by Dale Mayer
“Well, I can give you references, for heaven’s sake,” she said.
“But I won’t make that kind of money.”
“What kind of money?” she asked, frowning.
“Well, they had to pay the deposit for your services, but they had to bribe me to even get on the damn list.”
She stared at him in shock. “What?”
“Yes,” he said. “Your deposit was half a million, but they were paying me half of that again.”
Everybody stared at him. “That’s a lot of money,” Asher said in a calm voice.
“It is. But still, you were talking about retiring anyway,” he said. “Lana wanted the twins. I told her it was a stupid idea, but then she told me about the trust fund, and I realized that it wasn’t such a stupid idea. Whoever had control of the twins had the trust fund, so she wanted to kidnap them, where she could look after them like she always had.”
He turned to Chandra and sneered. “You call yourself their mother. You may have given birth to them, but you’ve done nothing but be ashamed of them ever since. You’ve hidden them away and locked them up so nobody could even see them. My sister brought them into the modeling world. You didn’t want anybody to know that they were yours because they’re weren’t perfect.”
Chandra’s face paled, but she straightened and held her shoulders stiff. “I won’t listen to your lies or your nastiness.”
“No, you may not want to listen,” he said, “but I’m the one with the gun, so you’ll listen as much as I want you to.” Chang looked at Edward. “Edward got wind of what happened though,” he said.
Then Chang turned to Mickie. “You were right. Edward wanted to ride in as the white knight and to rescue the twins from everything. Of course, it cost him more than he’ll know because we had to take out quite a few people to do this. It was typical of Lana to have half-baked ideas. I don’t even know how many men she killed. But she had to be taken out as well because she wouldn’t agree to bring back the twins.
“But I knew that there was no way the models would stay hidden like that, even with Lana’s wild idea to buy an island for her and them. And once Edward got involved and agreed to pay me a nice sum of money so that I could retire, I agreed for him to return the twins. But Lana fought me on it. She was furious. She didn’t want anything to do with letting them go. So, well, she had to be removed.”
“You killed your sister because she wouldn’t agree to return the twins?” Ryker shook his head. “You’re all just greedy little bastards.”
Wilson looked at him and said, “You’re a nobody. We had you running all over the town. We kicked you loose each and every time.”
“Not quite,” Asher said. “We’re here, aren’t we?”
“Sure, and so what?” he said. “It’s not like anybody’s with you. Nobody gives a shit. I’ll just deep-six the three of you, and nobody will know.”
“Three of us?” Mickie asked, stepping toward him. “What about Edward? What about Chandra? What about the twins?”
“Well, Edward, I don’t have to shoot,” he said. “He’ll just pay me to go away, and that’s fine. Chandra will pay me to go away too. And the twins? … Well, if I kill them, I don’t know what happens to the trust fund. I must figure that out first.”
“So, there’s only one easy answer then,” Ryker said, walking toward him.
“Whoa, whoa, stop where you are,” he said, lifting his hand. “I’ll shoot you right where you stand.”
“You might,” Ryker said, “but you’ve got to be fast enough.” He dropped to the floor and his foot kicked Wilson to the ground with a hard thunk, one handgun flying.
Ryker then picked up the second handgun and said, “That takes care of that.”
Mickie looked at him in shock, running to Ryker’s side. “You didn’t kill him, did you?”
“I told you that we don’t arbitrarily kill anyone,” Asher said. “Just these little assholes do that. They can’t figure out any other way.”
And, as one, they turned to look at Edward.
He shrugged and said, “What did I do exactly? I rescued the twins from him.”
“And, of course, you were going to tell your mother all about it, right?” Mickie said in a dry tone.
“The less she has to deal with, the better,” he said. “This has been a particularly stressful time for her.”
Mickie snorted at that. “You think?” Then she glanced back at Asher. “What do you think? Did he do anything wrong?”
“I highly doubt the Chinese police care about him,” he said, “providing he didn’t kill anybody.”
“I didn’t kill anybody,” he snorted. “I told you that I found out what was going on. I made arrangements, and I rescued my sisters.” He walked over to his mother and dropped his hand on her shoulder. “And this is family business, and, since none of you are family, please leave now.” He glanced at Mickie and said, “And obviously you’re fired.”
“Oh, absolutely,” she said. “I’ll sell this story to the tabloids.”
Chandra gasped in dismay. She hopped to her feet and said, “That’s not fair.”
“Neither is dumping me in China, probably so all the murders were hung on me,” Mickie said. She hadn’t meant a word about selling the story to the tabloids. She just wanted something to shove into insufferable Edward’s face. “After everything I went through, you leave me there without looking after me? You haven’t paid me my wages, and you owe me a severance,” she snapped. “I know you are in trouble financially, Edward, but you still owe me.”
Edward’s nostrils flared.
She nodded. “I do have a contract. And, if you think I won’t push for what’s rightly coming to me,” she said, “you’re wrong. And then I’ll sit down, and I’ll talk to the police and see if we can hang anything around your neck. Because, at the very least, you’ve dropped a litter of bodies behind you.” As she walked toward the door with the men on either side of her, she stopped and turned. “How did you get the twins’ drugged bodies out of those two boats?”
