Dawson – Susan Horsnell (1)

The gun lies on the bedside table, matte black, small, silent. I run a finger along the slide, memorising its weight, the resistance, the grip. Four years locked in a cage teaches you to respect tools. Not admire— respect. A weapon is only as good as the intention behind it.

And mine hasn’t changed. Not since the night she turned her back on me. Not since she let strangers dissect our private business like it was theirs to judge. Not since she stood in a courtroom I never should’ve been dragged into. She created this distance. Tonight ends the waiting. I strip down, shower, and lie back in the unfamiliar bed.

The mattress is firm, not worn to my shape like the prison bunk. The ceiling is blank instead of cracked. No snores, no clanging doors, no keys, no guards shouting commands. No walls that know they can hold me. I sleep with one hand resting near the weapon, not out of fear—out of readiness. The night passes in fragments. My mind doesn’t wander, it focuses. Steps. Timing. Her voice. Her house. Her routines. The exact tilt of her head when she used to listen.

The way she learned to keep quiet even though she didn’t want to obey. The way she fought me that last night. She broke something in me when she ran. Now I’m going to fix what she shattered. *** The following morning the alarm buzzes at 6:00am.

I don’t need it. I’m already awake. Sun filters through cheap blinds. Parramatta traffic hums below the window—trucks, buses, early workers. Ordinary life. None of it touches me. I lie there for a minute, watching the ceiling, then swing my legs off the bed and head for the shower. Hot water, cheap soap, thin towel.

It does the job. I shave, dress in dark jeans and a grey shirt, then pull on worn boots. Clothes plain. Forgettable. Only then do I sit on the edge of the bed and reach for the gun on the bedside table. Magazine seated. Chamber empty for now. Safe to carry. I wipe it down with the corner of the sheet, clearing any prints from the bloke who sold it to me. I slide it into the waistband of my jeans, concealed beneath the shirt.

Light jacket over the top. Nothing obvious. Nothing that catches attention. I slide the laptop into my bag, power cord coiled. Phone fully charged.

Author of Amazon No 1 Best Sellers in 2018: Matt—Book 1 in The Carter Brothers Series Clay—Book 3 in The Carter Brothers Series Amazon No 1 Best Seller in February 2019 Andrew’s Outback Love—Book 1 in The Outback Australia Series Amazon No 1 Best Seller in July 2019 Ruby’s Outback Love—Book 2 in The Outback Australia Series Amazon No 1 Best Seller in May 2019 Eight Letters Will—Book 2 in The Carter Brothers Series Amazon Best Seller in April 2020 Cora: Bride of South Dakota OceanofPDF.com DAWSON Book 2-King Protective Services Copyright © 2026 by Susan Horsnell The right of Susan Horsnell to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her under the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000 All rights reserved.

This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed, or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon, or similar organizations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical or mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning, AI training, or otherwise) without prior written permission from the author. This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

OceanofPDF.com Edited: Redline Editing Proofread: Leanne Rogers Published by: Lipstick Publishing Cover Design: Angeline Cantila Design OceanofPDF.com Disclaimer This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental or historical. Set around Sydney, Australia and written in Australian English. Note: This book contains domestic violence and dark themes. OceanofPDF.com Chapter One DAWSON Four weeks is enough time for most people to move on. It isn’t enough for me. Every time I drive through Cremorne, I feel the echo of that day in my bones.

Bree’s panicked call. Ryker’s blood-soaked shirt. The terror in her voice when she called to tell me my twin had been shot. One round from an adjoining roof. One second away from losing my brother to a bullet meant for the woman he was protecting. Fortunately, Tucker, Bree’s half-brother, was arrested before he could take a second shot. Heinrich and Davina, agents from King Protective Services, the agency my dad owns, and where both me and Ryker work, managed to stop him.

Davina grazed his leg with a bullet, her shot forcing him down so they could hold him until the police arrived.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 4dd69465eaca27ee
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 2,802,080 bytes (2.672 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 244
• Language: English (en)

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• Estimated Reading Time: 254.15 minutes
• Total Words: 50,830
• Total Characters: 286,285
• Average Words per Page: 208.32
• Average Characters per Page: 1173.3

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