by Mike Ryan
Ripple Effect
The Extractor Series Book 5
Mike Ryan
www.mikeryanbooks.com
Copyright © 2021 by Mike Ryan
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Book Design: The Cover Collection
Edited By: Anna Albo
Contents
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
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Also by Mike Ryan
About the Author
1
Bridge rounded the corner, expecting to find nothing but an open hallway. Instead, what he found was a hard right hand, landing flush on the bridge of his nose, knocking him down to the ground. He lay on the ground, moaning, feeling like he just got nailed with a hammer. He was then picked up by a couple of men, each grabbing one of his arms, dragging him backwards down the hallway until they finally entered another room. They sat him down in a chair and tied him up.
Bridge opened his mouth to take a few deep breaths as he struggled for air. He opened his eyes wide and blinked a couple of times. He looked up at the lights, somewhat surprised he wasn’t sitting in darkness. There was a man in an expensive-looking suit leaning up against the wall, just looking at him. Bridge winked at him.
“You the guy in charge of these gorillas?”
The guy smiled, appreciating Bridge’s sense of humor at a time like this. “Charming, aren’t you?”
“I do my best.”
The man left the wall and walked over to Bridge, slapping him across the face. Bridge moved his jaw around to mask the pain.
“Now that wasn’t very friendly,” Bridge said.
The man smiled again. “It wasn’t, was it? But it was kind of fun.”
“Someone should try taking you to an amusement park or something. That’s a lot more fun.”
“How ‘bout we just stop the games and you tell me what you’re doing here?”
“Uh, nothing, really. I just took a wrong turn down the hallway and got lost. Honest.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I wouldn’t lie to you.”
“I know why you’re here.”
“Then why all the questions?”
“I want to see how honest you are.”
“How are you liking my answers so far?”
“Not very much. You seem like a man who likes to play games.”
“Me? No.” Bridge shook his head. “Hate games. Unless we’re talking card games. I like card games. Some of them, anyway. Poker is my favorite. Especially strip poker if you’re playing with the right company. But there are plenty of other card games that are good too. Blackjack is a favorite. Five-card stud. Rummy. Solitaire. There are a couple of lesser-known ones that are pretty good too. I could teach you if you want.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Oh, you were talking board games? Oh, well, in that case, Monopoly is a proven winner. Um, Stratego, that’s a little-known winner right there. Or Scrabble? Everyone loves Scrabble. Or how ‘bout Trivial Pursuit? But there're all kinds of trivia associated with that one. You could do a music one, or a movies one, or even television. Or, they even have ones for certain brands, like Star Wars, or Friends, or maybe even Garfield, you know what I mean?”
The man sighed. “I think you like to talk too much.”
“Well, it does help to pass the time. Depending on the circumstances.”
In this case, Bridge was just trying to keep talking to give Nicole enough of a chance to get to him. This wasn’t exactly how the plan was supposed to shake out, but maybe it would still work anyway. They were in a nightclub, the owner of which had ties to several different criminal organizations. He was also responsible for stealing a rare antique that Bridge’s client hired him to take back. It wasn’t an especially complicated job. It was just one that required getting the owner and the rest of his men out of his office in order to snatch it. Bridge’s job was supposed to be keeping everyone busy and concentrating on him while Nicole got into the office and took the antique. This wasn’t exactly how they drew it up.
“So you wanna tell me who you are and why you’re sneaking around here?”
“Uh, would you believe it if I told you my name was Bond? James Bond?”
The man smiled, finding Bridge very amusing. “If you happen to get out of here in one piece, which at this point I’d say is very doubtful, you may want to think about switching careers and becoming a comedian. I think it suits you. Because being a thief… well, that’s not working out for you so much.”
“You know, I kind of agree with that. Maybe you and me can go on tour together. I can kind of practice my ventriloquism and you can be my dummy partner.” Bridge had a huge smile on his face. “What do you say?”
The man moved his mouth to the side, contemplating his next move. He tried to hold back a laugh to prevent Bridge from continuing his schtick. “So who are you? Huh? What’s your name? And don’t give me that Bond nonsense again.”
“Some people call me Jon.”
“Jon what?”
“Bon Jovi.”
The man folded his arms, obviously unamused. Bridge smiled, looking like he hadn’t a care in the world. Inside, though, he was wondering where his girlfriend and partner was. He wasn’t sure how much longer these people were gonna put up with his nonsense.
“Still with the games, huh?”
“Games? What games? We back to that again?”
The man slapped Bridge again, harder than before. “I want answers!”
“I told you. My name’s Jon.” Bridge looked around the room. “I had my guitar with me around here somewhere. I can’t seem to find it. You wanna help me look and I can play Living On A…”
“String him up.”
