Chapter 22
Ryker drove the Porsche like he”d stolen it. He weaved in and out of traffic and went well over the speed limit. He made it to Archer’s apartment in record time. He banged on the door and Archer let him in.
“You found something?”Archer said quietly.
“You”re not going to believe this. Vic found a file on her fellow employee’s laptop. Davis has a group of them working on all kinds of marketing materials.”
“Marketing materials for what?”Archer asked as he stepped behind his wet bar and poured himself a drink. He held the bottle up and gestured towards Ryker. Ryker nodded. He needed a drink after this bombshell. Hell, he needed a dozen.
“Austin Davis is planning a run for vice president.”
Archer froze in the act of setting a second glass on the counter. After a tense beat, he started pouring the drinks. His green eyes were dead cold when he met Ryker”s gaze again.
“Are you certain?”His voice was neutral, but Ryker had known him long enough to know the quieter Archer’s voice got, the worse the situation was.
“Yes, I’m certain. Archer, this is worse than we feared. If Davis becomes vice president, he”ll have the power to do all kinds of evil deeds. He”ll have almost the ultimate power.”
“He will have the ultimate power,”Archer stated as he put the bottle down.“My understanding is the president is nothing more than a puppet for his inner circle. He’s just a face the public likes. Davis wouldn’t do this unless he was sure he was going to be asked to run with the current President, which means the inner circle wants him. As VP, he’ll have the power to do whatever he wants as long as the inner circle condones it. I am sure right now they think they can control him, but I’ve been around Davis long enough to doubt he’ll be that malleable. This is a colossal misstep on their part.”
Ryker plopped onto a chair in front of the fireplace. It wasn’t on but suddenly he was cold all over. Archer walked over, handed him the scotch, and then took a seat across from him.
“Are you telling me that Austin Davis is as good as the next President of the United States?”
Archer took a long pull of his drink.“It puts a whole new spin on things. If Davis does become the Vice President, that means he will be making deals and doing business. Considering the way he”s done business in the past, and who he”s done it with, that opens up many terrifying scenarios.”
Ryker shuddered as he contemplated the possibility.“The group that supports him, the man I heard on the phone, they”re setting him up for this. It”s enough to make your blood run cold.”
“I”ll admit this is far worse than I thought it would be. If Austin Davis gets to be Vice President and he takes over the Society, it means he rules the world.”
“We have to find out who the hell is backing him. Do you know who the President’s inner circle is? Can you warn them?”The scotch wasn’t warming Ryker’s insides like he’d hoped.
“I doubt the people I know are in the President’s inner circle. Those who appear to be his inner circle aren’t necessarily the decision-makers. There is a small group that guides him. Lots of secrecy surrounding their identities. I could hazard a guess about who may be involved but it’s not something I can be sure of without approaching them directly and asking.”
Ryker watched Archer.“Do you think they’d tell you even if you did ask them directly?”
“Maybe not. I can’t run around D.C. yelling the sky is falling without any proof. If we want Davis discredited, we have to find something that will turn them sour on him.”
“Jesus,”Ryker muttered,“this is the never-ending assignment from hell.”
“Yes, it is,”Archer agreed.“But we don’t have a choice.”
“I know.”That was the part that concerned Ryker most. If they failed Austin Davis could become the next Vice President of the United States and God only knew how many lives he and his cronies could destroy then.
“There’s something else.”He tapped his fist on his thigh.“Vic says Davis leaves the office every couple of weeks on a Tuesday looking furtive. He comes back clutching a black satchel like his life depends on it. It’s possible tomorrow will be the right Tuesday on his timeline. If that’s the case, I will follow him, but I’ll need some backup. Hopefully, this will lead to something we can use.”
“Call Rush. He’ll be available.”
Ryker nodded his thanks. He stood. He felt like he should say something but he had no words.“This is just fucking insane”
Archer’s smile was tight.“I know it’s got to be a brutal situation when you actually swear and you’re right. It’s one big cluster fuck.”
The word had slipped out. Sorry Mom, Gram, sometimes the situation just calls for it. “The scariest part of all is that it’s up to us to fix it. We’re not the good guys. Aren’t they supposed to fix crap like this?”
Archer cocked an eyebrow at him.“Do you really think we’re the bad guys?”
Ryker hesitated. Did he think that? It’s how he presented himself. If he owned being a bad guy then he didn’t have to put himself out there at all. He didn’t have to care what people thought. He didn’t have to worry about obeying the rules. But were they really bad guys?
Archer shook his head.“It’s a solid shield. A way to deflect the world and live by our own rules, but you know the truth. No matter what people call us, we’re not the devil.”A ghost of a smile played on his lips.“We’re the only thing standing between humanity and the devil, so we get painted by his brush. We are, in fact, the ones willing to get into the trenches so that others don’t have to. That makes us a bit mad, incredibly tough, and quietly heroic. We do bad things for the right reasons because someone must. It’s why we’ll all go down fighting Davis if we have to, because we will not let a cockroach like him rule the world.”
* * *
Ryker stared at the ceiling. What Archer said had resonated with him. He’d never thought of it that way. Archer was right. It was easier to think of themselves as the bad guys, but weren’t they really the good guys? Ryker and his team were, as Archer had said, quietly heroic. But what did that mean long term? He had no clue but at the rate they were going, he wouldn’t be around long enough to find out. They had to stop Davis at any cost, even if it meant dying for the cause.
