Chapter 12
Davis had left the brunch and instructed Ryker to stay with‘his girls.’Ryker had Rush on stand-by to replace him. He left a few minutes later knowing Rush and Flynn were looking after Vic. He didn’t like leaving her out in the open like a freaking sitting duck, but he was confident his guys could handle the situation, and it was far more important to find out who the hell was pulling Davis’s strings.
Davis arrived at the Hay-Adams just as Ryker was pulling to the curb about half a block back. He waited until Davis was inside and Melvin had driven away to park the SUV, before he got out of his Porsche. The trick was going to be how to get in the hotel without anyone else on Davis’s security team tagging him.
He steered the Porsche down an alley that ran alongside the hotel and then turned left around the back of the hotel. The kitchen’s back entrance was standing open to help with the heat. Ryker entered the kitchen, walked past the prep counter and strolled towards the dining room. No one took notice of him. With a Lock and Key location here and the D.C. movers and shakers holding lunches and dinners there, everyone learned it was wise not to pay attention.
Just past the door to the dining room on the far wall, was a locked door with a keypad. He quickly typed in the code. The lock clicked, and Ryker entered, and quickly descended the cement steps. The landing at the bottom was also cement, as were the walls. There was a large steel door. Beside it was a retinal biometric reader just above a palm scanner.
Ryker put his hand on the screen and his eye up to the reader. The lock disengaged and he entered. The door closed behind him. He was in a tiny alcove with the same security measures in place. The door ahead of him was red. He scanned his eye and his hand once more, and the red door opened. He stepped into a marble-tiled hallway.
He quickly reviewed the lay out from memory. The bedrooms and spa facilities were to the left. The dining area and the bars were to the right as were the private meeting rooms. Of course, Davis could be in any one of the private suites that were down here, but Ryker was guessing he was probably in a private meeting room. Under normal circumstances he would just go to security and ask were Davis was but Archer’s words about Davis knowing things he shouldn’t rang in his ears. Did that mean the Society had a mole? And where was the mole? What location? Or was it in all locations? Could the mole be at security headquarters. That thought was enough to make him break out into a sweat.
Ryker turned to the right and made his way down to the dining room. He slid into a table in the back. It was a red leather booth. He could see out to the hall to monitor who passed but duck behind the other side of the booth to hide if necessary.
The waiter approached and asked what he’d like. He ordered a double espresso. If Davis was in one of the meeting rooms, he was going to have to walk by the dining room at some point. Ryker leaned back on the bench seat and pulled out his phone. He might as well do something useful as he waited. He typed Buffalo Ridge into the search engine.
Hundreds of search results populated his screen. Everything from restaurants to parks. A couple of towns in different states. A street name in one search, the name of a golf course in another. He found a couple of apartment buildings and even a ghost town. Well shoot. He should’ve known it wouldn’t be that easy. He started reading, sorting through some of the options. The waiter delivered his coffee and then another.
He scanned his email, opening one from Flynn. It was a picture of the motorcycle with a driver and the shooter riding bitch behind him. Both individuals were dressed in dark leather with helmets with feature-obscuring face masks. He couldn’t even swear they were men. No way to identify them. Even the bike was a popular one, sold all across the U.S. The email from Flynn reached basically the same conclusion. They lost the bike as it left D.C. and there was no telling where it went. Fan-flipping-tastic. Another dead end.
He glanced around but no one had come back down the hallway, so he opened Archer’s emails from last night. The first one dealt with Davis’s chief of staff. Floyd Armstrong was an only child who seemed to have an unremarkable childhood, leading to him becoming an unremarkable adult. He hadn’t done anything that made him stand out. An average student who went to law school at an average university.
It wasn’t until he graduated that his background started to get interesting. Apparently after clerking for a Supreme Court justice who had retired years ago, he moved into the political world. He worked on campaigns for a few Congressional reps, and then moved on to Davis. He was known for being an excellent spin doctor, which made sense. He’d have to be good if Davis wanted him. He and Davis had made quite a team. He’d gotten Davis re-elected by a landslide. The guy was slippery like an eel and good at manipulating people. He and Davis were a match made in heaven.
Ryker had finished his coffee and ordered another one. Davis didn’t appear to be leaving any time soon. He took a sip of his new coffee and opened the email about Vic. Ryker was shocked to find out she’d lived on a commune until she became a teenager. That was totally unexpected. Her parents were alive but, according to the report, relations were strained. Vic had done well at school and university and immediately gone to work for her uncle. No other big surprises.
