by Lia Ellison
“Or he’s just going to lay low because he killed Sanchez and his men. It might not be as simple as we think it is. But we can still leak all the evidence against him. It doesn’t matter where he is. The cops will be looking all over for him. I know he has his men everywhere, and a lot of them will probably stay here, especially those who don’t have any tattoos or anything to identify them as the members of his gang. But I can send everything to all the cops in our city. The info will flood their systems. They won’t be able to tell where it came from, but they won’t be able to stop it either. And it will be impossible to cover it all up. The good cops won’t let them.”
“No.” I ran my hand over my face. “We can’t do that now.”
“Why not?” A frown creased her brow.
“We need to wait for him to come back.”
“But why? The evidence won’t disappear into thin air.”
“Yeah, but he will get away. Who knows where he’ll be hiding? They might not find him for years. What if he runs away to another country?”
“Well, there’s always a chance of that happening. Just like it’s possible that the cops will kill him if he resists arrest. But what does it matter? He won’t be able to set foot here, and wherever he goes, he won’t be able to reestablish his business with a snap of his fingers. He’ll have to build it all over again. I think that’s a very good payback. I assure you he won’t find out you were behind the whole thing. He might suspect you, but he won’t have any proof. If Sanchez was in his office after you, he might think the bug was his. And just because the Cobra guy lost you doesn’t mean you figured out he was following you or that you were worried Ryker wanted to hurt you.”
“I know, but it just feels wrong. He’ll be ready for it. I don’t like it.”
“Who says he doesn’t always have a plan B for everything? I say we hit them now while they don’t expect it. They probably think someone will come for them because of Sanchez, not that someone will try to turn them in.”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek. What should I do? I was so close to my victory, but there had been something in Ryker’s voice when he’d called me, and it hadn’t been anger. It had been concern.
Concern for me.
“What if Ryker had his men following me because he was worried about me? Sanchez’ men, or what was left of them, could be coming after me if they think he cares about me. There are photos of Ryker and me from that cocktail party when I was his escort.”
“Um, maybe.” Nia shrugged. “But you’ve been through so much, and you’ve put your life at risk so many times. I think it’s time to end this threat. And it can all be done in a few clicks.”
I shook my head. “If all of Ryker’s men disappear for a while, it’ll be hard to catch them. I think we should wait until they’re all back. When they think it’s safe, then we need to do this.”
“If that’s what you want.”
“It is.” Maybe I was making a mistake, but it really didn’t feel like this was the right moment to expose Ryker. I wanted to minimize his chances of escape. “Can you figure out who all the men who were with him that night are? We might have to track them down too. The more of them we expose, the harder it will be for the Scarlet Cobras to reappear.”
“Yeah, I can do that. Some of the images are too blurry and dark because your hand was shaking.”
“Sorry. I just couldn’t stay calm when Ryker was right there pulling the trigger as if it didn’t matter to him at all. It was like he was doing something ordinary. I don’t know. Like he didn’t feel anything at all.”
“Well, he almost had me fooled.” Her fingers flew over the keyboard. “You were right. He’s one hell of an actor. But why has he taken so much interest in you? Why try to seduce you with sweet lies?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I’m a challenge for him or something.” Ryker’s behavior was confusing as hell.
But maybe one day I’d find out the truth.
Chapter 25
“WAIT, ARE YOU SAYING the Cobras are still here?” I leaned forward so I could take a better look at Nia’s laptop.
She nodded. “I managed to track down all those guys my system identified. Well, not really track them down, but they’d been caught on traffic cameras in the past few days.”
I scratched my chin, wondering what this whole thing meant. “So Ryker might be here? They all might be here. Maybe he didn’t go anywhere at all. Maybe he’s hiding right here.”
“It’s possible, but I haven’t spotted him anywhere.”
“You probably won’t.” Ryker would be more careful than that, but if his men were still moving around, then they were up to something. I just didn’t know what.
“My system is set up so that it sends an alert whenever someone important pops up. So if he makes a mistake or isn’t careful enough, I still might be able to find him.”
“Okay, but what about this guy?” I pointed at the photo of a bald man.
“He’s just been spotted a few minutes ago in this area.” She pulled up a map.
I studied the red lines. “Is there anything of interest there?”
“Who knows? It might be the location of their new hideout or a stash house. Or they just might be visiting someone.”
“Can I borrow your bike?” I asked.
“Do you even know how to ride a motorcycle?” She looked at me.
“Yeah, I do. Can you please lend it to me? Pretty please.” I clasped my hands in front of me.
“Why?”
“I need to check what’s going on, and I can’t just walk past them, especially if they’re still supposed to follow me whenever they can. If I zoom past them, they won’t notice a thing, and I might be able to figure out if they’re hiding there.”
Nia pressed her lips into a white line. “Girl, you’re going to wreck my bike.”
“I promise I won’t. And if I do, I’ll buy you a new one.”
She let out a flustered sigh. “Okay. Fine. Take it. But be careful. I want my bike back in one piece, and I want you back safe and sound too.”
