Ryan’s Redemption (Broken Wheel Ranch #6)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

Ryan Carter let his breath out slowly as he shut off his truck, and laid his head on the steering wheel. He was exhausted, but before he could do what he wanted to do, he needed to do this. Once this one thing was done and over with, then he could get on with his life and never look back. Last year, ten days before Christmas, he and his team had been ambushed. It took almost a month before other SEAL teams were able to rescue them. When they’d gotten to them, Ryan had been in such bad shape that it was touch and go. That had been months ago, and he didn’t like to dwell on what he’d endured. He relived it every time he closed his eyes. For now, he was here at his brother-in-law’s work to tell him that he was alive, but wasn’t going to stay. Ryan had a place to go to, but he had some things stored that he wanted to get. In his mind, once he left the Seattle area, he would never be returning. If all went to plan, then by this time tomorrow he would be on the road and heading toward what he felt was his destiny. He knew he probably should have gotten a hotel room first, but it turned out that you couldn’t check in until at least four in the afternoon, so what better way to kill time than in a police station. With a small smile on his face, he reached over for his cane, and slowly, gingerly exited his truck.

Ryan took his time exiting the parking garage and making his way to the front of the building. He probably should have used the elevator, but after his ordeal, he wanted the freedom to make his own choices. He chose to walk to help him exercise. With the strap of his small backpack over his shoulder, he sighed heavily as he made his way up the outside steps. By the time he reached the top, he had to sit on one of the benches to catch his breath. Because it was unusually sunny for a day in early April in Seattle, he took advantage of the warmth from the sun and sat there, lifted his head, and sucked up the rays. What felt like a few minutes, but ended up being two hours, Ryan slowly rose, and finished his journey into the police station.

Because he didn’t know where he was going, he walked up to the information desk and waited in line. When it was his turn, he leaned heavily on his cane and approached the police officer behind the desk.

“Help you?”

“Yes, please. I’m looking for Detective Kevin Lassiter.”

“Just a minute.” The officer scowled as he looked at the screen, then looked at Ryan. “Is this about a case?”

“No, it’s personal.”

“Okay, it says here that he’s out on a case, he probably won’t be back for a few hours.”

“That’s okay, can I wait here?” Ryan asked, and pointed with his cane toward a seating area on the other side of the room they were in.

“Sure.”

“Before I leave, can I ask you one question?”

“What’s that?”

“Is there someplace I can get a burger? Not the fast-food type either. I’m from out of town, and I’m not leaving here until I speak to Kevin.” Ryan tried to smile, but it didn’t feel right on his face. “I’m not a stalker, I swear.”

“Whatever, man. There’s a restaurant a block down. It’s called Joe’s, that’s it. It’s a local hang-out for the police. Hope you like a greasy spoon.”

“Love them,” Ryan said, and turned away, but turned back toward the man, and winced when it pulled in his previous injuries. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours. If Kev returns, can you tell him to wait for me?”

“Sure,” the man said, then looked around Ryan, not seeing him. “Next.”

Ryan walked away, and he was sitting at a table in Joe’s twenty minutes later before he realized the officer at the desk hadn’t asked for his name. Shaking his head, he sighed in relief when a waitress approached.

“What can I get you?”

“Coffee, black, and three cheeseburgers, loaded.”

“Loaded with what?”

“Lettuce, tomatoes, and onions.” Ryan looked at her, then nodded. “If possible, could you put some mushrooms on them, and put the cheese over them?”

“Sure, would you like fries, onions rings, or potato chips?”

“Nothing. Just the burgers.”

“Okay, coffee coming right up.” She walked away and he was able to see her go in and talk to the cook. After he seemed to agree with her, she slapped the ticket on a spinner, then came out to get his coffee.

“They should be right out. Would you like anything else?”

“No thank you, just the coffee and burgers.”

The waitress nodded, and kept looking at him. Ryan kept his head high and didn’t let on that her staring at his eye patch bothered him. Part of being held hostage in a war-torn country was that his captors thought removing his eye would benefit them in the knowledge they sought. Little did they know that it hadn’t worked. After taking his eye, they’d moved on to the others he had been captured with. None of them cracked, not even after they disemboweled one of them. On the day they had been rescued, Ryan had sat there with his arms around Ben Hissop, who had been dead for at least a day, but for the life of him he couldn’t let the younger kid go. Giving himself a hard mental slap, Ryan shook his head to clear it of his awful memories. Before he could reach for his pack and get his book out, the waitress appeared with a plate of burgers.

