Ryder

by Diana Gardin

  I might be going to get my little girl a bit earlier than expected, but I won’t be leaving the country with Eli Ward tonight. Not if I can help it.

  Slinging the bag over my shoulder, I head back out into the living room. “Let’s go.”

  He uses his gun to gesture toward the elevator, which means I should enter before he does. I take one last glance at Ryder, unconscious on the floor, and send up two prayers toward heaven: Please don’t let me have hit him too hard. Please let him wake up. Please let him forgive me. For all of it.

  The elevator ride into the parking garage is silent. It’s surreal: I’ve pictured something like this happening a million times since I left Eli. Only it was always Eli who came to call, never a police officer I trusted with my life.

  Even though he’s taking me to meet my abusive husband, whom I fled from more than a year ago after he nearly killed me, Russ Walker is acting like this is a part of his daily duties. He’s not hurried, he’s not agitated. He does glance around him often as we enter the parking garage.

  “Any other NES operatives on duty tonight?” he asks as we walk down one of the aisles.

  I shake my head. “The only one assigned to protect me is Ryder. He was gone earlier this evening to handle some personal business, so he asked Bain to look after me. Bain left before you arrived.”

  “I know.” Russ leads us to a Ford SUV and opens the driver’s side. “Get in and climb over.”

  I do, mindful of the fact that I’m wearing super-short cotton shorts meant for sleeping, and then realize how stupid that is. There’s more at stake here than Russ catching a peek of my ass. I drag the navy paisley-patterned diaper bag with me.

  Russ gets in the driver’s seat and guns the engine, keeping his revolver in his hand as he pulls out of the space. “I was watching. And then I walked right onto that private elevator and used the security code I stole when I cloned Snyder’s phone. Being close enough to Indigo to gain access to that phone was all I needed, along with the location of the safe house.” He glances at me, no regret in his eyes.

  “Why are you doing this?” The words blurt out of my mouth before I can stop them. I don’t want to be the heroine in some action flick, asking the bad guy why he’s being the bad guy.

  Why do any of them do it? Money. Right? Why else?

  So I answer my own question. “Eli’s paying you.”

  Russ swings the SUV left out of the luxury complex, heading away from the oceanfront and the main part of town altogether. “We’ll talk about that if you want to, Frannie, but right now I need you to get on the phone. Tell whoever has your daughter to meet us at the gas station across from the entrance to the Ellis Airport in Richlands. We’re about forty miles away, so that’ll give her time to get there. When Ward located information on you, tracing you to Wilmington, he did everything he could to figure out what made you come here, of all places. He was pleasantly surprised when one of the women you went to high school with back in Oklahoma remembered that you were friends with a women who now lives here. After that, it was easy to find an address. But when he found her, he never imagined that the baby living with her was his own daughter. Until the man he has watching the house in Jacksonville saw you show up. It’s just too damn bad he lost you before he could follow you back to that fancy penthouse.”

  My pulse races hot underneath my skin. “If you already know where she is, then why didn’t you grab her the way you said you did?” My voice trembles with underlying fury and fear and the injustice of this entire situation.

  Russ turns onto the highway that will lead us out of Wilmington. I bite back my panic, fighting the urge to glance behind us. I’m on my own now; it’s up to me to save myself. Ryder did a great job protecting me while he had the chance, but this is between Eli and me. The way it always has been.

  I tried to keep Dove out of the middle of it, but her involvement was unavoidable. I swallow down foul-tasting bile and focus on Russ.

  When Russ speaks again, his voice is quieter. “Money. It’s always going to be an issue for people like me. People like you. We serve. We work our whole lives for a pension. And me…I happened to have a weakness for sports. Gambled away my retirement money on football games. Made some bad bets. I’ve been trying damn hard to make that right.”

  I clamp down on my response. Don’t compare yourself to me. I’m nothing like you.

