Ryder

by Ali Parker

  She snuggled her back in tighter to my chest. "I know. Forgive me."

  "How did you get out of there, Dani?"

  "I promised to turn you into him." She let out a contented sigh as I stiffened.

  "How the fuck did you plan on doing that?"

  "I didn't plan on doing anything to hurt you. I'd rather he kill me."

  She passed out, but I laid there for what felt like forever. She was willing to give up her life for mine? What the fuck did that mean? Was she falling in love with me too?

  No. I wasn't a good man. I didn't deserve redemption.

  Especially not from a woman like her.

  *

  I had to fix things. Now. There was no way I could let my girl take the hit for me. No fucking way.

  After lying awake all night fighting against the panic attack tearing up my insides, I decided to take Tanner on myself. I knew what to do and he was my nemesis. Not Jason. Not Dani. Not anyone else. He was mine.

  I dressed quickly and left Dani a note on the kitchen counter to call me after a while, but to be careful until then. Period.

  Axel's number was already on my phone as a missed call from the night before. A smirk played along my lips as I dialed his number. It was like he knew I was going to need him.

  "Talk to me, Jon. What's going on?"

  "Tanner's got Jason, but I'm pretty sure the little shit went on his own."

  "Which is understandable. You and I fucked up a lot around that age. What do we need to do?

  "The mother fucker kidnapped my girl too. We're going to take him out." I pulled out of the parking lot as my tires left their mark on the asphalt.

  "Finally. I'll call everyone. Meet us at the lodge."

  "Headed there now." I dropped the call and found Candace's number in my phone. She answered on the first ring.

  "Johnny?"

  "I need to see you."

  "I can be at the club house in twenty minutes."

  "Good. Make it fifteen." I dropped the call and drove like a bat out of hell to get there. Everyone's bikes were out front, and Candace's souped up Viper was in the background like it belonged there.

  I got out of the car and jogged up the stairs. The sky looked like it was ready to burst open and flood the earth any minute. I needed it to hold off a little bit longer.

  "Johnny." She walked up to me the minute I pushed through the door.

  "In here." I gripped her wrist and pulled her into a small room at the front of the lodge that was used to hold private meetings. "I need to know if that's my kid you're carrying."

  Her eyes widened as she reached up and tossed her dark hair over her shoulder. She was as much of a mess as I was. It was one of the reasons we did so well together.

  "I don't know. I can't go back to Tanner's place. He hates you, and he hates me too."

  There was no way I could trust this bitch, and yet, I wasn’t handing her back over to Tanner. Not after what he did to his own mother. "For sleeping with me?"

  "For everything. He says I look too much like momma." She shrugged and let out a long sigh. "I've fucked ten different guys this month. It's the only way to get my mind off of things. It's my release. You know that."

  I nodded, not wanting to feel some of the bull shit I was feeling over the idea of her sleeping around. She wasn't mine anymore, nor did I want her to be.

  "I'll get Axel to take you with him back to the shop, alright? You'll be safe there." I glanced down toward her stomach. "I want a paternity test."

  She nodded. "Okay. Sure."

  I turned and reached for the door as she stepped closer and slid her hands around my waist. "Can I stay with you after today?"

  "No." I pulled her hands off of me. "I'm falling in love with someone, and there's no way I'm fucking it up. Not a chance."

  "Who is she?"

  I walked out of the room. It was better if Candace King didn't know a fucking thing about Dani. I had enough to deal with.

  "What’s the plan, Ryder?" Jax stood up and for the first time in a long time, he wasn't wearing a suit.

  "We're heading out to King's place." I glanced around at the faces of my club members. "Everyone in?"

  "No one would deny you help, brother." Axel walked up and patted me on the chest before lifting his fist in the air. "We ride for the lost."

  "The left behind." Sabian lifted his fist in the air.

  "The abused." Jax lifted his fist.

  "The abandoned." Flex lifted his fist.

  "The forgotten." Hyde lifted his as well.

