Chapter 22
Ryker
Ash’s presence in my life is growing more permanent with each passing day. At this point, I can’t remember the meaning of days when I don’t see her, only for a moment. How strange is that? Extremely. And yet, it’s fucking real.
That’s what scares me the most. I’ve never experienced such a need for someone to be close to me. I’ve never wanted it. And now? I can’t function without her.
My obsession with her turned into an addiction. When she’s not within my reach, within my sight, she’s always in my mind. The sight of her, her voice, her sighs, her touch—all of it lives rent-free inside me.
I don’t recognize myself.
When she doesn’t talk to me for too long, a strange, unpleasant anxiety gnaws at my stomach. When we’re together, there’s no way I can survive for long without her touch or my touch on her. There’s no way I can fall asleep peacefully if her soft body isn’t in the same bed as mine.
Like right now. Instead of working, I keep thinking about her.
The door to my office swings open and slams against the wall. In a second, I’m up and have my gun pointed in that direction. I took a fraction of a second to pull it out of my desk drawer.
“What the fuck?” Eli stands by the door, his eyes wide.
My eyebrows rise. “You know better than to come in here like that. Have you lost your mind? Have you forgotten who I am? Who we are?”
I lower my gun slowly and put it away. But that doesn’t change my hostile attitude.
“Why are you smiling like that?” Eli looks at me with suspicion. “Do you have some hardcore porn in there or something?”
Oh, right. I’m smiling, and the damn thing is stronger than me. I’m losing control not only of my life but also of my fucking face.
My eyes roll at the thought. Because what’s happening is dangerous for too many people I care about.
“Come in and make yourself comfortable,” I sneer, putting on a stern expression.
“Don’t do that. You look weird, to say the least.” He points at my face. “Are you in love or something?”
I roll my eyes again and shrug. But I say in a serious tone, “I’m not hiding it.”
Eli closes the door and sits down in front of my desk. I take my seat, turning off all the monitors with a button.
My friend’s attention is completely on me.
“Ryker, I know what you said. I thought you were messing with us. Now that I think about it, I can see how much you’ve changed.
She’s changing you. I’ve been your brother since we were in diapers.
By choice, not by blood. I won’t beat around the bush, so I’ll say this once.
Watch your back and watch hers. If she’s special to you, you’d better work on that poker face.
You’ve got it written all over your face, and we don’t want some rat snitching to your father. ”
I know Eli’s right. He’s saying out loud exactly what I’m thinking.
Fuck... I’m not even trying to pretend I have this under control around him.
I change the subject, diverting his attention to something else. “What brings you here? Don’t you have work to do?”
“I gave your father the person who hacked into his computer. The guy’s dead. Case closed. I’m working on your father’s data security system.”
I nod, full of admiration for how well our plan is working. “Shouldn’t you be in a better mood then?”
Eli loses his cool right away. “Hell no! You have no idea who’s really behind all this. I’m so pissed off, I could rip her to shreds!”
“Wait. Who did you plant on my dad?”
“No idea. I found a guy on the dark web. He was a decent hacker, I’ll give him that. Good enough to get your father to take the bait. His mistake was wanting his head on a silver platter without questioning him first. His mistake benefits us, so...”
“Did you gain his trust?”
“I doubt it. Your father’s too good at this game and too suspicious to trust anyone. You know that.”
“Still, it’s enough for him to have you secure his data.”
Eli adjusts himself and rolls up his shirt sleeves. Then he snorts. “He demands top-notch security with retinal scans, fingerprints, a thousand passwords, variable VPN...” He lists more security measures, while I pretend to know what he’s talking about.
“But the web has its own rules,” I whisper with a smirk.
Eli can’t resist being snarky. “He’s too old to know that.”
“Good. Let’s see what you can conjure up with these ingredients. Did you find anything in his files we can use?”
“Not yet, but I’m working on it. We need something really big, not just info about smuggling. That shit means nothing compared to how deep his hands are in the pockets of the government and politicians.”
“Sure,” I say, though I’m disappointed. “So? Who’s really responsible for these files?”
“That’s the fucking point! You’ll never guess, Ryker.” Eli runs fingers through his hair. He pulls at the ends. “I’m going to fucking kill her! Zoe. Zoe is behind this.”
I laugh out loud, but seeing Eli’s completely serious expression, the smile fades from my face. “That’s impossible. You must be wrong. Zoe—” I stop when it downs on me that I don’t really know anything about her. The few times I’ve seen her haven’t led to any proper conversation.
Alex was the one who gave Ash her tasks, but I assumed she did most of the research work herself. I never asked. However, I remember how quickly she found out about the lake house. If Zoe did that, she’s good. Good enough to be a mirror image of my friend’s skills.
Eli studies me, waiting for all my thoughts to settle. “There’s no mistake, brother. You know how many hours I’ve spent digging into this case.”
My heart clenches in my throat. If Zoe has screwed up... Ash could be in danger.
“But how did you even figure this out?”
“She’s good, I’ll give her that. She’s built so many walls around herself that even getting through the walls of ADX Florence seems trivial. The only trace she left behind gave her away. I won’t even try to explain it to you, but trust me, I’m right.”
“Holy shit,” I groan and rub my face with my hands.
“I couldn’t agree more. She probably doesn’t realize what she’s gotten herself into.”
This complicates an already difficult enough situation. “God knows what else she found on his computer. We need to talk to her.”