“Wait, what?”
“You find any ID on him?”
The other men in the room shook their heads. “Nothing, boss.”
“Who sent you here?”
“Who do you think sent me?” Bridge replied.
“Was it Royster? Rosario? Dennis? Or was it that idiot, Hobbs?”
“That’s it right there.”
“Hobbs?”
“That’s the one.”
The man started pacing the room, trying to think of why Hobbs would send someone there. Then he thought he might have come up with something.
“Get Hobbs on the phone. I wanna talk to him.”
“Right away, boss.”
Bridge turned his head, looking for a clock. He took a few more deep breaths, hoping nothing happened to Nicole too. If something had, he knew he was up the creek. He just had to hope that she would get there soon.
Another smile came across the boss’ face. “While we’re waiting, let’s all get into a more comfortable position.”
“I’m kind of comfortable right here, though I could use the bathroom,” Bridge said. “If you could just point me to it, I’ll do my business and come right back. I give you my word I won�
�t try to escape.”
“I almost hate to kill you. You’re very entertaining.”
“If you think this is good, you should hear my second act. I would really hate for you to kill me too. So if we could just skip that part, I’d really appreciate it.”
“Unfortunately, you don’t seem very amenable to talking. So we’re going to try to rectify that.”
“I thought I was talking really well.”
The man laughed. “Yes, but not with anything I want to hear. String him up.”
“Uh…” Bridge looked around frantically, not liking how that sounded. “When you say string me up…”
The boss pointed to the ceiling and smiled. “Up there.”
“Oh no. If you kill me right now, you’d be making a really big mistake, you know.”
“Oh, I’m not gonna kill you just yet. I still need a few things out of you first. I’m just gonna hang you upside down for a while.”
“Oh.” Bridge breathed a sigh of relief. Hanging upside down wasn’t exactly his preference, but it sure was better than being dead.
The guard in the room untied Bridge from the chair, though his hands and feet were still bound together, preventing him from escaping. Bridge then looked up, seeing a hook on the ceiling.
“Huh. You guys do this often?”
The men then pushed Bridge onto the ground. Slowly, Bridge started sliding on the floor, his feet being hoisted into the air. His head dragged and bounced against the ground a couple of times as his entire body hung upside down.
The blood rushed to his head. “Wow, this is really uncomfortable.”
The boss smiled. “Yes. That’s the point.”
It was made worse because Bridge couldn’t move his hands and arms at all. “Hey, you think you could untie my hands? I would really appreciate it.”
One of the guards came back in, phone in hand. “Hobbs.”
Knowing that whenever the conversation ended, it was likely going to be bad news for him, considering Hobbs would have no idea who he was. Bridge closed his eyes. He tried to calm himself and put his body at peace. It would help with the discomfort he was having, though it wouldn’t help for too long. The phone conversation lasted a couple of minutes. Once the man was done, he tossed the phone back to his guard.
“Well, it would seem Mr. Hobbs has no idea who you are.”
“And you believe him?” Bridge asked.
“Yes, I tend to believe him. He’s generally a bad liar.”
“Oh. Well, that’s nice.”
“You have one final chance to tell me who you are and what you’re doing here. If not, I’m afraid we will have to part company.”
“I assume that means death?”
“Well, yes, but unfortunately for you, a very slow and painful one. You see, I don’t believe in giving my enemies the satisfaction of killing them quickly. I mean, why get it over with so soon, right?”
“Well, there is something to be said for it.”
“No, I believe in making my enemies suffer. I want them to feel a lot of pain. I want them to know that crossing me is an extremely bad idea. It also serves as a deterrent for anyone else in the future who may be having similar thoughts. Hopefully what happens to you will dissuade them from that.”
“And just what’s going to happen to me?”
“Well, I have a man on my staff that we call the Butcher.”
“Um, I assume he’s not one of the chefs?”
“No, he chops things up very differently than those in the kitchen. You see, what he will do is he will slowly take apart every piece of your body, your fingers, your toes, then your arms and legs, until he reaches your head and then he slices your neck off its shoulders.”
“Sounds very unpleasant.”
“Oh, it is. Very unpleasant. But effective. And what makes it all the more unpleasant is that you’ll be awake for the entire thing. Well, I should clarify, you’ll be awake and feel as much pain as your body will withstand before you pass out due to shock. You see, we will not kill you and then dismember you. We dismember you until you just die.”
“I don’t suppose I have time to write my will or anything, do I?”
“I believe it’s much too late for that.”
“Too bad. I wanted to leave my stamp collection to my nephew.”