  "We ride for each other." I lifted my hand and made a loud noise that echoed as my friends joined me. "Let's go. No mercy tonight for Tanner."

  "No prisoners." Axel walked past me as we moved out into the darkened night.

  "Stay here, and Axel will get you later." I glanced back as Candace jogged out after me calling my name.

  "You promise?"

  "I do." I turned and jogged down the stairs as excitement mixed with purpose deep inside of me.

  Taking down Tanner King was long overdue.

  Chapter 22

  Dani

  Johnny wasn't in bed next to me the next morning, which wasn't too surprising. Life wasn't ready to allow something as comforting as that just yet.

  I rolled out of bed, my body sore but in a good way. Lust swelled deep in my stomach as I thought about the night before. I'd never let Seth touch me the way I let Johnny. Maybe that was part of the problem, but something told me that Seth would never ask, and Johnny wouldn't take no for an answer.

  "Hot," I mumbled and pulled my robe over my shoulders. I tied the belt on the way down the hall to get a cup of coffee.

  "You look radiant."

  I screamed and jumped back at the sound of Tanner's voice. "What the fuck are you doing here?" I looked around for my gun.

  "It's right here." He picked it up and twirled it around his finger as he smiled at me. "I just wanted to check in on you. It looks like you're snuggling back up to Ryder, which is a good thing."

  "How did you get into here?"

  "Oh, come on, Dani. Don't play stupid. You're a cop. You know these apartments offer no protection at all." He stood and lifted his hands high above his head, stretching. "Tell me how it's going with my boy."

  "I'm working on it. He's not exactly the type of guy you give a sleeping pill to and haul down the stairs," I barked.

  "No, but fucking him late into the night and having him fall in love with you only to crush him is pretty cruel, no? Even I wouldn't do something sick like that." He dropped his hands by his side as his eyes ran down my body. "Anything under that robe? I do like the idea of sharing something with old Johnny boy."

  "Fuck you. Don't come near me." I took a step back as horror raced through my stomach.

  "It takes a pretty strong woman to sleep with a man that she knows is a whore." He laughed and walked to the door before turning around to face me. He was having far too much fun. "Did he tell you about the baby."

  "Yes." I ground my teeth.

  "Such a tricky mother fucker." He opened the door behind him without turning around. "You're playing the fool with this man." He tilted his head to the side and smiled again. "He's going to ask for my records."

  "What records?" I barked.

  "The ones at the police station. The last time I saw him, he asked what he could do for me." Tanner shrugged. "I said he could destroy my file at the precinct if he wanted to."

  "That's impossible. Everything is electronic."

  "Oh, all that shit is gone. I have a few friends at the station." He stepped out of the apartment into the hallway but didn't move. "It's the physical copy that I need, Dani."

  "Why not just have me destroy that, and you go after Johnny yourself?"

  "There's no fun in that." He laughed. "If you betray him first, I win. If he betrays you by threatening your career and livelihood for me, I win."

  "You're going to win no matter how this turns out, aren't you?" Sickness danced in my stomach. />
  "That is the name of the game, Kitten." He winked. "That’s what Ryder calls you, right?” He laughed sardonically. “I'll be in touch, and you're welcome."

  "For what?" I called after him as he turned and walked away.

  "For preparing you for his betrayal."

  I grabbed my gun and raced outside to find him gone. A car skidded out of the parking lot about the time I reached the end of the walkway. "Bastard."

  There was no way in hell Johnny would ask me to destroy evidence that proved Tanner ran a sex trafficking operation, the same operation that killed my sister.

  He wouldn't do it. Right?

  *

  "Dani. My office please." The Captain walked out and motioned for me to join him as I sat at my desk, staring at a picture of Jason and Johnny from Jason's file.

  "Sure." I got up and walked behind the older man until he closed the door behind me.

  I dropped down into a chair that sat in front of his desk and crossed my hands over my stomach. "What's up?"

