14. Chapter 12
Eli
The elevator ride passes in silence. It’s too quiet. Even Zoe can sense it.
But she doesn’t ask. And that’s fine. I don’t want to repeat the messages I’ve received, and I need to come up with a game plan.
The move is on me. Always. That’s the role of a general.
I raise my hand to knock on the door, but it swings open. On the other side, Ryker, dressed in black sweatpants and a black T-shirt, sizes me up. He has always been an observant prick who rarely misses a thing. This time, he doesn’t find an answer in my eyes. He narrows his suspiciously.
Then his gaze falls on Zoe, and the gears in his head spring into action. He looks at me. Then at her. Finally, at the clock. He pieces it all together in a matter of seconds.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see her shifting from foot to foot, feeling uncertain.
“Don’t even ask,” I tell him in my mind.
He asks anyway. With that look…
My eyes roll because this isn’t the time or the place for this silent conversation.
“Are you finally going to let us in?” I ask out of sheer politeness while grabbing Zoe’s arm, pulling her inside, and Ryker steps aside.
I almost sigh with relief. Almost, because Ash comes out of the hallway and freezes. Her green eyes, similar to Zoe’s, dart from me to her sister and back.
For God’s sake, did they have a fight, or are they about to start one?
Ryker closes the door, and the sound wakes everyone up again.
“You’re here,” Ash chokes out.
Zoe pulls her hand from my embrace, and only then do I realize I’ve been holding it the whole time.
“I’m here,” my Raven replies.
“And—you cut your hair. It’s black now.”
I stare at the famous Shadow and wonder how she became the terror of the underworld.
Zoe voices what I’m thinking. “Observant, as always. Nice of you to notice.” Her tone is sharp, and the atmosphere grows tense.
Ash can’t take it anymore and takes a step toward her, but she steps back just as far.
I don’t know what has changed between them lately, but I already have a plan to find out. Ever since I met the Monroe sisters, they’ve been very close. They would jump into a fire for each other. The mutual care was clear to all of us. And yet, something has gone to hell here.
Ash frowns when she sees her sister’s reaction. The hurt in her breaking voice is impossible to hide. “Of course I noticed. Why would you think it would be any different? You look beautiful.”
Zoe snorts under her breath but says nothing. I want to step between them, not even sure why. To stop myself from reaching out to her I slip my hands in my pockets. And when I look at Ryker, he clears his throat and seems to read me perfectly in that moment.
Damn it!
“Is someone going to make some coffee before we kill each other?” I ask, hoping to lighten the mood.
Ash jumps up and claps her hands. “Of course,” she says and rushes to the kitchen. “How did you two end up here together anyway?” she asks as we follow her.
I say the first thing that comes to mind. “We had a meeting at the gym.”
“Zoe, you started going to the gym?” my brother’s wife asks. Confused, or maybe she just doesn’t believe me. “You never wanted to set foot in a place like that.”
Zoe sits down next to me on the couch. She shrugs, and I answer for her. “I convinced her to learn a few self-defense moves. You never know when those skills might come in handy.”
Ryker’s huge hand lands on the back of my neck and squeezes it. He presses harder than he should. This isn’t a greeting. It’s a warning, though he doesn’t call out my bullshit.
Ash brings over a couple of cups and they both sit down across from us. I need caffeine—lots of it—after last night.
“I didn’t know you wanted to learn this. I could help,” she offers to Zoe with an awkward smile, never taking her eyes off her.
“It’s no big deal,” Zoe finally says. “I’m not doing too well either.”
“It’ll get better. And I’m glad you’re doing this. Thank you, Eli.”
I almost choke on Ash’s words. A gentle, grateful gaze is now resting on me. But when I glance at Ryker, I see a clenched jaw and lightning in his pupils. He’s like a twisted reflection of his woman.
“No problem. Where the hell is Theo?”
Just then, there’s a knock at the door, and I’m fucking grateful. I’ll have to buy him a drink later for his perfect timing.
The five of us are sitting in the living room a few minutes later. Theo is sprawled out in an armchair like a lord.
“Before you tell us what’s going on, Eli, I need to say something too.
I got a message an hour ago that someone tried to hijack our transport from Loco Muerte,” says Ry.
“It didn’t work. In the end, a few of our guys died, none of theirs.
But there’s no denying that something big is coming our way. ”
“Veirix?” Theo suggests dryly.
“I think so,” Ry agrees. “As soon as I find any proof, I’ll let you know. So? What’s this urgent matter that’s got you calling us here first thing in the morning, Eli?”
“I received a concerning a piece of news from one of my men this morning. Ryker, do you remember the meeting with Timothy at Feather?”
He immediately sits up straighter on the couch, furrowing his brow. Like a shark, he senses blood in the ocean. “Are you talking about the meeting in the room?”
I shake my head. “No. I’m talking about the meeting downstairs at the bar. The one where a call from Charles Baker interrupted us.”
Confusion spreads across Theo’s and Ash’s faces, and Ash glances at her husband.
“I remember,” he says, his eyes darkening.
“Can you shed some light on this?” Theo interjects, crossing his legs so his ankle rests on his knee.
