Chapter 26
“What do you want me to do?”Ryker asked. He was standing against the back wall at yet another event. Davis was chatting with an ever-growing circle of Washington power players. Word had gotten out that Davis was being tapped for something important. From what Ryker could gather, no one knew exactly what yet, but rumors were flying.
“I need you to come with me to meet Bullard Whiklow,”Archer said.
Ryker froze. In all his time with the Society, Archer had never asked him to attend a meeting with him. Not once. His shoulders knotted.“May I ask why?”
Archer remained silent for a beat.“If you are present there’s less chance of me or Whiklow killing each other. To say we have an uneasy truce is an understatement. I dislike the man intensely. I find myself on edge in the current situation, and if Whiklow annoys me I might just lose control and snap his neck. It would not be a first for me.”
Ryker understood immediately. He felt the same way these days. Like he was walking a tightrope, and one little thing could force him over the edge. For him, it had been a daily dance not to kill Davis. He’d imagined becoming the angel of death so many times and in so many different ways. He’d hit the point where it was easy to be farcical about it. He could push Davis out of an airplane without a parachute or feed him to sharks. He’d even envisioned drawing and quartering him, a la Braveheart. Or dropping an anvil on the man’s head, like he was a coyote killing the roadrunner. Dreaming up creative ways to kill Austin Davis had kept him amused.
“Of course I’ll be there. Let me know the time and place.”
Archer seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, which Ryker found weird. He didn’t like this newly human Archer. Nothing could have prepared any of the team for that. The man had always been a cold, calculating, and deadly leader. Not once did Ryker ever consider Archer the man. And he wasn’t about to start he decided.
“Two hours. The Vietnam Memorial.”Archer clicked off the call.
Ryker dropped his phone back into his pocket. No wonder Archer wanted Ryker to stop him from doing something stupid. If he killed Whiklow at the popular monument someone would see him. Hell, it would probably be on video and that would be hard to erase, although not impossible.
He surveyed the room. Yup, a definite energy of something brewing hung in the air and they all knew it. They hovered around Davis like demonic acolytes. Everyone wants to be close to the sun. Careful or you will get burned. No one emerges from Davis’s sphere unscathed.
He glanced at his watch. He had to leave now if he was going to get the Senator home and then back to the National Mall on time. Ryker took one more glance around the room. He’d been hoping Vic would be there. Davis had said she might make this event if she could fit it in her schedule. She was busy with the party preparations, and it was only a couple of days away.
Ryker gave himself a mental shake. He had to let it go. Let her go. His work was not designed to allow space for a woman in his life. At least not one whom he could build a relationship with. If Vic had been the type of woman who was just up for a booty call at odd hours, he’d be all in, but she wasn’t. If he were being honest, he’d admit he didn’t want that type of relationship with Vic. No, he wanted her as his and his only. He wanted to build something with her. Something more permanent. That just couldn’t happen. So he’d burned it down. Made her hate him. For real this time.
It had taken work to get her to wake up without her realizing he’d done it on purpose. He’d set the whole scene and spun the facts to make her think he was a complete jerk. If he’d left the door open even a tiny bit, he’d come charging back through and that wouldn’t help anyone. Vic was his weakness and he needed to be invulnerable.
She was better off without him. She’d said it herself. She was heading to Texas and there was nothing in Washington she wanted. She needed to run her own life and do her own thing. He wanted that for her. He knew she’d be amazing at whatever she chose to do. He just didn’t want to know if she was doing anything with another man. If he found out she was sleeping with another guy, he’d kill the guy on the spot, no question. It was a damn good thing she was leaving town or, more likely than not, he’d end up in prison.
As he moved toward Davis, he mentally apologized to his mom and grandma for the coarse direction of his thoughts. A sure tell that his frustration level was rising was the increasing frequency of his mental and verbal curses.
“Senator,”he spoke as he approached the group.“Apologies for the interruption. You have the other event this evening. It’s time to go.”
Davis shot him a frown but then he smiled.“Of course.”He turned back to the crowd.“Sorry, must run. I look forward to seeing all of you on Saturday evening.”He gave a small bow and followed Ryker out of the room.
“Thank you for saving me from that crowd,”Davis said as Tony drove them back to the Senator’s house. Ryker sat in the front passenger seat and watched the mirrors.
The Senator continued.“It does get a little tiring being the center of so much attention.”
Ryker bit his tongue as he and Tony exchanged a quick glance.“Senator, do you have any other plans for the evening?”The whole other event had been a ruse. Davis told Ryker to come get him at a certain time so he could leave with everyone still wanting more. It was all such a load of hogwash. Ryker did as he was told, but he’d decided after all this was over, he was taking a vacation somewhere far, far away. Archer owed him big time.