  “I’m doing this because I’ll never make the kind of money doing what I do, protecting and serving, in a whole lifetime on the force that I will on this one job for a scumbag like Ward. I wanted him out of my town, and this is the way I’m going to do it and allow some of my officers to cash out in the process. He made millions off of those cars, do you understand that? I only need some of it to pay off my debt.”

  “I understand the kind of dirty money he made,” I spit. “It cost me everything. My parents were blinded by that money too. It allowed them to overlook the fact that he treated their daughter like shit, just so they could be filthy rich and live the lifestyle they always wanted.”

  Russ turns sad eyes on me. “Well, I’m sorry for that. I truly am. I don’t want to hurt you or your daughter. In all honesty, I’m hoping that once you all get to where you’re going, you can find a way to get away from him like you did once before. But I have to get a job done here. My officers will ‘lose’ Ward on the way from the hotel to lockup, and one of them will bring him to the airport in Richlands. It’s the middle of nowhere. There’s a private plane waiting, ready to fly you straight out of the country. Ward will be gone. The money will be transferred into my account from the plane. And I told Eli I wouldn’t do this unless he swore to me he wouldn’t hurt you or your little girl—”

  I slap him. The car swerves left as his head is forced to one side at the impact of the blow, and my hand stings. It doesn’t matter, though.

  I’m numb.

  “Stop talking,” I order.

  He obliges, using the back of his hand to wipe the spittle running out of the side of his mouth. It’s the first time I’ve seen him show any emotion other than his fake-ass fatherly sympathy for me. Anger seethes just beneath the surface, and I’m happy to see it. It means he’s exactly the monster he’s trying to pretend he isn’t.

  He hands me a cell phone. “Call her,” he orders, his voice indicating he’s run out of patience with me.

  Snatching the phone from his hand, I dial Lobelia’s number from memory.

  She answers right away, and I know she assumes I’m calling from one of my burners.

  “Get Dove ready, Lo. I want you to meet me at the gas station across from the Ellis airport in Richlands in thirty minutes.”

  Lo is silent for a beat. Then: “Why? What’s wrong, Frannie?”

  “Eli’s found us. He knows where she is. I need you to throw some of her things in a bag and go. I’ll meet you there.” I end the call before Lo can say anything else and toss the phone back at Russ.

  “You won’t hurt her. You let her go as soon as she hands over Dove, do you hear me? She’s done nothing to you. She’s innocent here.” The threat in my voice is real, because at this point I’m ready to run this car off the road and send both of us down in flames.

  The only thing stopping me from doing that is my little girl and the knowledge that Eli knows she exists.

  Russ doesn’t even look at me. “She behaves, she lives.”

  “You know you won’t get away scot-free the way you think you will. Everyone back in Wilmington will know what you did. You’ve been feeding Eli information all this time, keeping him hidden. If NES hasn’t already figured it out, Ryder will be coming for you the second he wakes up.”

  Each word seems to bounce off Russ’s perfectly layered armor, like he’s prepared for all of it. Every contingency, every kink in the plan, he’s ready for.

  “I’m going to be out of the country by dawn, just like each of the four officers who helped Ward with this plan. All of us will be very rich men after tonight.”

  The car’s d
ashboard says it’s just after three a.m., so that doesn’t give us long.

  That doesn’t give me long.

  One more question. “How could you do this to Indigo? You’ve been a mentor to her…like a father to her. She’s trusted you since she was a teenager. Do you know how she’s going to feel when she finds out what you’ve done?”

  I watch Russ carefully, looking for the chink. And I see it, in the brief shutting of his eyes before he opens them again and stares straight ahead at the road. In the clench of his hands on the steering wheel as he continues the drive toward Richlands.

  “I love that girl like a daughter. Always have. But this is bigger than that. This will set me up for my retirement, for the rest of my life. That’s an attractive offer for someone like me, who’s been working my ass off my whole life to face nothing but pennies in my old age. You don’t understand that, and Indigo won’t either. I can only hope that one day she will.”