The only option left was to take Davis off the playing field. Kill him like the scum he was. And fast. Once Davis made the announcement, it would be too late. They needed to remove him now. Arrange it to look like an accident. Or as if one of his weird-ass followers had done it. He immediately nixed that idea. That wasn’t going to work. If that happened, then an investigation would start. They didn’t need that. What they needed was an accident. Something that wouldn’t raise suspicion. Something that happened in everyday life. Something that no one would think twice about.
An idea came to him. A possibility for sure, but could he pull it off?
He spent the next few hours staring at the ceiling but seeing nothing. He worked on his plan and then reworked it. By dawn he was sure it was solid and doable if he had some help. Now all he had to do was convince Archer. Wasn’t Davis breaking the rules by trying to take over the world? There had to be something in the rule book somewhere about that and if there wasn’t, there should be.
Finally, his eyelids felt like sandpaper, scratching him with each blink. He hauled his butt out of bed and got into the shower. He had a full day ahead. Davis’s schedule was jammed for the day, actually for the week, which made a lot of sense now that he thought about it. He was going to have to lay a lot of groundwork, otherwise people would ask where the hell he’d come from. Why choose Davis? The more he was in the public’s eye at charity events and being interviewed about policy, the better it was for him and the worse it was for everyone else.
Ryker stepped out of the shower as his cell rang.“Archer,”he said as he answered.
“I need you to get the team together and meet me at the Jasmine Door location.”
“Ah, today is jammed with Davis.”
“Unjam it. I want you there in thirty minutes.”Archer hung up.
Ryker cursed but started making phone calls. There was always something with the Society but this something must be massive. Maybe it was time to get out. Run away and do something altogether different. But what? It bore more thinking about for sure. He had a sudden flash of Vic beside him on a beach in the Caribbean. Now that was more like it. He cursed again and hustled to get dressed. Thinking about Vic wasn’t helpful.
Twenty-seven minutes later he walked into the board room. Archer and the rest of the team were there.“Good of you to join us,”Archer stated. His eyes were cold.
Ryker idly wondered if he’d done something specific to piss Archer off or if this was just his general state of being today.
“I have briefed everyone on what we discussed last evening, Ryker, and to a man you all made the same request, so I thought it was better to have this out once and for all.”Archer made eye contact with every man in the room but then held it with Ryker.“You. May. Not. Kill. Austin. Davis.”
Ryker had to bite his tongue to stop from grinning. His boys had the same thought he did. All of them. To a man. This was why he loved his team.
“You may not cause a car accident,”Archer said glaring at Rush. He turned to Flynn“Nor can you shoot him and blame one of his fringe followers. You absolutely cannot poison him,”Archer declared as he pointed at Cash,“and make it look like a stroke.”He turned toward Ryker.“And whatever you were thinking, you cannot do that either.”
All eyes were on him. Ryker grinned.“Air embolism. He just got a shingles shot. Thought we could do it in the same spot. Wouldn’t leave a mark.”
“Solid,”Rush said.
Cash and Flynn both nodded their approval.
“We like his plan the best,”Cash confirmed.
Archer stood, put his palms flat on the table, and leaned forward. He spoke through clenched teeth.“I do not care which plan you like. If Austin Davis dies from anything in the next couple of months, I will personally take each and every one of you out myself. Do you understand?”
All the camaraderie got sucked out of the room. Archer was dead serious with his promise. He would kill them all if they tried to take out Davis.
Ryker blurted,“I know you want us to follow the rules, but taking over the world has to be against them, doesn’t it? It has to be breaking something.”
Archer stared at Ryker and then straightened. He pinched the bridge of his nose.“Unfortunately, it appears not. I stayed up and read all the fucking fine print last night and there is nothing in there we can use. We all know Austin has done things but knowing isn’t enough. Proving it matters. Only solid proof will get the board’s buy-in. Currently, with two seats empty, I’m not sure that’s even possible. If it came down to a vote today, for Davis or myself, I’m not sure I would win.”
That hit home hard. Ryker slumped in his chair. If they hadn’t realized they were in the fight of their lives before, they sure as hell knew it now.
“I know you all think I am being pedantic, but the rules are what separate us from”—Archer looked straight at Ryker—“the bad guys. We follow them to the letter. Get me proof that Davis has broken a serious rule, and I will most happily let you draw and quarter him if you feel like it. But until then, he’s off limits.”
Archer gave them all a curt nod and walked out of the room.
“Shit,”Flynn said.“That sucks balls.”
Cash nodded.“Damn right it does. There’s got to be something we can do. This is just batshit crazy.”
Rush studied Ryker.“What? What are you thinking?”
Ryker shrugged.“I’ve got something. A thread to pull. Rush, I know Archer already told you about it, but I could use all of you this afternoon. Davis is meeting someone. I have no idea who or where, but it could be important. Maybe we can get some answers. Or better yet; proof.”
“I’m in,”Cash said as he stood.“Text me the deets.”He strolled out of the room.
“Me too,”agreed Flynn.“I’ve got a thing, but tell me where and when and I’ll be there.”He left as well.
Rush narrowed his eyes at Ryker.“You’re planning something.”
Ryker shrugged slightly.“Not really. Just a glimmer of an idea starting. Either way, I’ll need you this afternoon.”
“I’ll be there.”Rush also stood.“Just be careful. Archer wasn’t joking.”
Ryker stood. He knew in his bones not killing Davis was a mistake. One he wasn’t necessarily willing to make.“No, he wasn’t. But some things are worth dying for.”