“Timothy, a former friend of James, came to us with news about a woman who had appeared in the ranks of Veirix. The word was she’d broken free from the Pact’s grip and fallen under Veirix’s protection.
” All three of us know perfectly well who Timothy is, but I would rather clear things up for the two girls.
“Why the hell don’t I know anything about this?” Theo protests. “I haven’t heard a thing about it in the underground.”
“But he did,” Ryker adds. “Right after that, everything fell apart. The whole thing with Charles and James. There was no time to talk about some old drunk’s ramblings.”
“It wasn’t idle talk. It was the truth,” I add. “Now we have confirmation. That woman is Aisling. And the informant told me there’s no one-hundred-percent certainty, but she might not be there of her own free will.”
Ryker stands up so abruptly that the table shakes. His hands form fists. The muscle on his right cheek pulses as he clenches his jaw hard. He has a stormy look on his face as he stares at me.
“What the fuck?” he hisses.
“Unbelievable.” Theo shakes his head. “Where did you get this info? How reliable is it?”
I can see how much effort it’s taking Ryker to stay calm. Ash sees it too, which is why she strokes the back of his leg, looking anxiously.
“I already told you, from one of my spies. Ninety-nine percent sure it’s Aisling. As for the rest, who knows?”
“That leaves one percent doubt that it’s not her,” Theo determines, pulling out his phone and tapping away at it with surprising speed. “What if we’re wrong?”
“What if someone kidnapped her?” Ryker turns away from us and walks over to the glass wall. He gazes at the horizon, lost in his thoughts or memories.
We’re close; I can feel it.
And I know what troubles him more is the question, What if she’s there of her own free will? What does that mean to him? For the Pact, now that she’s joined the enemy? Is she our enemy now?
“I can’t answer that question, Ry,” I say truthfully. “I know—I feel she’s there. But we need to confirm it, and then we’ll take the next steps.”
“Steps? What steps?” Ash asks.
“The ones that will lead me to meet her,” Ryker answers for me and turns toward us. “Any suggestions?”
I shrug, though I feel tension in every part of my body. “You know my thoughts. The best option is to take a risk and plant our mole there.”
“The one we don’t have yet,” Theo says.
“Exactly, yeah.”
Ryker is silent. Finally, he sits back down on the couch, takes Ash’s hand, and intertwines their fingers.
There’s a moment when I can’t take my eyes off where their fingers meet. A simple gesture, taking someone’s hand. I never used to pay attention to things like that. And now I can’t look away.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
The urge to take Zoe’s hand becomes so intense that I have to do something. So, I grab the cup and hold it tight, even though it’s already empty.
“How do you expect to get to Ricardo Ortega in such a short time? We don’t have months to spare,” Theo points out.
“Who is he?” A murderous look appears on Ash’s face.
“He’s Nico’s right-hand man. And Nico Ruiz is at the head of Veirix.”
“Can’t we just kill him?” she asks.
Ryker speaks up. “You won’t get to him that easily. Only his most trusted people have access to him—literally a few people.”
“Maybe someone lower than Ricardo, but significant enough to be in the inner circle?” Theo suggests.
“Who else can we target?” Ryker ponders.
“Ever since they sent us the last mole in pieces, we’ve had little insight into their ranks.” I sigh and rub my face with my hands. “We definitely still have Emilio Cortez and Damien Estrada as our third options.”
The temperature drops a few degrees just at the mention of those two names. Ryker sighs too, and Theo shifts in his armchair and says, “I don’t know which is worse. Each of them is a twisted psychopath in his own way.”
I look at everyone. Ryker and Theo are lost in their own minds. Ash is doing exactly what I’m doing. She’s watching everyone. And then I glance at Zoe, who has been sitting there as quiet as a mouse the whole time.
I don’t even know why I dragged her here. The Pact’s business doesn’t concern her, at least not the way it does her sister. Through her marriage to Ryker, Ash is now an important part of all this. But Zoe… She has no idea.
Her coffee sits untouched on the table. She’s staring at a single spot on the floor. Physically, she’s here. Mentally, she’s somewhere else. A small furrow appears between her eyes as her brows knit together.
Something is bothering her, and it pisses me off that I can’t read her. Can’t ask her.
What’s on your mind? What’s keeping you up right now?
“Can we bribe someone on the inside?” Ash suggests, pulling my thoughts away from Zoe.
“My father tried that, and it backfired on us,” her husband replies.
“Wiretapping?”
Theo shakes his head. “They’re too vigilant for that sort of thing.”
Ash won’t give up. “So what? Are we going to wait until someone infiltrates their ranks, confirms our suspicions, and puts Aisling in touch with Ryker? This plan is worthless. Maybe they wanted us to find out about this? When Aisling called me, she was hostile toward Ryker. She warned me about him. Maybe it was a game. Or maybe the exact opposite.”
“What’s your point, Ash?” I ask, not understanding where she’s going with this.
“I don’t know. I’m just saying, maybe their intention is to provoke Ryker to take action?”
Ryker stands up, straightens himself, and looks straight at me. I can see the decision forming in his mind. Before he leaves the living room with a grim expression, he says, “Find me that damn mole. And fast.”