“All I’m going to do is drive around and scout the area. Nothing more.” I flashed her a smile.
She shook her head at me and fished the keys out of her pocket, then tossed them to me. I grabbed them and hurried for the door.
“Wait,” Nia yelled before I could reach the door. “Take this with you.”
“What’s that?” I squinted because I couldn’t see the small thing that she was holding or tell what it was.
“Put it in your ear. I want to be able to talk to you.”
“Oh.” I took the earpiece. “Fancy. Am I a spy now?”
“You wish. Now go.”
“Thanks!” I waved at her and headed for the door.
“YOU’RE ALMOST THERE,” Nia said, her voice in my ear a bit distracting. “Just keep going.”
I followed her instructions and then took a left turn. When I slowed down, I spotted a familiar face. It was the guy I’d seen in the photo.
He looked up and down the street, and then he disappeared into one of the alleys. I took a quick look down the alley and spotted him talking to two more men. All of them were armed.
As soon as their heads turned in my direction, I sped out of there, my heart thudding loudly in my chest.
“What’s going on?” Nia asked. “Did you find them?”
I pulled the earpiece out of my ear and zoomed down the street. It would be easier to tell her what I found in person.
As soon as I walked through the door, she crossed her arms, her intent gaze focused on me.
“They’re definitely hiding something there. I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s their meeting spot, a hideout, or a stash house. But I saw three of them there, and they were all armed.”
“In broad daylight?” Nia’s eyebrows shot up.
“Yeah. I don’t think Ryker is worried about me or about the cops. I think he’s in the middle of a gang war or something.”
Her brow furrowed. “D
o you think someone wants to avenge Sanchez? Or are we talking about a new enemy?”
I shrugged. “It might be a new enemy. I don’t think Ryker would attack Sanchez and his men and wouldn’t think about Sanchez’ potential successor.”
“So it’s someone else. Someone who wants Sanchez’ territory for themselves.”
“Yeah, and the Cobras want it too.”
Nia groaned. “I hate gang wars. My friend almost got killed in one. The cops didn’t give a shit as long as no innocents were hurt. Wait, does this mean you’ve changed your mind about exposing Ryker? Do you want to do it now?”
“Only if he’s here too, and we don’t know that yet. Maybe his men are fighting this war for him, and he’s somewhere safe far, far away from here. Keep looking for him. Maybe he shows up.”
“I will, but do you really think he’d leave his men behind?”
“To be honest, I have no clue. The boy I used to know would throw anyone under the bus to save himself. But Ryker actually went after Sanchez and his men himself, so I don’t know what to think. Maybe it was safe for him to do it and very carefully planned, so he wasn’t worried about something happening to him.”
“What if we don’t see him for weeks and he doesn’t contact you either? Then what? Are you still going to wait?”
“I don’t know.” And really, I didn’t.
“If we’re lucky, he’ll get killed in the war he started,” Nia muttered.
But that wasn’t what I wanted.
I didn’t want him dead. I didn’t want him to die a hero to his gang.
He had to suffer. He had to watch everything he’d built and fought for get destroyed. If he was just killed, it wouldn’t be the same.
And maybe some part of me didn’t want him dead for all the wrong reasons.
“Do you think he found the bug in his office?” I asked.
“Doubt it. I’m still checking it regularly, but all I get is silence. I think he’s just not there. It would be stupid for him to stay in that house. His enemies would go there first.”
“You’re right.” But where was he then?
Damn it, Ryker, where are you hiding?
Chapter 26
“DO YOU THINK HE’S DEAD?” I asked, and I wasn’t even sure why I was feeling a bit sad about that.
Sure, if Ryker had gotten himself killed, my revenge plan would be ruined, but it wasn’t all just about that. I kind of missed him, which was incredibly stupid on my part, but there was nothing I could do about the way I felt.
Weeks had gone by with no news of him, and I had no idea how many more would pass before he resurfaced.
“Wouldn’t we have already heard about it if he got killed?” Nia said. “Or we would’ve noticed someone new leading the Cobras.”
“I don’t know. They might not bring their new leader here right away. This isn’t their main territory anyway. They’d be in my hometown.” But I hadn’t heard anything about Ryker anywhere. Maybe he was just that good at hiding.
“A few potential gang members were killed a few days ago, but the cops aren’t saying much about it and there isn’t a lot of info that I can find.”
“If the war is still on, then they want to keep it as quiet as possible. The last thing they want is to alert the public and cause panic. They don’t mind if gang members kill off each other, or the ones who work for them might be protecting them.”
“I almost forgot. I made something for you.” Nia opened the drawer of her desk and pulled out a phone that was almost identical to the one I was using. “Here,” she said. “I hope you don’t mind that I copied all your contacts and everything. All your calls will be redirect to this phone.”
“Um, why? Is my phone not secure enough or something?” I took the phone, eyeing it carefully, but I didn’t see anything special about it. Of course, it might all be about what was on it.
“Look, I don’t know when Ryker will show up, or when you’ll decide to expose him, but this will make things easier for you if I’m not around.”