  I lean back against the seat and stare out the window again. My thoughts turn to my baby girl, who I’ll get to see again in a matter of minutes, and to Ryder, who I’m hoping is waking up by now. God, he’s going to be so pissed.

  My answer for Russ is simple. “She won’t.”

  We’re both silent as we pass the green sign in the darkness by the side of the road:

  RICHLANDS 20

  22

  RYDER

  When my eyes peel open, I immediately slam them shut again. What I want more than anything else in the world is for my eyes to be closed. But I have this nagging feeling that I shouldn’t let that feeling take root, like there’s some reason I need to be awake.

  Forcing them open, I groan, squinting against the bright lights of…

  Where the fuck am I? And why the hell does my head hurt so damn bad?

  Something’s wrong. Very, very wrong. I’m in pain, and I’m…alone. I squint, trying to think, but it’s too hard right now.

  Fuck!

  I must have a concussion. How?

  Activating the voice command on my phone through the speakers wired through the penthouse, I instruct it to call Bain.

  He answers on the first ring. “It’s three a.m.”

  I groan again. “Bain.”

  His voice changes immediately. “Wolf. Talk to me.”

  “I…I don’t know. Something happened. Get here.”

  I’m starting to wonder if Bain ever sleeps.

  “About to jump in the truck. Just me?”

  “Whole fucking cavalry.”

  Bain is quiet for a moment, and I take the time to realize that the top half of my body is lying on the couch while my legs are slung on the floor. My feet are bare, my jeans zipper undone. Bits and pieces of memory start to zap into my head, but that shit hurts so bad I groan again.

  The rev of Bain’s truck sounds in the background. “You need medical attention?”

  “No. Maybe. Fuck, I don’t know. Bain…Frannie’s not here.” I push myself off the couch, trying to stand, and immediately face-plant onto the floor.

  “Fuck!” I roar.

  Bain curses. “Stay put. You don’t sound like you should be moving. I’ll be there in ten. The rest of the team will be there soon.” He ends the call.

  I lie still and quiet, my head turned to one side. Assessing, I move one limb at a time, trying to find injuries.

  There are none; my body is fine. Nothing hurts, except for the insane pounding in my head. Slowly, I reach up and touch the back of my head gingerly. It hurts, and my hand comes away bloody.

  Hit. My eyes land on the heavy decorative dish that used to sit in the middle of the coffee table, now lying on the floor a few feet away.

  Hit with the goddamn decoration.

  I laugh, dark and humorless, but that shit hurts so I stop.

  Okay, so I’ve been hit in the head, but I’m awake and I’m talking and I’m thinking, so I’m going to be okay. Concussion.

  I can do a concussion. I’ve had them in the field, worse than this.

  Using my arms, I grit my teeth and slowly push myself to my knees. Breathing heavily, I sit there for a few seconds, staring at the couch in front of me. When I’ve caught my breath and the pounding subsides enough for me to keep moving, I pull myself to my feet and go toward the kitchen. I catch sight of the elevator and my feet grind to a halt.

  Everything, everything floods back into my mind.

  Returning from Nevaeh’s house. Learning that Eli was about to be arrested. Celebrating with Frannie. Bain leaving. Getting ready to celebrate with Frannie right there on that couch. The elevator door opening.

  Russ walking in with a gun pointed at us.

  Frannie admitting that she has a fucking baby because she never actually miscarried. Frannie telling me that she’s going to leave with him.

  Dizziness swirls, and I grab on to one of the dining chairs so I don’t collapse.

  That happened. The woman I love has been lying to me. And now she and the baby I never even knew existed are gone.

  Nausea rises in my gut, and I lurch toward the sink. I make it there just in time to throw up the contents of my stomach. I’m still coughing and sputtering when the elevator door slides open. I don’t bother to reach for my gun, which is still sitting in its holster on the counter.

