Chapter 1
Shawn cursed when his phone rang at six in the morning, waking him from a deep sleep. Reaching for the phone and putting it to his ear growled, “What?”
He listened to the person on the other end before answering. “Yeah, I’ll be there.” Slamming the phone down he tossed the covers off him and got up and went to the kitchen and plugged in the kettle. Then he went to the bathroom and splashed water over his face. His head was throbbing, he regretted drinking so much the night before.
Taking a quick shower he changed into jeans and a white tee shirt. He went back into the kitchen, made a large cup of black coffee, sat at the small table and looked around his apartment. God how he hated this place and this town and the work he did for Hector Cupo. As soon as he had enough money saved up he was heading to Texas and putting a down payment on a ranch.
He was tall with dark hair and kept his body in great shape. He worked as Hector’s muscle, taking care of people who crossed his boss. Now he drew the line when it came to killing. He would take care of the problem with threats or by handing out a good beating, letting the victim know that Cupo meant business. The job paid well and he figured in a year or two he could quit and leave this life behind him. That is if his boss would let him go. Laying his empty cup in the sink headed out to see his boss. Hector said he had a very important job for him and ordered that he come right away.
At nine sharp he pulled up the driveway in his Chevy to Hector’s mansion. Normally he never let anyone come to his home, but apparently, this job was important enough to warrant the visit. Shawn was curious as to what the job was and hoped it wasn’t another case of collecting a debt payment that some poor bastard couldn’t pay. Sometimes he regretted what he had to do in his line of work.
Shawn was greeted at the door by a butler who escorted him into Hector’s home office. There he was sitting behind his desk, dressed in his tailored suit, his dark hair turning gray. Shawn thought that for a man reaching sixty, he kept his body toned and fit. He sat when Hector motioned to a chair across from him.
“Shawn, glad to see you’re on time. Would you like a coffee or anything else?” Hector asked.
“No sir, just tell me what the job is and I’ll let you know if I’ll take it.” He knew he was taking a chance to talk to Hector that way. No one ever turned him down but he seemed to be the only one who got away with it. That could be because he was the best Hector had, he was smart, cunning and could snap a man’s neck in a split second without breaking out in a sweat.
Hector pushed a picture frame towards Shawn, inside was a picture of a young blonde.
Shawn picked up the frame and looked at the girl, he felt the bile making its way up from his stomach to his throat. It made him sick to think the old man was banging someone so young and pretty. “She’s beautiful.” He looked up at Hector. “Is she your girlfriend?”
“No,” he snapped in a snarly tone. “She’s my daughter.”
Shawn was shocked, he never knew the old man had a daughter, he’d never seen her in all the time he’d been coming here. “I didn’t know you had a daughter.”
“Not many people know about her. I keep her a secret from my enemies, if they knew about her they would try and use her to destroy me. Dixie is my only weakness and I’ll do anything to protect her.”
“So what has she to do with the job you have for me?” he asked, handing Hector the frame.
“My daughter has just turned twenty. She has a problem with rules. I have spoiled her, and now she is rebellious.” Hector stood up and walked over and poured himself a whiskey, even though it was ten in the morning. “The girl is wild, out of control. She parties, drinks and God knows what else she does when I’m not around. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to bribe the cops not to arrest her.” He sighed deeply before going on. “But she’s my baby and I won’t see her behind bars.”
Shawn crossed his right leg over his left knee, shaking his foot, wishing Hector would get to the part about the job. “Where’s her mother? Can’t she do something?”
Hector scoffed. “That tramp is dead. I got some stripper pregnant and after she had the baby I got rid of her.”
Shawn squirmed, he knew what Hector meant by getting rid of her. “Mr. Cupo, the job sir. What is it?”
“Dixie has run off, I need you to go find her and bring her back here.”
“Sorry Sir, I don’t do babysitting.” He stood to leave but sat back down when Hector motioned for him to sit.
“You’re the only one I can trust to bring her back safely. I’m willing to pay you anything, name your price.”
“I’m not interested,” Shawn bravely stated.
Hector grabbed a piece of paper and wrote something on it, handing it to Shawn. Looking down at the writing he scoffed. “Nope, still not interested.”
Hector’s face turned a light shade of red, he was not accustomed to being turned down. Picking up the paper wrote something else down, handing it back to Shawn.
Shawn looked at it, he stared at the figure Hector had written. He was so tempted to take on the job, the amount his boss wrote was more than enough for a down payment on a ranch. It really was too good to turn down, but he thought he would push his luck a little further. “I will consider it on one condition."
"What is the condition?"
"That this be the last job I do for you.”
Hector stood up and poured another drink. He took a moment to think it over. “You’re the best man I have, I don’t want to let you go.”
Shawn stood and faced his boss, staring him right in the eyes. Most men would be too afraid to do that, but not him, he feared no man. “Those are my conditions, take it or leave it.”
“You’re one cocky son of a bitch, and you have a lot of nerve talking to me this way.” Then he chuckled. “Damn, I’m going to miss you. Ok, Shawn, you win. Now sit down and I’ll fill you in on the details.” Giving Shawn the name and make of her car, and letting him know her likes and dislikes.
This time he accepted a cup of coffee.
“You’ll leave right away,” Hector said, opening a drawer in his desk pulled out a photo of Dixie and handed it to him. “Take this and show it around when you get there.”
“Where exactly is there?” His boss still hadn’t told him where he was going.
“The last time she used her credit card was somewhere in Texas. That was a few days ago, she took out three thousand dollars. So knowing my daughter she’s too smart to use it again, knowing I could have it traced. That being said she could be anywhere by now.”
Shawn couldn’t believe his luck. Not only did Hector transfer the money he was given for the job into his account, but he was going to Texas. So while he was passing through he would check out some ranches that might be for sale.
“Now don’t underestimate Dixie. She might appear all sweet and innocent at first but believe me, she’s cunning. You can expect her to put up a fight, but I want her brought back safe and sound, and I don’t care who gets hurt. Don’t fall for her tricks, she’ll try and make you feel sorry for her by saying she’s afraid to come back here, or that I beat her.”
“Do you?” Shawn asked, looking at Hector to see if there was any truth to it.
He banged his fist on the desk, swearing. “Fuck no. I have never raised a hand to that girl, but maybe I should have, then maybe she wouldn’t have turned out so wild.”
Shawn was glad to hear that, he didn’t believe in a man striking a woman, no matter what she had done.
Hector went over to his safe that was hidden behind a picture, opened it and pulled out a wad of cash, handing it to Shawn. “Take this, it’s for your expenses.”
“You’ve already paid me plenty,” Shawn said, trying to hand Hector the cash back.
His boss just laughed, shaking his head. “Trust me, you’ll need it. My daughter has an expensive taste so make sure she eats in the best restaurants and stays in the finest hotels. She may also need some new clothes to wear since she didn’t take a lot with her.”
Shoving the cash into his pocket he walked away, stopping when Hector asked him to wait a second.
“Just two more things Shawn.”
“Yeah, and what’s that?” he asked, the irritation he felt was obvious in his tone when he spoke to Hector.
“Don’t even think about sleeping with Dixie.” His eyes narrowed and his jaw twitched when he looked at Shawn.
“No problem boss, blondes are not my type. So you said there were two things, what’s the second one?”
“If you do touch her sexually I will have both your hands cut off. That way you’ll never be able to touch another woman.”
Then Hector broke out in a fit of laughter, trying to make out as if it were a joke. But Shawn knew better, he knew his boss wouldn’t hesitate to do such a thing.
“Right, I’ll be off now, see you when we get back.” Turning Shawn walked out, glad that soon he would be rid of this life and Hector.
