Chapter Fifty
Ryker
I couldn’t sleep most of the night after Brynne and Sawyer filled us in about what happened at church. We spent the rest of the day doing recon on Westmoore. They told us about Pastor Sam and I almost shit myself when I saw a picture of him on Sawyer’s computer. I want to think Brynne is wrong and Westmoore and Featherstone aren’t the guys, but I would never second guess her judgment.
I spent the early hours of today replaying every memory with my father. How he brought me around these men. Could he have known? I walk into the office and check in with the receptionist. She doesn’t give me her normal smile. Brynne shows up at the door moments later and she looks worried. As I see my reflection in the glass of the door, I understand why the receptionist wasn’t flirty today. I look like a damn zombie.
“Did you get any sleep last night?’ Brynne asks. We
walk to her office and glimpse toward Epson’s office. “He's not in today,” Brynne adds. She closes the door and I plop on the couch with my head in my hands. I didn’t think it would be this exhausting to get revenge. Killing was fun and it was supposed to stay that way .
“I can’t stop replaying every moment I had with them. What if they’re still hurting people and I’m over here playing golf with these monsters,” I say as I look to the ground.
“Ry,” Brynne says softly. She places her finger under my chin and makes me look at her. “You aren’t the bad guy in this situation, they are,” she says firmly. “You couldn’t have ever known what they were capable of,” she adds.
R iley pops in my head and the thoughts take off in
flight. “What if Riley did?” I mumble. Brynne’s eyes widen with surprise.
“Do you think he would have said something to you?” she asks.
“No, Riley was always trying to protect me. If he knew he would have told my father. He wouldn’t have gone to the police without evidence. He knew the police were useless without a paint-by-number to solve each case,” I explain.
“You don’t think they would have,” she pauses.
“I don’t know anymore, but Riley wasn’t an alcoholic and he sure as shit wouldn’t have left me alone with them if he knew their secret,” I sigh. Could they be capable of killing my brother and making it look like an accident? My father would have had to know if that was the case. I think back on how fast everything got wrapped up for Riley’s funeral. I knew it was weird. Then my parents pop into my head and how distraught they both were when Riley was identified.
Parents wouldn’t act that way if they had known who killed their son. My father would have ripped them to shreds if he knew they were the ones who killed Riley. “Ry,” Brynne calls out to me.
“Sorry, my head is a mess right now. ”
“I need you to tell me everything you know about them. This is getting more complicated than I wanted. We need to know every secret and not to miss anything,” she urges.
“Hachett seems like an easier target at this point,” I
joke.
“We said the same thing yesterday, but they all seem
attached like a huge spider web of deceit,” Brynne grabs a
notepad and sits across from me. “We have two hours before my next appointment. Let’s not waste any time. Sawyer and Clara can do as much research as they want, but you have known them personally. That kind of intel is rare,” she explains.
“I don’t know much about their past. Westmoore is at the country club with Featherstone all the time. I’m pretty sure that’s where my father met them. They seem close like they have been friends for a while. Caroline told my mother and me that they all went on the business trip together with my father last week.”
“ Where did they go?” Brynne interrupts.
“I don’t know,” I shrug. “My father goes on trips all the time to campaign for the election. He has a lot of backing from big companies,” I explain.
“Like Digicon?” Brynne asks.
“I don’t know if he deals with contractors, but if he
does then his secretary would know about all of that. I might be able to get the info if I go to his office. She does have a little thing for me,” I wink. Brynne narrows her eyes at me.
“She can have a thing for you all she wants, but you're mine,” she commands. My cock twitches in my pants from her tone. I never thought being claimed by a woman would be so fucking hot.
I raise a hand in defense. “Understood boss,” I wink.
“Do you think we bit off too much?” Brynne asks .
“No. We knew it was going to get hard with each kill.
We risk getting caught whenever we kill someone, but that is the thrill of it all. Did you think you would be able to find these men and take them out without any planning?” I ask.
“Of course not. I just didn’t expect my body to cower when I saw them again. I thought I had changed myself to be able to handle anything. I needed to harden myself to be able to handle all of this. I was angry all the time and I needed to let it out. Killing did that, so I used it to take out these kind of people. I thought I had killed that little girl inside of me,” Brynne admits.
I kneel in front of her and place my hand on her cheek. She leans into my touch and sighs. It’s a privilege that she lets me see this softer side of her. “You will never kill that little girl, Brynne. She is a part of what makes you you. Having emotions like this shows that we are still human and not monsters like them,” I stress.
“People may think we are monsters if they find out what we do,” she mumbles.
“Maybe, but we have reason to act the way we do. We are the lesser of two evils. We are doing good Brynne,” I look into her blue eyes, and she softens.
“I need them dead Ry, all of them,” she says firmly. I kiss her lips and she hums.
“Baby anything you desire you will have. We will make sure of that,” I emphasize.