  “Damn. What the fuck happened to you?” Bain rushes to my side, and he’s holding an ice pack to the back of my head within seconds of entering the penthouse. After rinsing out my mouth, I grab it and head for the couch.

  “I need to go.” But I sway on my way there, and Bain has to catch my elbow to help me keep my balance.

  “Fuck that. You talk first. Where’s Frannie?”

  “How long till everyone gets here?” I need to know if I’m going to have to repeat this story over and over again, or if I can wait until the rest of my team arrives.

  “Within a half hour.”

  My fists clench. “Fuck. That’s too long, Bull’s-Eye. I need to go after her.”

  I attempt to stand, but this time it’s Bain who shoves me back down on the couch. My brain swims, my vision blurs, and I shake my head to clear it. The pounding gets worse for a second, and Bain shakes his head at me with a dark scowl. “Listen, asshole. You sit there, and you wait. You need strength. Fill me in on what the hell happened while we wait, and we’ll try to strategize. Then we’ll have a skeleton plan by the time everyone else arrives. You need to ice your head and see if there’s any possibility of you not being benched tonight.”

  Panic lifts my eyes to his, circling in my veins like poison. “That can’t happen. I need to be out there. I have to bring them home.”

  Bain lifts his brows at the word them.

  I might be pissed as hell at Frannie. I might be confused, and all the feelings from the past that had me running for the door whenever I got close to a woman before her might be rearing their ugly heads again. She didn’t trust me. For me, it’s a deal breaker; it’s the one thing I can’t handle. I lost my sister that way, and tonight, there’s a chance I might have lost her.

  This is why I can’t sit on the sidelines. There’s a child involved. I’ve never even met her baby girl, and I already know that if she belongs to Frannie, she’s the most precious little life in the world. Her daddy is a monster, and he needs to be put down. For both their sakes. And I’ll be the one to do it.

  I’m going to be out there with my team. I have to be.

  “I can’t believe he did this!” Indigo shoots off the couch despite Lawson’s attempts to keep her beside him. She paces toward the balcony doors. Just before opening them, she turns back to the rest of us.

  “Are you sure?” she asks me, and the only way I can describe her voice is anguished. She’s destroyed by the news that her mentor is the one who betrayed one of her closest friends. It’s written in the broken way her shoulders hang, the tortured expression on her face.

  Indigo trusted this man. Russ rescued her from the streets when she was a teenager, gave her a purpose and someone who loved her. He ga
ve her drive and passion for life. Then, later on, he inspired her to become a cop. He was her mentor and then her boss. She loves him like a father. Like blood.

  They both worked with us on the task force that was initially put together to take Eli down. We had no reason to suspect Russ Walker of any wrongdoing.

  Until tonight.

  I look Indigo straight in the eye, because she’s one of us. Has been since she went undercover with Lawson months ago. “I wish I was wrong, Indy. But it was him. He stood right here in this room and pointed a gun at me and Frannie. He’s working for Eli.”

  With a strangled cry that’s halfway between a sob and a roar she disappears out onto the balcony, sliding the door closed behind her.

  Lawson stands. On his way past me, he lays a hand on my shoulder. I glance up at him. “I’m sorry, brother.”

  Lawson nods. “She just needs a few. She’ll be okay eventually. But damn…Russ?”

  Shaking his head, he follows her onto the balcony.

  When the door closes behind them, I turn to the rest of the team. Jacob brought Grisham Abbott, who’s been stepping up as a leader for the company more often than just his own Rescue Ops missions require. Grisham’s married to Jacob’s oldest daughter, Greta, and I have a feeling Jacob’s grooming him to take over the entire company someday. Not anytime soon, but one day.

  Grisham was on the same SEAL team as Lawson and Ben, and the three of them work together like cogs in a machine. Grisham fits well into our team, and I don’t have any complaints about having him on board to help find Frannie.