Reading about her childhood though, the loneliness of it struck Ryker. All of it sounded like Vic had been left to her own devices both with her parents, and then once her uncle came for her, he immediately dumped her in boarding school. None of this helped Ryker in the slightest with what was going on, but it did clarify a few things for him. It also kicked his protective instincts regarding Vic into overdrive. She’d experienced enough shit in her life. She didn’t need more, and he was going to do his damnedest to make sure she didn’t get dragged any further into Davis’s nightmare world.
As he finished reading, he heard Davis’s voice. He was saying good-bye to someone and then he walked by the dining area alone. Davis was headed home. Ryker sat back and waited. Ten minutes later, his patience paid off. A man walked past the dining area. The coffee in Ryker’s stomach soured instantly. If this was the man Davis had met, what did it mean?
Ryker waited a few more minutes and then left. He made his way back to the SUV and drove straight to the senator’s house.
“Where have you been?”Davis demanded when he walked through the door.
“I was checking in with the FBI. They have video footage of the shooter and the driver on the motorcycle, but they were dressed head to toe in black leather with black helmets. The license plate came back stolen.”
Davis eyed him but seemed somewhat mollified.“So, the highest investigative agency in the nation has diddly squat.”
Ryker didn’t bother to point out the superiority of the Society’s investigative skills.“They’re working on it.”
“What about you? Do you have anything?”Davis’s eyes bored into him. If it was supposed to intimidate him, Davis was failing miserably. Not much intimidated Ryker.
“Not much more. I’ve got a line on a couple men who were outside Vic’s place this morning. They’re from a splinter group that says they support some of your causes, but their leader sounds a little unhinged. It’s worrisome. I’ve assigned people to keep an eye on Vic.”
Davis gave a small shrug.“It’s the price of doing business.”
Ryker bit back an retort and jammed his hands into his pocket in an effort to keep from strangling the man in front of him.“I will check everything here and then I’m heading home for some sleep.”
Davis was reading his phone screen and dismissively waved his hand.“Wait,”he called out as Ryker turned.“Have you made Archer aware of the situation?”
“Of course. You are a board member. It’s important for him to be kept in the loop when a board member is being threatened.”
Davis nodded.“And what does he suggest? Does he know anything?”
Ryker took great satisfaction in the words that came out of his mouth next.“Unfortunately, all of this happened outside of the Society. I can only keep Archer in the loop. He is not able to provide support unless of course you would like to call and ask him directly.”
Davis’s face turned an unbecoming shade of pink as he glared at Ryker.
“Will there be anything else?”Ryker asked. Davis waved him off so Ryker did as he said he would and ran a check on the security. Everything looked solid, so he went home to get some sleep. He would be back that evening. He advised the senator that he was not to go anywhere until he was back. The man just waved him off and answered his phone.
Ryker pulled out of the driveway in his Porsche and immediately dialed Archer.“We have a problem.”
“Only one?”Archer sounded as tired as Ryker felt.
“Davis just met with Bullard Whiklow.”
The silence from the other end of the conversation was ominous.
Ryker continued.“This puts a whole different spin on things.”
“Do you know what they talked about?”Archer’s voice was a whole new level of cold.
“They met in the Society location at the Hay-Adams. There’s no surveillance on the inside and I couldn’t get close enough to hear anything without one of them seeing me.”
Archer remained silent for a long moment. Ryker’s heart rate increased. One of the great things about working for Archer had always been that he was prepared for anything. There had never been a moment when he didn’t know what to do. Lately, it was becoming more and more apparent that there were things going on outside of Archer’s control. Ryker despised the unsettling feeling growing in his gut.
“Whiklow is involved in many things. I need to know what exactly he’s doing with Davis to know…how to respond,”Archer commented.“Has anything happened to give you a clue what Whiklow wants with Davis?”
“Nothing. Whiklow could obviously ultimately be the man behind the attempt to take out that couple on the board but that seems like using a bulldozer to swat a fly.”
“Agreed. Whatever the reason Davis is meeting with Whiklow, it is about more than killing a few people. It must be something huge. Whiklow controls several industries from behind the scenes, oil and natural gas among them. Is it something Davis is dealing in down in Texas?”
Ryker thought about that for a minute.“Unlikely. Texas is his stomping grounds. I don’t think he’d need a powerhouse like Whiklow down there. Whiklow is also the driver and influencer behind many of the top politicians in D.C. I think that’s a more likely scenario but what is Davis involved in that he needs Whiklow?”
Archer remained silent and then said,“Or what does Davis want to be involved in that requires Whiklow’s permission?”
Ryker’s shoulders knotted. Whiklow had contacts from the cartels to the White House. He could make or break anyone.“If Davis is courting Whiklow…”he left the rest of the sentence unfinished. He didn’t know what it could mean.“Do you think he’s going to use Whiklow to try to take over the Society?”