“No, I’ve got work to do. Floyd and I will get Martha to whip something up for us. I think Marilee and Vic will be there as well.”
Ryker didn’t react. Davis had been doing this for the last week. Dropping hints about Vic. Ryker suspected that Davis thought there was something between Ryker and Vic. That made him more determined to not show any reaction. He didn’t want to be the cause of any more issues in Vic’s life.
They pulled into the driveway and the Senator hopped out. Ryker gave Tony some instructions and also posted some more on the group chat. He didn’t bother to even enter the house. As much as he wanted to see Vic, wanted to know for himself that she was okay, he knew it was better for both of them if he kept his distance. He commandeered one of the fleet of SUVs and headed back downtown.
He found a parking space and was at the Vietnam War Memorial with two minutes to spare. Archer walked up beside him.“You cut it close.”
“Freaking traffic. Why is Thursday the worst day of the week for traffic?”
Archer leveled an assessing gaze at him.“Are you good?”
He meant could Ryker do his job.“Yes, fine. Why?”
“You look…like you’re ready to kill someone.”
“I could say the same about you,”Ryker retorted. Although, come to think of it, this was Archer’s default expression.
“Yes,”Archer agreed,“and that’s why you’re here.”
Fair enough.Ryker glanced around and spotted Whiklow. He was ambling up the walkway.
“Good evening, gentlemen,”he called out as he got closer. His security detail, two men making no effort to blend in, fell back and off to the side.
Whiklow offered his hand to Archer and then nodded to Ryker.“Thank you for meeting me, Archer. I know this is out of the ordinary for us.”He inclined his head toward Archer in a small nod of thanks.
Bullard Whiklow was a man in his seventies, with a fringe of white hair and a large pot belly. He wore a navy blue trench coat over a dark gray suit. Proud owner of an overly bulbous nose and thin lips, but his eyes stood out. They were coal-black and dead. No matter what words came out of Whiklow’s mouth, he couldn’t hide the sheer lack of emotion in his eyes. Ryker often wondered if Whiklow was even human. Somehow, he suspected that if vampires did actually exist, Bullard Whiklow was one of them.
“Bullard, what can I do for you?”
Ryker stepped out of the circle so the two men could chat. He positioned himself a few feet away, close enough to still hear the conversation, and started scanning the surroundings. Whiklow didn’t have to know that he was there to stop Archer from killing him. Ryker could make it look like he was there to protect Archer. In fact, he was doing double duty.
Whiklow started.“Some information has come my way that I think you will find interesting.”
Archer cocked an eyebrow.“What makes you think I would be interested?”
“Because it involves one of your members. This member in particular is causing you some…distress.”
Ryker kept his eyes roaming over the area but turned ever so slightly to make sure he could clearly hear whatever was coming. If Whiklow was talking about Davis, Ryker didn’t want to miss a word.
“And what would you like in return for sharing this information?”Archer asked keeping his voice calm but there was an undertone and Whiklow didn’t miss it.
“Archer, I am here in a friendly capacity. To be frank, I find this news rather…unsettling. For various reasons that will become clear to you, I cannot interfere in the situation, but you have the power to do so.”
Archer studied Whiklow closely. Even if he wasn’t intrigued, Ryker was. If Archer walked away now, Ryker would stay and try to get Whiklow to tell him what was going on. Clearly whatever it was, was big. Big enough to make him reach out for this meeting in the first place. And to avoid a quid pro quo situation in exchange for his information.
Archer finally gave a small nod and Whiklow continued.“In my line of work, I meet a lot of interesting people. One such person called me a while back. I would have reached out sooner, but I have been traveling and this is not the kind of information you share in a phone conversation.”He cocked his head.“Shall we walk?”he asked, glancing around.
Archer nodded and the two started down the path away from the monument with one of Whiklow’s people in front and one behind, next to Ryker.
“This individual called to tell me that he’d been hired to fabricate a bomb for a new client. This would be his last job before his retirement.”
Did he say bomb? Ryker laser-focused on his boss’s conversation. They’d gone round and round about the word bomb he’d heard Davis say. This could be a clarification.
Archer nodded.“I’ve heard McGinnis was getting out.”
Whiklow gave a low chuckle.“I should’ve known you would connect the dots to him. You and I often travel in the same circles if for different reasons. Anyway, McGinnis is concerned. The device he created is not the safest.”