The boss nodded to one of his men to start the proceedings. The first thing they would do is get Bridge down. Then they would start with the cutting. The man was just about to get Bridge down, when the man known as the Extractor had an idea to try to delay things. He’d rather hang upside down for a while than get fed to the Butcher.
“Uh, wait, wait… if you kill me now, you’re not gonna get it back.”
The guard stopped and looked back at his boss, who seemed unconcerned with words at this point. “Get on with it,” the boss said. “He’s bluffing. He’s got nothing.”
“Well, no, I don’t, but my partner does.”
The boss put his hand up to stop his employee from going any further. He walked closer to Bridge. “What partner?”
Bridge smiled as he breathed heavily. “Uh, well, the one I have. The one who took something from your office.”
“You’re bluffing.”
“Huh. Wouldn’t you like to know?”
The boss looked at his guard.
“We didn’t see anyone else, boss.”
“Go check it. Now.”
As his guards left, the boss tilted his head to look at his prisoner sideways. “You better hope nothing of mine is missing.”
“Oh yeah? Why? You gonna kill me twice or something?”
The boss laughed. “No. I will just make sure I prolong your death as long as humanly possible to make sure you get the maximum pain effect.”
“Anyone ever tell you you’re kind of a sadistic and evil type of guy?”
“Only the few dozen who got chopped up and fed to the sharks.”
“Huh. Interesting.”
The guard made his way to the office. The door was unlocked, which was unusual. It was always locked when the boss wasn’t in it. He took his gun out and opened the door, expecting to find some kind of trouble when he walked in. He didn’t get any, though, at least not initially. It was a medium-sized office, a couple hundred square feet or so, and somewhat dimly lit. He tried to flick on the light switch, but no lights came on. He walked over to the desk, not seeing anything out of place or missing. Then he went to the wide five-shelf bookcase that housed some collectibles and antiques on it. His eyes immediately went to the top shelf, focusing on the hole that used to be occupied by something. He frantically looked at the rest of the bookcase, seeing if it was somewhere else, or if anything else was missing. There wasn’t, though. Only the one thing was missing.
After a minute of searching, the man stood up, surprised to hear the door closing. He turned and saw the outline of a woman standing there.
“Who are you?”
“Me? I just came in to see what the commotion was about.”
“What commotion?”
“Well, I thought I heard someone ruffling through things. Thought maybe someone had broken in.”
“Well, nobody did. Get out of here.”
“Oh, OK.”
The man looked at the woman, wondering if maybe she was the partner that they’d been told about. But if she was, he figured she wouldn’t still be there. Or she would’ve tried to attack him by now. His guard wasn’t raised to the highest level yet, but he was still on alert with her.
“Looking for something?”
“It’s not your business,” the guard said. “Leave now.”
“Oh. Sure.” Nicole then knelt down and reached into a bag that she had set on the floor. “It wouldn’t be this, would it?” She revealed a small statue covered in solid gold, worth close to a million dollars.
“Give me that.” The man started walking closer to it.
“Well, if you insist.”
Nicole tossed the statue into the air, and the guard flaile
d to catch it in time before it hit the ground. He knew his boss would be extremely unhappy if it broke. Catching it was his first priority. But as soon as the statue fell into his hands, Nicole drop kicked him in the legs, taking them out. He fell hard onto the floor, though he was still clutching the statue. Nicole then proceeded to unleash a few more kicks, strategically aimed to take the man out of commission. Within a minute, the man was effectively out. Nicole took hold of the statue again and placed it in the bag. She picked up the bag and went to the door, peeking out into the hallway. She sighed.
“Where are you, Luke?”
She knew she needed to look for her partner, but she didn’t want to just wander the halls aimlessly, not knowing where she was going. That was a good way to get caught. But she wasn’t sure she had any other choice at the moment. She then looked back at the man on the floor. If this man was sent to retrieve the statue, or anything else, eventually someone would come looking for him. Maybe that would be the way to find Bridge. She could follow them and have them show her the way. She just had to hope it wouldn’t take too long. Wherever Bridge was, she knew he was in trouble.
Nicole looked a little further down the hall and saw another door that she thought was a maintenance closet. She remembered reading the sign on the door on the way to the office. After looking both ways to make sure the coast was clear, Nicole exited the office and scurried down the hallway until she got to the maintenance closet. Luckily, it wasn’t usually locked when people were around. She opened the door and snuck inside, keeping the door open just a hair, so she could see anyone coming or going.
“C’mon,” she whispered, wanting someone to appear soon. She knew the more time that passed, the more of a chance that when she found Bridge, he wouldn’t be alive. That is if she even found him at all.