for a response.

Bradford had his hands up as he was led off the helicopter, almost falling as he jumped. The look on his face told me everything I didn’t know.

I’d been right about Matis. The kidnapping had been very personal.

Matis had his arm around Bradford’s neck, a weapon pointed at his head. There was no doubt the two secret servicemen and the pilot were dead.

I lowered my weapon, initially waiting as the two men headed in my direction. I nodded to Kekoa and the others to keep their distance. This was very personal.

“Dad,” Dani called as she burst from the trees.

I threw my arm out, praying to God she didn’t push the envelope.

“Matis Garnier. We finally meet,” I told him, cognizant Gray was coming up on my other side.

“Lieutenant Stone Bellows,” Matis said, his accent heavier than I’d heard on television. “Yes, it’s good to meet you. You are quite… formidable.”

I laughed and kept both hands on my weapon. “Just doing my job.”

“Yet you hate this man.”

“I hate a lot of people. Why don’t you tell me what you really want?” I quickly surveyed the situation. This was personal enough for Matis that I wasn’t certain that he cared if he got out of here alive.

“Why don’t I allow Vice President Vale to explain the reason for my hatred of him.”

I turned my full attention toward Bradford. His face was pale and he was sweating like a pig. “Go for it, Bradford. Maybe we can get to the bottom of why my father lied for you so you could continue carrying on with your corrupt agenda.”

“I have nothing to say.”

When Matis made the mistake of pointing his weapon at Dani, it was all I could do not to blow his brains out.

“I suggest you reconsider, or the sharks will enjoy a nice breakfast.” I took another step closer and directly in front of her. “Talk, Bradford, or I will allow our other guest to exact his revenge.”

I found it interesting that Gray wasn’t saying a word.

“Your father and I were close. We were young. In the prime of our lives. I was ready to graduate from law school. Georgetown. Your dad came up to celebrate with me. We went to a bar one night in DC and things got out of hand.” Bradford stopped talking and Matis pressed the barrel against his forehead.

“Go on,” I encouraged. “There are itchy trigger fingers in the crowd.”

“We got into a fight with a group of guys. They were older.”

“Why don’t you tell them why,” Matis hissed.