“How?” I arched an eyebrow at her.
“If you press these three buttons together, and then press this one to confirm it,” she said as she pointed at the buttons, “everything we have on the Cobras and Ryker will be sent to the cops.”
“Just like that?” I gaped at her.
“Yeah. It’s a normal phone, and it would take someone with really good skills to figure out what’s hiding on it. But when you’re ready, you can activate the phone’s hidden feature, and all the files will be sent to the cops all over the city.”
“Nice.” I gave her a grateful smile.
“That’s not all. Once you do that, you’ll have to get rid of the phone. Or if you’re somewhere near the Cobras’ hideout, you can drop it there.”
“Why? What will it do? Is it going to explode?”
“No, it’s not going to explode.” She groaned. “It’s going to send its location to the cops too.”
“Ah, so if I know where Ryker’s men are, I can just release all the info and drop the phone there, and the cops will go there as soon as possible.”
“Yep, that’s the idea.”
“Interesting.”
“Just be careful you don’t activate it by accident. I picked the buttons that can’t be easily pressed together, but you never know.”
“That won’t be a problem. So I can just use it as a regular phone? Until I decide to expose Ryker?”
“Yep. It does come with a few additional perks. Unless you activate it the way I explained, it will be very hard to trace your signal.”
“Thanks. I like this phone already.”
“I knew you would.” She grinned. “But remember that once you press those buttons, there’s no going back. You can’t undo it. So when you do it, you need to be absolutely sure that’s what you want.” Her eyes twitched.
“Yeah, okay. But why are you looking at me like that?”
“Like what?” She lifted her hands up. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. But you and Ryker... It’s complicated. All I’m saying is that you’ll have to make a choice. It might seem easy now, but when the time comes, you might have trouble deciding what you really want.”
“Yeah, yeah. I got it. Geez. And I won’t have any trouble deciding. I know what I need to do. All I’m waiting for is for Ryker to finally show up.”
“If you say so. Wouldn’t it be better if he just disappeared? Then you wouldn’t have to do anything. He’d just be gone from your life.”
“Um, no. My plan is to visit him in prison one day and tell him who I am. Then I can move across the country and never look back.”
“Don’t you think you’ll need a more permanent solution for him? What if he escapes from prison? His gang members could definitely pull something like that off. It wouldn’t be the first time a big bad criminal got away.”
“Just stop. I don’t want Ryker dead. Period. If he escapes, they’ll catch him again or he’ll have to lay low for the rest of his life. I’m okay with that. I just want to see him go down.”
A beep made us both look at Nia’s laptop.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she said. “Speaking of the devil...”
“What’s going on?”
“Ryker was spotted here. In the city.”
“What? When? Where?” I gaped at her like a fish.
“I swear there’s something weird going on with this guy. He always pops up when you least expect him.”
“You could say that. But where is he?”
Nia pulled up a grainy image, but there was no doubt Ryker was in it. “He’s been spotted getting out of his car, but then he went somewhere, and I don’t know where because there are no cameras there. It looks like this footage was taken yesterday.”
Yesterday. Shit.
Ryker was here. He was finally here, and suddenly, the phone in my hand was like a heavy stone.
It was only a few buttons. All I had to do was press them.
So why the h
ell was I hesitating?
Chapter 27
I WAS ON MY WAY TO my apartment when my phone rang. Ryker’s number was on the screen, and I blinked at it, wondering what I should do.
I didn’t think he suspected me, so if I answered, it shouldn’t get me in trouble. Maybe he’d tell me exactly where to find him.
“Hello?” I said, holding my breath.
“Hey, Lexi. It’s me. I’d like to see you.”
I opened my mouth to reply, but before I could do that, someone grabbed me from behind. Letting out a yelp, I tried to fight off my attacker, but he had me in a tight grip.
I stepped hard on his foot, and his hold on me loosened just enough for me to push him away from me. Glancing behind me, I broke into a run.
The guy was dressed all in black and he had a mask over his face. Who the hell was he? Why was he after me?
But I didn’t get far. Another guy appeared out of nowhere just in front of me. Ryker’s call had distracted me so much I hadn’t noticed the SUV that had pulled over not too far away from me.
The men were on me again, and I thrashed as they grabbed me, screaming for help. But either no one could hear me or they were too afraid to do anything. The men grabbed me by the arms, their grips so strong that I was sure I’d have bruises.
“Let go of me!” I yelled. “Who are you? What do you want?”
But they didn’t say anything. They just put a black bag over my head and I could no longer see anything. I was shoved into the car, and then we were on the move. One of the men grabbed my wrists and tied them together, probably with a zip tie.
It was Ryker, wasn’t it? He must’ve called me to distract me. Somehow, he must’ve found out about my plans or about the bug in his office. Now that he was back in the city, he could’ve searched everything. But how had he figured me out? Did he know the whole truth?
“Please! Where are you taking me?” I asked, trying to get the bag off my head, but of course they didn’t tell me anything and I didn’t succeed.