  "Just need to share a few things with you." Jack looked ten years older than he should, but with the stress of his job, it was no surprise.

  "Alright. Go for it, Cap."

  "Someone hacked into our system last night and destroyed the electronic files on the last ten raids you've done. I hate to say this kiddo, but you'll be under investigation for a little while as all of us will." He gave me an apologetic look. "We will figure out who did it, but with all of that evidence gone, we're going to need to pull you back to sex crimes."

  Delight mixed with horror inside of me. "Wait. I'm under investigation for hacking into the system, but you're moving me back over to the division I might have worked to destroy? Where are the paper copies?"

  "It's complicated, but yes on the investigation and the transfer. There's no evidence against you or any of us right now, so the investigation will sit in the background and be more of a thorn in our sides until it's over. I know, you know, and everyone else on this force knows how passionate you are about helping with the sex crimes. We need help over there, and Thomas brought your name up so many times, we finally had to listen."

  "I thought you were worried about my safety, Jack."

  "I am, but Thomas thinks you'd be safer in the eye of the storm than sitting idly on the outside of it like a pawn of some sort."

  "At least someone is making sense finally." I reached up and pulled my hair down only to put it back up. "When do I get to move back?"

  "Later this week. We're processing the paperwork now. I need you to grab Oliver and see what physical paperwork you can find on Tanner. You'll be guarding it. Got it?"

  "Oh yeah. Not a problem." I leaned back as a foreign emotion rolled up my spine. Skepticism. Doubt. Worry.

  Who did Tanner have working for him on the force? Why would Captain want me to hold the only proof we had that Tanner was a villain? Why not keep the evidence in the safe or our library like we normally did?

  Was Jack in it with Tanner? No. There was no way.

  "Anything else?" I stood.

  "Last thing." He stood and pressed his hands on the desk between us. "Oliver mentioned that you might be involved with Jason Moretti's uncle, Johnny. I was going to explain to you how inappropriate that would be, but now that you're transferring, I suppose your private life is your own where Johnny is concerned."

  "We lost the boy by the way." I let out a long sigh, ignoring Captain's comments about Johnny. My objectivity didn't matter where Jason was concerned anymore. I could date Johnny if I wanted to.

  "So I heard." He shrugged. "I don't think 'lost' is the right word, but I get what you're saying. Do me a favor and type up the paperwork that needs to be filed with Jason's file. His new probation officer will need it."

  I nodded, holding my tongue. I wanted to comment and let Captain know that there was no saving the boy where he was headed, but I didn't honestly believe that. If anyone could save him, it would be Johnny.

  Something told me that he would try to no matter what the cost.

  *

  After a long afternoon of sorting through files with Oliver, we finally had what we needed. I locked the over-stuffed binder on Tanner King in my desk drawer and waved goodbye to a few people as I left the precinct for the day. I wanted to see Johnny, but I knew he had a few things to deal with.

  I decided to stop by to see my dad at the church, though it was the last thing I really wanted to do.

  The parking lot had only his car sitting out all by itself as I drove up. My sister's grave sat in the distance in the cemetery just beyond the church playground. It was peaceful knowing that dad was only a few steps from Tani's grave at all times. I didn't know why the thought offered me some rest, but it did.

  "Hey."

  I turned to see my father walking up with a basket in his hands. "I was grabbing some wild flowers from the field for Tani's grave."

  "Let me help." I reached out and took the basket from him. "How are you?"

  "Worried." He reached out and squeezed my shoulder as we walked toward the cemetery.

  "About?" I forced a smile. Our relationship had gone to pot a while back, and now that Seth and I weren't together, my father rarely said two words to me.

  "You." He shrugged. "How are you?"

  "I've been better." I reached into the basket and pulled out a few wild flowers. "Remember when Tani talked me into throwing wild flower seeds into the yard, and you got really mad at us?"

  He chuckled and moved to his knees in front of her grave. "Yeah. I remember that. I couldn't mow the lawn for months because I might hurt your flowers."

