Chapter 50 Do You Know What Those Twenty Years Were Like?
The Mercers were hosting dinner at home.
Ryan noticed guards stationed near the house and patrolling the grounds.
“Serious security.”
“We hired them privately,” Victor said. “They aren’t part of the community staff.”
“Someone threatening you?”
“An old enemy of my father’s. The man who injured him.” Victor’s smile was bitter. “He wanted Dad to suffer. Otherwise, he could have killed him outright.”
He looked toward the house.
“That’s why we asked you here. I don’t want him going out while that man is looking for another chance.”
“I understand.”
Dinner was a small family gathering: George and his wife, Victor and his wife, and Ryan. They’d hired a chef for the evening.
George looked far better than the man who had arrived at Whitmore’s clinic barely able to breathe. Ryan examined him before the meal and prescribed another formula to help restore his strength.
The family welcomed him warmly. Victor kept the conversation moving, and by the time they finished eating, everyone was in good spirits.
They had settled over tea when a shout came from outside.
“Watch out! Intruder!”
The warning broke off. Other voices rose near the entrance, followed by the sounds of a struggle.
A broad-shouldered man in camouflage rushed into the room. Nathan Cole, head of the security detail.
“One attacker,” he said urgently. “He’s extremely dangerous. My men may not hold him. We need to leave through the back.”
The family rose in alarm.
Victor took Ryan’s arm.
“I’m sorry. We’ve put you in danger. Come with us.”
They hurried out to a black passenger van waiting by the rear door. The escape had clearly been planned in advance.
Nathan took the wheel as soon as everyone was aboard.
The van crossed the lawn and reached the private road. They were almost past the house when a figure burst from the darkness.
The man drove his shoulder into the vehicle above the right front wheel.
The impact shoved the van sideways.
Nathan had no time to recover. It left the road, plunged down the slope, and struck a tree.
Ryan caught a grab handle and threw his other arm across George and his wife. The collision hurled them forward, but his arm held them back from the seats ahead.
The engine died.
Ryan forced the door open and jumped out. The others followed.
A small, wiry old man stood on the road above them. His eyes were vicious.
Nathan shook off the impact, drew a knife, and charged uphill.
“Run. I’ll hold him.”
The old man sneered.
“No one’s leaving. You were lucky last time, George. Someone managed to save you. Who’s going to do it now?”
Nathan reached him.
The fight lasted only a few exchanges. The old man stripped away the knife and kicked him backward. Blood burst from Nathan’s mouth before he hit the ground.
The attacker weighed the stolen blade in his hand.
“All that money, and this is the best protection you can buy?”
George stepped forward.
“Stanley Shaw. You came for me. Leave the others out of it.”
“You think you can bargain?” Stanley’s voice was thick with hatred. “You die. Your family dies. All of you.”
“We started the business together,” George snapped. “You were the one who went crooked. You tried to destroy me, and I kept giving you chances because we’d once been friends. I spared you.”
His anger shook his voice.
“Now you want to kill my family? Is there anything human left in you?”
“Human?” Stanley snarled. “You put me in prison for twenty years. Do you know what that was like?”
He tightened his grip on the knife.
“I served another man in that place. Did everything he wanted, and trained for twenty years. I learned what I needed.”
His eyes burned.
“Now I get to repay you. Every last one of you.”
Ryan stepped out of the shadows.
“Twenty years. You’re persistent, I’ll give you that.”
He looked Stanley over.
“Shame you wasted your time.”