“Your Ash won’t be happy that we want to question her sister. If she knows all this, that means she also knows about the Pact. Considering your infatuation, I understand that we’re protecting them?” Eli seems slightly panicked. That’s something new.
Like Theo and me, he never shows panic.
“Ash knew about the Pact before we even met. It’s possible that Zoe knows too.
If she’s a regular on the dark web, the Pact is pretty well known there.
Officially, the case is closed. My father got what he wanted, and there’s no reason to dig any deeper.
We just need to verify what she knows and warn her not to make any more stupid moves. ”
Eli snorts. “Don’t worry. I’ll tie her up and lock her in a room without windows or a computer. We’ll see if she comes up with any more brilliant ideas.”
I’m about to get up from my chair when there’s a knock. “Come in,” I call.
Darren, my head of security, enters the room.
“Sorry to bother you, Mr. Elliot, but we have a visitor downstairs who wants to see you badly. We tried to turn him away, but he won’t give up. He says it’s a matter of life and death.”
Most matters concerning me are matters of life and death. There's nothing unusual about that.
“Who is it?” Eli asks.
“It’s Timothy Graves.”
We look at each other. Neither of us expected this. What does my father’s former friend want from me now? I said goodbye to that bastard once and for all.
“Let’s go,” Eli says, getting up too.
Walking down the hall to the elevator, I bring up another important topic. “Have you been in touch with Theo?”
“No,” my brother replies. “He’s disappeared again.”
“It’s been happening more and more lately. I’m worried. He disappears; no one can reach him…”
“You know that if he had any trouble, he would have come to us with it,” Eli reassures me.
“I want to believe that, but— I don’t know. I have a hunch that everything is about to go to hell and the ground will burn under our feet. I’m just worried about his disappearances.”
A little later, we’re on the ground floor of Feather. Walking between the tables, I notice how quiet it is tonight. There’s only one person sitting at the bar—the one who’s been trying so hard to get my attention.
We walk arm in arm up to Timothy and sit down on either side of him.
He sits a little slouched, head bowed over his glass of clear liquid, eyes fixed on the bottom. He doesn’t react to our arrival at all, as if he knew this meeting would happen anyway.
“Timothy. I didn’t expect to ever see you again,” I greet him in a dry tone.
“I didn’t expect it either, and yet, I’m coming to you to warn you.”
Something inside me twitches with danger. An instinct I learned to ignore long ago is now screaming at the top of its lungs.
I’m tempted to laugh at his words. “You come to me to warn me, not caring that the rats can report the news to my father faster than you can take a piss?”
“It won’t change my fate anyway. But it could completely change your life. The underground is buzzing with news about Veirix.”
“Veirix? Why should I care about rumors about that cartel?”
“Don’t play dumb, Ryker.” Timothy’s angry eyes rest on my face. “You know very well what Veirix is and how dangerous it is.”
I know all too well. My father works with Loco Muerte, led by Ismael, while Veirix is their enemy. Mortal enemies fighting for influence in America.
“Let’s say you’ve got my attention. What valuable news do you have that makes you not care if you live to see another day?”
Timothy raises the glass and downs the entire contents in one gulp. Eli’s eyebrows rise, but neither of us says anything.
The glass clinks against the tabletop. Finally, he blurts out, “Word is that there’s a new pawn in the game between the Pact and Veirix. A woman. A young and beautiful woman who has found refuge in the ranks of Veirix.”
“A woman? All this fuss over one woman?” Eli asks.
Just then, my phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out, but seeing that it’s an unknown number, I reject the call.
“It’s not that she’s a woman. It’s who she might be.”
The chat with Timothy is getting on my nerves. I don’t have time for games. If he wants to tell me something, he can just say it.
“Get to the point, Timothy,” I growl.
He nods. “The rumor is that this woman’s home is the Pact, that she escaped the Pact and found refuge in Veirix.”
My heart stops. One thought cuts through all the others so brutally it makes me sick.
No, impossible! It can’t be true. It can’t be her!
“Do they say who she is?” I ask with a lump in my throat.
Timothy shakes his head. “Not on this side of town. At least nothing official is being said, just whispers and rumors. I just want to let you know that something’s going on.”
“And why do you think we’d be interested in that?” I don’t conceal my annoyance, which covers up my bad feelings.
“I’m afraid it would be better if you took an interest sooner than your father does.”
Where the fuck is Theo? The underground is his playing field.
My phone buzzes again. An unknown number for the second time.
What a fucked-up day.
Getting up from the bar, I add, “Thanks, Timothy, for taking the trouble. You’re risking more than just a few bucks for a drink when you show up here. Do us both a favor and don’t do it again. Now, excuse me, I have to take this.”
I hurry to the side and answer the call. “Yes?”
At first, there’s silence on the other end. I’m about to hang up when a man finally speaks. “Ryker Elliot?”
“Yes, who’s this?” I’m exhausted after today. All I want to do is sneak into Ash’s bedroom and get between her thighs.
“I hear they’re looking for me, and you’re leading the hunt, right?” says a low voice I don’t recognize.
This is too much for one fucking day. If another bomb drops, I might really lose it.
Understanding slowly dawns on me, and a malicious smile appears on my face. “Senator Charles Baker. Nice to meet you.”
“Not true. None of this is nice. I have an offer for you…”