  I smiled. "And you didn't do it."

  "Because I loved you girls." He reached out and took a few of the flowers. "I still love you."

  "Do you?" I moved to my knees beside him. "Cause I feel like you love me when I'm good enough. When Seth loves me or when my jobs not dangerous or when I'm doing all the right things."

  He glanced over at me. "Is that how you feel?"

  "Absolutely." I set the basket down and finished putting the flowers in the vase in front of us. "Tani left because she wanted more love than you and I could provide for her. Now, it's just us."

  "And now you're the one running." He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind my ears.

  "Do I have a choice?" I took his hand into mine and turned my attention back to the gravestone. "My job's dangerous and my husband decided to love someone other than me."

  "And I'm sorry for that." He dropped his head to his chest and took a shaky breath. "How do we fix it, Dani?"

  "This is a start I think." I leaned toward him and rested my head against his strong shoulder. "I'm dating a criminal who has more tats than one person should be allowed to have. He drives a big, loud bike and cusses a lot."

  "And you love this hoodlum?" There was no condemnation in my father's voice. It was a bit shocking.

  "I think I do." I turned a little and glanced up at my dad. "And I think he loves me."

  My dad turned and smiled. "Then I guess that's enough."

  Chapter 23

  Ryder

  Axel pulled up beside me and pulled off his helmet before speaking. "He's going to know we're here."

  I turned my bike off and motioned for the other guys in the MC to do the same. "He already knows where here, Axel. He's been goading me to do this for years."

  "That's true, boss." Sabian moved up beside me, the bastard never wearing a helmet. "What's the plan?"

  "We're just going in both barrels blaring. Try hard not to get your ass shot. Got it?" I turned and looked at everyone as they crowded as closely around me as they could.

  "Let's do this shit." Hyde started his hog again and swerved around all of us.

  "Well damn." I pulled my helmet back on and took off after him. The bastard was crazy as all get out no matter what we did. Scary enough, time wasn't going to change that, or it didn't seem like it was.

  I half-expected shots to be fired at us from the windows, but t
he house sat quietly as we drove up. I motioned for two of the guys to move around to the back and one on each side just in case anyone made a run for it.

  After parking my bike, I walked up to the front door with my gun drawn. Axel stood just to the left of me.

  "Let me kill him, Jon. You got Jason you need to raise and a family that depends on you. I ain't got anyone. Let me do this for you. For all of us."

  "Not a chance." I stopped in front of the door and glanced over at him. "Besides, there's a pretty girl back at the shop that's just waiting patiently for you to stop being a pussy and ask her out."

  "Ellie?" He almost sounded surprised.

  I snorted. "I hate you sometimes."

  "Ditto."

  We turned and kicked the door down before pulling back. Nothing. I knelt and leaned around the opening to see if anyone was waiting for us. No one.

  "Weird. Where are these mother fuckers?"

  "Not in here." Hyde walked through the lobby of the mansion toward us.

  I rolled my eyes and got up. "What the fuck are you doing?"

  "Taking one for the team. Hello?" He waved his gun around.

  "Put that up." Axel nodded toward the gun. "Check all the rooms and see where these mother fuckers are."

  "They knew we were coming." I walked in and tucked my gun in the back of my pants. "How though."

  "Fucking Tanner King has eyes everywhere, man. You know as well as I do that his little sister probably told him. She plays whatever part he gives her. We all know that." Sabian walked in through the side door near the study. "She told him."

  "And he ran?" Jax asked. "No way. That's not King's style at all."

  "Jax is right." I turned in a full circle before catching the scent of gas. "Get the fuck outta here. The place has a gas leak."

  Everyone ran for the front of the house and bounded down the stairs. We barely made it to the yard before the house exploded, which sent us flying. Fire lit up the night behind us, and the sound of groans filled the air.

  I lifted up in time to see a bike cut across the field with two people on it. One had to be Cade and the other? A woman with long hair. I couldn't make out her figure as my ears rang and my face burned.