Chapter 30
Ryker watched the elevator doors close, and the knot that had been strangling him loosened minutely. Vic was out of the party for now and away from the danger. For now. He turned and found Drake walking towards him. There were three men, with a striking resemblance to each other, with him. These must be the Callahans. He’d heard of them, of course, but having a good reputation didn’t necessarily translate in real life. He was going to have to be cautious. Trusting them with what amounted to Vic’s life was just not going to fly until he had a better read on them.
“Ryker Sterling, this is Gage, Logan, and Mitch Callahan.”Drake pointed to each as he named them.“They’re here to help.”
Ryker shook hands with all three.“Your reputation precedes you. Thank you for pitching in.”
Gage gave a curt nod,“Of course. Do you have a game plan?”
“I know you,”Mitch said suddenly. He narrowed his eyes at Ryker.
Ryker stared. What the heck? His stomach tightened once again. He wracked his brains. Did he have any dealings with the Callahans previously? Nothing came to mind but granted he was distracted by larger problems. Either way they didn’t have time for this at the moment.
“We’ve all heard of Sterling Security. We have some clients in common,”Logan said in a conciliatory tone.“I’m sure that’s it.”
Mitch shook his head.“No.”He cocked his head and then jabbed a finger in the air.“Afghanistan, Helmand Province. A night raid on some tunnels.”
Ryker was instantly transported back to what had been his worst nightmare. Until now. He’d worked with a bunch of SEALs to track down some insurgents in the tunnels. The op had been a shit show. They’d lost good men that day. He’d carried out the body of his teammate, refusing to leave him behind. He met Mitch’s gaze and it clicked. Mitch had helped him, shared the load of both the horror and the weight of his dead friend.
“Yes,”was all he said but the two men clasped hands and bumped shoulders again.“I owe you.”
Again, Mitch shook his head.“No, brother, you did the right thing. Just glad I could help.”
Ryker suddenly had a hard time forming words. The rush of emotion was intense. He’d thought he’d let it all go, or at least buried most of it, but the tense experience was still there. He cleared his throat.“After this, we need to raise a glass.”
“Agreed.”Mitch cleared his throat.“Now down to business.”
And suddenly Ryker’s tension eased. He could trust this man with Vic’s life and if he vouched for his brothers, then it was all good with Ryker.
He nodded at the men.“I’m sure Drake has filled you in. What we need is eyes and ears open. I’ve got guys searching cars but nothing so far. The Senator’s car is parked around the corner and it’s clean. I’ve got eyes on it just in case but now I’m starting to think we’re missing something.”He let his gaze dance over the lobby. He turned to Mitch.“If it were you, how would you do it?”
Mitch cocked his head.“Good question.”
Gage nodded.“Yeah. Good approach.”He nodded towards Mitch.“Let us put our heads together and come up with something. Drake, why don’t you and Logan go schmooze with the party animals and see if you can see or hear anything.”He turned back to Ryker.“Sorry to take over. Habit. Is that okay with you?”
Ryker gave a curt nod.“Sounds good. I’m going to check in with my guys one more time. It’s ten-thirty. Let’s reconnect in an hour. If we don’t have anything by then we’ll pull the plug and call in a bomb threat.”
The other men nodded and moved off in different directions.
Ryker went toward the corner of the lobby where Rush was standing.
“Anything?”Ryker asked.
“No. Our people have been over all the cars that stayed, and the ones parked a couple blocks over. Nothing. I have Flynn watching everything on CCTV cameras upstairs. He hasn’t seen anything either. It just feels like we’re missing something.”
“I know and I fucking can’t stand it,”he growled.
Rush cocked an eyebrow.“So you’re in love with her, huh?”
“No,”he replied tersely.
“Dude, I’ve heard you swear more times in the last thirty minutes than I have in three years.
Ryker gave him a cold look.“My feelings for Vic have nothing to do with it.”
He scoffed.“You keep telling yourself that. It damn near killed me when I thought Cat was dead and then when she was in trouble, I would’ve moved heaven and earth to get to her.”
“That’s you,”Ryker retorted.“It was just a fling with me and Vic.”But even as he said the words, he knew them for a lie. His heart hurt at the thought she was leaving but it was a hell of a lot better than the alternative. At least then he’d know she was safe.
Rush bumped him on the shoulder.“Let’s get through this first and then we’ll get your love life sorted. You’re a great leader of men but you need a shit ton of help where women are concerned.”
Ryker snorted.“Not likely. I’m going to take another swing around and then check with Cash. Stay on the comms,”he said pointing to his earbud,“And let me know the instant anything pops.”
Rush smiled.“Will do.”
Ryker moved through the ballroom once more. He did not need help where women were concerned but maybe he needed help where Vic was involved. She had him turned inside out and backward. Hell, he’d wanted to smash Cal Wallingford’s face in just for talking to her. Yeah, maybe Rush wasn’t as wrong as he’d pretended. As a matter of fact, maybe Rush was bang on. Maybe he was in love with Vic.
He drew in a shuddering breath. No time for that now. He needed to lock that away. He’d deal with it later. Right now, he had to find a bomb before half of Washington was blown to smithereens.