“Can I get you anything else?”

“No, thank you,” Ryan said as he picked it up and took a bite. Since he had been starved by his captors, and since being released from not only the hospital and the military, Ryan couldn’t seem to get enough hamburgers. He knew he should eat some vegetables, but until he could gain back the fifty pounds that had been starved from him, he was sticking to filling up on protein. Because of his weight loss, he couldn’t seem to eat all of his food, so after eating two of them, he asked the waitress to wrap the last one to go. Instead of a box, he wanted it in some aluminum foil, he didn’t know how long he’d have to wait for Kevin to return to the station.

When he finally made it back to the information desk, there was a different person behind the desk.

“Help you?”

“Detective Kevin Lassiter?”

“He’s still out on a call.”

“Thank you, I’ll be sitting over there.” Ryan gave the officer at the desk his name that time as he pointed and slowly turned to go over to a small seating area, pulled out a book, and sat there to people watch instead of reading. Several hours later, it took a man to call his name numerous times before he looked in their direction. He slowly rose, and limped forward. He had been sitting too long without moving his injured hip.

“Yes?”

“Lassiter has returned, he said to send you up,” the man said as he pointed to a pair of steps behind him. “You can take the stairs, or the elevator.”

“Which floor?”

“Fourth.”

“Thanks,” Ryan said, and because he still lived by the mantra that the only easy day was yesterday, he headed to the stairs. He was winded, but he finally made it. At the top of the stairs, there was a small hall, then the area opened into what Ryan thought was referred to as the bull pen. There were desks facing each other, men in suits with their jackets on, or slung over their chairs, sleeves of their shirts rolled up, and Ryan paused about three feet into the room.

“Help you?” A man closest to him asked.

“Kevin Lassiter?” Rayn asked, and winced when the man threw his head up and bellowed.

“LASSITER! VISITOR!” The man grinned up at Ryan and Ryan only smirked. He looked up in time to see someone at the coffee station turn toward them. Ryan stood there and watched as the man looked around, passed over Ryan, then his eyes came back to him. Ryan winced when the man dropped his cup full of coffee, shattering it on the floor. Everyone in the squad room looked up at the noise, and Ryan braced himself when the man started forward at a fast clip, by the time he was still three feet away, the man launched himself in the air and gripped Ryan hard to him.

Ryan winced as his brother-in-law hugged him, then whispered in his ear, “Can’t breathe.”

“Sorry,” Kevin said as he leaned back and kept his arms on Ryan’s biceps. “You look like fucking shit.”

“I feel like it too. You got someplace I can sit?”

“Sure,” Kevin pointed over to a desk on the other side of the room and Ryan shook his head, but gritted his teeth before he started forward. He was stopped by the guy who had called out to Kevin when he’d arrived.

“Here, you look like you need it,” the man said as he shoved a chair into the back of Ryan’s legs, causing him to sit hard. Ryan breathed in relief when the man pushed him over to Kevin’s desk, then took the empty chair that was already there. Ryan looked up to say his thanks and didn’t know why he was getting those funny looks from that guy, and the rest of the police officers there.

“Hey!” Kevin called out from the center of the room. “I want you to meet my brother-in-law. This is Ryan Carter.”

Ryan shook his head in confusion, until Kevin continued, “The man that was taken hostage by the enemy!”

Suddenly the entire squad room broke out in applause, and Ryan winced each time someone came over and slapped him on the shoulder. After the tenth man, he shook his head and struggled to his feet.

“Thanks, guys, but I didn’t do anything special. I’m not being a bastard, but if you continue to congratulate me, could someone get me a first aid kit?’

“What’s wrong?” a man rushed forward and asked. “I’m Kevin’s boss, Captain Bryce.”

“Nothing’s actually wrong, but I can feel blood soaking some of my bandages. I only got out of the hospital ten days ago.” Ryan winced when he undid the buttons on his shirt and brought it off his shoulder. The bandage was at a place where he couldn’t reach it. Kevin directed him to his boss’s office, and after he removed his shirt, Captain Bryce swore.

“Is the fucker that did that to you dead?”