“What are you talking about?” he asked. “Wilson got them.”
“No, you were there,” she said, remembering the face that she recognized along with Lana’s. “You three were all there at the same time.”
Edward shrugged. “Sure, but I didn’t go out after the twins. Wilson did.”
“Alone?”
“Of course alone,” he said in exaggeration.
And that’s when she stopped, looked at him, and smiled. “And now you’re lying. Because nobody alone could have carried each of those twins off the two boats onto shore. Not only that, but he piloted one boat back to shore, and you piloted the other.”
“There was the guy from the other boat,” he said swiftly. But he shuffled uneasily.
And she shook her head. “No, no,” she said. “You were there and helped him to carry the drugged sisters from the boat to the crossover vehicle. The boat driver couldn’t have done it alone. And then, when that was done, Wilson killed the fisherman.”
“That’s what I said.”
She looked up at Asher, who was grinning at Edward. “And that makes you a murderer,” he said. “Because you were part of the team who killed him. And then there’s the house fire that took out the poor fisherman’s family.”
“I didn’t kill him. I was trying to rescue my sisters. Nobody will charge me for rescuing my sisters.”
“Well, I’m not so sure about that,” Mickie said. “We’ll see what the Chinese police say.” And she turned and walked out, closing the doors behind her.
Edward could be heard yelling and screaming on the other side of the doors.
As she headed to the front door, Chandra came running behind her. “Please, please don’t say anything,” she wailed. “It’s been tough enough already.”
She turned to look at Chandra. “What about that fisherman’s family? Awan Hania and his entire family were wiped out. Did you know about that?” she asked. “Do you realize Wilson and Ed
ward burned the family in their own home to the ground? Mother, father, sister? Do you think Wilson did that alone? No, it was the two of them each and every step of the way. And likely Sweng as added assistance. They hired gunmen to kidnap the twins, then killed the gunmen,” she cried in outrage. “And, believe me, when Wilson wakes up, he’ll confirm it. Your son needs eighty million dollars to keep his construction business alive. He is only after the twins’ money—their trust fund—don’t you get that?”
Chandra looked at her, her face twisted in fury. “Don’t you understand? None of that’s important. None of it. What was important was getting my girls back.”
“And why is that? Lana was right. For decades, you never even saw the twins, according to the diaries I read.”
“But I know how wrong that was,” she said eagerly. “I understand that now. And I’m trying to change it. I’ll be a good mom now.”
“And a lot of people,” she said, “a lot of people lost their lives because of your son.”
“No,” Chandra said. “Again you misunderstand. My son did a good thing. He saved his sisters.”
“And I suppose you’ll go to any lengths in order to keep him out of prison.”
“Of course,” she said in surprise. “He’s my son. He’s not going to prison.”
“Well, we’ll see,” she said.
Ryker opened the front door and let the Swiss militia in, while Asher showed her his phone, the red recording light lit.
“What are they doing here?” Chandra cried out in horror, then rage, as the men marched past her toward where Edward stood.
“Well, I suppose they’ll start with taking the two men in for questioning, then will come extradition proceedings. Charges, a trial, and then prison,” Mickie said. “So you better find the best lawyer money can buy because your son’ll need it.” She stepped out the front door as Chandra pivoted to follow the two military men headed into the room to collect their two prisoners. Mickie took several breaths of fresh air. “I will miss the twins.”
“They didn’t look like they had much to say on the couch.”
“Often, when in situations like this, they just lock down inside,” she said sadly. “They’ll need help. Maybe if Chandra is there for them, that will get them through this, but I don’t know.”
“Do you feel like you need to be here?”
“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “My time with this family is over. And I’m pretty confident they’ll ensure I don’t ever get a chance to see them again.”
“Probably,” he said.
As they stood there, Edward and Wilson were brought out by the military.
Chandra stood on the front steps. “I’ll meet you at the station. I’ve called our lawyers,” Chandra called out.
Edward lifted a hand in acknowledgment.
Chandra turned to Mickie. “I know you don’t think that I appreciate what you went through, and I really am sorry that you seem to have been dropped in the middle of nowhere at the end of it.”
“Right,” Mickie said, not sure she believed a word out of the older woman’s mouth.
But Chandra held out an envelope and her hand to shake. “Here’s your pay, as agreed to in our contract, and I’ve reimbursed you for the flight and the hotel in China, as well as a little bit extra for your troubles. I know I can’t stop you from selling your story or doing anything else related to these horrid events, but I hope you realize that our family has been through enough strife and ask that maybe you show a little respect for our troubles too.”
A man delivered several suitcases and placed them on the front step.
“Here are Mickie’s belongings.” And then, with a stiff nod at the three of them, she turned and walked back inside, closing the door with a hard snick.
Mickie glanced up at Asher and Ryker and said, “Well, that’s over with.” She dropped the envelope into her purse.
“You’re not opening it?”