“I find that surprising,”Archer commented.“McGinnis has always been very good. His…products have always been top quality.”
“Agreed. However, this device was requested to be built in a certain way. McGinnis was not pleased, but the client came highly recommended, so he built the bomb. I think he had misgivings about it from the start but when the client came to pick it up, the misgivings kicked into high gear. The man had no idea how to use the device and seemed to be clueless about how to handle it as well. You know McGinnis, he’s not a man who scares easily but the whole exchange left him on edge. So much so that he contacted me.”
“I see, or rather, I don’t see. Where do I come in on this?”Archer asked. They were still walking and running out of park space. Soon they would be on the sidewalk. Both men seemed to realize this at once because they stopped moving and faced each other.
Whiklow gave Archer an assessing stare.“You and I come down on opposite sides of many things but in this circumstance, I believe we are on the same team.”He paused as if choosing his words carefully. Ryker had the feeling that was new for Whiklow. Archer was an equal and Whiklow did not have many of those. Men who were in full control of their worlds, or as much as humanly possible, who did not apologize for it, but nor did they flaunt it. They were indeed a rare breed.
Whiklow gestured with his head, and they began walking back the way they came. Ryker made sure he was following behind again. He wouldn’t be able to hear anything if he stood in front.
Archer commented,“You said the same side. Same side of what?”
“As I am sure you are aware, Austin Davis is being tapped to be the new Vice President of the United States. I cannot stress enough to you how much of a mistake I believe that is.”
“Agreed,”Archer responded.
“I thought as much. You know as well as I do that Davis is not what he appears to be. I understand you are aware of some of his dealings and in fact, bailed him out when he got into trouble a few times.”
What? Bailed him out?This was news to Ryker, and it rankled.
“Yes. He got in over his head with some people, which was ill-advised. I smoothed the ruffled feathers.”Archer sighed.“I have come to regret that decision on more than one occasion.”
Whiklow burst out laughing.“I’m sure you have.”He laughed some more.“No matter. I would’ve done the same thing. You and I are not so different.”He gave a final chuckle and then he too sighed. “The inner circle is afraid that the incumbent President will lose the election if he stays with the current VP. The man is just not that popular and the polls say he’s holding the President back. Bringing in Austin Davis appeals to a different…ilk of voters. A joint ticket with those two crosses party lines and will make everyone happy. They desperately want to get the current President re-elected because they want to stay in power.
“The issue is they think they can control Davis. The inner circle believes they can steer him and mold him in the way they would prefer. You and I know different. Davis will not stand for that. Once he’s in office, nothing will stop him from going out on his own, making deals and handling things the way he sees fit. The hell with the inner circle.
“Case in point; Davis had his assistant, Armstrong, order the device. I have no clue how he plans to use it but the whole idea terrifies me. Davis commissioned the bomb, but to what end? The inner circle knows nothing of this. No one knows this except McGinnis, me…and now you. I was inclined to tell them, but without proof and no idea what he plans on doing with the device it becomes…difficult.”
Archer stopped again.“You’re afraid if you tell them they’ll support whatever Davis has planned for it.”
Whiklow grunted.“Maybe. I’m more afraid they’ll come up with their own use for it.”He glanced around.“Today’s politics aren’t what they used to be. There don’t seem to be rules anymore. People are willing to cross too many lines.”
“Agreed.”Archer blew out a breath.“So, you want me to look into it and find out what Davis is up to?”
Whiklow turned to face Archer again.“I want you to find out what Davis is up to, and I want you to stop it before something catastrophic happens.”
Archer studied Whiklow.
“Right now,”Whiklow said,“you’re wondering how I could be setting you up. You are worried that I’m laying the groundwork for you to take the fall for something that would destroy you. I know this because if the situation was reversed, I would be wondering the same thing.”The big man with the dead eyes stared appraisingly at Archer.“I cannot stress this enough: I have nothing to gain from this other than the obvious. I am not trying to set you up. I bear you no ill will. You and I are different, and we rarely agree, but I think we respect each other. I am telling you now, man to man, I am asking for your help because I believe you and your people are in a unique position to solve this problem. I stand ready to offer you any assistance you might need. This is not about us but about something much greater. I believe Davis is a dangerous man and we need to fully understand what is going on before it’s too late.”
Ryker’s stomach knotted and he flexed his hands to alleviate the cramping his clenched fists caused. It didn’t matter that it was now close to midnight and the air was cool. His entire body had just gone hot.
Whiklow was right: Davis was a dangerous man with ambitions and drive, and now with access to a bomb, this was the stuff of nightmares.