Ryan looked at the other man and spoke in a gravelly voice, “As far as I know. The teams that rescued us said they’d gotten our captors.”

“Can I ask about the eye patch?” Kevin asked as he moved to the side when one of the other men came in with a first aid kit.

“What about it?”

“Is it to rest your eye or something?”

“No, the fuckers thought I’d reveal secrets if they took my eye,” Ryan said as he winced when the old bandage was removed, and a new one put on.

“How long were you held captive?” someone asked.

“Twenty days.” Ryan didn’t say anything after that and he didn’t see, but he could feel the looks exchanged from the others as they saw the damage his captors had done to his body by the bandages, and long angry scars their cruelty had inflicted on his person. As soon as the man who’d changed the bandage said he was done, Ryan pulled his shirt back on. He turned around and shook his head when the others wouldn’t look at him. To his brother-in-law, he said, “How did she take the news?”

“Not what you’d expect.” Kevin shook his head. “I’m going to be honest with you, Ryan, she’s trying to declare you dead and claim any benefits you have coming to family from the Navy.”

“Wait,” Captain Bryce said. “You’re Karen’s brother?”

“I am. I’m here to see Kevin to tell him that I’m here to see my sister. I’m sure you know there is no love lost between the two of us. I have a few things at their house that I need to pick up, then I’m out of here.” He looked at Kevin as he said the rest, “I will never return after I leave here. I don’t think she’s changed, and I’m done with trying to talk any sense into your wife.”

“Yeah, me too.” Kevin shook his head sadly, then when he saw it was just the three of them, he sighed heavily. “Yeah, Captain, you’re going to want to alert patrol that I’m going home. I have a feeling she’s going to be calling in.”

“Why?”

“My sister has accused me of murdering our parents since they died.”

“Did you?”

“No, they died of natural causes, but because I was deployed when they passed, and not here, she blames me for their deaths.”

“Shit, yeah, I’ll alert patrol.”

“Captain,” Kevin said quietly, and waited to continue until his boss turned to look at him. “You might want at least two patrol cars in the vicinity. Preferably with a male, female partnership. Shit’s going to get real today.”

“Can I ask why? What will they be walking into?”

“Depending on my wife’s reaction to seeing her brother, and how it plays out, I will be telling her to leave.” Kevin looked at Ryan as he said his next piece, “I’m filing for divorce. Caleb will be graduating college in a little over a month, and I’m done with her. I can’t put up with her Karen-ness any longer. Last month she called patrol thirteen times on our neighbors.” He shook his head, then looked at the captain. “I’m going to apologize ahead of time.”

“What for, not offense, Lassiter, but I’m surprised you’ve waited this long.”

“Yeah, well, it has been a long time coming. It seems to be getting worse every day. Today the shit will really hit the fan.”

“Can you give me a heads up so I can tell the sergeant over at patrol?”

“I’m kicking her out of the house. The house is mine. My grandfather built it, my father inherited it from him, and I inherited it from my father. Karen’s name isn’t on anything. No mortgage, not that there ever was one, but she has no claim on the house. Hell, her name isn’t even on the taxes or even on the utility bills. She even signed a prenuptial agreement that she has no claim on the house.”

“That was smart. Thanks for the heads up. I’ll be sure to pass it along.”

Kevin nodded, then turned to Ryan. “Did you drive?”

“Yes, I’m in the parking garage next door.” He grinned at the other man, then winced as it pulled on some of his still healing scars on his lower jaw, and around his missing eye. “Do you validate?” He pulled out a small square of white paper, and the captain took it from him, stamped it, and handed it back.

“Yep.” Kevin laughed, then told his boss he was leaving. In the bull pen he looked at Ryan. “Do you remember how to get to the house?”

“I do. If not, I have GPS.”

“Good, give me a good ten-minute head start. What are you driving so I can let patrol know.” Ryan gave him the information, and this time when he left, he opted to take the elevator. Being strong and independent and wanting to be strong was taking a toll on him. He parted ways with Kevin outside the police station, and went to his truck. Fifteen minutes later, he pulled out and headed toward the home he knew his sister lived in, and the closer he drove, the more tense he became. He sighed heavily several times and thought to himself that the shit show that was about to go down was one he did not want to be involved in. Hell, he would give being captured and tortured by insurgents again over seeing and dealing with his sister. On a sigh, he continued driving to his destination.