She shook her head. “No, it’ll be whatever it’ll be. I’m more than ready to walk away from this chapter of my life.” She would miss the twins, but she could do only so much, and she couldn’t deal with this. She walked down the rest of the steps and headed back to the car. “What are you guys doing right now?”
“Well, I’m heading back to the US,” Ryker said. “Asher, what are you doing?”
“Well, you know what? I haven’t spent any time in Geneva for a while. I think I’ll spend a few days here.”
She glanced at him and smiled. “You want a houseguest? Or do you want to join me at my grandmother’s house? I inherited it.”
He nodded. “I’d be delighted. Let’s grab your bags.” He looked at Ryker. “Can you give us a lift?”
“For you two, anything.”
And that’s what they did. They quickly grabbed all her personal possessions and her tote bag, then loaded it into the car. Nobody said a word, and she never saw anybody as they left the grounds. She turned and watched as they headed out the gate.
“Will you be okay?” Asher asked her.
“I’ll be better than okay,” she said. “It’s just sad in a way.”
“It’s always sad to turn a new leaf,” Asher said. “But the good thing is, we get to face forward and create a whole new future.”
“Together?”
He lifted her hand and kissed the back of it gently. “If you would like to, yes.”
“I’d like to,” she said. “I feel like we’re finally coming back around to what we were supposed to do in the first place. I just took a side street.”
“And sometimes we must take those side streets,” he said. “They’re important for one reason or another.”
“Well, as long as I’ve got it together now,” she said. Then she leaned up and kissed him. “I like the sound of together.”
“Me too,” he said and kissed her back.
Epilogue
Ryker Landers stayed an extra night in Geneva and spent it with Mickie and Asher. They went out for dinner, sat at the lake for a long time, and just generally had a good old time without the pressure and strain of all the action they’d been through. Ryker had no idea where he was going next, but he hoped for a few days off when he landed in California. He was heading to his brother’s place now. He figured he’d catch a couple days of doing nothing but maybe playing a few video games and something mundane, like mowing the lawn. That sounded good to him. Especially if it came with a cold beer.
He hopped into his vehicle and headed away from the airport. He hated the traffic, the smell, and the smog, but there was something very comforting about being home again. As he pulled up to his brother’s front door, it opened, and his nephew came barreling out.
“Uncle Ryker,” he said. “You came.”
“I said I would, buddy.” He picked him up, tossed him high in the air, and laughed.
As he stepped inside, his sister-in-law came over and gave him a kiss. “You look tired.”
“Yeah, it’s been a bit of a rush,” he said. “After a few days I’ll be fine.”
His brother, Reggie, walked over, patted his back, and said, “Will they give you a few days?”
“I hope so,” he said.
But just over a day later his phone chimed. He looked down at the screen. You ready?
He thought about it, smiled, and answered. Yes. This Asher?
Good. came the reply. You’re heading to the jungle. A geologist has gone missing.
I could take a whole team in there and still not find him.
We think she has been taken by guerillas.
The animal variety? he typed, half as a bad joke.
No, the well-armed variety. We need somebody to get her out without causing a war.
But I like causing wars, Ryker typed.
Then cause it with her. She’s been looking for platinum, a hot commodity in the world. We’re afraid she found some—and someone else found out.
Not good.
So get ready. You’re leaving in the morning.
This concludes Book 5 of The Mavericks: Asher.
Read about Ryker: The Mavericks, Book 6
The Mavericks: Ryker (Book #6)
What happens when the very men—trained to make the hard decisions—come up against the rules and regulations that hold them back from doing what needs to be done? They either stay and work within the constraints given to them or they walk away. Only now, for a select few, they have another option:
The Mavericks. A covert black ops team that steps up and break all the rules … but gets the job done.
Welcome to a new military romance series by USA Today best-selling author Dale Mayer. A series where you meet new friends and just might get to meet old ones too in this raw and compelling look at the men who keep us safe every day from the darkness where they operate—and live—in the shadows … until someone special helps them step into the light.
After his last assignment, Ryker is ready for a rest. And he gets it—but only a few hours …
That’s even too long for a geologist kidnapped by guerrillas in the Columbian jungle. Ryker has plenty of experience in jungles around the world but, keeping Manila safe—along with the two men she’s traveling with and their injured guide—exposes them for who they are. It quickly becomes apparent, under these most gruelling conditions, which of her party steps up and which plan to step out.
Manila’s life has become one of never-ending misery at the hands of her captors as they await word from their bosses, who decide her ultimate fate. That she’s hunting platinum doesn’t matter to them. Nor that she’s fighting against the invasive illegal gold mining taking over parts of the area. When Ryker rescues her from her prison tent, she places her trust in his ability to get her and her team safely away. Not yet realizing she’d be gifting him both her body and her heart too.
Ryker needs to keep them all alive and together long enough to get them out of this hellhole—hopefully alive …
Find book 6 here!
To find out more visit Dale Mayer’s website.
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading Asher: The Mavericks, Book 5! If you enjoyed the book, please take a moment and leave a short review here.