“No.”Archer’s response was immediate.“Whiklow and I have a rather uneasy truce. I didn’t want him as a member for obvious reasons, but he wanted in, again for obvious reasons. He does a lot of business in our locations all over the world. He’s one of the few people we extend all kinds of outside courtesies to. We help with his security at times and supply him and his people with all kinds of support. In exchange for this, he keeps his influence outside of the Society. It’s written into his contract. An exception is allowed but only if I agree to it. If he wants to break that rule, he’s painting a target on his back. I’d be within my rights to take him out. He’s not going to risk being killed over Austin Davis. Not in a million years. Davis is small time.”
“So what are they working on together, or what does Davis want with Whiklow and why would Whiklow bother to meet with him?”Another thought his Ryker.“Davis got a phone call. I already pulled his records, and it wasn’t on his normal cell or his work cell. It must have been a burner phone. Anyway, someone is telling Davis to back off on the press stuff surrounding the shooting incident. Whoever called wanted Davis to take a cautious approach versus his usual incite a riot method.”
“Do you think it could’ve been Whiklow?”
“On the call, doubtful. Could he be behind it? Possibly. I have no idea why someone would want him to tone it down. What do you think?”Ryker asked.
“I don’t know,”Archer growled,“but I’m sure as hell going to dig until I find out what’s going on. In the meantime, keep your eyes and ears open. I need to know everything Davis is involved in. Everything, Ryker.”
Ryker didn’t bother responding because Archer had hung up. He let out a long breath as he parked his Porsche. He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to figure out what the hell Davis was up to. The man was keeping him on the periphery of things. Yes, Ryker ran the senator’s security but he wasn’t allowed to sit in the office while Davis made calls. Nor did Davis talk freely in front of him.”
What he needed, he decided as he took off his clothes and stepped into his shower, was to bug the office and the house.“Shit,”he mumbled. It wasn’t going to happen. Too many variables. He couldn’t be positive it would always be him who swept for bugs. If it was one of his guys then they’d find the bugs and there was a chance they would report it to Davis before he could stop them. Too risky.
What he needed was dirt on Armstrong so the man would flip on his boss. Even that was a risk. What if Armstrong was a true believer? Then nothing would make him flip on his boss and he’d tell Davis what Ryker had tried. Not a great option either. He made a mental note to get Flynn run a deeper dive on Armstrong, maybe even follow him discreetly and see if that gleaned anything interesting.
He got out of the shower and toweled himself off. He could ask Vic, but he was pretty sure she wasn’t in the loop. She seemed afraid of Davis and he didn’t seem to want her in his inner circle for some reason. He kept her at arm’s length. That whole relationship was odd and would require more extensive research. He remembered the feel of Vic’s soft curves against his hard body. Yeah, that was the kind of research he wanted to do.
Off limits,he reminded himself as he walked into his bedroom and crawled into bed. A few hours of shut-eye might help him come up with a plan. He tried to relax his body, but his head kept spinning. Even his Ranger training of deep breathing to settle himself was useless.
He flipped onto his side and squeezed his eyes shut. Whiklow was a serious monster. Not in the same way as the monsters Ryker usually dealt with. Whiklow was a power monster. He ruled or controlled whole industries and his decisions affected the economy of many different countries throughout the world, including the US. Whiklow and Archer had always walked carefully around each other as far as Ryker knew. He’d seen them in the same room exactly once and it was like watching two alpha wolves circling one another.
He renewed his effort with a couple deep breathing exercises to try to shut down his brain. He needed sleep so he could be sharp. He was going to have to create a window of opportunity for himself. All he needed was a moment where he could search Davis’s bathroom for the burner phone. That would maybe give him somewhere to start.
And where did the shooter come from? Who wanted Davis dead? The‘attempts’they created were made to drive Davis into asking for help. The fact that his niece was so incredibly desirable was a…complication Ryker didn’t need.
He didn’t want Vic anywhere near any of this. He didn’t want to stop and think about how her almost getting shot had made his knees wobbly, or how it almost killed him to not go directly to her. And he definitely didn’t want to think about why he had Tony drive her home today instead doing it himself. Not that he wanted any man around her besides him.
His dominant fear was that if he’d driven her home today, he wouldn’t leave and that would be a stupid, reckless thing to do. Didn’t matter how vulnerable and sad she looked. He needed to keep his distance, stay aloof. But man, he wanted to hold her and tell her he would make sure she was okay. He wanted to keep her safe and secure. No safer place than his bed. Safe from the outside world but not even close to being safe from him. But he wasn’t safe from her either. Nope, he was in mortal danger of taking her to bed and sleeping with the enemy was always a bad idea.